Volume 3, Chapter 43 – The Conclusion, And Then—

I concentrate, making sure I don’t let Felhi escape.

“Guh… this… shouldn’t be…”

Felhi looks at the nearby parent and child with a startled expression.

“Wait, don’t move! If you move, I’ll take this one’s head—”

“Purification.”

“!”

As I release my Purification magic, a light of purification surges up from beneath Felhi’s feet, and he manages to dodge it by a hair’s breadth.

“Th-thank you. Um, who are you…?”

“It’s dangerous, everyone please step back. I will purify him.”

“Y-yes.”

The parent and child who had been held hostage move over to the corner of the lobby.

However, just like last time, my Purification magic should be activating almost instantaneously.

Despite that, how is this guy able to dodge it every single time?

“Purification!”

Again, Felhi dodges at the last second.

I have a feeling he’s moving before the light of purification even appears. How is that possible?

Felhi glances around, seemingly searching for an opportunity to escape.

“Purif—”

Felhi leaps back.

I see. It’s because I’m saying it out loud.

——Purification!

The light of purification surges up from beneath Felhi’s feet.

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He leaps back in response to the light, but he doesn’t avoid it completely.

My Purification magic catches him properly, the light searing his body.

“Guaaaagh!”

Felhi’s left hand and the left half of his lower body turn to ash; blood flows from the wounds as white smoke hisses upward.

“Now, it’s over.”

“Guh… then at least I’ll take a few of you with me. Blood!”

The moment Felhi screams, his blood forms into arrow-like shapes and flies toward the parent and child sheltering in the corner of the lobby.

“Ah! Defense Wall!”

I hurriedly create a Defense Wall in front of the parent and child, intercepting the blood arrows. I see.

This is the first time I’ve seen it, but so this is the Vampire’s Unique Skill, Blood Manipulation.

Hmm, if you have to be injured to use it, it seems pretty inconvenient.

I turn back to where Felhi had fallen, but he is already gone.

“!?”

It seems Felhi used the split second I looked away to vanish.

“I won’t let you get away.”

The doors and windows are closed, so he doesn’t seem to have gone outside, and there’s no mist in the room. Furthermore, the interior is a clean, bright wood-grain style, so a black bat would actually stand out.

That means he must have used Shadow Dive.

In that case, I’ll burn him out with Purification magic.

“Purification!”

I cause the light of purification to surge up around myself, then gradually expand the radius of the pillar of light.

“Gyaaaaaaaaaah!”

I hear Felhi’s scream coming from the other side of the door.

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What, he’d already escaped outside?

Ah! Right, the gap under the door! I’ve done the same thing myself, yet I forgot!

I rush outside the inn.

Felhi is nowhere to be seen, but there is a trail of blood, as if something has been dragged along. It seems he no longer has the strength to use Shadow Dive.

I follow the bloodstains, chasing Felhi at a jog. Eventually, I arrive at a narrow, dark alley.

There, I find Felhi crawling on the ground, trying to flee. It seems my previous Purification magic burned his right leg.

And standing before him is a woman.

“A-ah, watch ou—”

“Hieek!”

For a moment, I worry for her safety, but contrary to my concerns, Felhi lets out a small shriek the moment he sees her.

She calmly grabs Felhi by the head, lifts him up, and in one fluid motion, sinks her teeth into his neck!

In an instant, the blood drains from Felhi’s body, and he vanishes, turning into ash.

“Eh?”

A dumbfounded sound escapes my lips.

The woman looks at me and smiles. With long, beautiful platinum blonde hair fluttering and the moonlight illuminating her in the dim alley, she is stunningly beautiful.

“Nice to meet you. You’re Saint Fiene Argentata, aren’t you?”

She smiles warmly at me.

She is tall and slender—perhaps even taller than Shizuku-san—with a well-proportioned, “slim-yet-busty” figure that any woman would envy, and her waist is impressively high.

Among the features that make up her refined face, her red eyes possess an overwhelming presence.

Those strong-willed, vertical red pupils clearly show that she is a Vampire.

Her skin is also stark white, as if she has never been touched by sunlight.

“I am Adelrose von Sternennacht. A Vampire Noble.”

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With an expression full of confidence, she introduces herself.

“Vampire… Noble!?”

Reflexively, I prepare myself to cast Purification magic at any moment.

“Ah, wait a moment. I didn’t come here to fight you, nor did I come to ravage the town.”

“Then what on earth did you come for?”

I ask back, without lowering my guard.

“I came to dispose of that fool, Felhi. Therefore, you and I had a common enemy. Though, it seems I was too late. Say, did I happen to steal your prey?”

“No, not at all.”

“I see. That’s a relief. By the way, you are Fiene Argentata, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Hmm. She doesn’t seem to have any malicious intent, but… I wonder?

“There is one thing I want to ask you. Would that be alright?”

“What is it? If it’s something I can answer.”

“You’re a Vampire, aren’t you?”

“Eh?”

I feel my heart jump.

Why would a Vampire I’ve just met—no, a Vampire Noble, a Higher Species—know that?

“Please don’t glare at me with that face.”

I hadn’t realized it, but apparently, I was making a glaring expression.

“You used Shadow Manipulation to dive into the shadows in that town to the west, didn’t you? That’s a Skill that only Vampires should be able to use.”

“How… how do you know that?”

“I’ve been monitoring things ever since that fool took over the town and started doing such flashy, stupid things. Just as I was thinking it was about time to crush him, you showed up. I continued my surveillance, and then I heard from my subordinate that you—the Saint—dived into the shadows to escape Felhi’s restraint. I must say, I was quite surprised.”

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I see. So that scene was witnessed.

“Moreover, you purified the entire town afterward, didn’t you? Because of that, even my subordinates were purified. Thanks to that, I lost track of where both Felhi and you went. It really was a pain to find you.”

“Haa… then why wasn’t Felhi purified?”

“Since you purified such a ridiculously wide area, perhaps your power weakened? In the first place, if one could normally purify that much area, Vampires would vanish from the face of the earth. More importantly, are you a Vampire or not?”

Is it okay to answer this honestly?

Can I even fight and win against a Vampire Noble alone?

If I strike first with Purification magic, perhaps…

No, wait. This person—this Vampire—hasn’t actually done anything to me. Is the idea of suddenly attacking her even right?

“Is there some reason you cannot answer?”

“…No, it’s not that. Um, yes. I am probably a Vampire.”

“Yes, fufu, yes! Yes! I knew it! I knew it!”

Adelrose-san has a beaming smile on her face.

What on earth is she so happy about?

She strides right up to me and then suddenly drops to one knee.

Then, she gently takes my left hand in her right.

After placing a small kiss on the back of my left hand, she says something shocking.

“Fiene Argentata, I’ve fallen in love with you at first sight. Say, won’t you marry me?”

…

…

…

“Hah?”