Volume 2, Chapter 15 – The Sender of the Letter

“Understood. I shall guide you.”

A woman dressed in monastic robes led us out of the room.

She guided us past the side of the Grand Cathedral’s expansive rear grounds and toward a small shed.

Inside, there was a staircase leading underground.

“What is this place?”

“This is a secret escape route within the Grand Cathedral. I believe it was originally created as an exit for royalty in case they were targeted during worship. Currently, it is used to discreetly escort guests such as Saint-sama. How would you like to proceed?”

Suspicious. Why do they need to go this far?

“Fiene-sama. No matter what happens, I will protect you. Please be at ease.”

Chris-san, perhaps sensing my hesitation, gave me a reassuring push.

That’s right. If I keep running away every time something seems suspicious, I’ll never find anything.

Damn it, men need guts—no, women need guts. Anyway, I’ll just dive in.

“I’ll go.”

“Understood.”

The guide descended the stairs and vanished into the darkness. We followed her down.

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At the bottom of the stairs, she was waiting for us with a candle lit.

“Now, let us proceed. Please be careful, as the footing is poor.”

“Yes.”

In complete darkness, relying on nothing but a single candle should be pretty dim under normal circumstances. Can everyone else actually see where they’re going?

“Hyan!”

Just as I thought that, Lu-chan tripped on a step and nearly fell.

It seemed Chris-san caught her instantly, reacting purely to her presence.

As expected of her.

“Lu-chan, are you alright? There are many more steps like that ahead, so please be careful.”

“A-ah, thank you very much.”

She looked a little red with embarrassment. For now, I’d better warn her whenever there’s a step.

“Ah, Lu-chan, another step here.”

“Eh? Hyaa!”

——I literally just warned you.

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“Saint-sama, are you able to see your footing clearly even in this darkness?”

“Yes. I’ve always had pretty good eyes.”

“I see. I had heard rumors regarding Saint-sama’s lineage, but to think the bloodline of the Silver High Elf is so remarkable.”

The guide looked at me with admiration. Huh? Can she see in here too?

“No, I mean, well, I’m a Vampire… so, technically…”

The moment those words left my mouth, her expression changed.

It was the same “Huh? What on earth is this person talking about?” look I’d seen countless times before. It was written all over her face.

“Well, everyone reacts that way.”

“I-I am terribly sorry. You said something so unexpected that I was simply startled. Saint-sama is quite skilled at surprising people, I see.”

“…No, let’s just hurry along.”

I’ve been in this world for nearly a year now, and not a single person has believed me when I say I’m a Vampire.

Instead, the conversation always ends up going in a completely different direction.

Before I knew it, I’d somehow turned into “a descendant of the High Elves suffering from both a mental illness and chuunibyou.”

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No matter how you look at it, that’s just wrong.

To begin with, a Saint with those kinds of issues would be an absolute disaster.

Honestly.

While I was thinking this, we arrived at the end of the passage.

“The stairs lead upward from here. Please watch your step.”

Prompted by her, we climbed the stairs and emerged into a room that looked like a warehouse. We left that room, walked down a hallway, and then climbed a long spiral staircase.

I felt like we had climbed up about seven stories.

When we finally reached the top of the long, long staircase, there was a lavishly decorated door.

“The master is waiting for you here.”

It seemed we had finally arrived at our destination. The door opened with a heavy sound.

Inside stood a well-dressed man in his thirties who looked every bit the capable professional.

“Welcome, Saint-sama. And to your attendants.”

He gave a polite bow and greeted us.

The room was furnished with sofas and tables, arranged as a reception room. We were invited inside.

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“My name is Aslan Haslan. It is an honor to meet you.”

“I am Fiene Argentata. This is Christina and Lumia. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Still keeping my guard up, I returned the greeting and took a seat on the sofa.

The woman from before prepared tea for us.

“Aslan-sama, regarding the letter…”

“Yes. Before that, I apologize for the roundabout method and for making you travel to such a place. As this matter concerns the illegal trade of slaves, I had no choice but to take these precautions. I hope you can understand.”

Huh? What’s going on? I thought some kind of underworld boss was going to show up.

“I serve as the chairman of the Haslan Group, which is essentially a federation of merchant companies. If I may say so myself, we are one of the larger merchant federations in the Blue Star Republic, and I obtained this information through those connections. Therefore, if the fact that I held a meeting with Saint-sama were to get out, there is a possibility that evidence would be destroyed in the worst-case scenario.”

“In other words, to make use of the information, we need to conceal the fact that we met. And from here on, we have no prior acquaintance. Is that it?”

“Precisely.”

I see. So my deduction from yesterday was completely wrong!

“Now, let us get straight to the main point.”

After hearing him out, we couldn’t help but praise our past selves for deciding not to ignore that letter.