I became a vampire princess and then a dragon girl?

Page 28

His sudden attack made the subordinates around him silent, for fear of becoming an outlet for the black shadow to vent his anger.

After a while, the black shadow raised his head with a gloomy expression, looked at the shivering people below and said.

"The erosion failed, and a magical force allowed her to block the erosion. I remember that this generation of Holy Sword Master is dead, right?"

As the black shadow spoke, he looked towards a corner of the hall, where a human was already trembling uncontrollably. He immediately knelt on the ground when the black shadow's rays came towards him.

"Demon-sama, I instructed the Grans family to send this generation of Holy Sword Master to defeat the Demon King over two years ago. As a precaution, I even had him killed in battle. There's no way he's still alive."

"So you mean that I am wrong?"

As he spoke, the black shadow made a fist in the air, picked up the figure, and clamped his neck tightly.

"No, I don't dare. Maybe something happened in the world of spirits... uh..."

"...Hmph! Then go investigate. If you can't find anything, prepare to become fodder for the Abyssal Legion."

Considering that it was not easy to successfully erode such a high-ranking being among the human race, the black shadow threw the figure aside despite being filled with anger.

"Yes Yes!"

Without looking at the man again, the shadowy figure turned to face the hall and announced.

"Everyone, speed up and launch the attack as soon as possible. We must make sure to arrive before the Holy Sword awakens."

"Yes!!!"

Then the figures in the hall disappeared one after another, leaving only the black shadow sitting on the throne.

"Ylvey, humph."

§ 40 A chance encounter on the street

Eve didn't rush into the city. She planned to take a look at the various certificates that Elizabeth had prepared for her.

The first thing to check is the ID card, which is a common certificate used by humans within the country. Generally speaking, to enter and exit most city-states and towns, you only need to glance at the ID card.

"Hmm... her name is Ava, she's an adventurer, and she's just come of age... petite and independent."

Eve couldn't help but roll her eyes at the ID card in her hand. The information on the card was outrageous, but it wasn't a big deal.

The city of Shurik where she was at the moment was located not far from the border between the Kingdom of Wealth and the Kingdom of Travelers. It was considered a small border town, so it was not surprising that adventurers came here.

Even if people were interested in such a young adventurer, it would be impossible to investigate due to the limited flow of information across borders.

After all, if Eve wasn't so petite, no one would pay attention to an ordinary adventurer.

The inspection at the city gate went very smoothly. Although the guarding soldiers were a little surprised that Eve was such a young girl and wanted to be an adventurer, they did not ask too many questions.

After all, those who risk their lives to become adventurers at such a young age may have some unspeakable secrets, and they don't want to expose other people's scars.

He just gave a few brief instructions, told Eve the location of the Adventurer's Association in the city, collected the fee, and let her go.

"Huh, it's going pretty well. But I haven't been back to the human race for over two years, so I don't know what's popular now. And Tina's coming-of-age ceremony is in a few months, right? And considering the apology, what should I give her?"

While thinking about the gifts, Eve looked at the vendors on both sides of the road.

"The ring is definitely the perfect response to her, but isn't it a bit ceremonial? And looking back at my time as a hero, I was so slow."

Thinking that she had never been able to perceive Istina's feelings when she was a hero, Eve smiled bitterly and recalled her encounter with her.

That was at the annual meeting of the Grans family. He had just awakened the holy sword and was adopted by the Grans family from their orphanage.

Of course, calling it an orphanage is just a nice name. It is actually a labor preparation area. Boys do heavy labor every day, and girls do some manual work until the awakening ceremony, when they will decide what they will be assigned to in the future.

Based on the principle that picking up an awakened weapon elf is a huge profit, many families in the Kingdom of Wealth have similar organizations.

Occasionally, girls would be picked up at night, and some would return in the morning with tear marks on their faces and bruises on their bodies, while some girls would never come back.

Now it's obvious what happened to those girls.

And all of this is completely legal in the country of wealth. After all, the purpose of this country is money first, and there is no problem in pulling all the senior executives to make street lamp pendants.

From this perspective, Istina is like a pure lotus, rising from the mud without being stained, and she can maintain her original heart even in this stinking ditch country.

Eve's first encounter with her originated from an auction that was very typical of a wealthy country - to decide which family's child could follow the hero as a close attendant, and the highest bidder would win.

After all, if the child can always stay with the hero, it is equivalent to establishing a close relationship with a future powerful fighter, and maybe even let the hero take action to seek benefits for his own family.

In the end, Istina's family did everything they could to seize this opportunity.

That night, Istina was sent to the brave who had just awakened. The people around her told the brave that she would always follow him in the future and be his attendant, taking care of his daily life.

That's how Eve and Istina met.

As they spent time together day after day, Istina gradually developed feelings for the hero, but the slow-witted hero never realized it, and Istina was too shy to express her feelings directly.

It was not until the night before the hero was sent to defeat the Demon King that she made up her mind, expressed her feelings, and cried, hoping to escape with the hero, to find a place where no one could find them and live in seclusion, away from the world. The slow-witted hero also decided to leave with her.

But in the end, their escape failed. The people placed around them by the family noticed their plan and reported it to the family. Then Istina was imprisoned as a hostage, and the hero was sent to defeat the Demon King.

Before leaving, our brave man lived up to everyone's expectations and said the classic FLAG - I will get married when I come back.

Well, now that I have said this, there is no way I can come back.

As for the one who has returned now, he is indeed a ghost. After all, the blood clan is also called vampire.

"Huh, it's decided, let's choose the ring."

Thinking of this, Eve asked for directions from a nearby vendor and headed towards the Chamber of Commerce in the city.

Thanks to the wealth-first style of doing things here, Eve was successfully treated as a VIP after taking out a bag of gold coins.

As for the source of the money, why would a little girl like her buy an expensive ring? Who cares? As long as she has money, it’s fine.

Finally, after choosing a pair of wedding rings inlaid with pink diamonds, Eve left the Chamber of Commerce contentedly. Her cherry pink long hair and pink diamonds seemed to match quite well.

After buying the ring, Eve prepared to walk around the city to see if there was anything she could take with her before heading to Istina.

Although it is a small border town, the market here is quite lively. Many people from the Land of Travelers are selling their spoils, and the various exotic materials are dazzling.

But after walking around the market for a few times, Eve suddenly noticed that she seemed to be stared at by someone. Although there was no malice in the look, the feeling of being stared at by the intermittent gaze was still quite uncomfortable.

With this in mind, Eve took Ilvia and Arcana into a secluded alley.

Soon after they went in, a little girl appeared at the entrance of the alley. She looked around and followed them in.

But then, looking at the deserted alley, she stood there in confusion.

"Got it."

"!!!"

The little girl was startled by the sudden hand from behind. She was about to struggle, but stopped when she turned around and saw that it was Eve who grabbed her.

The little girl looked less than ten years old, even a little smaller than Eve. She was wearing a thin dress that had turned a little white, and seemed to be an orphan.

Her long golden hair was a little messy, but it was still easy to tell that she was a beauty.

"Little sister, why do you want to follow your sister?"

The girl looked at Eve in front of her, then looked at Ilvia beside her and said.

"I felt close to my sisters, so I followed them."

"Well... aren't you afraid that the sisters are actually bad people?"

“…I can feel it.”

"Feel?"

Eve was a little confused after hearing what the child in front of her said.

"Yeah, I don't think my sisters will hurt me."

At this time, Eve also had some speculations. The reason why the child had a good impression of herself and Ilvia was probably because the child had a high affinity for the power of the holy sword. In other words, he should be a good seedling.

"What's your name, little sister?"

"Lucia."

"Hasn't Sister Lucia ever met anyone from the orphanage?"

Generally speaking, orphans like this would be taken into orphanages by their families. It was very rare to see someone like Lucia living alone outside.

"It seems I've encountered them before. They wanted to take me away, but I ran away because I thought they had malicious intentions."

"Is that so? So, Lucia, are you planning to follow us forever?"

"Ah."

Looking at Lucia who answered without hesitation, Eve thought for a moment and said.

"Okay, Lucia, you can follow me, but you have to be a good boy."

"Ok!"

Lucia seemed very happy to hear that Eve agreed to let her follow her, and Eve naturally did so after careful consideration.

First of all, Istina is currently in charge of a monastery that only accepts girls. After I take her away, I will also need to arrange a place for those children to go, so this one will not make a difference. After all, if you let one sheep go, you also have to herd a flock of sheep.

Elizabeth had already arranged everything and prepared her for her trip to the Holy Kingdom.

Unlike the church that often appeared as a dark side in stories in the previous life, the Kingdom of the Holy Church here can be said to be ridiculously white. After all, if you dare to play dirty, you will really be punished by God, so it is better to send those children there than to keep them in this shabby place, the Kingdom of Wealth.

By the way, according to Elizabeth's investigation, the family of the monastery managed by Istina might have taken advantage of her relationship with the hero and, in order to gain a good reputation, did not cause the troubles she encountered in the orphanage. She was lucky.

Secondly, although this child has escaped capture by the orphanage by relying on her perception of malicious intent, she may not succeed every time. Once she is brought into the orphanage, it is almost inevitable that she will attract the attention of those beasts due to her outstanding appearance.

Eve couldn't bear to see such a lovely child being treated like that, so after a little thought, she chose to take Lucia with her.

"Anyway, let's go get you a bath and a change of clothes."

Looking at the girl's messy hair and her worn-out clothes that had turned gray, Eve thought for a moment and said.

With that, Eve led the three of them out of the alley and headed to the hotel in the city.

§ 41 is the routine hot spring trip

"Eh? Are there no rooms with private bathrooms anymore?"

"I am so sorry."

"Ah, never mind. Sorry to bother you."

Eve felt a little helpless looking at the waitress in front of her who looked apologetic.

She had originally planned to take Lucia to take a shower and change clothes, but when they arrived at the hotel, she was told that the room with a private bathroom had been rented out.

As a hotel in a remote town, there are usually only one or two high-end rooms available, and usually no one comes to rent them. This is a rather unfortunate situation right now.

After leaving the hotel with Lucia, Eve thought for a moment and then looked at Lucia beside her.

"In that case... Lucia, do you want to see me perform a magic trick?"

"Magic? What's that?"

"Well...it's like if you close your eyes, and then open them you'll be somewhere else."

"Yeah! Let's see!"

"Come on, let's go over there."

As they talked, the four of them came to an alley nearby.

"Viya, please pay attention to your surroundings."

"Ah."

After confirming that no one was passing by, Eve said to Lucia.

"Then Lucia, you can close your eyes. Don't peek."

"Good~"