“Master, the dispatch of agents to the major cities has generally been completed.”

“There are no issues with the regular contacts.”

“The itinerant vampires have used the funds provided in advance to purchase shops, and safe houses discreet enough to avoid suspicion seem to be ready.”

Reports come in from Azalea and the others.

The term ‘agent’ refers to itinerant merchants dispatched to various larger cities of Shape. Naturally, they are all vampires.

When Azalea and the others became vampires, they gained a [Subordinate] ability similar to Blanc’s, limited to the undead. They used this to make the itinerant merchants their subordinates.

Blanc could have subordinated them all at once herself, but since it’s impractical for Blanc alone to communicate with all the agents, that responsibility was delegated to the Laestrygones.

Of course, when they say communication, it’s not like they can use NPC or friend chat.

The agents were required to create reports in advance, and Azalea and the others communicated with them by peeking into their field of vision at a predetermined time.

That’s what Magenta referred to as the regular contacts.

If there were any instructions from their side, they would possess the agent’s body to communicate through written messages.

This was a method Blanc came up with while observing social media.

“Things are going smoothly, huh. Can you start opening shops already?”

“No, we have few products and no procurement routes, so it’s a bit… Also, we used a considerable amount of funds when purchasing the shops, so we might need additional operating capital.”

Unlike Rare and Lyra, Blanc’s faction hasn’t been engaged in legitimate economic activities.

Therefore, the available funds are the wealth collected from the homes when they annihilated the entire town, and using it would naturally deplete it.

And soon, what they could carry had already been given to the itinerant vampire merchants, leaving them with almost nothing.

If they used it to secure shops, in other words, operational bases, on-site, they would need to procure new funds from somewhere.

“We need something to start with… I’m not good at this kind of thing. Hmm…”

“For now, should we have the itinerant vampire we dispatched locally attack the city’s top merchant and make them our subordinate?”

“But Azalea, large merchant guilds have strong defenses, and secretly placing them under our control might be difficult. If it causes a commotion, it could affect our future activities.”

“Well then, Magenta, do you have any good ideas?”

“Well…”

The itinerant vampire merchants also have the [Subordinate] ability.

However, since they are still lower-tier vampires, those they subordinate end up becoming zombies. To create vampire subordinates without raising suspicions, they would need more experience points.

“Before taking actual actions, it would be troublesome to create unnecessary disturbances and raise suspicions. Even if we aim to dominate merchants who seem to have money, it’s crucial to handle it as quietly as possible.

“In that case, how about this?”

Carmine confidently suggested.

Perhaps mindful of always being surpassed by Azalea, she has recently been offering opinions from slightly different angles.

“Instead of dominating merchants from big trading guilds, let’s control the bosses of criminal organizations or the poor in slums. In areas with poor public order, even a bit of commotion is expected. And by subordinating outlaws there, we can raise their INT and make them smarter. We’ll use these smart individuals to deceive large shops, swindle their wealth, and seize funds. If it fails, well, at that point we can shift towards subordinating the leaders of the guilds.”

This is a very appealing proposal.

If Blanc is to stand shoulder to shoulder with Rare and Lyra in battle, she might as well try her hand at behind-the-scenes activities.

Although Blanc had always considered it, good ideas didn’t come to Blanc’s mind easily.

This plan of controlling gangs in the city and swindling large trading guilds is something Lyra would be particularly adept at.

Given the promising suggestion, they decided to leave this matter to Carmine.

However, it’s not only Carmine who is actually subordinating agents in various places.

Therefore, Carmine, as the project leader, along with the Laestrygones, will handle this.

First, they will pretend that the itinerant vampire merchants are still unfamiliar with the city and casually send them to areas with poor public order.

There, they will allow local thugs to snatch their wallets.

Even though their remaining funds are scarce, to the city thugs, it’s a considerable amount of money.

Even if the thug is a lone wolf, with such a fortune, they will undoubtedly attract the attention of some criminal organization.

If the thug already has ties to a criminal organization, they would surely pay a tribute to the organization.

Either way, by following the thug who stole the gold coins, they can find the criminal organization.

Then, they kill the leader of the organization and use [Subordinate] on their corpse.

The final step was handled personally by Azalea and the other high-ranking members.

It’s more cost-effective than giving experience points to the itinerant vampire merchants to do it themselves.

As they repeat this process in cities around the world, the majority of the prevalent criminal organizations in Shape gradually came under Blanc’s control.

Although the financial issue was naturally resolved in this process, just for the sake of it, they let the mafia continue its fraud as part of their regular business.

“This time, things are going smoothly, right?”

“Yes, we can start opening shops.”

“Great, that’s good news!”

“Um, though our goal isn’t to run a shop.”

“Oh, right!”

Blanc’s goal is to dominate Shape.

Not to engage in business.

However, the underworld of the major cities in this country is already in Blanc’s hands.

If they wished, they could attack and destroy cities around the world right now, effectively holding Shape’s fate in their hands.

The same applies here in the capital.

Currently, Blanc and the others are in the headquarters of the largest criminal syndicate in the capital.

Although there are multiple criminal organizations in Shape’s capital, all their leaders are under Blanc’s command.

However, this information is not disclosed to the general members.

The general members are engaged in territorial disputes and conflicts with other organizations every day, yet they are unaware that they all actually share the same master.

“Wow, this is amazing. Money is pouring in like crazy. And the experience points too. Crime sure pays well. It’s understandable why it won’t disappear from the world.”

“But it also comes with expenses.”

“And the need for manpower.”

“It just appears profitable due to the scale of operations. The profits are enormous. Um, Master?”

“Huh? …Ah! Well done, Carmine! Great job!”

“No, not at all.”

Carmine answered proudly, puffing up her nose.

However, there was a significant mix of non-dwarves among the gangs. When Carmine noticed this, she asked a low-level vampire to check on the non-dwarf members and found that they were using something that looked like an Inventory. In other words, it was evident that they were players.

When you think about it, not all players in the game seamlessly integrate into the NPC human society, working as mercenaries, artisans, or merchants. Naturally, some might find such interactions troublesome. For those who didn’t choose to be monster players and wanted to avoid these interactions, the only option was to become highwaymen or bandits, particularly in city streets.

Therefore, they limited the use of [Subordinate] to the organization’s bosses and characters around them. If there was even a slight possibility of them being players, they were promptly killed. Whether they were enslaved while alive or turned into undead after death, the result remained the same. It was more efficient to kill suspicious individuals, wait for a while, and if the body disappeared, it was likely a player. NPCs, after being dead for more than an hour, turned into weak zombies and lost their pre-death memories.

Determining if someone is a player or not turned out to be best done by simply killing them. Blanc had discussed the difficulty of distinguishing players in casual conversation with Rare before, thinking she would be delighted to learn about this.

When killing gang members suspected of being players, they staged the conflicts as if it were a turf war to avoid suspicion. Blanc only controlled the upper echelons of each organization, allowing territorial disputes to continue among the lower ranks to create a natural sense of conflict.

“The list of those likely to be players is steadily growing.”

“These methods could be applied in the territories of Lady Rare and Lady Lyra as well.”

“Yeah, yeah. Since I rarely have cases where I can provide information to those two, surprising them at our next tea party sounds like a good idea.”

If they were wary of typical combat-focused players, it would be straightforward to monitor all mercenaries. However, blending into society as merchants, artisans, and, in a way, as outlaws or criminals, made it challenging to identify players. In such cases, the quickest solution was to kill them.

Several days had passed at this point, and the much-anticipated event involving the Archangel was nearing its end. However, once they conquered the sunlit areas around the royal castle through force, the country would essentially be in their hands.

While leisurely enjoying a meal of fruit tart – a masterpiece made by the best pastry chef in Shape’s capital, using fruits ordered from Aural and sparing no expense – Blanc was suddenly interrupted as the office door swung open forcefully, and a stern-looking man rolled in.

“Master Blanc! Lady Magenta!”

“Huh? Who? What’s going on?”

“Ah, he is one of my subordinates. What’s the matter? Also, don’t be rude!”

“S-sorry! But, uh, some weird guys on my turf…!”

Shape’s capital is vast, and its underworld is divided among various gangs. While only a few are aware of this fact, most gang members are engaged in desperate turf wars. The ‘turf’ the stern man is referring to is one of those divided gang territories. It seems that a suspicious duo has launched an attack there. Actually, a little earlier, two groups that were supposedly in conflict had both been annihilated.

Reports from resurrected lower-tier vampire minions mentioned that a peculiar duo had intruded after respawning, but their true identity was unknown.

Considering the small number of two people in the group, it’s unlikely to be law enforcement.

However, it’s hard to imagine someone attacking the mafia without a purpose related to maintaining public order.

Most likely, the duo that attacked this time is the same as the one that intruded during the conflict.

“You’re not being specific about these strange guys. Give me a detailed report. We are in front of Master, you know?”

“My apologies! Um, one of them wore what appeared to be a unique design, probably leather attire, and the other…”

“What about the other one?”

“The other one, well, was a cook.”

*

Azalea and the others didn’t look pleased about Blanc going directly to the scene, but coming to Shape had the additional meaning of training. Eating cake and relaxing in the office can’t really be called training.

Upon arriving at the stern-looking man’s turf, it was still in the midst of rave reviews.

Since the attack, quite some time had passed considering the stern man’s report and Blanc’s group coming here. The subordinates of the stern man seemed to be enduring quite a bit.

No, attacking a gang’s hideout with just two people is strange. In this case, the suspicious duo might be the ones putting up a fight.

“Are those the two? Fighting with a knife and a frying pan… Certainly a cook. And the other seems quite tall. Maybe because everyone else is a dwarf? A tall cook…”

The other person was Hideo, the infamous shape-shifting hero. When they met before, he didn’t seem particularly strong, but now he might be able to handle the city’s gangs single-handedly. It’s been almost a week since then, perhaps he gained experience and grew somewhere.

“That’s enough, stern old man. Tell your subordinates to stand down. It’s a waste of manpower. We’ll take care of the rest.”

“Sorry… You guys! Step back! They will handle this! Be grateful, you morons!”

The stern man led his subordinates back.

Afterwards, only Blanc, Azalea, Magenta, Hideo, and the cook remained.

“You! That sword! You’re the vampire from last time! Where did you take Dr. Stanislav!?”

Blanc was wearing the red robe from the other day. Even though her face couldn’t be seen, it seemed he judged from Rare’s large sword she had with her.

However, the fact that Blanc is a vampire is not something that should be known by him just from the previous encounter. Where did he get that information from?

“You seem to be trying to dominate the underworld with dark forces, but I won’t allow it!”

Looking at Azalea and the others, the stern man shook his head lightly. There’s no reason to suspect that information about us being vampires has actually leaked.

“What basis do you have for calling me a vampire?”

“That voice! Were you a woman all along?!”

“Rude! Watch your mouth! How insolent! Answer the question!”

Carmine got furious and yelled at Hideo. Despite the perfect atmosphere, it was confusing for Blanc, who was listening, whether she should stay silent or answer the question.

“When you reach my level, it’s easy to deduce such things from your appearance! Besides, some of the town’s gangs seem to have turned into vampires. I certainly minced one, but the next day, the guy who should have been dead was still alive.” 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Hideo, on the other hand, seems to have simply guessed from Blanc’s attire. Although she looks different now, the last time Blanc met Hideo, she was indeed wearing a noble-looking outfit given to her by the Count. It might have seemed quite vampire-like.

On the other hand, the cook’s way of speaking is quite formidable. However, the revival of the gang is because of Azalea’s subordinates, and whether they are vampires or not has nothing to do with it.

But with this appearance, holding a knife, talking about mincing… This could ruin her enjoyment of meat in the future.

—Being friends with Hideo, it seems the cook is also a player. But why are players always somewhat crazy?

“Well, if it’s already known, there’s nothing we can do. But even if you know we’re vampires, the situation won’t change. Azalea! Magenta! Carmine! Let’s finish this!”

“Understood. [Summon: Lesser Vampire].”

Azalea summoned her subordinate vampires and set them upon Hideo and the cook. The battle began.

“Old man!”

“Leave it to me, Hideo! But transform quickly! And don’t call me ‘old man’!”

“Yeah!”

That cook seems to be called “Old Man”.

“I’m ready! Come on! You think you can beat me in the [Kitchen]!”

What is he talking about? Where is the kitchen?

This is one of Blanc’s gang hideouts, outwardly a bar.

Of course, there should be a kitchen somewhere in the building, but at least it’s not where Old Man is causing a ruckus.

While contemplating this, knives suddenly appeared in Old Man’s hands, and the frying pan he had in one hand a moment ago had disappeared somewhere.

“What is that…”

“First, let’s mince them!”

Old Man skillfully wielded the knives in both hands, cutting down vampires one after another.

However, they were just kitchen knives. Despite being lower-level vampires, they had higher defense than raw meat. Naturally, the knives quickly became dull and unusable.

But each time, Old Man shouted things like “Kitchen” or “Mince”, summoning a new knife into his hands.

“…Is it a skill to summon knives or something? And the activation words are [Kitchen] and [Mince]?”

“Ugh… No, seriously, I have no idea. What the heck is that?”

“Here we go, [Kitchen]! Next is simmered pork! Even if you’re a vampire, you won’t revive once you’ve become simmered pork!”

When Old Man shouted, a giant lidded pot appeared in place of the knife.

Old Man stuffed the minced vampires into the pot, and from somewhere, flames appeared to heat it up.

A somewhat pleasant smell wafted through, but considering the ingredients, it seemed dangerous. Sniffing it carelessly might lead to vomiting later.

“[Shadow Lance]! [Blaze Lance]!”

Blanc cast magic almost reflexively.

Old Man, who tried to block the raging flame with the giant pot, was pierced in the side by an invisible lance just before that moment.

Concentrating on the conspicuous Fire Magic, Blanc secretly hit with Dark Magic. This tactic was inspired by the simultaneous magic barrage Blanc and Lyra performed during the battle with the Archangel.

In places like the interior of a building with many shadows, it’s probably impossible to avoid.

“Gua-?! F-foolish!”

And at the moment his posture faltered, Blaze Lance struck directly, significantly reducing his LP.

It was a magic attack by Blanc that had also damaged the Raid Boss Archangel. Despite the cook utilizing some mysterious skill, enduring such an attack was commendable.

“Finish it — [Lightning Strike]!”

“Guwaaa! No, I lost in the kitchen…”

In his final moments, Old Man left a defiant line and disappeared into light. It seems he was indeed a player.

“…Occasionally, there are incomprehensible individuals.”

Although the cook turned out to be a playful character, defeating lower-level vampires easily and enduring two hits of Blanc’s magic attacks is commendable.

Whether such eccentric or serious players will continue to appear is a matter of concern. While it might be challenging for Azalea and her serious companions to be cautious at first sight, it’s difficult to distinguish whether such individuals are a joke or genuinely dangerous.

“Old man! You vampire scum!”

Hideo had silently finished his transformation somewhere and was now fighting the lower-level vampires.

“If he’s the only one left…”

“Yes. There were only two from the beginning.”

In that case, there shouldn’t be a problem even if he acts a bit out of the ordinary.

Blanc thrust the sword on her back into the ground and discarded the red robe she was wearing, which floated gracefully to the ground. It was a very cool performance, showcasing the results of her training.

Azalea and Magenta retrieved the sword and robe.

“Alright then… Transformation.”

To avoid being questioned about the activation word, which Hideo, familiar with ‘Transformation’, might inquire about, Blanc declared it in a low voice.

While most characters would likely think of the skill [Transformation] with just that phrase, with Hideo, it’s not necessarily so. Rather, with Hideo knowing what he knows about Transformation, he might associate it more with something beyond the skill itself. In that case, changing the activation word would raise suspicions. Changing the activation word itself is probably possible even for NPCs, but considering the updates made at the official service launch, it would be unnatural for them to know about it. At least, that’s what Lyra mentioned.

With the activation of the skill, Blanc’s body swelled, and armor-like attire burst through her clothes from the inside.

A knight clad in a glossy white with black armor accents here and there, sporting a biologically designed full-body armor, appeared.

“Finally, I can test the performance of this form.”

“Y-You! That appearance, is it by any chance Dr. Stanislav’s?!”

“That’s correct. He willingly cooperated.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! You guys probably forced him to do it!”

Whether it was forced or not is unclear.

Certainly, there is a dwarf named Stanislav, who is supposedly under the control of Rare. However, judging by his demeanor, it seems like he willingly cooperated, whether or not he was a subordinate. Depending on the perspective, it could even be said that Rare provided him with a laboratory, budget, and materials as much as he wanted.

“Well, these are called differences of opinion, I think. Anyway, let’s put it to the test… Come and join me!”

Blanc kicked the ground and headed towards Hideo.

While Blanc has primarily built her character around magic, recently she has also been allocating points to AGI and STR. VIT has been left untouched due to its automatic increase. DEX is a concern, but both Rare and Lyra mentioned that for melee attacks, DEX’s accuracy modifier can be covered by skill proficiency. Therefore, Blanc hasn’t invested heavily in DEX. Additionally, Blanc didn’t have many skills that used DEX for stat checks.

With movements that could be considered quasi-catastrophic, Hideo could hardly react to Blanc’s actions, and a single swing of her arm delivered a direct blow to his shoulder.

This was also advice from Rare – if not accustomed to hand-to-hand combat, it’s more reliable to swing arms or legs at the opponent rather than punching, which lowers the risk of injury. In such cases, it’s necessary to protect the fragile extremities like fingertips, but everything is currently covered by armor. While normally this would have only a moderate intimidating effect, when executed with Blanc’s ability scores, it becomes a formidable attack.

Since Blanc also acquired [Bare Hands], there wouldn’t have been any injuries even if he had thrown a punch normally thanks to system support, but it’s a precaution.

Blanc’s arm swing shattered the carapace on Hideo’s shoulder with a single blow, dealing significant damage.

“Uggh! W-What is this strength…!”

“…Oh, impressive power… Or perhaps, is it just that you’re that weak? Well, I can’t quite figure it out. Alright, it’s your turn now. Try attacking me a bit.”

“Ugh… Damn it, don’t regret this! Take this!”

Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, Hideo jumped vertically on the spot and unleashed a dropkick towards Blanc.

Hideo’s both legs hit Blanc’s chest directly, and a heavy metallic clash echoed.

However, despite the impactful sound, Blanc didn’t seem to have taken any damage.

“Foolish…!”

“Trait” characteristics like [Armor] and [Carapace], along with increased VIT, played a role. With Hideo’s current abilities and skills, he couldn’t deal any damage to the current Blanc.

“Hehe. What’s wrong? Put more effort into it. Make me smile more.”

“You…!”

Hideo glared at Blanc with an arrogant attitude.

“…Already smiling, perhaps?”

“…If it’s not a smile, then what was that ‘hehe’ about…”

The interjection from Azalea and her companions behind them was ignored.

Hideo continued to desperately repeat his attacks, but none of them were effective against Blanc.

It looked like a scene where an unreasonably powerful enemy appeared just before a power-up in a typical superhero show.

Although they let it go for a while, there were no signs of a change in the situation. There seemed to be no imminent power-up under duress.

“I guess that’s enough. For now, it became one measure of this body’s performance. It seems similar enhancements were applied by that dwarf. If I can be this overwhelmingly superior to you with those enhancements, I guess it’s safe to say it’s sufficient for now.”

Considering the materials used, it wasn’t exactly the same enhancement, but the direction was similar.

“Doctor…! Did you truly sell your soul to the evil organization…!”

“Maybe. You should forget about such a guy and look for a new partner. Oh, could it be that cook from earlier?”

That cook might be running a café or a snack somewhere. No, maybe he’s also in the hero category. It seems he didn’t transform.

“Well, whether we’ll meet again or not, I don’t know, but for now, goodbye. Oh, and give my regards to that cook from earlier. [Hellflame].”

Blanc cast a spell centered around herself, burning Hideo, who still hadn’t recovered from the earlier damage.

It was a performance prioritizing visuals with a self-inflicted damage risk, but Blanc suffered almost no damage.

It seems that VIT is significantly higher than INT, and the resistance of Mithril and Adamantite prevented him from taking damage.

If she continues strengthening in this direction, she might establish a unique combat style where she can self-destruct and come out unharmed.

It’s a different direction from the builds with high killing intent like those of Rare and the others.

“Could this be what I should aim for? I’ll think about it.”

“While I don’t recommend attacking methods involving self-harm, increasing defense is a good idea.”

At Blanc’s request, Azalea and the others, who had been watching from a distance, approached with her robe and sword.

“Since the ones who attacked us were just those two for now, the trouble should be resolved.”

“Sorry for the trouble. I appreciate your help.”

Carmine brought the stern man from earlier.

He came alone. There were no underlings with him. Carmine must have sent them away somewhere.

There’s a possibility that there are players among his subordinates.

If this appearance is seen by a large number of players, Rare might be displeased.

This time, Blanc personally dealt with Hideo and the others and repelled them.

However, Hideo and the old man are players, not just small-time thugs or recently resurrected low-level vampires. Dealing with players is more challenging.

“If such people appear again, it’s better to call us immediately next time, or perhaps send the player, uh, the one from the storage room, yes, that person, as our response.”

“I see, those Inventory users won’t die even if they’re not Master or her subordinates. Understood.”

The small-time thugs and regular thugs are not confirmed to be players.

But once you kill and list a thug on your list, they are definitely players. It’s difficult to prepare non-player subordinates, but it’s easy to prepare player subordinates.

It might be a good idea to strengthen the low-level vampires who have become Rare’s minions a bit more.

This time, Hideo and the others’ attack was only a moderate threat that could be endured until Blanc arrived, but it might not always be the case.

“Alright, let’s go back and eat some tart!”

“…How’s the war going?”

“…Since we’ve taken control of the underworld here, it’s probably okay for now.”

“…Hehe, for now, I’m the top in achievements.”

“I can hear you! Well, we can do it anytime, and, it’s not St… No, Dr. Stanislav, but you never know what the dwarf is hiding. If we fight, maybe we should build up a bit more power on our side. Besides, if we can weaken the opponent without fighting, I learned that from Miss Lyra!”

If we fight, we need more experience points. At least, we want the ability values Rare had during the previous event.

And if we weaken the opponent without fighting, we need to control the economy more.

Even if Blanc’s gang, backed by economic power and violence, uses violent means, normal nobles and royalties still need money to eat.

But on this continent with limited economic activities between nations, the value of currency is not well understood. That’s what Rare or Lyra said.

In Shape, where there are many craftsmen and mines, it’s more common to pay taxes with gold coins, but in towns where resources like food are collected, taxes are collected in other ways too rather than just coin. It seems that such things contribute to the devaluation of currency.

In such towns, it’s not that farmers are obligated to pay in kind, but it’s been decided that they can pay taxes in either way. Simply because in agricultural cities, there’s a shortage of gold coins. This also contributes to the currency being undervalued.

Blanc knows the agony of hunger. More precisely, his subordinates, the low-level vampires, know it well. Strictly speaking, the subordinates belong to Blanc.

And in the border area with the neighboring country Aural, Lyra’s underlings, the thieves, are rampant, and after the influence of the previous event, the relationship with Pearl is not good.

In that case, no matter how high the price, the country has no choice but to buy food from Blanc’s affiliated company.

I don’t know about the citizens, but noble and royal families should have no hesitation in spending money if it’s for food.

Eventually, if they can be handed over artifacts in exchange for food, it will be a celebration.

“Let’s call it the ‘If There’s No Bread, Sell Artifacts’ operation!”

“…Will it really work that well?”

“…If those ‘player’ people stockpile a considerable amount of food and smuggle it using their Inventory, the economy could collapse.”

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