That fight didn’t happen because I wanted it to.

But in the end, I’d faced another noble to protect the ghouls, so it seemed that fact had left quite an impression on them.

From what I’d heard, ghouls were the very bottom of the ladder in this night-whatever society.

And I, a knight, had stepped in and taken on danger to protect people like that.

“So now they’ve properly understood who they should serve... that’s what it means, right?”

Noblesse oblige... something like that.

Ariella had said loyalty toward someone who wasn’t a blood lord tended to be a little looser, but—

this meant I’d succeeded in winning their loyalty not only through the slave habits engraved into their blood, but beyond that as well.

“So that’s why you called us back into the city.”

Because of that.

With the news that the unit under Ariella’s and my protection probably wouldn’t be attacked, the unit members who’d been outside the city could be brought back inside.

“Still, ‘they’ve understood who they should serve,’ huh.”

“Hehe... for monsters, I guess they’ve got a bit of an eye.”

“...?”

After hearing what had happened here, the unit members wore oddly proud expressions.

It wasn’t even their business, so I found it a little puzzling, but—

“...So?”

Anyway.

That wasn’t what mattered right now.

“That guy—what was he?”

“Hm.”

“I know I’m not exactly the one to talk, since I jumped into the fight out of nowhere, but if what you said is true, didn’t you say it was unlikely there’d be a noble around here?”

The fact Ariella hadn’t even taught them their blood lord’s name meant ghouls could be used by hostile bloodlines, like in her case.

And Ariella had said that if they were ghouls that hadn’t even received that minimum education, there was a high chance they’d been abandoned with no intention of ever collecting them.

So then—

“What was that guy?”

The noble who showed up had said he’d come to become this land’s lord.

At my scolding tone, she shook her head like she had nothing to say for herself.

“...I don’t know either.”

“...?”

“I’ve got more than one or two questions myself.”

Ariella frowned.

“To be honest... if it’s just that he suddenly appeared, you could explain it by saying it was land they’d planned to leave alone at first, but later another reason came up and they dispatched a lord... something like that.”

“...So the strange part isn’t just that?”

“No. For example.”

She closed her eyes briefly and sank into thought, then opened her mouth with an ah.

“That house words.”

“House words?”

“The house words are a saying that symbolizes a bloodline. Some houses don’t even have one, but others create house words to strengthen cohesion. The Melchiorn Bloodline is a representative example.”

I recalled what that noble had said.

“He definitely said the blood of Melchiorn takes by strength... right? What’s strange about that?”

“That part itself isn’t strange. But.”

And then—

“From what I remember, Melchiorn’s house words weren’t that.”

“What?”

“‘The blood of Melchiorn proves itself by strength’... that’s what I remember.”

Prove and take.

“...Mm. It’s not a huge difference.”

Since it was only a one-word difference, I wondered if this was just Ariella misremembering, but—

“A huge difference? Good grief!”

“Huh?”

“I told you the house words are what symbolizes that bloodline, didn’t I? Once it’s set, it’s normal for it not to change even after thousands of years. Even just the tone changing is an enormous difference, but the word itself changed...!”

From Ariella’s perspective, it seemed like a very big difference.

“The next thing that bothered me... was when he gave his name.”

“His name?”

Why would that matter?

“When he gave his name... he didn’t say his family name.”

“Ah.”

Now that she mentioned it, that was true.

If he’d even spoken the house words, it seemed he really was from the Melchiorn Bloodline, but—

“It was fortunate for me, though. Since he only gave his name, I could get away with giving only mine.”

“...Ah. Then could it be the reason he was friendly to you was—”

“That’s probably right.”

Ariella shrugged.

“Since he muttered the house words... there’s a high chance he’s mistaking me for the same bloodline.”

Only then did his attitude make sense.

He’d been friendly because he thought she was a noble from the same house.

“But it’s still strange.”

“?”

“When nobles introduce themselves to each other, it’s typical to give the family name... the house name as well.”

“Is it that big a difference?”

“...I don’t know. It’s so natural that I’ve never even thought to question it...”

On top of that—

“Come to think of it, his clothes also felt oddly out of place... and the procession’s decoration had a strangely unfamiliar style...”

As if the strange points weren’t limited to one or two, Ariella kept muttering on.

“We don’t really have the luxury of spending time on problems we can’t figure out right now, do we?”

Then someone spoke to her.

“More important than that is why he backed off.”

Jeong Sua.

She looked at Ariella as she spoke.

“I was watching from afar too, but his forces were being slowly eliminated in front of Benefactor’s strength. And then Her Majesty joined in... Maybe he decided he was at a disadvantage and chose to retreat.”

“Hm?”

“If that’s the case, there’s a good chance he’ll bring reinforcements through other companions. Shouldn’t Her Majesty have stopped him from leaving? Somehow, you should’ve held him and dealt with him.”

“Ah, so that’s what you were getting at.”

At those words, Ariella shook her head as if to say don’t speak when you don’t know.

“You don’t need to worry about that. I know what he wants.”

“You know?”

“If it truly seemed like he would call another noble, I would’ve stopped him no matter what. The only reason I didn’t is because there’s only one possibility.”

With her arms crossed, Ariella said—

“He was hoping for a blood duel.”

...A duel?

“A noble’s power depends on how great their authority is. A blood duel is... an old tradition among nobles, where they clash all the retainers they possess against each other and fight.”

“I don’t really know, but that doesn’t sound like an answer to whether he could call in companions.”

“It is an answer. Because a blood duel has the honor of the two nobles who agreed to it at stake.”

With reverence in her eyes, Ariella spoke.

“A blood duel is the culture of the bloodlines created by the great Progenitor. It is never permitted for another noble to be involved in this sacred match, and the parties themselves consider it an immense dishonor to even inform another noble about the duel.”

“Just because they consider it dishonorable doesn’t mean there’s some law saying they can’t talk about it, right? Can we really trust that...?”

“We can. There were many questionable points in his words and actions, but he seemed to value a noble’s honor. A noble who respects the Progenitor would never belittle this culture.”

...The Progenitor.

I’d heard about it a few times.

It seemed to be their distant ancestor, something like a creator.

‘From what Ariella said before... vampires branched off from demons.’

Then that Progenitor was probably a demon.

And it seemed these vampires treated the Progenitor as an object of faith.

As long as their faith in the Progenitor remained, they couldn’t help but respect a culture the Progenitor had created, even if only in a religious sense.

“You said they clash all the retainers they possess against each other.”

Right.

I understood that the noble wanted to do this “blood duel” with Ariella.

And I understood that once he’d agreed to a blood duel, he wouldn’t tell his own kind about us.

But what I was curious about was...

“Why do they fight like that in the first place?”

“Simple.”

Why clash all their retainers against each other like that?

Why would their Progenitor create such a culture?

“A blood duel is a match where you stake everything you have. And... the one who wins takes everything the loser has. The loser must offer everything to the winner.”

And.

The answer was pretty simple.

“Property, forces... territory and the self. Even that blood, which could be called the essence of the soul.”

After the duel ended—

one noble would disappear.

“And by drinking another noble’s blood, an even more noble great noble is born.”

“......”

“They fight fair, staking everything they have, and the victor leaps up a step... It’s the culture of proud, honorable nobles.”

And.

Hearing that, I thought.

‘A blood duel ends with the winning noble eating the losing noble and getting stronger.’

In other words.

Their creator.

The Progenitor who made this culture...

‘It means they wanted their descendants to devour each other and grow stronger?’

Somehow.

It didn’t sound like someone in their right mind.

***

China, Shandong Province.

At its center was Jinan, the provincial capital of Shandong.

A city of considerable size, as befits what was considered the capital of a province.

And now—

Grrrk...

Inside that city—

was filled with countless ghouls.

An enormous number of °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° ghouls, and the knights who ruled them wandered throughout the city.

And then, into that city—

“The noble’s procession is entering!”

A group of nobles was stepping inside.

“Show proper respect and clear the way!!!”

The ghouls who had been busily working in the darkness saw them and bowed their heads in reverence.

“...Tch. Still uselessly many of them.”

But.

Whether they showed reverence or not, the noble seated at the center of the procession sighed as he saw the sheer number of ghouls blocking the procession’s path.

They were doing their best to scramble out of the way so they wouldn’t block a noble, but—

there were simply too many for the road to properly clear.

“Knights.”

At that—

“Time is precious. Clear the way appropriately.”

“Yes.”

Shhaaaak!!!

The knights drew their weapons and began removing the ghouls blocking the way.

“Ah, ah...! The noble is angered!”

“Everyone, move!”

So.

They massacred the ghouls blocking the way, piling up corpses as they moved deeper into the city—

when—

“Ah! I wondered who it was!”

Someone approached the procession.

A noble’s knight raised the weapon as usual to clear the way, but—

“I didn’t expect we’d meet again so soon, Count Rashir.”

Flinch.

The instant he saw that man, the knight’s hand, raised to strike, stopped.

Then—

the owner of the ornate procession...

Rashir frowned at that man and spoke.

“I told you not to talk to me like we’re close, you mongrel.”

“Haha. You did say that, yes.”

A black-haired man with a sly smile in his eyes.

Even with the knight’s weapon raised over his head, he didn’t lose that smile, only shrugged.

“But please don’t be too hard on me. If I had my way, I wouldn’t be eager to talk to you either, Count, but...”

The black-haired man gestured with his chin at the piles of corpses around them.

“You’re stacking corpses on the roads in my territory. Well now... that isn’t something I can just let slide, is it?”

“...Tch.”

“This city already has poor traffic, so it’s a headache.”

Then Rashir looked at that grinning face and thought.

‘A lowly mongrel... has the nerve to speak to me.’

Rashir, a count of the Melchiorn Bloodline, didn’t like that man much.

He felt like cutting his head off the moment the man spoke to him.

But.

“Hmph. If it’s a road, shouldn’t it be kept clean so people can pass?”

“Right?”

“It was full of trash, so I merely cleaned it up.”

At that, the man glanced at the stacked ghoul corpses.

A horrific sight, with all kinds of monsters—along with those who had once been human—mixed in.

“Ah...”

The curve at the corner of his smiling eyes—

“Trash, you say?”

Very slightly—

curled the other way.