“I did you a favor by taking care of what you were supposed to do. Frankly, you should be thanking me.”

“Haha. Well, thank you—”

“Of course. I’m a member of the noble class, so I have no intention of accepting thanks from you. Cleaning up a mongrel’s territory was simply a noble fulfilling a noble’s duty. It’s not something I need gratitude for.”

“......”

“So will you move aside? I’m in a hurry.”

Rashir’s attitude was arrogant beyond belief, but the black-haired man acted as if he didn’t care at all, just shrugging with a smile.

“Of course I should step aside. But... did you say you were in a hurry?”

The man tilted his head, sounding genuinely puzzled as he asked.

“Then why have you come back here? My understanding was that you were appointed as the lord of Qingdao and left.”

“......”

“If you intend to carry out the head of house’s orders, you wouldn’t have time to loiter here, playing around with my people and wasting it. Unless...”

The man, who’d been smiling with his eyes, leaned his body toward Rashir and asked with a maybe-this-is-it expression.

“You’re not going to tell me you don’t plan to carry out the head of house’s orders properly... are you?”

“W-What!”

At that—

the noble who’d been openly ignoring the man, Rashir, flailed his hands as if panicked.

“What blasphemous nonsense is that! Even a mongrel like you should know there’s no one more devoted to our bloodline and the head of house than I am!”

“Ah, I know. I know very well. How could I not know your loyalty, sir? I was only curious why someone like you—someone you could say is a corpse without that loyalty—would still be in a place like this.”

The man smiled slickly.

At the sight, Rashir ground his teeth.

‘How dare some mongrel, relying on the head of house’s authority, keep acting this insolent to the very end...’

But he couldn’t show that anger.

He swallowed it down and offered an explanation.

“...It’s nothing. I just changed my mind a little. I was only going to take the remaining knights I left here back to my territory as well.”

“Hm? They were your retainers from the beginning, so it’s not like you can’t take them... but why go out of your way?”

The black-haired man tilted his head as {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} he spoke.

“Wasn’t the reason you loaned them to me because you couldn’t provide pay for all of those knights? And taking control of your territory should be more than enough with the force you brought with you.”

“Ah, that’s—”

“Come to think of it.”

Before Rashir could answer.

The man swept his eyes over Rashir’s procession and spoke.

“It looks like you have fewer knights than when you left.”

“......”

“And where did all the ghouls in the procession go? The ghouls in your territory aren’t educated, so you must have taken them as training staff to educate them.”

After saying that—

as if realizing something, he spoke in a voice full of caution.

“Did you run into the Sun Church’s holy knights, Viscount?”

“What?”

“If that’s the case, you should contact the head of house immediately—”

At those words, Rashir waved him off and shook his head.

“I understand what you’re worried about, but no.”

“If you’re embarrassed and trying to hide it, there’s no need. We’re at war right now, so if they showed up—”

“I know that too. But their territory is far from mine. You know that means it can’t be them.”

Then.

The black-haired man let out a sigh, as if the wind had gone out of him.

“At least that’s a relief. Then what is it? It can’t be that the anti-demon monk soldiers showed up again, so were there surviving awakened ones?”

“The awakened ones in this area were almost all wiped out already, weren’t they?”

“There are rumors a small number of remnants are still left and fleeing into the Sun Church’s territory. They’ve inherited the know-how of blood ghoul hunters, so even if it’s only a few, it won’t be easy to ignore.”

“I told you it wasn’t that.”

Rashir reflexively started to speak—

then it surfaced in his mind.

‘This is a duel between me and Viscount Ariella.’

He couldn’t let that man know.

“...Just understand that I had personal reasons.”

“Personal reasons.”

And.

Seeing that baffled face—

Rashir realized one fact.

“You... haven’t heard anything from the head of house?”

“Pardon?”

In the place he’d been chosen to become lord—

there was already a noble settled in as the lord.

There was only one meaning to that.

This was a test from the head of house: whichever of the two, him or Ariella, was stronger would become the owner of that land.

“...Heh.”

But.

That man didn’t seem to know that.

And realizing it—

“Just like I thought. No matter how much the head of house seems to favor you, in the end you’re still a mongrel. It means there’s no affection beyond a pet.”

“...What do you mean, Viscount?”

“Nothing.”

In a slightly better mood, he smiled as he spoke.

“You’ve only recently entered this noble society, so there’s a lot you don’t know. Let me give you one piece of advice.”

“Advice.”

“Every noble leads their own forces. There are few of us, which is why each and every one is precious. That’s why, no matter how high a noble’s status is, it’s a grave discourtesy to meddle too much in another noble’s affairs.”

With a faintly amused face, he looked down at the man standing beneath the palanquin as he spoke.

“It’s an even greater discourtesy for a noble in an ambiguous position like you.”

“...Haha.”

“I’ve said this much, so even you should understand what an enormous discourtesy it is to keep asking about my business. I don’t think there’s anything more for us to talk about, so step aside. You may not feel it, but I’m quite busy.”

At that.

The black-haired man smiled and stepped to the side.

“My apologies for the discourtesy. I’ll understand the troops you loaned me will be returned.”

“See that they are.”

And so.

Rashir’s procession passed him and headed deeper into the city.

And.

Watching the procession grow distant—

“...How strange.”

The black-haired man muttered in a low voice.

“No matter how incompetent someone is, he shouldn’t be so incapable that he can’t even follow a simple order—become lord of an empty city, gather up the ghouls, and join the front.”

{There was blood on the knights’ armor. It’s certain Viscount Rashir’s knights fought someone}

“...Ha. There are limits to incompetence. How do you even manage to lose troops in a city that should’ve had nothing but ghouls...?”

Even as he clicked his tongue in disbelief—

he fell into thought for a moment.

“...I think this needs to be investigated.”

{Pardon? But, my lord. As the Viscount said, digging into what another noble is hiding is...}

“Not a good idea?”

{Yes. Even if the head of house is one thing... other nobles will not look kindly on it.}

“Of course they won’t. Just like he said—those are the damned customs of nobles.”

With that, he gave a bitter smile.

“A lowly mongrel can’t go and offend the noble sensibilities of those exalted nobles, can he?”

{...My lord.}

“What. Don’t worry so much. I won’t break the customs. This is only...”

He smiled faintly as he looked at his own retainer beside him.

“Only as far as the nobles’ customs go.”

***

After that noble bastard left.

We went back to the work of gathering mana.

If there was any difference from before—

“For the Viscount!”

“Praise Viscount Ariella, the owner of our souls, and that knight of hers!”

The surviving ghouls—

their loyalty had turned into something that could pierce the sky.

“It’s thanks to you, master.”

Ariella said as she looked down at those ghouls.

“Since ghouls are born as slaves, the more impressive the master they serve is, the more pride they feel.”

“......”

“At this level, unless a blood lord appears in person, they’ll always do their utmost to serve us.”

It seemed the combat power I’d shown had left quite an impression on them.

But...

“That’s a little strange.”

I tilted my head as I spoke.

“I’ve got a level, so it’s not like I’m weak... but it’s not to that extent, is it?”

Right now, I definitely wasn’t weak.

It was just my guess, but—

with one dish in me, I was probably right on the edge of the blue tier on the [Combat Power Measuring Device].

And.

“There are plenty among your retainers who are at that level besides me.”

“That’s true.”

Among Ariella’s retainers, there were other monsters at that level.

The four great monsters she’d procured from that demon-lands.

They demanded so much blood, proportional to their size, that they still hadn’t fully recovered, but—

even so, they were stronger than me after I’d eaten one dish.

With creatures like that around, it was odd they were so moved by me, but—

“In truth, most nobles can’t even keep a knight at your level, master.”

“Hm? Really?”

“Yes. The number of nobles is small to begin with, and the vast majority are lesser nobles. The knights lesser nobles keep aren’t that strong. Strength at your level is impressive.”

“Hm.”

Well.

Back when that bastard was a mere half-viscount, his combat power was probably similar to mine.

Looking at it that way, it meant I was a knight with combat power on par with a noble.

It really was a big deal.

“Even among the retainers great nobles keep, there won’t be many as strong as you, master. It’s rare, but when a knight with outstanding ability renders outstanding merit, there are cases where they’re promoted and raised to nobility outright.”

And.

Ariella placed a hand to her chest and spoke with a proud posture. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

“And it means I’m a great authority who possesses four such outstanding retainers.”

“......”

“As I told you, it’s only because there are no other bloodlines that I can’t be elevated to the next title. In truth, I’m the one who rivals a great noble.”

“Uh-huh. Sure.”

...Come to think of it.

‘Are there really no other bloodlines in this land?’

If there were a great noble of the same bloodline here, like Ariella—

Ariella could meet that noble and achieve elevation to the next stage.

Then my own forces could become absurdly strong too.

It was just unfortunate that nobles of other bloodlines ruled this land.

“...Tch.”

While I was thinking that.

Ariella looked at the ghouls with a scowl and spoke.

“If they’d worked at this speed from the start, we would’ve hit the target long ago.”

“Well, if they’re working hard now, I’m grateful for it.”

Ariella spoke as if it irritated her more that they hadn’t tried from the beginning, but—

she’d said that while they submit to most nobles, the only one they truly give their loyalty to is the blood lord who turned them into ghouls, so it couldn’t really be helped.

“It’s definitely fortunate, but...”

Ariella understood that part too, but even so, she let out a sigh like she couldn’t hide her regret.

“At this rate, I don’t think we’ll be able to gather the mana we need.”

“...Yeah. Probably.”

It was true the ghouls’ labor efficiency had improved.

They were even bringing out things they’d hidden away like they were precious and offering them up, so—

the pile of items infused with mana was building up fairly quickly.

The problem was—

“No matter how much efficiency improves, it can’t replace the reduced numbers...”

“Kh.”

That massacre Rashir carried out when he came with his knights.

In the process, the number of ghouls dropped by quite a lot.

And the surviving ghouls were badly injured too.

If it were “knights,” it wasn’t like they’d been hit by sunlight, so they would’ve recovered in an instant.

But ghouls, despite the name “blood ghoul,” didn’t have any notable regenerative ability.

Of course the number of ghouls we could put to work had dropped sharply.

‘Rashir said he’d come back in two days.’

With high probability—

by then, we wouldn’t have gathered the mana needed to activate the transfer gate.

That blood duel bastard...

It looked like we wouldn’t be able to avoid it.