“This time, I’ve been assigned to handle support for Your Excellency the Count. My name is... please call me Lirei.”

The troops the grand duke had decided to provide.

They were, without a doubt, powerful.

“Still. Haha.”

I could tell without even fighting them.

Because—

“Haha. I never expected we’d meet again like this, Viscount.”

The one who had subdued me and Ariella—

then blown apart my skull and my heart.

“No, should I address you as Count now?”

With that bright, easy eye-smile—

it was that man.

“Luor.”

“Yes, Count.”

“I’ve changed my mind.”

And then.

Seeing that man, Ariella spoke in a firm tone.

“Go tell the grand duke we don’t need the support troops. A proper noble should know how to grow their own strength without another’s patronage.”

“Hm? Count?”

“Luor. Just tell me where the enemies are. Then I’ll personally lead my forces, grow my power as I go, and remove the grand duke’s worries for them...”

“Ah—ah! Count! Please don’t do that!”

At Ariella’s words—

the man hurried over as if flustered and stepped between Luor and Ariella.

“I understand why you’re saying this, but please, don’t.”

“Don’t? Don’t what? Are you telling me not to refuse to travel with the one who attacked and threatened me?”

“Yes. That.”

Sweating cold, he spoke.

“I apologize for what happened last time. Back then I saw you attacking Viscount Rashir, and I believe I misunderstood.”

“A misunderstanding? Because of that misunderstanding, you blew apart the head and heart of the knight I cherish most. I’m afraid that if you misunderstand twice, you’ll blow my head apart too.”

“That’s... mm. I have nothing to say but that I’m truly sorry. But...”

As he sweated, his half-lidded eyes opened a fraction.

Those red pupils slid a glance at me.

“That knight is still very much alive, isn’t he.”

“......”

“I certainly removed the heart and the brain, so how you’re still alive... I can’t understand it at all...”

That look held—

a question so thick he couldn’t hide it.

Just as he said.

In an instant, he’d removed two vital points from me.

I’d revived somehow, but for anyone normal—

no, even for someone far beyond “normal,” it wasn’t something you came back from.

The pain from that time was still vivid.

Even now, it was enough that my head and chest felt itchy.

‘I’d been planning to pay you back when we met again...’

But who would’ve thought—

we’d meet again this soon.

“Count. The grand duke promised to support your growth.”

While I stood there, dumbfounded by the situation, the man who’d introduced himself as Lirei looked at Ariella and spoke.

“This wasn’t my decision, but the grand duke’s. To reject that support could also be seen as not me, but you disregarding the grand duke.”

“Then I’ll receive support from other troops, not you. The grand duke surely has other excellent talent under command.”

“Ah, excellent talent? Of course. The bloodline has many knights and nobles far better than someone like me. But unfortunately... everyone is busy right now.”

“Busy.”

At that—

Ariella let out a hollow laugh as if something came to mind.

“And yet it was only a few days ago that you told me you were too busy and I should go find the grand duke on my own.”

“...Haha. You remember even something that trivial?”

“If you’re busy anyway, then wouldn’t it be fine if some other busy person helped me? Or did you suddenly become the only one with free time now?”

“Mmm. To be honest, I’m still busy as well.”

At Ariella’s point, the man smiled.

“Fortunately, helping the Count grow is similar to the work I was already doing. I don’t think my duties will change much.”

“Similar?”

And then.

The one who cut into their conversation was me.

“A special task force.”

“Oh?”

He’d said he was busy with work.

And that work was probably—

“Those areas scattered across the land that the main force couldn’t capture and passed over.”

In other words— 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

the very enemies now selected as Ariella’s prey.

“Capturing those regions was your job, wasn’t it?”

“Exactly.”

The special task force that hunted them—

that was his work.

***

No matter how you looked at it, that man had been hostile with us once.

And he’d even said himself he was busy with °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° his mission.

Bad blood and busy, yet he was coming out to support Ariella’s growth—something about that was strange.

But—

‘If the offerings for Ariella’s growth were originally this guy’s prey.’

Then the story changed.

While everyone else was busy, the most efficient choice for supporting Ariella’s growth would be—

someone whose original mission was basically the same thing.

“Now that I think about it, Qingdao was like that too.”

A city where the monsters’ average strength had far exceeded my expectations.

I’d even wondered how they’d conquered monsters that strong—

but the one who’d turned them into ghouls was none other than that man.

“So that place was originally a city the main force gave up on and passed over.”

“......”

“Which is why, as a special task force meant to handle only difficult regions, you stepped in and cleaned up that city... and because your mission is conquest, not rule, you turned all the monsters into ghouls and left. Right?”

At my words, the man stared at me blankly for a moment, then—

“Exactly.”

Soon,

he nodded with an admiring smile, as if impressed that I was right.

“Amazing. Truly...”

But a moment later—

...that smile warped, just slightly.

“As expected of someone who has earned the grand duke’s recognition.”

At that, I couldn’t help being a little surprised.

His expression had only twisted the tiniest bit, and his tone was even tinged with admiration, but—

what I tasted on the tip of my tongue was...

‘Jealousy... and envy?’

A taste completely different from his face.

‘Recognition?’

That jealousy tasted so sudden it felt out of place.

And if there was a cause for it, it would be that “recognition” he’d just mentioned.

But it didn’t seem like the grand duke had recognized me at all.

They’d said some nonsense about how, for a human, I wasn’t much, but for a vampire, I had a decent face, or whatever.

‘Ah. Wait—was it that?’

Thinking back, there was one thing that came to mind.

The grand duke had apologized for dropping me out of that “Succession Ceremony,” and for not trusting me back then.

Then they’d promised to give me their blood someday.

Once Ariella reached a level where she could form a bloodline—

when the grand duke appointed me as a complete noble, they would share their blood to raise my standing.

They even promised it as a “pact.”

...To be honest.

‘From my perspective, it felt like the most useless reward imaginable.’

I had no intention of becoming a vampire.

Helping me become a stronger vampire—what kind of reward is that?

I’d even felt hollow, thinking the price for having my life threatened was only this.

But...

“Haha. Well, the grand duke’s standards are notoriously strict.”

“......”

“You have to be someone who survives even after your head and heart are blown apart, and who can easily grasp a mission like mine... to be recognized, I suppose. Impressive.”

He spoke with a smile.

He spoke with a smile—

and yet the jealousy and envy pouring off him were dense.

‘And mixed faintly with sadness... with bitterness... even regret.’

Ariella’s attitude earlier had felt like that too, but—

it seemed like this wasn’t “not much” only to me.

It might be a truly incredible gift among vampires.

...Even someone this strong—

to feel jealousy this intense.

***

“Then let us depart. The first destination is not far, so I will escort you as comfortably as possible, Count.”

“...Haa.”

In the end, it was decided: we would travel with that man named Lirei.

Ariella clearly didn’t like it, but once she realized there was no way around it, she nodded as if resigned.

And then, a moment later—

Kuuuuung....

A massive, earthworm-like thing burst up from the ground.

Lirei pointed at it and said,

“Please, get on.”

“......”

[Taste Bud Enhancement]

[Cave Worm]

[A monster that roams any terrain—rocky regions, lava regions, and more—using its huge body, large mouth, and hard teeth to dig caves underground.]

[A monster that grows by consuming the mana contained in rocks. Because it requires no separate meals, it has no digestive organs. Instead, it possesses a strange ecology, such as carrying its young within its large body as it moves...]

The same monster that had shown itself when we fought last time.

Back then, a lot of monsters had come spilling out of that mouth...

“You mean... we’re supposed to ride inside that?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“......”

Even for Ariella—

going into a monster’s mouth seemed unpleasant.

She frowned hard.

“Mmm. If that is uncomfortable for you.”

Reading the room, the man slipped into the cave worm’s mouth for a moment—

then came back out holding something, along with the monsters inside.

“Ride this way.”

“This is...”

How should I put it.

It was something that looked a little familiar.

“Viscount Rashir had problems in many ways... but I believe even among nobles, his artistic sense was recognized.”

“......”

“At this level, even to your eyes, Count, it won’t be terribly shabby.”

Not long ago.

Rashir—the noble who’d died by that man’s hands.

These were the carriages and palanquins that had been part of Rashir’s procession.

“Haa. Better than going in there.”

Saying that, Ariella climbed up into the palanquin.

The surrounding monsters clung to it and lifted it.

I was about to walk beside it, following along, but—

“Knight.”

“...?”

“You should get on as well.”

Then—

Ariella looked down at me and said that.

I’d never ridden something like a gaudy palanquin in my life.

And I didn’t particularly want to.

And...

‘It’s uncomfortable right now.’

She was no longer a thrall.

Being close to her like this—

honestly, it felt a little awkward.

I wanted to refuse, but—

“As expected. You seem to have your master’s favor.”

“...Favor.”

“What are you doing? Get on already.”

When even that guy said it—

I had no choice but to sigh and climb up onto the ornate palanquin.

“Just in case, I’ll say this. The past is the past. Now that I’ve been assigned the mission of supporting the Count, I have no intention of doing it carelessly. This time is a direct order from the grand duke.”

Once Ariella and I finished preparing to depart, Lirei approached us and spoke with a rather serious expression.

“Please forget what happened recently, and if there is anything that makes you uncomfortable, tell me without hesitation. If you wish, you may think of me and treat me like a thrall.”

“Is that acceptable?”

“Yes. I am the troop force the grand duke bestowed upon the Count. Until the grand duke calls me back, I will serve the Count as I would the grand duke.”

At Lirei’s words—

“...Tell you without hesitation if something is uncomfortable, huh.”

Ariella, who’d been wearing an uncomfortable expression the whole time, looked down at Lirei below the palanquin.

“Perfect timing. There’s been something uncomfortable since earlier.”

“Yes. What is it? If it is something I can resolve, anything...”

“You.”

With that arrogant smile she’d worn when she’d played the part of a noble back in Qingdao, she said,

“The way you walk around on two legs is unpleasant to look at.”

“......”

“From now on, follow on four.”