Chapter 128: Wanted, part 3
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
◆Dee◆
It was just before sunrise when Bale returned.
「So how was today?」, crooned Dee as she came out to welcome him.
Here only because Roland had tasked her with doing so, she had grown rather tired of this lifestyle. She had no choice but to keep at it, though, as there was still information about Welger & Co. to be extracted.
Bale reached out in an attempt to caress Dee’s skin, but she quickly dodged the advance. It was the best she could manage as she had no desire to be touched by anyone other than Roland.
「…」
Helping an awkward-looking Bale to put his things away, she then took off his outer jacket.
「About that abduction of your acquaintance’s daughter, Candy… I might know something about it.」
「Really? Wow, that’s great! Thanks, Bale-kun!」
Knowing that bringing up a completely unrelated topic out of the blue would raise suspicion, she had decided to tell him that said girl was the daughter of an acquaintance. Although she was smiling as always, Roland’s words were constantly racing through her mind over and over again.
『The daughter of Ben Amstel, a former Lord, has been kidnapped. Those behind it somehow know who I am. I need information about the kidnappers — I believe that association dabbles in abduction as well, so I need you to get more information out of Bale.』
According to him, it would be the last piece of information he needed from Bale. Once she had obtained it, she would be done with this lifestyle.
She had become a lot more enthusiastic after hearing this.
「I can tell you about it, but on one condition.」
「Hm?」
「Who… or what… are you?」
Trying to maintain her rapidly fading smile, Dee cocked her head to one side.
「I’m an adventurer. Didn’t I mention this before?」
『If he tries to dig deeper about you, then feel free to get rid of him』, she remembered Roland saying during the initial briefing.
She began summoning a shortened version of her bloodsucking spear, making sure to conceal it behind her back.
「I already know what adventurers and the guild do. But I can’t imagine how a deracine like you has connections with a former noble.」
Perhaps Dee’s plastered-on smile had made him more suspicious of her. He shook his head.
「…I’m sorry. I didn’t want to say something like that. I was just wondering who exactly I am to you…」
「Ara-ara. You’re saving money so we can return to your hometown together, aren’t you? We’re doing our best until then, aren’t we?」
Of course, she had no idea how much he had saved up, and nor did she care. Looking troubled, Bale closed his eyes and nodded several times, trying to convince himself.
「That’s right.」
Poor chap, thought Dee to herself with indifference.
「It seems that one part of Welger & Co. has a hand in the abduction of the Amstel family’s daughter –」
Detecting a faint presence outside the room, she gripped the spear that she had been about to despawn and turned off the light.
「Eh? What’s wrong?」
「You’re being stalked, Bale-kun.」
「Huh?」
「Foolish child. You need to be more observant. I’m saying that your information leakage has been found out.」
Whoever found out had probably let him off the hook for the time being in order to find out who he had been leaking the information to.
「That’s not –」
Though the room was dark, orange light from the day dawning outside shone through the gaps of the closed window.
Vampires are creatures designed to take advantage of the night. With the sun up, their power is diminished to a point where even the average human is a match for them. Dee tutted without thinking.
While she could get rid of Bale and run off alone, it would be a waste to let all her effort go to waste. She noticed four presences — one directly outside, one on the first floor and two advancing in their direction in the corridor below.
「Let’s go.」
Grabbing Bale who was still muttering to himself by the scruff of his neck, she kicked down the closed door and flew out with spectacular form. With a thump, she landed on the ground while Bale crash landed. Noticing their arrival, the men advanced quietly, their auras feeling similar to Roland’s.
There was no way she and the confused Bale would both make it out alive. Preparing herself for the worst, she shoved him aside and brandished her bloodsucking spear.
「C-Candy!」
「Shut up, stay there and tremble all you want.」
Using the long spear would prove difficult within the confines of the building. She could try to take the fight outside, but the enemies would certainly follow in an instant.
Before she knew it, she was already surrounded.
Taking a deep breath, she exhaled and began activating her Magic Eye, one of the signature abilities of a vampire. Despite putting their best effort into dodging left and right, they were inadvertently caught in its reach.
Her Magic Eye was designed to work best on the opposite gender. Even though its effectiveness had been greatly reduced, she was confident that it could at least buy her a few seconds.
She put everything she had into that move, but…
The moment she heard the sound that followed, she knew that her spell had been countered. There’s no way to specifically counter a Magic Eye, but there are certainly ways to counter debuffs.
Granted, she was in a weakened state. But even so, the fact that her signature ability had been countered — by a human male on top of that — completely destroyed her pride.
Seeing the smirk on her enemies’ faces was the last straw. Gripping her spear, she thrust it at them, but only managed to slice through thin air because of its length.
「Tch.」
A man wielding one sword in each hand walked up to her easily.
There was no way Dee had failed to consider that possibility. As soon as she despawned her spear, she began summoning another one, thrusting it before it reached its full length.
Not having expected a spear to appear out of nowhere, her attacker was caught off guard. The spear pierced right through his chest — a fatal blow.
Or that’s what she thought, until he activated some sort of skill, transferring the wound from his chest to his left hand.
「Ara-ara…oh dear…」
As she sighed, the other enemies closed in on her.
「I wonder which one of you will have the honor of defeating Candice Meinrad…」
With a slight smile, she adjusted her grip on the spear and thrust forward again.
It was parried without hesitation.
It was then that she felt the presences behind her being snuffed out in succession like candles on a birthday cake.
「Don’t think you can die without my permission like that」, came a deep, bored-sounding voice from behind.
The final assailant — the one who had parried her last, desperate thrust — fell, revealing an assassin behind him. He looked strangely out of place against the sunlit backdrop, but he had arrived nonetheless.
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