Golden Week SP – Gold War: Part 1
I grab a protruding rock and dig my toe into a small indent.
I slowly pull my body up and climb the vertical wall.
「Finally made it about 80%.」
2000 or so meters of stone still tower overhead and several times the amount of the kind of stone I’ve been scaling continues under me if I turn around. The ground is far away, past the clouds and beyond even the vision of a vampire.
The great mountain range that cuts the continent into north and south, with an elevation of over 10,000 meters, is considered an absolute barrier which nothing can penetrate.
That mountain in the realm of Gods is what I’m climbing right now.
It was about two weeks ago, when the three of us who share the same fate after being turned into kindred, Lucy, Celia and I, were wandering like we’ve done for what felt like decades.
Lucy suddenly said this:
『I have something I’d like to do together with Celia-chan as females, you go away for a bit, Aegir. Why don’t you climb a mountain for a month?』
Thus Lucy and Celia were left to do their secret business while I went mountain climbing.
I was naive for thinking that a vampire’s physical ability would allow me to reach the peak in an instant.
The rock surface is precipitous and rugged, yet brittle enough that parts would break off if I grab or step too hard with my inhuman strength.
「But now that I’m here, I’m going to set foot on the top and get a sweeping view of the north and south!」
The moment I psyched myself up and grabbed the wall, my hand slipped.
What I thought was a rock turned out to be a lump of ice.
My face hits the wall of stone and ice, and the momentum of my slip sends me rolling down the rock surface.
I can’t even grab the wall to stop myself.
I roll thousands of times, hitting my head hundreds of times, and an hour of falling later, I crash into the ground.
I slid down the full 5000 meters.
「There goes my motivation…… I want to drink and sleep.」
With that said, this is a plateau at the foot of a great mountain range, which is covered by snow for most of the year, has low temperature and thin air.
There’s no way a town is nearby.
This place is beyond the control of the United Empire――I wonder if the Goldonia of the past was called that――or rather, there is nothing which can be governed.
「I shouldn’t have listened like an idiot and gone mountain climbing.」
As I heave a deep sigh and start walking off, something grabs my leg.
「Nn, a monster?」
I might be unarmed, but that’s not a problem.
Just like vampires in the legends, I get stronger the more time passes, and currently it would be a cinch for me to dismantle 10 stray orcs. Maybe the other party sensed what I am and doesn’t want to come close.
「Wait……it’s a woman!!」
Right before I kick the hand, I notice the slender arm belongs to a female and quickly pull the person out from the snow.
「Cold……so cold……」
「Can’t breathe……body is frozen……」
「And there are two of them. How lucky.」
One is in her twenties, and the other, who looks to be in her late teens, is likely the first woman’s younger sister.
「Why on earth would a woman be buried here? First thing’s first, I have to warm they up.」
If I was human, I’d have gotten naked and given her an embrace, then gently inserted my hot thick pole to warm her insides, however unfortunately, I’m a vampire with no body temperature.
「Regrettably, I have to rely on a campfire. It’ll take a minute to start, hopefully they can hold on. I’ll also make my special garlic soup.」
After they get warm, I’ll ask them how they ended up collapsing in this isolated place.
Getting straight to the point, there was a town.
Three, to be exact.
「There is a town to the west near here, where wanderers gather. The ruler is Gyugan. He was a wicked feudal lord banished five years ago during the Unification War.」
「Oh yeah, many people were banished back then.」
I pour seconds for the older sister and urge her to continue.
「In the canyon to the north, there is a settlement of fanatics. Their leader is Gugulkas. I heard he was formerly a bishop of the Altair faith who was excommunicated by the main church for his abnormal beliefs, and then took a portion of followers to create his own sect here.」
「Those followers really cause trouble.」
I help the younger sister blow on the hot soup and feed her slowly as her hands are shaking too much for her to hold a bowl.
「Lastly, there is a settlement of demi-humans residing along the mountainside. A monster called Yohko is governing them, I think? They aren’t very belligerent, although I can’t help wondering……」
The soup seems to have taken effect and both of them are able to breathe easier.
「I have no clue what to make of this. Demi-humans might have lived here from the beginning, as for the wicked feudal lord and the heretic bishop, I don’t know why they came here. Plenty of places with a better environment exist if they wanted to escape human eyes.」
The sisters looked at each other, stood up, then, with their hands, scooped something from the bottom of a creek where melting snow was running off.
「This is the answer.」
Their tiny palms contained glistening specks――of gold.
「The river and mountain are packed with gold. The place where the demi-humans are, in particular, has a gold deposit large enough to make the mountainside shine.」
Well, that will certainly attract people.
「We too were in dire straits, and were on the verge of being sold off until we heard about――」
「It’s because sis borrowed money from loan sharks after gambling too much, right?」
The older sister strikes the younger sister on the head.
「We promptly rushed to the gold mine where the demi-humans attacked――」
「Wasn’t it because sis pointed a knife at them and shouted, “all the gold belongs to me!”?」
The older sister pinches the younger sister’s nose.
「We ran to the settlement of fanatics and nearly got sacrificed for blasphemy against their――」
「Maybe it’s because sis ate the offering during their worship and let out a big fart.」
The older sister pulls on the younger sister’s cheek.
「We finally fled to the town of wanderers where the men violated us……beat us and almost killed us before we managed to escape and got here.」
Something drops from the older sister’s bosom when she breaks down in tears.
It is a dirty bag like one held by a typical street rat which is stuffed with small pieces of gold.
「Was that man hitting you because you stole his purse!?」
The younger sister stares in disbelief, while the older sibling looks off in the distance pretending to admire the weather.
The older sister grabs my hand.
「Meeting at the edge of the world must be some kind of fate, I have a request.」
「So you want me to escort you to a safe town?」
She nods enthusiastically.
「Well, you did tell me your story. I guess I could, but I have a condition.」
「I won’t give you any money!」
The younger sister’s eyes are colder than the temperature of the air and the older sister is hunched over to guard the purse.
「I don’t want your money. What I want is your body.」
The older sister pats her chest in relief.
「Sis……you’re not supposed to be relieved by that.」
「Money is gone when given away, it’s not the case with my body!」
She isn’t an upstanding sister, but it’s better than her crying.
「By the way, your hand is cold. Why don’t you get closer to the fire?」
「I’m a vampire. That’s why I don’t have a pulse and I have fangs, see?」
I place her hand on my chest and show her my teeth.
「I see, a vampire? No wonder you are here by yourself, haha……now if you don’t mind, I’ll take my leave.」
The older sister pats my shoulder with a smile and is just about to dash off, but I grab her by the collar.
「Geez sis, all you do is create problems……I think I’ll also leave.」
I also grab the younger sister by the leg as she tries to escape with her belongings.
「「H-help……」」
I pile the sisters on top of each other and press my body down on them.
***
――A Few Days Later. Evening.
「I see, this isn’t a mere village, it’s a full-fledged city.」
I thought the older sister, being an irresponsible woman, was possibly exaggerating, but it seems she was serious.
It goes without saying, I didn’t kill the sisters.
In fact, I didn’t even suck their blood, I only embraced them gently……and then delivered them to a nearby town……which was two weeks’ time on foot.
「If I recall, this was the place with all the wanderers? Let’s name it Punk City.」
Here and there, men can be seen loitering with bottles of alcohol in their hand, while women wearing revealing clothing are cackling vulgarly.
「I’ll fucking kill you!!」
「Try it, you dumb fuck!」
Nobody bats an eye at the men hurling coarse language and throwing punches at each other on the main street or the couple in the back alley bumping their naked lower halves against each other.
「Hmm. This city lacks any shred of decency, yet I somehow feel calm.」
This is definitely no place to stroll if Lucy and Celia were with me.
Out of nowhere, a tattooed arm rests on my shoulder.
「Hey mister. You got a nice body.」
Turning around, I see a buff man covered in tattoos from head to toe.
He’d probably be pursued by guards in a normal town with an appearance like that.
「Compliments from a guy doesn’t make me happy.」
「I’m not praising your naked body. I’m just saying you have a body of someone who’s fought a lot and killed a lot. Did you work as a mercenary in the Unification War? You must have went wild.」
He nudges my shoulder.
「……maybe.」
My not-so-subtle evasion elicits a grin from the man.
「Then your reason for being here must be for no other reason than gold, right? Let me tell you, you won’t earn much by diving into the icy river and scooping up the specks though. If you’re confident in your skills, I’ve got better work for you.」
I nod, pretending to be interested, and urge him to continue.
「Be one of Gyugan-sama’s soldiers. You’ll get at least this much as a reward.」
He shows me an amount higher than the salary of a noble’s retainer.
「Just from being a soldier? I don’t believe you.」
「It’s not that hard to understand. Sure, there isn’t much gold around here, but certain places have tons of it. Except those areas are surrounded by the annoying fanatics and demi-humans. That’s why the plan is to gather strong individuals and kill all the obstacles so the rest of us can take the gold for ourselves.」
The man smacks my back a few times.
「Ideally, we’d have wanted to hire mercenaries or other capable fighters from other towns. However, it would be all for nothing if our actions alerted the Empire of the presence of gold. So, we’re buying any strong-looking guys we can find here at a high price. Anyway, go see Gyugan-sama if you want to be rich.」
I think about the situation briefly.
Punks, fanatics, demi-humans……I don’t care who wins, plus I’m not particularly interested in money.
Rampaging at the edge of the world sounds fun though.
「More importantly, this place feels more comfortable than either of those other two places――」
Suddenly, shouts and cheers interrupt my monologue.
I soon discover two pillars, each of them having a young boy tied to them.
「Gahahaha! You missed three in a row. Retire already!」
「Hey hey, you stopped drinking. Are you gonna give some lame excuse like, “I missed because of the booze”?」
「Shaddup! I was just a lil’ off――oraa!」
A knife flies straight at one of the restrained boys, grazing his shoulder.
His sobbing is barely audible from the laughing of the spectators.
It seems the other boy has already died from getting hit in the face with a knife.
「Is this some kind of lynching? Did they steal or commit a crime?」
I ask a man close to me.
「Nah, we’re just bored and decided to have some fun by hanging a bunch of slave kids. Those guys are betting how many throws it takes for them to die.」
「Oh, I see.」
I nod to myself.
I take back what I said about this place feeling pleasant.
This place is a disgusting cesspool of human garbage.
「Go for the middle next.」
「Don’t hit the heart. It’s boring if you kill him right away.」
Prompted by the cheers, another knife is thrown.
Its trajectory is between the boy’s throat and chest……it will result in a ghastly scene if the knife hits.
「Right on targ――eh?」
The man who threw the knife freezes.
I cover the 20-meter distance in half a second to stand in front of the boy and catch the knife before it hits.
「Fucker, don’t get in the way of our fun!! ……where was he hiding?」
「I was going to get my bet right! I’ll fucking kill you!! ……he wasn’t anywhere near when the knife was thrown, right?」
I flip the knife around so the blade is pointing the other way and turn away from the boy who fainted in fear.
「Here, I’ll give it back to you.」
I use all my power……my vampiric strength, and throw the knife back at the man.
「Eeek!」
The knife flies faster than an arrow shot from the tautly-drawn string of a heavy bow, faster than an iron ball shot out of a cannon, and faster than a bullet fired from a musket.
No one other than myself could even follow the object with their eyes.
The one thing that everyone registered was the sound of the blade cutting through the air.
A few seconds later, someone chuckled nervously.
「Ha, hahaha……tryna scare us? You missed.」
「E-exactly. All that build up and where did it even land? You make a street performer look good.」
I undo the bindings of the boy and tilt my head.
「Nn? How strange……」
The laughing gets louder.
「What’s strange is your aim. Just pretending to seem strong!?」
「You’re going to pay for ruining my bet. I’ll make you the next target!」
I strain my eyes to get a closer look at the man standing upright.
Then I nod.
「Don’t scare me like that. It did hit after all.」
As a smile forms on my face, the man who I returned the knife to tips over and falls forward.
The knife was not stuck in his body.
It pierced through his body and created a hole in his stomach and back.
「Huh?」
Matching the timing of the astonishment of those around, a small man, who was sitting behind the fallen man, also collapses with half his head missing, and a larger man further behind him cowers after noticing he lost his right arm.
「Gyaaaaa!!」
Additionally, following the straight line course, I find that the knife also tore the head off of a punk drinking in a bar located behind the larger man, went through the wooden counter to gouge the dick of the owner, then blasted through the wall before finally stabbing a rock in the backyard.
「I’m taking this guy.」
I don’t want to stay in this Punk City any longer.
Grabbing the unconscious boy by the collar, I turn to leave.
「Wait right there. After making a mess of Gyugan-sama’s city, I’m not going to――」
Since it’s too much of a hassle to respond, I punch the armed man blocking me right in the pit of his stomach.
He flies parallel to the ground, not letting out a scream, and crashes into a carriage. The force was so great that only his fat body remained stuck on the carriage, while his limbs and head flew in separate directions.
「I’m not very happy, so don’t talk anymore. Got it?」
I lift one corner of my mouth to reveal my fang to the punks.
「G-got it――pugya!」
I twist the head of the last guy, who didn’t seem to understand, and exit the city.
「U-um……」
「I don’t know if you’re brave or just stupid to talk to me after all that.」
I smirk at the boy.
Obviously, I’m not going to kill him.
「What’s going to happen to me. Am I going to be eaten?」
「Relax, I only drink the blood of women. I’ll just take you to somewhere safe.」
Instead of sighing in relief, the boy shudders for some reason.
「Could it be you’re actually a girl?」
「U-uh oh!?」
That changes things.
Ultimately, I did not kill her or suck her blood, she became a woman in my arms.
***
――The Next Day. Evening.
After sending the girl to another town, the next place I visited was the settlement built by the former bishop of Altair.
「This place is incomparably cleaner than Punk City.」
Unlike the Punk City, which had vomit and excreta and broken bottles everywhere, the streets here don’t have a single piece of garbage on them.
Residents here smile and greet each other when they make eye contact.
「Today’s quite a nice day too. Let us praise Altair.」
「Yes, I pray that tomorrow will bring the same. Entrust everything to Altair.」
The last part bothers me, but this is a city created by a bishop, so it’s inevitable.
It’s not like they are hurting anybody.
「Another thing that bothers me is their clothes.」
Everyone is wearing all-black robes. The weird part is that they look more like blankets than actual clothes. Thanks to that, it makes someone like me, who is wearing regular clothes, stand out.
Coincidentally, I make eye contact with a female in her mid twenties.
She shuffles closer upon realizing me.
I had the impression that outsiders would be shunned, maybe that’s not the case, seeing how she’s smiling.
「Pardon me for being rude, are you someone who does not know about the God, Altair?」
Is she sympathizing with a stranger?
「I guess you can say that.」
Once she hears my vague answer, the female beams.
「Then, let me, as immature as I am, teach you about the exalted Altair.」
Mm, I’m in a bind.
I don’t believe in the existence of an absolute being like a god, and even if one exists, converting a dead person like me would inconvenience her.
On the other hand, I can’t just ignore this smiling woman. As I’m contemplating how to refuse, the female places a hand on her robe.
「Entrust everything to Altair.」
What she uncovers as she speaks is a bare naked body.
And I have to admit, she has a nice body.
Does this mean all the residents are naked under their robes?
「Making children is the utmost important and sublime duty bestowed to humans by Altair. Come, let us lay with one another and entrust everything to Altair.」
「Entrust everything to Altair.」
Somehow, I was also influenced to say the same words.
Hearing me reciprocate the phrase, she pulls me by the arm with a sincere smile appears on her face.
It costs me nothing to say it.
If I can sleep with this girl, maybe it’s not so bad to believe in God just for this moment.
Now that I’m out of my mental predicament, I notice that many females, from young to old, are looking at me passionately.
Simply by saying “God is great” will allow you to embrace all these women in this pure city.
That doesn’t sound like a bad deal. Should I make this my base?
「Kyaa!?」
While I’m distracted, the girl leading me bumps into something and falls on her butt.
I turn and see a man similarly dressed in regular clothes like me.
「Where are you looking!? Be careful, you dolt!!」
Knocking a girl to the ground and then yelling at her? What a despicable man.
Before I can grab the man, she steps forward.
Of course, she is still wearing a smile on her face.
「My deepest apologies, person who knows naught of Altair. Perhaps I can tell you about――」
The woman begins to speak the same line she said to me, but the man swings his arm at her like she’s being a nuisance.
「I don’t give a shit about your God! I care about the money you used to pay……what is this?」
All of a sudden, the smile disappears, the woman grits her teeth and her face warps with disgust.
Furthermore, a parent and child playing happily together, as well as two young men peacefully chatting, also glare at the man with the same expression as the woman.
The woman raises her arm and points at the man.
「The devil――――!!!!」
Her shout signals men and women of all ages to attack the man.
「W-what are you doing!? Stop! Ugya! H-help, help meeee!!」
The man’s screams change to cries and eventually fades to a muffled noise and then silence.
「Sorry to keep you waiting. A devil appeared, oh how terrifying. Entrust everything to Altair.」
A gentle smile returns to the woman’s face, contrasting the blood on her hands.
That man was reduced to a shapeless form. He was dismantled alive by the bare hands of the residents.
I put a hand to my forehead and think.
Honestly, I’m taken aback by that.
Yet, it doesn’t change the fact that I can sleep with all the women I want if I don’t say anything unnecessary.
「I can endure and stay for a bit longer……」
A baby’s cry from a nearby house interrupts me.
The baby is cranky and is also accompanied by the mother’s scolding.
「Please, hold on to it! Hold onto Altair’s blessing!!」
The mother is trying to make the baby grab onto some kind of sculpture.
Her menacing look is having the opposite effect on soothing the baby though.
「Hey, hey, I don’t know why you’re so desperate, but you’re just going to scare the baby if you keep yelling……wait.」
I notice the sudden change in the surrounding atmosphere.
It’s eerily the same mood as earlier with that man.
「Not wanting to touch Altair’s blessing……」
「A baby who doesn’t accept God……meaning……」
Everyone raises their arms slowly and points at the baby.
The mother does the same.
「「「The devil――――!!」」」
I snatch the baby from the attacking residents, bust through a wall and escape.
「Enough. I’d only feel grossed out if I stay here, even if I get to sleep with women.」
In some sense, this place is even more disgusting than Punk City.
I’ll call it Fanatic Town.
I put the baby going goo-goo ga-ga after knowing that it escaped a critical situation on top of my head and headed to the last town.
「A town of demi-humans……the only demi-humans I can think of from the top of my head are like orcs and goblins.」
What if there are intelligent goblins living there?
And what am I going to do with this baby?
「I’m here. So this is the demi-human village.」
The aforementioned demi-human village was formed on the side of the mountain.
「I see, there is gold here. This whole mountain must be a giant gold mine.」
I lower my eyes from the mountain to the village.
Fortunately, it was not a village of orcs or goblins.
Calling it a village of demi-humans was incorrect, and it’s more accurate to describe the inhabitants as beastmen.
「They aren’t attacking me, so I can probably sleep with them like any other human. Yet, there is this depressing feeling about this place.」
For some reason, this town feels very cooped up, like a sense of despair is hanging over……anyway, it feels gloomy.
Sadly, I don’t think this place suits me.
Let’s entrust this baby to someone and leave.
As I look around, I notice something.
There are certainly many beastmen, but there are also many humans.
Not only that, everyone from young to old are injured.
Is this the reason the village has this depressing aura about it?
「Young man, are you new here?」
I turn around and see a one-legged elder hobbling toward me.
「Actually, I’m about to leave. I just have to find someone to take care of this kid.」
The elder points a shaky hand toward the largest building.
「You can ask Yohko-sama. That person is a very kind individual who looks after us old people who can’t work and children, as well as the sick and injured.」
I see, Yohko of the demi-human village.
I follow the unsteady elder.
「Yohko-sama is a special individual even amongst the beastmen living here. Apparently, Yohko-sama is over 1000 years old and possesses power beyond human intellect.」
That’s pretty incredible then, considering Lucy is 600 years old.
「This town doesn’t seem to be doing well though.」
The elder shakes his head.
「Yohko-sama’s intuition is incomprehensible to us humans. Why not wield power against the scoundrels in the west, why not drive out the lunatics to the north……we can’t explain it.」
Is that so?
Confident in their own strength, it seems Yohko doesn’t need gatekeepers or guards at the mansion, and I was able to enter easily.
「Yohko-sama, a new person has come to the village. He also brought a young child with him.」
『Bring the baby to the back.』
A dignified voice echoes.
「Yes. This man actually――」
『Bring the baby to the back!!』
Ordered in a fairly firm tone, the elder grabs the baby from me and disappears to the back.
『A bad person got mixed in?』
The door closes on its own and even locks by itself.
「Oh incredible. That’s handy.」
My joke gets rebuffed.
『That malice, that smell of death, you think I haven’t noticed?』
Makes sense.
Having lived for a millennium, it’s not hard to figure out I’m a vampire.
『I won’t allow an evil being like you to devour my brethren or the human children who rely on me.』
「Let me say that……I never had such intentions.」
Maybe he won’t believe me because I’m a vampire.
A jingling sound that resembles a bell approaches from the darkness.
My skin senses an overwhelming pressure. This presence is on another level to that of an orc.
I might not be able to handle it bare-handed.
「O wicked one who defies death and opposes the logic of this world, I will now purge you.」
Appearing before me is a stunning beauty wearing an outfit I’ve never seen before……
She has animal ears on her head and a large tail waving at me in a threatening manner.
「So you’re Yohko. Yohko the fox.」
Right, I remember Lucy telling me that foxes are considered special among the beast tribe.
That’s all I heard before falling asleep so I don’t remember the rest.
「I’ll say it again, I don’t have any hostile intent. I’ll leave after leaving the baby in someone’s care.」
「Quiet, vampire! Your words won’t work on me! Now, be reduced to ash by my power!」
Yohko’s eyes widen and the fur on her tail stands on end.
Orbs of bluish white fire materializes around me.
「Ah, this isn’t good.」
I’m more than surrounded by them.
Escaping is not possible.
「Take this! Fox Fire!!」
All the fireballs fly toward me when Yohko shouts.
As I can’t dodge, all of them hit me and my body quickly gets engulfed in flames.
「Guwaaaa! Actually, it isn’t all that hot.」
More specifically, it feels about as hot as boiling water left out in the open for three minutes.
At the very least, I won’t die from it.
「Think you’re tough, huh!? How about this!? Fox Storm!!」
「Kuh, this is……!?」
Despite being indoors, I’m being assaulted by turbulent winds.
It’s an unpredictable current of air coming from all directions.
「That being said, it’s just a strong gust.」
It’s nothing I can’t endure.
Back when I was a human, I’d just complain about it being windy before going shopping.
「Grrr! Then what about this!?」
Yohko jogs and then pounces at me.
Should I intercept? No, acting carelessly is dangerous.
Yohko runs surprisingly sluggishly next to me.
Looking up close, I see that her outfit is over-the-top and she’s rather small.
「Fox――」
Still, I can’t let my guard down.
I brace myself for the next technique.
「Kitsune Bomber.」
「Gefuh.」
I choke when an impact hits the pit of my stomach.
「That’s just a thrusting technique!」
I was totally expecting some magic and took the attack in the worst way possible.
In conclusion, Yohko is weaker than she looks.
She’d probably lose to an average knight.
「What was that!!?」
Yohko circles clumsily behind me and latches herself to my body.
「Fox Dyna-! Dynami-!」
Is she trying to do a suplex?
No way, I’m way too big for her to lift.
「Dyna-, Dyna-! Dynamic!」
With a strained yell, she exerts her strength only for a disturbing crack to ring out.
「……was that your hip?」
Yohko stares at me, tears welling in her eyes, and falls limply to her side.
I gather her in my arms and call for help.
「This scent……is that of an evil being……kind of nostalgic……somehow.」
While tugging the ears of Yohko mumbling nonsense, I sigh to myself, thinking that I can’t leave now.
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