Volume 3 Chapter 26 If You’re Going To Take The ‘Dacia’
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
’Dacia, huh?’
As they left the old Oswald mansion and stepped into the merchant district, ‘Glasses’ muttered under her breath.
’So that name still persists, does it?’
Weaving past a loud peddler selling ice and descending the paved road, Kian responded to Glasses’ soliloquy.
(Even when you were flesh and blood, Dacia was around, wasn’t it?)
’That’s a tale from long ago. Only the ancient elves hiding deep in the forest would remember those times.’
(Now that you mention it, the ancient castle you suggested I equip from is in the northeast of Izerland──Dacia. Is that castle a remnant from those days?)
’If it hasn’t been demolished or rebuilt by someone, then probably. It’s beyond the clan’s sphere of influence, across the Dacia Plains. A stronghold was needed to protect the town in the mountain basin and to hunt monsters and beasts. ────This one didn’t have a ‘farm’ or a ‘wine cellar,’ so we needed to build sturdy castle walls to compensate for the lack of military force.’
(‘Farm’? ‘Wine cellar’? Do those directly contribute to military power?)
’One must eat to gain strength. You should understand how powerless a vampire is without something to drain life force from.’
Kian realized the true meaning of ‘farm’ and ‘wine cellar’ from Glasses’ words.
In other words, the meat raised in that ‘farm’ and the fine wine stored in the ‘wine cellar’ were────.
(Humans?)
’────────’
Glasses offered no reply.
That silence was confirmation enough.
Indeed, vampires are said to have hardly any cells that generate magic power, so to use their unfair special abilities or to fully utilize their superior physical abilities, they need subjects to exploit, just like Kian’s Natra or Rufna.
And to efficiently and stabilize that, they had human farms and blood wine cellars.
Though Kian was human, he couldn’t hide his revulsion.
But rationally, he had to admit it was a reasonable system.
’As for the wine cellar… it was a pure indulgence. Not necessary for survival, but you people enjoyed the taste like you’d savor a wafer or a full-mint after a meal. Especially the blood of children around 7 years old.’
(I see.)
’Does that make you feel uneasy?’
(Yes, it does. But that was in the distant past, right? It has nothing to do with me now.)
He left the Weapon Guild and entered the epicerie, the street of grocery shops.
Every time he visited the fortress, Kian would buy souvenirs for Robert and Aliona.
So, of course, he’d make a stop here.
As he gazed at the white shops lining both sides of the cobblestone street, debating where to go, a familiar magic power approached from the end of the town.
Darting through the crowd, a black shadow slithered toward him.
The afternoon sunlight poured down from above, mixing with the dust kicked up by passing people. The heat radiating from the cobblestones distorted his vision, making the world shimmer like a mirage.
As Kian came to an abrupt stop, the flow of pedestrians naturally parted around him. Before his eyes, the shadow took shape, materializing into the form of a young girl with tanned skin—appearing as if out of nowhere.
It was Natra.
Dressed in a simple white outfit, she wore a striking red and green scarf wrapped around her neck. Her short black hair framed the delicate features of a beautiful young girl, her dark eyes gazing up at Kian.
”My lord, I’ve come to escort you. I’ve parked the horse by the bridge. Please come when you’re finished.”
”Rufna wasn’t the one to come?”
He asked, leaning against a nearby wall.
He moved further into an alleyway between shops to escape the noise of the ice vendor.
Natra followed close behind, entering the alleyway and answering.
”Rufna is currently reinforcing the barrier. There was a slight mishap… I apologize, but an Adventurer Guild employee from East End discovered the hideout.”
”What? So, what happened?”
”I confessed to the Guild Master before they could search the place, saying we’d been using it as a temporary shelter since we didn’t have a home. Things worked out. Milk and Walnut have already been transferred to the Eastern Forest.”
”Milk and Walnut? What are those?”
He blurted that out before remembering.
Those were the names Natra, with her unique sense of naming, had given to the test subjects, the swords, Cain and the others.
”…It seems Sir Kian intends to continue making fun of my naming sense endlessly.”
”That was a slip of the tongue. Forgive me.”
Natra looked annoyed, her cheeks puffed out.
Then, she frowned and let out a sigh.
”No, no need to apologize. Those Sword Cains, belong to Sir Kian, and I just gave them those names on my own. The fault is mine for not using proper names. I apologize.”
”Don’t worry about it. Names don’t matter. Just call them whatever you like. By the way, did Rufna finish patching up the barrier on the cave the Guild found? If the place is compromised, you should move to a new location. If you keep hunting 30 people’s worth of meat a day for those swords, Friedrich and the others will find out this time.”
”I’ve already talked to Rufna, and we’ve moved the base to the Eastern Forest. Don’t worry.”
”I see. But, saying it so casually, the move must have been a hassle. I sent a letter back saying I didn’t need you to pick me up.”
Kian said that with a sigh, but Natra shook her head.
Her hair, reaching her shoulders, fluttered in the chilly wind of the back alley.
”Our duty as familiars is to protect Sir Kian. Sir Kian has become incredibly strong in just a few weeks, but anything could happen. Especially now, since you mentioned meeting that vampire and talking to him. Both Rufna and I were incredibly worried. If anything happened to you, even while you’re casually dealing with Lord Friedrich, we would be considered failed familiars.”
”You’re taking this all so seriously.”
”I think about it. We exist in this world for Sir Kian──bloodbound servants. Even though we might look human, our nature doesn’t change.”
”Natra.”
”Yeah.”
”Since you became you, I’ve never treated you like a servant. So don’t say such sad things.”
”Huh…?”
At Kian’s words, Natra’s eyes widened in shock.
Her usual serious, expressionless face cracked for the first time, and the tanned-skinned girl stood there, mouth slightly agape in stunned silence. She wasn’t as expressive as Maribel, but at this moment, with that dazed look on her face, she seemed like any other child her age.
Kian furrowed his brows.
(What’s with that reaction?)
”—Oh? So even while wearing me, you can still make such a face now?’
(What…? My face…? What kind of face?)
’You don’t even realize it yourself, do you?’
(———)
Before Kian could fully grasp the meaning of glasses’ words, the real Natra stood before him, clearly flustered, her composure shattered as she stammered out incoherent words.
”I-I’m sorry, Sir Kian! I didn’t intend to trouble you with my words; I was just stating the facts… No, wait, that’s not the right way to put it! I’ve always been like this…! Ugh, my lord, I truly apologize!”
”Natra, did I make some strange face?”
”That is… um…”
”Just be honest with me.”
”Earlier, Sir Kian, you looked genuinely hurt by my words. I’m so sorry. I never expected you to react like that…”
Natra twisted her perfectly shaped lips, casting her gaze downward in regret.
It was a rare reaction for her, given her newfound boldness and tendency to tease her master casually of late.
With her expression still twisted, she mumbled on.
”However, it’s an undeniable fact that we can’t resist Sir Kian’s will, and we were created to naturally harbor good feelings toward you. Objectively speaking, we’re no different from puppets that act at the master’s command.”
”I was the one who created you. Given that your emotional attachment to me is more like a programmed response than true experience, I suppose that makes sense. But…”
”…! That expression again. I’m sorry. It seems I was born on a planet where I can’t communicate smoothly with Sir Kian, unlike Rufna.”
”What kind of planet is that? Natra, no matter what you are, I can’t seem to feel anything like the emotions I’d have for a mere puppet. You are more than just a familiar to me.”
”Sir Kian.”
Natra’s dark eyes widened as she lifted her chin defiantly.
”I am not the ‘Natra’ I once was. I am me. So, does this heart that moves me make me a fake?”
”Only you can determine that. But… I sincerely hope that’s not the case. That’s all I can say.”
”…!”
Natra gently ran her fingers through her neatly styled bangs, shaking her head slowly.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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