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nNo matter how afraid you are, you must be courageous and step forward.

nThis was what Seris and Vestra had told themselves when they made their decision quickly, but things had progressed faster than they had expected.

n“… Here we go!” said Seris.

nThere was usually a gentle smile on her beautiful face, but it was currently pale and wearing a grim expression.

nHer best friend, in the same situation as her, let out a bitter groan.

n“We’re going, okay? So please spare us! Anything but that!” Seris pleaded with tears in her eyes.

n“Damn you, you Great Demon King! You muscle maniac! And that damned minion of yours, too!” shouted Vestra, though one would have to question whether these were really insults or not.

nThe two of them were facing a monster… a Manticore, with a head that resembled an old man’s, a tiger’s body, and a scorpion’s tail. It was watching them vigilantly while surreptitiously reciting incantations and keeping its distance.

nManticores were Rank 6. The Adventurers’ Guilds of the Bahn Gaia Continent considered it to be a powerful monster that only adventurers of B-class and above could defeat, but on this continent, it was at the bottom of the food chain – not even the equivalent of rats; they were more like the insects that rats fed on.

nEven though its enemy didn’t appear to be strong, it didn’t let down its guard.

nIt was right to do so – with a small grunt of exertion, the gentle-looking woman dashed forward with sharp movements, forcing the Manticore to raise its front legs to defend itself.

nBut with a spirited cry, the woman with slanted eyes performed a thrusting kick into the Manticore’s side.

nThe woman with slanted eyes, Vestra, used the claws protruding from her feet to rake out the Manticore’s entrails, causing it to roar in pain.

n“Its spell has been broken! Now, Seris!” Vestra shouted.

n“Yeah!”

nUsing her sheer physical strength to throw the Manticore’s front legs aside, Seris threw a punch into the forehead of its screaming face that resembled an old man’s.

nThe Manticore let out a shriek as her fist, thrown with more physical strength than the Manticore’s own, caused its skull to creak and its consciousness to waver. But the Manticore was a monster, a natural predator of humanity. With nothing but its instincts guiding it, it sent forth its scorpion’s tail to try and stab Seris to death with its venomous stinger.

n“Watch oooout!” an ethereal voice shouted in warning.

nBefore the venomous tip could pierce Seris’s back, a flashing beam of light created a burning cut that severed it from the tail.

nAnd that was where the Manticore’s futile resistance ended. Seris’s next punch split its skull, and Vestra’s kicks severed its neck.

nWithout even being able to let out a dying scream, the Manticore collapsed onto the ground.

n“… D-did we… win?” Seris asked, breathing heavily.

n“Yes, probably…” said Vestra.

n“There were a few dangerous moments, but you’ve won,” said Vandalieu.

nSeris and Vestra were Subordinate Vampires with the ‘Sunlight Resistance’ Skill, created by the Pure-breed Vampire Birkyne, but they now served as nuns at the orphanage in the city of Morksi. They had decided to accept Vandalieu’s previous offer of carrying out surgery on them, and to receive training so that they could become at least a little stronger.

nOriginally, the plan had been for them to receive only the surgery to erase the scars from their burns.

nHowever, worshipers of Alda with radical beliefs and even worshipers of Vida who were friendly with Alda’s peaceful faction had come to the city, and they had begun targeting organizations and facilities that were connected to Darcia and Vandalieu.

nSo far, they had targeted the Communal Church; the Tamers’ Guild, which had friendly relations with Vandalieu; and Vida Street in the red-light district, where Vandalieu’s food cart was located. And although it was extremely foolish of them, they had even targeted the Starving Wolf Security office and the space that Kanako and the others were using for their lessons.

nAnd because Vandalieu donated to the orphanage and taught the children techniques to become tamers, the orphanage had been targeted as well.

nAll these incidents had been prevented and the culprits were caught before they could carry out their crimes, so no damage had been caused so far. In fact, Seris and Vestra only learned about their orphanage being targeted after it had already been dealt with.

nBut after learning that they were relying on the protection of others, they had concluded that they couldn’t remain the way they were, and they decided to become stronger.

n“… But I think it’s crazy to make us fight a Manticore when we’ve only been training for a week after our surgeries. Not that I’m not super grateful,” said Seris.

n“You’re absolutely right,” Vestra agreed. “And threatening to film us and show it to the children if we don’t fight… If you weren’t our savior, I’d definitely have a lot of complaints to express right about now.”

n“Don’t say that,” said Vandalieu. “It’s quite rare for a monster like a Manticore to appear in a Dungeon on the Demon King’s Continent. And with how strong the two of you are now, you’re already capable of defeating a Manticore unless it attacks you in your sleep.”

nThis was a Dungeon on the Demon King’s Continent. Seris and Vestra, who were being made to train here, were covered in bodysuits made of liquid metal – all-purpose transformation equipment – and they were wearing the Living Armors Rita and Saria on top of it.

nThe only skin they were showing was from the neck up, but the bodysuit that clung tightly to their skin revealed every curve of their bodies, and they were wearing what were essentially a bikini and a high-leg leotard on top of that. In a way, their current appearance was more stimulating than if they were naked.

nSeris was so voluptuous that it was difficult to believe that her aging had been stopped in her late teenage years, while Vestra had a slimmer body. Both of their figures were very clearly visible.

nNobody would imagine that these two were nuns. Of course, the ‘Great Demon King’ Vandalieu didn’t intend to actually film them and show it to the children. This had been a lie that served as a push on the back for them.

n“He’s right,” said Saria, agreeing with Vandalieu. “Both of you were originally Rank 3, but now you have the ‘Superhuman Strength’ Skill, and you acquired the ‘Unarmed Fighting Technique’ Skill in just a week!”

n“With that and the equipment you’re wearing, a Manticore would never reach you with its teeth, claws, or poisonous stringer. And even if it did sting you, it’d probably heal right away anyway,” said Rita.

nAs the Living Armors being worn by the two nuns said, Seris and Vestra weren’t as weak as they believed themselves to be.

nThey were indeed nuns, not adventurers or mercenaries, and they had never learned any skills related to combat until very recently. But although they had spent many years brainwashed and unaware of their own nature, they were Subordinate Vampires who had lived for far longer than their appearances suggested, and they had consumed Vandalieu’s blood last year to become Abyssal Subordinate Vampires.

nTheir Attribute Values were far higher than any ordinary person who had only acquired production-oriented Jobs. They possessed not only the ‘Dark Vision’ Skill, but the ‘Superhuman Strength,’ ‘Status Effect Resistance,’ and ‘Rapid Regeneration’ Skills as well. And in addition to being able to use weapons, they had claws that they could extend and retract at will.

nEven throwing punches and kicks without any thought would be enough for them to one-sidedly beat any hooligans that caused trouble for them.

nAnd by training even for a short period of time in order to learn techniques that would let them fight, they could become stronger than D-class adventurers.

n“Also, I’m not a ‘minion!’” shouted the ‘Mad Dog’ Berkert, one of Vandalieu’s light-attribute Ghosts, unhappy with the way Vestra had referred to him earlier. “I’m a dog… A dog of the Demon King! Correct yourself, and refer to me as ‘damned dog!’”

nVestra looked reluctant, but given that Berkert had been the one to save her friend from the Manticore’s venomous stinger, it seemed that she didn’t want to refuse, either. “D-damned dog?”

n“Yes, that’s right!” Berkert shouted in delight. “Make sure that next time, you call me a dog and –”

n“Yes, yes, that’s enough of that,” said Vandalieu, making Berkert invisible again.

nVestra let out a sigh of relief.

nSeris decided to change the topic, somewhat forcibly. “Say what you want, but I think a Manticore is going too far. They’re well-known for being ferocious monsters, after all.”

n“Are they?” said Vandalieu.

nManticores were fairly well-known monsters that appeared in video games, light novels, and other media on Earth, but he didn’t know that the general population knew about them in this world.

n“Although they’re not as well-known as Dragons, monsters like Chimeras and Lesser Demons are known for being difficult even for skilled adventurers to defeat,” Vestra explained. “I think it’s because bards often use them as the antagonist that the main hero has to fight in their stories.”

n“I see. Trolls and Minotaurs are about equally as strong, but they appear in groups. I suppose Manticores and Chimeras feel more like bosses, since they usually often appear alone,” said Saria.

n“That’s not true for Lesser Demons, though. I suppose the monsters’ appearances are important as well?” said Rita.

n“I see, so next time, I should take it step by step… no, never mind. Next up is Barnio and the others,” said Vandalieu.

nIt didn’t seem that he would have the chance to make use of this new knowledge for a while.

nThe next to help clear the Dungeon were the Subordinate Vampires who had served Birkyne. They already had a certain level of ability in combat, and there was no need to take it step by step with them.

n“You brought those people here… Is this Dungeon really so harsh?” asked Seris.

n“No, Barnio and the others aren’t prisoners that I’m imposing a harsh punishment on,” said Vandalieu. “I’m planning to have them and my Demon King Familiars help cull the monsters in the Dungeons of the Demon King’s Continent, along with the warriors of Gartland.”

nBarnio and the others had joined Vandalieu’s side out of a fear for their lives, and only about a year had passed since then. Now, they were undergoing a purification ritual of sorts. The Dungeon-clearing on the Demon King’s Continent that was planned for them was a part of that.

nBy having them work away from the Demon Empire of Vidal, Vandalieu intended to make them atone for their evil deeds and satisfy the children who had suffered at their hands and wanted to see them punished. But the other goal for this was to have them become more sociable through their exchanges with the warriors of Gartland.

nOne might wonder, why did they need to do that in Dungeons, of all places? The miasma on the Demon King’s Continent had reached critical levels, and there were even Devil’s Nests that warped gravity. Naturally, the continent’s weather was absolute chaos.

nThus, it was often safer in Dungeons, where the environment was stable… though that wasn’t always the case, depending on the Dungeon’s difficulty.

nOf course, if they were to display any unacceptable behavior, they would be punished by the Demon King Familiars supervising them… in other words, punished by Vandalieu.

n“I see…” said Seris, wearing a complicated expression.

nBarnio and the others had caused much suffering for the children who had left the orphanage… the children that were handed over to the Vampires of Birkyne’s faction. However, although Seris hadn’t been aware of it, she had been an accomplice to their deeds. She couldn’t blame them for their deeds while ignoring the fact that she had also played a part in them.

nVandalieu knew what Seris was thinking, so he wasn’t planning to force her and Vestra to be on good terms with Barnio and the others. If the nuns could come to accept them with time, and could co-exist with them while maintaining an appropriate distance, then that was enough.

nBoth sides were immortal after all.

n“Now then, let’s conclude the training after we fight the Elder Manticores and Flame Manticores, which are superior races of Manticores, that live in the deeper parts of this floor,” said Vandalieu.

n“A-alright!” said Seris and Vestra nervously.

nTheir faces were stiff with anxiety at the thought of fighting even more powerful versions of the Manticore they had just defeated, but the fact that they hadn’t screamed in terror was likely a sign that they were starting to realize how capable they were.

nAt this rate, they would likely become able to defeat a Manticore even without wearing Rita and Saria by the time their training was over.

nVandalieu gave a satisfied nod.

nAfter finishing Seris and Vestra’s training, Vandalieu headed into the Job-changing room in Sam’s carriage.

n“This makes it your fourth visit since that day,” Sam remarked. “You will be attending school soon, so will you perhaps select a Job that seems a little more ordinary?”

n“That’s what I can’t decide on,” said Vandalieu.

nThis was Vandalieu’s fourth Job change since the day he learned of Bellwood’s resurrection.

nThis was an unprecedented pace of Job changes, especially considering that he had already acquired over thirty Jobs, and all he was doing was culling monster numbers in Dungeons and Devil’s Nests.

nHowever, this was because of the effects of his newly acquired divine protections – those of Botin and Peria. It was also the result of the Demon King’s Continent swarming with Rank 13 and Rank 14 monsters, whose power was equivalent to that of gods and demigods. By having his companions divided into teams to cull these monsters while having Demon King Familiars accompany them, he had successfully acquired a vast amount of Experience Points in a short period of time.

nVandalieu had chosen his Jobs with the knowledge that he would one day face Heinz while he was empowered by the descent of Bellwood, the champion who was capable of overwhelming any dirty tricks with his sheer, overwhelming power.

nVandalieu’s first Job change was to ‘Hollow King Mage.’ He had chosen this with the aim of increasing his Mana even further and improving his ‘Hollow King Magic,’ which was just as powerful a weapon as his ‘Underworld God Magic.’

nHis second Job change was to ‘God Spirit Mage,’ to improve his powerful ‘God Spirit Magic’ Skill.

nHis third Job change was to ‘Dungeon Master.’ Even the Demon King’s Continent had few S-class Dungeons, despite there being a countless number of A-class and B-class Dungeons. Vandalieu had chosen this Job to create S-class Dungeons in order to make himself and his companions stronger.

nAs a result of these efforts, ‘Hollow King Magic’ had awakened into ‘Hollow World God Magic,’ and the Levels of Skills such as ‘God Spirit Magic’ had increased.

nThe growth of his Attribute Values other than his Mana weren’t particularly astounding, but considering that Vandalieu was a mage and he was better in magical battles rather than physical combat, they were sufficient.

nThe previous time he fought Heinz, he had been able to overwhelm his enemy despite being outnumbered five to one. Even if Heinz and his companions had grown stronger since then, Vandalieu had grown stronger as well. If he were to use ‘Soul Destruction Fighting Technique,’ ‘Transcend Limits,’ his self-strengthening and attribute-value-strengthening Skills, and the fragments of the Demon King, he would surely be able to fight them.

nHe had considered taking a Guider Job, but it would be problematic if they caused his Attribute Values to stop increasing like ‘Destruction Guider.’ That was why he had chosen easy-to-understand Jobs thus far.

nAs for the Dungeons, he had managed to create an S-class Dungeon… though it was difficult to call it a success – he had put too much power into it and even Borkus and the others had said, “The difficulty is bugged.”

nOrdinarily, the Dungeons created by Vandalieu would produce monsters that were like soulless mannequins, unable to do anything other than obey simple commands from their creator, but… perhaps due to the powerful miasma gathered in the S-class Dungeon, they did not listen to his commands. They were like killing machines that were hellbent on eradicating any intruder, even at the cost of their own lives.

nThus, this Dungeon was of no use in the kind of training he had done with Seris and Vestra.

nHe was very glad that he had created it on the Demon King’s Continent just in case.

n“I’m considering ‘Magic Staff Creator’ or ‘Artisan: Transformation Equipment’ next… I still haven’t made transformation equipment for Deeana, everyone from Gartland, Seris and Vestra, and others… there’s still a big lack of transformation equipment,” said Vandalieu.

n“… I got the impression that Deeana-sama was rather opposed to receiving transformation equipment,” said Sam.

n“Talos asked me to make a piece of transformation equipment for her, so I think I will. I’m indebted to Talos for everything he does for me, after all.”

nUntil his nation was renamed to the Demon Empire of Vidal, Vandalieu had been the ‘Eclipse Emperor’ of Talosheim, and he worshiped Talos as much as he did the great gods. The request to make a piece of transformation equipment for a Colossus was an absurd one, but because it had come from Talos, he intended to attempt it.

n“But I’m worried about Origin… So let’s go with ‘Qliphoth,’” said Vandalieu.

n“Are you sure?” Sam asked.

n“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Even if they were to see my Status, the people of this world wouldn’t understand what ‘Qliphoth’ means. And I do want to start acquiring the Jobs named after beings from Earth’s myths and legends.”

nAnd with that, Vandalieu entered the Job-changing room and changed Jobs.

n《You have acquired the ‘Inner Worlds’ Skill!》

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nAs a result of his choice, Vandalieu acquired a Skill that he didn’t really understand.

n“… ‘Inner Worlds?’ Is this different from ‘Shadow Group Binding Technique?’”

nThe ‘Shadow Group Binding Technique’ Skill allowed Vandalieu to store and equip his companions inside his own body or shadow. He wondered whether this new Skill was related to that, but… couldn’t come to any conclusions.

n“I’ll try equipping Eisen, Privel and the others later and ask them whether anything is different from before,” he decided as he left the Job-changing room.

nIt was mid-March, and spring had begun. Berard, the head of the Morksi branch of the Adventurers’ Guild, found himself breaking out into a cold sweat.

n“Umm, you see, about the entrance examination for the Adventurers’ School…” he stammered.

nVandalieu, Pauvina, and Darcia sitting in a row in front of him, listening to his explanation as if they were students that were being taught.

nWhy do they want to know about the entrance examination for the Adventurers’ School? It’s nothing special… Well, I suppose I did join in on this conversation uninvited, he thought.

nDarcia had made an inquiry to the Guild about the exams at the Adventurers’ School.

nDarcia and Vandalieu simply wanted to know what kind of exams were held at the Adventurers’ School. But Berard had read too much into it, thinking that there was something about the Adventurers’ School in Orbaume Central that needed attention, and butted in. As a result, the head of the Guild branch was now performing a task that could have been done by the receptionist.

nOf course, the enquiry was made by Darcia, an honorary noble but a noble nonetheless, and it might have been too much to ask an ordinary receptionist to respond to it. Darcia and the others hadn’t visited the Adventurers’ Guild often enough to say that they were acquainted with the receptionist, either.

n“The purpose of the entrance examination is not to filter applicants out, but rather to test their aptitudes and abilities,” Berard said. “Almost anyone can enroll at the Adventurers’ School unless they are of an extremely frail constitution.”

nThe Adventurers’ School was a facility where rookie adventurers could receive basic training in combat to reduce their chances of dying, and instructors that were former adventurers taught skills and knowledge such as how to take apart animal and monster corpses, how to camp outdoors, and even basic reading, writing, and arithmetic.

nGenerally, anyone could enroll unless their bodies were extremely frail, to the point that they couldn’t even pick herbs outdoors.

nThe entrance examination was to determine the abilities of each individual and split them by their skills to make it easier to form parties with those of the same skill. There were people who had already acquired combat-related Skills but wanted to learn about herbs and how to dismantle monster corpses, and there were people who already had these skills and knowledge, but had concerns about their ability in combat. It would be inefficient to teach them all the same curriculum; the examination and dividing of students were done to ensure more efficient teaching.

n“But the Adventurers’ School in Orbaume Central is different. It is a school where the sons of nobles born as the fourth child or later, or the apprentices of high-ranking adventurers, or truly talented newcomers go to learn. It is even known as the hero preparatory school… Well, it does not produce so many heroes that it deserves to be called that, but many of the students do go on to reach C-class or higher,” said Berard. “That is why this school is the only one where one may be unable to enroll and be forced to attend a regular Adventurers’ School, depending on the results of their entrance examination, but… Err, is there really a need to explain all this?”

nNobody could blame Berard for asking this question.

n“Yes. This is of great interest to me,” said Vandalieu, the extraordinary Dhampir boy who had tamed an Orthrus (Fang) and previously-undiscovered races of monsters (the rat sisters).

n“Yeah, I want to know more, too!” said Pauvina, the adorable, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, three-meter-tall girl. Her appearance made it outrageously clear that she was no ordinary girl.

n“I don’t think passing the exam will be a problem…” said Darcia.

n“Indeed. I am in agreement. There is absolutely no doubt that your son and this young lady would be able to pass the examination,” Berard agreed wholeheartedly.

n“But they might be troubled if they draw too much attention during the exam. That’s what I’m worried about,” Darcia said, revealing that their train of thought was going in the complete opposite direction from Berard’s.

nRather than being scared of failing the examination, they were worried about standing out due to passing it with exceptional results.

n“Th-that is true, but… err, the examination is more or less the same as the other schools,” said Berard. “First, a simple stamina test, and then those with experience in combat skills do a practice battle against the instructors. A test for magic is added for those who can use magic. In most cases, there are no tests for skills other than combat, such as dismantling corpses and tracking prey. So, I’ll start my explanation with the stamina test, which involves –”

nBerard’s explanation continued for a while after that.

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