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nCh. 106: Increased Payment

nLoren ended up swinging his great sword until morning.

nThe undead that attacked them were slow and weren’t a threat individually, but there were just too many of them.

nAt the enemies whose numbers didn’t seem to drop no matter how many he cut down, Loren started to worry that it could come to the worst, the sky began to lighten, and morning soon came so the attackers gave up and disappeared.

nAfter all of them disappeared, Loren pried his unmoving fingers off the handle of his great sword and dropped it to the ground.

nThinking that it would’ve been bad if there had been more proper vampires than there were, Loren stuck his great sword into the ground and sat down on the ground, breathing hard.

nLoren thought that the only reason they managed to drive the attacker off was because most of them were the slow, zombie like enemies.

nThe amount of fatigue he felt told him that if it wasn’t for that, it would’ve been possible that they would’ve fell prey to them.

nBut he couldn’t afford to rest all day.

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nAlthough they had survived the attack during the night, it couldn’t be said that they were completely out of danger’s path.

nEven though they didn’t know who it was, the fact that there was an attack meant that whoever it was knew their position, and there was no telling when the next attack would be.

n“Let’s start moving. We can’t handle another attack.”

n“Looks like we took quite the difficult job.”

nLapis quickly started taking down the camp even as she complained.

nLoren stood up to help her, but Lapis stopped him with her hand and he ended up sitting down again.

n“I’ll take care of the camp. Loren you should rest as much as you can.”

nEven though she had used <> the whole time, unlike divine arts, it didn’t drain any of her strength, and since she was a demon, she was stronger than a human as well.

nWatching Lapis, who showed no signs of fatigue other than lack of sleep, quickly take down the camp, Loren took deep breaths and relaxed his body, trying to recover as much as he could.

n“I’m impressed that you managed to keep swinging that until now.”

nDia was looking at Loren’s great sword.

nAlthough it was made of many kinds of materials from its handle to the tip of its blade, the great sword, which was completely comprised of the color black, had cut through and crushed the undead all night, and as a result it was sticky with flesh and blood.

nLoren knew that he should wipe it off or else it would rust the blade, but his body wouldn’t listen to him, and although he tried to reach for it, he felt that he wouldn’t be able to lift it up.

n“Keep resting. I can wipe it for you.”

nSeeing Loren’s shaking hand reaching for his great sword, Dia grabbed it by the blade and pulled it out of the ground.

nSeeing a small girl lifting a sword that was taller and thicker than her was a strange sight, but what made Loren’s eyes widen was that Dia had grabbed the blade, which caused her hand to be covered in blood as well.

nVampires getting drunk off blood was well known.

nIt was a phenomenon where a vampire that touched or saw blood would lose its reason and start killing left and right, but although Dia was an Elder, she was a vampire as well, so she should have the same kind of thirst.

nAlthough it was the blood of the undead, Loren was afraid that if she touched human blood, she would get drunk from it.

nBut with just a disgusted expression at the blood on her hand, she took the wet cloth that Lapis had brought her and started cleaning the blade.

n“H-hey?”

n“Don’t worry. We Elders can keep all other impulses except our blood impulse that happens once a year down with our willpower. Which is why there is no way for us to keep our blood impulse down.”

n“Just wondering. Is there a possibility that one time hasn’t come around yet?”

nIt seemed to be an impulse so strong that they couldn’t keep it at bay.

nAnd since Dia was an Elder, if she somehow went under its influence and attacked them, there was no way for them to escape.

nAnd from what she had told them, one person would have his blood sucked out completely.

nIf it wasn’t, the supposed five hundred victims should be existing somewhere.

nLoren had heard before that the powers of a victim of a vampire was reliant on the parent vampire.

nUndead that were victims of normal vampires as well as Trues were already quite terrifying, so if undead created by Elders were roaming all around free, it wouldn’t be surprising if the world would end soon enough.

n“Ahh, well, you know. If it happens, I’ll think of something.”

nAs Dia looked away slowly as she said that, Loren, without thinking, forced his body to move away from her, and seeing him, Dia frowned.

n“It’s a joke. I’m already done with it. If not, I wouldn’t ask humans for help.”

n“Bad taste for a joke…”

nIt was a life relating matter.

nWiping cold sweat, Loren sat down again, and Dia picked up the cleaned great sword and handed it to him.

n“A great sword made of magic iron. Humans have quite fine weapons as well, I see. It must have cost you a fortune. Take good care of it.”

n“Magic iron?”

n“What? You’ve been using it without knowing?”

nAs Dia looked surprised, Loren glanced at Lapis.

nLapis, who was putting up camp, didn’t seem to notice their conversation, much less his gaze.

n“You know that demon kin reside in the center of the continent, surrounded by mountains, don’t you? It’s a metal that could be found there. It’s a valuable material that gains different attributes when mana is poured into it, so it’s very rare to see a weapon which is made up of so much of it. It’s usually spread thin across a normal steel blade or just the blade being made of it.”

n“It’s quite expensive, I’m guessing?”

nJudging from Dia’s explanation, he could tell that it was a very valuable metal.

nThe rarer something was, the more expensive it was, so Loren decided to confirm with Dia, and she looked at the sword and thought for a moment.

n“It’s made of genuine magic iron. Its core is most likely magic iron as well. On top of that, there are many runes engraved on it as well. I’m not sure why a rune to make it lighter isn’t incorporated…”

nAs she muttered that there should be room to include it, Dia gave her conclusion after a while.

n“With the material and runes, gold worth ten times its weight wouldn’t be enough. If you are a true swordsman, you wouldn’t try to let go of something like this.”

nLoren gulped at Dia’s appraisal.

nThe amount of money that he had borrowed from Lapis was quite a bit but finding out that it was worth way more than that, Loren couldn’t help but be surprised, and while he sat there speechless, Lapis, who seemed to have finished packing everything up, was next to him.

n“That’s incredible. Loren you’re so lucky that you could buy something like that.”

n“Is that so?”

nLoren’s words implied something.

nWhen Loren had bought the great sword at Kauffa, Lapis and the shop owner had been suspicious, so Loren believed that Lapis had prepared it somehow and made the owner sell it to him.

nLoren asked Lapis if it was fine to say that he managed to get his hands on something he wouldn’t be able to buy at its full price by chance, but Lapis answered with a smile.

n“Of course, it is.”

n“I see. So that’s what it is.”

nFrom their conversation as well as her realizing what Lapis was, Dia had understood what was going on.

n“Don’t sell it just because it’s expensive, okay?”

n“I know. I won’t.”

nNodding at Lapis, Loren took the sword from Dia, stood up, and strapped it onto his back.

nWatching him with a satisfied expression, Lapis clapped her hands.

n“So, we’re done with packing up, so let’s get moving. Loren got some rest as well, and it’ll be bad if we get attacked again.”

n“Not going to lie…I can’t deal with that many opponents for a while. I’m the weakest out of all of us her, you know.”

nAlthough he replied so, despite what he just said, he could feel his body recovering at a rapid pace.

nOf course, this wasn’t Loren’s own power.

nIt was Shayna, who was within Loren, using the life energy she had siphoned using energy drain and pouring it into Loren, speeding up his recovery in an inhuman speed.

nIf she poured in too much, she would drain her own strength, but Shayna was powerful enough to aid with Loren’s recovery without a problem.

n‘I sucked out a lot from the attackers, so don’t worry Onii-san.’

nLoren was slightly worried that Shayna was using her powers to help him recover, but when her words that seemed to laugh his worries off reached his mind, Loren laughed nervously.

n“But compared to the great sword and coat you’re wearing; your armor is quite shabby.”

nDia told Loren as she started leading the way, leaving the campsite behind.

nOut of his equipment, his great sword and coat was something Lapis had readied, but his clothes and leather armor were normal ones he bought at the shop.

nTo Loren, it was enough to serve its purpose and didn’t feel like he needed anything better, but to Dia, it seemed unsatisfactory.

n“You have such fine equipment, so you should be at least be using armor that meets the standards as well.”

n“I can’t afford them, so.”

nIt wasn’t like there weren’t any items like his sword and coat that were worth way more than their price but coming upon such items wasn’t easy.

nAnd although his debt had decreased, he still owed ten gold coins, and since his income wasn’t much either, he didn’t have the money to upgrade his equipment.

n“From the attack last night, I was just thinking about how the payment I promised you wasn’t enough. If we manage to get to our destination, how about I present you equipment?”

n“Thanks for offering, but the payment is split between me and my partner.”

nLoren thought that he shouldn’t accept payment that only he could receive.

nThere was the option of getting the payment in money and splitting it with Lapis, but that would mean that there would have to be money that was worth half of the price of the equipment Dia would give him in his wallet, but he didn’t have that amount.

n“I don’t mind at all. Loren’s equipment being upgraded means that I’ll have an easier time.”

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n“That might be true, but…”

n“If you want to say it won’t feel right, then there’s also the option of increasing your debt by half the amount of the price of the equipment.”

n“I don’t want it to raise it any further…”

nSince she didn’t remind him, the load wasn’t too heavy, but Loren didn’t want to increase it if he didn’t have to.

n“Then how about I ready some other type of payment for Lapis. That’s fine, no?”

n“I guess, yeah.”

n“Wow Loren, extra payment. It makes you want to try harder, doesn’t it?”

nLapis said happily, but the thought of the pack of undead from the night before lied heavily in Loren’s mind.

nIt was doubtful that those were the full force of whoever sent them, and the closer Dia got to the ruins, the higher the chance of something more dangerous attacking them.

nHaving thoughts that he should be happy after the extra payment after he had survived the whole thing, Loren quickened his pace slightly.

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