Sahelrn Duchy.
In the Age of Barbarians, during its dawn, the first progenitor, a calamity that plunged the entire Terra continent into terror and the original vampire, left behind a direct descendant, Martini Sahelrn, who established the land of vampires.
The interesting part is the background behind Sahelrn being a duchy and its leader, Martini Sahelrn, being referred to as a Grand Duke.
Vampires also have a social hierarchy. While it can be reversed at any moment based on the logic of power, and they don’t receive a separate territory, just a title in name, the designation is akin to those used by human nobles like dukes and marquesses.
Various opinions attempt to explain this similarity, but the prevailing theory suggests that since vampires were originally humans in the past, they simply continue to use familiar titles.
However, intriguingly, while adopting a similar nobility system as humans, vampires have never once used the title of king, the apex designation.
This peculiarity is a bizarre result of both humans and vampires’ situations intertwining.
Humans did not wish to acknowledge the vampire leader as an equal state. But completely ignoring the existence of Sahelrn could lead to foolish individuals mindlessly invading their territory and facing disaster, so that wasn’t a viable option.
As a result, the title of duchy was adopted. A territory ruled by a duke, which lies below empires and kingdoms, where neither an emperor nor a king governs.
They grudgingly recognized that, ‘for now,’ vampires occupied that land while still belittling it, asserting that they were never equal.
Nonetheless, Martini Sahelrn did not react to the humans’ rudeness in any particular way.
In truth, even if humans labeled it a duchy, Sahelrn could claim to be a kingdom at any moment if she wished. How could humans possibly stop her from claiming to be a king? After all, the duchy has no interaction with human lands, so there’s no reason they couldn’t go ahead and do it.
Yet, Sahelrn chose to acknowledge and accept the title of duchy assigned by humans.
This decision was not made out of particular respect for humans. It was because the vampires of the duchy themselves—specifically Martini Sahelrn, who leads the duchy—was reluctant to use the title of king.
Martini Sahelrn, the first progenitor’s descendant, believed that only the progenitor could bear titles like king or emperor.
In honoring her master, the first progenitor who lost her life after challenging the first living being, Yustelein, she left the throne vacant.
These vampires’ status is determined by the logic of power. When the strongest vampire currently existing chooses to leave the throne empty and call herself a duke, there was no one daring enough to contest that.
However, among the contemporary vampires, only a very few remembered the first progenitor, and for the majority, the king was not the first progenitor but Martini Sahelrn.
Eventually, under the pleas of her subordinates, who insisted that even if she wasn’t a king, she couldn’t be treated merely as an ordinary duke, the title of Grand Duke became established.
—That’s what I know. Source of information? I read it in a book I took from Raul’s hideout before leaving Bellag.
I wonder how that author of the book is doing now.
From what I gathered, it seemed quite objective, not biased towards humans, but I can’t help but wonder if the Luminous Kingdom’s Palace just sat back and let a book that considered the vampire’s perspective exist…
Anyway, speaking of Grand Duke, what kind of vampire is she?
I know from Raul that certain vampires had been searching for me since the moment I was born. Surely among them were vampires from the Sahelrn Duchy.
Humans are all potential enemies, but that doesn’t mean all vampires are allies.
The vast majority of existing vampires are descendants of the first progenitor.
It is said that descendants have an ingrained tendency to obey those who share blood with them, but I am not the first progenitor, and they are not my descendants.
In other words, they are uncontrollable variables. Among humans, there are crazed individuals who go wild seeking immortality from my blood; can I really rule out the possibility of such characters existing among vampires?
I definitely cannot guarantee that. With my deep-seated distrust of humans—no, of living beings—I find it hard to believe that among vampires, there are none who would target me, saying, ‘For greater power, I’ll steal your blood!’
Looking back at Earth’s history, humans have fought violently against one another. Just because the Terra continent is home to numerous races doesn’t ensure that they all get along.
Yet, the reason I’m heading toward the Sahelrn Duchy is simply because I have no other options.
No matter how well Raul covered his tracks, humans would inevitably find my trail soon.
In that sense, I urgently needed to escape the most dangerous place, the Luminous Kingdom, so I left Bellag and crossed into the boundary of the Greysia Empire.
Of course, entering a walled city was impossible. However, simply breaching the Empire’s territory would mean that the pursuit by the most formidable adversaries, the knights, would somewhat be delayed.
Whether the Empire, which has a poor relationship with the Luminous Kingdom, would be as uncooperative as I hoped, I could only wait and see.
In any case, having entered the Empire’s territory, I realistically had only two choices:
First, somehow enter a city within the Empire.
Second, follow the border up to the Sahelrn Duchy.
The first option could broaden my future actions but was too dangerous. I didn’t know how inspections at the walls would proceed, and even if I somehow passed, I wouldn’t have much confidence in not being discovered as a vampire amidst all those people.
Of course, if I refrained from eating and hid somewhere, it’s possible I wouldn’t get caught easily.
But I had no intention of stopping my bloodsucking. Instead, I planned to do it actively whenever the opportunity arose.
The Luminous Kingdom’s Palace would never give up pursuing me until I died. Whether it took ten years or a hundred years, they would chase me.
To survive, I must kill.
To not get robbed, I must take.
Only the strong have the right to talk about peace. Peace proclaimed by the strong is mercy, but peace proclaimed by the weak is merely begging.
I must gain the strength to survive before being murdered. For that, bloodsucking is absolutely essential.
In that sense, the Sahelrn Duchy is relatively favorable. Although I still need to be careful not to catch the Grand Duke’s ear, at least it’s better than being hunted by humans.
Moreover, the region bordering Sahelrn has traditionally faced frequent damage from vampires. Riding on that flow, I could procure meals without being specifically identified as the culprit. There, I would be just another vampire among many.
And today marks the eighth day since I left Bellag. The journey has been relatively smooth so far.
If all goes well, I might cross the border today. Once I enter the duchy, I hope to catch my breath.
Although it felt like I was pushing myself hard initially, I find my mobility has improved significantly now.
While getting used to walking all day might have contributed, the biggest reason must be that I am eating well.
Since leaving the Luminous Kingdom, I’ve killed about thirty humans and drained their blood.
Thanks to that, I’ve noticed a tangible improvement in my physical condition; now I can walk all day without tiring.
It’s not a huge change, but from being almost at zero, even a slight increase is something to be grateful for.
My strength and sensory abilities like dynamic vision have also improved somewhat. Now I could swiftly dispatch mere bandits lurking around without needing to create a distraction.
The tiresome beauty traps are a thing of the past. Still, I must pay attention to how I kill. After some practice, I’ve found that snapping the neck is the cleanest method.
Initially, I lacked both leisure and technique, so I just bit or bludgeoned them without restraint. But that resulted in too much blood on my clothes, leading to an incredible cleanup hassle.
I have spare clothes and a cloak in my backpack, but it’s not an inexhaustible supply.
Furthermore, no matter how brutal the world is, a female traveler covered in blood alone is bound to raise suspicion, so it’s better to be cautious.
When one drop is precious, wasting blood seems like a crime. No matter what, I can’t exactly bloody the ground and expect to drink it along with the earth.
Ah, if only my mouth were like tree roots, I could quench my thirst with blood seeping into the soil.
Though it was a silly thought even as I recalled it, considering it indirectly led to improved abilities, it wasn’t entirely a bad notion.
It may sound a bit self-praising, but I’m getting decent at killing by now.
‘By the way, according to the map, I should be nearing the boundary between the Empire and the Duchy.’
When I think of borders, I imagine something like the Great Wall, but thankfully it’s not like that here.
There may have been attempts at such in the past, but the powerful vampires of the duchy seem to have terrorized their way through by breaking the walls at night, forcing the humans to abandon it.
As a result, the area bordering the duchy has troops stationed for defense, but without walls or inspections, humans can cross relatively freely. Of course, only those ready to risk their lives would even consider going through vampire territory.
But something felt off. The closer I got to the border, the more I sensed a smell that shouldn’t be here.
…No way, right? Just my imagination?
It shouldn’t be possible for there to be such a strong odor of humans on this deserted road.
Yet why does an uneasy premonition never prove wrong? I can already feel my plans beginning to unravel.
At the boundary between the Empire and the Duchy, what I witnessed was the sight of soldiers standing guard where they shouldn’t be.
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