For most people, night is a time for rest.
A moment to forget the daily fatigue and recharge for the next day, relaxing without a care in the world.
However, this wasn’t the case for everyone.
“Damn it! Why does it have to be a night shift?!”
The Peacekeeping Force, an organization capable of responding to police on Earth in the 21st century.
Private Gerald, a soldier from there, clutched his head with a look of disbelief.
“You’ve taken so many days off already. We’re talking about Fitz’s wedding! Cut me some slack!”
“Don’t make me laugh! I haven’t even gotten married yet, and you, a Private, are rushing into it before me!? Do you think I’ll allow that?!”
“Yeeah~ Yeeah~ You’re really scary.”
Responding casually to him, Private Jenkins, another soldier from the Peacekeeping Force, narrowed his eyes.
“Ah~ I just want to curl up somewhere without anyone and sleep~”
“I’ll ditch you and leave!”
Complaining, Jenkins pulled out a map.
“Today, our duty area is the back alley.”
“Ugh… I don’t want to go there!”
“You can’t just do what you like all the time. Stop the nonsense and hurry up!”
Snapping back at the complaining Gerald, Jenkins started moving, and Gerald shuffled along behind him.
“By the way, have you heard the news?”
“What news?”
“The back alley serial murders!”
“Oh, that?”
Jenkins nodded as if he just remembered Gerald’s words.
The recent serial murders in the back alley had become quite a hot topic among people.
A serial killing spree targeting identifiable vagrants and illegal immigrants.
The Peacekeeping Force planned to dispatch personnel to that case soon.
“According to the investigation, it seems to be the work of a vampire.”
“A vampire? Shouldn’t they be dealing with that at the temple?”
Hunting those who roam in the darkness, avoiding the light, was something the temple had traditionally done.
“Well, you see… the temple declared they won’t get involved in this matter.”
“The temple? That’s really suspicious.”
Traditionally, when it came to issues related to undead and demons, the temple was all fired up.
They couldn’t accept anything that went against the natural order as decreed by the gods.
“I’m telling you! This is the first time I’ve seen the temple not getting involved in vampire-related incidents while working in the Peacekeeping Force!”
Gerald chimed in, agreeing with Jenkins just as the moment struck.
RUMBLE!!
“What, what is that all of a sudden?”
“Is the ground shaking?!”
“I already know, you idiot!”
With a sudden loud noise, the ground began to shake, and Gerald and Jenkins steadied themselves against a nearby street lamp.
People with shocked expressions came out of the nearby buildings as the vibrations gradually began to subside.
“Phew… that was a shock. Where did that earthquake come from…”
Checking that the shaking had stopped, Gerald let out a short sigh and released the street lamp, starting to assess the situation around him.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a strong tremor, and he didn’t see any noticeable damage.
“Just to be safe, watch out for aftershocks, everyone!!”
With several years of experience under his belt, Gerald shouted to calm the surrounding citizens.
Just then…
“Um… Sergeant?”
“What is it? Can’t you see I’m busy?”
Turning at the sound of Jenkins’ voice behind him, Gerald raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
He asked, looking at Jenkins, who was staring blankly into the distance.
Instead of answering, Jenkins slowly raised his hand, pointing somewhere…
“L-look over there…”
“What now?”
Grumbling, Gerald turned to where Jenkins was pointing.
“What, what is that…?”
Then…
What caught his eye was the sight of a gigantic crystal, pitch-black like the night, rising toward the sky.
*
“Huff…”
Feeling a light dizziness, Rudell wiped the sweat from his forehead.
In front of him stood a towering dark crystal, reaching several stories high, with the corpse of a chimera skewered upon it.
The maximum output shadow spear he had poured most of his magic power into.
Even a chimera based on a Mad Lion couldn’t withstand such an immense scale attack that fell under the category of siege magic.
“Well, at least I held it off…”
It was indeed a close call.
If the Curtain of Shadows had been pierced just a moment earlier or if the spell had been activated a moment later, he likely would’ve been the one lying down right now.
Calming his racing heart, Rudell surveyed the surroundings.
“I need to get out of here fast…”
If he caused such a huge commotion, people would soon come flocking.
Muttering to himself, Rudell put on his mask and turned to leave.
But at that moment…
SWISH!!
“What the…!?”
Startled by the sharp sound coming from behind, Rudell turned his head, and the moment…
“Ugh!?”
A low groan escaped Rudell’s lips as he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder.
What he saw was a large snake embedded with sharp fangs into his shoulder, the head of the snake that had been a part of the chimera’s tail.
“What the…!!”
Could it really have severed its own tail like a lizard?
It was an unbelievable situation, yet nothing else seemed possible at that moment.
SWISH!!
“Ugh…!!”
The snake clamped down harder on his shoulder, triggering a low groan from Rudell as he gathered his magic power.
At the same time, thorns burst from his shadow, piercing through the snake’s body…
SWISH!!!
With a low sound, light faded from the snake’s eyes.
Stepping on the lifeless snake’s head that fell to the ground, Rudell groaned, clutching his bleeding shoulder.
“Damn it…”
It’s always the cleanup that’s the problem.
Recalling the time he was shot in the chest with an arrow, Rudell clicked his tongue.
And then…
“Ugh…!!”
As dizziness began to overwhelm him, Rudell staggered, clutching his head.
Could there have been poison?
As his vision blurred, Rudell clenched his teeth, trying not to lose consciousness.
However, the increasingly fading sight was beyond the grasp of his will.
“This is bad.”
Thinking that, he began to rummage through the pockets of his robe.
What he pulled out was a neatly rolled scroll of parchment.
“I really didn’t want to use this…”
It was a magic scroll he had bought with his entire year’s allowance and emergency money.
Though it was prepared for situations like this, he couldn’t help but feel sick at the thought of having to use it like this.
Still, it was better than dying.
After a few moments of intense deliberation, Rudell tore the scroll as light began to flood his vision.
*
“Hmm~ hum~♬”
In a room belonging to a first-year dormitory, which could be more accurately described as a storage chamber, a girl was humming a tune.
In front of her stood a large piece of armor.
That which completely blocked the exterior environment was nothing less than a fortress for her.
“Polish~♬ Tighten~ Oil it up~♬”
Humming a familiar tune, she was meticulously tending to her armor.
Today, she seemed particularly cheerful for a special reason.
“Finally~♬ Finally~♬”
After finishing the armor maintenance, she headed to her desk, where flasks, lamps, extractors, and various experiment tools were lined up.
The alchemical experiment tools she prepared before enrollments had finally arrived today.
With this, even the dreary days of just maintaining armor would be a thing of the past.
She could immerse herself even more in her own world.
“Hehehe…♬”
While she showed off her rarely seen lazy appearance, she was carefully cleaning each experiment tool when…
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Huh?”
Startled by a sudden knock, she widened her eyes and turned her head.
It was already eleven at night.
A terribly late hour for someone to come by.
“W-who is it…?”
“….”
Huddled up, Silphier cautiously called out to the door, but there was no response.
“What is this…?”
Perplexed by the situation, Silphier tilted her head.
Soon after, she gently stood up and approached the door.
Pausing slightly, she reached for the doorknob and slowly opened the door…
“Oh, hello…”
“C-Count Weinstein!?”
Seeing Rudell’s figure appear from behind the door, she gasped in shock.
Her face looked as if it was asking ‘why?’
“Ahhhhh….”
Thoughts whirled in her mind as her vision spun around. Silphier let out a low groan.
Drip, drip…
“Eep! P-p-p…!?”
“Sorry, my head is ringing… Can you be a little quieter…?”
Seeing the red droplets flowing from Rudell’s shoulder, Silphier screamed in shock.
At the same time, Rudell placed a hand on his forehead and said, “Could I get an antidote if you have one…?”
“Count!? Are you okay!? Please open your eyes!!”
As she looked at Rudell, who was smiling at her, his body began to slump down.
With a startled expression, Silphier rushed over to check his condition.
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