“Well, let’s tidy things up a bit.”
It might be a bit tricky, but I thought our skills could handle the new layered dungeon without much of a hitch.
However, it turned out to be the lair of a crazy, worthless demon researcher who had ended up dead doing something similar to Dr. Frankenstein, and everyone but us was slaughtered by the monsters he created.
For someone who had put all their resources into this dungeon, it was a tragedy beyond compare.
It was a truly tragic conclusion for Arine, who dreamed of a reverse harem love with her neighborhood oppa from her childhood, and for Reed, who had unwittingly caused her demise.
Well, at least we got our revenge, so if they’re watching from the afterlife, they might feel a bit relieved.
The instigator of our party’s near annihilation, the Doppleganger, was wiped out completely by Friede and me, and we also managed to slaughter most of the monsters that came through.
Anyway, the last two survivors, Friede and I, finally made it to the lowest layer of the dungeon, ransacked the place, and brought back everything we could find to the surface.
“Mom…? What’s wrong?”
The problem isn’t that we brought back a treasure from the dungeon, but that we ended up bringing a monster.
And not just any monster, but one that could wipe out an entire country if it went haywire, like a nuclear weapon with a malfunctioning control system.
“Uh, it’s nothing.”
The vampire girl, Eleadra, tugged on my clothes and tilted her head. Despite being in a state where she could easily perish, this vampire was stronger than both me and Friede combined, and after suffering a loss of blood for so long, she mistook me for her mother.
Just like a newly hatched chick following the first creature it sees, thinking it’s its parent.
The moment I denied it, she would likely turn hostile and attack, so I had no choice but to play the role of her mother.
Even the Virgin Mary had her child directly, but here I was, a virgin who never even got pregnant, suddenly becoming a mother!
Of course, thanks to that, I now held a weapon that could last an ordinary adventurer a lifetime… but this wasn’t really a situation to be happy about right now.
“Alright, let’s go. If we hurry, maybe we can sleep in a soft bed tonight.”
“Really? I want to sleep with Mommy Ellie!”
“…Yeah, let’s do that.”
I gently stroked Eleadra’s tousled platinum hair, forcing a smile as if I were her real mother.
We had managed to ascend without a hitch up to this point, but there was no guarantee that the next steps would follow the plan.
I had to do my utmost to reassure this monster so that she wouldn’t realize until the very end that she was walking to her death.
Thus, I needed to ensure she would meet an empty end without harming anyone.
“……”
To be honest, it wasn’t something I was exactly keen on. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
Was it because of her innocent girl-like appearance, or because she was clinging to me like a real mom?
Thinking about tricking and toying with this monster until I ultimately killed her made my heart ache just a tiny bit.
As if a sharp ice pick was stabbed into my conscience.
‘But still… I have to do what needs to be done.’
I couldn’t just stop because I felt guilty.
While I had a legitimate reason for survival, now that I brought this monster to the surface, it was my duty to see this situation to the end.
Responsibility. Yes, it was responsibility.
Until now, I had been claiming that all the unfair labels thrown at me were false accusations or self-defense. But this time, I couldn’t do that.
If granting this monster her freedom led to the deaths of thousands, that would be the moment I truly became the “Knight of Betrayal.”
“…Let’s go, Ellie.”
And so, I gently but cruelly led the monster that called me “mom” by the hand.
To the bright and shining death awaiting us beyond the dark, damp cave.
The noontime sun descended upon our shoulders.
Perhaps because the light was too blinding for someone who had been in a cave, I tightly held onto the small hand touching my palm while shutting my eyes.
I thought I would soon hear the burning girl’s screams.
And then…
◆◆
“……”
“……”
“……Huh?”
Surprisingly, nothing happened.
The breathtakingly bright sunlight. The cool air characteristic of the north. The silent, tranquil forest.
In stark contrast to my solemn vow, there were no screams or flames to be heard.
The world under the sun was serene as if it had no interest in us at all.
“Mom?”
Eleadra looked up at me with a peaceful expression, as if asking what was wrong. Not even frowning, let alone being burned.
“……Haa.”
Friede, who had been nervously fiddling with the hilt of the Holy Sword, sighed and rubbed her forehead.
Her expression was one of confusion over how to handle this situation. I probably wore a similar expression.
‘No way… This can’t be happening?’
I was losing it for real.
I wasn’t entirely oblivious to the fact that things could turn out like this, but I had done my best to deny it and look away from the possibilities.
‘Not just any vampire, but a Daywalker? Is this even possible?’
I had unwittingly stumbled into the worst-case scenario.
[DW]
The extremely rare trait that grants sunlight immunity to vampires—causing them to burn away like a stock chart upon exposure to sunlight.
It was clear Eleadra possessed that trait. Even though it seemed impossible, given what I was witnessing.
The chances of a vampire having the Daywalker trait were nearly one in thousands.
Who could have predicted that I would land smack in the center of such an implausible probability?
At this point, I could go to a temple, rant about my fate, and smash a goddess statue without worry.
Staring vacantly at the sky as I processed this miraculous misfortune, Friede, who had stashed the Holy Sword away, approached me and whispered.
“He… Hilde, what do we do now…?”
Good question. What do we do now? I didn’t know either.
“Not sure….”
I sure had no brilliant solutions. Honestly, I was relying solely on the sun, and now it felt like the sun had just betrayed me.
Maybe it was my fault for having expectations in the first place.
Fuming at the brightly shining noontime sun, I cursed that shameless betrayer to myself.
◆◆
Several hours later.
As the betrayer grew weary of my curses and accusations rolling on for six whole hours and was inching towards the horizon…
“Haa… We’ve finally arrived.”
We exited the snow-covered woods and reached the nearest village.
With a disaster of a vampire whose actions were unpredictable, we arrived in a lively village. Essentially, we had entered a populated area carrying a biological weapon.
“Umm… Is this really okay…?”
“…Who knows.”
Friede openly expressed her unease. I was managing to maintain a calm expression, but deep down, I couldn’t shake my own anxiety.
…But what could we do? I had made my choice and just had to bear it.
“For now… we’ll just have to wait and see, I guess. Right?”
“I suppose so….”
For now, we would move with this monster by our side.
That was the decision I finally reached after much deliberation and hesitation.
Or rather, calling it a decision felt off? There wasn’t really another option available.
Even if I stood at the dungeon door glaring at the sun accusingly, it wouldn’t suddenly change its mind and strike Eleadra down with light.
So, ultimately, I had to accept this brick wall situation and settle for an uneasy alternative.
Acting as both the vampire’s mother and caregiver to ensure it wouldn’t harm anyone else was the only way forward.
It was a temporary fix, but there was no other approach.
After coming to that conclusion, I brought the vampire down, and the first village we reached was this one.
A relatively sized village with a couple of inns and a decent marketplace.
The fragrant aromas of roasted sausages and stew wafted from the bustling restaurants within, and the streets were filled with people pondering dinner options.
A lively yet not excessively chaotic depiction of an ordinary village.
“Wow! A village! It’s a village!”
Yet, perhaps out of sheer nostalgia for the ordinary sight after hundreds of years, Eleadra raised her arms joyfully and spun around like a kid enjoying herself.
She was having such a blast that she was practically spinning like a skating champion.
She’s really going for it. Meanwhile, I feel like I’m about to lose it.
“Our Ellie seems to be excited after a long time in the village?”
“Yeah! I like it here, Mommy!”
For now, I continued my act as her mom.
As long as she thought of me as her mother, she would listen to me, or at least attempt to protect me.
“Really? What’s so great about it?”
“There’s lots of food!”
…Is that just about the restaurant? It sure better be!
Eleadra was eyeing the street food, looking like a kid in an amusement park, which was a bit eerie.
If the ‘food’ Eleadra referred to was what was displayed in the restaurants or stalls, that would be a relief, but considering her vampire senses, the odds of that being true were slim.
“…You know you can’t snack without asking, right?”
I sweat a single, cold bead as I firmly held Eleadra’s hand.
I needed to prevent a situation where she might get a nibble on someone’s neck thinking she was having a little bite.
Numerous lives, including my own and those of friends like Friede, depended on my words and actions. I couldn’t afford to relax for even a second.
“Haha, is that your little sister? She’s absolutely adorable!”
Little did the townsfolk know my plight, watching us as Friede and I held hands.
“Not my sister! Mommy, she’s our mom!”
“……Huh?”
Every time Eleadra corrected them by saying I was her mother, their smiles morphed into dumbfounded expressions.
The bewildered looks shifted between me, clearly in my twenties, and Eleadra, who outwardly appeared to be no more than twelve.
Given how bouncy Eleadra was, the effects of my helmet’s disguise must have long since worn off.
“N-no, could that really be…?”
“Goodness….”
I had to lower my head in immense shame under the incredulous stares questioning how young I was when I had a child.
“Haaah….”
I had never appreciated the face-covering aspect of my helmet as much as I did today. Seriously.
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