Chapter 445 – Bone Devouring Knife
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Enpearl House…
The lapel badge represents the crest of that family, I suppose. He’s wearing a combat uniform in red. It looks classy and cool.
You could also see “patterns of winding green roses” on the brass-made fasteners arrayed up from the chest to the belly. I think it’s a mark identifying a Sorcery Noble from Underground City Da’Umezalan. I remember having heard the name of 【3rd Sorcery Noble House Enpearl】 from Viine.
I’ll inform Viine later through a blood message.
“――A darkness tiger!? No, a black panther!? A new species of magic beast with tentacles!?”
“What has happened to the absolute defense line of the Tuning Fork Moon Boundary!?”
“It looks like the black beast came out of the treasury!”
“――Hello, everyone!” Aris exclaimed.
“Eh? A child is riding the beast?”
“Why here…no, that’s not all! Two noir runners have been caught by the tentacles!”
“Capture them!”
“――Garururu!”
“Wha-! Bone blades!?”
“Still, why did a black panther come out of a treasure vault that ought to be a dead end…?”
In the direction where Rollo had gone, several people were quite verbal about their perplexity. Probably guards…
Well, it’s because Rollo had dug into the treasury from outside. The vibration from the bedrock being destroyed should also have been audible outside. Moreover, we’re currently in the basement of the wolf fortress. It’s pretty clear that this must have caused quite a ruckus above.
“Divine Beast-sama…Aris…” Higlia muttered while looking worried.
Elza also looked in the direction from where she’d heard Aris’s voice. The back of her head was different from the bunch of magic threads that were extending from her nape. Her hair was carelessly tied together with a narrow, black band, which was directly connected to her outlaw mask. On the other hand, the front part of her head was covered by the mask, making it impossible to see her expression.
She probably feels just as worried as Higlia after having heard Aris’s voice.
But she kept pointing her left arm, which had transformed into a weapon, at Valentin and his vampire friends, who continued to face us.
After seeing that, I decided, “Higlia, leave this place to us. Please take care of Rollo.”
“Got it――Divine Beast-samaaa――” Higlia moved at once.
She dashed towards the entrance of the treasury. I’m going to leave the guards to her.
I focused on the gravedigger guys, staring at Rashuu or Valentin, who was their leader. Valentin looked toward Rollodeen, one of his thin, golden eyebrows raised.
Are his shoulders trembling? Is he surprised after hearing all the uproar?
I don’t know. Well, I guess I’ll start by asking him why he has a second name.
“Is Rashuu your real name? Your friends have apparently been calling you Valentin, though…”
Hearing my words, he shook his head as if to clear his mind. And then he met my eyes.
“…Rashuu is my former name. My current name as a vampire and Gravedigger is…Valentin.”
So he’s Rashuu and Valentin at the same time. However, there was a slight hesitation when he used the Valentin name. His eyebrows also moved somewhat. I wonder what sort of hesitation he is hiding.
Currently, he’s pretending to be calm, as if nothing happened, but…there must be a reason for his name and the Gravediggers.
“…How should I call you?”
“Valentin will do fine.”
“Gotcha. Okay, my name is Shuuya. Helme, Jody, and Elza are my friends.”
Helme and Jody nodded while smiling.
“Got it. Nice to meet you.”
“Please call me Suuun, and not by my old name, Hirekan.”
“I’m Saljin.”
Suuun was someone waking in me the desire to talk politely about him. He had a bald head with a nice barcode line on his skin. And he also possessed laugh lines, which stood in stark contrast to the rest of his cool face. He was a guy with a medium build for whom the tailcoat fit, unlike Saljin.
He is a survivor of the Halzemar family. He might also be connected to the Black Noble Youth, who is another vagrant of the Halzemar family. Mirei, the subordinate of Akemi-san, is a survivor of that family too.
Suuun spoke up, “But, Valentin, wasn’t the noise the only reason why we moved here?”
The instant he saw Higlia’s silver-claw armor, a man yelled. He might possess a great appraisal eye like Valentin.
“Really? I clearly felt like moving here out of interest for the noise.”
The one asking Valentin like that was the red-haired guy who had been swinging his red claws. He was a beastman. He mentioned he escaped a vampire hunter in the Oppenheimer regions.
I can tell that he’s connected to Nora’s family lineage.
The red-haired guy was huge. But the tailcoat suited him. However, it had beastman blood on it. Are his red claws and hair proof of a beast origin? Is he like Eboue, who can transform into a black panther?
“…I used to be a turncoat. There’s lots I haven’t talked about yet,” Valentin said with a sad voice to his friends.
In addition, there were several other vampires, but I’ll ignore them for now.
“…So Gravediggers, you don’t have any shovels or pickaxes with you?” I asked Valentin in jest.
In response, Valentin’s tense expression relaxed. Looks like my joke worked.
“…Shovels, eh? Hehe, I got this magic katana instead…,” he pointed his sword at me while talking.
Valentin tilted the hilt downwards. I could see the point of the magic katana. And it also became clear that the blade had been crafted by someone with exquisite skill.
The dark elf looked past the blade at us. It wasn’t as though he was glaring, but I could sense the threatening air of a martial arts practitioner from him.
And after Valentin confirmed that we were observing his katana, he changed the blade’s angle so that the upper and middle parts of the katana were visible to us.
“A one-handed sword style, huh? Is it a style belonging to the dark elves?”
“It’s the 【Hundred Dark Crossbows】 of the Enpearl House. Its quality is far different from what normal rank and file soldiers use…”
He deliberately talked in the language of the underground elves. Even so, the violet tempering pattern of the blade was pretty. Violet mana particles shaped after skulls surged out of it. Those skulls combined beauty and sinisterness into one.
Suddenly, illusions of bone hands appeared from the blade as if something in the katana was harboring grudges. They twined around the blade, continuing to encroach on the upper and middle parts of it.
“Violet skulls? That’s eerie. It makes the katana look like it demands blood, no, souls.”
Hearing my words, Valentin nodded and then while scowling at the katana in his hand, “…Certainly…I guess it’s that sort of katana.”
“You’ve piqued my interest. What’s the name of the sword?”
“It’s called “Bone Devouring Knife.””
It devours bones? I suppose that’s the reason for skulls and bone hands to swarm around the blade…though as mana.
“Bone devouring…does it actually eat bones? Going by the name, I’d think it’s a weapon originating from the east.”
Valentin nodded at my question, “Phoenix City Cyphon. I heard it was made on the Archipelago.”
Valentin lowered his waist while talking quietly. He placed his other hand on the mouth of the scabbard hanging at his waist. And then he inclined the upper part of the katana as if to show off the design of the hilt while moving the katana in one go.
The blade’s motion was strong enough to slice apart space multiple times. His katana mastery was brilliant as he used his body muscles. The sight of the violet skulls continuously appearing and disappearing from the blade temper looked pretty. This is how a samurai’s way of handling a katana without any wasteful movements might have felt.
Right after I embraced such an impression, Valentin let the katana slide into the scabbard in his other hand. A nice, metallic sound rang from the scabbard when the edge of the hilt hit the scabbard’s mouth. The scabbard itself looked old-fashioned.
The scabbard for “Bone Devouring Knife” somewhat resembled the scabbard of Fierce God – Spirit Wind, which Yui owned.
Just when I thought all that, the other gravedigger members, who saw Valentin sheathe his sword, also put their weapons away. I guess that means all of them have no intention to fight.
“…As you can see, we do not wish to fight. And I’ll talk to you as a representative for everyone else. Is that okay?”
I could feel the quality of a leader from Valentin’s tone.
“Sure.”
“Great. First off, it might be a coincidence, but allow me to apologize for having trespassed into this treasury.”
Valentin placed a hand on his chest and lowered his head faithfully. His golden bangs swayed lightly.
…How polite. His bow looks like one performed by a butler.
Still, it’s manners for manners. I’ll answer with a bow, too.
After bowing my head to him, “――I acknowledge the apology…but…”
“…I know. We’ll go along with your conditions, Shuuya-dono.”
Conditions all of a sudden? Modest negotiations over fighting. Different from apparent flattery, he used consideration that took into account having his feelings read by us.
A man similar to Mel, huh? I can sense quite a lot of experience from him. And I don’t know what’s going on inside his head for him to try to get close to us. But he probably has reasons beyond a mere wish to survive.
Well, I can ask him about that later on.
Still, the vertical lined mana below his navel and at his throat have been bothering me for a while now. He’s continuing to refine peculiar mana there, reminding me of a straight sword.
Thereupon, mana crests in the shape of small crossbows started to appear and disappear from next to the vertical mana lines as if aligning with the fasteners on his chest while rotating. I thought he might be like a samurai, but maybe he also has mage abilities?
It also means he’s resolved to go to battle against us even while negotiating.
“Conditions, eh…?”
“Yep. We know a lot about the underground.”
“Are you implicitly appealing that we’d benefit from hiring you guys? Earlier, you talked about destroying everything and so on, though.”
“…That’s our public stance.”
“It’s as Valentin says! The full sentence is 『We’ll destroy everything and take all treasures. But, we won’t put our lives on the line for it』,” shouted Suuun.
His acorn eyes were brimming with seriousness. Valentin nodded so as to corroborate his comrade’s words.
“If we fight, we’ll definitely have casualties on our side. But, we can always aim for treasures as long as we’re alive.”
The instant Valentin said this, the sharpness in his blue eyes intensified.
…Haha, I felt a slight chill when he strengthened his stare just now. This guy…is definitely a formidable fighter. I’d love to have a go with him.
I focused on my right hand, which was gripping the Spear of the Moon Wolf Ring. For an instant, the injury on my left hand throbbed. I took my eyes off Valentin and looked at my left hand. The wound in my palm troubled me.
『Vessel, doing the unreasonable…thine heart has started to beat fast』
『So you found out, eh?』
『Humph, obviously. It’s impossible to hide things from me! But…But, Vessel!』
『What? Are you putting on airs because you want blood by launching a surprise attack against Valentin?』
『S-Something like that…I-I haven’t b-been thinking a-anything like that! You’re wrong!』
It looks like she considered it a bit.
『Haha, what is it then? Keep it short』
『…It’s about the magic book at your waist』
『You mean the Spear Writings of the Demonic War Night Parade? You warned me, didn’t you?』
『Yes! Don’t be swindled by cryptic, man-eating fiends. You didn’t hand over the remains of the gods and the strangely shaped rock either! I’ll praise you for not having yielded to them. And, the reason is…I know that it’s a result of your deep respect…and extreme cherishing…of me…』
『What have you started to talk about, fate girl…』
『Fate girl? A, I got it! It’s a secret language for just the two of us, Vessel! Did you sense the fate of spending a steamy night with me? Fufuhahahahahaha』
…Saraten’s tension is soaring, but right now I’m in the middle of negotiations.
I cut off the telepathic communication with Saraten and focused on Valentin.
As leader of the gravediggers, he’s well-informed about the underground world. It’s probably the same with the Tsuranuki Thieves Gang, too.
The wish of Gramps Kistrin and Quiche’s ancestors rests with me. I don’t think I’ll lose my way on the Golden Path of Souls to the sacred ground which has been infested by Underground goddess Rolga and her minions, but…it’s still true that we’re trying to venture into unknown land.
The Demonoid Empire and the underground world itself will become our opponents in addition to the underground goddess. Strong fighters like General Naz On lurk down there as well.
There are underground cities that will be our allies, like the one where Amu and Roa live, but I suspect there are countless cities like the Free Cities Alliance Föhn, which will be rather hostile to us.
Because of all this, I’d like to win over those gravediggers as allies. As long as they’ll become an asset for Cydale, I don’t care whether they belong to the darkness or light. I’ll accept all of them. Hence, let’s have an honest talk with them.
Looking at Valentin, I said, “…If I had to be frank, we also belong to the gray area or whatever you want to call it.”
“What? You say you’re not kin of the god wolf who are directly tied to the divine princess or the twin moon goddesses? Aren’t you special guardians protecting the treasury?” Valentin’s eyes flew wide open as this came as an unexpected surprise for him.
“Indeed. I’m neither a guardian nor a watchman. But I’m a friend of Divine Princess Higlia. At the same time, I’m what you’d call a human guest, which is exceedingly rare by ancient wolfmen standards. Moreover, you heard the voices of my partner and the guards just now…the reason for the hole in the treasury is that very partner of mine, Divine Beast Rollodeen.”
At the mention of the term divine beast, Valentin’s blue eyes began to tremble.
“…Divine beast…you mean the black beast that headed towards the entrance in an instant as if vanishing. Just like a darkness tiger…”
His voice seemed to quiver a bit. He was quite shaken as he looked in the direction of where the commotion had occurred just a little while ago, but then his irises changed as well. The capillary vessels widened, and several bluish veins popped up from the outer corners of his eyes, reaching all the way to his ears.
It looks like he harbors some sort of feelings towards my partner, but I’ll leave that alone for now.
“…So, about the conditions. Is it okay for me to set them?”
Hearing my question, Valentin’s eyebrows moved again. He seems to be reading too much into my words.
“…Of course. It’s not like we’re asking you to let us go for free…” Valentin answered in a suggestive manner.
I looked at Helme, Jody, and Elza, nodding. Next, I focused on the metallic device next to my right eye while staring at all of the gravediggers, activating the Kaleidoscope. Immediately after I pressed on the metallic shuriken with a finger as if it were a button, its cross-shaped form transformed into a 卍
My visual field cleared up instantly. How strange. Does it combine highly functional organic metal with mana? It might trigger an unknown chemical change that accelerates cell activity.
Using that Kaleidoscope, I scanned each and every single one of the gravedigger vampires.
Alright. All of them are safe. The Kaleidoscope doesn’t show any bugs. So, they’re not being brainwashed. Well, that much was to be expected, though. It’s not like the gravediggers would approach evil gods.
Let’s try inviting them.
After looking at Helme, I declared, “Let me get straight to the point: Valentin, submit to me――”
As I swung my left and right arms directly horizontally, Helme’s eyes sparkled. And once she moved up next to me while releasing ice sprays from her whole body, as if to exhibit her power as a spirit, she took a pose. Moreover, Jody also closed in while making her slender body spin like a spintop. She then took a pose symmetrical to Helme’s on my other side.
Elza watched all of this, but didn’t participate in the posing. While remaining standing sideways, she put her greatsword back on her back. Galassus also stirred inside her gauntlet. The gauntlet, which became a three-bladed claw sword and shield, was tinged with mana.
Then it transformed into a croissant-style arm. A single tentacle rushed out from the tornado-shaped tip. It was a bug tentacle of Galassus. As before, it was the complete opposite of the cute tentacles that Rollo possessed. The eyeball at its tip widened as it stared at Helme and Jody’s posing with full interest.
“…S-Sorry, I didn’t intend to interrupt your negotiations, but Galassus’s curiosity was piqued by the dance neither of us has seen before…”
“No, it’s fine. Galassus, you took a liking to it, right?”
“Interesting…,” replied Galassus.
He had only one eye, but he slowly closed it and then opened it, as if winking. You can’t really call it cute, but I might get along with this bug.
Immediately following, Valentin and the other vampires genuflected.
“…This must also be some sort of fate. I’ll obey you, Shuuya-dono. But it’s not like I’m speaking for all Gravediggers. Some among us might be against obeying you.”
This is what Valentin said, but the majority of them looked quite willing to obey me.
I spoke to all of them, “Very well. I shall believe the words of your representative, Valentin, that this is some sort of fate. However, the current situation is pressing. I’ll have you obey me for a brief period. Got it?”
The seven, including Valentin, answered at once.
“Roger.”
“I’ll follow you, Shuuya-dono.”
“It’ll be a graduation from wandering the underground as Gravediggers!”
“I’m…”
“I will trust in Valentin’s judgment. Up until now, he has never erred in his decisions. I shall obey.”
“Let’s…see. The guy, who saved my life, becomes someone to obey in the next instant…”
“I don’t trust him.”
“Me neither. But if you guys follow him, then I’ll try to do the same. Shuuya-dono seems like someone who doesn’t discriminate against us, even while knowing that we’re vampires, and he’s someone who gives me a good impression. It won’t be too late to pledge allegiance even after watching things for a while.”
As might be expected from a clever leader like Valentin, the other Gravediggers seemed to be superb personnel. There are still quite a few worrisome aspects left, but you could say I succeeded in a gentlemanly group promotion, I guess? Well, I suppose it worked out fine because Jody and Helme joined in.
The two also nodded in satisfaction at the Gravediggers’ answers. I pointed a hand toward where we could hear Rollodeen growling.
“Shuuya, I’ll go ahead――” Elza started to run after putting Galassus away.
“Gotcha. Helme, Jody, please collect those treasury items.”
I mean, we can’t leave them lying around in a treasury with a big hole, right?
“Okay!”
“As you command.”
Jody released several moths from her fingertip. Those moths shot out white threads from their mouths and wings as they fluttered through the air. The threads entwined themselves around the various treasures, followed by the moth lifting the treasures up.
Helme also released her <Lapis Lazuli Flower> towards the treasures, entwining a part of the items with its shining threads, and lifting them up.
Both moved up next to me while carrying the treasures with their respective threads. After seeing the two girls being ready, I waited for the gravediggers to stand up.
“Let’s go. No fighting, okay?” I warned the vampires in advance.
“Affirmative.”
Together, we all headed towards the entrance of the treasury.
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