Fifteen years ago, the whole kingdom was shocked when news spread that an entire village had been annihilated. Rumors quickly began to circulate among the people. Some believed it was the work of the bandits from the Valley of Darkness, while others blamed the neighboring kingdom, as the village was located near the border between the two territories.
However, the knights and Templars reached a different conclusion after their investigation. According to them, the massacre had been carried out by a vampire.
Most people did not believe it. At the time, vampires rarely appeared in human territory and were not considered an active threat. Moreover, there were no witnesses. Every single villager had been found dead.
Because of this, many dismissed the knights’ claims as nothing more than a fabricated story, meant to hide the truth behind the incident.
Even now, people spoke of it like nothing more than a rumor. To most, it was just a story. But for Wox, it was reality.
Wox had heard such talk countless times before, and he always ignored it. But now, sitting in Clyde’s tavern with a glass in his hand, the words landed differently. His fingers tightened slightly around the glass.
He drank the entire glass in one breath. “Give me one more.”
Clyde looked at him in disbelief. “What? You always stop at one.”
“Just give me.”
Clyde shrugged and poured another drink. “Alright, here you go.”
Wox picked it up. This time he drank it slowly.
At the nearby table, the conversation continued.
“... But vampire sightings have increased since that incident.”
“Yeah, I heard the same when I was in the capital,” one of them said. Then he leaned in slightly, lowering his voice. “There’s also talk within the Imperial Knight Order… they suspect the entrance to the vampire kingdom might be somewhere near the wetlands of the Laroam Forest.”
“What? But isn’t that the same place from that old rumor? That a vampire has been imprisoned in a castle near the wetlands?”
“That’s what I heard too. But they say it’s in a magical space, so it can’t be seen or entered normally.”
“Like the vampire kingdom?”
“Yeah.”
“Makes sense, since the vampires are the ones who imprisoned that one there.”
“But the castle itself is supposed to be in another space. It’s not connected to the vampire kingdom.”
Most people knew the vampire kingdom existed in a separate magical space. But no one knew where the entrance was. If they had known, things might have been different. Humans would have found a way in eventually, and a long war would have followed.
While vampires possessed greater strength than ordinary humans, that was not true for all humans. There were knights whose strength could match a vampire, and Templars whose holy power was one of the vampires’ biggest weaknesses.
“Speaking of vampires and werewolves, I heard something from a high priest once. They said if a werewolf drinks a vampire’s blood, they can transform at will, even without the full moon. And the same goes for a vampire. If a vampire drinks a werewolf’s blood, their vitality increases significantly.”
“Is that true?”
“Who knows? Even if it’s true, it doesn’t matter. Weren’t werewolves wiped out ages ago?”
“Yeah.”
“.....”
Wox was still holding the mug, turning it slowly in his hand. He was taking longer than usual. Normally, he would have finished it quickly, but today was different.
Clyde was surprised by his behavior as well. First, he asked for another drink, and now he was taking too long to finish this one. He did not say anything, but he watched Wox with a look of puzzlement.
Then Wox finished it in one gulp. He placed the glass on the counter and stood up.
“I’m leaving.”
Clyde’s hand paused mid-motion. His eyes narrowed slightly. “What? Already? You always stay much later.”
“I just remembered I forgot to lock my door.”
“... Right.”
Wox turned and walked out. The door closed behind him.
Clyde stood there blinking. “What kind of excuse is that?”
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