NOVEL NEXT Chapter 16
Azhantu (4)
Slurp—
“Hmm, sometimes instant noodles are nice.”
I slurped up the noodles, savoring their chewy texture.
The spicy aroma and the tingling taste of artificial seasoning.
Recently, my bank balance had become quite generous, allowing me to indulge in luxuries like pig’s feet or sushi, but sometimes instant foods called out to me.
‘By the way, this time my avatar really died.’
Hans had resurrected as an undead not long after his death, but this time, that wouldn’t happen.
Chopped up by a vampire, burnt all over, and crushed under the rubble of the building, finding any intact corpse might be impossible.
Then I thought about the siblings waiting for me.
‘I said I’d visit them within three days, so sending a new avatar instead should work. But that means I won’t be able to do any outdoor activities for a while.’
It would take about a week to regenerate the deceased avatar.
In other words, over two months in this world’s time.
Thus, I could only rely on the avatar currently active outside.
Beeep—clunk
Just then, the avatar came back home, carrying supplies.
Including the damaged armor items.
‘I’ve already paid for a week at the rented lodgings, so once the teleportation circle activates, I can change clothes and go find the kids.’
If I took too long, they would start to worry.
‘Now, I need to name this guy…’
After pondering a bit while looking at the organizing avatar, I made a quick decision.
‘Alright, let’s name him Heinz. I guess technically it’ll be Heinz II?’
I was going to face the siblings instead of the recently deceased Heinz, so having different names would undoubtedly confuse things.
I decided on ‘Heinz II’ to carry on the will of the fallen warrior.
[Entity Information]
– Entity Name: Heinz II
– Common Traits: “Mind Hub,” “Super Recovery,” “Clarity of Mind”
– Entity Trait: “Acceleration”
– Special Note: Seong-hyun Han’s third avatar.
‘Just in case, should I invest a bit of Karma to boost his physical abilities?’
There were still around six hours left before the cooldown of the teleportation circle would be up.
*
《Teleportation to Auterica dimension is complete.》
Upon completing the teleportation and opening my eyes to survey the surroundings, I realized I was still inside the lodging I captured while staying in Azhantu.
I rummaged through my belongings, putting my outer clothes over the armor and packing what was needed.
‘I only packed one long sword. It’s probably in the ruins now.’
A brief pang of regret washed over me as I thought of the lost weapon, but there was nothing I could do about it.
Later, I’d have to find a new weapon or something.
As I stepped out of the room and approached the door of the lodgings, the owner was surprised to see me and wondered when I had come in, but I mumbled something and hurried out.
‘I don’t feel any significant changes. I wonder how it actually is.’
Even after a vampire incident which claimed one of the city’s rulers, it didn’t seem to have affected things on the surface.
They probably were hidden away in the underbelly of the city to not let the information get out.
Walking through the alleyways towards the siblings’ dwelling, I could feel the tense atmosphere in the air.
Given that something happened here in Barcolak, which managed this area, there was no way the guard level wouldn’t be heightened.
“Hey, wait, stranger. Can you come over here for a second?”
As expected, a man with the Barcolak tattoo on his neck grabbed me.
“I don’t recognize you. What brings you here?”
His demeanor was different from the hefty guy who shook me down for bribes before.
The situation must’ve warranted more caution.
“Oh, I’m an adventurer who just entered the city not too long ago. A few days ago, I encountered a pair of young siblings inside, and I wanted to check on them.”
“Siblings? Oh, I know them. But what’s your business with those orphans?”
While the man kept giving me suspicious looks, one of his associates approached him.
“Boss, I heard that the boy got lost a while back, and his sister was searching for him when a mysterious young man helped with the search. Could that be our guy?”
“Really? Is that true?”
Fortunately, it seemed Diana had managed to lay down some good explanations.
“Yes, that’s right. I wanted to visit them again because of that connection…”
I bowed my head and, while answering, casually slipped in some bribe money.
Even though he was acting a bit picky, he didn’t refuse the cash and accepted it smoothly with a nod.
“Alright then, with the current atmosphere being so tense, don’t cause any trouble.”
“Oh, of course. Thank you for your understanding.”
This time, I managed to pass through without issue.
He was no regular soldier, and in a back alley organization, he must be some ragtag bunch.
I was soon able to arrive at the siblings’ place.
*
Diana had spent the past few nights worrying.
The day she rescued Aaron, she had fabricated a story to tell those she asked about him, insisting it was no big deal. As per Heinz’s suggestion, she tried to act as normally as possible outside.
She had only diminished her outside activities enough to not look suspicious, all the while waiting for the day when Uncle would return.
“Hey, sister… Do you think he’ll be okay?”
“He’ll be fine. He promised he’d come back.”
Diana held her younger, worried brother and whispered to herself.
The day they parted, she had stayed up all night waiting, eventually drifting off into a faint sleep, only to hear the next day that the Barcolak building had been engulfed in flames. She did her best to hide her true feelings.
She kept waiting, trusting in Uncle’s vow to return.
And today marked the last day of the three days he promised.
“Hey, sis, it’s time to eat. Here, some bread.”
“Mm, thanks.”
After staring out the door all day, Aaron approached Diana, handing her bread and sitting beside her.
He carefully chewed on his own hard bread.
The money Uncle had entrusted to them would need to be returned soon, so they hadn’t spent any of it.
They hid all their other belongings in the house, waiting for their owner to come back.
‘But what do we do now? This time, we were able to save Aaron thanks to Uncle, but if another such incident occurs…’
Living in this city, it was inevitable that a moment like that would come.
Diana feared that day.
“Huh?”
At that moment, Aaron, licking the bread, suddenly shouted while looking outside.
“It’s Uncle!”
“What?!”
Diana, lost in thought, sprang up and bolted out the door.
His clothes were different, but the face was unmistakably the same as when they parted.
“Uncle—!”
Diana burst into tears as she hugged Heinz.
“Hey, hey. Diana, you really waited a long time, huh? Sorry for being late. Oh! Aaron, you’ve been doing well too, right?”
Heinz patted Diana on the back while ruffling Aaron’s hair as he came over.
‘He smells different… me?’
Diana, burying her face in Heinz’s embrace while crying, felt a strange discomfort in her nostrils, but after whiffing a few times, she soon realized.
‘No, it’s definitely Uncle.’
Diana, who could smell the essence of the soul, was sure that Heinz II was the same person as the previous Uncle and chose to ignore it.
The smells one gathers can change for various reasons, but the scent of essence felt the same.
“Why were you so late? What happened?”
Diana, finally calming down, asked in a small voice.
“Hmm, it’s a bit complicated to talk about it here. Ah! How about we go grab something delicious to eat first?”
Heinz smiled at the bread Aaron held and suggested.
It was time for food after all.
*
I headed to a restaurant in the city with Diana and Aaron.
“Uh, I thought you wanted us to keep it.”
“Nope! Uncle said to hold onto it for a bit!”
Diana firmly stated as she handed the belongings she had kept before the fight with the vampire.
“Well, this should be enough to buy something pricey. Let’s go in!”
I took the siblings to have an early dinner before heading back to my lodging.
It wouldn’t be appropriate to talk anywhere else.
‘No point expecting soundproofing in buildings like this, so we need to keep the conversation down too.’
Still, it was better than elsewhere.
I roughly explained how I killed the vampire that had hired the kidnappers for Aaron while stepping out of the building and setting it on fire.
Aaron looked at me with shining eyes throughout my tale, but Diana’s face remained troubled.
“Uncle, are you really okay after killing a vampire?”
“Right now, it seems no major problem has arisen, but we should soon figure out how to leave the city together.”
“Leave the city…? Are we even able to do that? You can just go alone, Uncle. We’re fine. We’ve managed to take care of ourselves so far.”
Diana answered while lowering her head.
Though it wasn’t genuine, her voice bore the weight of resignation.
“Well, a solution will probably present itself if we look for it. Blocking everyone off just doesn’t make sense. Besides, I’ve got my plans, so don’t worry about it.”
I reassured Diana with a gentle smile, believing we’d be alright.
Having extinguished the immediate danger, we could stay for a few days, wait for the teleportation circle’s cooldown, and then leave the city where Hans could assist us.
‘If they come looking for us with Hans around, then I’ll just have to dodge them silently without the kids noticing!’
“It’s getting late now; let’s go. I’ll walk you both home.”
I wanted to keep them with me until I left, but that would only raise suspicions.
I only had to wait ten days, but I couldn’t risk it.
Thus, after dropping off the siblings at their place, I returned to my lodging alone and lay down on the bed.
‘Looks like I’m staying longer than I thought. But since I’ve started this, I better see it through to the end.’
As I set my thoughts and closed my eyes, I fell asleep.
How long had it been since then?
Gak!
I gasped, startled awake by a pressure gripping my throat.
Hmm, strange. I thought this guy was the most likely candidate. Did I misjudge it?
A pale-skinned handsome vampire, illuminated by the moonlight streaming through the window, was gripping my neck.
“There’s clear evidence of tracks leading in this direction from the forest, and one of the city’s vampires was killed just in time.”
Even though he was simply holding my neck, I couldn’t muster the strength to resist.
“And a foreigner entered the city at the same time, staying in the jurisdiction of the slain vampire. Suspicious circumstances were also discovered regarding recent movements.”
The vampire sniffed around me, examining every aspect before wrinkling his brows.
“But this guy, besides having no dark magic energy, doesn’t bear any traces of kin. Was everything just a coincidence?”
I realized all my past actions had been uncovered due to his mutterings.
How he’d figured it all out, even the trails leading to Hans, dawned on me.
‘This guy is sizing me up right now!’
As he said, he was only probing due to uncertainty.
I focused with all my strength using “Mind Hub” and “Clarity of Mind.”
‘I don’t know what he’s talking about! I’m just a normal adventurer who accidentally wandered into the city!’
The vampire gazed into my eyes for a while before finally licking his lips and releasing his gaze.
“Guess I misjudged it. I have no idea anymore.”
Fortunately, it seemed my desperate act had worked, as he seemed to have dropped his suspicion.
‘Damn it, I underestimated the rulers of the city!’
Until now, I’d gotten lucky in resolving every issue, but eventually, I had to deal with this last hurdle.
And I realized, the moment I was grasped by the neck, I wasn’t in a position to fight back.
‘He’s much stronger than that guy I killed in Barcolak! The only way is to resolve this misunderstanding somehow.’
But due to the grip tightening on my neck, I couldn’t squeeze out a word.
And the vampire didn’t seem to have any intention of letting go either.
“Hmm… But there’s something intriguing about you. Just as well, one of the low bloodlines in this region has been reduced, and you look quite robust.”
As he appraised me, he brought his sharp fangs toward my neck, and I was frozen in place.
“We’ll take our time discussing this later. It’s more convenient for me that way. You won’t be able to lie either.”
Swoosh—!
With the sensation of blood being drawn from me for the second time, I could tell something was flowing in.
‘Why is everything going like this!’
《Entity’s race value has been changed to ‘Vampire.’ Special skill “Bloodline (Low Blood)” acquired.》
《Entity’s recovery exceeded its limits. Skill “Super Recovery” has evolved to “Regeneration.”》
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