Loren ended up swinging his great sword until morning.
The undead that attacked them were slow and werenât a threat individually, but there were just too many of them.
At the enemies whose numbers didnât seem to drop no matter how many he cut down, Loren started to worry that it could come to the worst, the sky began to lighten, and morning soon came so the attackers gave up and disappeared.
After all of them disappeared, Loren pried his unmoving fingers off the handle of his great sword and dropped it to the ground.
Thinking that it wouldâve been bad if there had been more proper vampires than there were, Loren stuck his great sword into the ground and sat down on the ground, breathing hard.
Loren thought that the only reason they managed to drive the attacker off was because most of them were the slow, zombie like enemies.
The amount of fatigue he felt told him that if it wasnât for that, it wouldâve been possible that they wouldâve fell prey to them.
But he couldnât afford to rest all day.
Although they had survived the attack during the night, it couldnât be said that they were completely out of dangerâs path.
Even though they didnât know who it was, the fact that there was an attack meant that whoever it was knew their position, and there was no telling when the next attack would be.
âLetâs start moving. We canât handle another attack.â
âLooks like we took quite the difficult job.â
Lapis quickly started taking down the camp even as she complained.
Loren stood up to help her, but Lapis stopped him with her hand and he ended up sitting down again.
âIâll take care of the camp. Loren you should rest as much as you can.â
Even though she had used <<Turn Undead>> the whole time, unlike divine arts, it didnât drain any of her strength, and since she was a demon, she was stronger than a human as well.
Watching Lapis, who showed no signs of fatigue other than lack of sleep, quickly take down the camp, Loren took deep breaths and relaxed his body, trying to recover as much as he could.
âIâm impressed that you managed to keep swinging that until now.â
Dia was looking at Lorenâs great sword.
Although it was made of many kinds of materials from its handle to the tip of its blade, the great sword, which was completely comprised of the color black, had cut through and crushed the undead all night, and as a result it was sticky with flesh and blood.
Loren knew that he should wipe it off or else it would rust the blade, but his body wouldnât listen to him, and although he tried to reach for it, he felt that he wouldnât be able to lift it up.
âKeep resting. I can wipe it for you.â
Seeing Lorenâs shaking hand reaching for his great sword, Dia grabbed it by the blade and pulled it out of the ground.
Seeing a small girl lifting a sword that was taller and thicker than her was a strange sight, but what made Lorenâs eyes widen was that Dia had grabbed the blade, which caused her hand to be covered in blood as well.
Vampires getting drunk off blood was well known.
It was a phenomenon where a vampire that touched or saw blood would lose its reason and start killing left and right, but although Dia was an Elder, she was a vampire as well, so she should have the same kind of thirst.
Although it was the blood of the undead, Loren was afraid that if she touched human blood, she would get drunk from it.
But with just a disgusted expression at the blood on her hand, she took the wet cloth that Lapis had brought her and started cleaning the blade.
âH-hey?â
âDonât worry. We Elders can keep all other impulses except our blood impulse that happens once a year down with our willpower. Which is why there is no way for us to keep our blood impulse down.â
âJust wondering. Is there a possibility that one time hasnât come around yet?â
It seemed to be an impulse so strong that they couldnât keep it at bay.
And since Dia was an Elder, if she somehow went under its influence and attacked them, there was no way for them to escape.
And from what she had told them, one person would have his blood sucked out completely.
If it wasnât, the supposed five hundred victims should be existing somewhere.
Loren had heard before that the powers of a victim of a vampire was reliant on the parent vampire.
Undead that were victims of normal vampires as well as Trues were already quite terrifying, so if undead created by Elders were roaming all around free, it wouldnât be surprising if the world would end soon enough.
âAhh, well, you know. If it happens, Iâll think of something.â
As Dia looked away slowly as she said that, Loren, without thinking, forced his body to move away from her, and seeing him, Dia frowned.
âItâs a joke. Iâm already done with it. If not, I wouldnât ask humans for help.â
âBad taste for a jokeâŚâ
It was a life relating matter.
Wiping cold sweat, Loren sat down again, and Dia picked up the cleaned great sword and handed it to him.
âA great sword made of magic iron. Humans have quite fine weapons as well, I see. It must have cost you a fortune. Take good care of it.â
âMagic iron?â
âWhat? Youâve been using it without knowing?â
As Dia looked surprised, Loren glanced at Lapis.
Lapis, who was putting up camp, didnât seem to notice their conversation, much less his gaze.
âYou know that demon kin reside in the center of the continent, surrounded by mountains, donât you? Itâs a metal that could be found there. Itâs a valuable material that gains different attributes when mana is poured into it, so itâs very rare to see a weapon which is made up of so much of it. Itâs usually spread thin across a normal steel blade or just the blade being made of it.â
âItâs quite expensive, Iâm guessing?â
Judging from Diaâs explanation, he could tell that it was a very valuable metal.
The rarer something was, the more expensive it was, so Loren decided to confirm with Dia, and she looked at the sword and thought for a moment.
âItâs made of genuine magic iron. Its core is most likely magic iron as well. On top of that, there are many runes engraved on it as well. Iâm not sure why a rune to make it lighter isnât incorporatedâŚâ
As she muttered that there should be room to include it, Dia gave her conclusion after a while.
âWith the material and runes, gold worth ten times its weight wouldnât be enough. If you are a true swordsman, you wouldnât try to let go of something like this.â
Loren gulped at Diaâs appraisal.
The amount of money that he had borrowed from Lapis was quite a bit but finding out that it was worth way more than that, Loren couldnât help but be surprised, and while he sat there speechless, Lapis, who seemed to have finished packing everything up, was next to him.
âThatâs incredible. Loren youâre so lucky that you could buy something like that.â
âIs that so?â
Lorenâs words implied something.
When Loren had bought the great sword at Kauffa, Lapis and the shop owner had been suspicious, so Loren believed that Lapis had prepared it somehow and made the owner sell it to him.
Loren asked Lapis if it was fine to say that he managed to get his hands on something he wouldnât be able to buy at its full price by chance, but Lapis answered with a smile.
âOf course, it is.â
âI see. So thatâs what it is.â
From their conversation as well as her realizing what Lapis was, Dia had understood what was going on.
âDonât sell it just because itâs expensive, okay?â
âI know. I wonât.â
Nodding at Lapis, Loren took the sword from Dia, stood up, and strapped it onto his back.
Watching him with a satisfied expression, Lapis clapped her hands.
âSo, weâre done with packing up, so letâs get moving. Loren got some rest as well, and itâll be bad if we get attacked again.â
âNot going to lieâŚI canât deal with that many opponents for a while. Iâm the weakest out of all of us her, you know.â
Although he replied so, despite what he just said, he could feel his body recovering at a rapid pace.
Of course, this wasnât Lorenâs own power.
It was Shayna, who was within Loren, using the life energy she had siphoned using energy drain and pouring it into Loren, speeding up his recovery in an inhuman speed.
If she poured in too much, she would drain her own strength, but Shayna was powerful enough to aid with Lorenâs recovery without a problem.
âI sucked out a lot from the attackers, so donât worry Onii-san.â
Loren was slightly worried that Shayna was using her powers to help him recover, but when her words that seemed to laugh his worries off reached his mind, Loren laughed nervously.
âBut compared to the great sword and coat youâre wearing; your armor is quite shabby.â
Dia told Loren as she started leading the way, leaving the campsite behind.
Out of his equipment, his great sword and coat was something Lapis had readied, but his clothes and leather armor were normal ones he bought at the shop.
To Loren, it was enough to serve its purpose and didnât feel like he needed anything better, but to Dia, it seemed unsatisfactory.
âYou have such fine equipment, so you should be at least be using armor that meets the standards as well.â
âI canât afford them, so.â
It wasnât like there werenât any items like his sword and coat that were worth way more than their price but coming upon such items wasnât easy.
And although his debt had decreased, he still owed ten gold coins, and since his income wasnât much either, he didnât have the money to upgrade his equipment.
âFrom the attack last night, I was just thinking about how the payment I promised you wasnât enough. If we manage to get to our destination, how about I present you equipment?â
âThanks for offering, but the payment is split between me and my partner.â
Loren thought that he shouldnât accept payment that only he could receive.
There was the option of getting the payment in money and splitting it with Lapis, but that would mean that there would have to be money that was worth half of the price of the equipment Dia would give him in his wallet, but he didnât have that amount.
âI donât mind at all. Lorenâs equipment being upgraded means that Iâll have an easier time.â
âThat might be true, butâŚâ
âIf you want to say it wonât feel right, then thereâs also the option of increasing your debt by half the amount of the price of the equipment.â
âI donât want it to raise it any furtherâŚâ
Since she didnât remind him, the load wasnât too heavy, but Loren didnât want to increase it if he didnât have to.
âThen how about I ready some other type of payment for Lapis. Thatâs fine, no?â
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âI guess, yeah.â
âWow Loren, extra payment. It makes you want to try harder, doesnât it?â
Lapis said happily, but the thought of the pack of undead from the night before lied heavily in Lorenâs mind.
It was doubtful that those were the full force of whoever sent them, and the closer Dia got to the ruins, the higher the chance of something more dangerous attacking them.
Having thoughts that he should be happy after the extra payment after he had survived the whole thing, Loren quickened his pace slightly.