NoveLight ™
Schneider had disguised himself as an old man by compressing his muscles as much as possible, adjusting the positions of his internal organs, minimizing the gaps between his bones, and creating a wrinkled, sagging look with the leftover skin.
Having undone that disguise now, he had regained his youthful appearance and was doing some stretches.
“Disguising myself with ‘Muscle Technique’ isn’t something I should be doing for too long. My shoulders and back get stiff, and it’s so hard to breathe while I’m using the disguise. And in the end, my physique didn’t even change as much as I wanted it to,” Schneider grumbled. “Well, I suppose that’s just how it is, since I’ve only just learned how to do it.”
“I think it is quite the feat to change your physique at all, given that you are not even a Vampire. After all, I myself am reliant on the regenerative abilities that I possess as a Pure-breed Vampire,” said the older gentleman in the room – the Pure-breed Vampire Zorcodrio, also known as Zod.
‘Muscle Technique’ made it possible to freely manipulate the user’s muscles to do things like attacking, protecting themselves, and generating electricity. Schneider had always believed that this Skill was unique to Zod.
Zod himself had thought that it would be impossible to teach ‘Muscle Technique’ to others. It had naturally been impossible for humans, but even the few Pure-breed Vampires who had shown interest in learning it from him had failed to do so.
But Vandalieu and Legion, whom he had taken on as apprentices, as well as Yuma, had all acquired the ‘Muscle Technique’ Skill, so Schneider had begun to think that he might be able to as well.
With that said, Schneider had not been after the ability to generate electricity by rapidly vibrating all the muscles in his body, the ability to compress and expand his muscles to create shockwaves, or the ability to extend tentacles from his body. He had wanted to use it as a method of disguise, as Zod normally did.
Zod’s true form was over two meters tall, with a thick neck that was protected on both sides by the well-developed muscles of his shoulders. His limbs were far thicker than a woman’s torso, and his ripped pectoral and abdominal muscles formed an iron wall.
On top of that, the density of his muscles was far higher than that of a human, Elf, or Dwarf. Where other Pure-breed Vampires would use skillful combat techniques or magic, Zod used only pure muscular strength. Even Schneider himself did not believe that he could match Zod in muscular performance.
However, Zod usually compressed his muscles to disguise himself as a slender elderly gentleman. His neck was thin and sinewy, and his limbs were like wires compared to their normal form. His torso was thin and looked like it could be easily broken. Becoming an Abyssal Pure-breed Vampire had turned his skin only paler; if someone who didn’t know him were to encounter him in the dark, they might mistake him for a ghost.
‘Muscle Technique’ made such transformations possible, so Schneider had thought that if he learned it, he would become able to quickly disguise himself without the use of things like makeup.
And with his resourcefulness and hard work, Schneider had made that a reality. Zod was praising him, believing that there was nothing left to teach him.
But Schneider was wearing a grim expression. “Nah, a lot of the flaws were covered up by my clothes. I couldn’t shrink the gaps between my bones that well, so it was difficult to move. Though I get the feeling that this made it easier to mask the habits I have when I usually move, making it more difficult to see through the disguise.”
“I think that’s probably what old people call ‘aging,’” said Dalton.
“Since you don’t normally feel that, I think it’s about time you admit that you’re not an old man, Schneider,” said Lissana.
“Schneider, I think it’s about time you realized that you’re just a young guy who’s just lived for a long time,” said Merdin.
The ‘Self-proclaimed Old Man’ Schneider was actually in his sixties, but as he accomplished great things over his life such as defeating an Elder Dragon, although his hair grew whiter, his body never aged past his twenties. His companions teased him at every opportunity.
But Schneider wasn’t known as the ‘Self-proclaimed Old Man’ for nothing. “I’ve only been able to maintain my youthful body because I’m taking care of my health and moderating myself every day!” he said.
In Schneider’s mind, there was no doubt that his youthfulness was due to his healthy lifestyle and diet.
In his youth, he had practically drowned himself in alcohol, mainly eaten only meat, and frequently fought battles that lasted longer than three days and three nights without sleep. But as he grew older, he had started paying more attention to his health.
He now enjoyed tea rather than alcohol, and although he consumed meat, he made sure to eat it in balanced meals with an equal or greater quantity of vegetables. He slept early and got up early every day. When he found himself feeling a little hungry, he munched on vegetable sticks, and he made sure to deal with stress as quickly as possible.
“You said you were gathering information at the bar. How did you manage to do that without drinking any alcohol?” Lissana asked him suspiciously.
“I did drink, but the Magic Item I had in my mouth was breaking down the alcohol, so it doesn’t count!” Schneider replied.
Given that he was even going as far as to use a Magic Item for things like this, perhaps his healthy lifestyle was indeed producing a certain level of results.
However, he paid no attention to his skin, and it was unlikely that his healthy diet alone was what allowed his skin to remain as youthful as that of someone in their twenties. It was also abnormal for him to be able to move his organs around and shrink the gaps between his bones using just his muscular strength.
His ‘Self-proclaimed Old Man’ Title was a reflection of what everyone around him thought of him.
“Schneider, if you keep that ‘Self-proclaimed Old Man’ act up, it’s gonna turn into ‘Self-proclaimed Human.’ Not that I really care,” said Dalton. “So, what was it like around the city? When I checked out the Adventurers’ Guild, it was completely deserted.”
Dalton, who had covered his ears to conceal that he was a Chaos Elf and disguised himself as a large man with dark skin and a mohawk, spoke of what he had seen of the Adventurers’ Guild.
Although commission boards in Adventurers’ Guild were usually almost completely covered in commissions, there had been almost none posted on the commission board of the Adventurers’ Guild in the Farzon Duchy.
That was because the potential heroes and the worshipers from the various Churches of the gods of Alda’s forces, who had come from all over the kingdom and gathered in the Farzon Duchy, were completing commissions rapidly and some were even working for free, causing some commissions that would otherwise be posted to not be posted at all.
The potential heroes who had originally been adventurers were taking on commissions in order to earn the money they needed to sustain their lives in the Farzon Duchy. And because they had received divine protections from their gods, they were more skilled than the D-class and C-class adventurers who had originally been working in the Farzon Duchy.
As for the priests and high priests who had fled from the Churches they had been working at, they were carrying out missionary work for the Churches in the Farzon Duchy that had taken them in. They were doing this in order to create stronger positions in society for themselves, and they believed that this aligned with the will of the gods who had ordered them to come to this region.
Thus, they were not only preaching on the streets, but also exterminating monsters, providing medical care for the people, and performing maintenance work on the highways that nobody else wanted to do, all for no payment.
And so, the adventurers of E-class and below, who would normally be doing construction or cleaning work as day laborers, no longer had any of that work available. Meanwhile, due to the appearance of powerful new competitors, adventurers of D-class and above were forced to compete against more capable competition for commissions.
That was why the local adventurers of the Adventurers’ Guild of the Farzon Duchy had split into three large categories. First, there were the handful of adventurers of B-class and above who were competing for commissions with the potential heroes. Then, there were many adventurers of C-class and below who were barely managing to make ends meet by defeating monsters and selling their materials while collecting and turning in the parts of the monsters’ bodies used as proof of killing to collect their bounties. Finally, those without the ability to do either of these had moved to smaller towns and villages that had few adventurers, including the potential heroes.
“Thanks to that, the local adventurers mistook me for a friend of one of the potential heroes when I walked into the Guild, since I was a new face, and picked a fight with me. Though they were very helpful – We had a quick conversation with our fists, then I bought them some food and drinks and they blabbered everything I wanted to know,” Dalton said.
“It sounds like there is much discontent in the Adventurers’ Guild as well, I see,” remarked Zod.
“I think you’re a bit off the mark there, Zod. The adventurers are struggling to pay for food, but it’s unlikely that the Guild itself is all that upset about it,” Dalton corrected him.
It was the Adventurers’ Guild’s job to support the adventurers that were its members, but the potential heroes were adventurers as well. They couldn’t give special treatment only to the local adventurers. And the potential heroes were very useful to the Guild, as they cleared commissions quickly, one after another.
And the C-class and D-class adventurers who had given up on taking on commissions were putting their efforts into scavenging monster materials, which meant that monster material trade was booming.
As for the adventurers of E-class and below and the newer adventurers who had suffered, their moving to smaller towns and villages with fewer active adventurers had alleviated manpower shortages for the local Guild branches there.
Zod gave an impressed look, as he had never considered things from the Guild’s point of view. It had only been a few years since he had become an adventurer, and he had been a member of the Storm of Tyranny right from the beginning, so he had never experienced being at the bottom ranks.
“I see. They have done well. And I suppose that even if this incident causes adventurers to quit, they do not mind at all, given that this is a profession where people are frequently forced into retirement by death or injury,” Zod noted.
“Yeah, it’s a harsh trade. Well, they might’ve put in a few complaints with the Churches, but I don’t think they’re really all that displeased. They’re a Guild, after all,” said Dalton.
“The Guild is generally completely disconnected from the Churches, after all. Normally, that’s the good thing about them,” said Schneider.
Indeed, the Adventurers’ Guild generally didn’t interfere with Churches and religion… at least, not publicly. And that was because its founder, Farmaun, had decreed that all adventurers were free to worship whichever god they pleased as long as the nation’s laws allowed it.
They swung swords, raised shields, and cast spells. If they did this for their allies, then it didn’t matter what gods they prayed to.
Of course, this rule was thought of in the decades following the battle between Vida and Alda ending in Alda’s victory, and since human societies did not worship any gods other than those thought to belong to Alda’s forces, the gods of Vida’s faction and those who worshiped them hadn’t been considered.
And in the end, it was nothing more than a public pretense, so it wasn’t uncommon for the rule to not be followed, depending on who was in charge of that particular Guild branch. To begin with, the nation’s laws allowing the worship of the gods in question was a condition for the rule, so in the Amid Empire, adventurers were forbidden from worshiping Vida. In contrast, all adventurers who worshiped any god – Alda, Vida, or any other – were allowed in the Orbaume Kingdom.
Because that was the nature of the Guild as an organization, it didn’t have any connections to particular Churches any more than necessary, and it was always looking to avoid any quarrels.
“Then I suppose that means we can ignore the Adventurers’ Guild,” said Schneider.
“Yeah, I think so,” said Dalton. “How about the Churches? Were there any subordinate gods among Alda’s forces who became discontent and seemed willing to come over to Vida’s side?”
“Hmm, it seems that there are almost none among the subordinate gods who are worshiped in the Farzon Duchy,” said Lissana, who had been in charge of gathering information related to the Churches.
At a glance, Lissana appeared to be an Elf, but she was also Jurizanapipe, the Evil God of Degeneration and Intoxication, who had been a part of the Demon King’s army but changed sides to join Vida’s faction in her previous life.
The idea had been that if there were any gods wishing to join Vida’s faction, they would be zealously searching for any opportunities to do so, and they would take notice of her presence inside their own Churches and attempt to make contact.
It was possible that the subordinate gods of Alda’s forces would detect Lissana’s presence, but there were countless ‘worshipers’ who prayed insincerely only for appearances’ sake. Gufadgarn, the ‘Evil God behind Vandalieu,’ had testified that not many gods would be capable of telling her apart from such false worshipers.
“Well, that’s only true for the gods with Churches in this city. But I’d stand out too much if I were to go all the way to Churches of gods that are only worshiped in remote areas,” Lissana added.
“If they’re in places where outsiders don’t visit often, you’re bound to stand out, no matter how you disguise yourself,” Schneider agreed. “So, how were things at the Churches in this city?”
“It was kind of lively in a strange way. At a glance, things seemed normal, but the atmosphere was like a fortress filled with soldiers with high morale on the night before a big battle, I suppose. Only among the people with higher positions, though, like the Church’s warriors and the priests,” said Lissana. “The ordinary worshipers seem to be disconcerted by the fact that important people have been gathering here from other duchies lately, but it doesn’t look like they’re thinking too deeply about it.”
Lissana had noticed that the worshipers who had received Divine Messages from the gods of Alda’s faction and gathered in the Farzon Duchy behaved similarly to the warriors she remembered from a hundred thousand years ago, just before battles against the Demon King’s army.
It was likely that they were thrilled, with a sense of duty and superiority at being able to answer the calls of the gods they worshiped and battle against their enemies. Those who didn’t know of these circumstances were the same as usual, albeit disconcerted by the current situation.
But it seemed that the average person who never got involved in political matters did not think too deeply about the disconcertion they felt.
“I suppose if it were the opposite, and they saw the Church leaders and high priests fleeing from their Churches one after another, they would sense that something bad was about to happen and feel endangered,” Lissana said.
“Come to think of it, what are they saying about Guduranis’s resurrection and Vandalieu defeating him at the Churches and Guilds? In town, the news was about as well-known as it is in the other duchies,” said Schneider.
“Well, there are Churches of Vida and Peria in this duchy too, after all,” said Lissana.
Vandalieu’s achievements were inconvenient to Duke Farzon and his allies, but it seemed that it had been impossible to suppress this news. There were a considerable number of Churches of Peria in the Farzon Duchy, as it bordered the sea, and although Churches of Vida were very few in number, they did exist. The clergymen at these Churches who had received Divine Messages had likely spread the news to the worshipers.
And the news had spread from the other duchies as well. The Demon King’s resurrection and defeat had happened in the nation’s capital; they were highly newsworthy events. There were none who didn’t speak of it.
“It seems that the Churches of Peria and Vida are under surveillance now, though,” said Lissana. “There were several people who looked like they were keeping an eye on the Churches hanging around the entrances.”
“I see. So, what information do we have about the nobles?” Schneider asked.
“Yeah, yeah. I made contact with Duke Alcrem and Duke Jahan’s spies and got information from them,” said Merdin.
The duchies that made up the Orbaume Kingdom were allies that worked together against the Amid Empire, but at the same time, they were political enemies to one another. Thus, it was the norm for them to send agents working for intelligence organizations to other duchies.
However, the agents that were currently stationed in the Farzon Duchy were in a situation that made it difficult for them to make any moves. Thus, Merdin had gone to receive the information from them directly instead.
“According to them, Duke Farzon is… apparently at the stage where he can’t be reasoned with,” Merdin said.
“Can’t be reasoned with?” Dalton repeated. “He’s supposed to be involved in government affairs, right? In that case—”
“I gave the information a quick look and from what I saw, it seems like he’s praising Alda, Bellwood, and Heinz in the same way that the Undead praise Vandalieu,” Merdin said.
“Yikes, he can’t be reasoned with then,” said Dalton.
He had optimistically been hoping that maybe the duke was being controlled by nobles who worshiped Alda. But hearing Merdin’s answer, he abruptly changed the topic.
“What about the young Dhampir lady, Selen?” he asked.
“It seems that she’s being treated as a saintess. I think the idea is for her to be a counterpart to Darcia-san,” said Merdin. “I don’t have any information about what Selen herself thinks about that, though.”
Selen was a Dhampir, but Duke Farzon was a zealous supporter of Heinz, and to him, she was a living symbol and proof that Heinz was a part of Alda’s peaceful faction. It was likely that he would try to have the people worship her as a saintess and compete against Darcia, the incarnation of Vida… though it seemed that this hadn’t been very successful.
“I see… Normally, I might have considered kidnapping her, but nobody would benefit from that,” said Schneider.
He felt sympathy for Selen, who had been made a saintess at the convenience of the adults around her, but he was hesitant to kidnap her.
It was unlikely that Selen herself would wish to be abducted by Schneider, who was an enemy of Heinz and the others who were her parent figures. Heinz and his companions would think of it as taking her hostage. Vandalieu would probably tell Schneider, “Put her back where you found her.”
“No, no. I believe Vandalieu-dono would be very pleased,” said Zod, disagreeing with Schneider’s thoughts on the matter. “And I’m sure he would gladly force her on you, Schneider-dono. ‘Now that you’ve brought her home, make sure to take proper care of her until the very end,’ he’d say.”
“That’s no good, is it?!” Schneider shouted, as Zod’s prediction of the outcome was even worse than his.
“Yes, he’d probably say something like that. One of this Selen girl’s parents was a human, right? Schneider will probably outlive her,” said Merdin.
“Yes. He’d certainly be able to take care of her until the very end,” said Lissana.
“Spare me,” said Schneider. “It isn’t like Duke Farzon has declared war on the other duchies and the Demon Empire of Vidal yet. If I were to kidnap such an important person now without any justifiable reason, I’d become a wanted criminal in the whole kingdom, wouldn’t I? I don’t mind bounties being put on my head if it means I get to do what I want to do, but I’m not in the habit of doing crazy things for the sake of getting bounties put on my head.”
Schneider had once beaten a noble to death on a busy street in broad daylight without hesitation, but he didn’t wish for himself to be ruined. There was some level of conscious thought behind his actions.
“For now, I suppose we should get back to Vandalieu, give him the information we have, then return to the Amid Empire. We need to check if there are any big movements in the Great Church of Alda,” said Schneider. “By the way, speaking of Vandalieu, is he still busy spending time with his family?”
“Yes, he should be on the Demon Continent right now, meeting his daughter whom he has named Aradia,” said Zod.
“Then I suppose we’ll hand the information to a Demon King Familiar rather than to him directly,” said Schneider.
“Things would have been a lot easier if we could bring the Demon King Familiars with us when we went to gather the information,” lamented Merdin.
“It can’t be helped, can it? Imagine if someone were to happen to see him or hear his voice and then become guided. Our hiding place might’ve been found,” said Schneider.
“Being a Guider is inconvenient at times like this, I suppose,” said Zod.
“Nah, I think it’s just that kid. Nobody else could just indiscriminately guide people like that,” said Dalton.
As they chattered, Schneider and his companions prepared to move out.
It was only three days after they were already gone that the Farzon Duchy’s intelligence organizations discovered traces of their presence.
《You have acquired the ‘Self-proclaimed Human’ Title!》
Eleanora and Bellmond had fallen behind their rival.
That in itself was disappointing but not unusual, and they were used to it happening. After all, the master to whom they devoted themselves was an incredible person. They had so many rivals that all of one’s fingers and toes would not be enough to count them. There were even two gods with whom he had children.
But this time, the rival that they had fallen behind was someone who was very close to them. To Bellmond, this rival had once been a colleague whom she had never gotten along with, and to Eleanora, this rival had once been an enemy that she had slain.
Recently, they had often worked as a trio, causing them to let their guards down… and that was precisely why Eleanora and Bellmond were so unhappy with falling behind this time.
In order to catch up to their rival once more, the two of them had chosen to undergo fierce combat training and receive advice from a senior figure who was also one of their rivals.
And on the advice of that senior figure, they had followed Vandalieu to the Demon Continent and were training now, but…
“Hmm, it looks to me that the two of you are already strong enough. I don’t think there’s anything for me to teach you. And Kanako would be far better at teaching you dancing skills,” said Basdia, the senior figure who had given them advice, speaking her thoughts while still holding the bow that she hadn’t had the chance to fire.
“We know that! Our Rank is the same as yours now, after all!” said Eleanora.
“But in the end, we have not been able to become Queens. Our goal has not yet been achieved,” said Bellmond.
The two of them were unable to accept this.
“No, I personally think you could fight Isla at least on even terms,” said Basdia. “You’ve learned how to sing and dance as well, haven’t you?”
“Like we said, it’s not that we want to catch up to Isla in terms of strength. We want to gain race names that feel close to Van-sama, like ‘Lifeless Queen!’” said Eleanora. “And besides, why are you recommending dancing and singing so strongly?!”
“Because I feel that dancing is connected to combat, and singing is connected to magic. Kanako has put that into practice, hasn’t she. And I also thought that if you wish to achieve something that you have not been able to achieve thus far, doing something that you have never done before might be a shortcut. But if even this isn’t enough, then I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you should do, either,” said Basdia, who had gained a race title containing ‘Queen’ some time ago.
Eleanora and Bellmond’s faces fell at this answer.
Meanwhile, Vandalieu was… not listening to this conversation.
“Elder Brother, Elder Sister. Father has stopped moving,” said Aradia, Vandalieu’s daughter with the Moon Giant Deeana who had been born sooner than expected.
She was holding a limp, motionless Vandalieu in her hand.
“Has Papa fallen asleep? What happened, Onee-chan?” Bakunawa asked Eleanora.
Elizabeth climbed onto Aradia’s arm and tried shaking Vandalieu’s head. “Hey, what’s the matter? You’re making Aradia-chan worried about you. You’re the one who said you’d be fine even if she treats you a bit roughly, aren’t you?”
But Vandalieu had passed out from the shock of having acquired the ‘Self-proclaimed Human’ Title, and would not recover for some time.
Incidentally, the Demon King Familiars continued working silently, so no disruptions were caused to them.