Chapter 656 – Morning Scenery and Call for Support

000

Before morning dawns with the crowing of a rooster, Quon is the first in the party to wake up (except for Lyla, who doesn’t sleep at all).

No matter what, Quon’s routine was to wake up two hours earlier than everyone else, prepare breakfast for the group, and finish housework.

Surprisingly, this routine started not so far back, but a few months ago, after we all started living together at Geumgwanggyeong’s mansion and living like a family.

She was originally a person who likes to take care of others, and as she started living with other people, she didn’t even ask anyone to do it, but she started to do this herself.

Thanks to that, the group, who didn’t even eat a full meal a day, let alone breakfast, before they started their daily life together, now can at least eat breakfast. , It would have been something to be pleased with.

If you look away from the sad fact that there is a wizard who is not even 1cm tall.

Anyway, as she was standing in front of the kitchen, singing her chant and cooking today’s daily bread, the person who woke up a little earlier than the other party heard a rustling sound and felt someone approaching.

The quon, noticing the object by the sound of her approaching footsteps, opens her mouth to greet him, even though she is concentrating on cooking without turning her body.

“Good morning, Cleon. You only have to wait a little longer, so go wash up first and come back-“

Saying so, Quon, greeting her morning to Cleon, she suddenly felt her hand rise from behind her to her own waist.

“Good morning…”

A voice that could be heard as her chin rested on Quon’s shoulder, not feeling well yet.

In response to the low voice ringing right in her ears, after Quon raised her voice, she talked to Cleon, who was hugging her from behind, laughing as if she was troubled.

“Do you think you fell asleep?”

“Huh…”

It seemed that Cleon had been tired all day yesterday, and in addition to waking up later than usual, it was difficult to get up.

Originally, it wouldn’t be strange if I woke up a little earlier and came back after finishing my morning routine, running, but if I woke up now, it would be like that.

After Cleon leans against Quon’s body for a moment, Quon stops moving his hands.

It wasn’t that long, but it wasn’t that common for Cleon to rely on himself like a child.

It was a pleasure for Quon to give him time to lean on others like this, even for a moment.

However, it was the moment when I was about to ask Cleon to help me prepare the meal, as I didn’t know what would happen to the pot bubbling next to me if I stayed like that for too long.

Shake… And as his body swayed slightly, he felt another hand reach out from behind and touch Cleon’s side.

“Eh, Eek?”

Quon looked back at the sudden incident, but the face of the person who hid behind Cleon, cradled on Cleon’s back, and formed a line like connecting a train, was invisible.

I could tell who she was without even looking at her face, because of her characteristic red hair, which, as always, was not parted, but rather long.

“… Leon… Ku… Depressing…”

“La, Lila?! Are you going to sleep hanging on Cleon’s back?”

“…”

When Quon uttered a panicked voice, Lila’s unanswered breathing gradually became regular.

As if drawn by the sound, Cleon, without her words, begins to breathe in a rhythm similar to Lila’s.

“Wait! How am I supposed to move if they both fall asleep like this!”

In a way, the scenery is like the daily life of a very peaceful family.

It’s not that I didn’t like it, but I rather liked it.

Even so, when she did this while preparing breakfast, she looked confused as if she didn’t know what to do.

“I can’t help it… Now that it’s like this, I’ll call Sasha…”

While Quon said that, she uttered a troubled voice, and the next moment.

Her paring … And the feeling of something breaking on her flowed through her body as well as the two people who were about to fall asleep clinging to her Quon’s back.

Then Lila and Cleon ‘blinked’ open her eyes, which were naturally closed by the softness of Quon’s body, and immediately straightened her back and lifted her up.

“Who’s here? I’ll go back to my room and get ready and come back.”

“Okay. Then, I will greet you for now.”

“Both of them… Suddenly got better…”

Quon also knew that someone had invaded the barrier that spread around her mansion, but when he woke up so suddenly, what was the relaxed and warm atmosphere from a moment ago?

With a small sigh, Layla runs out of her kitchen first, and Cleon turns to Quon to talk.

“Sorry, Quon. Then I’ll go.”

“Yeah… Be careful.”

Quon said so, but even she could tell whether or not her target was truly dangerous by the sensation she felt when she passed through her barrier.

The barrier that Layla spreads and sounds an alarm about the intruder that the party can feel, and the more hostile the target has to them, the stronger the alert.

The current warning is someone they know, but it’s probably just an existence that hasn’t been set as an exception to the barrier.

For example, people who don’t come here often, or people who haven’t known each other for a while.

Is it Bourbon or Aisha?

While thinking that, Quon, who watched Cleon leave the kitchen, sighed a little and hoped that one day, it would be nice if we could spend a leisurely morning together without being wary of anyone coming. It was

And, while turning around again, Quon tries to resume the disturbed morning preparations.

“Oh!”

When she gave out a tone of surprise, it was clear to her that the water in her pan had been reduced more than necessary.

001

When Cleon went out to the front door, she heard a knock on the front door just in time.

“Lord Cleon. I’m sorry, have you been… Since this morning?”

The voice that called him was a voice that Cleon knew well.

“Ah?”

When Cleon opens the door, she wonders if she, the eldest daughter of the three sisters of Bangwidae, has a reason to come looking for her in the morning.

Standing there, Aine looked up at Cleon with a face that looked like she had seen a little embarrassment while she was sweating.

And that, unlike when he met Cleon on a regular basis, he was wearing a uniform during a mission, even with a sword attached.

As soon as she makes eye contact with Cleon, she immediately bows down to greet her.

“Good morning, Lord Cleon. Could it be that I disturbed the rest of the ball?”

“No it’s okay. More than that, what’s going on? From the looks of it, it looks like you’re on a mission.”

Is there anything she can come back to on her mission? If you ask her a question with her thoughts, she nods her head, looks around her a bit, then answers Cleon.

“…Someone might hear me here, so would it be all right if I go inside?”

“…Good.”

When Cleon answers her like that, she thanks her and follows Cleon through her front door.

Then, she immediately closed the front door and looked up at Cleon to explain the situation.

“Lord Cleon. Pamela is gone.”

“…!”

At Aine’s voice, Cleon couldn’t help but open her eyes wide.

Pamela is a vampire who visited Asteris not long ago when Cleon and Illenu were working in Lionel’s store for a while.

It is said that she was a member of a famous ‘human-friendly’ vampire family among vampires.

She herself, too, was a woman with a tragic story of whether something was wrong with her during her long sleep, and that only her body had grown into an adult while her mental age had not grown at all.

That she helped her stay in Asteris on the condition that she did not attack her people, while being praised as the most talented doctor in this city-

At the same time, she is one of the figures keeping Asteris from under the shadows, ‘Quartz’.

He was what the three sisters of Banguidae called the elders.

After that, Dryne, the youngest of the three sisters, was in charge of monitoring Pamela—Cleon remembered.

She thought that without her, she wouldn’t have even thought of Gaius, and she should go to repay her someday.

I never thought something would happen before that.

“I confirmed that she disappeared about an hour ago. She got her contact from Drane, who was escorting and spying on her. But…”

Aine’s face turned dark as if she was a little embarrassed, and she held down the hat she was wearing on her head with her hand and explained her circumstances.

“An hour ago is the time when Dryne confirmed Pamela’s disappearance.”

“So, does Draine leave for a while?”

Cleon, who thinks that if she took on another mission during the mission, she might as well.

In fact, Cleon thought that Pamela was a kind person with a slightly sloppy side who was unlikely to forcefully attack people and steal her blood.

To Cleon’s question, Aine shook her head and denied it.

“No. Cleon Ball. Draine took up other duties and did not leave her seat unattended. She… She was attacked by someone and lost her mind.”

“Dryne…!?”

When Cleon uttered another startled voice, the image of Drye collapsed with a severe wound flashed through her mind for a moment.

However, as if recognizing the scene he was thinking from Cleon’s expression, Aine waved her hand and calmed her down.

“Ah, no. As Prince Cleon thought, he wasn’t seriously injured. Even if she was attacked… ‘Her blood was sucked’.”

Her “Her blood was sucked, then her culprit who attacked her is…”

“…”

As if she didn’t want to think about Aine either, she kept her silence without removing her hand from the lowered hat.

If you think about it simply, the blood sucking attack means that the opponent is a vampire.

And now, in this Asteris, the only vampire-or the person capable of blood-sucking is Pamela, as far as they know.

Illenu is a dhampir who hates such an act, so he wouldn’t do it even if it was possible.

“Dryne said, the last thing she remembers was about 9 hours ago, before the blood was sucked. Maybe we… Were too concerned about Pamela.”

Aine said that as if she was resentful, but Cleon still couldn’t easily let go of her faith in Pamela.

“… It’s hard to conclude that it was Pamela who really vamped Dryane. Wasn’t there some kind of portent?”

“That story… Draine himself has told it. Yesterday it seemed like the two of you had dinner together. It seems that she considered Draine as her friend, to the extent that Pamela proposed to have a pajama party if it was okay. Dry, yes. She also said that the child… Pamela couldn’t think of any reason why she would do this all of a sudden.”

After hearing her story, Cleon couldn’t doubt Pamela even more.

“…How much blood was sucked?”

“From Quartz-nim’s point of view, very little. He said it was not the amount of blood that would cause a person to lose consciousness. However, the reason why she lost her mind was because she passed through the resistance that blocks witchcraft at the same time as vampirism, and directly poured her magic into her sleep…”

“…”

Cleon listens to her and nods her head as if she understands.

‘Even vampires need some training to use magic. However, it is only that they learn much faster than humans. Maybe, really, Pamela…’

However, it is to shake your head and be sure of what you need to do right now.

“Let’s follow Pamela’s trail.”

At Cleon’s words, Illenu nodded.

She, too, would not have borrowed Cleon’s hand for anything.

However, the vampires watching in the city might have attacked people, and it would be really dangerous if they had disappeared.

If she is dominated by some sort of vampiric urge, and she attacks people again.

This time, like Dryane, it wouldn’t end just by sucking a tiny bit of blood, and it might turn a person’s body into dried, twisted jerky.

If that happens, all I can say is that it will be an irreversible tragedy.

Therefore, it was the right decision to immediately seek cooperation from someone you could trust at least a little bit.

“I’ll prepare and come back soon, just wait a little bit.”

“Thank you very much, Prince Cleon… And… Prince Illenu.”

When Aine said that, Cleon turned around in surprise.

There, Illenu, who had been listening to everything, was leaning against the wall, looking at Cleon and Illenu with a somewhat complicated expression.

“Illenu.”

Although they were living in the same inn, they didn’t run into each other often because Illenu had been blatantly avoiding Cleon lately.

Still, she was still here, preparing to break her Emma’s curse.

However, as if she couldn’t stand it when she heard stories about vampires, she eventually reappeared in front of Cleon.

“…I can’t just hear it and pass it over. If you say this happened because you didn’t exterminate the child on the spot. Because it’s my responsibility as a vampire hunter.”

After Illenu said that, she turned around while brushing her gray hair back.

“Leave it to me if it’s the vampire’s pursuit. Because it is professional Cleon… It’s been such a long time that he probably forgot about it, right?”

“… No way.”

If it’s a powerful vampire, even recently one.

I had a track record of getting rid of him even though I almost lost my life.

Leaving behind her own answer, Cleon followed Ile Nu with her eyes as she returned to her own room.

“Lord Cleon…And one more thing.”

Then, just as he himself was about to return to his room to get ready, Aine called him over as if he had one more thing to talk about.

“Drayne, who went out to scout the delegation, said that the delegation will enter Asteris around this evening. …I think it would be good to settle the situation before that, if possible.”

“——Ah.”

Cleon nodded her head in agreement with her answer.

True, the situation was not so good.

Even if Pamela- or the vampire who attacked Dryne were to vamp the soldiers and nobles of the kingdom, if that happened.

A huge diplomatic problem will arise between the two countries, and the search for the culprits who brought the vampire into the city will begin.

Before that happens, we must get Pamela back and find the culprit who attacked Dryne.

Cleon went back to his room feeling a little impatient.

It was the beginning of the vampire chase battle.