## Chapter 1083 – Ancient Vampire

It felt like I was literally dreaming.

Dreams have no rules or reality, so everything is vague. Awareness is also diminished, so when you’re in a dream, you think it’s real and just accept it naturally, until you suddenly realize something is wrong and become aware that you’re dreaming.

I felt like I was experiencing that decisive sense of unease I felt the moment I realized I was dreaming, amplified by about 500 times.

What the hell? I’m in some kind of barrier with golden wheat fields and a fancy old castle. The sky is an ominously blue color, and even these crazy farmers are waving and greeting me.

It’s as if being in uncharted territory until just now was a lie.

Is this for real?

But even with the unease, the scenery looked so natural. However, if it’s this well-crafted naturalness, then I’m definitely the guy who can call it unnatural.

Is it some kind of illusion?

Thoughts surged from the overwhelming suspicion, awakening and scrambling all sorts of conjectures. This isn’t a dream. It’s possible that these things inside the barrier are illusions created by mana, but my superhuman senses were telling me that all of this was real.

From the air to the sensation of the swaying wheat brushing against my body, and even the temperature felt from the blazing sun.

This wasn’t an illusion, it was reality.

Could it be that this barrier is another world?

Did the ancient vampire lord Coltarahen, who awakened from the seal, secretly create this barrier and hide here? Then what the hell are those farmers… humans being exploited by him? Is this not a wheat field but a cruel plantation created by an evil vampire?

ㅡSugarcane field

But.

Why do those farmers look so peaceful?

ㅡAaaaaaah!!!
ㅡUwaaaaaaaah!!
ㅡKyaaaaaaah!!

What I heard in my ears were the screams of innocent black people who were kidnapped and sold into slavery by evil white imperialists during the age of imperialism.

This is what exploitation is.

If they were being exploited by the vampire lord who awakened from the seal… they wouldn’t be so peaceful. Or maybe they’ve been brainwashed or put under some kind of illusion.

ㅡFwoosh.

I looked at this world again, wielding the power of the burning Fusion Confucianism.

“…”

It was clearly reality.

“Are those really people…!”
“People living inside a barrier…”

Hilde stuck close to my side and said in a frightened voice, and Liztina also said that, not knowing what was going on. They were also suffering from a sense of unease.

“I don’t know either. What the hell is this unease… I know it’s real, but I can’t shake the feeling that it’s a dream.”
“Me too! And those farmers…! They’re so suspicious! How can there be people inside a barrier like this!”

Hilde was almost trembling. She wasn’t acting hyper as usual, but was genuinely on guard.

“…They look like people, but.”

Karin also observed the farmers approaching us, radiating an aura that she would cut them all down if necessary.

“Hmm… They don’t seem to be a different race.”
“Yes. I don’t know for sure, but they seem to be human.”

Claudie and Ari’s words.

Everyone was trying to analyze the situation in their own way.

Yes.

There’s no falling into confusion. Just analyze the situation and make a calm judgment. Just remember the major premise that this is an unknown world unfolding inside a barrier.

“Is it some kind of trap? What do you think?”
“Well… I don’t know either. I don’t have enough information. Let’s take a closer look.”

I answered Karin’s question while looking at the approaching farmers. They looked like people, but they were suspicious enough to be dangerous. Maybe they’re vampires.

“Judging from the existence of a barrier of this level… it seems certain that there is a being with powerful magical abilities. It’s highly likely that the vampire lord has been released.”

Risha, who seemed more concerned about the barrier than the farmers, continued to look around in the air and said.

“Risha? What exactly is the state of this barrier?”
“Well, it doesn’t seem to be an illusion. The things here definitely exist. Perhaps a part of a dimension… has been separated… but research will be needed.”

I see.

“Anyway, it’s highly likely that the vampire lord has awakened. That bastard created this space. Isn’t that really dangerous?”
“Yes. Winia is right. I don’t know for sure, but judging from the fact that he created a barrier of this level, he’s not an ordinary being. It’s dangerous, so… let’s go out for a while and assess the situation.”

Winia and Ari warned of the danger.

Of course, I knew that.

“Let’s check it out first. It’s okay. I can handle something like this.”

I’m a little flustered, but not at all afraid.
Checking is the first priority.

There’s no problem with scouting first and then going out to figure out the situation.

“Don’t worry too much. I’m here.”

There’s nothing I can’t do.

“Still…”
“I wouldn’t say anything if you weren’t okay with it, Father.”

I patted their shoulders.

ㅡ…

Soon, the farmers approached within close range.

“Katt. What should we do?”
“Wait here.”

I put Vigal away and approached the farmers.

“They’re waving and coming over, so let’s exchange greetings.”
“Okay. Ask them something.”
“Katt, be careful…! They might be monsters pretending to be humans!”
“Okay, okay.”

With that, I left them behind and approached the farmers. With the blade of my mind sharpened to a razor’s edge so that I could react at any moment.

“Ah! People from afar!”

The voices of the farmers began to be heard.

I observed them.

“…”

I didn’t know for sure, but the farmers seemed to look ordinary, but they felt strangely bizarre… Are they human? At least we judged them to be human. It didn’t feel like something was wearing a human shell.

What should I call this bizarreness?

Thinking that way, they all seemed to look similar. More than anything, that natural and bright smile on their faces also felt unnatural. Why are they so happy to see me?

“It’s been a while since something like this happened!”
“It wasn’t long ago that a merchant came!”
“I don’t remember!”
“Anyway, it’s been a while since we’ve had a guest!”

The farmers spoke as if they were emotional beings with personalities.

And so, I stood before them.

“…”

After a moment of silence, observing the farmers, a middle-aged man with a lot of hair on his face cheerfully asked me first.

“What brings you here?”

He was a man dressed as an ordinary farmer, and I didn’t feel anything strange. He was holding farming tools in his hand, but I couldn’t read any hostility or aggression.

“Judging by your appearance, are you a guest of the lord?”

Lord?

“Lord?”
“I’m talking about the lord who lives in that castle over there.”

The farmer pointed to the back.

ㅡ…

The golden wheat fields and the unnaturally blue sky… I remember that there were some clouds before entering the barrier. The color of the sky was also a little more sky blue. But now there are no clouds, and it feels somehow bluer.

And standing tall on the border between that golden color and blue color.

That suspicious old castle.

“The lord… lives there?”

Is that lord referring to the vampire lord Coltarahen?

“What a silly thing to say.”
“What is this person saying?”
“Then who else would live in the lord’s castle if not the lord?”
“That’s right.”

The farmers answered my question, chiming in with each other.

It was the language of kind farmers who didn’t feel any hostility.

So I asked.

“…What kind of person is the lord?”

What kind of being is the lord?

Then.

“Very.”

The farmer with a beaming smile, as if he was really proud.

And in a tone as if he was so happy that he couldn’t help it.

“He’s a very good person.”

That’s what he said.

ㅡA smile that felt unnaturally beautiful.

“He lives in that old castle.”
“He’s a very good person.”
“He’s a good person.”
“He’s a wise ruler.”
“He’s the kindest lord that will ever exist in this world.”
“Thanks to the lord’s good governance, it feels like we’re living in paradise.”

At the same time, the farmers next to him threw words at each other.

It seemed like they were having a conversation with each other… but it felt like a strangely bizarre chorus. It’s like a chorus that suddenly pops out in a play with a script.

But it was so natural and seemed to come from the heart, so there was an unease that didn’t feel like acting at all.

“He’s a very, very good person.”
“Thanks to the lord, this place is no different from paradise.”
“He only takes taxes as prescribed, so what a good person he is.”
“He must be an angel.”

When the topic of the lord came up, the farmers all praised the lord with lively and happy expressions. It felt like they were beings from a story that comes out of a heartwarming rural village and a benevolent lord’s tale.

“Perhaps there is no lord in this world who is kinder than our lord.”
“Of course, of course. He’s a really good person!”
“Thanks to him, we can live without going hungry!”
“He’s a really respectable person…!”

But these bastards…

Their pupils don’t seem to be moving…

“…”

No. Are they moving?
Even I, a superhuman, couldn’t judge properly.

“…Name.”

I asked again.

“What’s the name?”

The name of the lord.

“What’s the lord’s name?”

At that question, the farmers tilted their heads.

“Hmm? You don’t know the lord?”
“You don’t know our territory.”

I answered.

“I came from a bit far away.”
“Ah, well, that can happen. Then our lord’s name is… um?”
“The lord’s name?”

ㅡ…

A moment of silence.

“Now that I think about it.”
“Our lord’s name is…”
“I don’t quite remember…”

They don’t know the name?

“What does it matter.”
“He’s just the lord to us.”
“It’s such a peaceful place that we don’t even know the lord’s name.”
“That’s why.”

What the hell is this.

They praise him as a wise ruler, but they don’t know his name?

“Anyway, the name of the territory is Aion. I know it as the lord’s castle.”

Aion, huh.

“Anyway, the lord is kind, so he will welcome you who have come from afar. There’s a castle right in front of you, so why don’t you apply for a visit?”
“Okay… I understand. I’ll do that.”

Even as I answered that, I was going crazy with one thing on my mind.

“But you guys.”

In this place.

“Have you been living here all along?”

I couldn’t see the farmers’ houses.

“Hmm? That’s right. We’ve been living here since before our grandfather’s grandfather’s generation.”
“Why would we need to go far away?”
“There’s no land as fertile as this.”
“Even the lord is kind.”
“We’ve been living here for a very long time. For generations.”

They’ve been living here… for a very long time, huh.

“It looks like a good place, though.”

It’s definitely a good place if you just look at it.

So I asked again.

“But where do you guys live?”

That was the moment I asked that.

“There.”

The farmers all pointed to the east at once.

ㅡ…
ㅡ…
ㅡ…
ㅡ…
ㅡ…

Without turning their heads, they all stared at my face and just stretched out their arms and pointed to the east.

“…”

I slowly turned my head and looked to the east… All I could see was the golden wheat field stretching to the end of the horizon… and the sky spreading above it… The only difference from the front was that there was no castle there.

Where the hell are these farmers’ houses?

“Then, well.”
“I should go back to work.”
“Go to the castle. If you’re guests from outside, the lord will surely welcome you.”

The farmers who lowered their hands greeted me and then began to trudge back to where they were, and they resumed harvesting.

Just like ordinary farmers.

“…”

I was seized by a somewhat dazed feeling and could only stare at them.

ㅡOld castle.

That old castle beyond them.

That is so…

“Katt… Sisters. Should we just get out of here? I’m really scared right now. What are those things…”
“M, maybe besides the vampire lord…! Something else intervened! I don’t know what’s going on anymore either!”

Winia and Hilde, who soon approached, groaned.