Chapter LVThey walk at a good pace through the waning night. The starry sky above is truly a beautiful sight, especially after so much time spent underground.

  What fascinates him most is how little time has actually passed. They had entered the mines perhaps two hours after nightfall, and now, as they traversed the well-kept path leading away from the mines, there must still be another two hours before sunrise.

  "Vampires. So it was a whole group?" the silly girl asks Blondie, clutching his arm.

  "I’ve already told you—it was a group and a big one," Blondie replies, clearly in high spirits, so much so that you could practically hear the grin on his face. The fool seems positively thrilled to recount the events. As for him, he would rather be sleeping, but it’s better to put some distance between them and whatever must now be unfolding back at the camp.

  "So, it was much worse than we expected?" the girl asks, sounding both fearful and excited at once. Walking alongside Blondie, ahead of them are Grumpy and the Horse Kid, keeping the boy’s horse at a distance from the mule. The poor animal still doesn’t react well to being near the undead mule. This, at least, is a good thing, as it keeps the boy from studying the mule too closely and discovering its true nature.

  "Well. It was worse than we expected, but for Nero, it didn’t make much of a difference," the idiot continues, turning to him with an infuriatingly cheerful expression. It makes him shake his head in despair at how utterly foolish this boy is.

  Acting as if facing a group of vampires was nothing—it leaves him unsure of what to make of Blondie. The boy is recounting the tale with glee, while he, himself can only reflect on how utterly stupid he had been to go into those mines with Mercy.

  It had been a decision he had made carefully, after considering everything. Nero’s spells, at least the ones he could access, should have been more than enough to deal with a single vampire without significant risk. The Ortan Shield spell should have provided sufficient protection to allow him to cast Draco’s Fmes without harming himself. Thus, when he confronted Mercy in the tunnels. She would have met her end without endangering others.

  "You should have seen it—Nero throwing fireball after fireball!" he hears Blondie say to the others. While they essentially flee from the camp they just saved.

  The great irony is, that everything had worked perfectly. Almost exactly as pnned. The only minor issue was that he hadn’t considered what a single vampire would do with such a rge crowd she had pnned to lure into those mines.

  If only he had thought to ask himself that. But now, it was too te.

  And, of course, the answer was so simple. Obviously, she was working with a group. His knowledge of the game alone should have been enough to arrive at that conclusion.

  In the game, the vampires, while competent, had never been a real threat. There was always the promise of crafting an interesting narrative around them, but that never happened. As a result, vampires always appeared in isoted groups as disposable enemies.

  He had taken that into account at least the part of them not being particurly dangerous, when pnning his attack on Mercy. Only to end up trapped in those mines, surrounded by vampires.

  In the end, he can only acknowledge his arrogance—convinced that he could handle anything. Worse still, this was the second time he had made such a mistake. And although this time he escaped without consequences, it reveals something very dangerous.

  What, exactly, he isn’t sure. Is it that he’s letting Nero’s powers make him feel invincible? Or, worse, is part of him starting to think this is all just a game? The pain he endured when he was burned fighting the old man should have banished such thoughts from his head. But apparently...

  "They even threw us into a pit full of the bodies of their previous victims..." the silly kid continues. And as he busy berating himself, he pays Blondie little attention.

  "Oh, no!!" he hears the girl excim with a small scream, clutching the blond's arm even tighter.

  The idiot then resumes his tale. "Don’t worry, Ulma. You should’ve seen their faces when Nero..."

  What snaps him out of it, is Grumpy’s almost hysterical yell, which mercifully interrupts the arrogant fool.

  "Wow! Seres, it must’ve been spectacur..." They all turn to Grumpy, who is now grinning ear to ear—one of the most forced smiles he’s ever seen, including in the real world.

  "...to watch Nero attack the vampires with his fireballs." Grumpy looks at Blondie with an intense, furious gre, while Blondie throws embarrassed gnces at the other two.

  But with this, Blondie realizes his dark-haired friend understands where this story is headed—and that it cannot go there.

  "Yeah, yeah. It was something... truly spectacur... yeah," Blondie agrees with his friend. Also now wearing a false smile as he looks at the other two.

  As for himself, he mutters while shaking his head in frustration, "Unbelievable. Idiot!" The fool had been about to tell the others that he was a necromancer—and that he had raised multiple undead while they were in the mines.

  Why not, go ahead and reveal that the mule following behind them is also undead? Completely unbelievable.

  The girl, for her part, looks at them with a hint of irritation before saying sweetly, "Well, I’m sure you were important too, Seres."

  "Well, yes, I was. Thanks to me. We were able to see what was going on," the boy replies with a massive, happy grin. Although he suspects most of that smile stems from her question allowing him to change the subject. Judging by the sigh of relief from Grumpy, that’s at least his opinion.

  And yes, even he has to admit the boy was reasonably useful. The fact that he could create orbs of light at least spared him from having to do it himself. While also let him save some of his magic for other things. Not that the savings were significant—it was just light orbs, after all. But at the time, every little bit helped.

  She must see something in his expression because she very candidly says "Yes??" looking at him directly. Her serious expression is almost amusing. Even funnier is her face a few seconds ter, as she realizes he’s not exactly, the best person to annoy.

  Watching her try to swallow her words has a hirious quality. But not as hirious as the pale-faced Horse Kid turning around and saying, "Surely Lord Nero appreciates Seres’ support. Why else would he have brought him along?"

  The boy, who had been so confrontational about taking the girl with him earlier, is now trying to act conciliatory. That's simply too much, making him ugh out.

  Everyone turns to him, waiting to see what he’ll do next. Fighting to contain his ughter is difficult. He only stops when he notices the concern on all their faces. Do they really think I would harm the girl for such a thing?

  He almost wanted to thank her for giving him the chance to ugh—it had been so long since he’d had a good one.

  So he recalls what sparked the issue in the first pce. "Sorry. And yes, you’re right, he really was quite useful..." Hearing this, their faces rex. Blondie even smiles at the praise.

  That’s something he can’t allow. Despite the boy’s courage and the fact that he handled Mercy’s two companions well, he can’t forget that the boy is still an idiot. "But..."

  The relief vanishes at that single word. He continues, trying not to be too harsh. "...I’d really appreciate it if next time you know there’s going to be a fight, you at least arm yourself. You didn’t even bring a bread knife to a fight with a vampire." Shaking his head in frustration, he adds, "What were you thinking?"

  "What!? Seres!" a frustrated and unsurprised Grumpy grumbles.

  "Well... Adar, you know, I didn’t think it was necessary..." Blondie starts, already knowing he’s in for it.

  Grumpy lets out a disgruntled growl before turning and resuming his walk. "Don’t say anything. I don’t want to hear it."

  With that response, and likely anticipating the scolding to come, a more subdued Blondie also resumes walking.

  "Well, they’re not entirely wrong. You do need to be more careful, Seres," the girl tells Blondie, revealing that even she isn’t going to side with him on this.

  As they return to the path, he remembers something else.

  "Hey, girl... Ulma," he calls out to get her attention.

  "Yes?" she asks hesitantly, which, given the recent conversation, is understandable.

  "This is the path to your parents’ house, right?" She nods in affirmation.

  "Then how much longer will it take us to get there?" he asks, not wanting to seem like he’s rushing her but truly eager to be rid of both her and the Horse Kid.

  The girl’s face reveals some worry, which is understandable. If her parents don’t take her back, she’ll have to return with the boy to her crappy job. And if they do take her back, she and her family risk angering a powerful family. Not the best situation.

  "I think at this pace... maybe two days," she answers calmly, perhaps resigned to the mess she’s in.

  "Alright, then let’s go," he says, gesturing for them to continue.

  Noticing Ulma’s sadness, Blondie seems to want to distract her by asking, "And what were you guys doing?"

  "Nothing special," Ulma replies without much energy.

  "We convinced them to build the fortifications you saw," Grumpy begins, before adding, "To defend against the wolves," in a tone that implies quotation marks.

  "Oh, right. I remembered to ask everything I could about Farmer’s Harbour," Grumpy adds, turning to him with a conspiratorial look.

  For his part, it takes him a few seconds to figure out what on earth the idiot is talking about before recalling that he had told them to ask about Farmer’s Harbour.

  "Yeah, good work. We’ll talk about it ter," he replies. With this, Grumpy proves to be by far the smartest of the two.

  For a moment, he almost considers him the group’s MVP, until he gnces at his side and sees the true MVP. Raising this mule from the dead was by far his best decision since arriving in this world.

  Knowing this lifts his spirits—this, and the journal Blondie had found in the mines. Which, in turn, makes him eager to be rid of Ulma and the other boy so he can calmly test whether the journal reveals what he thinks it does.

  Amid all the chaos, something good might have come out of it. While it may not be exactly one of the spells he most wants. The spell hidden within those pages could be extremely useful. He can hardly wait to see it in action—or better yet, not see it.