Hello Scrolls and Followers of Justice, Mr.Bones bringing a new chapter of my fanfic He Who Came Back.
Here we discover that Entoma has gained unexpected fame and that Inta has something important to tell.
Help improve the story by commenting, thank you.
With you
The One Who Came Back
Chapter 21: Day to Day
The following weeks were a time of exploration. During the day, Entoma was a heteromorphic young woman strolling and enjoying the city, always accompanied by Edgar, but sometimes with the hotel manager, as they did the day before when they had tea at a fancy bakery in an upscale neighborhood of the capital.
At night, she would don her black outfit and approach informants, as well as beat up some black powder traffickers, as her master had tasked her with eliminating them whenever possible.
One of those nights, Entoma contacted a gang of child pickpockets and managed to get possible locations where a storyteller bard might be working, which led her to a highly suspicious tavern. Her arrival caused a massive fight to break out, leaving only the bartender standing. There was indeed a storyteller there, but he was a red-haired bard who played the bongos.
Once, she even fought a pair of thieves who coincidentally entered a house that she had broken into to gather information. She threw them out of the window, landing on a passing patrol below. Because of her actions, mostly indirect, crime decreased in certain areas of the city, and rumors began to spread about an adventurer taking justice into her own hands. In a little over a month, she became the new sensation in the city: the "Spider Girl" or "Black Spider," they had not yet decided which nickname was better.
Even Emperor Jircniv took an interest in knowing who she was.
"I want a portrait of the Spider Girl on my desk now!" he once shouted.
Kyouhukou was in his room analyzing documents when he heard knocking on the door.
Knock knock!
"Who could that be at this hour?"
Knock knock!
"Who is it?"
"It's Int-... Barintacha, your manager, Mr. Edgar. I'm sorry to bother you so late, but could I speak with Miss Entoma?"
Kyouhukou didn't know what to do. Entoma was out patrolling, and how could he explain her absence without raising suspicions? Edgar was unavailable after the incident with the noodles a few days ago.
"Just a moment, I'll call her."
Then the door opened, just a crack, enough for part of Entoma's mask and robe sleeve to show.
"Hmm?!"
"Ah! Good evening, Miss Entoma. I was passing by and then I thought, you know, maybe, I wanted to know if you would like, ah! how foolish of me, to wake you up like this. I'm sorry, Miss, I'm sorry..." Inta quickly spun on his heels and left.
"What was that?" Kyouhukou thought as he removed Entoma's insect mask reserve. "Damn it, I should have just said she wasn't feeling well."
Meanwhile, on the upper floor. "Fool, fool, fool, you only had one job to do, 'hello, would you like to share a late meal, miss?' That's it, but nooo, you had to put your foot in your mouth like a teenager, fool, fool, fool," cursed the manager.
Today's patrol had ended early without any new developments, so Entoma planned to prepare for her day out. She would visit the Imperial Academy with Inta. But when she arrived at her room, she received the news that the manager had already been looking for her minutes before.
"What could be so important for him to look for me at this hour of the night?"
"I wouldn't know, miss. He seemed quite nervous. I don't know if he suspects anything. I hope we haven't ruined our disguise."
"I'll talk to him. He must still be awake."
"Do you think that's wise?"
"Wise or not, I can't wait until morning for something that could ruin the entire operation."
Entoma went upstairs and as she was about to knock on the door, she heard a noise of something falling inside the room and caught a familiar smell, a faint fragrance of fresh blood.
Her instincts kicked in. Inta could be in danger. She then forced the door, but it didn't budge, "magic," the maid quickly concluded. But the problem with magically locked doors is that it doesn't matter if the person is strong enough to pull it off the non-magical wall.
With a leap, Entoma was inside the apartment. In the middle of the room was a person adorned with huge jewels, lying on the ground, and above them was a winged creature with skin stretched over abnormally long limbs, as if their bones had never stopped growing. Their ribs were protruding, as well as the bones of their spine, their long fingers ended in claws that looked like blades, and their pale face had an open mouth whose jaw reached down to their chest, the only way to open it wide enough. Their teeth were so long that they pierced each other, and when the creature closed its mouth, they formed a sort of visor over its face.
The creature then turned to Entoma. With its red and bulging eyes, it held out a freshly torn piece of meat towards the Battle Maid.
"Care for a bite?"
...
"So... you're a vampire."
"I think this is the fourth or fifth time I'm answering this, yes, a vampire."
Both were now sitting at the table, enjoying a late dinner.
"How did I not notice before?"
"Probably because I can inhibit all of that common vampire aura we emit."
"How do you do that? I know a few vampires, none of them can do it without amulets."
"Experience. Certain things you learn over time, suppressing aura, intention, and even your nature are all part of survival."
"Time... how long? I mean, what's your age?"
"By the Supreme's bones, how rude! Never ask a vampire's age!"
"OH! I'M SORR-... you were being sarcastic, weren't you?"
"Of course, where's the fun in not being able to joke around with your friends? I'm 2742 years old."
"Wow, you're probably the oldest being in this world, after dragons", the maid poked.
"AUCH! Now I feel old, I deserved that. But no, I know of older elves, usually hermits, some non-sentient monsters are even older, I'm just well taken care of."
"But with so much time, vampirism should have already taken over the world."
"Oh no! You know, vampires usually don't want to dominate the world, what would we do with it? It's not inherent to our nature, we just want our little corner. Besides, vampires usually don't live as long as they think. Do you know what the leading cause of death among vampires is?"
"Wooden stake, silver blade, ADVENTURERS!?"
"Boredom."
"What?"
"Boredom is what usually kills us, literally. After centuries of life, you end up without perspective, you've drunk all the drinks, tasted all the flavors, and think you've seen it all, so we get depressed and either shrivel up in a cave or go out with our chests open against an adventurer."
"But you are, how can I say this without offending... old."
"I think I can be called an Ancient Vampire or Elder Vampire, yes. I survived for so long perhaps because I'm curious. Oh, by the way, it's very gratifying to finally see you without the mask."
"Thank you, I thought it would be at least courteous to show my face after ripping your door off."
"Don't worry, it was already old. The magic was supposed to prevent noise and smell from coming out, but obviously it didn't do that. Maybe next time I'll enchant the walls too."
"Sorry again, and I also find it pleasant to see you like this."
"Ah, I can't always show myself, I spend most of my time in my more human appearance. Besides, most things weren't meant to be manipulated by fingers so long hehehehe!" Said the Elder Vampire showing the three fingers that held the glass, the other two extremely long ones were folded at a humanly impossible angle towards the elbow and then the armpit. Between them was probably a membrane that, when Inta stretched her arms, should give a wingspan of over five meters."
"Speaking of disguises, Barintacha Hierophants, is that really your name?"
"Of course, for six 'generations', but I've had other names. I think the oldest was Baron Inta Barintacha."
"You think?"
"Stop using your name for a century or two and you'll realize you forgot something but don't remember what it is."
"I thought vampires were incredibly intelligent."
"Intelligent? Yes, due to experience. With prodigious memory? No. When we become vampires, our minds only become more... perceptive, but we don't become smarter."
"But over time, you learn more."
"Yes, but our ability to retain memories is as good as before. Moreover, something I learn today may be irrelevant in ten years, let alone centuries later, remembering it only if I were an elf or a dragon, who have perfect memories."
"What we possess is vast experience, which is why they say we are so intelligent and full of intricate plans. But I think magic casters are much more intelligent, regardless of their race."
"What do you mean?"
"See, they need to read and memorize thousands of books to cast a few dozen spells. They must have extraordinary minds."
Entoma then remembers her master who is capable of casting thousands of spells, according to Demiurge. Only a Supreme Being could have such a mind.
"And how did you become a vampire?"
"The same way as always, I was bitten by one and then transformed. I don't think he even knew what he was doing. I was left alone, not even bound to a master, so I was a novice vampire in a barony on the farthest border of a country that no longer exists, in the middle of nowhere."
"And what did you do after that?"
"In the first millennium, I went on a bloody rampage, in the next millennium, I was in deep depression, barely leaving the cave to feed."
"I'm sorry for bringing up these memories."
"Oh no, it's fine, it's good to remember sometimes. Do you know what got me out of there?"
"Nop!"
"Adventurers, some showed up trying to kill me and I was even grateful. That's when I saw the weapons, they were all different, modern, stronger, there was a dwarf with an incredible runic hammer. Do you know why they created runes?"
"I knooooow... Noooo, I have no idea."
"They wanted to make steel stronger, it's hard to work with orichalcum and adamantite, so strengthening the more malleable metal seemed like the obvious path. And you know, that was new to me, change, I wanted that, I wanted to know new things, so I went out and started exploring the world again."
"But enough about me for a bit. Tell me, what does Her Majesty's Battle Maid do in Arwintar?" Entoma almost sprays her drink all over Inta's face.
"GLUP! COUGH! COUGH! Sorry, what did you say?"
"Well, as I said before, I'm quite observant. I had already heard about the beauty of Her Majesty's protectors, so when I saw you, I was sure you were one of them."
"Stop with the compliments..." – said the maid, doing something that for a spider would be the equivalent of blushing.
" Actually, I just suspected it. Your reaction now only confirmed it."
"You're so bold!"
" Hehe! I also believe that your colleague Edgar is not human, perhaps some kind of insectoid?"
" Something like that. What gave him away?"
" Some mannerisms, but also there was a certain decrease in honey stock and an increase of cockroaches in the hotel. Speaking of which, thank them for being so polite and not showing themselves to the guests, but I will have to charge for the incident with the noodles."
" I'm sorry about that, we will pay for the damages."
" But tell me, what is your mission here? IF YOU CAN TELL ME, of course, I don't want to force anything out of you."
" I think at this point, I can trust you. I'm looking for someone on behalf of Her Majesty. I can't share the reason, I'm sorry". The maid replied while showing the traveler's portrait to Inta.
" I know this guy! He was my kitchen helper-..."
"PFFFSSSSSSSSSSSsssss!!!"
This time, Inta was showered with a squirt of red drink that came out of the mouth of a stunned Entoma.