In only two short hours, Naru stood in the center of a teleportation circle in the western wing of the Von Ejellan estate.
Duke Fredo was messing around with the contents of two different satchels while Solena explained how the teleportation magic worked.
"It will be a bit difficult with your level of mana control, young master-nim. I will activate it for you. Once you wish to return, there are many Vampires stationed across the continent who can lend you their magic in a similar fashion."
"That sounds wonderful. Thank you, Miss Solena."
The boy smiled warmly towards the woman. Solena's hands were clasped tightly together behind her back so Naru would not see them shaking.
Having no desire to share her troubles with the Duke nor the young master, Solena did her very best to appear as calm and cool as ever.
'He will be fine. He will definitely be okay. He is our young master.'
The entire Duchy felt revitalized with the news that the young master's 'health' had improved enough to move to the main estate, and this was most true when looking at the Duke himself. Naru's sophisticated and oddly gentle, yet caustic and derisive, manners, had become a welcome presence as a part of the estate's everyday. It no longer seemed odd to see the house staff preparing dinner for two. A new footman was assigned to help the young master dress and take care of his direct needs when Melundo was overseeing the rest of the house.
Just one person had brought so much life to their home in such little time… How could she not be at least a little worried, when their young master was smiling at her with such calm confidence? When his face revealed not even the slightest bit of concern for his own well-being? If Naru was going to strike out on a journey to an entirely separate continent without a trace of doubt, then Solena would just have to fret enough for the both of them.
The Duke finally stopped rummaging around inside of the bags he was holding and approached Naru at the edge of the teleportation circle. He knelt in front of the boy and handed him both satchels.
"These are for you."
With a curiously hooked brow, Naru felt the weight of each bag in his hands. They were quite light. Made from high-quality black leather, they were small enough to be attached to the belt at his waist or easily secured around his chest in a crossbody fashion.
Duke Fredo pointed to the bag in Naru's left hand first.
"This one has two communication devices inside. One looks very plain and you can use to your liking, and the black one will connect to me and me only. You can use it for emergencies and I will answer no matter what. There is also blood, extra clothes, some high-grade magic stones."
Blinking, Naru looked at the small bag in his hands once again before taking a slightly disbelieving peek inside. The contents were as Duke Fredo said.
'The novel did mention bags like these.'
The interior had magic applied to increase the size to such a huge degree, it essentially became a different dimensional space. In respect to the first bag, even with all of the things the Duke prepared, there was still plenty of room for Naru to store additional things if necessary.
Before Naru could respond, the Duke pointed at the other bag. It felt a bit heavier, but not by much.
"This one has your allowance. I had Melundo exchange the currency for you already. I'm not sure how much you'll need, so I thought I would start with a billion gallons?"
Huh?
How much?
Naru did not react at all. No, he was certain that he misheard. A 'million' gallons would make sense. Surely, it was just his ears playing tricks on him.
Still, his heart was beating extremely fast.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Naru's fingers trembled when he opened the second satchel.
"...What the fuck?"
Solena flinched, but the Duke awkwardly smiled.
"Well, I am a bit rich?"
Immediately, Naru shut the bag like he'd been caught looking at something his eyes weren't meant to see. His whole body felt oddly warm and he was breathless despite not having moved a muscle.
'This crazy fucking Vampire!'
He knew Duke Fredo was loaded, but this… This was so far beyond what he could have ever imagined. Hell, this was enough money to run away with and start a new life. What did he even think Naru was going to do on the other continent to warrant a billion gallons?
"...Ho. Wow."
The Duke seemed pleased with this reaction, gently extracting the bags from Naru's shaking hands before carefully securing one to his belt and maneuvering the other one to sit across his shoulders. He tucked the straps under the young Vampire's outer robe and smoothed out cloak fabric once again.
Naru shook his head as if trying to dispel the image of the inside of the second of the bags that was literally flushed with cash.
"There. Now you should be ready. And you remember all of the conditions to our deal?"
"Mm. Yes."
Sighing, Duke Fredo uselessly fixed some of the hairs that fell in Naru's eyes and inspected him for even a speck of dust out of place.
"Well, you will have to make an amendment to your current list. I have decided on an additional condition."
Naru's expression turned grim, but the Duke couldn't be bothered to care. A foreign sensation had snaked its way around his ribs and was squeezing down, an experience the older Vampire had never had in his hundreds of years. The only way he felt like it could be dismissed was to receive verbal confirmation.
"...You must promise to come back safely."
'Ah. It was just something obvious like that?'
Solena, who quietly observed this exchange between the two Von Ejellans, made a private vow while listening. If the creatures of the Western continent valued their lives, then they best not lay a finger on a single hair of their adorable young master's head, or she will personally gather their hearts one by one and deliver them to the Duke.
Naru had no idea of the woman's vicious thoughts, of course, and just rolled his eyes at the Duke for being dramatic.
"Oh, please. Didn't I tell you I have no need for deterrents for this exact reason? If anyone sees me, I'll look to them like a weak human child. And if anyone targets me, I will be the first to run away."
"Pfft. Very well. Call with updates so I am aware of what you're doing. Oh, and if you need more money or if you want me to send someone to help you, let me know."
"Haaa, I am going to make a mess, not declare war. Step back."
Duke Fredo did as he was told, though he didn't seem at all phased by Naru's dismissive tone.
If the boy were being honest, the moment had become weird and embarrassing for Naru, no, for Kim Rok Soo. He had never been the subject of such worries before and didn't know what to say. He felt like a grade schooler being sent off on his first field-trip rather than a 151-year old Vampire, or an adult in his 30's for that matter.
Solena moved to the edge of the teleportation circle and placed her hands on the array.
"I will begin now, young master-nim."
Sighing, Naru nodded and thanked her before facing forward once again.
"I'll see you soon, Father."
Duke Fredo smiled and waved.
"If you don't call me within 3 days, I'll send Solena to drag you back."
"Hey, just what…?!"
The surrounding air began to glow faintly white, the image of the estate in the background phasing away. The last thing he heard was the Duke's spirited laugh before the now-familiar backdrop of the Von Ejellan estate around him completely vanished.
The coordinates they'd used brought him to Liana's exact location, which was a stretch of forest not far from the outer edge of the Forest of Darkness and Harris Village. A woman with a pale complexion, dark red hair arranged in an elegant braid, and pale pink eyes bowed to Naru before the boy could even regain all his senses.
"I greet the young master-nim."
"Hello, Miss Liana. Thank you for meeting me so suddenly."
When Liana raised her head, Naru was pleased to find her earlier business-like attitude had remained. She gave an impression of being both reliable and discrete, which were valuable attributes to consider for their species. While Naru was terrible at guessing Vampire ages, he thought she appeared to be about a 25-year old human.
"It is my duty, young master-nim. As I told the Duke-nim when I called back earlier, Harris Village is standing. I have been monitoring the situation. Approximately 15 highly-trained assassins entered the forest nearly twenty minutes ago from the southeast, and there was one white-robed individual with them that I believe was the liege."
Naru nodded.
"Which direction is Harris Village from here?"
She pointed to the northwest.
Which ancient power could it be? The fact that it wasn't an earth attribute was a relief, but…
'I don't like this.'
If Naru can't stop the White Star from killing the villagers, then he at least needed to figure out what that bastard was gaining from coming here. He pulled up his hood and prepared to cast the stealth magic Duke Fredo had shown him.
Liana raised her hands and began to cast on herself as if she had been waiting for a signal, but Naru stopped her before she could finish.
"Miss Liana, you should not accompany me. It is dangerous."
The Vampire informant appeared dumbfounded by this, never having known the young master to act so boldly or independently. He was worried for her safety?
'Not only is he healthier, but his spirit seems completely different.'
Of course, Naru was telling Liana to let him go alone not for her benefit but for his own.
'My presence is almost entirely opaque thanks to the effects of Duke Fredo's family heirloom that stored this body.'
Combine that with stealth magic and his physically small stature, and Naru became virtually undetectable. If Liana came along, it would just make it harder to move.
He had something else in mind for her to do, but he didn't have much time. If Arm had already started to move twenty minutes ago…
"Miss Liana, you are heading to the Paerun Kingdom to work on the alliance?"
She opened her mouth once, closed it, and opened it again to answer.
"Yes, young master-nim. But, why…?"
He calmly responded.
"I must hurry so I can't explain, but please do me a favor when you go. If you go to the Northern shores and happen to encounter the whales, it is very important to tell them I wish to speak with them. You can tell them that I have some information about the new kingdom of the sea that they may find useful."
Perhaps it was due to the urgency in the young master's voice, but Liana regained her scattered focus by the time he finished speaking.
"I understand, young master-nim. I will do as you command."
"Thank you. Otherwise, please continue with the mission given to you by Fath–mm, the Duke-nim."
Naru coughed. Liana noticed the subtle slip-up but did not comment, just smiling and nodding at the boy's stoic gaze.
'He's not used to being outside the kingdom yet. He is acting very determined but it must be hard for him to be away from the Duke-nim.'
"Be careful."
"Yes."
With that, Liana departed towards Rain City and Naru entered the Forest of Darkness for the first time.
He had no interest in sight-seeing in this scary, monster-ridden place, and was grateful to the different types of magic that made navigating the dark landscape a bit easier. Haste, partial invisibility, flight, and sound reduction all worked together to keep his presence concealed without inhibiting his speed. In fact, he was able to move quite quickly, an occasional leaf of branch brushing against his cloak but otherwise his path forward remained uninterrupted.
He had only practiced with mana once before and had never used spells simultaneously, so Naru was resigned to the fact that he couldn't keep four spells going concurrently for very long, but for now he couldn't waste anymore time.
'I need Choi Han to trust me.'
The ideal method was probably no longer feasible at this stage.
'I wanted to get here early enough to find Choi Han, warn him, and then help evacuate as many people as possible.'
Gaining his trust at that point would be easy, as Choi Han's gratitude and sense of justice would surely make him feel indebted to Naru. Then, he could set Choi Han loose on those bastards by revealing some key pieces of information before going back to the Endable Kingdom.
The next best option…
'Try to keep at least some people from dying.'
If Naru could save a few people, Choi Han would be more willing to trust him despite the fact that he was quite literally sided with the enemy. If things went poorly, he might consider invoking a Vow of Death later to gain Choi Han's trust, but the more people Naru could save, the better leverage he had.
He failed to properly realize how long twenty minutes really was until it was too late.
Naru stopped moving abruptly at the first scent of blood. It came upon him strong and fast, making his heart rate suddenly feel much louder in his ears. Ignoring the fact that he could feel his throat constrict, Naru hurried ahead and tried to push his body to move even faster.
Burning wood was the next thing to reach him, and he was extremely worried about the lack of shouts or screams. If the villagers were still under attack, wouldn't they be running for their lives?
'Did the White Star already get the ancient power? How fast does this bastard move?'
No sooner did Naru have the thought that he came to a clearing in the trees. He managed to stop himself from flying out into the open at the last moment, knowing it best to assess the situation before deciding his next move.
Unfortunately, there weren't many moves left for him to make.
He was currently sitting in check after seeing the results of the White Star's needlessly violent methods for himself for the first time.
'It's all gone.'
Every building was broken. Bodies lay bloodied and haphazardly slumped along the ground. Most had their throats slashed, a few had stab wounds in random places. Dirt was kicked up in odd patterns and a few of the surrounding trees had been damaged in what must have been a very poor attempt at a struggle.
'Struggle? No, this was a massacre. These were innocent people.'
"Over here! Got some runners!"
Naru flinched.
Positioned in his 10 o'clock direction stood a burning building that appeared to be moments from collapse. Fires burst from the broken windows, and Naru heard voices congregating on the farside of the flames. He couldn't see the people to whom the voices belonged, but he had no trouble imagining what they looked like.
Arm assassins. They were described in the novel quite clearly: black robes, faces covered but for their eyes, hoods raised. Five red stars stitched into the fabric with a white star at the center.
This moment was a critical one in [The Birth of a Hero].
"Hey, there was another one!"
"Round up anyone who tries to escape. Don't let them get away!"
"Wait, this–what?!"
The last voice cut off abruptly with a wet, choking, gurgling sound.
"Haa…"
If the other voices had taken him by surprise, this one made the hair on the back of Naru's neck stand-up. His shoulders tensed and he listened hard, but there were no words that followed. Nothing but the person's punched out, heavy breathing, barely distinguishable below the roaring flames that tore through the surrounding buildings.
Naru recognized it. Even if he had never heard it before, he felt as if he knew this voice.
The despair and rage that was barely concealed beneath that subhuman sound was simultaneously fatigued and broken. There was only one person who could sound that way right now.
Naru could not see Choi Han, but he knew he was here. Probably brutally tearing apart every Arm assassin that emerged from this painted scene of death.
'Damn it.'
At this point, he would already be beyond reason, twisted with grief.
Something else caught Naru's eye, causing him to temporarily forget about the sound of steel and flesh meeting over and over again.
It was on the far end of the clearing. Naru watched as a ghost wandered away, white robes peacefully fluttering in contrast to the ruin left in their wake. The spectral figure could have been mistaken as an angel with the leisurely pace they set as they moved deeper into the forest.
To Naru, he thought a more fitting description might have been the grim reaper.
'Who could have imagined the White Star had been here the very day Choi Han's life was torn apart?'
Two people who would work to destroy each other in the months to come.
And they were currently within earshot of each other.
Something vaguely like fate felt like it was unfolding before his eyes, but Naru had no interest in letting it play out in the White Star's favor. He would not get involved in their fight, but what if Choi Han had something stronger than fate on his side?
'Information.'
He had moved too slowly to stop the White Star today, but next time, Naru would be the one to act first.
For now, all he could do was adapt and look ahead.
Naru had the vague makings of a new plan forming in his mind.
There was no use crouching in the bushes and waiting for Choi Han to murder the assassins and then bury his loved ones, so he decided to follow the White Star for the time being.
'I'll come back after Choi Han is done and help him reach Rain City.'
It was a start. A shaky one at best, but by then, hopefully some of Choi Han's bloodlust will have faded. He was not one to attack a child that showed him no hostility just because he was out of his mind with grief.
…Probably.
Naru began to move around the outer edge of the clearing, staying hidden behind trees and the underbrush. The Duke said the White Star would be headed to a lake in the–
"Cough, uuuuh..."
The feeble sound made Naru's thoughts grind to a halt. He stopped moving and turned towards one of the last buildings still standing.
It was a sound that did not belong in this situation. The remaining Arm assassins were yelling amongst themselves, trying and failing to coordinate to take down a single swordsman, their struggling layered by crackling wood, scorched earth, and Choi Han's own efforts.
"Huuuu…ah… cough."
'Perhaps?'
Before the idea to try searching for a person even occurred to him, Naru was able to smell blood coming from the same direction.
He bit his lip, looking towards the side of the clearing where the White Star had vanished. If he followed him now, he might learn something valuable, but…
Sighing, Naru pulled his hood as low as possible before making a beeline for the building. He could hear desperate, frightened sounds along the back paneling, and despite the heat and the heavy beams that were beginning to fall, Naru did not hesitate as he moved to where the smell of blood was freshest.
'Freshest?'
He suppressed a shudder.
'I can't believe I can tell the difference.'
Dismissing the thought, Naru had already let go of one opportunity by not acting quickly enough. He would not make the same mistake again.
'The Duke said I should have strength far exceeding humans, but I've never really used it before.'
Naru lifted one leg and kicked against the side of the building near, but not directly in front of, the scent of blood, hoping he was at least strong enough to create a hole.
He was, as it turned out, plenty strong enough to do that.
In fact, Naru was strong enough to break the entire wall. Due to the house's state of ruin, the entire structure ended up tipping off-balanced with the force of his kick, sending a collapsing pile of crumbling wood and a column of ash into what would have been the home's front yard.
"...Ho. Wow."
'Are all Vampires like this?!'
For the first time, Naru felt a little frightened by the capabilities of his own species. The blood drinking and darkness attribute had been within expectations, but this strength was not something he had foreseen. No wonder the White Star kept them close.
"N, No, don't! Stay away! Please, please. Please don't."
A man was sitting on the soot-stained floors, maybe in his early 30's, and he was holding a child that was even smaller than Naru pinioned to his chest. His leg was visibly injured, pant leg torn up to the knee and blood seeping into the fabric in a mess of crimson.
Naru winced, and he held his hands up. It still sounded like Choi Han was fighting, but judging on how quiet it had become, there weren't many opponents left.
"I'm not with the attackers. I came here to help, but we need to move you quickly, it's not safe."
"My, my son, he–where?" A cough. "My wife–please…!"
Biting his lip, Naru shook his head and carefully moved to the pair. The child was shaking and crying while the man struggled to breathe.
"I know. I'm sorry. Sir, the child in your arms needs you right now. You have to focus. Come on."
Naru barely managed to be gentle with them, his own hands shaking at the horrible vividness of it all as he helped the man hobble away from the wrecked building. Naru had seen this scene too many times in his last life. Always cast with different people in different places, but the desperation was the same. The heartbreak, the last vestiges of hope as it welled in their eyes before vanishing.
'That's why I'll stop the White Star as soon as possible and go live in peace with the Duke, Solena and the others. I won't ever have to see this again.'
He successfully extracted them from the remains of the burning home, which wasn't all that hard after Naru had essentially destroyed the building with the force of his impact. It was more about keeping the man from stumbling and falling than it was avoiding danger at that point.
Besides the crackle of flames, the village was silent. Choi Han must have taken care of the last of the assassins.
Just as Naru had that thought…
"Who are you? Are you with them?"
A blade was pointed at him.
Choi Han stood in the middle of a pile of corpses, completely covered in blood.
'Vicious.'
That was the only word Naru could use to describe him.
"N, No, Choi H-Han! Wait!"
The man who had been trembling and wheezing behind Naru fell to his knees in front of the small Vampire. Choi Han did not lower his sword, but Naru could see his pupils were now shaking.
"I don't–he didn't hurt me–he saved–Choi Han, they're all… are, are they really all gone?"
Was he speaking about the attackers, or the villagers? Naru didn't know. It didn't seem like the right moment to ask.
Across from him, Choi Han's black eyes shone like polished onyx in the glow of the burning buildings. His blade finally lowered, though not completely, still weakly raised in the direction of the young Vampire like he was debating if it was a good idea to rush forward and kill him anyway.
'Scary bastard.'
Naru thought he looked terrible. Soot and blood covered every visible inch of him. It mixed with his black clothes to make a sticky, maroon sight that looked like he'd stepped off the set of a horror film.
Choi Han's gaze slowly moved away from Naru and landed on the survivor. Naru didn't know this man's story since he died in the original novel.
He spoke to the other villager.
"I killed all of them."
His words dripped like poison.
"I couldn't save anyone."
Like blots of ink on a page. Stains that could never be erased.
"I'm sorry."
As he realized the weight of Choi Han's words, the surviving villager between them started to wheeze, his coughing losing strength as it transformed into a sob. Naru sighed before stepping up beside him. The infant in his arms was oddly calm in the presence of the crying adult, and Naru looked into the child's brown eyes before extending a hand.
As the grown man had fallen to his knees, Naru had no trouble reaching his shoulder and holding onto it firmly.
"Hey, Mister. What was your name?"
He made sure to speak clearly enough that Choi Han would hear him.
"Huh? Oh, cough, Abe. I, my name is Abe Rowley."
"Mister Abe, you are alive. Do you understand? It's over now, and you survived. So bandage your leg and take care of that child. That is your job now."
Choi Han was pretty smart, so hopefully he would pick up on what Naru was trying to tell him as well.
'You can't succumb to the despair. You have to keep living.'
Abe bit his lip and stared at Naru before cradling the child in his arms even more steadfastly than before. He nodded even as the fat tears streamed down his face.
"T-Thank you."
Naru pulled back his hand, warily glancing at Choi Han's sword. The strength behind his grip had weakened even more, the blade now facing down into the bloody dirt.
He spoke to Choi Han directly this time.
"Please look after these two for the time being. I have to–"
Choi Han acted like he couldn't hear him.
"Who are you?"
Massaging the back of his neck, Naru tried to rub away the icy chill that spread from his nape.
It could not be helped.
Even if his weapon was not properly raised, Choi Han was still surrounded by corpses that he had killed with his own hands and was showing blatant distrust towards Naru. He really needed to be careful not to set off this dangerous bastard.
Choi Han's youthful face was overcome by silent fury, his voice barely managing not to shake when he addressed Naru.
"Do you… do you know who did this?"
Naru hesitated to respond, and Choi Han took that as confirmation.
"Tell me."
Shaking his head, Naru turned part of his body away to gaze in the direction the White Star had gone.
"There isn't time to tell you everything right now. The forest isn't safe yet."
Choi Han flinched. He must not have considered that possibility. His hand gripping the sword regained its strength and a dark aura began to violently fluctuate around the blade.
"Are there others?"
Naru answered him honestly.
"I don't think so, but I need to check. Stay here, protect these two, and take care of the bodies of the ones you lost. I'll come back."
The word 'protect' pierced Choi Han like an arrow in his chest. He took a half-step back like he'd actually been hit.
Naru saw the doubt clouding his eyes before finally turning away.
"You can do it. You can protect them."
He said it with certainty, like it was obvious.
Because to Naru, it was obvious.
For such a stupidly strong person, Choi Han could do much more than that. His mind was a mess right now and probably couldn't properly estimate his own abilities, but Naru knew better. That guy, he could probably blow up a mountain if he tried hard enough. Protecting two people would be easy for someone like him.
Casting haste magic and stealth magic once again, Naru could feel some fatigue in his body from using his magic earlier. He decided to forgo sound suppression and flight this time and took off in the direction the White Star had departed earlier. If he was lucky, he might still be able to gain something useful from this terrible encounter.
Choi Han watched the child disappear into the trees without a word.
Abe Rowley was still crying on the ground in front of him, coughing occasionally as he clung to the infant daughter in his arms.
Choi Han had really believed everyone was already dead, but Abe Rowley was currently in front of him. Abe was a craftsman who specialized in wooden furniture and had lived in Harris Village for most of his life. He regularly bickered with his wife when their son would proudly claim that he wanted to become a strong swordsman like Choi Han. The baby in his arms was named Marjorie.
They must have been hiding. He had seen the dead bodies of Abe's wife and adolescent son's already, and the memory of the empty stares in their lifeless bodies caused him to bite down hard on his lips. The little boy would not grow up to become a strong swordsman like Choi Han. Both of them had faced their deaths with eyes wide open.
Choi Han had a thought.
His rage and sorrow had blinded him. He had been too rash.
If he had thought about saving instead of killing, would there have been more survivors?
Just one man and his daughter remained of Harris Village now. Everything else was gone.
Blankly, Choi Han returned his sword to its scabbard and mechanically began to move. His task now was to separate the bodies, disposing of the assassins and gently placing the dead villagers in a row. Choi Han had no real idea of how long he repeated that act. His mind was a mess, a looping film reel flashing by with images of blood and black robes and fire.
He dug graves, one after another. They were shallow and crude, but Choi Han could not let the bodies of these people remain exposed in the Forest of Darkness. Monsters were sure to appear the moment he left this place and would treat this massacre as a feast.
'I need to go to the Count's territory and report this as soon as I'm done.'
There would need to be an investigation. Those people… they were no band of common thugs or robbers, they had been well-trained assassins who had worked together as a unit.
And then there was the child with the silver hair… there was no way he was a normal child. The way he had been dressed made it obvious that he came from some amount of wealth, likely a noble, and he had an unusual air about him that Choi Han found unsettling.
'You can protect them.'
That boy had spoken with such certainty.
Choi Han could not help but think he was wrong.
Even with Abe regaining his senses and trying to talk to Choi Han and the clueless Marjorie having not a single idea what was going on in her father's arms, the young man's mind was warped from the weight of his sudden loss. Protecting others… was he even qualified for such a thing? When all his mind could think about was tearing apart whoever had been responsible for murdering these innocent people?
'I will kill them all.'
Choi Han would destroy them, whoever it was that had done this to his home.
But that will come later. That boy was correct. He had to get past this in order to move forward; he had to push past the despair in order to take revenge for those who died today.
'I lived and others died. I have to live for them now.'
In order to do that, Choi Han needed to learn as much as he could about the attackers and seek support from the territory.
'I also need to find that child.'
The boy with the silver hair definitely seemed to know something.
Lucky for him, Naru Von Ejellan was already on his way back to Harris Village.