Chương 4: The Past Centuries

The vampire landed before the mercenary, and for a few seconds, she did not move. Vittorio caught a hint of a grimace on her face as she looked at him, causing him to hang his head in shame. He may have survived, but he had shown such a disgraceful side to a powerful vampire. He would be lucky to keep his head.

"Greetings, Your Grace," he said, kneeling before her.

"Though I am unworthy, I thank you for rescuing the town and myself. We will never be able to repay this debt, but if there is anything you need, we are at your service." All around him, the surviving imps followed his lead upon realizing that she was a vampire, all of them kneeling. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw many trembling in fear, a massive shift to their celebratory euphoria earlier. They may have been saved, and the vampire may have even healed them, but that was almost more worrying.

Depending on the vampire, becoming a thrall could end up being a fate worse than death.

"You may stand," said the vampire after a few seconds.

"I wouldn't dare—" started Vittorio.

"Do it."

"Yes, Your Grace," he said, rising to his feet. Though he was back on his feet, he still did not dare meet her eyes, keeping his gaze firmly fixed at her feet.

"The rest of you as well," said the vampire.

"You have no need to be here. Go and clean up your town. Don't let it burn down because of me."

"Y-Yes, Your Grace!" exclaimed one of the imps. There was a long commotion as the townsfolk scrambled to their feet and scattered, eager to get out of the way. Soon, it was only Vittorio and the vampire, and he did not dare speak first.

"What is your name?" asked the vampire.

"Vittorio, Your Grace."

"Are you the leader here, Sir Vittorio?" S-sir? A vampire calling me a sir? He shook his head in disbelief.

"I am not. I am but a simple mercenary tasked with defending the town. A task for which I have proven woefully inadequate."

"I see," she replied.

"May I ask what level you are, Sir Vittorio?"

"243, Your Grace."

"Is that considered high? I'm afraid I have been slumbering for quite a long time and am not familiar with the current state of the world." Upon hearing that, Vittorio blinked in surprise, then his mind started working rapidly to process what she said. She had been slumbering for a long time. That meant that she was a member of ancient nobility. The fact that she was out here in the middle of nowhere asking such simple questions to him implied that she no longer had a domain of her own.

In that case, that changed everything. If she was lacking a domain, that would mean she was looking for one. Vampires were born to rule. They would not settle for anything less. And while joining an established vampire house from the bottom rung often resulted in tragedy, being the first members of a new vampire house could come with countless benefits. This situation was dangerous, but it was also an opportunity, and Vittorio's greed was telling him he could not pass this up.

"It is not low, Your Grace," he said.

"Nearly all of the most powerful Vaelrin were killed in the recent war. I would not go so far as to say that I am powerful, but it would be difficult to find a lot of warriors of my caliber in the region. As you can see, the state of the Vaelrin is quite dire at the moment, but I am certain that with proper leadership, we will be able to rise to the heights of our forebears once more."

"The recent war?" asked the vampire.

"Do you mean the one between King Abraxas and the Virtuous Races?"

"A-Abraxas?" asked Vittorio.

"I apologize, Your Grace, but many so-called 'kings' have borne the name Abraxas, but most of them are nothing but pretenders who did not bear the legendary black crown."

"Have they, now?" asked the vampire, stroking her chin.

"It seems I've been asleep for quite a long while, then. When I went into hibernation, there was only one Abraxas." The first Abraxas? The only true king who wielded the black crown? thought Vittorio. Then she is from the Age of Heroes!

"Yes, it has been many years since the reign of Abraxas the Great," said Vittorio.

"But I am afraid that history is not my forte. Might I suggest we meet with the village chief? He should know more and be more suited to assisting you." And he will have the authority to hand over governance of the town as well, thought Vittorio. A vampire noble from the Age of Heroes would be at least level 500. That was enough to challenge even the human kingdoms' Sword Saints and their powerful armies. This one before him could very well become the next Vaelrin monarch, given the current state of the world.

If he could become one of her first devotees… He had to make this happen.

"Yes, that sounds good," said the vampire.

"Then please allow me to guide you," said Vittorio.

"I will take you to the home of the chief." It's lucky I understand their language. She thought that she'd have to wait for a while to listen to them and let her skill [Linguistic Mastery] do the work of allowing her to understand them, but, somehow, she not only understood these people and could speak their language, but they weren't hostile at all. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

Now that the crisis had been averted, Alicia had to admit that she was somewhat enjoying this. She would probably enjoy it a lot less when the demons realized that she was the'Traitor of Hell' and had been one of the main reasons for the Virtuous Races' many victories, but for now, they had yet to recognize her. And from the sound of it, she doubted any of them would. Not immediately, at least.

If it had been long enough for there to be multiple Demon King Abraxas, then she doubted there was anyone alive who had met her. Maybe a couple elves or vampires who had actually been hibernating since then. No one here would recognize her, though, that was for sure. That meant that as long as she kept up her guise of a mysterious, ancient vampire noble, she would be able to get all the information she wanted out of these demons before leaving.

The draco had already told her a lot, and she couldn't wait to meet the village chief. But wait, did he say 'Abraxas the Great'? I don't remember him being called that in-game. Is that just something the demons call him, or…? She thought about it for a few seconds, then shrugged. She would probably get the answer after talking to the chief. No point in wasting brainpower now.

Instead, she spent her time looking around the village, trying not to smirk at the way the imps scrambled to kneel and avoid her gaze as she passed by. It wasn't that she wanted to intimidate them. It was just kind of funny how her mere presence was enough to so drastically change their behavior. This is even better than showing off rare gear in the town square! But even as she took pleasure in her apparent status, she also felt a little guilty. The town was in extremely rough shape.

The fires had been mostly put out, but at least a quarter of the buildings had been destroyed beyond repair, and many others had holes in their roofs and walls. She tried telling herself that they were just demons, members of the Sinful Races who were generally enemies in-game, but when she saw little imp children crying in their parents' arms, her heart couldn't help but be moved. I guess technically the demons aren't completely evil, she thought. Maybe there are some good ones?

In the game, every race was tied to one of either the Seven Deadly Sins or the Seven Heavenly Virtues. The humans, elves, dwarves, and such were, of course, the Virtuous Races—collectively known in common parlance as 'mankind'—while the imps, vampires, dracos, and other Vaelrin were the Sinful Races. They were all born with Sin or Virtue Traits that made them more inclined to act in accordance with those Sins or Virtues, but as evidenced by the existence of her character, they didn't have to do so.

Just because humans were born with Diligence didn't mean they never got lazy, and just because vampires had Pride didn't mean that they were always arrogant. Still, she didn't want to get too empathetic. They did still try to take over the world and enslave mankind to retake their homeland, Vael, which they claimed encompassed the entire world, and from the sound of it, they had repeatedly tried it many times, even after the first Demon King was slain.

The draco—Vittorio—led her through the village, which was located on a small hill, and at the top of the hill was the village chief's house. It was completely untouched, which she found odd for a moment before she realized why. It was one of the only buildings in the village that was magically protected. The wards weren't that strong, but they were strong enough to protect from peripheral damage, and it looked like the wyverns hadn't bothered to attack it directly.

The village chief greeted them at the door, prostrating himself on the ground and thanking her profusely.

"You may rise," she said.

"I wouldn't dare stand in the presence—" he started, trying the same thing as Vittorio.

"Just do it," she said.

"Pointless excess formality irks me."

"Yes, Your Grace!" said the village chief, springing back to his feet. The village chief was an older imp, as evidenced by his white hair. He was also quite handsome for an imp, standing tall and with a well-built figure. Clearly, he had spent a fair amount of time mimicking incubi. Imps were weak on their own, but their innate Envy Trait allowed them to mimic the powers of the other Sinful Races and gradually take on their features. And this particular imp had clearly taken a liking to the Lust demons.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"Moshan, Your Grace," said the chief.

"Vittorio informed me that you would know more about the history of the d— Vaelrin," she said, nearly using what was practically a slur for the Vaelrin.

"I have been slumbering for many years, since the days of the first King Abraxas, and I am very unaware of the current state of the world."

"Of course, Your Grace!" replied Moshan.

"I have a complete collection of Vaelrin Chronicles, all 17 volumes. You are welcome to peruse them at your leisure, or if you wish to save time, you can ask me, as I have read them all."

"Thank you."

"It is an honor to serve you, Your Grace," said Moshan, bowing his head.

"Please come inside. The furniture is unfortunately not up to your esteemed standards but will surely be more comfortable than standing at the door."

"Yes, it will."

"I will send my son to fetch you a meal as well," said the chief, stepping aside to allow her to enter.

"I've heard that pig blood is—""There is no need for that," said Alicia, raising a hand.

"I am not thirsty." I am not ready for that yet.

"As you wish, Your Grace. Vittorio, please show her inside. I will go fetch the Vaelrin Chronicles."

"Yes, sir," said Vittorio. A moment later, she was seated in an armchair in a sitting room that was nicer than anything else she had seen in the village below. Clearly, the chief was a man who liked his comforts, which Alicia was grateful for. She hadn't expected much from such a small, remote village, but it was actually very comfortable. Moshan soon arrived, his arms filled with the entirety of the aforementioned Vaelrin Chronicles.

One look at the stack was all Alicia needed to know that she was not going to touch them. Each one was the size of a textbook and as thick as her arm. Even if she liked reading history books, it would probably take weeks to finish these ones.

"Here they are, Your Grace," said Moshan eagerly.

"Abraxas the Great's tale begins in volume 4, if you wish to read it yourself. If not, feel free to ask me."

"I will ask you," said Alicia.

"I am happy to be of service."

"First, I would be interested to know how the reign of Abraxas the Great ended," she said.

"I began my hibernation while the Heroes were preparing to assault his castle." Hopefully they'll mention me, she thought. I wonder what happened to the original Alicia here?

"Ah, of course," said Moshan.

"It seems you chose a wise time to begin your hibernation. The times after the Heroes slew Abraxas the Great were dark indeed. We were—" He suddenly paused and frowned.

"Apologies, Your Grace, but may I ask which Heroes were preparing to assault Abraxas' castle? I've just remembered that there were two instances of this, and only the second was a success." Huh? thought Alicia. Did we fail the first time in this world?

"The first group, then," she said, frowning.

"Did Abraxas manage to repel them?"

"Oh, no, he had no need to," said Moshan with a smile.

"The great Vaelrin hero Alicia Allister was the one who stopped that assault." … Huh?!