Acquired the Scam Rune in the Academy

The Land of Vampires, Beltane (5)

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Fortunately, Ripley didn’t shout ‘Not needed!’.

Orland slowly organized the information about his kin and explained it to me.

Chief Warrior Tashmad.

Top-class warriors Aldred and Grimeld.

And about 20 high-rank warriors, countless mid and low-rank warriors.

That was the Termen’s military strength within Ludenark that Orland revealed.

If we include the Termen warriors who likely became Death Knights after death, the number would be much higher.

‘Quality is more important than quantity.’

I don’t know how skilled the Chief Warrior and top-class warriors are since I haven’t encountered them.

But I roughly know the skills of the high-rank warriors.

Just at the level of S-grade monsters.

The Termen Death Knights I encountered in <Land Touched by Death> were high-rank warriors, so this should be accurate.

And S-grade monsters are at a level that S-grade Holders can hunt alone. Even A-grade Holders can easily hunt them in raid units.

In other words, 3 warriors surpassing S-grade, and 20 at the level of S-grade monsters.

The rest are all A-grade monsters or below, so there’s no need to confirm them in the first place.

‘…Really not as many as I thought.’

It was an unexpected gain.

All the vampires are at the baronial level.

Termen has only 23 warriors of high rank or above.

At this level, they wouldn’t pose a significant threat when the Ludenark attack alliance gathers.

‘So that’s why they had Caroline carry out the terror attack.’

Now I understood the strategy of the Ludenark school.

The reason for trying to isolate vampires and Termen warriors to inflict damage on the current world.

It was because they themselves knew well that this wasn’t a force with good odds in a direct confrontation.

-Ahem, ahem. Was that helpful, Countess Ripley?

Orland, who had been freely divulging information about his kin, now cleared his throat and asked Ripley.

Of course, Ripley’s gaze was directed at me.

“Do Jae-hyun, was that helpful?”

“Yeah. Personally, I’ve almost achieved my purpose for coming to Beltane. Thanks, Ripley. It’s all thanks to you.”

Although we were lucky to have Orland, Caroline’s contractor, being able to come this far was all thanks to Ripley.

For me, she was the one who acted as a guide in <Beltane> where I had no information, and the one who searched for Caroline’s castle and room within the barony.

…Getting Orland to answer a small question (threat) was a bonus.

“W-What are you saying? I brought you here because I had a purpose too, so don’t say such embarrassing things.”

Is this embarrassing…?

Anyway, as we achieved our goals, Orland cautiously asked.

-Um… Countess Ripley? Can I leave now?

Hearing this, I suddenly became curious.

Caroline’s barony was the territory owned by Caroline, who was a vampire.

Probably, seeing that Ripley still has her own county, it seems that even if one defects, they maintain ownership of their territory.

However, Caroline was eventually executed after interrogation following the New York terror incident.

Although vampires are adapters capable of communicating with humans and special commanders, she was still a criminal who killed civilians.

With her deep connection to the Ludenark school and opinions that she might commit additional crimes, the International Holder Association confirmed her execution.

In other words, Baroness Caroline is currently deceased.

Then, like this.

What happens when the owner of the territory is not just ‘defects’…

But reaches ‘death or annihilation’?

That question was unintentionally answered by Ripley.

“Where are you going? Caroline’s barony will become a neutral area anyway.”

-Pardon? Weren’t you planning to annex this territory, Countess Ripley?

“Are you crazy? Why would I annex Caroline’s barony? Such a barren and useless land of death.”

-…Isn’t all of Beltane a land of death?

“Seeing you keep nitpicking, maybe I should use magic after all-“

-…That’s what our kin in the neutral area would think! Haha. But I completely agree with Countess Ripley’s opinion. There’s no reason for the Countess to annex this place. Yes.

After the conversation, or rather banter, between the two that was no longer clear which it was, Orland slowly entered the closet where he had been when we first arrived.

-Well then, please make yourselves comfortable. Even if the barony is soon declared a neutral area, I will remain here, recognized in my position as the former contractor… If you’re curious about my news, you can come to this castle.

Kuuung-.

With that, Orland handed over the valuable information and entered the closet.

…Maybe because the closet is so old, it feels like he’s entering a coffin.

I sat down with a thud on Caroline’s bed next to me.

Then I looked at Ripley.

I had achieved everything I aimed for, but there were still questions remaining.

“Ripley, by the way, what’s this neutral area? From what Orland and you are saying, it seems really important.”

“Of course it’s important.”

Ripley approaches, resting one knee on the bed where I’m sitting.

And then, as I saw before…

She revealed her bright red eyes and looked at me.

“Do Jae-hyun, from now on, this is the place where you need to keep your promise.”

***

Ippotranslation

* * *

The land of <Beltane> is broadly classified into three categories.

The first is territory.

Like <Baron Valerof’s Domain> that we encountered when first entering this place, or <Baroness Caroline’s Domain> where we were until just now, or <Countess Ripley’s Domain> owned by Ripley…

These are lands directly owned and managed by vampire nobles.

Territories make up the largest proportion of land in <Beltane>.

Since this dungeon itself represents the land of vampires, it was natural that the territories of the noble owners would be the most prevalent.

The second is wasteland.

This name was given because most of the land that makes up this category has the characteristics of a wasteland, but it was also named because it’s land where monsters that don’t serve a particular master roam around.

Wastelands are where minions banished by vampire nobles come, or where loner monsters who don’t want to belong anywhere gather.

By human standards, it’s a kind of ‘field outside the barrier’.

It corresponded to barren land where people don’t live.

And the third is…

“Neutral areas. Land that vampires can’t occupy, but their minions can claim rights through territorial disputes.”

Ripley, who said this, lightly ignites a flame.

Whoosh-!

Kweeaak-!

A fire attribute attack magic detonates, and Baroness Caroline’s minion that was blocking us meets its end.

“……”

She dispatches the minion as easily as breathing.

It was a markedly different scene from earlier when she just watched me engage in combat.

Probably because she needs to explain things to me now, she seemed to be minimizing unnecessary time as much as possible.

Thanks to this, I was listening to her explanation in a very comfortable posture.

“The criteria for declaring neutral areas vary, but territories like Baroness Caroline’s domain where we are now, where the owner has disappeared, are declared neutral areas 7 days after the noble in question is annihilated. That is, if another noble doesn’t annex the territory before then.”

Listening up to there, I asked while making my own deductions.

“But Ripley, you also said Caroline’s barony wasn’t any good and didn’t annex it. Then don’t other guys also have no need to dispute over neutral areas?”

Ripley lightly shook her head.

“It’s land that’s not great for vampires, but it could become a shelter for Beltane’s monsters who’ve lost their way.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

“And not all neutral areas are bad. Among some neutral areas, there are places overflowing with magical materials or resources to the point where even vampires’ eyes would turn.”

However, vampires cannot directly participate in the disputes over these neutral areas.

This was one of the rules given to <Beltane>.

“But those damn Laculize folks broke that rule. In a clever way.”

“Laculize?”

“A countess, the owner of the territory right next to mine. And also a woman who goes around with disgracefully lowly nobles.”

Perhaps because it’s a noble she dislikes, the earlier rough curses come out again.

And the real reason why Ripley invited me to <Beltane> was coming out.

Countess Laculize.

And her allied nobles were described as ‘lowly’.

It seemed that I needed to resolve the conflict with them.

As I listened to the story, I tilted my head and asked her.

“But what do you mean they broke the rules? Did they occupy a neutral area?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“How? You said vampires can’t get directly involved.”

“Right. They can’t get directly involved. But it’s a different story for contractors.”

“…Ah!”

Contractor.

With that word, the questions filling my head were resolved.

Orland, the Termen warrior who had contracted with Baroness Caroline.

He had said that there were other kin who had crossed over to this <Beltane>, and that they had made contracts with vampires and taken them as patrons.

And that means…

“The Termen guys made contracts and seized neutral areas. On the vampires’ orders.”

It meant that in neutral areas where vampires’ direct participation is impossible, they were cleverly breaking the rules and indirectly participating.

Ripley nodded.

“And they moved as a group with those lowly nobles and cherry-picked only the good areas to seize.”

“Ah, then…”

Now I understood why Ripley had attempted to ‘defect’ and even went to <Room of Deserters>, Ludenark’s domain.

“That’s right. The reason I defected to find contractors, and the reason I contracted with you are all the same. I just couldn’t stand watching those women act up in the neutral areas. So…”

Ripley paused for a moment.

Then she looked at me with a smile.

“I went ahead and made a contract at a much higher level. To drive all those damn Termen guys out of the neutral areas.”

That was the real reason why Ripley ended up contracting with me.

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