Is she… alive?
The body before me was stabbed with spikes in multiple places… Even if she was alive, she might die any time.
「… ugh……….」
「You’re alive…!」
The pretty silver haired woman in front of me twitched in agony. I need to open the jail quick.
「Don’t go into the jail!! It will absorb your life!!」
A woman with fox tail surprised me.
「What did you mean absorb my life?」
「My name is Claudia. I’m a mage. That cage was designed to steal all energy from anyone inside it and kill them. Even a skilled adventurer wouldn’t even last 10 seconds」
「It’s just a little special cage…」
A cage that can kill anyone in less than 10 seconds.
I guess it will be troublesome if I didn’t have my 『Invicibility』.
「that… is right…….. Just give…. up on me…… Let me die……………」
Like a withered leaf, the silver haired woman squirt her voice.
Limbs, shoulder, torso, every spikes on her body twitches as she moves.
Her ruby colored eyes were fixed at me. Her expression was dark, like she had given up all hope.
(TL: taking my liberty here. The line isn’t really important anyway)
「Any normal men would give up. Unfortunately, I’m not normal」
I activated 『Invicibility』 and stepped into the cage.
「You really came inside…. You… Who are you?」
In the back, Claudia raised her voice in awe.
Don’t be surprised, the one in front of me is way more surprising.
「Sate, for now let’s pull this spike. Should I use recovery magic?」
「aaaa…… Recovery…… magic and…… potions are… useless……………But… How did you…… stay alive…」
「It’s thanks to my ability. Jaa… let’s start」
I said it as I pulled out a silver pike.
It was a slow and painful process. It’s better to pull them at once.
There were 10 silver spikes in total. I pulled the spike with one hand while supporting the silver haired woman with the other hand. If you melt all these silver, it will became a fortune.
I need to leave this cage, but I wondered if it’s alright to move this woman.
「Now I will go back to the ship…… Are you alright?」
Stabbed with silver spikes in multiple places.
Not affected by potions and recovery magic.
Hung on a cross.
There are a few races that popped up in my mind.
Vampire or Devil.
Both of them are often sealed.
I had thought about demons but they were in prison with me and they were effected by recovery magic.
(TL: anyone know the difference between Devil (Ak.u.ma) and Demons (Mazoku)?)
If she’s a devil then she will be alright in the day, but if she was a vampire she might turn into ash or disappear.
「……I’m fine…」
「Eh!?! But you are… a vampire…」
Claudia reacts to the silver haired woman before me.
She really is a vampire. But what did she meant “I’m fine”?
「…… I am……… 『True Vampire』……」
「No way… A 『True Vampire』 only exists in legends and myths… are you… really…」
「Let’s talk later. Claudia, you must be tired after being in this place for so long. and…… You, what’s your name?」
「My name is…… Adelhide…… Adelhide Bernstein………」
「Souka… Adelhide. It may hurt but please bear it」
I hold her with princess carry and took her into the slave ship. The spikes pierced deeply into her arms and legs, even from her back to her chest. Any movements will hurt.
「…hey stranger…… you are… not afraid of… vampire…?」
「It’s not that I’m not afraid. It’s just there is no reason to be afraid. Besides, the people who done this to you are more scary」
「…fu…fufu…… Truly a weird… human…」
Adelhide closed her eyes and felt asleep in my arms.
It seemed that she was in a sleep deprived state while being pierced by the spikes. Was there any barrier?
I wondered why she was still alive in that cage.
I’ll let her sleep on my bed for the time being
(TL: *crossesfinger* pleasenotanotherarifureta pleasenotanotherarifureta pleasenotanotherarifureta pleasenotanotherarifureta pleasenotanotherarifureta)
The injured are put on the hammocks and the sofas.
Then we tied all the slave ship crew in their own ship and took all the slaves into the room.
Roxas had started cooking.
Moving quickly, he made some stomach-friendly dish like potato soup with steamed potatoes. The slaves seemed to be very hungry and they a.s.sault every greens, breads, and soup.
Barbarossa offers coffee to the adult slaves. Paddle and Peddle were distributing some sweet cafe au lait for the children. Both of them were a better choice than Barbarossa.
Sugar and milk were stocked for my coffee maker.
It never ran out anyway.
It’s a mystery but it’s a nice ones.
「Welcome back, Big Boss. If there’s any leftover bread, can I have them?」
「Ah, I don’t mind. If there are too many, we can process them into black breads」
Roxas was concerned about the about the bread but 『Quality Improvement』 can fix it right up. Recently, I hit a jackpot and a bread turned into a yakisoba-pan.
I carried Adelhide into my bedroom while everyone was eating.
No, I don’t plan to do anything nasty.
This is a serious injury. If she wasn’t treated soon, it will turn into a trouble…
Sate… She’s a vampire so I can’t use recovery magic… Luckily, she wasn’t affected by the light of the day.
But I can’t move her either. ……Maybe Claudia knew something?
While watching Adelhide suffering in constant pain, I called out to Claudia.
Claudia must be very hungry, she took out 3 servings of soup. Right now, she was enjoying after-meal coffee.
「Ara, Big Boss-san. You are really out-of-this-world. This is the first time I see a magic artifact like this. I wonder if I can examine how it works…… Can I do it?」
「That would be a very useless attempt. Anyway, Since you’re a mage, you know a lot of stuffs, don’t you?」
「Ee… I’m quite confident in my knowledge about magic artifacts, alchemy, and golem. And I know a bit of medicine. …Does Big Boss need some information about the vampire?」
「Thank you for understanding so fast. Anything helpful?」
「I know something that might help…… but… there will be a few consequences.」
Claudia put her coffee on the table.
The other slaves are full and lying lifelessly on the sofa.
Oi oi, don’t die on the sofa.
「What kind of… consequences?」
「If you leave it healing naturally it might take 1 year… but looking at the wound, it might even take 3 years」
「3 Years? Is there any way to speed it up?」
「………………By giving her blood… She would start to heal as soon as she had some blood」
「I see, so that will make her heal faster」
「However, if someone was bitten by a vampire they will turn into a vampire or lesser vampire. Big Boss don’t need to go that far, no?」
Becoming a vampire……
Should I give it up and leave it to mother nature?
Nah… Only normal people would do that.
I’m not normal. I guess I’m the only one who can do it.
Everything will be negated by my 『Status Effect Immunity』.
In the original game, there were also status effect called 『vampirism』
「Very well. Let’s do it.」
「A-are you serious? You will never be able to live under the sun! Is that alright!?!」
Claudia grasped my shoulders and spilled her coffee.
But Barbarossa held her hand.
「Claudia, was it? It’s alright. Our Big Boss has a broken ability. That’s why everything will be alright. Even though I was a bit worried, I trusted our Big Boss.」
Being comforted by Barbarossa, Claudia released my shoulders.
Then Barbarossa gave her another coffee to drink.
He was surprisingly caring.
I didn’t expect it at all.
This guy even delivered coffee for his underlings who was doing night patrol.
I headed back to Adelhide who was sleeping.
She was still groaning in pain. I need to do this quickly.
I cancel 『Invicibility』 and 『HP/MP Auto Recovery (Mid)』 to let her wound me.
I cut my arm and let it bleed. It burns like hot steel.
「Oi, Adelhide. It’s blood… Drink it. It might heal you」
I shook her body and she opened her eyes.
「You…… What… are you doing? Letting me… suck your blood…」
「That’s what Claudia said a while ago. She was the fox-tailed woman from before. It’s alright. I’m special. So it’s alright for you to drink from me… Hurry up, don’t waste it」
「But……」
So stubborn.
Let’s force her.
「Now drink!!」
I shoved my bleeding arm into her mouth.
I could feel her fang hitting my arm, sucking the blood into her body.
Even though she was surprised, she drank my blood with her instinct. Was it vampire’s reflex?
She used both of her hands to hold my arm still.
Somehow, my surrounding became hazy.
(…ku…… Isn’t this a bit too long? Is it how it feels when your HP went down?)
I took a potion from the item box and drink it to recover HP.
Then my body started to feel better.
I could feel my physical strength recovering and I could see 『HP Recovery (Small)』 and 『Max HP Increase (Middle)』 in the skill frame. There’s no worry that the wound would close because the recovery is small.
As she drank my blood, I kept drinking potion to keep my 『HP Recovery』.
All holes on her body were closed and some few scars were visible before they were gone completely. Her complexion looked better than before, she looked like someone with a reddish complexion.
Finally, Adelhide licked my wound.
I regained some physical strength by using healing magic on myself. Even so, the blood won’t recover immediately. I reactivate 『Invicibility』.
「Who are you? I never heard someone who can resist vampirism… iya… I must thank you first. Big Boss-dono, please accept my sincere grat.i.tude for rescuing me from that evil cage and gave me blood to cure my injury.」
Adelhide descended from the bed and kneeled deeply in front of me.
I haven’t realized it before, but apparently she was dressed like a knight. It seemed that her clothes are restored by blood as well.
She looked like a vampire knight.
「Aa. I only tried to cause as many problem as possible for the Empire. No worries. Anyway, Masaki is fine. Everyone called me Big Boss but somehow I missed being called by my name」
It’s good to be called 『Big Boss』 but sometimes it’s better if you are called with your own name. Being called Big Boss may suit my underlings but I’d like to be called by name when talking with outsider.
「Souka… Then Masaki-dono. Please call me Adelle. All my close acquaintance calls me that way. It’s way shorter and easier to p.r.o.nounce」
(TL: Adel or Adelle. Vote starts now!)
「Then I will call you Adelle from now on. Adelle, all your wounds are healed. Where’s your country? I’d like to bring everyone who was caught to nearby ports」
Suddenly her expression darkened and she hung her head.
「…My country……was gone. The Empire destroyed my country and killed our king. I fought with my friends and families to let the people escape. That’s why I was caught… The other’s are missing… probably……」
Even if she didn’t say it, I understood. You lost the war against the Empire and if you’re lucky, you might escape. Maybe some of them captured as prisoners of war, but most of them had died.
「Is that so… Then what are you going to do? We are going north to the Saint Drag Kingdom and I will live as a pirate. But, the Empire is attacking everything so war isn’t avoidable. If you’re looking for your people, how about dropping off there?」
「……Masaki-dono, Can’t I come with you instead?」
「To take revenge to the Empire?」
「If I said no… that would be a lie. I hate them. But… My comrades would feel sorry for me if I live like that」
「Jaa, why do you want to come with us?」
「Aren’t you going to fight the empire? That’s why I want to prevent further tragedy. Besides…… You guys.… Do you have connections to the kingdom?」
「……No…」
Right…
Honestly, there’s none.
At worst, the most reasonable plan to offer rare weapons and high elixirs that I have but I need to take care since I can’t replenish the stocks yet.
「I have a connection in the Kingdom. Taking me will bring so much benefits. And I can fight as well. How about it? Care for a vampire who can fight under the sun?」
The answer was obvious.
Having a connection is a huge impact.
Moreover, vampires are excel in combat.
Even among pirates, the Pirates of the Round Table were not good at fighting on their own.
The only mages are Paddle and Peddle. They had a good magical combination. They can sunk a war vessel with their combination of water and earth magic.
Roxas, who was familiar with Fire Magic, was great at handling Flame Blade and a shield.
Barbarossa could go berserk wielding 2-handed-weapon on one hand.
And last, me.
The kingdom won’t be able to resist to recruit these people to fight the Empire.
But the other ones are mediocre at best. Even if their weapons are superior, the wielder are only soldier level goons. They are just average.
They are important companions because we can leave daily ch.o.r.e and ship operation.
But overall, our battle capability should be high.
「I am thankful for you being here. I’ll request it then. Will you join us?」
「Of course. Glad to be here. Masak-, no, since I joined your pirate group, should I call you Big Boss?」
「Please stop it. I’m fine with Masaki」
「Understood. Then, Masaki-dono. Let’s work together」
「Certainly. Let’s work hard together」
We shook hands and a new member joined the Pirates of the Round Tables.
Her name was Adelhide Bernstein. A 『True Vampire』
「Ah. I’m glad to be here! This sofa! This delicious beer! This is the beeest!!!」
Claudia Fyura, the 『Mage』, was lying on the sofa.
This sofa… Is really a frightening opponent!!!