The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

Chapter 3 : Quest

Though the Geomchis had absolutely no ability to flatter, the vampires were heart-struck by their desperations. The guards gave them a simple quest.

"A bunch of healthy humans; it would have been better if they were females, but this is a huge source of fresh blood. We"re tired vampires have exhausted our lifeblood."

Ttiring!

Needless to say, they all accepted without a single rejection. The guards plunged their fangs into Geomchis" nape of the neck.

Juuuuuuk!

Burning at the nape!

Geomchis lined up systematically to give blood in order to get into town, and none bore any grudge toward the vampires.

"Iyahh, its only blood..."

"I"d do it a hundred times over for the ladies without an ounce of regret."

Pale and Zephyr were enlightened.

"I will be better toward Maylon."

"I don"t want to be like that at all; men being so transparently needy of women."

The extreme playboy Zephyr had a major epiphany. For he who was able to get girls as easily as he was with fis.h.i.+ng, he realized that the road he was on would eventually leads to futility.

"And I travel with some pretty nice girls."

Zephyr glimpsed around at his party members. Irene was simply kind by nature, she never as so much as used curse words toward anyone. Though occasionally quite feisty, the easygoing Romyuna knew how to have fun.

The young and childlike Surka was cute, while the alluring Hwaryeong was the complete opposite. Her dances were the first instances of her charms; then sometimes when she was in the mood, she"d sit on a rock and starts to sing, one of the crucial factors that made the adventures more enjoyable.

She was amazingly well-rounded! But Zephyr digressed, since Hwaryeong eyes no other but Weed.

"But he doesn"t even realize it."

Though Hwaryeong did not openly express it, anyone else could have easily guessed. Anything Weed cooked was simply delicious to her. Even if he had served something as simple as a bowl of soup along with a piece of bread, she wouldn"t voice a complaint.

Each and every time, she"d never miss a chance to say thank you nor leave her meal unfinished. Even now she"d actively stealing glances from his side; this act was downright without a doubt from a woman in love!

Though Weed"s mind was mainly preoccupied by money and his worrisome face reflected that fact, the atmosphere set by the two could catch the attention of any onlookers.

Maylon was Pale"s girlfriend, and Yurin was Weed"s younger sister. Yurin was very appealing. Zephyr sneaked a peak at her trying to catch her smiling; but he shook his head.

"No no. Absolutely not her!"

Never try to get close to her unless you wanted to drastically decrease your likelihood of living!

"The antagonistic families of Romeo and Juliet weren"t so bad."

Perhaps even the Geomchis feared the trouble they"ll face for liking her.

In the meantime, the Geomchis "donations" to the vampires were almost over, as there was a huge number of stumbling Geomchis. As their vitality and power were being exhausted, the guards were overflowing with vigor. Even their naturally pale faces blushed, and their canines were lined with crimsons.

To their nature, the vampires became more robust after they drank blood; still, the guards were less than enthusiastic when the Orc Seechwi stepped up.

"Do not want to taste orc"s blood."

"......"

"You"re not coming into town."

Those words wounded Seechwi"s feelings. Then Geomchi2 stepped in.

"May I offer my blood on behalf of Seechwi?"

The guard perched with interest.

"More human blood? Good, I"ll take my fill."

Second time Geomchi2 offered his blood to the vampires. Seechwi voiced.

"Chwiik! Geomchi2 nim."

Seechwi"s eyes were lined with tears. After Geomchi2 finished, Seechwi became his pillar of support since he was completely overwhelmed with fatigue. An obese Orc a.s.sisting a st.u.r.dy human!

After that, every party members gained permission to enter Seirun.

The benefits of being the first discoverers!

Weed"s face was widened with a satisfied smile.

"2x......"

Doubled the rewards from questing. Furthermore, there were substantially more benefits undisclosed. Besides being the first discoverers here, they were bound to be the first discoverers in the Kingdom of Vampires, Toteum; that meant the loots and EXP from hunting there will also yield 2x. Pale and Irene, too, were delighted.

"Gained reputation."

"It"s a good thing."

Weed quickened his steps entering the village.

"Let"s go."

But everybody else was hesitant; after all, they"re the first to enter a village full of vampires! This was a completely new land, not of the Versailles continent. They were impressed and excited into frozen stiffs at the entrance of the village. Especially Maylon, from the second she settled her sights toward the vampire village. Beautifully built homes in the forms of villas, and cape wearing vampires roaming the streets were intoxicating.

"Well, exotics are parts of the adventures too."

She did not know where to begin. Then Mapan bellowed.

"Yeah. C"mon!"

Yurin too, considered this was a great prospect. Painters such as herself traveled in order to visit cities and view landscapes with the intention to paints to increase their skill"s mastery. Therefore, the newly discovered Seirun village provided her an opportunity to paint dozens of pictures.

Weed and Mapan entered the town together and made their way toward the stores. They needed to dispose of some of the imported goods they bought from Morata, not to mention checking on new equipments and obtaining maps of the town. Mapan got the pricings from various owners regarding loots and let out a scream of joy.

"They"re selling rubies and sapphires and jewelries at very expensive prices. Furs and rugs too!"

"YES!"

Weed was more delighted than usual. (*evil hint*)

"You"re so lucky, Mapan-nim."

"Hope you reap a huge profit as well."

Pale and Surka handed out the congratulations. Though he hadn"t done anything yet, Mapan felt as if he"ll reap a huge return; yet he viewed Weed in suspense.

"It"s all thanks to Weed-nim that brought me here."

Back on the continent, Mapan did well selling stuff also, but he did not have a large profit margin nor were his items guaranteed to sell. But here, an unexplored region along with a town full of vampires!

Being the first to sell goods in this village meant he"d be able to receive the special treatment of reaping an extra 20-30 percent in addition to the selling price. Not many merchant can have a chance like that. But Weed"s face showed no hint of envy at all as he handed Mapan the opportunity; in fact, the smile he built simply mimic that of a baby who was in bliss.

Pale nodded his head.

"I knew it! Weed-nim is a good man."

The shameful Surka wanted to go somewhere to hide.

"I guess I misunderstood Weed-nim. I should broaden my interpretation wider like the seas that embraces everything, rather than judging something over just one instant."

So Weed was still smiling and glowing without creasing a single wrinkle, told Mapan.

"Mapan-nim, please let"s go sell your stuff."

"You think so?"

"Yes. You should grab hold of this opportunity as the values here are more than the original."

Mapan came up to a trading post and began to negotiate. The owner of it was of course a vampire.

"I brought some pretty jewelry here with me; ohh Mr. merchant, and I just want to sell them," Mapan pulled out ten rolls of furs, five stacks of rugs, along with three gems, "what are your offers?"

"250,000G. Nah, no. Stuff like these goes for 270,000G."

"d.a.m.n! Don"t go! On second thought, I"m able to pay as much as 303,000G for them."

Mapan swallowed his saliva. The costs of purchasing these goods totaled only to 110,000G! The offer he just got was nothing more than a jackpot, made more than twice the gold he paid for. But Mapan greed decided for him.

"Though that may sound like a decent price; but to me, I prefer to go elsewhere......"

The vampire built a long face. Mapan, who was also in the trade of deceiving, hinted a leaving gesture. The conflicted vampire suggested.

"This is a gesture out of the kindness of my heart. 368,000G. I"m sure you"d show the same kind of gestures when you"re out to purchase goods. I do not care for how much you purchased them for where you were, but I can not go any higher."

Mapan mouth widened and remained open for a while, he himself couldn"t believe the jackpot he just hit.

"You don"t want to sell at this price?"

"Ohh, sorry. I"ll sell."

Mapan handed over the goods he brought.

Ttiring!

A moment where a merchant triumphs!

70% of his goods remained after the sale; for Mapan feared the prices might drop if he had sold them in bulk. Therefore, he planned to sell a few more things, and save the rest to be disposed of at the Kingdom of Vampire Toteum. Some vampires chattered from a distance.

"That human Mapan just earned a great fortune; it"s a topic amongst those humans."

"Which one is this Mapan? I hope he"ll pa.s.s by right in from of me. What I"ll do if he did? I"d just drag him to some alley and sink my teeth into his nape..."

Jackpot in trading!

Mapan acc.u.mulated a huge amount of profits, and Weed handed out his congratulations.

"Very nice."

"It"s all thanks to Weed-nim."

"Nah. I"m pleased to see you do well."

Weed was very happy; the joy came from his position as the Lord of Morata. Not too long ago Mapan registered himself as a resident of Morata, and facilitated his trading practices in the North as a citizen of Morata. As a result, he was subjected to Morata"s tax rate, something that"s even more fearsome than a bloodcurdling dragon! (*Weed"s way of thinking -.-*) Merchants had to pay 3% of their revenue by means of taxation; and as Mapan reaped roughly 360,000G, he"d had to pay Morata more than 10,000G via tax.

Main reason for taxes!

"Taxes can also be good for something after all."

The reason why Weed was more pleased than usual.

They made their way toward the weapon shop afterward, of course, they also planned to sink their snake-like fangs at the weapon shop too! They boldly declared their intentions in the face of the thick-fanged male vampire owner.

"Hey buddy. Can we see your weapon inventory? Unfortunate, we can"t use true vampire"s weapons; so can we see a few we can use? Things like elegant equipments: rings and such, or precious armors we"d love to see."

The vampires did not use weapons such as swords etc., so there were little of those metallic gears. But there were gloves that absorb bloods, belts that summons dark beings, and capes that induces delirium and forced apparitions(see ghosts); these weapons were truly to the nature of vampires. Among these Hwaryeong found a dress.

"Wait. Take a look at that dress."

Golden flows on a crimson dress, an eye catcher. A view from the side, one could tell from the abdomen area up to the chests, there was little to none. A difficult dress to get into if one weren"t in shape. However, Hwaryeong experienced harsher dresses while she was doing concerts.

"What do you think about it?"

She asked Weed for feedbacks. Seeing how he had achieved the intermediate stages on sewing, she wanted a second opinion. But of course, that"s not the main reason why.

"It"s amazing."

"Also pretty?"

"Yes. The fabrics used to make the dress weren"t used sparingly. From the materials, he could have made two dresses; I would have done so to make more money! Too bad I haven"t leveled to a stage to handle those kinds of materials yet."

Weed was in deep thoughts staring at the dress, why don"t people use their minds when it comes to these things! Usually regarding these clothes, they"d be hard to sell. The more revealing the clothes the more lackl.u.s.ter it is when it comes to defense; but he couldn"t have fathomed the dancer"s needs for appearance and charms.

"Would that dress go well with me?"

"Well...the price is also important."

"Would I be prettier wearing it?"

Weed thought for a while then nodded.

"I think you"ll be beautiful."

"Thank you. Hey Mapan-nim, please buy that dress in my stead."

The merchant Mapan used his skills to bargain for a price on the dress, still it came out to be at 148,000G; but Hwaryeong didn"t considered it as expensive.

"Cheap."

At this point, one would considered this was a slip of the tongue; but it wasn"t so to her.

The expensive dress itself wasn"t the problem; in fact, for her levels and her profession as a dancer, there was a major factor she knowingly overlooked when she paid 140,000G for the dress.

"Weed didn"t even address nor did he check the stats on the dress and I s.n.a.t.c.hed it only because he said I"d be beautiful in it."

It wasn"t logical, decided to pay for the dress before asking about it!

Fortunately, the crimson dress enhanced her dancer skills by giving her a boost in agility and grace. Hwaryeong, in the dress, was able to show off more of her charms; the coverage was lower than before, but she in no means looked vulgar in it. Her exposed well-toned exercised figure did not take away any of her cultured charms. Comparing to the colorful dress, Hwaryeong was lovelier; the face full of confidence and the eyes full of magnetism would catch anyone"s sight; truly a Fairy of the Stage. (*what her fans calls her?*)

"Beautiful, eonni(elder sister, term of endearment toward one of not blood relations)!

Surka commented first. For her age, she looks up to beautiful women. The commotion went on for awhile, and they all left after they finished checking out the weapons.

Next, they visited general stores that sell basic necessities for journeys, though the ones they saw were seemingly useless. Weed had no intention to buy anything however; as the lord of Morata, he invested all of his money into its development for further exploitation.

"Use money to make even more money."

Weed was far from mindlessly spending his money on impulse; nonetheless he was here in search for something. While in thought, the approaching vampiric owner revealed his fangs, and Weed immediately spun around!

"Kueaaa!"

The owner had his mouth opened as he loomed toward Weed, who"s reaction was as fast as the wind and turned around, forcing the vampire to close his mouth. The owner was smacking his lips as if he wanted something enticing.

"Humhum, it"s a shame that you noticed, been a while since I"ve tasted human blood. So what is it that you want?"

As the reason why he visited the shop when he wanted to buy nothing, Weed entered to obtain information.

"I"m a sculptor that"s looking for something to inscribe."

"Sculptor? Have you tried Todeum yet? This is just a small village in comparison. There was a rumor that Toduem had something that can be viewed as inspirational to sculptors, though it wasn"t confirmed."

"What is the relations.h.i.+p between this town and Totuem?"

"Here"s just a small town, a serene place where vampires escaped the hustle and bustle of a city. Toduem is a few days due east if you wanted to go, though I do not recommend it; there are more rumors about it becoming more dangerous."

According to the vampire owner, Seirun was kind of a town where beginners began.

"I don"t think Toduem is a good place for the weak."

After that, they started to collect and authenticate the information acquired from vampires.

"Seirun? You"re asking where the town got its name? It"s the name of one of our three moons: Pallun, Gorun, and Seirun. The vampire queen of the n.o.bles of the night belonging to Todeum also carried the same name. She"s also very beautiful; if she asked, I would gladly pull and dedicate my human heart if I was one."

"A tip to you human tourists, avoid the alley at night. It"s a place where many humans were drained of their bloods, so never accept their advances."

"You really want to know about Todeum? It was originally where the dead were put to rest, a cemetery if you will. But for some reason, they rose from their slumber and began to seek out blood. And now, it has become a city for n.o.bilities of the night. Join with the living beings? Why would the n.o.bles do something that relinquishes their prominence!?"

"The land of vampires is different from human"s. The dead are sent above to the ground for one. What about their belongings? We vampires just put it with them as we have no need for human"s belongings. Though, antiques and jewelries occasionally could occasionally be "misplaced.""

"Tsk! d.a.m.n younglings vampires these days. I had them agreed not to search of the golden vampire bat......"

"I didn"t do that when I was a kid. Sometimes they don"t even make it back by the break of dawn the next day; I hope nothing had happened to them."

"The pride of our town? We have a lot of pretty s.e.xy vampire gir...keuheum! Go somewhere else and leave me be."

The adult vampires on the street!

There was a huge difference in the generation gap, the younglings were literally garbage. Weed saw and talked to a few of them.

"You"re human? Do you want to ride something that makes your blood pumps? Ok, that"s great! Have you seen the scenery from the alleyway? That"s where everything seems the most majestic. If you want to go, I can guide you there and......"

"Female vampires, they talk so much it"s incredible. The Jakk.u.man clan seems to have disappeared, whether it"s true or not doesn"t really matter to me though."

"The rumor in Seirun is that the vampire queen of the same name is the most beautiful, but I haven"t seen her. Wonder where she is."

The Geomchis have long separated from the group as the only they occupied their mind were the female vampires selling apples, now eating apples they purchased. Occasionally, they"d throw their fists in the air or pointed thumbs out while screaming loudly.

"Vampire Kingdom Hurrah!!"

"Long live all the vampires!"

"Keuheuk! Good thing we came here. Thanks. Weed."

Geomchis were making a scene!

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4 were truly enjoying themselves, while Geomchi and Geomchi5 were stuffing themselves with apples. Seirun was considered as a haven to these old bachelors. They would flex their muscles or smile whenever they were dealing with the female vampires.

"Bon appet.i.te. Thankyou for your patronage."

"Not a problem. Do you have more like these......"

"Thank you."

The female vampires hung on both of his arms as a reward.

"Euheoheoheoheo."

Like a male student getting touched!

"Worth every penny!"

Geomchi3 notice his master.

"Master! Use the money we saved up!"

"Roger, disciple! Keep up eating! Buy some more!"

Geomchi"s money drastically reduced; knowing that all were going toward the local beauties, he still didn"t mind. He could hunt again to raise more money, there was no hesitation because living an impoverished lifestyle for a day or two didn"t really matter to him.

And for some reason, their behaviors elevated the female vampires liking towards them, as one of them tugged on Geomchi3"s arm.

"Please help us."

"Yes? What can I do for you......would you like me to buy more apples?"

"There were those who were trying to capture then kill us, please slay them."

The worrisome words from the tearful female vampires; the sight burned its place in Geomchi3"s heart.

"No, those lousy fools! Where the h.e.l.l are they? Take me to them punks immediately......"

"We"ll guide you. Come with us."

While Weed and his party were gathering information and find out which quests were good to obtain, Geomchi3 rushed in hastily.

"Weed!"

"Yes?"

"I think we found a quest."

"Tell me when and how?"

"We were buying apples from girls and they told me."

They were vampires!

Though cla.s.sified more so as monsters than humans; in Geomchis" eyes, they were simply women.

"What about the compensations and difficulty level?"

"I don"t know. It"s something regarding the Jakk.u.man somewhere, I thought you might have an idea."

"Take me there."

Weed, along with his party, rushed toward the female vampires, and caught sight of the Geomchis surrounding them.

"Weed hurry. This lady said she"d guide us; we"re to rescue her friend as soon as possible."

Geomchi2 said with urgency, and poised ready to do. However, Weed was sharp, he turned to that female vampire.

"Tell us where you want us to follow?"

"I"ll show you directly."

The vampire shot a reply bluntly. Weed did not believe her or the vampire race, figured they"ve used this lie plenty! Full of greed and envy, the jealousy filled vampires loved to produce crisis based on their lies; the most incredible creature on land were the vampires. Weed stated.

"If it"s true that your friend"s in danger, would you swear to the Blood Oath to authenticate?"

Blood Oath.

The blood being the source of the vampire"s life, and they could not lie once they swore to it. Weed found out about this fact when he dealt with the vampire clan Jinhyeol.

"If she"s lying, she"ll ignore and pretend not to know of it."

Contrary to what he expected, the female vampire nodded.

"Yes! I, the vampire Minorue, under my sacred blood, I swear I am not luring the humans to a trap."

"Let"s go."

Weed and his party followed the vampire Minorue as she led them toward the plain behind the village. Navigating through the plain they encountered a s.p.a.cious field with many divided paths; then after pa.s.sing the vast gra.s.sland, a village came into view.

Surprisingly, the village was inhabited by human beings!

Fences rose surrounding the village acted as a barrier, while knights and priests remained on the lookout.

Minorue sorrowfully said.

"This gathering of human fanatics has been plaguing us."

"And they have something to do with Roselin"s disappearances?"

"Yes. They foolishly believed in their G.o.d. They continued to kidnap young members of our clan every night and burn them at the stake. Take a closer look over there."

Minorue pointed her finger toward a place near the main entrance of the village where pillars of stakes were erected. The vampires were suspended by ropes tied to a cross; while beneath them, woods, oils, and such materials were acc.u.mulated.

"My friend Roselin is supposed to be burn tonight, please expel all of the fanatics gathered there and save my friend."

Ttiring!

A very unusual quest!

A quest commissioned by a vampire. Weed was relatively hesitant at the thought of fighting against humans, but the Geomchis had already decided.

"There"s a woman named Roselin tied up?!"

"Ima help a babe like that!"

"Sure. No other choice for us men!"

"Don"t worry, we"ll help."

A sight at Roselin"s face, the vampire queen, Geomchis helplessly accepted the quest; while Weed also reluctantly accepts.

"Roselin will be rescued."