Chapter 446 - Chapter 9: The Vampire of Vectis Island (Part 2)
It was a monster with a strange appearance that could only be described as a human who had received a fish's curse. A triangularly pointed head, red eyes, a large split mouth lined with sharp teeth, its entire body covered in scales, and it had human-like limbs and walked on two legs. It swims freely in the sea, uses powerful magic, and attacks humans who float ships to fish.
I purposely turned off the lights and lit only a single candle in the pitch blackness. The maid's face floated in the darkness, illuminated by the candle's flame.
"It has an atmosphere, doesn't it?"
"I-I wonder if a ghost will come out."
"Lyudmila, you mustn't say such things."
"It's okay. The Bishop is here."
"Geez, don't use '-sama' only at times like this."
The maid cleared her throat with a 'kohon.' It seems we talked a bit too much.
We apologized and waited for the continuation.
"One day, when a fisherman was walking on a moonlit sandy beach..."
She silently looked around at everyone's faces.
I unintentionally swallowed hard.
"Waa!"
Suddenly, another maid behind us let out a loud voice.
Bonnie's expression froze, and Lyudmila grabbed my sleeve while crying. Mary straightened her back for a moment, and Beatrix let out a sigh.
Maids, your scripted scares are a bit much.
They desperately apologized to Lyudmila, who had ended up crying, and somehow calmed her down. Since the atmosphere settled after receiving drinks, setting aside the fisherman on the moonlit beach, we had them teach us about the Count.
It goes back in time over a thousand several hundred years. A single Vampire came across the strait from the continent.
"The place where the Vampire landed was a small island close to the White Island, Vectis Island. Yes, our island."
The maids said that the Vampire, who had grown tired of the wars on the continent and left his hometown as if fleeing, finally managed to land after a long journey of wandering, in an exhausted state. To such a Vampire, the island's fishermen sheltered him and gathered their own daughters to give him their blood. At that time, the island was the territory of a minor noble who was a small lord on the main island, and he had taken all the land from the islanders using military force and dropped them to the serf class. The island residents, suffering under oppression, knew of the existence of Vampires who protected villages by forming pacts, and they expected the same from the Vampire who had reached the island.
Hearing the fishermen's story and being looked up to by everyone, the Vampire resolved to stand up to save the island. After all, he had fought all over the continent. He has plenty of experience regarding war. First, he drove away the minor noble's subordinates who were stationed there in a state close to naked, inspired the islanders and gathered about a hundred men to organize a defense unit, and organized the rest as support personnel, declaring war. The minor noble, knowing the opponent was a Vampire, sought support from surrounding minor nobles... that is, small lords of equal rank, obtained an army of thousands, lined up the prows of warships, and pushed toward the island in a great force.
The Vampire used his magic to stir up a storm and defeated and annihilated the army that came from the main island. Those who washed up on the island were fought and killed along with the islanders. And, taking advantage of the momentum, he attacked the main island and subjugated the minor noble who was the source of the trouble. The surrounding lords, struck with fear, offered an alliance, and finally peace came to the island.
"Since before the Kingdom of Engrio was founded, he received special treatment from the lords of the main island, took on the military duty of defending the island and the naval port on the opposite shore, and by paying a specified amount of money to the lord on the opposite shore as a tax of one-tenth of the island's products, he achieved complete autonomy and created an ideal life on the island with no difference in status."
However, that peace was also broken. About three hundred years ago, a single monster settled on the island. That monster lived in the cave of the inlet and attacked the settlements. The Vampire, who went to subjugate it as the lord of the island, was to be astonished. That monster was like a natural enemy to the Vampire. Although temporary, his greatest weapon, magic, was sealed. He was forced to draw the sword at his waist and fight. As a result of a fierce battle with an opponent who possessed great power and also used magic, he was seriously injured. He narrowly managed to escape, and those waiting outside the cave succeeded in rescuing him, but he urgently needed more blood than usual, and one man stepped forward as a provider. As a result, that man became a subordinate-type Vampire. It is Sir Archer.
"That monster still nests in the cave of the inlet and ravages the vicinity of the inlet."
Since then, a monster has lived in the inlet. It apparently sometimes plans expeditions to target ships carrying fishermen. However, it doesn't kill them; it steals the fish they caught or the cargo loaded on the ship. Because of that, it is greatly disliked by the island's residents.
"Since the Kingdom of Engrio was founded, he obtained the title of Count Vectis from the Royal Family, and the island's privileges were also maintained. Since the port on the opposite shore became a direct territory of the Royal Family, the military duty is the same."
Sir Archer was promoted to a knightly rank for a single generation. Since he's an undead, he's an eternal noble.
"The only people from outside the island allowed to land on the island became those who have the possibility of subjugating the fish monster, such as the heroes who subjugated the Demon Lord, except for the current Royal Family, the King of Engrio, who obtained permission from the Count."
That means the successive heroes challenged the monster.
"Yes. However, they are blocked by a wall like a solid black mist produced by the monster and cannot enter the depths of the cave."
Black mist... A Lich was using that. The Demon Race member who used Teleport in the Western Plains used the mist as a solid shield. That was something that would cause a burn just by touching it.
The cave where the fish monster lives is protected by that mist, and apparently neither the Count nor the heroes could break through.
"I hear Bishop Jeanne is someone who can break through such difficulties."
They are looking at me with eyes moist with expectation, but I wonder if it will really go that well...
Since I understood the island's history, I put light in the lantern. Since it's dark, I lit one firefly and stuck it to the ceiling.
"This is Light, isn't it!"
"Ah, yes. That's right."
Since the maids were watching it stuck to the ceiling, I took out another one and showed it to them.
"It's warm, isn't it."
They are rolling it around in their palms.
"With this, you can subjugate the monster, right?"
"Yes. However, it will probably also harm the Count."
"Then, is it holy magic?"
"That's, um, I don't know what to call it, but it's something like that."
It probably wouldn't translate even if I said it was the First King series.
"By the way, I think the magic the monster uses is the high-level status-change magic [Skill: Contain]."
"Kunte..."
"It's [Skill: Contain]."
"My apologies. I cannot use magic, so I am not well-informed."
In that case, I decided to explain using the knowledge I gained from the mountain investigation.
There are several magics that prevent the opponent's magic.
First is magic defense. This is something anyone who can use magic can do. If the activation of magic is convergence, it's like a wall that conversely disperses it; in a way, it's a method to disperse the opponent's magic that has been converged and activated to reduce its power. Since it affects the magic power itself, it can deal with any magic. The power varies depending on the caster's magic control, and roughly, magic of the same grade or lower as the caster can be almost nullified, and higher-level magic can have its power reduced by about two grades. Like turning high-level into basic. However, even if a wall is deployed, it's meaningless if they get inside or go around from above, below, left, or right.
Next is the mid-level holy magic [Skill: Magic Reflection]. It reflects the opponent's magic like a mirror. The power depends on the caster's grade, and if released by a mid-level mage, they might not be able to reflect high-level or higher magic. An ultra-high-level like the Headmistress is almost invincible, but it doesn't work on special techniques used by other races with immense magic power... like the Black Dragon Child's shockwave or the magic radiation used by the Demon Lord. Along with [Skill: Illusion], other magic can be used without canceling it. In that sense, it's a precious magic.
Other than those, they are status-change magics.
The mid-level magic [Skill: Magic Barrier] nullifies the opponent's mid-level or lower magic as if absorbing it. [Skill: Magic Break], a high-level magic that nullifies magic manifested within a certain three-dimensional area, has the same weakness as magic defense since it's a strengthened version of it.
And [Skill: Contain], which seals the opponent's magic itself and prevents it from manifesting. It's one of the rare magics with few users, and even Eleanor-sama cannot use it.
For the two high-level ones, they have no effect unless the caster is of a higher grade than the opponent, and if they are of the same grade, it's first-come, first-served. One is limited to an area, and the other is limited to a single opponent. Therefore, it's said to be unsuitable for field battles where numbers are many and movements are large. It's mostly used in limited places like inside buildings or caves. This is because it's more advantageous to launch a preemptive attack than to use magic that you don't know if it can be prevented. It's a typical defensive magic.
Magic can be canceled if there is a caster who uses the same magic. Since [Skill: Contain] has few users, it's difficult to cancel.
"Hmm. So there's something called [Skill: Contain]. Then, I'll make that magic my goal."
Come to think of it, Mary said she would master status-change magic.
After explaining once, I matched it with the battle with the fish monster that the maid heard from the Count, and Beatrix also agreed that it's probably [Skill: Contain]. After all, the Count's magic apparently didn't manifest.
A battle using physical attacks in a narrow cave; the monster, which possessed great power and was protected by sturdy scales, effectively raised the victory shout over the Count, who boasted immense magic power. However, being a fish, it can only stay on land for a short time. When it ran out of breath and entered a tide pool in the cave, he apparently escaped.
"By the way, Bishop Jeanne. It's blunt, but can you win?"
She asked me head-on.
"I heard this time is not a subjugation, but a preliminary battle to confirm if I have the qualification to challenge the monster."
"Yes. That preliminary battle. The opponent is the magical beast Kraken, which is employed by the fish monster. Can you win?"
"Kraken?"
A Kraken is apparently a creature with an appearance like a hybrid of a squid, octopus, and fish. It wasn't there from the beginning. Its presence has been confirmed since about a hundred years ago. Since it's in the sea, its size isn't well known, but apparently one leg is over five steps long, so it's quite huge. Even just the legs are longer than the octopuses of Uminohara. Despite being a squid-octopus, it has scales, so both its defense and magic defense are high, and it apparently uses [Skill: Maelstrom] to cause tsunami-like great waves. Ships cannot approach, and since it lurks in the inlet, you don't know where it will come from. For the fish monster, it's having it do the defense of the inlet.
The subjugation rank is apparently B-rank.
I see. Following the Lindwurm of the sky, the Hydra of the swamp, and the Behemoth of the forest, it's the Kraken of the sea. I have powerful allies, so let's try it.
The next morning, we cross to the island by ferry. The companions on the Engrio side are King Seldic at the lead, Sir Archer, and the maid assigned to me who told me the island's history. The remaining four maids are staying behind to guide the Class of 175. Actually, it seems the maids are also in charge of the interactions with the merchants on the main island.
The ship was a luxurious one flying a flag dyed with the Count's family crest, and even when crossing the strait that flows like a river, it didn't shake much. I heard it's a ship used exclusively when guests cross to the island, and the captain is, of course, an islander, as are the crew. Since I'd feel seasick if I stayed in the cabin, I went out on deck and leaned against a wooden box. Gladys-sama sat next to me out of consideration. Mary would faint.
"I heard we're facing a Kraken."
"Did you hear it from the Count's maid?"
"Yes. Did Gladys-sama and the other heroes also face a Kraken?"
"Yes, though, practically, it was like my brother James and Evans-sama defeated it with ice magic and lightning magic."
To seal the [Skill: Maelstrom], they apparently used [Skill: Cocytus] to partially freeze the sea surface around its habitat, and then fired silver harpoons into the Kraken that crawled out onto the ice, and dropped lightning repeatedly with [Skill: Cumulonimbus]. It apparently became charred in no time. As expected of heroes.
"The same trick won't work. It would be fine if the Kraken doesn't come out onto the ice. Since it's impossible to freeze all the seawater in the inlet, it would just end in a staring contest."
Apparently that concern existed last time too. However, the Kraken fell for it. Fortunately, its meat has no poison and is a good flavor, and like the octopuses of Uminohara, the dried meat apparently sold at a high price as a delicacy. The unburned scales also became material for shields that prevent magic, so for the Count, it must have been a good business.
"With Jeanne's [Skill: Sense Living], we'll know its location. I don't know how Krakens are generated, but it seems their presence has already been confirmed on the island. Since they grow in a few years after being born, this time one of the same size as last time might come out."
Hmm. Like the Behemoth, is it being made? Or was it laying eggs?
If they attack in a swarm, we might not win.
"But with Jeanne here, it will probably be easier to fight than last time. I've heard about the battle with the shark monster. I heard Light was also strengthened."
"I hope it goes well."
"It will be fine with Jeanne. Besides, the problem is after that."
"The black mist?"
Gladys-sama nodded slowly.
"I heard you saw something similar at the Silver Mine in the Northeastern Forest."
"Yes. A Lich was using it."
In the Lich's story, it's apparently a forbidden magic called [Skill: Dark]. It covers with mist and throws the enemy into the middle of pitch blackness. It's magic positioned on the opposite side of Light. At that time, the Lich, who lost to curiosity regarding the magic of light, pulled back the mist to discern its true identity. That thing, which became like my wall of light, might be the shield the Demon Race member in the Western Plains used.
Wait? Hold on.
The shield the Demon Race member used not only reflected attacks but also repelled magic. And when a human touched it, they suffered a burn-like wound. Just like a monster being splashed with holy water.
Then, the same might be possible with Light. I have the image. I saw the Demon Race member using it, and previously Angelica-san produced a shield of ice in her palm to prevent an Orc's attack.
"[Skill: Light]!"
It's a firefly using four fingers of my right hand. I make the shape flat. Since I gave it thickness, it might withstand some impact.
"Jeanne, this is... something different from a wall."
Come to think of it, when I first made a wall, I had Gladys-sama see it first too.
Since Gladys-sama went to call Eleanor-sama, I had everyone see it.
"Hmm. Jeanne, can I also hold this shield?"
It's Roberts-sama. Since fireflies can be passed to people, it should be fine. When he held out his left hand and I placed the shield on it as if flipping it with a 'pashin,' it stuck well. Even when he drew a silver knife and stabbed it, it only made a 'kan-kan' sound. Even when he stabbed with quite some force, it bounced back with a 'gatun.'
"Gladys. Draw your sword."
"Yes."
Suddenly, a practice in actual combat format began.
Roberts-sama is thrusting the Light shield on his left hand in front of his body. His right hand is behind his body. Gladys-sama is holding her sword with both hands.
As she is, she raises it overhead and slashes down. A 'gain' sound is made and Roberts-sama receives it with the shield.
"It's usable."
"Yes. Next I'll go a bit stronger."
"Don't hold back. It's Jeanne's shield."
"Yes!"
Uh, please don't get hurt. I won't take responsibility.