kscans

Chapter 21 - The Assailant in the Darkness

Night. The sun had set, and the moon and darkness now ruled the world. It was a time when humans feared monsters and criminals, hiding within the safety of their walled buildings. But they were different.

They, the Lexalun Knight Order, were in the middle of a plain, burning a large amount of firewood to illuminate their surroundings as if it were daytime. Furthermore, they had placed bonfires in a circular pattern at regular intervals from the center, a thorough measure to ensure that nothing could approach from the darkness undetected. From above, it must have looked like a series of circles made of torches.

The watch guards stood between the central torch and the second torch from the inside, also in a circle at regular intervals, staring out into the darkness, watching for any enemies that might approach, illuminated by the torchlight. Yes, which meant that no one was watching the sky.

"Pardon me."

I descended from the sky with a single zombie, removed a knight’s helmet from behind, and covered his mouth.

"Mmph?!"

The surprised knight tried to pry my hand away, but he was no match for my vampiric strength. Powerless, he was pushed to the ground and... had his blood drained.

"Guh...?!"

Some might think that a companion suddenly collapsing would be noticed, but that’s why I brought a dummy undead holding a suit of armor. If they looked closely, they might notice that the armor was different, but in the dim light of night, for a short period of time, it should be enough to fool them. No matter how many torches they lit, the darkness of night is not so easily dispelled.

"...Gasp."

And so, the knight’s body went limp. But the next moment, he stood up, swaying unsteadily.

"Alright, one undead ready to go. On to the next one."

I repeated this process, turning several knights into undead.

◆

"The number of knights has decreased?! Cough! Cough!"

The next morning, the captain of the Lexalun Knight Order choked on the water he was drinking when he received the startling report during breakfast.

"Cough, what do you mean? Weren’t you prepared for a monster attack?! Cough."

"W-We were! We had several large bonfires in the main camp, and we had set up circles of bonfires around it at regular intervals, so that anyone would be able to spot a monster approaching from a distance!"

"Then why weren’t they spotted?!"

Because they came from the sky.

I was hiding under a nearby rock, listening to their conversation from the darkness. On either side of me were the very knights they were searching for.

"If it wasn’t monsters... then could it be those Carolmana scum?!"

Yes, yes, they took the bait perfectly.

"But I doubt even they could get past our torch formation without being seen. And to abduct knights without being noticed by the others around them would be difficult even for a highly skilled individual."

"But who else could it be? They must have prepared some kind of magic item to seize Fenesia Town. Perhaps their ‘rescue’ was just a pretext, and their real intention was to kill the lord’s family and take over the territory. The treacherous fiends."

Aren’t you guys the same? Still, this should make them fight amongst themselves. Even if it doesn’t go that far, they’ll at least slow each other down and delay the investigation.

"Then what should we do? Should we demand that they return our men?"

"Hmph, they’ll just play dumb. If that’s how they want to play, then we’ll respond in kind. For the daytime investigation, just go through the motions. More importantly, tell the men that we move tonight."

"Yes, sir!"

The sound of footsteps faded into the distance. Hmm, the fact that they understood each other from just that conversation means that, just as Adolnel said, they were planning to take the territory if they had the chance from the very beginning. It’s unlikely they’d investigate the town at night while being wary of undead, so they must have come here with another objective in mind.

Humans really are greedy and ugly. I’m glad I was reincarnated as a monster. Hahaha. Maybe it would be better to turn Adolnel from my food source into an undead like me eventually. She seems to be fed up with the ugliness of humans, too. But for now, I want to enjoy her blood a little longer. As a monster, I can’t fight my instinct for food.

And speaking of instincts, I think I’ll give in to my desire for sleep, too. For a vampire, morning is night. I’m getting pretty sleepy. Good night.

◆

And then, night came. I was still a little sleepy, but the noisy sounds from outside jolted me awake. Yes, I’ll make them pay for disturbing my sleep later.

"Captain, we are ready."

"Good. As planned, we will have the Carolmana scum make their exit. By way of an undead attack."

Hmm? Undead? What does he mean? We’re still hiding under this rock. As I wondered, I heard the sound of many people’s footsteps, thump, thump, thump, thump, fading into the distance. When the sound was gone, I pushed the rock aside and emerged.

The campsite was already empty, and in the distance, I could see the backs of the Lexalun knights. I ordered the Lexalun knight undead who had been hiding with me to rejoin their ranks, then followed the Lexalun Knight Order from the sky.

From the air, their movements were clear. They were marching in formation, and on their path, near the Carolmana Knight Order’s camp, there were others moving.

Hmm, are they trying to move without being seen by the Carolmana knights? Could they be the Lexalun knights?

They were moving under the cover of night, but with my vampire night vision, I could see them perfectly. They ambushed a pair of knights on patrol from the shadows, with several of them ganging up on them. The attackers’ movements were incredibly fluid even in the dark, so they were probably a specialized unit.

"Ah, so that’s what he meant by ‘attacked by undead’."

So the plan was to reduce their numbers with a surprise attack, then overwhelm them. And after wiping them out, they’d just feign ignorance to the lord of Carolmana and say they must have been killed by undead.

"Hmm, as an undead myself, this is slander. Which means I have to make the lie a reality."

I returned to where my forces were gathered, then took the Lexalun knight undead and circled around behind them. The clattering of their armor was drowned out by the noise the Lexalun knights themselves were making.

"Time to eat."

I snuck up behind them and turned the knights into my own, one by one. The undead knights would take their place as I drained their blood, and then the newly turned knights would take the place of the next ones.

Hmm, it’s surprisingly easy to go unnoticed. Well, it can’t be helped. They’re in the middle of an operation, so they’re marching by moonlight alone. Their helmets restrict their peripheral vision, and the sound of their own armor drowns out any small noises. And so, without anyone noticing, the Lexalun Knight Order was transformed into a legion of the dead.

"Urp... but still, drinking this much blood is tough. I could use a change of pace. Maybe some Carolmana knight blood."