Chapter 8: No slacking off during work

After the body vanished completely, Cynthia patted Ina’s shoulder.
“Let’s go?”

“Go… where? Do you even know where we’re headed?”

Ina eyed Cynthia’s relaxed demeanor, wondering where her confidence stemmed from.

“Guess why I showed up in front of you in the first place?”

Cynthia noticed Ina’s skeptical look and rubbed her brow.
“Or do you really not sense anything off about this town?”

As they’d neared Tara, Cynthia had felt a faint, unnatural magical aura lingering around the town, stirring an odd sensation in her body.

Once inside, the feeling grew sharper—subtle, like a mosquito’s hum in her ear, but increasingly irritating over time.

While they were meeting the mayor, the Holy Slaughter Canon assassin had been tailing them.

He thought he was well-hidden, but to Cynthia, now a Blood Princess and familiar with the Canon’s tactics, his stealth was as obvious as a clumsy tracker.

She hadn’t acted then because she noticed his gaze fixated on Ina.

So, she decided to play along, luring the snake from its hole.

“But didn’t you just kill the ‘snake’ you lured out?!”

Cynthia led Ina outside, the night now cloaking the sky.
The townsfolk had retreated to their homes, leaving the streets empty save for the two of them.

“That’s because I don’t need the snake anymore.”

They stopped at a familiar spot.
Facing an exasperated Ina, Cynthia gazed into the shadowy depths of an alley.
“Here. Feel anything?”

At Cynthia’s prompting, Ina closed her eyes, focusing on the alley.

There was a faint… unnatural magical ripple.

But it was so subtle that even she, concentrating hard, barely caught it.
Yet this vampire had sensed it so effortlessly?

Are all vampires this terrifying?

“It feels like… someone’s suppressing the flow of magic?”

Ina pieced it together after a moment.
“But why would they do that?”

Cynthia frowned, staring at the alley’s end.
“Maybe it’s a trap set for vampires.”

Suddenly, her nose twitched—she caught a whiff of blood.

Something’s wrong.

Without time to explain, Cynthia darted toward the alley’s depths.
Before Ina could react, a flash of crimson energy struck the far wall with a thunderous impact, shaking the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

As the haze cleared, a white magic circle materialized on the wall, glowing faintly.

“What’s carved on it… [Hide] and [Light Curtain]?”

Cynthia squinted at the runes etched into the circle.
Her knowledge of magic circles was rudimentary—despite Alicia’s forced lessons, she’d only scratched the surface.

But identifying runes? That she could manage.

“It’s a light-element circle, reinforcing the [Light Curtain] to obscure vision and distort the surroundings, making people misjudge distances.”

Ina stepped forward, clearly more versed in such matters.
“There’s got to be something hidden behind it.”

She tapped her fingertips, channeling dark magic to erode the circle bit by bit.

Dispelling it entirely by draining its magic was possible, but for Ina, the cost would be steep.

After all, a witch wielding light magic was as rare as a Saint using dark magic.
And with a Blood Princess—who saw the Holy Church as her sworn enemy—standing beside her, revealing her light magic would shatter the fragile trust they’d built.

She’d end up like that zealot’s corpse.

The thought sent a shiver through Ina, but her hands didn’t falter.
Gradually, her dark magic unraveled the circle, causing it to collapse.

The alley’s depths were laid bare.

A hidden cellar entrance emerged, so well-concealed that even without the circle, most would overlook it.
With the circle’s cover, it was no wonder the guards hadn’t found it.

The blood scent Cynthia had caught wafted from within.

Without the circle’s interference, the smell grew sharper.

She glanced at Ina.
From what she’d seen, this witch’s combat skills were near nonexistent—taking her below could be risky.

“Alright, it’s decided. Ina, you stay up here. If possible, stop anyone from escaping.”

“Huh? Me?”

“Please.”

Before Ina could protest, Cynthia vanished into the shadows and slipped into the cellar, leaving Ina alone in the night air.

“You’re that strong, and you still need me to do work?!”

Ina grumbled under her breath, then sighed.
“Fine, if my savior says so, I’ll do it.”

A dark shadow spread from her, swiftly enveloping the area around the alley.

“You’d better not get into trouble!”

Inside the cellar, Cynthia moved in stealth.
The mercenaries guarding the entrance fell silently under her hand.

The cellar was more complex than it appeared, expanded into a network of narrow passages linking small rooms, with a large open area at its center.

The closer she got to the core, the stronger her unease grew—a low hum resonating through her body.

As she pressed deeper, faint whimpers echoed from the rooms along the passage.

Seizing a moment when no one was near, Cynthia slipped to a door and found the missing orc children inside.

Many bore wounds, the source of the blood scent she’d detected.

Thankfully, though listless, they seemed in no immediate danger.

To uncover the cellar’s purpose, Cynthia decided to push further.
For safety, she left a trace of her magic on each room’s door—a safeguard for the children if things went south.

The passage was short, soon opening into the central chamber.

Before her loomed a massive magic circle, at its heart a glowing red crystal.

Crimson mist seeped from the crystal, absorbed by the circle below—the source of Cynthia’s discomfort.

As she moved to disrupt the circle, a figure emerged from behind the crystal, a sharp voice cutting through the cavern.

“Oh~ Isn’t this our dear vampire guest?”

“What brings you here?”