A Dark Fantasy Spy

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The members of the Order of the Holy Knights crawled out of the basement, barely able to string together a coherent sentence. They pointed at the basement repeatedly, their expressions as if they had seen a monster.

Ibrahim collected testimonies from the two dazed members and the rest of the search team and decided to lead the troops preparing for extraction back down into the depths.

And when he finally re-emerged from below…

A debate erupted.

“We need to move it. Right now.”

Ibrahim insisted that the coffin had to be relocated immediately, while Matt opposed, arguing, “…You want us to carry that thing through the sewer and escape? We’ve already collected the Saint’s blood. You want to leave it behind?”

“We can’t just leave that coffin behind!”

“If we don’t move now, the whole city will come looking for us. How about we just burn it?”

“If it could be solved by burning, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation!”

“Then let’s just blow it up! How are we supposed to escape carrying such a ridiculously large coffin?”

The two men’s arguments formed a sharp contrast, each countering the other with their own logic and reasoning.

“Pull!”

The members of the Order of the Holy Knights clutched the rope, straining to pull the coffin up from the basement, and one murmured, “…The barrier seems to be collapsing.”

“At this rate, we’re all dead, damn it.”

The information officers of the operations team couldn’t hide their anxious faces, and one suggested, “Let’s deal with the blood bags first! If they fall into the hands of the cultists, the operation will fail!”

I voiced my opinion about disposing of the blood.

As time flowed by relentlessly…

Finally, when the barrier reached its limit, crumbling like a sandcastle swept away by waves…

-—

A blue slash tore through the collapsing barrier, revealing a familiar face that gently clasped a rune sword.

“…Didn’t I say we should just leave?”

He addressed me directly.

—

Episode 17 – The Blood-Drinking Tree

—

I snapped to attention at the sound of someone knocking on the door.

Rolling my wide eyes, I caught sight of the firmly closed sliding door. After slipping on my slippers, I carefully opened the door to find Lucia, proudly displaying her bright blonde hair.

“Lucia. What brings you here?”

“I just received the test results, and I wanted to bring them to you.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Lucia nodded with a kind smile.

As she unfolded the file in her arms, she began to read the sheets aloud.

“Blood pressure is normal, eyesight and hearing are all normal. No special issues were found in the blood, and there are no skin diseases… Motor skills and cognitive abilities are above average. Yes, here are the results. Congratulations.”

She congratulated me with a bright expression. Her words were sincere.

I double-checked the test results thoroughly, just in case I had missed something.

Fortunately, everything seemed fine.

“Health is the best.”

“It’s the greatest blessing.”

“Same difference.”

As I was organizing the results, Lucia, who had been smiling, brushed her finger behind her ear. She seemed to have something she wanted to talk about.

“I heard from Camila that you’ve been dispatched to the countryside for a while. Did you wrap things up smoothly?”

I answered while packing my belongings, “To some extent.”

“Well, that’s a relief since you returned safely. How long do you plan to stay here?”

I didn’t know either.

I couldn’t predict when, where, or how I would move, so I had nothing particularly to say. But seeing Lucia’s face, I couldn’t help but mumble a vague reply.

I faintly remembered elaborating on something, yet I couldn’t recall the exact words I had said.

At that moment, as I changed out of my patient gown and into my civilian clothes…

“Oh, I almost forgot. This.”

“What is it?”

“The priest who handed over the results asked me to pass this along to you. Although, I don’t know what it is.”

“……”

I stared blankly at the envelope Lucia had laid down.

Eventually, when she claimed she needed to tend to patients and left the room, I calmly locked the door and checked the contents.

What Lucia had handed over was the test report.

However, it contained slightly different information than what I had just heard.

“…Psychic response, normal. Mental contamination, normal. Object distortion ratio normal, and no reactions to sacred objects.”

A detailed examination report consisting of 28 items. Only after carefully checking the contents did a sigh of relief escape me.

I burned the inspection report and tossed it into the metal trash can.

After throwing off my patient gown, I sat on the bed and wiped my face.

“……”

And quietly closing my eyes, I lost myself in thought.

—

“Have you come out, Brother Frederick?”

As I packed my things and exited the hospital room, a priest in a habit greeted me at the door.

“Did you wait long?”

“No, Brother.”

I pushed the sliding door aside and posed my question to him.

“How is everyone else?”

“Most of the people who returned from the port, including the Order of the Holy Knights, are mostly safe, but the two brothers who stayed too long underground are not in great condition.”

“…Is it serious?”

“Not really. They’ve just been momentarily shocked, so their spirits are a bit weakened.”

The priest led me to the back of the building. It seemed the cult had prepared a temporary teleportation magic circle in a clearing.

The moment my field of vision narrowed and then expanded, the desert started to unfold before me. An endless stretch of sand as far as the eye could see. Though I didn’t know the name, I could tell this place was somewhere on the Mauritania Continent.

“Let’s go. Everyone is waiting.”

The priest pointed towards a cliff, specifically indicating a pathway between the red rocks.

As I walked along that path, I suddenly turned to the guiding priest.

“By the way… Is it true?”

“Which matter are you referring to?”

“The coffin found down there.”

He cast a brief glance back at me.

“Is it really a vampire?”

“……”

No answer came.

The priest continued to walk silently, a faint smile lingering on his face.

And finally, as we reached the edge of the path…

He broke the silence, looking at me and said, “See for yourself.”

—

The lift meant for mines brought me down underground.

The mouth of a monster. Or perhaps the dark hell where mythical sinners were trapped. A vast cave leading endlessly downward reminded me of Tartarus from a comic I had seen long ago.

“Is that you?”

“Matt.”

“Seems fine enough that you made it this far.”

Just as the lift came to a sudden stop, Matt, who had been waiting, opened the door and extended his hand toward me.

“Did you really think I would die easily?”

“Can’t say it’s out of the question.”

I took his hand and stepped out. Matt, with pursed lips, stood with his arms crossed, looking bland.

He caressed his reddened skin in front of the mirror with a nonchalant expression, then asked casually, “You’re fine. How’s your girlfriend?”

“Matt, Francesca is not my girlfriend. How many times do I have to say it for you to understand?”

“A notoriously picky magician came to rescue you at the risk of her life, and you’re not an item? You really have no sense.”

“Let’s settle on that.”

“Haha.”

Matt burst into laughter as he looked at me. It seemed my joke was amusing to him. I’m not sure how one could find humor in this situation, though.

In any case…

Right after escaping the Necropolis, Francesca underwent a thorough inspection consisting of 28 items, revealing no major issues.

Likewise, it was concluded that Matt, the information officers of the operations team, and most of the members of the Order of the Holy Knights led by Ibrahim were in normal condition. The only exceptions were a few members of the Order of the Holy Knights who had slightly lost their minds after going underground.

Everything was perfect.

There were zero casualties, Francesca’s identity remained concealed and intact, and Lucia’s blood was retrieved properly. The operation was supposed to conclude successfully and indeed, half of it did.

In other words, half of it was a disaster.

And the reason was exceedingly simple.

“…Tsk.”

As I strolled down the hallway, rubbing the back of my neck, I posed my question.

“So, what happened with the investigation? Surely something came out of it.”

Matt put his hands in his pockets and trudged along.

His nonchalant voice came alongside the dragging sound of his shoes.

“I think it’d be better for your mental health not to listen.”

“Matt.”

After I shot him a sharp glare, he finally halted his joking.

Staying serious, he resumed walking after a brief pause.

“It seems our religious folks’ predictions were spot on. Unfortunately.”

“……”

“Look.”

His thick finger pointed backward. There, a large window occupied one side of the wall.

A smooth rock face extended, revealing a vast cavern bustling with numerous equipped personnel moving about.

In the center, where not even an ant could pass, lay an ancient coffin.

As Matt stepped closer to the glass, he spoke.

“Can you believe it? They say what’s inside that coffin is a monster that went extinct hundreds of years ago. Something straight out of a fairy tale, huh?”

“…I’m not so sure.”

Whether it be a monster preserved for hundreds of years or a decayed corpse.

It was obvious.

“If something were to spring out of that coffin, it wouldn’t be anything good.”