How to Live as the Vampire Lord - Chapter 235

“We have successfully eliminated the monsters in the mountains surrounding villages. 288 of them in all,” Princess Lilisain said. It was just like her to have counted the exact number of monsters.

“Good work. There were intermediate and high-ranking monsters as well, right?” Eugene asked.

“Three trolls, two owlbears, and two griffons. Also, please take this,” Princess Lilisain responded. One of the elven knights carefully retrieved something from their pack. They were two eggs the size of a child’s head.

“Eggs?” Eugene asked with a puzzled expression.

Princess Lilisain nodded proudly. “Yes. griffon eggs. I was lucky.”

“Hooh.”

“Kieeeek! Big eggs! They will taste amazing if we steam them~ It will be delicious if we fry them with lots of oil!” Mirian exclaimed.

“Uaaagh!”

“I-is it an evil spirit?” The villagers jumped with shock at the sudden appearance of the gluttonous spirit. As it turned out, Mirian’s desire for food was almost as great as her greed for wealth. Her appearance was quite provoking, as her eyes were twitching and drool was flowing down her chin.

“At ease, everyone. This is a spirit subordinate to me,” Eugene explained.

“I won’t hurt anyone, kihehe,” Mirian chortled.

“I-is that so?”

“A… a spirit, I see…”

The villagers still appeared somewhat doubtful, but they seemed relieved to see Mirian acting cute.

“I didn’t bring the eggs back to eat. However, if we were to eat them, we should add mint, herbs, honey, and peppers, then soak it in ale for a few days before frying in oil,” Princess Lilisain said.

“If you didn’t bring them back to eat, let’s stop it there. The eggs look quite precious, but why did you bring them back?” Eugene asked. He had to quickly stop Princess Lilisain from describing her eccentric eating habits. It wouldn’t do anyone good to hear what she had to say about food.

Princess Lilisain answered, “I want to try and hatch them.”

“Hatch them?” Eugene asked.

“Yes. One of my royal ancestors once…” According to her words, in the past, a member of Eland’s royal family had accidentally found a large egg. The elf had known that the egg was too large for it to belong to an eagle or a similar type of bird, so they had brought it back with them with a curious mind. The very next day, the egg hatched.

“What emerged from the egg was a four-legged bird the size of a chicken,” Princess LIlisain explained.

“So it was a griffon,” Eugene replied.

“Yes. They didn’t know it at first, but after three days or so, the creature started to resemble a griffon in appearance. The creature grew to the size of a large hound after fifteen days, and about two months later, it was large as a bull—large enough for someone to ride on,” Princess Lilisain continued.

“Hmm? Don’t tell me…” Eugene muttered.

Princess Lilisain nodded with pride. “That’s right. The first thing that the griffon saw after birth was my ancestor, and the griffon took them as its mother and followed them.”

“Hooh.”

“Afterward, my ancestor achieved many things as a griffon knight. It was during a time when Eland was free from any foreign invasions, so my ancestor fought on the griffon whenever he was fighting monsters. The stories regarding his feats are still being passed on to this day,” Princess Lilisain explained.

“Hmm. That’s understandable,” Eugene said. It was common sense that flying monsters like the griffon or the wyvern were much more difficult to fight and kill than land monsters. And what if there was a knight riding on a griffon? It would be a disaster for whoever was facing the griffon knight, regardless of whether they were humans or monsters. Moreover, it wouldn’t have been just a regular knight, but a pure-blooded elven knight from the royal family of Eland. Such a knight would have also possessed excellent skills with the bow.

There would have been no need for them to fight in close proximity. They could have easily stayed in the air shooting arrows all day to win battles. Of course, griffons were different from wyverns in that they could not fly for extended periods of time at high altitudes, but it was possible for them to glide while the rider let loose a large volley of arrows.

“My ancestor was called an invincible knight. Their name was renowned even in Brantia, although he had never crossed over,” Princess Lilisain said proudly.

Eugene smirked while gazing at her.

“So you will try to hatch the egg as well, Princess?” Eugene asked.

She answered, “Yes. And I would like to present one to Your Majesty.”

“Thank you. It would be very helpful if I could be like your ancestor,” Eugene said. However, in truth, Eugene didn’t really care whether he had a griffon or not. He was powerful past the point of needing such things, and if he really wanted to fly, he could simply suck the blood of a flying monster and transform into it.

However, he couldn’t reject her when she looked at him with sparkling eyes like a child wanting praise after perfectly eradicating all the monsters.

“It’s a shame that there are only two eggs. I wish I could have given one to Galfredik and the other sirs,” Eugene said.

“That’s right. I am also in dismay. However, this could be understood as a kind of revelation that the two of us must accompany each other on the battlefield and—” Princess Lilisain responded.

“Huh? Weren’t there originally five? The princess said three of—” One of the elves whispered to one of their colleagues.

Fwoosh!

However, they immediately stopped when Princess Lilisain jerked her head around.

“Hiek!” The elven knight squealed as if he had seen a ghost.

‘What’s wrong with him?’

Eugene wondered. He could only see the back of Princess Lilisain’s head, as well as the strange response of the elven knight and cold sweat forming on his forehead.

“C-come to think of it, three of them were in terrible condition. That’s why the princess smashed them instead. Yes, yes…” the elf hurriedly explained.

Fwoosh!

“So he says, Your Majesty,” Princess Lilisain said with a bright smile. Eugene found it highly suspicious, but he nodded gently.

Eugene turned to the chief of Broadwin and its residents. “Chief. We must bring the corpses of the monsters, so gather some people. You better not be greedy and try to bring everything—just bring as much as you can.”

“O-of course!”

The chief’s shock quickly turned into joy. It was only natural for him to be happy, as the monsters in the vicinity had been eradicated, and he would also be getting an unexpected profit. Of course, according to custom, Eugene would be taking all of the expensive by-products and mana stones, but the village would still be left with a significant amount of money.

“Now, now, get going before the sun sets! The sirs will have to rest, so prepare the torches and sacks…” the chief started shouting.

Eugen interrupted him, “What are you talking about? The other knights and I will be coming along.”

“What?” the chief asked with a startled expression.

He continued as if he were flustered, “But isn’t it too dangerous during the night? Wild beasts will be active, as well as the monsters. Moreover, we can’t burden you all any more than this. We will be more than enough to retrieve the corpses.”

“Who said anything about retrieving the corpses? We should continue the hunt,” Eugene answered.

“…?!”

Eugene turned his back on the shocked chief and the residents, then spoke to Princess Lilisain and the elves, “You can do it, right?”

“Possible.”

“Naturally. There are quite a few monsters that are active only after sunset, so of course, we have to hunt at night.”

Hunting at night was normal for the elves since they possessed excellent night vision. In Eland, knights would hunt monsters for four to five nights during their hunt.

***

Throughout the night, Eugene and the elven knights hunted around two hundred additional monsters. The mountains near the village were tall and the land wide, but the residents were absolutely petrified to know that so many monsters had actually been living nearby. They were also relieved that so many monsters had never attacked the village directly.

“We were really lucky.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Did God protect our village?”

The villagers attributed their safety until now to their good fortune, although the truth was that monsters had been too occupied with the passage to the Spirit World that Juseppel had been protecting. However, Eugene didn’t bother to tell them the truth.

“You know the mountain behind the cabin where I lived before? There’s a big forest there, right?” Eugene said.

“Yes, sir. What about it…?” the chief asked.

“Please go to the entrance and perform a ritual. Two or three times a year will do,” Eugene continued.

“A… ritual?” the chief asked with a blank stare.

Eugene answered, “That’s right. And always remember to use a loud voice to praise the spirit there for being competent and responsible. Say that everyone is leading good lives thanks to the spirit and that it has made farming easier. Ah, and make sure to tell the spirit that I told you to hold the ritual.”

“Ah… yes. I will make sure to do as you say,” the chief muttered.

“Good. But you must not go into the forest. Only at the entrance,” Eugene emphasized.

“I will keep that in mind.” the chief replied.

“Good.”

Like Mirian, Juseppel was a curious spirit. Eugene was certain the spirit would notice a group of villagers coming near the forest and hear them praise him.

‘It will make him feel as good as whenever Mirian is given gold, silver, and treasures. Moreover, since they will be doing it in my name, Juseppel will talk about me in a favorable way to the Spirit King.’

He would be visiting quite a few passages to the Spirit World in the future, so he didn’t want to have any beef with spirits. He could have threatened Juseppel or asked the spirit to deliver a message, but this method would allow him to make things much easier for him, and he could also avoid a direct confrontation with the Spirit King.

Most importantly…

‘A being like the Spirit King will definitely realize one day that I am the reason why Mirian became like that. This will serve as insurance for that time.’

Though he could just feign ignorance, it would be better for him to form a friendly relationship with the Spirit King from now on than to experience trouble in the future.

“Then I will get going,” Eugene said.

“We owe you everything, Sir Eugene! We will forever honor your chivalry and grace!”

“Sir Eugene!”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

Eugene left Broadwin, leaving behind the emotional, grateful shouts of the villagers.

***

“We have made yet another large profit, Your Majesty. Congratulations,” said Princess Lilisain.

“Kihehe! Has the princess knight finally learned the true taste, the true gratification of money?” Mirian asked.

“Mhm. Just as you say, more money isn’t a bad thing,” Princess Lilisain answered.

“Obviously. I want to be punished with more money every day!” Mirian exclaimed.

“So cute…”

Eugene sighed inwardly as he watched the two chatter away. Since a certain point, the elf princess and the spirit had become inseparable.

“Phew.”

“I wonder why she is acting like that…”

Judging from the expressions of the knights following behind Princess Lilisain, they seemed to be worried that the princess would become tainted by the world.

But setting all those aside, it was true that they profited big time. Hundreds of mana stones had been discovered after killing the monsters, and the chief had promised to send the money made from selling the by-products through the Palin Association.

They had truly made an incredible sum. The elven knights were less conscious of financial matters and money compared to their human counterparts, but even they couldn’t help but be awed by the amount they made.

‘Well, it’s not a bad thing for the future son-in-law of the king to be rich, right?’

‘It will help with the dowry in the future as well. It’s a good thing, right?’

The knights continued while having such thoughts. Suddenly, one of the knights flinched before turning their head and shouting, “Your Majesty! Princess!”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”

The two people rushed forward toward the knight.

“I think the egg just moved,” The knight said.

“What?” Eugene was startled. He quickly examined the griffon eggs, which were tightly wrapped with straw and cloth.

Tap, tap.

“Oh?!”

Tap, tutuk!

The surface of an egg started to quiver, then it rocked before a crack appeared on its surface.

“Your Majesty. The griffon must be ready to come out. Birth is imminent.” Princess Lilisain pointed out.

“Hmm! I see,” Eugene responded. Even he felt a little excited by the event, and he stuck to Princess Lilisain’s side while watching the egg with curious eyes.

Craack!

Soon, the surface of the egg started to fall apart.

“…Keh?”

The head of a bird popped out of the crack. The tiny veins and capillaries were still visible on the surface of the creature’s head.

Kehh~ Kehhhh~

“S-so adorable…” Princess Lilisain muttered with wide, emotional eyes when she saw the baby griffon flapping its tiny little wings. The creature couldn’t even properly open its eyes just yet.

She carefully picked up the bird.

“Abooboo! Ohnyonyo! Good bird.” Princess Lilisain cooed as the newborn, a chicken-sized griffon, struggled in her arms. In a way, it was a touching, beautiful sight of motherhood. However, Eugene and the knights had never imagined in their wildest dreams that the princess would ever take care of a monster’s cub. They could only watch awkwardly.

“Kieh? It’s pretty cute,” Mirian commented while hovering by the princess’ side.

The spirit quickly floated down, then placed her hands on her waist before declaring arrogantly, “Kihem! You little runt, listen carefully. I am Sir Eugene’s number one subordinate, and from today on, I will be in charge of your education—”

Thup!

The chattering spirit disappeared into the griffon’s beak in an instant.