Michael W. ($100), Johari N. ($10), Sandra P. ($10), Zachary Z. ($10), Jakub J. ($20), Xavious G. ($50) are the wonderful donators for this chapter.
Isaac Morksi, the current Earl Morksi, was in a bad mood.
Two days ago, a mysterious incident had occurred in the Communal Church… A facility for believers to pray to the statues of multiple great gods and their subordinate gods with many followers. Isaac had been busy the entirety of the previous day investigating this incident and making plans for the near future.
A part of Alda’s statue had suddenly broken, and a devout priest of Alda had lost consciousness. An unserious, foolish noble would have attributed these to the statue degrading and the priest’s poor health, but Isaac was dealing with the incident seriously.
He had asked for the cooperation of the priests of the gods other than Alda from the Communal Church, the Guild Master of the Mages’ Guild, the Guild Master of the Adventurers’ Guild and the mage who was personally employed by his family of earls. It was no exaggeration to say that all of Morksi’s intelligent individuals had gathered to help him with this.
But it was difficult to say that their joint investigation and discussions were very fruitful.
The cause of the incident was likely not in the city, anywhere in the Morksi domain or even anywhere in the Orbaume Kingdom. They had concluded that something had likely happened to the gods… In particular, to Alda, the god of law and fate, and Curatos, the god of records.
They had concluded this, but… at the same time, they had come to the conclusion that there was nothing to be done about it.
Isaac was one of the more powerful nobles in the Alcrem Duchy. A city of commerce was in his domain, and he had faith in his economic power. The army that he employed was considerably powerful.
However, he was still but a human. He was no hero who could intervene in the affairs of the gods and solve their problems, nor did he know of any such heroes.
Thus, he had no way of knowing if similar incidents would occur again in the future.
What Isaac and his subordinates could do was calm the people and tell them that no more anomalous events would occur, while also making preparations to take control over the situation quickly if such events did occur again.
The only other thing they could do was prepare backup statues to replace broken ones. Statues of gods were not merely statues; they had the role of delivering the people’s worship and prayers to the gods.
This seemed to be why the statues were affected when something happened to the gods. The scriptures containing the gods’ holy symbols, decorative patterns and teachings also served the same role, but Isaac and his subordinates assumed that the statues of the gods were most easily affected.
These were all conjectures, but it couldn’t be helped that they could only make conjectures and assumptions. There was no way for mortals to know of the affairs of gods.
However, according to their conjectures and assumptions, statues that the people’s worship and prayers were not directed at were unlikely to be damaged in the event that something happened to the gods.
That was why Isaac had ordered masons to build backup statues of every statue at the Communal Church to prepare for the possibility of a similar incident occurring again. These statues would be covered with cloths and kept in warehouses until they were needed. With this decided, Isaac had ended the meeting with his subordinates.
If this incident has occurred across the entire nation, no, the entirety of the Bahn Gaia continent, masons and sculptors are going to make a killing, Isaac had thought as he went to bed late at night.
Of course, he had asked his housekeeper to wake him up later than usual.
But Isaac had been awoken at the same time as always, and was now glaring discontentedly at his housekeeper.
“… It seems that it is still early,” he said curtly.
“My apologies, Master. There is a serious matter that requires your attention,” the housekeeper said.
“A serious matter? Are you going to tell me that Vida’s statues have broken next?” said Isaac, still half-asleep as he allowed his maids to dress him.
“No, there has been a report… A Dhampir has appeared in the city of Morksi,” the housekeeper said.
“I see, a Dhampir has appeared. That is a serious matter indeed… Wait, what?! Is Miss Selen staying here?!” Isaac exclaimed, his eyes suddenly opening wide.
The only known Dhampir in the Orbaume Kingdom was Selen; he assumed that she was staying in the city.
As she was a member of a rare race, she was born with the fate of being targeted by Vampires and Alda’s radical faction, and although there were some things about her that drew sympathy, she was a mere commoner.
However, although her guardians had spent over a year inside a Dungeon, they were Heinz and his party, who were S-class adventurers and honorary nobles.
If some kind of trouble occurred during Selen’s stay and something were to happen to her… The very thought was terrifying.
If such an individual was staying in Isaac’s city without his permission, it was a serious matter indeed.
“No, the Dhampir in question is not Miss Selen. According to the report from employees at the Commerce Guild, it is a young boy named Vandalieu Zakkart,” said the housekeeper.
“What? So, there is another Dhampir… Wait, there are many things that I don’t understand. Leaving aside his name, he has a surname? And it’s Zakkart?” asked Isaac.
In many of the nations in this world, only royals and nobles used surnames; commoners did not have them. It was not forbidden in the Orbaume Kingdom for commoners to use surnames, but… people who did were either pathetic individuals pretending to be nobles, or descendants of noble families who refused to admit their house’s ruin, or swindlers.
So then, why did this Dhampir have a surname, the name of the ‘Fallen Champion’ Zakkart at that?
“Why? There is no way that this name would be displayed on his Status… If he is a fanatical worshiper of Zakkart, he may be dangerous,” Isaac said. “No, wait, what was a Dhampir doing at the Commerce Guild in the first place?”
“It seems that he visited with his mother, a Dark Elf, to make a temporary registration. Nobody checked his Status for the temporary registration,” said the housekeeper.
“It is also a little surprising that his mother is a Dark Elf… A temporary registration? … Why?”
“It seems that he intends to make a living selling grilled skewers at a food cart, of all things.”
“Selling grilled skewers with his mother… A Dark Elf mother and a Dhampir child. Is it not possible that the mother is a swindler who is simply making use of her child that happened to be born with odd-colored eyes, or is making him wear an artificial eye?” Isaac suggested.
“No, the receptionist in charge apparently confirmed that there are claws growing from the boy’s fingertips. He is unmistakably a Dhampir,” said the housekeeper.
“I see… What did this Dhampir do after he completed his temporary registration? Did he visit the Adventurers’ Guild? Did he not seek someone’s protection?” Isaac asked.
“According to the report… he purchased charcoal and meat at a store to be used at his food cart. After that, he purchased a single house with a questionable history that was recommended to him by the Guild, and is now operating his food cart at his designated position in a back alley that connects the entertainment district to the slum quarter,” the housekeeper reported. “It seems that he has not visited the Adventurers’ Guild or sought out anyone to protect him. However, he has made contact with the man known as the ‘Starving Wolf.’”
After listening to what Vandalieu had been doing yesterday, Isaac frowned.
“… Apart from that last part, it’s all so bizarre that I don’t know what to make of it,” he muttered.
He couldn’t comprehend any of Vandalieu’s actions, and this made his mood worse.
Isaac thought that a Dhampir child would be weak, with people aiming to take his life. Indeed, even after coming under the protection of the Five-colored Blades, Selen had been targeted by Vampires on many occasions, as well as kidnappers hired by illegal slave traders and nobles with perverse desires.
That was why Isaac thought that the most plausible options for a Dhampir boy to take after coming to the city of Morksi, would be to seek the protection of the lord of the region, Isaac himself, or trustworthy organizations such as Churches or the Adventurers’ Guild. Either that, or he could conceal his identity.
The boy seemed to have kept quiet about the fact that he was a Dhampir when he entered the city, after all. However, Vandalieu had gone to the Commerce Guild of all places, and revealed what he was.
The Commerce Guild was not exactly a breeding ground for crime, but… it was not an organization that one would consider asking for protection from the threat of Vampires.
And the Dhampir boy had not even sought protection at all; he had made a temporary registration and started a food cart business of all things. On top of that, he’d possessed enough funds to purchase an entire house. No matter how cheap the house was, he would have been able to live in a cheap inn for several years with that money.
“To summarize, a Dhampir who names himself with the surname ‘Zakkart,’ who appears to have no financial problems in his everyday life for the foreseeable future, has started a food cart business with his Dark Elf mother. If you weren’t the one reporting it, I wouldn’t believe you,” said Isaac. “So, do we know why the ‘Starving Wolf’ has made contact with him?”
The ‘Starving Wolf’ Michael was the man who had recently appeared at the top of the city’s underworld. As lord of the realm, Isaac believed that he should be cautious about him. Not because Miles was probably thinking of some outrageous scheme, but because he was so far above the position he held.
Analysis of the information gathered by his subordinates told Isaac that Michael’s strength was at least that of a B-class adventurer, and yet for some reason, he was merely the boss of a group of thugs. If he desired, he could have been appointed as a knight, become an honorary baron or found employment as a personal guard for a noble or wealthy merchant.
Even if he had a dirty past that prevented him from doing that, hunting a few monsters a month that were weaker than him in a Devil’s Nest or a Dungeon would surely earn him more than leading a group of thugs and extorting space fees from merchants.
Such a capable individual had suddenly appeared in this city, with no evidence of him having visited any other nearby city or village.
The ‘Starving Wolf’ Michael was an ominous person with an unknown background and far too much strength to be a mere boss of a group of thugs.
What was he planning to do after making contact with a mysterious Dhampir?
“According to someone who was hiding in the entertainment district, he was seducing the Dhampir’s mother,” said the housekeeper.
“… I see, I see. So, he was merely flirting,” Isaac murmured. “Is there any reason to believe that this Vandalieu and the recently-appeared ‘Starving Wolf’ Michael knew each other before all of this?”
“No, it was Joseph-dono who ordered his food cart to be placed in the ‘Starving Wolf’s’ territory, so I do not believe that is the case.”
Isaac clicked his tongue. “My uncle.”
Isaac’s uncle Joseph, one of the Commerce Guild’s Deputy Guild Masters, was something of a nuisance to him.
They did not have a good relationship, but he was not worth going as far as to call an enemy. His everyday behavior was a little unpleasant, and often harassed union members that he did not like as much as he could without breaking any rules, but as such harassment was within the rules, he was not punished.
However, even though he could not be punished, it decreased his value within the Guild. That was why he could not rise to the position of Guild Master no matter how many years passed… though he did not have the suitable ability or capacity to do that anyway.
Joseph resented Isaac, under the impression that this was Isaac’s doing, which made their relationship worse. However, Isaac was not actually negatively affected by this in any way, and he could not create any excuses to punish him, so he had no choice but to leave him alone. This was the pointless spiral that their relationship was in.
“What is that damn raccoon thinking? It’s true that the boy is a commoner, even if he is a Dhampir, but… that is only true for the present. According to the records, they are a race that displays tremendous talent in adulthood, and His Excellency Duke Alcrem is an opportunist. He would surely want to maintain a good appearance for the renowned Five-colored Blades,” Isaac muttered. “Despite that, he has done something that will earn the hatred of the Dhampir. Has he not considered the possibility that his head will be the first to fly in several years’ time?”
Vandalieu was a commoner, but Joseph was also currently a commoner. With the authority of a duke, it would be possible to behead a commoner for a suitable crime, especially a commoner that was detested by those around him.
Isaac was leaving Joseph alone for the simple reason of not wanting to create a bad precedent of a realm’s lord meddling in the Deputy personnel affairs involving a Deputy Guild Master of a Guild in his city.
“I do not know what that man is thinking, but… perhaps he believes that the Five-colored Blades have perished inside the Dungeon. This is the second year that they have been inside it, after all,” said the housekeeper.
“Hmm… with that being the case, Alda’s peaceful faction’s influence becomes uncertain, too,” said Isaac.
“Also, please refrain from using the phrase ‘damn raccoon.’”
“Alright. But in the end, we don’t know anything about the boy. There’s no doubt that he’s planning something.”
It was absolutely certain that Vandalieu was planning something. There was some purpose to his series of movements beginning from his temporary registration at the Commerce Guild. But Isaac had no idea what it could possibly be.
However, it would be too careless to simply watch and wait until he learned something.
“For now, I shall have a knight hand him a letter from me. I will not become involved in the matter regarding my uncle; if the boy wishes for protection, make preparations as peacefully as possible,” Isaac ordered.
“But that would tell him that we have taken notice of him,” said the housekeeper.
“It would be stranger if we didn’t take notice of him. It does not seem that he is deliberately spreading the news that he is a Dhampir, but he has revealed his race at the Commerce Guild where my uncle works, after all,” said Isaac. “Continue the investigation, and just in case, tell the Adventurers’ Guild and Mages’ Guild to be on the lookout for Vampires. After that… we watch until something happens.”
“As you wish.”
“Now then, I shall return to bed –”
“Master, breakfast is ready. Your wife is waiting in the dining room.”
“… I suppose it can’t be helped. I shall get up.”
And so, Isaac Morksi’s day began.
A week had passed since Vandalieu’s food cart opened for business. He reconstructed his soul in his dreams, and operated his food cart while he was awake. On his days off, he would have Eleanora and the others teleported to the house for strategy meetings and dinner parties. And so, the days went by peacefully with no significant events occurring.
Meanwhile, the gods of Alda’s faction were observing his movements closely. Unable to understand his motives, they were utterly bewildered, and Murakami’s group was continuing to move towards the Alcrem Duchy.
In Talosheim, Luciliano had finished examining the new mutated races, including his own, and sent his reports through Melissa.
According to these, Dark Humans had more Mana than humans, and possessed the ‘Status Effect Resistance,’ ‘Rapid Regeneration’ and ‘Night Vision’ Skills. They had no particular weaknesses as a race.
The Dvergr also possessed more Mana than their Dwarf counterparts, as well as more Intelligence, and in addition to the inherent Skills that Dwarves were born with, Dvergr also possessed ‘Fire/Light Attribute Resistance.’
As for the Dark Beast-kin, it was thought that the entire race possessed ‘Beast Transformation,’ despite it being a Skill that was mainly possessed by Vampires and was rare for Beast-kin to have.
The ‘Beast Transformation’ Skill, which transformed the user from a humanoid form into a beast, provided enhanced Attribute Values and weapons in the forms of things like claws and fangs.
Since the only ones who had undergone the transformation were wolf-type Beast-kin girls, there were no other transformed Beast-kin other than Magic Wolf-type Beast-kin, so that was all that was known so far.
The lifespans and biology of the new races were unknown. It was unlikely that their lifespans were shorter than their original races, but it was possible that their reproductive capabilities would be slightly decreased.
Luciliano had concluded by saying that this would be known soon enough, as more people in Talosheim would undergo this mutation in the future.
Rather than worry about such details, what Vandalieu needed to do was announce to the citizens that there was a chance that each race could mutate, so that the nation wouldn’t fall into panic… Blood Potion which was commonplace within the Boundary Mountain Range and the Demon Continent, was made from his blood, which was undeniably a fragment of Vandalieu.
Considering that, anyone could undergo mutation, though the Blood Potion didn’t seem as likely to cause mutation compared to drinking Vandalieu’s unprocessed blood directly.
Among Vandalieu’s companions, he learned that Knochen and Bone Man, who had both absorbed Vandalieu’s fragments such as the Demon King’s bones, had undergone mutation as well.
Up until now, Knochen had to disassemble himself into a swarm of bones in order to fly, but he had now become able to fly with his bones in a structured form.
One might think that this was a small change, but it had given Knochen the ability to transport things that he did not previously have, and it was a big deal being able to move while maintaining the shape of a fortress or concert venue.
In the event of being surrounded by enemies or a natural disaster on the ground, Knochen could simply take its allies and fly into the sky.
On top of that… he had gained the unorthodox ability to form a massive, fortress-sized sphere with his bones and ram into targets at high speeds.
However, it was unlikely that he would want to do this, as it would damage his bones.
Bone Man had been focused on diligently improving his technique as a Rank 11 Skeleton Blade Lord, but his Rank had suddenly increased yesterday.
His Rank had increased, but… his race title had changed to ‘Skeleton Blade Emperor.’
“JUOOOH! What disrespect I have done to my lord! If I had a stomach, I would slice it open in shame!” he cried.
TLN: Bone Man is referring to seppuku/hara-kiri, a Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment performed by samurai after bringing shame upon themselves.
He recovered after Vandalieu talked some sense into him through a Demon King Familiar.
“It is nothing to be concerned about, you say… My lord exceeds the frame of an emperor. Juooh… I see!” he said.
Meanwhile, both of their divine protections from Vandalieu had all of their letters revealed. It seemed that Nuaza had already begun planning for an enormous statue of Vandalieu to be built in Talosheim’s Church.
Vandalieu wished that he could become an adult before Nuaza started building stone statues of him, but he gave up on this, as there was no telling how many decades this would take… though he had given the condition of specifying that they were stone statues, not divine statues.
As for Vandalieu’s private life, he had one new companion.
“What are you going to name it, Vandalieu?” Darcia asked, smiling at the dog and stroking its thin back as it busily ate some dried meat that had been boiled to soften it and remove the salt.
She had skipped over the usual questions that a parent would normally ask in this situation, such as “Why did you bring it here?” and “Are you really going to be able to take care of it?” The reason for that was –
“Wow, amazing! It’s an ordinary dog!” exclaimed Rita.
“For Bocchan to bring home an ordinary dog that isn’t a spirit, Undead or monster… I never thought that such a day would come,” said Saria.
The reason for that was clearly shown in Rita and Saria’s words.
“Even I can pick up a normal dog… though I originally intended to use a rat,” said Vandalieu.
He had picked up this dog from behind the house for an experiment. Previously, animals born to one Undead or one living parent, or two Undead parents, had mutated into monsters just by licking a little spilled Blood Potion before he acquired the ‘Bestower’ Job.
So then, now that Vandalieu had become a ‘Bestower,’ what would happen if he raised an ordinary animal not in the semi-Devil’s Nest that was Talosheim, but in an ordinary human settlement, here in the city of Morksi?
Vandalieu wanted to find out.
Also, if he was able to tame it, he thought that it might not be a bad idea to register at the Tamers’ Guild.
“In other words, you couldn’t bring yourself to abandon a starving dog within reach,” said Chipuras.
“Ugh, you’ve seen through me, Chipuras,” said Vandalieu.
“This dog was very lucky. Make sure you eat properly and grow big,” Princess Levia told the dog.
“It’s so thin… By the way, is it alright for a dog of this age to be eating meat?” asked Orbia.
“… Princess, Orbia-neesan, I think this dog is an adult,” said Kimberley.
“I welcome you, my new brethren. All is according to Vandalieu’s will,” said Gufadgarn.
As the dog ate meat for the first time in a long time under the gaze of the noisy group around him, it felt both at ease and nervous.
The thing that made it feel at ease was that there wasn’t a single human in the house. There were Undead, an evil god and an incarnation of a goddess; to the dog, all of them were beings that were not people.
The thing that made it nervous was that it could sense something watching and evaluating it through Vandalieu.
The source of this gaze was the group equipped inside Vandalieu, such as Eisen, Quinn, Pete, and Kühl.
The dog was strongly aware that it had been placed at the lowest position of a hierarchy.
“About his name… It would be easy to name him ‘Hai’ or ‘Gray’ after the color of his fur…” said Vandalieu.
TLN: 灰/Hai is ‘gray’ in Japanese.
Having finished eating the dried meat, the gray-furred dog looked up at Vandalieu as he seemed to come to a decision.
“Since it gave me a playful bite as soon as it met me, let’s call it ‘Fang,’” he said.
The dog, now named Fang, gave a small whimper.
A week after the business opened, it was going surprisingly well. The customers were the ‘Starving Wolf’ Michael (AKA Miles) and his subordinates, but there were also sometimes customers who came from the main street, drawn by the smell.
There were even customers who were high-class prostitutes from high-class brothels and patrons of high-class bars, who would normally never have anything to do with food carts.
… Well, many of them came to buy skewers as an excuse to see the woman who had been seduced by the ‘Starving Wolf’ Michael.
It seemed that the women who were trying to court Michael because he was the ruler of the underworld, as well as the owners of stores that were trying to maintain a good relationship with him, were interested in Darcia, the woman who was rumored to have been seduced by him.
There were even some women who took the effort to come to Darcia and say unpleasant things to her.
“So, you’re the one… Hmph!” one such woman said.
“Don’t get too full of yourself. A woman who has baggage with her isn’t good enough for him,” said another.
“Well, it seems that the rumors have already spread. Michael-san is more popular with the ladies than I thought,” said Darcia.
“Hello, I’m the baggage. If you aren’t going to order anything, could you please not stand directly in front of the food cart?” Vandalieu said to the women.
Of course, Darcia and Vandalieu didn’t take them seriously, and though they were a little cautious, they didn’t need to pay them any more attention than that.
But there was one woman, who seemed to be a female bouncer, who was a little different.
“You should listen and just disappear –” she began, but she suddenly stopped mid-sentence. “No, it’s nothing. Excuse me,” she said, and then she fled.
It was likely that she possessed the ‘Intuition’ Skill. She had potential, so Vandalieu reported her appearance to Miles.
There was another problematic… or rather, mistaken, customer. He appeared to be a rich upstart, and he had two bodyguards with him, one on either side.
“How much?” he asked.
“One skewer is five Baums,” Vandalieu replied.
“I see. And what is the additional charge to buy her?” the man asked, stroking his chin with a hand that was wearing many jeweled gold rings.
“Eh, me?” said Darcia, blinking in confusion.
“Indeed. This is some kind of secret office for prostitutes, isn’t it? Have a woman at the food cart, pretending to be a vendor, and have customers pay an additional fee to buy her along with their skewers. If that weren’t the case, there’s no way a fine woman like you would be working as a vendor at some poor food cart,” the man said, seeming proud of himself as the corners of his mouth rose in a sleazy smile. “Now then, name your price,” he said, reaching out to grab Darcia’s shoulder.
But before his hand could reach her, Fang, who had become the food cart’s guard dog, growled at him.
“What the hell is this filthy mutt doing here?” the upstart shouted, having only taken notice of the thin and scrawny Fang for the first time. “Hey, get the hell out of the way…”
And in the next moment, he suddenly turned completely pale, let out a terrified scream and ran away as fast as he possibly could.
“Huh?! Master, what’s the matter?!” one of the upstart’s bodyguards shouted.
“W-wait!” said the other.
Standing in front of Vandalieu, Fang looked proud of himself.
“Did you use your ‘Mental Encroachment’ Skill?” Darcia asked as she watched the bodyguards hastily chase after the upstart.
“No, using ‘Mental Encroachment’ would probably leave some permanent effects, so I just stared at him while using ‘Demon King’s Demon Eyes,’” said Vandalieu.
He had gained a Skill by acquiring the fragment known as the Demon King’s Demon Eyes. If targeted on land, it had the effect of contaminating it with Mana, and if targeted on a living creature, it caused fear in it.
This had likely been a very convenient ability for the Demon King Guduranis. He had been able to spread monster-spawning Devil’s Nests across the world by gazing at it, and destroy the fighting spirits of most humans who opposed him with a single glance.
But to Vandalieu, it was not as useful. He didn’t particularly want to spread Devil’s Nests, and although the fear effect was very strong against ordinary humans, it did not affect adventurers who possessed a certain amount of ability; it would certainly not work against the Five-colored Blades.
Vandalieu had used the Demon Eyes on the upstart because it would have taken too much effort to talk him down.
“He didn’t look like the type to listen to people, and it didn’t seem like he knew about the ‘Starving Wolf’ Michael… and I thought that if I used the Demon Eyes, nobody would notice,” said Vandalieu.
Indeed, the people in the back alley had been surprised by the upstart’s scream, but none of them had noticed Vandalieu’s use of the Demon Eyes.
They were snickering at the pathetic rich boy, who seemed to be scared to death of dogs.
“But if you don’t hold back, it might become a kind of trauma for the people you use it on,” said Darcia.
“I half-closed my eyes when I looked at him… It’s quite hard,” said Vandalieu.
“Well, it’s fine. I’m sure it was good for him.”
It did indeed seem to have been good for the upstart; Vandalieu and Darcia never saw him in the entertainment district again.
On the second day after the food cart opened, two knights employed by Earl Morksi came to the food cart and handed Vandalieu a letter from the earl. It was an offer of protection, but Vandalieu politely declined and sent the knights away.
“Why did he send messengers while monitoring us?” Orbia wondered.
“Orbia, there’s no guarantee that the people staking us out are spies for the earl,” said Vandalieu.
“Yes there is. The only one who’d send living, human, well-trained spies to watch us is the lord of the region.”
“It’s too early for it to be the person called Murakami and his group, and considering that Birkyne knows your strength, he would probably have sent stronger spies. I think Orbia-san is right,” said Darcia.
“I see… Well, we’ll leave them be. Just be careful not to let them into the house,” said Vandalieu.
In fact, Isaac Morksi had already sent spies to Vandalieu’s house, but… they had retreated, as they had been unable to pick the locks. Vandalieu had turned the entire house, including the doors and locks, into Golems.
No matter how masterful the spies were at lockpicking, there was no way to open locks that consciously changed their internal structures on their own, unless they were to break the locks and doors to enter by force.
Of course, even if they had entered the house, they would be helplessly captured or killed by Rita and Saria, so this was fortunate for the spies.
Because of such good fortune and because Vandalieu did not want conflict with the earl’s family even if it were kept secret, the earl’s spies were all still alive and well.
And on the food cart’s third day of business, the priestess of Vida and the priest of Alda, who had recovered from the incident that occurred several days previously, came from the Communal Church to visit the food cart. They wished to protect the Dhampir and his mother; though they were polite in tone, they were more fanatical in their attempts to persuade Vandalieu than the knights had been.
“Though this may be rude to the people who live here, this place is dangerous. It seems that the recently-appeared thug known as the ‘Starving Wolf’ has set his eyes on this place… There is no telling when villains and the assassins of Vampires will approach,” said Alda’s priest. “You must receive the protection from our Church.”
Of course, Vandalieu politely declined.
However, there was an unexpected development with the priestess of Vida.
“Please come and give a sermon, just once! Learning of a Dark Elf’s religious beliefs will be a good opportunity to broaden the minds of the believers… no, the people!” she said.
“No, I wasn’t particularly involved in religious services in my settlement,” said Darcia.
“Please do not be so reserved! I beg you!” the priestess pleaded.
“E-even if you say that…”
Perhaps sensing something in Darcia, who was the incarnation of Vida, she was passionately begging for her to give a sermon.
Darcia had no experience in ordinary sermons, but she couldn’t exactly hold a solo concert in the Communal Church either. She was trying her best to refuse, but the priestess wouldn’t give up.
“W-what should I do? Would it be alright for me to just talk?” Darcia wondered.
“I think it’s alright. You’ll be fine,” said Vandalieu.
Darcia was overwhelmed by the priestess’s persistence, and so it was decided that she would give a sermon at the Communal Church. If she could increase the people’s belief in Vida in this city and convert more people to become believers, it was likely that she could slightly speed up the recovery of Vida in her Resting Grounds.
And although Vandalieu had declined the offer of protection, it was a good thing to make more allies within the city of Morksi.
On the fourth day of the food cart’s business, there was a small bit of trouble where a boy of about the same age as Vandalieu attempted to steal the food cart’s money, but was stopped by Fang.
“Why did you go out of your way to try to steal from us, even though we have a guard dog?” Darcia asked him.
“I thought it would be easy to steal from a skinny dog, a naïve woman and a spaced-out child!” the boy shouted.
Apparently, that’s how it was.
But during this conversation, a nun from an orphanage came looking for the boy.
“I’m sorry, this boy ran away from the orphanage and did such a thing…” she apologized.
“I already wrote that I want to leave the orphanage! I’m ten, so I can do work on my own. I won’t be in your care!” the boy said defiantly.
“You can’t expect anyone to read letters that look like wriggling earthworms that you scribbled on a wall! And stealing isn’t work!” the nun said, scolding him.
The donations to the orphanage had become scarce, causing the nun to be unable to feed the children satisfactorily for some time. It seemed that the boy had chosen to reduce the number of mouths that needed to be fed by leaving the orphanage.
It was a respectable thing to do, but it was also reckless. The nun apologized profusely over and over, and then took the boy away.
“Mom, I want to go and make a donation to the orphanage tomorrow. A box with Vida’s holy symbol on it, filled with food,” Vandalieu murmured as he watched them leave.
“Yes, that’s a good idea… Come to think of it, I wonder if they believe in any gods?” said Darcia. “The girl who came to pick the boy up seemed to be a nun.”
There were also several instances of the guard named Aggar who had extorted a bribe from Vandalieu visiting the food cart, attempting to approach Darcia in particular. But each time, he was glared at by Miles and his subordinates, forcing him to retreat.
Kest, the honest rookie guard, visited once and bought a single skewer.
“I understand your situation, so as a guard, I’ll just say one thing. Don’t lie too much,” he said, giving Vandalieu a light warning.
And so, a week passed, and Vandalieu’s plan was going mostly smoothly other than the fact that neither Murakami or Birkyne had been detected by his information networks.
Darcia’s sermon and Vandalieu’s donation to the orphanage were unrelated to his original goal, but these opportunities to create more believers of Vida were an unexpected blessing.
And on the eighth day of the food cart being open, the reconstruction of Vandalieu’s soul was completed. Before going to restock on meat, he headed to the Tamers’ Guild, accompanied by his tamed companion Fang.
- Name: Bone Man
- Rank: 12
- Race: Skeleton Blade Emperor
- Level: 0
- Passive skills:
- Dark Vision
- Monstrous Strength: Level 2 (Awakened from Superhuman Strength!)
- Strengthened Attribute Values: Loyalty: Level 10
- Spirit Form: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
- Strengthened Attribute Values: Mounted: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
- Self-Enhancement: Creator: Level 6 (LEVEL UP!)
- Self-Enhancement: Guidance: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
- Physical Resistance: Level 2
- Murder Healing: Level 3 (NEW!)
- Strengthened Attribute Values: Ruling: Level 3 (NEW!)
- Active skills:
- Hollow Bone Swordsmanship: Level 4 (LEVEL UP!)
- Shield Technique: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
- Archery: Level 8 (LEVEL UP!)
- Silent Steps: Level 3
- Coordination: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)
- Commanding: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
- Armor Technique: Level 9 (LEVEL UP!)
- Mount: Level 7 (LEVEL UP!)
- Long-distance Control: Level 10 (LEVEL UP!)
- Aura of Fear: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
- Parallel Thought Processing: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
- Surpass Limits: Level 5 (LEVEL UP!)
- Unique skills:
- Bone Blades
- Xerx’s Divine Protection
- Vandalieu’s Divine Protection
Monster explanation:
Skeleton Blade Emperor
‘Skeleton Emperor’ is the highest confirmed race of Skeleton-type monster… and Skeleton Blade Emperor is one Rank above that.
It is a fearsome Skeleton Emperor that commands Skeleton-type Undead. However, Bone Man’s master Vandalieu is an emperor, and Bone Man serves as his knight.
Thus, he does not try to command and rule over Skeleton-type Undead. In the past, he had commanded the Undead army in the former Scylla territory, but it was apparently quite the shock for him to become an ‘Emperor.’
Standing deeper in the frontlines of any battle other than his companion Knochen, he wields his blade fervently in order to increase his Rank and acquire a different race title.
Naturally, this race is a new race to Lambda.
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NOVEL DISCUSSION
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taterskins
“Hello, I’m the baggage.” Author and Translator have done a great job conveying Vandal’s deadpan tone, so that line hits Just Right.
Soluno the last
That dog ‘bout become a beast!
Winter
“Wow, amazing! It’s an ordinary dog!”
In a month he’s probably gonna have 3 heads and breath black fire 😛
Zenden1st
Damn bastards leave darcia alone scum worse than scum
JKingSniper
Damn Thots get away from Darcia
She’s above all you and that rich upstart
WizziBot
From Rank 1 Mouse to Rank 12 Skele-Boi. What a journey.
Chiu ChunLing
It’s nice to finally meet a noble who isn’t an idiot.
We’ve seen come fairly clever nobles before, but most of them had some outstanding idiocy that spoiled the whole thing. Like Marshukzarl, who actually seemed pretty clever up until he decided that the best way to form a friendly relationship with Vandalieu would be sending a bunch of assassins after him.
I guess it should have been a clue that he believes it even remotely possible that he might not be a descendant of Bellwood, who had multiple wives and children 100 millennia ago when the entire remaining population of non-Vida people was around 3,000. Quick bit of math, your pool of ancestors grows by a factor of about 1,000 every ten generations you go back. So the only way it would be plausible anyone of a non-Vida race wouldn’t be a descendant of Bellwood after a thousand generations would be if he never had any in the first place.
Anyway, that’s just my little pet peeve about ‘noble lineages’. But anyone of normal intelligence should be able to figure out sending a letter instead of assassins.
On the flip side, given how often Van has had to back someone and give them no alternatives, it’s kinda surprising he still usually attempts to lead with making contact through normal means.
ObserverBias
Small counterpoint on Marshkarl, elves would likely have a chunk less historical diversity in their ancestors due to long-lived nature, and being a half elf that cuts the thousands back to the high/mid hundreds.
.
Also, the issue is that he didn’t explicitly say for them to not harm Van’s allies, because he projected how he himself operates on Van’s movements and regarded human allies as disposable pawns in comparison to his Undead. While this was already a misstep, giving orders like that to Alda believers translates to “So TPK okay if things don’t go well, got it” and instead of just convincing the Liberation Front to leave or defect from their outright goal in Sauron, they decide to send a strong message as their opener with assault and intimidation tactics.
.
Had they been dealing with an actual child with that much power and capability with a mindset less like Van’s and more like what Marsh was expecting… still doesn’t track how they thought that would go, though.
Chiu ChunLing
Being a half elf cuts the generational multiplication by exactly one generation. After approximately 5,000 +/- a few thousand generations, that’s far less than the difference between generational turnover times for people in the lower classes compared to royalty for a few centuries (which is why lower class people are actually likely to have ‘bluer blood’ than the middle and upper classes).
Like I said, most people are simply not intelligent enough to realize this by basic reasoning. But normal intelligence should be enough to figure out that a kid who became a Ghoul King, exterminated a group of monsters led by a Noble Orc, then led the Ghouls across the Border Mountains by mysterious means to escape the extermination forces sent after them wouldn’t be ‘just some brat’ even before the whole thing with the Mirg invasion forces being annihilated and sent back as undead. Marshkurzarl even figured out that Van could easily have done enough damage to cause the collapse of several of the Empire’s client states and had refrained from doing so…and then did something mindbogglingly stupid with that ‘leeway’.
A_wandering_otter
He didn’t want a friendly relationship with van he wanted a useful subordinate but he didn’t expect than to be so extremely powerful which is only natural. On that mission he sent the most elite force he have that could beat almost everyone on the face of the planet aside from the gods and people inside the mountain range
Baldingere
I wonder if at some point in this story, at an important battle against a big ennemy, or another intense moment, something terrible happens to Vandalieu.
And all the statues in Talosheim crumble. All at once, in a world-destroying uproar.
Gunkaiser00
“Hello, I’m the baggage.”
I like how author added the comedy in several simple things that Vandalieu did.
Tejing
I was curious, so I checked the raws. For anyone who’s interested, Fang’s name is the english word ‘fang’ written in katakana, not the japanese word for ‘fang’ (‘kiba’).
JeKeBe
Hmm, on a re-re-read I have to wonder just why he used his real full name on the guild application. It’s not like Birkyne and Murakami don’t have other ways of finding him (one always looking for dhampirs anyway and the other having vandar), so it can’t act as bait. The only thing it could possibly do is ring alarm bells for anyone wary of the Zakkart name as well as anyone in the know who is aware of the Monstrosity to the south that just happens to be named Vandelieu. Seems needlessly problematic when he’s supposedly trying to maintain a low profile. Just use Van, that’s what half his harem calls him anyway.
Tejing
He didn’t have a choice. For the permanent registration, they’d check his real name as it shows on his status, so if he gave anything other than the name on his status, it would be discovered then.
Chiu ChunLing
Just to clarify, that would be the name displayed on his Adventurer Guild ID, which displays selected Status information as a matter of ensuring that adventurers actually have the skills and such they are offering.
The Commerce Guild IDs don’t have this function because the things that matter to them are extrinsic assets like money, inventory, and business connections, and not things that appear in Status information anyway. However, by securing a Commerce Guild ID, Van can skip the Status check when applying for an Adventurer Guild ID.
The Status check for an Adventurer Guild ID is standard cause it takes less time to check and make sure someone isn’t a “Holy Mother Killer”, “Indiscriminate Mass Murderer of Innocent children”, “Archenemy of the Goddess of Life and Love”, or whatever than to have them run a business for several months. But someone running a business for several months is considered a better insurance against them having an unsuitable character, by common sense of a lot of petty criminality being possible before someone gets a title.
Of course, Van has the opposite problem, in that his Titles include some pretty crazy stuff even aside from “Demon King”, and his Skills and Stats are even worse. But it’s normal for adventurers to keep most of their Status hidden other than what is necessary to guarantee that they are capable of doing what they’re hired to do, since complete Status information would pinpoint their weaknesses along with their strengths.
ObserverBias
Does it pinpoint their weaknesses? To my recollection, only skills/curses/boons are shown, nothing like “sensitive to fire” or “wind attacks super-effective” shows up? Unless you mean what stats they aren’t proficient in?
micahhib
no it doesn’t show weakness but showing strengths can make someone see a weakness like u have fire resistance so make sure to use no fire users to attack him, u have high stats but low combat related skill show u are sturdy but have low fighting talent.
Jason
The timeline of the story telling got a bit confusing
hungsayori
“On top of that… Knochen had gained the unorthodox ability to form a massive, fortress-sized sphere with his bones and ram into targets at high speeds.”
Legion v2.0 Bones Edition
DarthJawa
Murukami, Birkyne, Isaac, and Rodcorte: Truly, Vandalieu is the most dangerous being on this earth. Even now, I cannot see what sinister plans he is putting into place, and I cannot comprehend what goes on within his mind
Vandalieu: Haha m e a t s k e w e r s
DarkCarnage
*van skipping in joy, looking like he crazy to others*
Baldingere
They’re skewed for sure.
polynesianvibez
i wonder if fang will mutate into a demonic wolf if he ingests van’s blood?
thanks for the chapter
TruePath111
So far these Humans been nice. You can’t blame Issac for being cautious.
SpinelesS
Imagine how boring Wuxia Novels would be if everyone had the intuition skill 😛
polynesianvibez
You dare!!!!! that line in wuxia novels always gets me lol 😂
Hunt3rm4n
Along with “You are nothing but a frog at the bottom of a well!”
Zauberbiest
lmao
Andy MC
I understand the ability to turn normal land into devil’s nests is pretty useful, but I can’t stop laughing at the thought of the demon king staring stupidly at the floor while his subordinates fight
Turix
Standing on the ground, arms crossed, a very imposing look… if only he wasn’t glaring at the ground between his feet with bloodshot eyes, that is. The enemy armies were baffled by his actions so they stopped a distance away staring at the same spot trying to figure out what’s going to happen for the great fearless Demon King to stare at that spot with such intensity. As a result, with something of a popping sound reminiscent of popcorn, the Dark Continent was born.
LmaoLN
The soldiers, now aware of the demon kings intentions had noticed that an intense amount of bloodlust surrounding them. If they were not elite many of them may have lost consciousness from this, however while they were still conscious they were trembling in fear and ran away. The demon king ,who had expected this kind of development, once again started looking at the ground intensely.
Zurric
“Up until now, Knochen had to disassemble himself into a swarm of bones in order to fly, but he had now become able to fly with his bones in a structured form.
One might think that this was a small change, but it had given Knochen the ability to transport things that he did not previously have, and it was a big deal being able to move while maintaining the shape of a fortress or concert venue.”
I don’t know what’s more terrifying. A swarm of flying bones at least as large as a massive stadium, or a flying fortress the size of a massive stadium
Gohankuten
And don’t forget it moves silently due to Silent Steps so it’s literally a silent flying fortress that can just sneak up on you lol.
LNandFantasyreader
When I get to a point like this, to pass the time and remind myself of what’s happened, I’ll start reading from the beginning, but with no waiting period between chapters. By the time I get back to where I left off, usually there are a few more chapters.
Demonuss69
I come back to read comments in between chapters only way to hold off my need for the next one.
Blackpercher
Peaceful indeed…
Jonathan Hurd
So was just thinking about the first John Wick movie and from that I have a guess of what’s going to happen to Fang in the near future. I think in the fight against Murakami and the rest Fang is going to try and protect Van but get injured. Fang frustrated with his weakness mutates into a Hell Hound while Van goes on a rampage over his fallen dog. Fang is given the killing blow on the jerks and ranks up a few times. Everyone except Murakami, Rodcorte, and Alda live happily ever after…. The End, lol.
unwanted child
hot take: fang will kill alda
Absolute Zer0
Making Fenrir’s myth in Lambda- devouring cheif deity.
Jonathan Hurd
We have to pass the time until next chapter some how.
no1
true
Lightnovelfan
A great translation, as always.
Really funny how Van deals with the different characters that try to mess with him. Especially the Demon eyes.
Now can´t help but wonder how the destruction of part of the curses will affect the restrictions. Will Van now receive reduced amount exp independently? Can he learn rare or not widely known Jobs? Will he remember part of the abilities he had in Origin? But what interests me the most, will he be able to repeat the process? Meaning, will he devour his soul again in the future and destroy more parts of the curses? Questions upon questions.
no1
Maybe the curses work as an “all or nothing” deal. Unless Van removes every trace of it from his soul the curses’ effect won’t decrease or completely disappear.
Jonathan Hurd
I feel like the author wouldn’t have gone through so much effort to talk about the removal process if it doesn’t cause any effects. I think all of what LightNovelFan predicted might come true. I’m not sure if it’ll change much of what Van does but it can’t hurt to have more options.
no1
yeah, but in the previous chapter when rodcorte was fixing Edgar’s soul, he noticed that some of his power was being destroyed, when Van destroyed parts of his curse and Rodcorte didn’t seem too concerned about that.
Nobody2
Rodcorte always gets fucked by the things he’s not concerned about though
no1
true
Jonathan Hurd
This is Rodcorte we’re talking about. The fact that he isn’t worried about it is usually a reason for us to pay attention, lol.
Jonathan Hurd
I think the curses will stay as part of him but he may eventually learn to twist them potentially into something beneficial. I don’t think he’s going to eat his own soul whole again since that was a very strange set of circumstances that led to that, but I feel like as Van learns even more about souls he might be able to mess even with the curses in his body and maybe how to cast some curses of his own. These are just blind stabs in the dark for me though they would be pretty cool.
ExplodingPenguinDood
Maybe out of the norm idea but I think the curse he lifted was the exp in previous life one and Van will die at the final battle then become a god preserving his personality.
Jonathan Hurd
I feel like all the things you mentioned ExplodingPenguinDude, can happen but not sure they are connected.
To me Van getting his previous life’s experience will probably help him in doing Surgery most of all. Since that seems to be a big part of what the researchers made him do. That and pain resistance a lot of resistance to pain.
Paps
Thanks for another wonderfull chapter. Is good to know the perks of been mutated by Van.
Valeth
Great Chapter, thanks for your continued work on this great series.
So Dark Humans have Rapid Regeneration, Dark Vision, and Status Affect Resistance…. I have been wondering what happened to Haj and the rest. For those that don’t remember these are the group of refugees that became Berserkers, and had the Living Armor Partners, through becoming Armor Tamers.
What if they became Dark Humans as well?
no1
They would need to have consumed Van’s blood like luciliano and the others did
Valeth
It should be noted I don’t think Knochan or Bone Man have every drank Van’s blood. However, they both evolved right after he got the class. So While I think drinking his blood would accelerate the process, I don’t think it is completely required.
He did mention he would have to tell the other Kingdoms of this so there would not be a panic if some of the people were to mutate or evolve in new ways.
Jonathan Hurd
While Knochen and Bone Man have not directly drank Vans blood they have bones of the Demon King in their bodies. So it might not just be blood but any fragment/part of Van that can help mutations.
As you said though I think mutations don’t require someone to have pieces of Van. I think closeness to Van and desire to change are the keys to the skill and job. The current cases are the first to change because they have the greatest desire for it and have absorbed a part of Van. I think given some time others will follow.
Jonathan Hurd
I think there is a strong chance they will mutate in the future but not quite yet. All the people confirmed to have mutated are those who have directly absorbed parts of DK Vandaliu.
Haj and the rest have definitely drank blood potion, but they haven’t absorbed the unwatered down source or have as strong a desire as Emma and the girls.
If I had to guess I think Haj and his group might mutate in a different direction to Emma and the girls. The girls desired just to be closer to Van and were granted that. Haj and his group might mutate to be closer to their haunted armors and not just Van.
I’d guess some kind of new race that can fuse the armor and users souls. At least one that allows them to share their thoughts and become one.
Lord Rin
I feel like they’d turn into something like Super Sentai/Kamen Rider. I mean we already have Mahou Shoujo so I don’t see why not.
Jonathan Hurd
I will totally support the development of the Haj Rangers especially if Van makes each one a transforming golem to pilot. I am so onboard for this, lol.
no1
A lot of Van’s friends and allies have drank blood potions, but the previous chapter only mentioned mutations from the ones who drank the unwatered down source.
McDeathTheReapr
i need MOAAAAR
Yup yup
Thanks for the chapter.
Does knochen possess ‘spirit form’? That way he can better disguise as a castle instead of a mountain of bones
Jonathan Hurd
Yeah… a castle of flesh sounds way worse than a castle of bones lol. Castle of bones screams you hunt. Castle of flesh has more of a mad science experiment gone wrong kind of vibe.
Entropy
Great chapter. Kind of curious if Vand gave blood to Fang, and if Fang needs to be near a monster producing area. Also can’t wait to see what Vand does with the orphanage and how Vida’s priests react to her incarnate and if they stay close to the peaceful fraction. I am also curious if bone man will evolve later into something else, bone sword emperor sounds like a limit, maybe bone sword demigod after it.
Jonathan Hurd
I think giving Fang Vans blood is probably the final part of the experiment to turn Fang into a monster. First thing would be to see if just being near and guided by Van does it in a non devil’s nest.
I don’t think Vida or Darcia’s current plan is to spark some religous wars and preach hate. Honestly if Vidas followers can befriend more of Aldas group that would make it harder for Alda to turn them on her. I think the big worry is for Vidas worshippers to discriminate less rather than more. If they accept more of Vidas races and convince members of the peaceful faction it’s a win win.
For Bone man’s race title I think he will probably be stuck as an emperor for a while, but that doesn’t mean it can’t go up. I think he’ll end up with an adjective added in at rank 13 like Bloody Bone Sword Emperor or maybe Tyrant Bone Sword Emperor. I feel there is probably still room to grow for him while he has two Divine Protection.
dkuro
Oh! I the first human city lord we saw who was neither, an lazy ass, a criminal nor a douchebag. Alchem duchy do have potential.
I would have loved see the Vida’s priest face when he saw Darcia for the first time :
it’s literally a priest meeting Jesus and inconsciously and understanding the thing.
Lui5aidh
HAHAHAHA “hello, I’m the baggage” I can’t. That’s hilariously self aware of Van. I couldn’t stop laughing.
gomezseba37
that was so funny, the second mos funny part is how anyone with the intuition skill just flees instantly that skill saved like 5 people on that city alone xd
Jonathan Hurd
I really enjoy the moment’s the threats turn to apologies mid sentence. I also love the idiot who thought this food stand was some new kind of escort service and was sent running.
Julian Skilton
Gufadgarn welcoming the dog as an equal had me rolling.
Nox
Thanks for the chapter.
I wonder if Selen is going to join Vans’ harem in order to bring more glory to the noble Dhampir race and further increase their numbers?
no1
That feels like a stretch since Selen and Van have only met once and not a second time since then
Tejing
Not to mention that Selen and Van have violently conflicting and very deeply held opinions about Heinz.
nubEX
I can see a future where Selen is protecting Heinz from Van to which Van tells her the story of how the Five-Colored Blades were the reason Van became what he is
no1
I found Heinz to be very arrogant when he thought that he was the reason why Vandalieu became the Demon King and has done everything that he did. Heinz and his group are just another handful of enemies among the list of enemies that force Vandalieu to create undead, make allies and acquire certain powers to fight back.
Sitock
I believe that in the future when Heinz and Van fight again, Selen will somehow prevent Heinz from being completely destroyed.
Martina is together with the other adventurers’ ghosts to train in the Taloshiem dungeons, in the future she could get the shape and awareness of herself and ask to meet her former party members.
Although I think it’s hard for Heinz to come out unscathed, perhaps Van is more likely to forgive him by turning him into undead once killed without destroying the soul.
no1
Van forgiving Heinz is as unlikely as the moon falling out of the sky. Van couldn’t tolerate Riley and Gordan even after he turned them into undead
Hobbes
I’m not even sure if dhampirs can produce more dhampirs. I mean they’re a cross-breed unique race to begin with and Van is rapidly exceeding his mortal coil so it’s up for debate what species or race Van’s children will be to begin with lol
Morgan
well they are both dhampirs but Selen might not have a dark elf mother like Van so having kids between them may not be possible. Van’s race hasn’t changed so his kids should be demigods or near enough since Van himself is almost a god.
Jonathan Hurd
Selen’s Dad was human. If she had a kid with a normal dhampir I think the child would probably still be a dhamphir but no clue how the lifespan would work out. Considering Vans body and lineage of half God and half vampire I don’t think any child of his would be ordinary.
Gawain
Thanks for the chapter! Looking forward to more!
Morgan
I want Van to meet with Selen again and tell her what the 5 Coloured Mur- Blades did to him just cause I think he might be able to make her join him.
At the very least, she could have a much more stable life than being a hunted super-celebrity. (Plus Selen is pretty much just a faceless character right now so I wanna see more development)
Ltshrek
Definitely won’t happen and knowing van he won’t pursue it
no1
I would like to see Selen’s reaction when she finds out that 3 of the 5 people she adored had been responsible for the murder of another Dhampir’s(Van) parent
nubEX
Van telling the story of his mom could happen. Selen leaving Heinz to join Van might be a stretch
sJoker
*spoilers many chapters ahead*
.
.
.
.
.
.
Heinz and group tell her, there is a confrontation where shes present and she tells him to basically let them off the hook cos his mom revived, naturally he points out dumb that is and all the other hypocritical stuff they do without realising.
Randomreader
And where might this be located dare I ask
sJoker
In the raws over a hundred of chapters ahead
Randomreader
Thank you and dang it
Entropy
They should not be off the hook, that is stupid. Now if they had done anything to help revive her, then I would say they should be forgiven. If i break a vase, and the owner goes and buys glue to repair it, i should still be held accountable for breaking said vase. Glad to hear that there are over a hundred more chapters.
Lord Rin
Well then if she is that dumb then I don’t have to feel bad or pity her if she ends up dying or killed.
Chiu ChunLing
Well, she is just a little kid with no life experience or abilities other than being a mascot for the FCB.
As long as she’s willing to ‘forgive’ Van for killing them, I’d let her off the hook.
Morgan
So now our favourite Knochen is now a castle floating in the sky? Goody.
And Earl Morksi, why do you think a kid and his mum meeting with the local crime lord is normal but buying a temporary liscense for a shop and a house is abnormal?
Thank you for the chapter Lord Yoshi of Translation.
I’ve been looking foward to this all week.
Darkhelios
A kid and his mother meeting with the local crime lord is pretty “normal” if you consider the fact that the kid&mother started a business on the crime lord’s territory. By doing so, the crime lord would either send his men or go here himself. In conclusion: In this case, it’s not like that the kid&mother planned and/or wanted to meet the local crime lord.
For the license, the problem isn’t the license itself. It’s the fact that Vandalieu revealed himself as a Dhampir there instead of continuing to conceal his race. Moreover currently there’s pretty much only one reason why a Dhampir would reveal himself/herself: To ask for protection. And “protection” isn’t something you can find by going to Commerce Guild. So it’s understable that the Earl don’t understand why Vandalieu did this: He doesn’t expect Vandalieu to be powerful enough to defend himself and to be able to kill vampires so what Vandalieu did was suicidal (because by doing so, a Dhampir would put a huge target on his/her back). This is why the Earl is now looking for the reason.
And concerning the house, basically someone wouldn’t start a very small, low-profit business if he/she has the financial capacity to buy a house. If someone is starting this kind of small business, you expect them to rent a house (at best) or a room in the inn.
Morgan
XD I do understand that. It was rhetorical.
Jonathan Hurd
Whelp he gave you a rhetorical answer ;). I will say I find it funny that he sees Van as the ringleader rather than Darcia. If I was in his shoes I’d assume his mother is using him and this is all her plan rather than a ten year old has a well thought out plan.
DeadReader518
Maybe he has a skill similar to the one that has saved the lives of at least two people in this town so far?
V4NQU1SH
Thank for the chapter~!
Seinvolf
Thank u always for ur great work…
^^…
Mikaelobos
Started reading near the end of volume 9 and I have to say I’m super grateful for these translations. Also to mimic a point of criticism I noticed in the comments of the last chapter, I think “divine statue” would be better translated as “idol” or “stone idol”.
kagemao
I think that works fine for when other people are talking about Alda and Vida, but there’s no way that Van would let people call statues of him idols, or call them that himself. That has the same sort of connotation as divine statue.
There’s also the fact that their country is using “idol groups” to spread their culture. Though, they’re spreading religious stories so it might not be that confusing to use the word for both.
Valeth
I think possibly, although he has not directly stated it. Van want’s to grow up before he becomes a god. I mean what happens if they erect shrines of him, and he is forever trapped as a child.
Although I also feel he does not want to be a god till after he dies. He wants to experience a full life for himself for once…. So stone statues are fine but no idols.
Jonathan Hurd
I believe Van does literally state that he wants to enjoy this current life he’s just gotten around the time he was crowned emperor in Vidas resting grounds. It’s not that he’s against becoming a God. In that same chapter he talks to Veld and agrees after death he will become a Heroic God at least. The important part to him right now is that he has spent about 35 years combined in his two previous lives being abused. He wants to live this current one for all its worth.
Morgan
He probably thought of it but considering the circumstances, it would be best to go with divine statue rather than idol.
Jonathan Hurd
To me I like the wording Divine Idols being built but that’s just me. Divine Statues doesn’t completely equal what they are. I will say though this is just coming from my inner grammar natzi talking, and thr current forms make enough sense that the message gets through.
Kazza
God damn it Densuke! If I was going to be right, why couldn’t you have named him Ghidorah?
I guess it’s some kind of commentary on how Van’s dealing with his first non-fantastical beast, so to commemorate it, he gives him a non-fantastical name.
Anyways, that was a nice chapter. Nothing much to really talk about. I’m curious on why the Earl is trying to play 3D chess with Van, cause everything Van has done as a cover story makes sense to me. Like, he’s trying to open a cart, dude. Make some money. Do you expect him to sit on his ass being protected all day? How would he pay for said protection? Just by Street Cred with the Blades? Is it just the fact he chose a fallen hero as a last name that set you off?
Meh, maybe I’m overthinking his overthinking. It’s kind of hard to look at Van from an average citizen’s point of view.
Ok, so Murakami is on the way. Still waiting on Fitun and Birkyne. Birkyne, I’m guessing, is going to wait until Asagi finds something to counteract the DK fragments. I expected Fitun to be under pressure to launch a quick offensive, but I guess Rodcorte didn’t tell Alda about Hajime or Alda didn’t really care.
Tejing
Having enough money to nonchalantly buy a house and trying to make money by setting up a food cart don’t really make sense together… the answer the earl is missing is that he wants to establish a proper place in society and proof of identity, but it’s no surprise he’s missing it, since most people would do that by registering with the adventurer’s guild, since it’s easier. What hasn’t occurred to him is that van won’t risk his status being seen even by the single guild employee who’s supposed to keep it a secret.
Kazza
The only thing is that it’s a pretty standard house with a history of dead occupants, substantially lowering its value. It’s not a mansion. Buying it is an expense, not a luxury.
Also, the adventurer’s guild is high-risk high-reward. Yeah, you can make money quicker and in larger amounts, but that comes with the caveat that you may die or worse. Like Luciliano said at the beginning, Adventurers work at their own risk. And if something happens, they can’t turn to anyone for help.
A cart business, however, is low-risk, but high-reward if you manage foo succeed. So, to me, it would make more sense to build a fortune to live from the relative safety of a city. The only reason Van is in a dangerous part of town is cause Joseph was a real petty douchebag.
I’m not saying the Earl is crazy or anything, only that he seems to know Van’s planning something and just can’t put his finger on it. I mean, the fact that he sent spies was a bit much. What was he planning to find there? A bunker for some anarchy plans? A list of assassination targets? The Krabby Patty Skewer Secret Formula?
I’m not even angry about it, it just confuses me a bit. I think Densuke jumped the gun a bit and made Van catch the eye of the Earl without really having done anything strange.
wai311040
I think what strange is that a Dhampir who doesn’t seem to have enough strength to make a living as an adventurer and do food cart instead, but didn’t bother to hide his identity as Dhampir and didn’t looking for protection either even if Dhampir is targeted by Vampire.
I mean, if I am a weak Dhampir in this society, I would seek protection or don’t even reveal my race.
Tejing
Not everyone who registers at the adventurer’s guild actually acts as an adventurer, and since it’s the easiest guild to join, if you just want identification, it’s the go-to method. And what’s confusing the earl isn’t opening the food cart business, it’s doing so when he clearly has no shortage of money. Basically, van’s actions aren’t consistent with what the earl knows or assumes about his circumstances, so that acts as a red flag that there’s more going on that he’s not aware of. It’s a very reasonable line of thinking.
Jonathan Hurd
I would say it makes a lot of sense for the ruler of the city to monitor a Dhampir who has made his existence as open as Van has mainly just to be ready to deal with some major fights. I mean Selen is protected by S class adventurers but Vampires and Slavers still came for her. This kid looks like an even easier target.
Another concern as a leader is that Dhampirs are a hot topic right now.
If bad stuff happens to one in the middle of your city the blame is naturally going to fall on you. Being a city Ruler is a high position but there could be repercussions from those above if they find you destroyed the Duchies reputation because such a important figure to so many died on your watch.
The reason to be suspicious of Van is as wai311040 pointed out ‘why is Van so easily and openly admitting he’s a Dhampir but not getting aid’. If he’s not looking for help then that must mean he already has someone backing him. If he already has a backer then what’s the point of the publicity stunt? It’s one thing to attract attention to get backers, but he didn’t seek it out or accept any. So the only reason left is he’s bait. After realizing that the most important question becomes who the bait is for and what is going to happen after the fish is reeled in.
It’s a well known fact that the pure breed vampires hunt dhampirs. This dhamphir is showing himself probably knowing this. So whoever is behind him has to have power at least rivaling them to use this method. What do you think would happen to a city used as the battlefield of two disaster class vampires.
You would have to be a moron as a city leader not to keep an eye on this live nuclear bomb in the middle of your city. Sadly you can’t really kick him out for fear of the reputation hit and the organization behind him. So best you can do is gather more info figure out who he is working with then try to negotiate with them.
Chiu ChunLing
Modern finance probably obscures this point, but Morksi doesn’t run on easy credit extended to children who have only just obtained a provisional membership at a Guild.
Normally, he would rent a room at a cheap inn until he was certain that his business had succeeded and he wouldn’t have to move to another city before saving up to buy a house. Having enough money to buy even a cheap house raises the question of where he got the money when he hasn’t even joined a Guild before, let alone reached an established position.
The obvious answer is hunting bandits…or being one. If he got his money by hunting bandits, then he should be able to register at the Adventurer’s Guild…unless he wants to avoid having his Status checked. If he was a bandit…well, that’s a sticky problem cause he’s a Dhampir. In point of fact, Van has done things that don’t look so good from the legal perspective of the Orbaume Kingdom, even if he’s done much worse things from the perspective of the Amid Empire.
To sum up, he’s acting like he’s got something to hide because he’s got some serious stuff to hide, not least the fact that he’s the reason for all the recent incidents of bad things happening to stone idols.
It’s not weird for Morksi to wonder what he’s hiding.
Hobbes
I wanted Van to name the dog Fluffy… because you know it’s not going to be a normal dog for long. In less than a week it’s sure to be a cerberus or something. After all Van, like Hagrid, only seems to attract mythical beasts – not run of the mill animals like some disney princess or something lol.
Jonathan Hurd
For Vans naming sense I will just point out that while he has come up with some complex ones. He has also named his creatures… Bone Man, Bones in German, Patches in German, and I think Khuul is blood in some other language. Fang isn’t really to far out of his wheel house all things considered.
Guroga
A calm chapter and a new companion that will prob become terrifying after some rank ups.
WBee
I keep forgetting, does Strengthened Attribute Values: Ruling make bone man stronger when he’s being ordered by Van or when giving orders to others?
Jonathan Hurd
I think Ruling empowers you when you give commands while Strengthened Attribute Values: Subordination boosts stats when ordered.
Morgan
He’s a Skeleton Blade Emperor so he probably gets a bonus when commanding lower rank or subordinate skeletons.
The Subordination one probably boosts his stats when following Van’s orders.
Superboy8338
Only a matter of time until the action begins.
gomezseba37
yeah I feel the build up probably the next battle will be van trying to get more demon king fragments
Jonathan Hurd
It feels like the next big battle is going to be Murakami’s group or Fitun. I would honestly bet on Murakami’s group going first and then Hajime jumping in mid battle to try and take advantage of the confusion.
I don’t think Vans leaving the city til these two fights are done so probably not going to get some more fragments til then too.
Lord Rin
I feel like Fitun would go first since he’s basically a Blood Knight who only cares about fighting. Murakami’s group seem like they’d be more cautious and plan out more before fighting Van. I mean they’re still idiots for deciding to face him anyways but they’re not dumb enough to just rush headlong into a battle with Van.
Lord Rin
That Isaac guy doesn’t seem bad so far. He’s just understandably cautious about an unknown dhampir with the surname ‘Zakkart’ showing up and not asking for protection. Also he doesn’t seem to either be a big believer or even a believer at all of Alda since he didn’t flip his shit when Alda’s statue got damaged and his priest lost consciousness. He even joked about how masons and sculptors would make a killing fixing the statues. Speaking of statues, it makes me wonder what would happen when the new statues of Curatos get installed? Would they break again since Curatos himself is dead unlike Yupeon who only lost a spirit clone? Or would nothing happen?
So the puppers got named ‘Fang’. Now he’s already working as a guard dog like a good boy.
Anyways now we know a little more about the new races Van made. Also Knochen and Bone Man have ranked up. Knochen can now become a flying castle and Bone Man is even more of a smurf than he already is. He’s rank 12 which is equivalent to some pure breed vampires which themselves are equivalent to low level gods and here we got a skeleton that looks like any other which are usually around rank 2 yet Bone Man is equal to a pure breed vampire.
That Alda priest doesn’t seem particularly bad so far but we’ll see. Meanwhile looks like that Vida priestess was able to subconsciously tell that Darcia is Vida’s incarnation since she out of nowhere asked her to perform a sermon at Vida’s church very adamantly. Looks like Vida will probably be getting more followers soon. Especially since Van will be donating food to the orphanage in a box with Vida’s holy symbol. Though I was sort of expecting Van to hire the orphan boy who tried to steal the food cart’s money. Well maybe he will still hire the boy and other orphans later. Anyways looks like Van has finally finished repairing his soul. I wonder how it looks now? Either more grotesque and monstrous or more streamlined. Either one is equally possible I think. Also I wonder if this has any effect on Van like would it be easier to use certain skills, get stronger, or gained new abilities.
Jonathan Hurd
Van did pick this duchy because it wasn’t to radical either way so it makes sense Isaac isn’t to fanatical.
For the new statues of Curatos they should be fine. The old ones were linked to him by being filled with Prayers for Alda. Curators no longer exists so I think a little praying is not going to do anything. Maybe if enough time and concentrated belief is built up a new being called Curatos could be born but I think that’d take thousands of years.
Gawain
I agree with Jonathan. Gods seems to be created in three different ways in this story from what I’ve been able to see. The first method is through belief (which is how Curatos might be revived, though it would take a long time). For example, Earth’s gods were created through joint belief over a long period of time. The second way is for a heroic spirit to ascend to godhood. For example, Farmaun Gold (not sure about the spelling), the champion who followed Bellwood blindly until he starting thinking, has essentially become a god. The third way is much more shrouded in mystery, but it starts with the question about Rodcorte, how did he come into existence? He has no believers so it wasn’t the first way and if it was the second way, he would still have SOME believers. So, were all his believers were killed? No, since it was stated that Lambda has become his ‘home dimension’, implying that it is the first dimension he has been tied to. Therefore, the most plausible solution to me is that the universe needed a being like Rodcorte, and so, much as necessity is the mother of invention, the worlds needed someone like Rodcorte, and so he ‘poofed’ into existence.
TL DR:
All that being said, assuming Alda’s religion and the legends of Curatos survive, Curatos will probably be reborn in a thousand years or more.
Ltshrek
First curatos won’t be revived coz he got snapped,pooof,eaten into existence but named after him sure but no longer the same as the original,and I doubt alda would have enough power or time to create another curatos
And rodcorte is like one of those where vida,alda,ricklent,zuruwarn or other main gods of lambda come from *I forgot their name* if we base on how old/power they have
Jonathan Hurd
I think another method for making a God is an already existing God splits off part of his power to make a new one. I think that was how Curatos was originally made. Similar things could be said for the Space and Time God’s keeping the world together.
The advantage to this method seems to be they lack a personality so they can be programmed and set to work a certain way and will just do so. The downside of course being they can’t really take the initiative and you need to supply the power to start and spread word of their existence to gather them followers.
Lord Rin
Curatos can’t be revived since Van ate him. Neither can a new Curatos come into being from the beliefs of people. He said it once before that he doesn’t have any followers of his own nor has he ever commanded any believers. He just gets worshiped in conjunction with Alda and only because he is essentially an aspect of Alda. Alda said it once that he created Curatos and Niltark as gods to delegate some responsibilities to. They’re essentially AIs that got elevated to godhood and Alda would have to create an entirely new god to take their place if they got destroyed. However given everything that Alda has to oversee now and worry about Van and Vida, I doubt he has the time, energy, or ability to create a new god to take Curatos’ place.
Dr. Steel
The belief method would work if it was a more well-known god, but Curatos is so minor it probably won’t happen. If Alda died but nobody realized it and kept praying to him, a new “Alda” might be born several hundreds of years later, or maybe only a decade or two, but it wouldn’t be him but a materialized form of the people’s perception/concept of Alda, so there would be differences. But Curatos is like a side benefit for having Alda, nobody worships Curatos on his own. So it’d be difficult
Sailon
Actually besides the two ways you mention has like curatos original a familiar spirit created by Alda that ascended to goodhood and like Alda and Vida that born over the energy caused by the death of two gods, so thE last way can be considered as being born naturaly over some accumulation of energy can be acumulation caused by death of greater gids or naturaly caused by some normal fenômeno of the universe
Hobbes
Maybe in tens or hundreds of thousands of years, but just a thousand years seems very fast for Gods.
Entropy
I suspect any statues of Alda will remain as they are until they are relocated to religious sites where I the books will break.
Ryuutsukai
Alda priest: Okay, now with this, the statue for worship is restored
*book immediately explodes*
Alda priest: Well sh*t…
Dr. Steel
Yah, Knochen is totally Laputa now
Chiu ChunLing
Since the effect on the idols is because they serve as conduits for worship, ordinary statues that happen to depict gods but are not being used as idols would be unaffected by the feedback effects that are present in idols.
Normally, the only effect on an idol is that it will last indefinitely with simple maintenance. Thus, the book representing Curatos would eventually suffer minor degradation normal for an ordinary stone sculpture. Over the course of centuries, this would lead to existing idols of Alda seeing empty-handed, and subsequent new idols and other depictions not including the book in the first place.
But given how things are going, I seriously doubt any Alda idols are going to still be around long enough for that to matter.
madstack
So, next level, Bone Man’s Spirit Form will allow him to make corporeal flesh, like the maids, right? He will finally be able to commit seppuku lmao
Jonathan Hurd
Spirit form always let’s you make corporeal flesh. The problem is its not really his body so it doesn’t really do much. The evolved ability of Spirit Form is Soul Form which Van was the first to ever awaken.
Morgan
Actually spirit form just makes your “ghost” show over your body and becomes more visible and solid at higher levels so Bone Man can’t actually make corporeal flesh yet. his spirit form probably has as much resistance as a runny soup to melted jelly right now
Jonathan Hurd
I feel like Bone Man might just get a small change next rank up like Great Bone Emperor. It’d be funny if he’s stuck as an emperor while Zadris is stuck as a princess. They could console each other.
I will say on bone man’s spirit form being mice…
It doesn’t really work that way. The first problem is the spirit and the soul are two different things. The spirit is like a casing and so can be changed to help move or cover parts. Like how Van can make tentacle hands.
The other problem with Bone Mans soul being mice is he has spent to long in his Bone Form. His soul would now see being a skeleton as it’s natural state even if Van took it out. Just like what happened to Bone Bear, monkey, wolf… Those guys also started as mice/insect souls but changed to recognize themselves as the bone form.
I will also say I think you guys might be misunderstanding Spirit Form. It’s purpose is to basically fill out skeletons and living armors bodies. Even at level one the maid sisters had white flesh it just had no details. The big advantage to it is Spirit Form allows armor to fit a skeleton and adds muscles to their structure.
Jijas
Vandalieu does something
Nuaza: *aroused statue building noises*
gomezseba37
to be fair he is now technically a god maybe not practically because he has no divine realm or maybe his divine realm is where his soul was reconstructed
LmaoLN
I think he is a like Hercules a demi god with strength to rival a god
VEreality
Thanks for the chapter!
Van’s soul is reconstructed and this is awesome. Keep in mind that up until now his soul was a mass made out of every DK fragment that he got. This soul is now shaped by both Van and his friends. Whatever it is going to look like is going to be Van’s DK form or at least a more refined version of his last form. Can’t wait to see what we are working with!
Also WHOLSOME! Again we have a sweet wholsome chapter.
Jonathan Hurd
A nice part is he also finished scraping off a bunch of Rodcortes curses too. He’s still cursed but the effects should be much weaker. Admittedly Vans original soul was a haphazard thing that Rodcorte slapped together and then Van has just kept pouring more in.
It should be integrated way better than before. Also considering how weird Van and his fighting style is it is probably smarter to reorganize himself into something that suits him not something copying humans.
VEreality
Anything will do for me buuuuuuuuttttt I kinda wish he will be something dragon-ish. I keep thinking about this and how he will look to the people in origin if he shows himself to them again. Everything that comes to my mind is an eldritch cross between an eastern and western dragon with multiple arms. I mean, he has the title Elder Dragon Emperor. Might as well do something with it.
P.S. if you are curious about what I had mind google: Hollow knight shade lord. Just make it more like a dragon and with at least six arms and one cool set of wings. It is as close as I could find on google.
dragon for Brazil
I read, a little forward, enter sploiler warning, this does not happen, but tiamat has a solution for this in valle chapter later
VEreality
*glass shatering sound* My dream! ;(
Gawain
THAT LOOKS AMAZING! Shame it won’t happy, but still, got a good laugh out of it!
w1ck3d
If Van actually took the time to step back, he could probably come up with a solution to remove all of it, using his knowledge of Earth’s sciences. Cause I’d be willing to bet that all of that gunk would separate from his soul if he placed it inside a centrifuge.
w1ck3d
The former DK fragments are indistinguishable from his own soul, because it has actually become a part of him. And at one point Vida even states that death magic has become ingrained so deeply into his soul, that if he ever reincarnated, death magic would continue to be a part of him.
In contrast, Rod’s curse has smothered every facet of Van’s soul, like a seal covered in Exxon’s finest crude oil. The two things are definitely not alike. In addition to which, the gods themselves are not aware of just how much further their own abilities can go, when combined with otherworldly knowledge. Which will be touched upon, in this ongoing arc.
w1ck3d
Vida hasn’t mentioned that yet? Damn, I’ve read through MTL & Yoshi twice now, and at some point everything starts to blend together.
Anyway, I’m going to have to agree to disagree, my friend. Cause while I do agree that is has ingrained itself into his soul, the fact that it can be distinguished from the rest leads me to believe that it could be separated if such a method was used. Tho the trick to making it work without also stripping off other valuable resources may require adjusting the rotational speed at which point separation occurs.
Morgan
VEreality, your comment made me think of boss fights. Is Van gonna get a 2nd and 3rd transformation for his fight?
VEreality
I don’t know about transformations but we sure know he’s got phases from the fight with Heinz and co. Phase 1: spit BS and roasts unti he knows he can destroy his enemy. Phase 2: destroy his enemies
Lord Rin
Van: “This isn’t even my final form.”
no1
So Van’s soul has finally been fully reconstructed, can’t wait to see what happens next. Van’s soul already had a monstrous appearance before it was broken, I wonder what it looks like now. Thank you for this chapter Yoshi
Donny The truth speaker.
I picture something like a flying spaghetti monster. (albeit formed with many diverse pieces)
no1
I picture something more regal and monstrous, hope I am right
Cr1m50nR3ap3r
So like the gathering coil from Jodie Whittaker first episode of doctor who and now that he has repaired his soul it will look like a humanoid
Doom-sama
PRAISE VAN-SAMA, AS HE PROCEEDS WITH HIS MASTER PLAN THAT NONE OF US COULD DARE HOPE TO COMPREHEND EVEN FRAGMENTS OF! THE SACRED MESSAGE TODAY IS:
Soul Restoration Complete! Action time!
Randomreader
PRAISE THE REBORN VAN
Morgan
But the sacred message I got was “DON’T FEED THE DOG SOULS”
Jonathan Hurd
You need to open a different sacred fortune cookie if you want another message.
Lord Rin
Weird. Mine just said: “BUY MEAT SKEWERS FROM VAN’S FOOD CART.”
Gawain
And let us all say: amen.
Reiji
Second!!
Sebas Tian
Hope everyone enjoys the chapter. Is a pretty calm one, is more just letting things happen as Van waits for people to do stuff.
Donny The truth speaker.
Thanks for the hard work, and also, 3rd comment!
Reiji
Thank you for all the time you put into translating this magnificent series. 🙏🙏
Also, is it just me or is the release pace getting faster? 🤔🤔🤔
no1
I feel that the pace of release has become more stable, Yoshi did mention that he would release a few chapters each month at least
Superboy8338
Thank you.
JeKeBe
It’s actually chapters like this that I really enjoy. Just Van and crew doing their thing, not having to worry about Alda and his gang of losers. Brings a smile to my face every time. More than once a chapter, usually. Haha.
In fact, seeing Bone Man’s stats at the end made me laugh again after his original apology regarding his status update. Strengthened attribute value loyalty indeed!
Jonathan Hurd
Thanks for the chapter! It’s fun seeing people hitting on Darcia and the new dog finding his place in the pecking order.