It was a dark and cloudy day, the kind that could break down into a full-on rainstorm with just the wrong push, making what already felt like a gloomy day that much less bright and cheerful. Still on the road leading to Kiten, Griswold had just returned from a job that had taken him from the farmlands to the northeast of the forsaken realm on a path through the fringe and straight into the outer layers of the witches forest. Knowing that there were demon sightings around the capital of the witches, he had imagined the outskirts to be fairly safe, even though the laws of that place were rather… unfriendly to men. What with this likely being the reason why the witch community seemed to be made up entirely out of women, he often wondered how they managed to keep their numbers up, as there must have been men out there somewhere to help them sire their children. But whatever the case, it wasn’t their city that he needed to visit.

No, quite the opposite. Having followed a set of tracks leading all the way from the forsaken realm into the fringe, where whatever it was that had taken away livestock several weeks in a row now had managed to snap the neck of a bear after a prolonged battle, before carrying on into the outer forest of the witch queen’s realm. Knowing quite well that the witch queen was not a witch at all but in fact the archdemon Lilith, he was unsure as to whether or not she still resided within the witch capital or not. Whatever the case, he had been treading quite carefully, knowing the way around the outer forest well enough due to another job he had been asked to do about a month ago that had him map out the place for a bunch of scholars. To think that such strange and unrelated things might actually help him out with other jobs was a welcome thing indeed, though it did not prepare him for what he ran into out there at all.

Meeting with a young witch named Kitty, it turned out she had used her magic to create a safe haven for all of her “pets”, which seemed to range from cows, chicken, geese, pigs, sheep and rabbits. Believing she was doing the right thing by taking animals away from abusive or borderline abusive owners, she enforced her rules by having her pet Grumbles, which was a rather humongous Chort do all of the grunt work. Having never heard of a Chort that was capable or even willing to take orders from a human, the two had put up quite a fight, though Griswold’s own Solar magic was more than the girl could handle with her plant-based magic. By the end of it, Gris could not bring himself to kill either the Chort or the girl, as that seemed to be what needed to be done before he would get the ungrateful task of guiding every single animal back through the fringe and to their pens in the forsaken realm.

Luckily for him, he had already told people not to expect any good news regarding their livestock, lowering expectations by making it clear how livestock being taken by wild animals or creatures of the forest would not return… not in one piece at least. And so, he had made a deal with the teenage witch to keep what animals she had now and not be foolish enough to come back to the land of Clover and take anymore. If she did, he would have no choice but to take her to jail and take out Grumbles once and for all, which were two things he would rather not do, but would force himself into doing if she were to push him to that point. So with that problem hopefully being handled, he delivered the news that he had killed the creature that had taken the livestock from the farms, making the promise that it would not be happening again by the hands of that particular monster.

And so, as he wandered into Kiten, he could not help but think about the last time he had been here, how he had been delving into one of many elven ruins that sat beneath the nearby foothills with a pair of mages that at times seemed to only be good at bickering or misjudging the situation they were put in. Luckily for them however, things had turned out great and nobody had died down there, which was good enough for him. Planning on heading to the inn he had been in around that time as a means of saying hello and getting a much-deserved pint of ale, a welcoming environment was not exactly what he walked into. As he pushed the front door open, he heard a rather rowdy bunch suddenly ceasing their chatter as if he was not allowed to hear a word they said. Not quite sure what to make of it, he wandered in anyway and took a seat at the bar so as to say hello to the owner.

Having a quick chat with the man about how things had been during his absence, he nodded his head in the direction of the not-exactly normal behaving group before speaking to him in a hushed tone. Claiming they were a self-proclaimed group of “Vampire hunters”, they believed that a woman who had recently been found in the street in a strange death-like state was attacked by one of these vampires they spoke of. Believing vampires were but old wives tales, these people did not believe the stories to be false. As fate would have it, it was not long after Griswold and the bartender finished up their conversation that he was approached by a member of the group. Asking whether or not he was the person that had been sent by the royal capital to help them figure out the truth as to what happened, Griswold could not in good conscience tell them that he was as he’d prefer not to lie if he could help it.

Stating that while he was in fact not a magic knight but a former magic knight, as well as a royal knight to boot, the elven mage also made it quite clear that he wanted to help them wherever he could. And so, before he could actually get a damned thing to drink, the three men began leading him out the door and into the streets. Claiming that they would be able to tell him all about what was going on once they were within the confines of their mansion and away from anyone listening in on their private conversations, the party began traversing the streets of Kiten while on their way to this supposed mansion.

1141

For however much it was worth, Griswold knew who this person was, being one of the two magic knights that had gone down into the ruins outside of Kiten to find some kind of useful information on demons. While the whole thing had been somewhat of a bust as far as Griswold was concerned, he imagined the white haired knight had at least managed to get something out of it. Besides, it was not entirely a waste of time for him either, as he had gotten paid by the end of it, which was really the only reason why he had even tagged along in the first place. Simply nodding at him at the moment he decided to tag in with the party, they ventured to the estate where things would supposedly be cleared up for the two newcomers who still had little to no idea as to what was going on here and why people spoke of vampires.

In truth, the exact knowledge Griswold possessed with regards to vampires was that they did not like garlic, were allergic to the church and their idols, drank blood, could turn into bats at will, would burn to a crisp if they ever moved around in the daylight and that they would die if a stake was run through their hearts. But he had to admit, these were all things he had picked up from stories either told by others or written in books that did not exactly seem grounded in reality. The fact that he had never seen or heard of them even during his time in the enclave, that just made him wonder whether it was really all just a bunch of stories altogether. Because back in the fringe, one could encounter all sorts of creatures, not to mention their mana-altered brethren that roamed about.

Wyverns, basilisks, cockatrices, werewolves, all creatures that they had at the very least heard of, and knew well enough not to get too close to if it could be avoided. Yet vampires had either remained so elusive as to not be found and documented, or they simply did not exist. As things were now, Griswold was clearly leaning towards the latter, being the kind of person that would believe in something the moment he got to actually see or experience it. So as they made their way over and into the estate, it was quite clear that the owner of the place had quite a bit of money laying around. Once everyone was inside, the place was locked down in a rather distrustful manner, though not so much to towards the people they brought in, but towards the outside world. It seemed hellish to Griswold, to be so mistrusting that anyone could be considered a potential threat.

But that was not something he was going to be dwelling on. The way he saw it, the sooner they managed to resolve this supposed vampire issue, the sooner they would be able to fix up this whole mess and give these people their lives back. So as they were escorted throughout the house, they made their way to something that seemed to have come straight out of a children’s book, a passage behind a bookcase. Not sure whether he should frown or be impressed, he simply did neither as he wandered down into the dark space that was lit by a few torches that were spaced apart evenly enough to throw some light across the passage that went down into a sort of basement. Once there, they showed them to a comfortable looking back with a woman seemingly sleeping on top of it. That said, it would have been comfortable had there not been so many restraints tying her down.

“Please excuse the secrecy, but we had to make sure we got to a safe location before we shared with you any of the details as to what we require of you. You see, this woman was attacked by a vampire, drained of much of her blood and left for dead in the streets. I paid the guards handsomely to look away and keep any of the townsfolk from making a scene and causing city-wide panic. We brought her down here and restrained her because we are the ones best equipped to do so. But where are my manners, my name is Aronil, and these are Ralon and Crelior.”

Raising a brow at the notion that these men were supposedly the best at doing what they did, it made him wonder why they would be calling upon a magic knight for help, let alone taking someone they only knew by vague reputation into this… whatever it was. As much as he wanted to state those things and put these men in their place, his own curiosity beat the drive to verbally wound them as he approached the bed. Getting a good look at her neck, it seemed that there were indeed puncture marks along her jugular, though those could have been faked. Holding his hand in front of her nose, he could tell that she was barely breathing and would most likely not see the end of the week. Whatever these men had in mind that might save her, they would do well to let them know as soon as possible, or it might very well be too late.

“As you have undoubtedly noticed, the sickness is spreading through her body, keeping her in a coma until her body has fully turned. Once she has, she will die and be reborn a vampire. Before it comes to that, there are two steps that can be taken, which is why we called upon you for help. Because someone has to stay in the city to keep an eye on the vampire’s movements while also keeping an eye on the victim, someone will also need to venture into the forest of witches to retrieve various rare herbs.”

Pondering on just what they were asking, it had been made common knowledge after the wizard king spoke to the country that an archdemon had taken up residence in the witches forest, and that the place was considered off-limits to all. And even before that time, the witches held laws that were rather unfriendly towards men, using violence to force them out and at times even resorting to murder. Not fully understanding why this was the way it was, Griswold pondered on whether it was worse to have to venture into a forest possessed by male-hating witches or human-hating demons. Not really considering either of the two to be a very fun alternative, he did not really want to be the reason why someone would either turn into a vampire or have to die. True, he had no idea what being a vampire really meant, though it didn’t sound all too great.

“But if that is not something you can do, I have kept a stake in the cabinet over there, just in case nobody replied to the summons fast enough. While it might be considered…. Cowardly, none of us can venture into the forest and expect to return alive, though we also cannot allow this woman to turn and add to the growing vampire problem. So if you cannot go to the forest, we must use this stake and put her out of her misery and send her off into the next life while she still has her humanity.”

Sighing deeply, the response he gave was likely not what the others in the room had been counting on. Sure, it was a life or death situation for this woman, though the fact that they had the stones to just pin this on him and the magic knight like this was astounding. In short, they had to either go into a forest infested by demons where they might not return from, or they would have to be the ones that ran a stake through the heart of the woman who was supposedly slowly turning into a vampire in this very room. While he had certainly killed people before, those were ones that deserved to get put down because they had actively maimed, tortured and even killed others, meaning they were from that point on no longer to be considered humans. They were filth, and the best way of dealing with filth would be by washing it from the face of the planet. But this woman had done nothing wrong, she was a victim in all of this.

“Alright. Since you had the smarts to call in help, I imagine you also took the time to write up a list of ingredients, what they look like and where to find them? If you didn’t, that means one of you would need to come along, and I doubt that was what any of you planned for, or am I wrong in making that assumption?”

1480 (2621)

There was no doubt in Griswold’s mind that all of this was going to be a rather dangerous undertaking, not to mention one that might take a bit longer than he would have liked. After all, he hadn’t come here for a mission, he had come here to get some rest between things, what with the threat of demons looming over the country and him being picked as one of the “lucky few” that got to deal with the fallout. True, he had signed up for it because he hoped the might be able to make a difference in such a fight, or to at least help out the others that were on the same squad he had been assigned to. But the more time went by, the more he felt like that might not be something that could be considered up his alley, what with there being stories regarding how the demons might be calling in more warriors and champions of their own.

Not being the kind of person that was really fit to be a scholar, one would not find Griswold in a library all that often. Through literature, he rarely absorbed the kind of information one might want to or expect to, it just did not work out as well for him. Instead, he learned the fastest by doing things, by getting out into the field and getting his hands dirty, by fighting increasingly stronger enemies and learning from the aftermath where he might yet have space for growth or adjustment. Whether or not he would actually make it out alive after facing off against one of the archdemons, he would certainly make it out stronger on the other side of it, that stood as a rock above water that could not possible be questioned. But for that to actually work would require the event to first take place, and since it hadn’t yet, it was better to look towards what was right in front of him.

Due to the fact that the archdemon Lilith had taken over the witches forest, for two men to venture into the surrounding woodlands in search of plants that might save someone’s life was a potentially life threatening undertaking. Perhaps more so for the other than for Griswold himself, though the issue remained. If they were to encounter any actual witches, they would sooner attack them than talk to them, asking them for their reason for coming based on the fact that they were both men. More than that, if they were the kind that had willfully sided with the “witch queen”, chances were they’d kill just about anything that ventured into the forest and might even be backed up by demons. Truly, the amount of ways in which this could all just go horribly wrong was beyond count, though it was not altogether hopeless. Not yet at least, or so he figured.

A short while ago, just before the royal knight exams had begun, Griswold had taken on a mission that required him to map out a large majority of the outer forest. While there, he had seen a plethora of things, though no witches. Sure, there were some old statues that had been used to ward the place off from men, though the ones he had personally encountered he had smashed into smithereens with his new sword. So to say that those particular guardians were dealt with was somewhat of an understatement, though there were likely plenty of other threats. It was located within the fringe after all, the same place where Griswold had spent the majority of his life growing up. He knew well of the dangers of mana beasts, the creations of witches and the kinds of things that were neither of those two that one would not want to run into regardless of the situation.

Some things were better left alone after all, which was perhaps why no one knew about Vampires being real or not in the present day and age. For what it was worth however, while Griswold pondered on what needed doing next, Joseph asked some pretty decent questions that would make the preparation stage a bit easier at least. It was true that it would help them out a lot to have the general areas they needed to be looking in marked, as well as having some more in depth information to the plants they were looking for given the sheer size of the outer forest alone. And if they were to spend too much time looking, they faced two threats at the same time. One posed potentially by demons or witches finding them if they stuck around for long enough, and the other being the woman turning into a full-on vampire if they took too long with getting back with the reagents for the potion.


They would also need something along the lines of a container in order to properly carry the plants back here without them wilting or drying up to the point of uselessness. And since Griswold was really not the kind of person that would go back and forth for the same kind of thing without having the proper tools, he would prefer to do things right the first time around. Both because a woman’s life was in danger, and because he did not wish to meet his end in a forest full of men-hating women. So as he rummaged through his own pockets, of which he had plenty, he remembered he had put his self-made map in his duffle-bag. After the men in charge had copied his map and made it into an actual thing, Griswold had initially taken it with him for the sake of sharing it with those royal knights that were to venture into the witches forest, or take it with him himself if he was to be selected for it.

Now that he knew that he was to be assigned to Aamon, the beast aura user, he at least knew that he might need to hand it off to someone else soon, making it easier for them to navigate around the place if they did not just want to go for a frontal assault. Leaving that train of thought for a later time, he put his map on the table and pulled one of the members of the anti-vampire group up to him. Not letting them get away with something so simple as delegating their work off to them by handing them a paper and sending them on their way, he placed it on the table and opened it up. Showing some rather crude but detailed-enough drawings of the flowers they were supposed to be looking for and where they were most likely to grow, he cross-referenced it with the map he had drawn out and places he had already visited within the outer forest to make things as easy on the two of them as it could possible be.

“You, give the guy something he can carry your flowers in, and make sure it isn’t too bulky and has a lid on it. Don’t want them to dry out or wilt while we’re on our way searching for the rest or I imagine they’d be rendered useless. Get him some good gloves to as it says this particular plant is poisonous to the touch, and I’d rather not have to carry him home on my back. And as for you, do you imagine these locations might make sense for our scavenger hunt?”

Beginning to order the men around as he had more or less had enough of people just telling vague stories and handing out papers before leaving the two men to their fate, he had begun marking a few locations on the map that seemed to match the description given by the flowers and their preferred environment. Part of him wanted to just grab one of them by the shoulders, shake him around until his brain rolled back into place and just shout at them about the kind of shitshow they were running here. If they were supposed to be the leading minds in terms of vampires and vampirism, he feared for the woman’s life, their lives, and the lives of both Joseph and himself. Luckily he had read up on the paper and worked all of this out beforehand, or they would certainly have been in for quite the party when one of them passed out from poisoning. But by the time Griswold was done marking his map and forcefully getting people to check his work, one of the men returned from upstairs with a container and a pair of gloves.

Handing the gloves and the container over to Joseph as instructed, Griswold would keep the map handy in his duffle bag, even though he would most likely not need it once they actually arrived. If the witches had not suddenly grown a new section of forest somewhere, his map should still be fairly on point, which was what he chose to be going with for the time being. With all of these things taken care of, it was time for the two of them to depart without wasting too much time getting ready. They’d need to still fetch some food and water from Kiten, but after that, they’d be ready to get going straight away. But before he began ascending the stairs leading back up into the main building, he looked around to make sure they would not come back here and find a bloodbath because the men were too cowardly to do what needed to be done.

“Alright, we’re leaving. Expect us to be back no sooner than a day from now, but if we’re not going to be back before her life runs out, be sure to drive that stake through her chest yourself. It would be a shame if you were all dead by the time we returned after all, as there is still the culprit that needs to be taken down. When we get back however, I will be expecting a lot more information…”

With that, he nodded at Joseph to come along, hoping he would not forget to bring the gloves and the container with him, or the two of them would not be having a fun journey together, that much was for sure.

1720 (4341)

Exit Thread, moving into next part of the Chain