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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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“You, what are you?”
The Sin of Pride, Zekkiel…
No, more precisely, it was the vampire Demelie who had been impersonating the Sin of Pride, Zekkiel.
She couldn’t help but make a face, as if her soul had left her body.
Fortunately, because she was floating high up, the humans didn’t notice her expression, but that wasn’t important right now.
‘Blood telepathy?’
The voice she heard in her ears was clearly transmitted through blood telepathy.
It wasn’t blood telepathy by using blood as a medium.
That person was using blood telepathy purely because they were of the same vampire species.
They were definitely not an ordinary individual.
“I asked, what are you?”
This was bad.
What was she supposed to do now?
If it wasn’t an ordinary vampire, they would have already seen through the fact that Demelie wasn’t Zekkiel.
That was why they were asking this way.
But why was such a vampire accompanying humans?
No, that was not it.
Was it similar to the concept of carrying around a snack?
“You’re not answering.”
Pertel clenched her fist tightly.
“No, no. Please calm down first!”
Fortunately, Demelie was also capable enough to use blood telepathy.
She immediately sent back a hurried reply.
Even as she was replying, Pertel’s sharp gaze was threateningly fixed on Demelie.
This was dangerous.
This was really dangerous.
Demelie’s instincts told her so.
“Who are you?”
“The Sin of Pride, Zekkiel…”
“I’ll kill you.”
“…’s subordinate! I’m Demelie! That’s what I was going to say!”
Pertel slightly loosened her fist.
Only after confirming this did Demelie heave a deep sigh of relief.
Michelle, Charlotte, and the other students looked at Demelie with suspicion, wondering, ‘Why did that vampire suddenly stop moving?’
What should she do now?
Demelie was sweating profusely.
“Why are you impersonating? If you’re a subordinate.”
“Well… you see… this is the order I’m carrying out.”
“You received such an order?”
“Yes. That’s right… hahaha…”
Of course, the directive she had received from Zekkiel was to hide and survive by any means necessary.
But to survive, this method was definitely the quickest and most effective!
Most of the time, if you just introduce yourself like that, people run away on their own!
“But… who are you?”
Before she knew it, Demelie found herself using polite speech.
There’s a saying that it takes one to know one, isn’t there?
Demelie, who had dealt with quite a few high-ranking vampires while serving Zekkiel, could instinctively tell.
This one was strong.
Really strong.
Despite the awkward speech, the aura emanating from her was astonishingly dangerous.
If she had to put it into words, it was the kind of presence she absolutely wouldn’t want as an enemy.
“Current Sin of Pride. Christine’s subordinate. Pertel.”
“…Christine?”
“Yes. Lady Christine. The Sin of Pride.”
“The Christine I know? Christine is the Sin of Pride? What’s that…”
“Watch your words.”
“Eek!”
Demelie flinched involuntarily as Pertel glared at her.
Demeri was, if anything, an accountant.
She had no talent for combat at all!
Moreover, the current Sin of Pride was Christine?
When Lord Zekkiel was around, she couldn’t have even imagined such a thing…
In any case, if this Pertel was truly the secretary of the current Sin of Pride, there was no need to even compare which side held the higher rank.
Demelie’s attitude became even more respectful.
“The current Sin of Pride is Lady Christine. I’m on a mission now. Don’t interfere.”
“A mission… a mission?”
What kind of mission would have you wandering around such a remote place with four snacks?
Of course, she didn’t have the courage to transmit that thought via blood telepathy.
Swoosh—!
At that moment, an elemental arrow imbued with fire attributes grazed past the side of Demelie’s neck.
Michelle immediately restrained Charlotte.
“Don’t make any rash moves. We’re in a standoff, what do you think you’re achieving by attacking first?”
With her outstretched right arm trembling, Charlotte still spoke firmly.
“Professor Adrian told us to run away if we saw demons. But it’s impossible to escape because of the barrier.”
“I clearly said to calm down.”
“…If we can’t run away, then this is a fight we must engage in. Demons are the enemies who k-killed my parents. If it’s an unavoidable fight, we have no choice but to kill them. I’ll kill them. Definitely.”
While this serious conversation was taking place, Pertel remained nonchalant. She poked Charlotte’s shoulder.
“Charlotte. If we win this, Adrian won’t like it”
“Pertel! This is not the time for such talk! Our lives are at stake!”
“Lives at stake?”
“Can’t you see?”
Isabell scolded Pertel with exasperation.
She vaguely remembered her sister saying that the failing class students absolutely must not get hurt.
“…Well, if we want to get out of here alive, it seems we have no choice but to take that thing down.”
Even Michelle muttered that.
Is that so? I see.
Pertel nodded.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“Lose. Fight them and lose.”
Why should I? Just tell me to run away if that’s what you want.
Demelie’s response wasn’t very positive.
“Uh, why should I…?”
“Zekkiel. Meeting him today too.”
“What?”
The last time I saw Lord Zekkiel was more than eight hundred years ago…
“I’ll tell him. That a kid named Demelie impersonated Zekkiel.”
“No, no, no, wait a minute.”
“Decide.”
“I’ll do it. I’ll do it, okay!”
‘What kind of vampire is that?’
How orderly is the vampire hierarchy?
When dealing with a top-tier vampire, it’s basic to convey opinions through a proxy and wait for days.
And she’s just going to go and tell him directly?
But whether it’s conveyed directly or indirectly isn’t important right now.
If this fact reaches Lord Zekkiel’s ears, at the very least…
‘I’ll be thrown into the hell of the demon realm!’
Lord Zekkiel only ordered me to hide, not to impersonate!
In a fluster, Demelie folded her wings and set foot on the ground.
The one giving orders seemed to be out of their mind, but being killed by an insane vampire would be even worse.
Demelie began to speak with an awkward tone.
“O-Okay~ I haven’t been able to suck blood for a very, very long time, so I don’t have any, really any! Not even a bit! of strength in my body right now~ I’ll suck your blood~”
The faces of the students, who had been frozen with fear, began to show subtle changes.
No strength in the body at all? Really?
“Michelle. Did you hear that?”
“I heard it loud and clear. And Lotten, I think you’re thinking the same thing as me.”
“Precisely.”
Lotten pushed up his glasses once.
“If your acting is awkward, I’ll make you die for real, not just pretend.”
“J-Just wait a moment, please!”
Demelie spread her arms wide to the sides and continued with an exaggerated tone.
“Moreover, there was a difficult battle recently! Although these wounds haven’t healed at all~! I can defeat the likes of y-you in one go! You lowly beings… ah!”
Charlotte’s eyes also lit up.
“Let’s do this. No, we must do this. If it were the professor, he would surely tell me not to give up.”
From the remaining eye of the girl with one eye covered by an eye patch, a terrifying enthusiasm and killing intent arose.
“Alright, Michelle. What’s the plan then?”
“A plan, huh? I hate group actions. I just hope you don’t hold me back.”
Sighing deeply, Michelle continued.
“If you die, your corpses will get in the way and be a nuisance. I don’t want to be held back like that, so I’ll give you some advice. Isabel, take charge of healing and support from the rear.”
“Got it!”
“And Charlotte and Lotten, move in pairs. Choose a direction and pressure that side as much as possible. If the opposite side opens up, I’ll deliver the finishing blow.”
Lotten and Charlotte nodded as well.
Although they had lived different lives, they all met and formed a bond in the failing class.
The lives they would lead from now on would also be different.
That was natural.
Everyone has their own goals.
However, at this moment and in this place, everyone’s goals intersected at the same point for a brief moment.
‘We will definitely defeat the demon before us and survive.’
In the grand scheme of things, it was just a tiny point they would pass by momentarily, but don’t these points come together to form a line?
The students’ eyes burned with enthusiasm.
“Alright. Then everyone…”
A green aura spread around Michelle.
And at that moment:
“Let’s begin.”
“Yes!”
Ah, of course, there was one person who had nothing to do.
“What should I do?”
Everyone who had been about to kick off from the ground stopped abruptly.
“You! don’t do anything! Please!”
They all shouted simultaneously, pointing their index fingers at Pertel.
“Okay.”
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“Ugh~ Kugh~ To think that I~ would be defeated by mere humans~”
Demelie, who had deliberately taken hits here and there, collapsed with a thud.
‘This hurts more than I thought!’
While inwardly grumbling such thoughts, she urgently sent a blood telepathy message to Pertel.
“Is this good enough? Huh?”
The students, except for Michelle, hugged each other.
“We did it! My goodness, we really did it!”
“Calm down, Isabel. We can’t let our guard down until we collect the spoils. Don’t we need to prove that we’ve cleared the dungeon?”
“Oh, that’s right! I was so happy about surviving that I forgot! Lotten, aren’t you happy? We defeated a demon!”
Pertel, who was listening, scratched his head.
“Spoils.”
“What?”
“Hand them over. The spoils.”
“But…”
“H-How frustrating~ It looks like I’m going to lose everything I cherish~”
Demelie suddenly stood up and started rummaging through the pockets inside her clothes, placing items one by one on the ground.
This is a blood bead, this is a vampire’s fang, this is a silver necklace… oh whatever, she even took off her outer top and placed it on the ground.
Then she stepped back a little and collapsed again with a thud.
“A low-level dungeon is indeed a low-level dungeon. It may have dressed itself up grandly, but in the end, it was just a low-level entity.”
Charlotte nodded at Michelle’s words.
“Yeah. The explanation about being a Sin must have been a lie too. If it were true, we probably would have lost our lives just by making eye contact.”
“I’m not a low-level entity…!”
Demelie quietly began to sniffle.
But it was around that time.
A small stone tapped Demelie’s head.
She inadvertently turned her head, and her eyes met squarely with Michelle’s, who was manipulating the stone with telekinesis.
“What? You’re still alive.”
At those words, everyone’s attention turned to Demelie once again.
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