And yet, if the people of Olbaum Electorate Kingdom knew the whole story, they would surely tell Vandal that he should forgive Heinz. That Heinz had saved many people, done great things, was a hero. That he deserved to be forgiven. That he was going to save many more in the future, reducing the suffering and increasing the joy of thousands and thousands of lives.
That he was only of benefit to this nation, regardless of what he might have done elsewhere. A single dark elf was killed—that was all. They would tell him—forgive.
That sounded like the right thing to do, the correct thing, regardless of the world in which it took place. He should forgive the fact Dalshia was killed. He should quell the hatred and anger that burned within.
All because of the fanciful story that they were building around Heinz, the flawed hero. He was helping other dhampirs he had never even seen before; he was spreading the word of the Alda conciliators. Forgiving him was best for everyone. And that act itself would become another shining part of that same story.
. . . I’ll never forgive him!
Skill level increased for Spiritual Abnormality!
Acquired the skill
But, for now, he had to hold it all in.
The deeds he was doing for the sake of atonement were making him more liked and more popular. Vandal couldn’t compete with that. Even if he used death attribute magic and all his skills and brought in Eleonora and the others, there was no way to win.
This was revenge. A process Vandal was going through purely for his own selfish satisfaction. It wasn’t about the end result. It wasn’t worth it if it cost him his own life or the lives of his friends.
Skill level increased for Spiritual Abnormality!
Acquired the skill
However, he also couldn’t control his hatred. That was a fire he was unable to quench, even as a chill of terror threatened to freeze his heart.
“Hey! There she is! Found her!”
“Grab her, then! That’s the kid with the silver coin. She must have more!”
“I’m on it, Auntie!”
That was why he had run away. Why he had fled the town. Why he was out here, like this. He hadn’t wanted to get anyone else caught up in his agony.
“I can’t believe we found her so easily! Luck is on our side, Auntie!”
“This is because we live good, clean lives. Don’t think badly of us, little one. Selling fruit doesn’t cut it in this economy. You’ve got nothing to worry about. With your looks, whoever buys you will take good care of you, I’m sure.”
“Auntie, I dunno. Now that I look more closely, I’m not sure if the kid is a boy or a girl. I don’t think we’ll get much for a girl this young.”
“But look at the eyes. If we say she’s a dhampir, we can boost the price for sure.”
“No, that’s a bad idea! We shouldn’t attract the Grade A adventurer who goes around helping out dhampirs.”
“I did hear the Savior was in town. What’s his name again? Heinz?”
Yes! Heinz! Heinz is the one Vandal hated!
“Stop blabbing and start tying the kid up! We need to get out of here!”
The middle-aged apple seller from the market was closing in on where Vandal was kneeling on the ground.
Acquired the skill Scream!
“Aah ”
The child let out a strange yelp that sounded like some kind of curse. The woman and her male accomplices gave a start of surprise.
Then they quickly moved in to grab him. That was their final mistake.
If they had tried to run away, with all their strength, they might have made it to a safe distance. Maybe.
Vandal let out a terrible scream: “”
Skill level increased for Scream, Spiritual Corrosion, and Dungeon Construction!
“Hyaaaah!”
“Hnnngaaaaaaaaaah!”
Vandal’s would-be kidnappers responded in kind to his scream. Their hair bleached white and the light of sanity left their eyes.
“”
The woman and the thugs didn’t die. Nothing of the sort: they were filled with energy. They stuffed their fingers into their ears, chewed their tongues, and gouged out their eyes, desperate to escape.
That still wasn’t enough. Somehow, despite their blindness, they latched onto their nearby companions and started to fight and kill each other, like wild animals.
“Hatred! Hatred! I hate—something!”
“Kill me! Kill them! Kill—kill who?!”
“My ears, eyes, tongue, hands, my flesh, my organs, I hate them all!”
“”
Vandal felt something black and terrible that he had been bottling up inside spill out all around him. Then, with a strange feeling of liberation, he collapsed.
When Vandal woke up, he felt pretty good.
Looking up at the sky, it seemed to be just after noon. He visited the adventurers’ guild in the morning, so that was only one or two hours ago. And yet it felt like he was awakening after a night of incredible sleep. He was in great mood.
“But I feel kinda exhausted too. Like a—comfortable feeling of exhaustion?”
He tilted his head and checked his status. His remaining MP was close to zero. He wondered what he had been doing while he was asleep. There were bloody stains on the ground nearby, but no undead.
“Lord Vandal, are you okay?!” That was when Eleonora dropped down from the sky. She picked Vandal up at once.
“Ah, yeah. I don’t have much MP left, but I’m fine otherwise. Can you tell me—what happened?”
“That’s my question! You said it wouldn’t take you long, so I hid myself to wait. Then you suddenly exploded out of the guild and flew off over the walls! I lost sight of you, and you didn’t contact us! You’ve no idea how worried I was!”
“I’m sorry. Sorry for . . . worrying you.”
For a while, he just let Eleonora hug him tightly.
After using the shrunken goblin head communicator to call in Braga and the others, who had been searching elsewhere, Vandal explained everything that happened.
“Lord Vandal, we should wipe out this domain and take its territory for our own.”
That was the first thing Eleonora said. From the look in her eyes, she wasn’t kidding around.
“That won’t work. We can’t defeat Heinz at the moment. Even if we could, we shouldn’t be wiping out or taking anything,” Vandal said.
“Why not?! Let’s kill them all!”
“Child! They aren’t even human! They are feces in human form! Living pestilence!”
“Rahhhh! Let’s slaughter them all, boy!”
Many of the others agreed with Eleonora, including Zulan, Nuaza, and Borkz listening on the other end of the communicator. Lefdia couldn’t talk, but she was repeatedly hopping between all five fingers, suggesting she agreed as well. Sam and Zadilis probably wouldn’t resist the idea either. After Borkz and the other giantling undead learned of Heartner’s betrayal 200 years ago, their appreciation for the region hadn’t just fallen to zero; it had pushed down into a negative value.
“I’m happy that you’re all angry for me,” Vandal replied. “But there are good and bad people both in the Heartner Domain. Right, Braga?”
Eleonora, Zulan, Braga, and the black goblins all looked a little shocked at that, as they looked at the “friends” they had made here.
“We’ve left our homeland behind,” Marie said.
“Don’t worry about us.”