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Argento Vampyr is my savior.
She is the one who restored my sight—after I lost it in both eyes due to a curse and was stripped of my knighthood.
If it weren’t for Argento, I’d still be living a peaceful but boring life in the port town of Arlescha.

Longing for the sights I’d lost, forever.

…I made it just in time! I made it!

Relieved that Arje was safe, I let out a smile.

It was pure coincidence that I made it this far. It’s all thanks to Zeno, the traveling merchant I was traveling with.
Zeno, who had returned to the Merchants’ Guild earlier than expected, had asked where Arje was headed. Arje apparently knew Zeno and had left a message with him.

She’s in Renshia—as soon as we heard that, we immediately set off in a carriage and made our way here.
When we arrived at the village, there were signs of a fight, and Arje was being pinned down, so we rushed to her rescue.

“…It’s been a while, Arje.”
“Felnoute-san…”

Arje is currently pinned down on the bed.
Her clothes appear to have been torn, leaving her skin almost completely exposed. There were bite marks all over her body.
There was also a wound on her neck—likely from a bite—and it seemed to be bleeding slightly.

“Mm, haa…”

A clearly feverish sigh escaped her lips as she looked up at me with moist eyes.
Her bright red eyes—so characteristic of a vampire—were glassy, but they were different from her usual sleepy expression; they held a hint of unease.
Beads of sweat trickled down her smooth, yet faintly rounded, snow-white chest. Wringing her body, Arje turned her face away from me.
Her face flushed bright red all the way to her small, pointed ears, and Arje spoke in a trembling voice.

“Um…Felnoute-san…”
“W-what is it?”
“Um… please don’t stare at me so much… at a place like this… I, I don’t want you to see me, um…”
“Huh… I’m, I’m sorry!?”

It was far too revealing an appearance. Regretting that I’d been staring so intently, I turned my face away.

Arje, who was always cool and sleepy-eyed, was completely subdued.
On the contrary, seeing her display such girlish shyness had me so captivated that I’d lost all sense of myself.

When I sneak a peek out of the corner of my eye, Arje—who must be incredibly embarrassed—looks away from me with an expression as if she’s biting her lip, fidgeting nervously.

…Why is she so cute!?

I held back the urge to scream and forced myself to stay composed.
If I kept watching her, I’d end up wanting to touch her myself. She’s that cute. Is she actually flirting with me? No, no, that can’t be it—calm down, me.

I want to help her, but what Arje is feeling right now isn’t a curse. The effects of bloodsucking on the body are too much for healing magic to handle.
Fortunately, Arje should have quite high resistance to magic and curses, so once she calms down, she’ll be able to free herself from her restraints on her own.
For now, it seems best to focus on her. Reaching that conclusion, I turned my blade toward the golden figure.

“Don’t you think…don’t you think you can get away scott free after doing something so enviable!”
“You were envious?”
“…I misspoke. Don’t you think you can get away scott free after doing something so terrible!”
“What a lackluster rescue, aren’t you?”
“Uuuuu, shut up!”
“Fufu, but calling it ‘terrible’ is terrible in itself. I’m just trying to get what I want, aren’t I?”
“It’s your methods and what you want that are the problem…!”

Even when I glared at her, she remained completely unfazed, keeping a cool, impassive expression.
A girl-like figure with golden twin tails adorned with bat-shaped hair ornaments.
But that’s just her appearance. She’s way past the age of a girl, and she’s not nearly as cute as she looks.

Elsie, the Vampire Princess. She’s a vampire who has been spreading disaster across the world for a very long time—since before I was even born.
Her misdeeds are too numerous to count; she’s even wiped out small nations overnight.

She’s killed many of the kingdom’s knights and has been designated as the top priority target for elimination by the kingdom. The same is likely true in other countries as well.
The mercenary guild—the Lantz Knecht Association—has also put a bounty on her head, and the amount is more than enough to cover a lifetime’s living expenses if you live a normal life.

In other words, if I defeat her, I’ll get a lot of money, and I’ll be able to support Arje, which inevitably means we’ll be together forever… No, no, no. That wouldn’t be right, would it?
My goal is to properly set Arje on the right path. To do that, I must first eliminate that thing.

“Hmm… You wish to fight me?”
“Yes, of course.”

I still have some gaps in my skills. And my equipment isn’t even close to the top-of-the-line gear I had back in the Kingdom—not even by a stretch.
To be honest, my chances of winning are slim. That thing isn’t even something one should fight—it’s more like a “living disaster.”

Still, I can’t just stand by without drawing my sword.
The sword I got from Zeno feels pretty good in my hand. I’ve swung it a few times already and used it to fend off threats. Both its length and weight are close to what I used back in my active days.

“Judging by your stance, you’re a knight of the Kingdom, aren’t you? Why are you in the Republic?”
“I’m not a knight. I’m a former knight. As for why I’m here… let’s just say it’s for personal reasons.”
“…How unreasonable. The world is so unpredictable and unfair. I never heard anything about her having a helper like you.”
“Look who’s talking—you’re the epitome of unreasonableness…”
“Yes, yes. That’s exactly right. So—the crime of robbing me of my fun is a serious one, you know?”

The aura swelled suddenly.
Not only her fighting spirit, but even her mana was directed at me as if to pierce my skin, causing a cold sweat to break out on my back.

It felt less like facing a living creature and more like standing against a raging storm. I forced myself to hold my ground, resisting the urge to step back.

“Since you seem to know Argento, I won’t kill you… but I’ll make you behave yourself for a little while.”
“Go ahead and try, if you think you can.”

With a crooked smile that looked like the moon splitting in two, my opponent moved.
Fluttering her dress like bat wings, she took flight.

“As expected, what I prepared isn’t quite enough. That’s why I hate surprises—Curse Maker, Whip-a-Will.”

Spinning in midair, my opponent spoke. By the time she landed on the roof of a house, black wings had appeared at her side.
Swaying gently like a flame was the embodiment of the curse. That form—which looked like both a bird and a bat—soared toward me.
You can’t cut through a formless mass of magic with a sword. I abandoned the option to intercept it and chose to dodge instead.

“Huh, not bad,”
“Your praise doesn’t make me happy.”

With the minimum movement, I dodged it without touching the curse.
But dodging wasn’t the end of it. As if possessed by a will of its own, the cursed wing would turn on a dime and charge at me again, no matter how many times I evaded it. Over and over.

…This is going nowhere!

If this keeps up, I’ll just keep draining my stamina. That would only put me at a disadvantage.
On the other hand, if I take the curse head-on, my resistance probably won’t be enough to block it completely.

If there’s no end in sight, I’ll just have to keep going until there is.

“Phew…!”

The moment I executed yet another dodge, I planted my foot firmly on the ground.
It was a sprint, using the dodge as my starting point.

“Bloodcraft, ‘Chain’”
“!! They’re just hindrances!”

I swung my sword at the crimson chain that slithered up from the ground.
Rather than slashing it, I hooked it and tore it apart.
Leaving behind a cacophony of clanging sounds, I accelerated even further.

“Sorry, but I don’t have time for you.”

Internally apologizing to the owner of the house, I swung my sword through the air.
With the assistance of my swordsmanship skill, the strike made even the sword’s pressure sharper. A slash longer than the blade itself sliced through the house diagonally.

“You sure do wreak a lot of havoc… Are you really human? As far as I know, you’re approaching the limits of what a human can achieve.”
“I told you, your praises don’t make me happy.”

Listening to the sound of the collapse, I set my sights on my opponent. I forced my way into striking range.
The Vampire Princess had already escaped before the house collapsed. I kicked off the ground, chasing after the blonde figure retreating in short, quick steps. I dodged the cursed wings flying at me from behind and pressed forward even further.

“Fufu. Do you have eyes in the back of your head or something?”
“I can dodge them even without looking…!”

It’s not about skill or anything like that. It’s the experience I’ve gained from countless battles that warns me. It’s what they call “battle instinct.”
This time, I sidestep the black wing as it swings back at me, using the momentum to accelerate. The speed lost from the evasion is immediately regained, and the distance between us keeps closing. Just a few more steps, and I’ll reach her.

To cut down this menace, I picked up even more speed.

“Oh my, how passionate you are.”

With her hair flowing in the wind, the calamity laughs.
Judging by appearances alone, I’m the one chasing her right now. And I’m just a hair’s breadth away from reaching her with my blade.
Even so, my opponent doesn’t let her carefree smile falter. She takes steps as if enjoying a dance.
Clearly, I’m being toyed with. If she were so inclined, I’d be the one on the run.
Still, I play along. Because that’s the only opening I can find.

“Fufu… Bloodcraft, Chain.”
“It’s useless!”

Chains appear once more, blocking my path. Three of them, this time.
Deciding I didn’t have time to waste, I severed all three at once.

“……!?”

The reason I felt something was off about the impact was that it was all over far too quickly.
Even though I’d cut through all three at once, the resistance felt far lighter than when I’d cut just one.
Something’s up. Sensing this, I stopped in my tracks. It was a shame to lose the ground I’d gained, but it would be too late once it was too late.

“I knew a skilled fighter like you would stop right there.”
“Wha…!?”
“Bind Circle.”

It was as if my feet were glued to the ground—I couldn’t move away from it. No, it wasn’t just my feet; I couldn’t even move my fingertips or my neck.
It felt less like the ground and more like I was sewn into space.
Elsie narrowed her eyes in satisfaction as she looked down at me, her captive.

“I thought Argento’s resistance was higher than expected, so I didn’t think I’d need to use this… fufu. Still, it never hurts to be prepared, does it?”
“!! …!”
“It’s a powerful immobilization curse. You can’t even move your mouth. The only slight drawback is that it’s a stationary spell, you see?”

Slowly, very slowly, she walks toward me.
With a gesture as if inspecting her captured prey, she placed her hand on my chest.

“You’re quite well-built, aren’t you… Well, I suppose you’ll liven things up a bit? It looks like it’ll be fun to play with you.”
“…!”

She cupped me in their palm as if weighing me, and I felt a wave of disgust.
But I couldn’t even let that feeling show on my face.
Far from being able to slash down the person approaching me, I couldn’t even twitch a brow, let alone let my gaze wander.

“Fufu, don’t worry—I’ll lift the curse right away. It’d be no fun without your voice, after all.”

As if seeing right through my frustration, Elsie bared her fangs and laughed.
The hand that had been checking the heaviness in my chest moved up to my neck, pulling me into a position as if she were embracing me.

Her hot breath brushed against my neck. Her fangs pressed against me, and a chill ran down my spine.

“Well then, since I’m going to break the curse for you… why don’t you let out a nice, loud cry?”

I felt a sharp prick as if my flesh had been pierced—

“—Why don’t *you*.”

I welcomed my opponent.

“Sluurp… GyaAAAAHHHH!?”

My opponent let out a scream, pulled back her fangs, and moved away from me.
Freed from the immobilizing curse, I stretched my body as if to confirm my newly regained freedom.

“Cure.”

The hole in my neck was just a small wound. I could heal it with a simple healing spell that didn’t even require an incantation.
Satisfied with my fully recovered body, I fixed my gaze on my opponent.

“Ah… Aaaaaah!? UUUGHH, GGGHHHHH!!!”

My opponent covered her mouth, clearly in agony. It seemed she could no longer maintain the bird-shaped curse.
Forgetting to show her melting confidence in her crimson eyes, she glared at me with eyes burning with emotion.
In contrast to before, this time I decided to smile at her with plenty of composure.

“How does it feel to have your composure shattered?”
“Y-you’re a… Holy… Knight…!?”
“I told you, it’s ‘former.’ Don’t make me repeat myself.”

Among knights, there are those who excel particularly in holy magic. That is what a Holy Knight is.
While it includes the image associated with the term “holy attribute,” a knight who has achieved a certain level of proficiency in both holy magic and swordsmanship is called a Holy Knight. It’s ancient history, so I’d rather she didn’t bring it up.

What I did was extremely simple.
It was a basic form of holy magic—a spell that imbues the body with the holy attribute. I simply embedded it within myself.
Vampires are a collective mass of dark-attribute mana that has gained consciousness. They are extremely vulnerable to the holy attribute.
Light against darkness—unless they have exceptional resistance, anything with the Holy attribute is a natural enemy to vampires just by touch.
By keeping it inside me rather than projecting it outward, I was able to flood them with a high concentration of Holy-attribute magic the instant they bit me.

…It was worth it.

I couldn’t afford to use even a trace of holy magic and let my opponent catch on.
Thanks to that, I ended up fighting in a style completely different from my usual one, but the result was a resounding success.

Hiding her mouth, which had been scorched and blistered by the holy power, Elsie stared intently at me.
Even though I’d taken the initiative, I didn’t know how much I could actually do. Still, retreating was not an option.
Now, I cast aside my sword—so I could fight in my true style.

“O Holy Sword, you who cleave the path toward the light.”

The words I spoke wove magic, birthing light from within me.
Light imbued with powerful holy magic gathered in my hand, gradually taking on a distinct form.
A single shape. A testament to power. My beloved sword, which I have wielded countless times.
My true weapon.

“Gather upon me and manifest! Materialization!!!”

A sword of light was clasped in my hand as I spoke the binding words.
It is as light as a feather, yet its edge is sharper than any blade.
A sword that cuts down whatever stands in its way and clears a path. A power born of such a prayer.

“Sacred Weapon. It doesn’t matter whether you turn into mist or shadow; from now, you won’t be able to escape me..”
“…A Holy Knight, with two colored eyes… You’re Felnoute Laylia, aren’t you…!?”
“I applaud you for remembering the name of a long-retired, dust-covered antique.”

I suppose that means I’m a famous person, after all. I can think of a few reasons why, but it’s not something worth worrying about right now.
I’ve revealed my mana—there’s no point in hiding it anymore.
This is where the real battle begins.