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Having appeased Jezsere and Zurnalin who were clamoring to hug me to sleep, and Ann, I leaped onto the roof by myself.

The night sky was overcast and dreary, just like my heart. From within my dimensional ring, I pulled out a ruby-red crystal the size of a small apple and began channeling my mana into it. A while later, I sang into it and it started glowing in response. Having done that, I channelled a little more mana into it, causing it to shake, after which it began playing the exact same song I sang…

“I have a pen, I have an apple, ah apple pen. I have a pen, I have pineapple, ah pineapple pen…”

(TL: original lyrics were taken from a Vietnamese song/cover? called Thêm Một Lần Đau. That’s out of my expertise so Pineapple Pen is all you’re getting.)

Oh crap! This recording crystal actually works! A fantasy world version of a voice recorder… I’m leaving it a five-star review! Still… it seems rather rare, given that I only had this single crystal inside. Also… how do I erase that part… someone, tell me quick!

A time of crisis and yet Ferti’nier is nowhere to be found… guess it’s all up to me then…

Without my knowledge, half an hour had passed and I still had no idea how to erase a previous record in the crystal. It was then that Regine popped up, thin nightwear clinging to her toned, beautiful body, golden hair dripping with water…

“Master.”

“Regine… it’s late, don’t you want to get some sleep?”

“I want to accompany Master.”

Regine gently slid herself beside me, her distinct fragrance wafting into my nose, mixed with the refreshing smell of a recent bath.

“Oh, in that case, just give me a second while I settle this…” I continued fiddling with the recording crystal. Unfortunately, no matter how I tugged, scratched, bit or knocked, I couldn’t figure out how to use the crystal.

Seeing me struggle a good while without result, Regine leaned in with both her hands wrapped around my own and whispered, “Master, is that a voice recorder?”

“Mhm.” I gave the crystal a quick spin before saying, “I know what it is, but I just can’t figure out how to work it and it’s giving me a headache.”

“Master, you need to infuse your mana into it.”

“I know, I’ve already tried it.” She seemed to have misunderstood my question, so I decided to infuse my mana into the crystal once more to show her. “I vaguely know how to record, but…”

A second later, I began to regret my choice of actions…

“I have a pen, I have an apple, ah apple pen…”

“…”

“…”

Awkward…

Finally, after an excruciating few seconds, Regine broke the silence. “Mas-ter, I’m assuming you wish to erase that recording?”

I nodded woodenly. “Mhm.”

“I used to be a Thief in the past so I have experience with such rare tools. The recording can be erased. Since the recording is created from the stored mana within, that mana just has to be extracted to erase the sound…”

Hmmm… sounds simple enough. Extract and infuse again.

In a lot of ways, the magical tools in this world were rather simple to operate, they just required Mages to do so. That was one of the main reasons why magical technology wasn’t able to prosper. Take this recording crystal, in order to erase the recording, it not only required a Mage to do so, but that Mage had to have a fine degree of control as well. In other words, not every Mage could afford to use it if they wished to reuse it.

Either way, I was able to erase the song within the crystal under Regine’s guidance. From now on, there would be no talk of pineapples or pens…

“Master, you wish to sing with this?”

“That’s right. I know. How about I let you hear it first?”

“Sure.”

“Here goes nothing then…”

Today’s sun came earlier than it had ever before. With the Undead horde surrounding the village, the villagers were barely able to get any sleep at all, each more tired than the other as they dragged themselves out of their homes, dark rings around their eyes.

When the first ray of sunlight hit me, I gently shook the blonde girl resting by me. Her sleeping face was a sight to behold. The way her mouth was slightly ajar as she breathed in and out was especially alluring. Her faint fragrance was a feast for my senses as I hugged her to sleep last night. And perhaps it was because I was with her, but she seemed to have rested well too. In fact, her frosty demeanour threatened to fall apart as she woke up with a smile on her lips. Seeing that, I couldn’t help but want her to rest a little longer. But the sun had risen, and it was now time to fight.

With the village completely surrounded, there was no avenue of retreat to be had. If the Vampire did not have anything else up his sleeves… No. He had to have something!

Regardless, there was no escaping without a fight now. All I needed now was an excuse to take Nicole away without her hating me.

Under the leadership of Leeder, the villagers had gathered up all the horses and carriages they could find. These were meant to transport the young and elderly in the village. Bandwagons weren’t exactly the most suited for our purposes, but thanks to the hard work of the carpenters, external defenses had been bolted onto the wagons in the form of metal boards and planks. It was a difficult task, but it was all for the children and elderly.

The young men of the village had gathered with simple weapons, some dressed in leather armor. Those who weren’t armored wore more layers of clothes than usual. Even though a layer or two of hemp clothing wasn’t going to change much in the battle, it at least gave them some degree of comfort.

So… the question now was… should I leap off the roof while hugging Regine?

As I seriously pondered this question, Regine began to stir, rubbing her eyes gently as she murmured, “mmm… Master? Is it dawn?”

“Mhm.”

Judging by the sun, it was probably five to six in the morning now. The villagers below were all hustling and bustling about like a bunch of worker ants. As the men prepared themselves for battle, the women helped to pack up all the valuables.

To be honest, Leeder was an admirable leader. Under his leadership, the villagers had gone about their work efficiently. If only… Bah. I’ll just head down to say hi first.

I leapt off the roof with Regine in my arms then slowly approached the man. Upon spotting me, he stiffened a little, which was only to be expected, seeing as I slaughtered dozens of his comrades not too long ago. Even now, I still did not know how I was going to explain that to the family of the deceased.

Leeder promptly lowered his head. “Good morning, sir, what are your orders?”

“Nothing in particular, I just wanted to have a look.” I swept my eyes across the busy villagers, spotting a number of unaccompanied children on carriages. I couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt in my heart then. “Those children…”

Leeder immediately knew what I was referring to. He solemnly nodded his head and answered, “are all the children of my brothers… Even… if they are no longer here, I cannot just leave their offspring to die in the village…”

“I see…” I let out a long sigh, my heart a maelstrom of emotions right now. If I hadn’t killed those bandits, they would have gone on to rob more innocents. At the same time, those bandits that I killed had their own families as well… Sigh…

Seeing me silent for a while, Leeder first looked around before boldly asking, “Sir, do you think our escape will work?”

“It will!:

Of course, it would work. It was just a matter of whether those villagers would be with us when we escaped. I couldn’t be sure how many of them would escape successfully, but I couldn’t show the slightest hint of hesitation in front of them. That was the only way I could get them to agree to my plans. At that point, their opinion on this matter wouldn’t matter.

As I spent more time in this world, I was beginning to understand how much being powerless was a curse and a sin at the same time…

Still, Leeder was visibly comforted by my confidence, revealing a smile of his own in the process. “Sir, once we’ve successfully escaped, where should we go to live? After all, our village is…”

“Where is not an issue as long as we have money.”

I knew how bad their financial situation was at the moment. That was why when he asked that question, I generously pulled out a wooden chest from my dimensional ring to back my words. The chest wasn’t locked so its lid came off when the chest banged against the ground. At the same time, it spat out a bunch of gold coins…

Without wasting anymore words, I kicked open the lid, revealing an almost blinding pile of gold.

“Gold… so much gold…”

Having been presented with a miraculously large pile of gold, the villagers, including Leeder, all had on a blank-faced stare as if they were under some sort of spell.

To the villagers of Lyon who hadn’t been out of their village much, such a pile of gold was even more shocking than the Vampire’s invasion. A number of them rubbed their eyes and smacked themselves, just in case this was a dream of some sort. In fact, there were even those who were drooling…