The Bloody Valkyrie

To the one who did the throwing, it was a delightful spectacle.

“Strike~,”

“Fantastic, Shalltear-sama.”

The two vampires excitedly clapped their hands while Shalltear raised her hands in celebration. Needless to say, the lesser vampire’s body was also obliterated along with the sentry, but no one really cared about that. Since it wasn’t even a member of Nazarick in the first place, there was no need to show concern for the death of a toy.

There’s no way Shalltear would remember a promise made with a human, either.

“Hmm, there’s one more, isn’t there?”

As Shalltear looked around, the two vampires quickly presented a sufficiently large rock.

“Oomph.”

As a bell chimed in the distance, Shalltear grasped the rather large rock in her hand.

Her arm moved at a frightening speed. A moment later, Shalltear happily announced her accomplishment.

“Hmm. This time… we can call that… two strikes.”

Another round of applause.

The sentries inside the cave who heard the bell were yelling that enemies have appeared. They were so loud that the group could hear them all the way from where they were.

Shalltear smiled softly towards the growing noise from within the cave and commanded.

“Now, go. You, climb a tree in the area and watch for anyone trying to run away. And you, get up front and lead the way. But, if a strong one shows up, it’s mine. Be sure to tell me.”

“Yes, Shalltear-sama.”

“Please have a safe trip.”

The vampire that was given the order moved in front of Shalltear. As she slowly walked towards the entrance, the vampire –

The ground gave away, no, it was a trap.

Shalltear may have been able to move out of the way, but a normal vampire’s agility wasn’t enough to react to the ground vanishing beneath their feet.

“Aw~”

The vampire was a low level servant lacking any skills to detect traps. Such an outcome was inevitable. Shalltear knew this, which is why she forgave her for the earlier mistake. But even so, she couldn’t keep the disappointment out of her voice. A laugh escaped her lips; one that was neither awkward nor sweet.

Thinking back, it should’ve been obvious that they would have laid a trap in front of the entrance. Her own foolishness at failing to deduce this beforehand, and the fact that her servant actually got caught in it, was aggravating. These thoughts swirled inside her and were released through Shalltear’s smile.

Most of all, the fact that a servant of Shalltear Bloodfallen, the Floor Guardian in charge of multiple levels of the Great Underground Tomb of Nazarick got caught by such a pathetic trap was something she couldn’t tolerate.

A voice filled with killing intent spilled out of Shalltear’s scarlet lips.

“I’m going to kill you, so come out immediately.”

With a large leap, the vampire showed herself at the edge of the trap. Except for her dress being dirtied with mud, she appeared unwounded.

“Do not disappoint me any further.”

“Forgive—“

“Leave it. Hurry up and go. Or would you like me to throw you like that trash over there?”

Seeing Shalltear motioning as if to grab her, the vampire understood what her master meant and let out a small yelp. Shalltear watched as her servant scurried into the cave, and slowly followed her inside.

 

Part 2

Inside a private room, a man stopped maintaining his weapon and focused his ears on the noise.

The bustle of people running, faint screams in the distance.

It was obvious they were under attack, but the enemy’s strength and numbers were unknown despite the fact that they were trained to shout such crucial information.

There was no way he just didn’t happen to hear them either. Even if he was inside a room, it was just a makeshift hole in the wall with a curtain serving as a door. Although the curtain was thick, it was nowhere near enough to block out voices entirely.

Their mercenary group, “Death Spreading Brigade” had seventy members. Although none of them were as strong as him, some were veterans who had survived many battles.

There was no way men like them would fall into this much disarray from a small party. Did that mean the enemy arrived in force? But there wasn’t enough noise to indicate a large battle, and he couldn’t sense the presence of that many foes either.

“Then… adventurers?.”

Few in number, but powerful in combat, then this uncomfortable feeling would make sense.

The man slowly stood up and strapped his weapon to his waist. For armor, he equipped a chainmail. It was easy to wear and didn’t take too much time to put on. Next, he grabbed a leather pouch containing several ceramic potion bottles and secured it to his belt with a knot. Having already equipped his necklace and ring, which were infused with protection magic, the preparations were complete.

The man threw open the curtains, as if he wanted to rip them from the hinges, and then stepped out into the makeshift hallway.

Lined an equal distance apart, the hallway was lit by plundered 「Continual Light」 lanterns so bright that it was hard to believe it was the inside of a cave.