The Bloody Valkyrie

Shalltear’s eyes widened as she jumped out of the basin with a speed faster than the wind. Although she had climbed all the way to the top and scanned her surroundings, even her eyes that could see in the dark could not see past the trees. Even when she focused her ears, the only sound that she could hear was the rustling of vegetation caused by the wind.

Shalltear did not possess skills for detection or magic for searching. In the current situation, finding a human in this forest was impossible.

“Damn it!”

She shouted in anger.

She lost them. Honestly, she had been too complacent. With this— it made two. She grinded her teeth.

“Come, my kin!”

Beneath Shalltear’s feet, her shadow squirmed, and several wolves protruded forth. Needless to say, these were not normal wolves. Their dark fur was as black as the night, and their red eyes glinted with a cruel cunning.

Level 7 monster, Vampire Wolf.

Although Shalltear could summon numerous monsters with her skill, 「Raise Kin」, only these wolves could track their enemy.

“Follow him. Kill every human in this forest!”

A roar like command, the ten vampire wolves ran in concert into the forest.

Even as she watched them from the back, she felt that the chances of them succeeding were low. An image of Aura floated in her mind. While probably not at her level, a ranger would probably have a few tricks up his sleeve when it came to covering his tracks.

In other words, it was necessary to assume that he had gotten away and to think of the next move. Shalltear rushed back to her original spot and questioned the female warrior, as if she was going to attack her.

“First, is there anyone besides you who received a potion from the one in black armor?”

“No, there aren’t any.”

“Okay! Then next question. Is there a chance that the ranger will rejoin the remaining team?”

“None. In a situation where our team faced a good chance of being annihilated, his job was to abandon the team and return to the city. This was the path with the highest chance of our survival.”

It was a preparation that accounted for both the possibility of defeat and their surroundings. Because of this, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Shalltear had been driven to a corner. Realizing this, she flared in anger.

“Puny humans, always having so many cunning tricks—. If I ever get the permission to subjugate your kind, I’ll make sure that you’re treated like the maggots that you all are!”

Lashing out in anger did not change the reality of the current situation.

It was almost certain that the existence of a vampire would be delivered to the city.

It was unknown whether or not the ranger was able to see what she looked like. It was the middle of the night, in the corner of the basin nonetheless. It was difficult to imagine that a human’s eyesight would have been able to perceive her appearance under such conditions.

Even so—

“Damn it!”

Shouting curses, Shalltear fell into thought.

Her orders from Ainz—

Your targets this time are criminals. The type that would not inconvenience anyone even if they were to disappear.

If any of the bandits you come across are able to use martial skills or magic, you must capture them at all costs, even if you have to suck their blood and enslave them. If you find any criminals who are knowledgeable about the world’s affairs or wars, they too, you must capture. Also, do not cause a scene. If the movements of Nazarick are made known, there is a possibility that it will interfere with our plans in the future.

—were such.

Then she had already gone against most of her directives

Shalltear suppressed the mounting desire to claw out her hair.

“Still, okay. Still, okay. Still, okay.”

She repeated those words, as if she was trying to hypnotize herself.

Even if the information about a vampire spread to the city, it wasn’t as if her name or anything regarding Nazarick was included.

In other words, there was nothing to connect the vampire that attacked this place with Nazarick. The people in the city will presume that the mercenaries at this hideout were slaughtered by a wild vampire— if such a thing even existed.

Regardless, the story had its fair share of holes, but it was impossible to make any further assumptions without more information.

Once again, Shalltear fell into a whirlwind of thoughts.

The next problem was, with her assumptions as the premise, how to deal with this woman.