Seeker 371

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Chapter 371. Meeting

I followed the guild staff lady up to the second floor. At the top of the stairs was a hallway with three doors along the right side.

One door at the front, one in the middle, and one at the end; the front door opened.

A young boy of the Wolf Fang tribe came out, sobbing loudly, and a guild staff member guided him to the room at the end.

We were directed to the front door. It was the door the boy had come from.

When the door opened, it revealed a spacious room that looked like a conference room. Three people were seated there. An imposing bearded man, a young woman who seemed to be a new guild staff member, and a man who looked like a villager we’d seen earlier.

The bearded man, sitting at the head, looked at the guild staff who had guided us and asked, “Only these three? Where’s the other party?”

The guild staff member hurried to his side and whispered in his ear. The big man’s eyes widened.

Then, he turned to us and said,

“I’m Gustav, the Guild Master of this Adventurers' Guild. Sorry, but could I see your stats? It’s hard to believe.”

So, we went up to the big man who called himself the Guild Master and opened our status screens.

After checking them, he murmured, “I’m surprised, but this is perfect timing. That’s a relief,” and urged us to sit down. There were enough seats for over a dozen people, and even after we sat down, many seats remained empty.

Once the guild staff who had guided us left, the meeting began. The topic was, of course, the quest details—subjugating a vampire.

First, the young woman who seemed to be a new staff member reviewed the situation.

Yesterday, a villager from Midna Village, about three hours’ walk from here, requested a zombie subjugation. A solo adventurer of the Wolf Fang tribe named Aira took on the quest and went to eliminate them.

However, according to the villagers, Aira defeated two zombies but was then bitten by another humanoid monster that appeared suddenly, turning her into a zombie. The villagers said the monster’s gaze rendered her defenseless, and she approached it without resistance.

The guild deduced that, although the villagers said “zombie,” given the monster’s appearance and actions, the true enemy is likely an S-class monster known as a “vampire”—and that brings us to the present.

Incidentally, the young woman explaining this is the one who received the zombie subjugation request from the villagers yesterday. She said, “I should have realized something was off yesterday…” and looked deeply remorseful.

The Guild Master said, “It’s also my responsibility,” and then urged everyone to move forward. From there, the discussion focused on how to resolve this incident.

First, we received a basic lesson on vampires as monsters.

Vampires are special creatures, boasting combat abilities on par with, if not exceeding, dragons, and they require a lot of caution.

In the monster encyclopedia (where typical monsters are described in half or a third of a page), vampires have an entire three-page section detailing their abilities and characteristics.

For example, they can transform those they drain with a blood-sucking attack into monsters, making them their “servants.” They can also charm living beings with a mystic gaze, controlling them at will. And they’re vulnerable to sunlight, which causes them damage—but there are countless traits to consider.

Some information also seemed uncertain.

For example, vampires and their servants rarely enter locked residences. Even a simple wooden house with a closed door is usually safe; vampires or their servants generally don’t break in to attack.

However, there are exceptions. In one case, a person inside a residence became charmed by the vampire’s mystic gaze (apparently, they looked through a wooden window and saw the vampire outside) and invited the monsters inside.

In any case, there are few recorded incidents of vampires appearing in human settlements, so some aspects of their abilities and traits remain unconfirmed.

The person asking this question was Kazane.

“You said vampires turn those they weaken with their blood-sucking attacks into their ‘servants.’ But once someone becomes a ‘vampire’s servant,’ is there no way to save them?”

Kazane’s voice, directed at the Guild Master, trembled slightly, tinged with sadness.

At that moment, I thought of the young Wolf Fang boy. Earlier, he’d left this room in tears. What could that mean?

The Guild Master crossed his arms, looking troubled, and answered,

“We can’t say for certain... but in most past cases, nothing could turn them back to humans.”

“What do you mean by ‘most’? Are there cases where someone turned back?”

When I asked, the Guild Master nodded.

“Yes, there was one exception. When the vampire was defeated without killing the ‘servant,’ that person reportedly reverted to human form.”

“Then, if we ignore the ‘servants’ and take down the main vampire first, that should work, right?”

Yuzuki rose, gripping the table.

But the Guild Master’s face remained grave.