Seeker 377

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Chapter 377. The Second Floor

We secured the basement and destroyed the vampire’s coffin.

At the same time, we successfully neutralized the former adventurers who had become its thralls.

Since we’d already explored the first floor, only the second and third floors remained.

It was highly likely that the vampire itself was lurking on one of those floors.

We climbed the stairs from the basement and returned to the first-floor entrance hall.

The entrance hall had a vaulted ceiling, about four times my height.

On the walls to the left and right of the main entrance were staircases leading up to the second floor.

However, the staircase on the right had partially collapsed, leaving only the one on the left usable.

Leading my companions, I began climbing the left staircase.

As we ascended, I reviewed strategies for fighting the vampire.

While it was possible we might have encountered it earlier, now that things were clearer, it was time to refresh our plan.

“The scariest thing about fighting the vampire itself is, of course, its[Charm]ability.”

“Yeah. But I’ve heard that when there’s a female adventurer in the party, the [Charm]always targets her. So, compared to you, Daichi-kun, it’s probably me or Hotaru-chan who’s at risk, right?”

I nodded at Kazane’s words.

Earlier, before our battle with the Vampire Wolf, I had suggested that I might be the target of [Charm].

However, based on prior encounters, vampires overwhelmingly targeted female adventurers with their [Charm].

In past battles, when there was a female adventurer in the party fighting a vampire, she was targeted 100% of the time.

While this precedent wasn’t absolute, it seemed safe to assume that my chances of being targeted were exceedingly low.

For reference, the vampire’s stats were roughly equivalent to an Aerial Dragon or slightly higher.

Without the threat of [Charm], its strength shouldn’t pose much of a challenge for us at our current level.

“St-still, it’s scarier if Kazane-san gets targeted than me, right—Gyaaah! …What was that? Oh, just a rat? Don’t scare me like that!”

As usual, Yuzuki clung to me nervously, shrieking at the sight of a rat scurrying out from the hallway ahead on the second floor. She clung even tighter.

“Hey, Yuzuki. This is getting hard to walk. Can’t you ease up a bit?”

“Ugh, even if you say that… I mean, Senpai, what’s there to complain about when a cute girl like me is clinging to you? You’ve gotten way too spoiled lately!”

“That’s not the point. Honestly, carrying you in a princess carry might actually be easier than this.”

“P-princess carry…? If you insist… I-I wouldn’t mind, you know?”

My junior, blushing and fidgeting, looked up at me with puppy-dog eyes.

Her emotional stability was all over the place.

“Ugh, I’d say I’m jealous, but isn’t this really not the time for that?” Kazane scolded us.

She was absolutely right.

“Well, uh, we’re staying alert, don’t worry.”

“And I’ll be ready to fight when it comes to it, for sure!”

Her fear criteria were still a mystery to me. At times, I even suspected she was feigning it.

While dealing with that, we reached the top of the stairs and arrived at the landing connecting the left and right staircases.

From the middle of the landing, a hallway stretched further into the building.

We approached the hallway.

Its layout was similar to that of the first floor.

There were four doors in total—two on each side of the hallway.

However, unlike the first floor, this hallway had a staircase at the end leading upward.

That staircase clearly led to the third floor.

We decided to leave the staircase for later and began systematically checking each door, just as we had on the first floor.

Though I suspected the vampire wasn’t on this floor, leaving no room for doubt was the better option.

Behind each door, we found rooms that seemed to be guest quarters or dining halls.

The first three doors held nothing of note, and we moved to the fourth.

“Wait, stop. Daichi-kun, I sense something inside. Three presences.”

Kazane issued a warning, likely using her usual [Presence Detection] skill.

We couldn’t just ignore what lay beyond.

Weapons ready, we pushed the door open cautiously, prepared for an attack.

The dark room was illuminated by the light of our lamps.

It appeared to be a guest room, with decayed furniture such as a desk, chair, bed, and wardrobe.

The monsters were near the ceiling, deep in the room.

Three enormous bats, unnaturally large, hung upside-down from the ceiling.

“──Screeeeech!”

As the lamp light hit them, they immediately spread their wings and lunged at us.

We’d encountered this monster before.

It was a Vampire Bat, like those we’d fought in the cave on our way to battle the Aerial Dragon in Wyvern Valley.

Their wingspan easily exceeded four meters.

It was impressive how they maneuvered so adeptly in this cramped room, but—

“They’re not much of a threat—there!”

“Totally! Take this!”

“Kwaaah!”

“Finishing blow—[Tri Fire]!”

In mere seconds, the three Vampire Bats were overwhelmed by our barrage of attacks—mine, Kazane’s, Griff’s, and Yuzuki’s—and turned to magic stones.

Even at level 30, they weren’t difficult opponents. Now, they were no match for us.

We checked the room for any additional threats but found nothing unusual.

Kazane picked up the magic stones from the floor and turned to me.

“Looks like this room’s a dud too, huh?”

“Yeah. That leaves the third floor.”

“Ugh… Soon we’ll be done with this creepy castle.”

“Kweh! Kweh!”

After searching the fourth room, we returned to the hallway and climbed the staircase to the next floor.