How to Live As the Vampire Lord

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“Just as I expected! Sir Eugene is truly outstanding!” 

Gardye’s thick lips looked like they were about to stretch to his ears.

“Kieeeek! Silver! We’re rich! We’re going to be filthy rich! Kieeeeeee!”

The spirit of desire seemed to be overjoyed as well.

***

“What do you think?” Romari asked with sparkling eyes.

“Kiek!? This is quite good for a talking raccoon.
I am now certain that she chose the wrong profession.
It would have been better if she became an artist instead of a wizard.”

Mirian could no longer complain about not getting to design the crest after seeing Romari’s design.
It was truly spectacular.

A black dragon with fiery red eyes was spreading its wings above a spear and a sword crossed into the shape of an ‘x.’ The scene looked quite imposing and impressive.

“You’re pretty good with your hands.
If I knew nothing, then I would have thought that this was the work of an artisan.
Good work.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Romari smiled shyly, holding herself back from blurting out that more credit was due to her outstanding inspiration as a wizard rather than her dexterity.
She felt quite proud and happy to receive proper praise and recognition for the first time.

‘Huh!? What am I even thinking about?’ Romari found herself unconsciously thinking that it wouldn’t be bad to enter Eugene’s service.
She quickly shook herself to her senses. ‘I can’t possibly keep doing things like this.
It’s already been more than a month since I had an opportunity to focus on my research.
I’ve only suffered until now.’

As she expected, vampires were seductive and elusive.
She was shocked to think that she was almost coaxed into having such thoughts.
Thus, she spoke cautiously.
“Then, will it be okay to say that I played a part in the subjugation? About what was promised…”

“Take what you need.”

“Thank you!”

“Oh, and it seems you will need to return to Maren by yourself for now.
Something came up, so I will need to stay for a little longer before I can return to Maren.”

“What? Ah, yes!” She was puzzled for a moment, but Romari quickly nodded.
It appeared that she would have more time to research and experiment with her chimera.

“Well, then.
Should I go ahead and pack my bags?”

“Fine.
I will leave you some men, so make sure to take care of the materials on the ship.”

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“Yes!”

“Oh, by the way, do you know alchemy as well?”

Romari suddenly paused amidst her excitement for her upcoming departure.

“Uh, alchemy is a fundamental area of study for all wizards.
In addition, it’s fundamental to deal with various minerals to create chimeras.”

“Huh, is that so? Then you should know how to smelt as well, right?”

“Yes…”

Romari seemed hesitant to answer.
She felt somewhat uneasy.

“That’s good to hear.
I might come to possess a silver mine soon.
It would be better to have a wizard, right? Including the smelting…”

“I will build a laboratory as soon as I return to Maren.
Wizards have superior techniques for refining silver from raw ores compared to the dwarves, especially since our school focuses on producing chimeras.
I can proudly assure you that our technique with silver refinement is the best.
Leave it to me!”

Romari revealed her desires while exhaling raggedly.
Eugene was rather surprised, but it was a natural reaction for her.
In the first place, wizards were forced to work in the world because they could not afford their precious, expensive ingredients.

Moreover, silver, along with sulfur and mercury, was considered one of the most commonly used minerals by wizards.
The Blood Shadow School focused on creating chimeras and controlling monsters.
Thus, silver was an indispensable material for their practice.

It was impossible for Romari to control herself when she heard that her employer might own a silver mine soon.

“Huff, huff.
Please… Please allow me to smelt silver! I will give everything for you, Sir Eugene.”

“I won’t need your everything.
Anyways, I understand.”

“Yes! Haa…”

“Hoho! Even the little raccoon finally came to realize the true value of silver! Look at her eyes! She won’t be able to sustain herself without silver anymore!”

It didn’t seem quite right, but it was also difficult to refute Mirian’s words.

***

That evening…

Eugene sent Delmondo and Romari to their respective destinations before calling Galfredik and the three squad leaders.
They were quite surprised to hear that Eugene would be taking Mount Nadir instead of returning to Maren.

However, their eyes were soon filled with greed.
They actively contributed their opinions.

“There is a world of difference between lords in possession of mines or evil lands and those without.
I unconditionally agree with the master’s words.
What about you three?”

Galfredik turned his fierce gaze.
They weren’t in a position to protest in the first place, and the three squad leaders had been enticed as soon as they heard about the silver mine.
They answered simultaneously.

“Please give us your orders.”

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“You will become a lord in name and reality if you can take control of Mount Nadir’s silver mine, Sir Eugene! Truthfully, I was also after the silver mine when I took control of… Heup!”

Rudrian mistakenly blurted out the truth in the heat of the moment.
He quickly realized his mistake and shut his mouth.

However, Eugene and Galfredik would never miss it.

“I think you were about to tell us something interesting.
You occupied Ronan Village because of the silver mine?”

“Well… that’s right.
To tell you the truth, it’s not just me, but also all those who were defeated by Sir Eugene.
All of them had Mount Nadir’s silver mine in mind.”

“I did think it was strange.”

Even if the situation in the Carls Baggins Peninsula was bad, it had been strange to encounter armed groups once or twice every day.
However, it made sense if it had been due to the silver mine.

“Lord Bemos was the only immediate descendant of Marquis Archivold who passed away.
The other children of Archivold are still bickering away in other areas of the peninsula, and even the lords and the city mayors are joining in the fray.”

“But since this area is located far away, and since everyone is wary of the City of Moffern and staying still, small fries like you were left alone to compete?”

Rudrian would have burst into outrage if any other knight had spoken such disdainful words to him, but Galfredik was an exception.
He simply answered while scratching his head.
“Yes…”

“You thought you could become a lord if you occupied a couple of villages and take Mount Nadir’s silver mine?”

“Yes.”

“You weren’t exactly wrong, I guess.
Of course, you would have been dead in a few months if you did occupy the mountain, though.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

“Tsk, tsk.” Galfredik clicked his tongue. 

Eugene was the one who answered in a cold voice.
Eugene was now more or less knowledgeable about how the world worked.

“It belonged to one of their siblings.
Do you really think that the other descendants of the Archivold family would leave the silver mine untouched? Especially when a baseless, nameless mercenary is pretending to be its owner?”

“…..!”

“It wouldn’t have mattered who took control of the mine in the end.
If it was someone like you, they would still suffer a tragic end.”

Eugene was ignorant in the past, but now he knew.
It would be useless to claim ownership of a territory as a lord if they didn’t have the justification and the qualification to do so.

Power, fame, influence, origin.

Only those who fulfilled all requirements were capable of becoming mercenaries from bandits, knights from mercenaries, and finally lords from knights.

This was how the world worked.