Osian's gaze shifted from fiddling with his glass to the interior of the tavern.
There had been patrons, if not many, but now it was as quiet as if the place had been closed.
“You've come to see me again. Have we still not resolved our differences?”
It's different now.
Osian might have been at a disadvantage then because he was unarmed, but now he wore a sword.
It's not just the sword. He had more control over the Starlight than he ever had before, and now he had access to the power of the moon.
He didn't know how strong the Grace Seeker was, but he had no intention of letting her defeat him helplessly.
Osian drew his sword, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
Regardless, Grace leisurely placed her order with the bartender.
“I'll have the usual, please.”The bartender casually placed a glass in front of her.
Grace picked it up in her pale, calloused hands.
Her long, disheveled black hair and the way she sipped her drink would have made any man stare in fascination.
But for Osian, even that was enough to make him wary.
She was beautiful but she was a rose with sharp thorns and poison.
Grace smirked as she set the glass down.
“Don't look at me like that. I'm a regular here.”
Osian looked at the bartender, who nodded wordlessly.
There was nothing false about it, not even the casual way he'd handed her a glass just a moment ago.
“So, you want to tell me that you came here by chance and ran into me?”
“How prickly. Were things between us that bad?”
“Your youngest was like that.”
“Hoo-hoo. That's true, too. I won't deny that I came to see you. But I'm not really looking for a fight, so can you please put that ugly thing out of sight?”
There was no hostility in Grace's playful tone.
It was possible that it was a trick, but Osian doubted it.
There was no proof, just a knight's instinct.
“I don't need to spoil the mood when I'm drinking something so delicious.”
Osian took a sip of his applejack.
“Surprising, though. A wanted felon in the city of Tirna, and a regular at a bar so close to home.”
“That's because this is Tirna, and in this city, if they have a good paying customer, they don't care if he's a criminal. Besides, in a place like this, they don't ask you who you are, do they?”
Grace cupped her chin in one hand and lifted her glass with the other, holding it up to the light above the bar table.
The way the light scattered over the glass as she gazed in rapture at the liquor was almost photographic.
“I guess it's no wonder there are knights who harness the power of starlight.”
“.......”
Osian's fingers stopped fiddling with his glass.
Grace's words were quite meaningful.
She wasn't just talking about his outwardly displayed abilities.
“Do you know about me?”
“I've heard stories, though they're very old.”
Grace held out her glass toward Osian.
When Osian stared at it, Grace smiled seductively.
“Can’t you see my arm is about to fall off? Since we’re all drinking together, wouldn’t it be okay to clink glasses together?”
Osian reluctantly gave her a toast.
-Clink.
The sound of glass clinking echoed briefly in the silent bar.
“I remember the lore about the knights. A power now said to be lost, but once upon a time they were truly great.”
“Is that why you came to me, to confirm that?”
“Something like that. I'm curious, now that there's a wielder of a lost power, I wonder if this is some kind of destiny.”
“I'm surprised. The others don't believe in it, to be honest.”
“It's such a long time ago, I was skeptical when I heard about it, but after what you've done, I'm convinced it's not a lie.”
“So. Now that you know a little bit about me, do you have an offer?”
“Nope. Nothing. I'm just here for a drink tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“I'm just curious to see how someone with your old powers fares in the world now, how you deal with adversity and hardship. So I'd like to keep an eye on you, if you don't interfere with our work, of course.”
“Does the one waiting outside the shop feel the same way?”
Osian pointed to the huge presence he'd sensed outside earlier.
“Don't be so hard on him. He's very loyal to me. That's why he's not coming inside.”
“It sounds like you might get in if I try.”
“If he was, he'd be here a long time ago.”
“You seem pretty strong. I doubt any of your siblings are weak.”
Osian gulped down the rest of his applejack and set his glass down with a clink.
“With a vampire at the head of the pack, I'm sure the ones below you are just as strong.”
“.......”
This time it was Grace who stopped moving.
Her round, red eyes locked onto Osian's were unusually emotionless.
“You know the old tale, and I know the old tale.”
Osian ordered another round, and the bartender set a new glass in front of him.
“Black hair that melts into the darkness, pale skin, an inhumanly beautiful form, blood-red eyes and lips. Considering your actual abilities, it's almost......too obvious.”
“I'm surprised. I didn't realize you were so perceptive.”
“I'm surprised too. I thought vampires were almost extinct.”
In the era in which the game is set, vampires were quite common.
Most of them were monsters, of course, and were nothing more than the targets of Osian's overthrow.
The vampire ancestor was one of the trickier bosses to take on.
Of course, the castle-bound bastard had been killed by Osian time and time again.
‘Wait. So I'm the one who destroyed the vampires?'
I didn't care what happened to the rest of the vampires after I killed the ancestor.
Now that I thought about it, I felt like I had made a huge impact.
I shrugged a little, but what could I do?
If I had left the vampires alone, they might have risen up and created a vampire empire.
Besides, if Grace was a vampire survivor at the time, there was no way she wouldn't know me.
Perhaps she was a vampire born in later generations. The lineage is still alive, even if it is just a thin thread.
Grace replied with a bitter smile.
“It is inevitable. The weaker races are culled and it's only natural that they fight to stay alive.”
Grace's voice held an intense desire for something.
“Of course, I'm driven by that cause, but I'm also curious about you now, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you'll do next.”
“I don't remember being a clown on stage.”
“You're more of an entertainer, if that makes sense. No one laughs at what you do.”
“So, now you're just going to sit in the audience and clap?”
Grace sipped her glass and smirked.
“Well, it’s still a bit early for us to be active. There’s also the youngest one’s job. But more than that, the time is approaching.”
“What time are you talking about?”
“It's going to rain soon.”
Grace's words had a certain meaning.
Was it really that special to say it was going to rain?
“Seems like you're just making a big deal about the weather.”
“It may seem that way, but Tirna is a bit different. The rain here is particularly long. Remember that day when it poured down heavily a while ago?”
Osain recalled the day he had encountered Asmer in the middle of the night.
“It will be like that for a long time, one very wet and dirty day after another. What do you think will happen when the world is engulfed in dark clouds and rain?”
Grace looked down at her glass.
The crimson wine and the large ice cubes in the glass seemed like they were Tirna.
“With this weather, the guards are patrolling less and watching less. It's the perfect time for something sneaky to happen, and besides, Tirna's been possessed by something, and this time of year is notoriously prone to incidents.”
Grace nodded and raised her arms to stretch.
Her hair obscured it, but she was wearing a sleeveless black dress.
When she retracted her outstretched arms, Grace giggled.
“This rainy season is going to be long, so for now, the Brotherhood is taking a break.”
“Why would you bother telling me that?”
“Since we've met.”
Grace rose from her seat and a bill lay beneath her drink.
“I'll be going. I've had a great time tonight. Maybe we can have another drink sometime, somewhere quieter and more private than this.”
Osian didn't reply, and Grace didn't expect one either, so she casually left the store.
The second, who had been guarding the entrance from outside the shop, followed casually at her side.
“So, how was it when you checked it out?”
“Hmm. It wasn't easy.”
Grace stared at the bar where Osian remained.
“That feeling of anxiety and danger, it wasn't for nothing.”
He didn't say it, but Grace knew.
The power Osian wielded was the one that had choked the life out of the old clan.
She hadn't realized it that day in Osian's house, the glow had been too faint to see, but seeing him today made it clear that he is not to be messed with.
The light was clearer than before. Facing it, Grace recognized the instinctive sense of danger that came with being a vampire.
We must not face that thing.
“So we just, you know, watch it. Without touching it. You know?”
“Yeah. But what about the youngest, and the fourth, who's the closest to the youngest, he's really pushing it.”
“It's best to avoid fighting as much as possible, but they're not going to listen to everything I tell them.......”
Grace shook her head.
“Let's just hope it doesn't blow up into something big. It's going to rain soon, and we've got other things to worry about.”
Grace and the Second disappeared into the darkness of Tirna.
*
Osian arrived at Violet Fox the next day.
As he opened the door and walked in, he saw Edgar slumped in his chair.
“You......!”
Edgar's eyes widened at the sight of Osian.
He was in the middle of applying an ice pack to a bump on his forehead and head.
“I thought you'd be out for a day or more, but you're still going strong.”
“You got me, asshole! Come on, I'll kick your ass for real this time!”
Edgar bared his teeth and glared at Osian while Osian glared back at Edgar with a stern stare.
“You talk a lot of crap for a defeated subject.”
“I wasn't serious back then, and if I set my mind to it, I could end the likes of you in less than a minute!”
“I wasn't serious back then either. When I unleash my power, you'll take less than 30 seconds.”
“No! When I unleash my true power, you're done! It won't even take ten seconds!”
“Yeah, actually, I can do it in less than three seconds.”
Ena walked up to them as they argued.
“Come on, it's not like this is a child's fight.”
“.......”
“.......”
Osian was silent at Ena's comment, and so was Edgar.
Osian glared at Edgar. Why are you shutting up? You're a kid.
Regardless, Ena took the ice from Edgar and wiped his forehead with a cloth.
“Ouch, ouch, it hurts, it hurts!”
“It's okay, from the looks of it, the bump will go down in a day.”
Ena handed him a new ice pack. Edgar just glared at her with his fat face, but didn't say anything.
I was surprised. Judging by Lorraine's and Diolan's reactions, this kid didn't seem to have a thing to fear in the world, but in front of Ena, he was a strangely tame lamb.
‘Considering that Lupona did the same thing, should I assume that this is one of Ena's abilities?’
Ena said it was, and now I was more inclined to believe her than to be surprised.
Just then, Ronan was coming down the stairs from the second floor, carrying a newspaper.
“Fufu. I see you're not fighting today.”
“If he makes the first move, yes, but if not, as a knight, I can show him some mercy.”
“I'm the one who showed you mercy!”
Edgar blurted out, still not quite able to stomach his pride, and covered his forehead with an ice pack.
“Mr. Osian. I have good news. The settlement from the Archaeological League has come in for the gold coins and treasure they counted.”
“Good timing.”
“And have you heard the latest from Balud, the director of the North Blinders?”
Ronan held out the newspaper toward Osian.
The article in it was about Balud.
[North Blinders, New Business!]
“A food business.”
Not food, but the overall management and distribution of food ingredients. Among other things, it mentioned that they would be handling expensive olive oil.
Considering the North Blinders' own financial resources, this could be a substantial business if it goes through.
“He’s been getting his ass handed to him, and now he’s got a seat at the table.”
What can I say?
Osian couldn't shake the feeling of unease as he read the article.