After agreeing to meet the guildmaster, Nora checked with her if she has time and then led me to her office.

Upon entering, my expectations got immediately crushed. I feel actually a bit bad for it. After Nora’s description, I expected some kind of bodybuilder woman, but she actually looks quite good, even for a woman her age. She has a slim athletic figure and long blond hair, but despite that, it’s obvious on the first look that she comes from a wealthy house.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Liliana. I am the guildmaster of the capital’s Adventurer Guild. Thank you for meeting me, despite your doubts.”

At first I was a bit confused, why she introduced herself without her family name, but I guess, they probably forbid her to use the name because she got disinherited.

“Nice to meet you, too. As you know, I am Benji, a F-Rank adventurer. Well, in my situation, I have to be careful who I share information with.” I answer her with a wry smile.

“I understand that.” She then turns to Nora. “That would be enough, thank you.”

After Nora left the room, she offers me a seat opposite of her desk.

“Well then. Nora already told you I would like to talk about those guys you caught. She told me, you know who send them after you? If possible, I would also like to know about the reason he send them after you.”

“Yes, I thought so. Well, there is a lot of stuff I have to cut out, and of course I can’t prove anything I say, is that alright?”

Before I tell her anything, I want to confirm that point. But she nods, and says, it is okay. For now, she just wants to know who was behind the criminals, so that she can start gathering information. Currently, she doesn’t even know where to start.

“The guy who sent them is Viscount Hayes.” Upon hearing that name, the guildmaster narrows her eyes. “He was lusting after an elf slave, but I managed somehow to buy her first. Usually, I wouldn’t get involve myself in this, but I recognized that slave as the missing sister of an adventurer acquaintance, so I couldn’t just sit and watch.”

Watching her reaction, I guess she understood the point that she is an illegal slave on how I emphasized the word ‘missing’. Not that I would openly admit it, but I thought it would help her understand the situation better. If she could get rid of him for me, that would be great. After all, it seems he picked a fight with her when he killed the guys in custody of the guild. And with the kind of personality the guildmaster has, that guy should have understood that she will not just sit by.

After that, the guildmaster asked me a few more questions and also told me a bit about that Viscount. Apparently, there are already rumors of him being involved in some shady business, but as of now nobody could gather any solid evidences. Because of that, nobody could openly accuse him of his crimes until now. Also, because of his ‘business connections’, he has some connections to even more influential nobles.

That concludes our discussion, and she promises to gather some information about this case. Maybe she even finds some evidence to bring him down.

On the way out, I stop again at Nora’s counter to thank her and say bye.

“No need to thank me. I just followed the guildmaster’s orders. Oh, right! I forgot about it earlier, but there was an adventurer called Rika looking for you.”

“Haha, yes. She already found me. Thank you.”

Then, finally leaving the guild, my stomach remembered me of how much time already passed by. I guess it’s time for lunch, so I buy some of these delicious meat skewers again, and then head to the library. It’s been a while since I visited the last time.

This time, I am not going for the magic section, but for the history section. It’s time to start my research about vampires, even though I don’t know where to start. I grab a book that summarizes the big events that happened in the past and skim through it. At some parts I stopped to read it more in detail. But even after a few more books, I couldn’t find any hints about vampires.

I don’t know how I should feel about not finding anything at all. Should I feel happiness, that there are no bad events happening around vampires? Should I feel sadness, that there are no other vampires and I am probably the first vampire in history? Should I feel anger at the people who turned me into a vampire, explaining nothing at all?

There is just so much going on inside of me I really don’t know anymore what I should feel. I slump down in my chair in frustration.

I guess I should call it a day and head back to the inn, right? It’s almost time for dinner.

After heading back and arriving at my room, I could hear some voices from inside. Guess they’re still talking. Well, no wonder after they got separated for so long. I knock and then enter the room.

“Hey, I’m back.” Upon entering, I saw both of them cuddling in Thalia’s bed. That sight is enough to let me forget the frustration from my unsuccessful research, and I feel my lips turning into a warm smile.

As they saw me entering the room, they immediately hurried and fixed their position, but they didn’t let go of each other’s hands.

“Welcome back, master.”

“Welcome back, Benji. Thank you so much for saving my little sister.”

“I would also like to thank you for letting me meet with Sis.”

I also sit down on a chair. “Haha. The moment I realized Thalia is Rika’s sister, there was no way I could just walk away.”

“But I am still curious about how you knew… After all, they didn’t say my name during the auction. So how could you be so sure?”

“Huh!? Ugh…” I didn’t expect that question… “Well, sorry. But I can’t reveal that.”

At that, it got a bit awkward. I guess it’s best to change the topic, even though it might not be a nice one.

“But talking about the auction, did Thalia already tell you about that orc noble and his henchmen?”

At my question, Rika’s expression grows serious. “Yes, she told me. I am absolutely not letting him have her!”

“Yes, me neither. But I have some news about that. I visited the guild to ask them if they got any information out of them. But someone killed them while they were under the guild’s custody. I don’t know if the noble got any information about us before they killed them.”

At my explanation, Rika’s mouth was hanging open, while Thalia became scared and grabs Rika’s hand even tighter.

I also told them about my meeting with the guildmaster, and that we have her support.

“I see. So we have to be careful. It would be good if we could bring him down, somehow.”

“Yeah. Or it would probably be best if we left the capital. But I still have some research I want to finish in the library.”

“I don’t think that would be enough. If he has really connections to other even more influential nobles, we would probably need to leave the country.”

I see. I didn’t really think of that. If he really has such good connections, we probably wouldn’t be safe in other cities either.

“Well, not like we need a solution right now. I just wanted to give you two an update. How about we have dinner?”

“Dinner would be great, but before I have to ask something of you.” At that, Rika stands up and walks towards me, and then bows deeply. “Would you please let me join your party with Thalia? I also want to help her repay you!”

“I don’t mind.”

“I know this is a big favor to ask. After all, our part of the reward would increase that way. Maybe it would be faster if I would just do requests by myself, but I don’t want to be separated from her again. So please.”

“As I said, I don’t mind.”

“What can I do to convince you?”

“Sis…” Thalia lets out a sigh of resignation.

It seems she is so focused on arguing that she doesn’t realize that I already agreed? I look over to Thalia and see her holding her head. At that, I had to try really hard to contain my laughter.