Witnessing the partial transformation of the vampire in front of him, Henry still bore a passive attitude in response. He showed no sign of fear towards the vampire for he knew full well the vampire was powerless against him should they begin crossing arms and exchanging fists.

Arthur, the vampire, also realised this fact himself. Ever since he became a vampire, none had not flinched from him whenever he revealed his true nature, until now.

If there was anything to worry about, it would be the two girls by his side. Henry had considered leaving them behind in his pocket dimension but that didn’t sit right with him. Had he done so, they would be no different than trophy wives and he had no intentions of them becoming mere trophies.

A strong woman is a good woman, Henry deemed it so in his heart.

“This is… curious,” said the vampire. “I don’t smell a whiff of fear from you. And the two ladies behind you, I smell fear from them but not as much as I expected. Her Majesty’s word of caution was no exaggeration.”

“I have given you my answer,” said Henry. “Now, leave.”

“I will take my leave. Don’t you worry. However, before that, I must be certain. Do you truly have no intention of leaving Her Majesty alone?”

“I’ll leave her alone if she ceases her exploits or she finds another way to her vengeance that won’t pull Ulrum into the mud altogether.”

“I see.” Arthur nodded. “Your decision in this matter has been duly noted, Lord Henry. Be warned, the next time we meet, blood will be shed. Until then, farewell.”

The vampire reverted his partial transformation and turned around to leave. But as he took a single step outside of the room, Henry grabbed his shoulder. Before he could react, Henry pulled him back inside the room.

“What are you—Ugh!”

Henry put him into a chokehold and lifted him off the ground. “Well, we met again, old man.”

The vampire struggled to get out of Henry’s grip. His hands fully transformed into claws and swiped wildly at Henry. As to be expected, his claws left only harmless marks on Henry’s skin.

Henry tightened his chokehold on the vampire. “Pray that we will not meet again. If we do, you will be dead before you know it. I stay my hand today for the sake of my old acquaintance with her.” After Henry finished his words, he let the vampire go.

Arthur landed on his feet but he nearly landed on his posterior. The pressure from Henry was immense even for a vampire. He quickly backed a few feet away from Henry before he could be caught again. He glared at Henry and then at Rayne and Alani.

“Act on that thought, you will be ashes in seconds,” Henry warned with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

Arthur growled under his breath and swiftly made his retreat before he could be apprehended once again.

Alani let out a huge sigh of relief after a minute had gone by. “That was intense… All the while, I was fearing things could go awry at any given moment.”

“He’s neither impulsive nor stupid. He won’t do anything that would cause more harm than good to Vishara.”

“He called Vishara, Her Majesty. What’s with that?”

“I suppose vampires view those who turned them as their sovereign.”

“Wait. If Vishara could do that, turn people into her willing vampire slaves, then—”

Henry nodded. “Yes, it would be catastrophic, to say the least. If we let it be, she might even find a nation in due time.”

“A nation of vampires with unyielding loyalty towards their monarch… Now that is a harrowing thought.”

“You should have just killed him,” said Rayne.

“I should have but… I wanted to be sure.”

“Of what?”

“If a fight can be avoided. If Vishara and I clash, I cannot fathom what kind of collateral there would be.”

“There’s no avoiding bloodshed with her. There will be war with her. Her rage is… tremendous. It would not be so easily quelled just because some acquaintance asked.”

“If only someone did not raise her from the dead.”

“I was wrong, alright? I know I made a huge mistake. This is all on me. I know that already. You have made that abundantly clear by bringing me along.”

“And I will keep reminding you until you truly acknowledge your mistake.”

Rayne tutted. It was true. She didn’t regret her actions. She only regretted that her actions did not pan out the way she wanted.

“What’s our next step?” Alani asked.

“Weapons, armour, and tools.”

“You need those?”

“Not me, you.”

“Me?”

“Of course. I’m bringing you along, Alani. I won’t always be able to be by your side.”

“That’s true… Ah, that reminds me. I left some of my stuff at the Depository. I haven’t been there for quite some time. I hope they haven’t already gotten rid of my stuff.”

“The Depository? What’s that?”

Instead of answering, Alani smiled and took Henry by his hand. “Come. I’ll show you. While we’re at it, we can also take a stroll around the town.”

“Stroll? Are you being serious?” Rayne inquired with a frown of disbelief.

“We got time and we could use the respite.”

“What if that vampire is just… waiting for us? Following us?”

“He’s not. He has returned to his master.”

“Wonderful,” Alani cheered. “What are we waiting for then? Let’s get going. Time waits for no one.”

Seemingly with all the vigour and enthusiasm in the world, Alani dragged Henry out of the room with a bright smile and swiftly led him out of the shabby inn.

Rayne could only follow behind with a nauseous look as if she could vomit sugar at any second now. Underneath that sickened look, there was a hint of envy and jealousy. Henry was her master and captor first and foremost but the budding feeling within her couldn’t care less.

She had always been attracted to power. She remained unwed due to the absence of a stronger individual. Now that was such an individual within her reach. It wasn’t just his strength that attracted her. It was also his compassion and affection. He was not blinded by strength and always put his women before himself.

It was hard for Rayne to not fall in love with Henry. But regrettably, their first meeting had forever left a stain on their relationship and she only had herself to blame.

****

In spite of the dull colours and uninspiring architecture all around, Henry had to admit he was enchanted by the sense of wonder of being in a town of a fantasy world now that he was walking through the streets on his own two feet.

Before his reincarnation, he had only experienced such a place through a screen. It was a completely different experience. He couldn’t help but crack a smile as more and more fantasy-ish sights came into view. Too bad, while the experience was nice, he could surely do without the smell.

The stench of the town was awful, especially from the back alleys. In the end, this world was in its mediaeval era. An unpleasant experience such as this was to be expected. It certainly was as clean as how the media often depicted mediaeval fantasy worlds to be.

Henry began to wonder how he would have fared if he was reincarnated as a dragon in this world but just another person. He reckoned he would surely be disillusioned by the ugly reality.

Hmm. Maybe it’s only this rundown because it’s a town near the untamed wilderness. Perhaps bigger towns and cities would be more pleasant and less foul of smell.

“We’re here, Henry,” said Alani as she tugged on Henry’s hand.

Dragged out of his sightseeing, a fair-sized building came into sight. It was not what Henry expected at all for a supposed storage building.

“This is the Depository?” Rayne asked. “I thought it would be bigger.”

Alani tittered. “Appearance can be deceiving, Rayne,” she said and entered the building, dragging Henry along.

Rayne rolled her eyes and followed behind the two.

A bell rang softly but clearly as the trio made their entrance. A vast yet empty hall greeted the three. From the ceiling to the floor, everything was made of wood. The fireplace in the parlour to the right was the only part of the building that wasn’t made of wood but that was only a matter of course.

In front of them was a counter. There was a short man behind it. He peeked out from the counter. When he saw the three, he leapt over the counter without any difficulty and trotted right up to them.

“Miss Alayne, welcome back!” greeted the short man who stood just a little above Henry’s waist. “I trust that you are here to retrieve your items, no?”

“I am, Mister Green.”

“Splendid. I was beginning to wonder if you would ever come back since our clients don’t usually leave their belongings here for more than a week. In those cases, the clients are either dead or… incapable of making the trip, if you get my meaning.”

After giving a brief explanation for his worry, the short man retreated into the back of the building in haste even though Alani wasn’t rushing him.

“Well, he’s pleasant,” Rayne mused. “Unlike all those people we walked by, this one isn’t giving us a judging look.”

“He’s running a business. Wouldn’t want to turn away a potential customer now, would he?”

“He didn’t even look our way,” Henry said.

“Do you want him to?” Alani asked with a mischievous smile.

“No?”

“There you have it. Mister Green is nothing but prudent.”

After a few minutes, Mister Green returned with a small chest that was only as big as a basketball. Henry was sceptical but only for a moment. When he sensed the Murux imbued in the chest, he was convinced there was more to the chest than meets the eye.

“Here you go, Miss Alayne. Safe and secure,” the short man said and placed the small chest down on an empty table that was just conveniently beside them as if it was there purely for this very reason. “If you will, Miss Alani.”

Alani nodded and placed her thumb on the lock of the chest. The lock flashed a blue glow before disappearing into nothing and the chest popped open.

Then, the chest disappeared entirely altogether, leaving behind a puff of smoke. When the smoke dissipated, there were a few pieces of armour, two swords, and some concoction vials in the place where the chest had been.

“Whoa…” Rayne gasped softly upon witnessing such a sorcery for the first time.

Henry was also marvelled by the magic before him but his reaction was mild in comparison to Rayne.

“Thank you, Mister Green,” Alani said as she gathered and pocketed her stuff.

The short man smiled. “It was my pleasure. Please come to us again should you ever need a storage service.”

Alani returned the smile. “I will.”

The three exited the building without lingering for even a second more.

“What was that?” Rayne asked the moment they were out of the building.

“What was what?”

“That… magic. Just what manner of sorcery was that?”

“Um… storage magic? I don’t know the specifics but it has been widely used long since before I was even born, not just in this kingdom.”

“Absurd… How truly absurd… Such convenient magic but the clans and tribes of Ulrum knew nothing about it… To think the humans managed to keep such a secret from Ulrum. It would seem I have underestimated humans.”

“Are magic like the one just now common?” Henry asked with a solemn expression.

“As in—?”

“Magic that creates extreme convenience in everyday life.”

“...I do not know for sure but… I have heard that the royal family employs mystical means to keep records of their histories and exploits. The records kept in that way will be able to endure the trials of time unlike how words on pages would fade over time or various other incidents.”

“That’s very vague.”

“It’s just a hearsay.”

“I see…” Henry mused. In the deep recess of his mind, that was something bugging him but he just couldn’t quite put a finger on it, yet.