It died.

 

The vampire died.

 

How did it die? It felt so easy too. All this time, the vampires she met ran away after being handed their asses to them.

 

Dina looked at Kristoffer who was checking the little girl's pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief, indicating that the girl was still alive. Without looking at them, he picked up the poor orphan and said, "Thank you for your help. I'll bring her to the orphanage now. I'll treat you guys to some good food later." Thus Kristoffer ran off and vanished at the corner.

 

"Sis, did you see that sword?" Fina asked.

 

"Yeah," Dina said, still not taking her eyes away from the direction that Kristoffer disappeared to.

 

Fina stared at the dead body at her feet. "It harmed the blood-sucker in his mist form. I've never seen anything like that happen before."

 

Dina snorted. "Not only that, that kept the bug from using his mist form again."

 

"Eh, really?!" Fina couldn't hide her surprise.

 

Dina thought it was weird that the vampire didn't even use it to escape when it was being butchered.

 

"I just grabbed at his wrist so that I could at least put in one good hit but never would have she expected that it would end up in a good ol' slaughter," Fina said, seemingly amused.

 

Dina looked up at the full moon, retracing a memory from a long time ago. "I've heard a few stories about that sword. Most likely... it's the sword that cancels out an opponent's ability to use a skill or spell for a small amount of time. The reason this bug screamed in pain at the start when the sword touched him was because the sword forcefully canceled his mist form." Even Dina gulped at the practical uses of such a weapon. In the hands of someone capable, it could stop a dragon's breath or even a druid's control of nature.

 

"Wait," Fina said, suddenly remembering something. "Isn't that sword a national treasure, a legendary sword used by the Dark Elf Hero?"

 

How did he obtain such an item? Did the Hero passed it down already or was it a different one? Fina and Dina stopped trying to think about it since it just created more questions for them and none of the answers.

 

"... Then how come the sucker slowed down so much after I grabbed his arm?" Fina gasped and answered her question. "It was the needles."

 

Dina nodded. Those were probably paralytic, and they took effect almost immediately too. Just how expensive was that scroll? It must probably be worth a small fortune.

 

It was a clever move when Dina thought about it. After Kristoffer activated the magic scroll, a magic circle formed in the sky, facing the opponent's back and shot countless needles, but at the same time, he used a Body Enhancement spell on himself, making it look like the scroll caused his body to shine, when in fact the scroll did something else. Heck, even the area was lit up by both spells. The enemy got distracted and didn't see it coming. Yes, it was a sly move, but it was also risky if used with unknowing allies. If Dina and Fina were a bit daft, they would have probably glanced at the magic circle, giving the trick away. Did Kristoffer believe in them that much? Or maybe he had more tricks up his sleeve in the case it failed?

 

That Kristoffer. Dina smelled great fear from his sweat but he was still able to come up with a brilliant move as it was quickly overshadowed by anger. She wondered why. Was it perhaps because he saw the poor child? She didn't expect a supposedly simple baker to help them kill their first vampire, although it was still him who delivered the final blow.

 

Dina very roughly grabbed the dead body, shoved her claws in its bloodied skin, and tossed it behind several crates stacked up in the vicinity.

 

After making sure that no one could see them, they transferred back to their human forms. Good thing that their size didn't change much, otherwise, their clothes would have been torn. Dina and Fina started returning to the inn, hoping that no one would find the body before the cleaners. The cleaners were going to have their first job in a while after all.

 

Anyway, Quill told them to be friendly to the town's orphans and they all know that they were not your average orphans, yet the boss had not made a move to subdue them. At first, she thought that the boss couldn't care less about the orphanage but it didn't seem to be the case with her friendly relationship with the orphanage director and Kristoff. Some of the gang thought that she was being careful not to catch the attention of the Dark Elf Hero who built the orphanage but with Quill's skill, without adding the troops' at that, she doubted Quill have ever been scared of anyone.

 

Dina didn't really care as long as everyone's happy, but she thought she now knew why: it's because these Silver Mavericks won't back down without a fight and the orphans would be more useful alive than dead.

 

If Kristoffer had that much fighting potential, then what about the rest? It would be a waste if they die. More so for the casualties on Quill's side. Seemed like Quill thought it through. Slowly, a smile appeared on Dina's face as she praised her boss in her mind. Although, it only looked like a small wicked grin, as she knew there would be no casualties on their crew if Quill took to the frontline, all by herself.

 

Fina got infected by Dina's smile and was now smiling herself. "Scared of the boss?" Fina asked.

 

"Afraid and excited," Dina replied. At the realization that her boss was right once again, Dina doubt Quill would be usurped in her "Smartest People" list. Meanwhile, the supposedly weak humans just went up two notches in her 'races not to be trifled with' list, now ranked in 5th.

 

The two reached the inn in a few moments.

 

"A real vampire?!" the head chef loudly whispered.

 

"Yeah, and it was the baker who killed it." Dina planned to say that even before coming inside just because she wanted to see their reactions.

 

"""Eh?"""

 

All the kitchen staff listened in after hearing 'vampire' while still moving their hands at their assigned tasks but it was fun to see how the sounds of knives and pans just vanished after mentioning 'baker'

 

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

Sheet. Sheet. Sheet!

 

Werewolves! They were werewolves!?

 

Kristoffer couldn't believe it. He was so focused on finishing that damn monster that he didn't feel scared about seeing two werewolves wearing waitress uniforms. But the moment the vampire dropped dead, ally or not, there were now two werewolves breathing down on his neck... not literally, of course, but that's how it felt anyway.

 

Good thing he had a proper reason to leave immediately!

 

He slowed down to a walk, thinking that he should be quite far enough from the two for comfort. His feet hurt like heck. The people around Kristoffer could stare at him all they want, but he could just make up some excuse afterward for this scene they were seeing. The girl in his arms was relatively unharmed. Despite what happened she was still lucky, all things considered. For all they know, if Fina didn't make such a scene at the inn, or if they were just a little late, the little girl would have probably been detained inside a creepy house, away from sunlight and used as food for as long, or as short, as she lived.

 

Then Kristoffer stopped walking, his eyes widened at the sudden thought. He started sprinting again. The orphanage was no longer his destination. He needed to hurry. If he was right, then this was yet far from over.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

The port town of Arkbay. 

 

A bustling town of various races and occupations, the night being the peak hours of activities, surprisingly. Humans would start resting at night. However, some beastkin races were nocturnal. The other races like the humans would then adjust their sleeping schedule to accommodate their nightly customers.

 

To a specific short-statured creature, looking down on these bugs scampering about from her window was one of her hobbies.

 

"They look like trash from up here," she said, giggling to herself. She never said that line before, but hearing it from Carl made her want to try it out as well. That guy always thought of the weirdest yet most ingenious ideas out of nowhere, be it a simple line or a revolutionary invention of the century, it never failed to amaze her. She wondered how much wisdom that guy actually had.

 

But then, her subordinate interrupted her alone time. "Pardon my intrusion, my Lady," said a bulky man, kneeling behind her. "The baker seeks to meet you. We tried to drive him away but he insists that it's an emergency."

 

"Oh? What could it be?" she asked, smiling at what she expects to be entertainment.

 

"He didn't tell. He said that he wanted to tell you directly. The guys downstairs are this close to slitting his throat but he claims that if Lady Quill discovered we stopped him from meeting you, then you'd be enraged," said the man with a frown as he kept his head low.

 

Quill chuckled. "He was just an average baker, an orphan, and a nobody. You should have just been done with it and buried him to the ground yourself."

 

The bulky man gulped.

 

"--Is that what you were thinking?"

 

"No, Ma'am! I, I mean, yes. That's what I'm thinking." He was now shaking in his boots. "However, I just couldn't bear the insolence of wasting the time of the Lady. But if what the baker claimed was true then I should confirm it with you, my Lady."

 

"Rather, you could already imagine the pain you're going to be in if you actually killed him..."  Quill smiled wickedly at the man.

"No, please, no more of that. Please!"

 

"I guess you made the right call of annoying me by interrupting my free time rather than enraging me later on then!" Quill was now under the man's face.

 

He started sweating profusely, just remembering his first time meeting the tiny boss in front of him. No doubt, it was just on a whim that she forgave me after hours of--

 

Quill didn't even need to use telephaty to read the man's thoughts as he shivered on his knee. She whispered to his face with a grin that was a perfect copy from that nightmare a few years ago. "Truly. Good thing you listened to him then, Molick.''

 

She went past him and downstairs in a good mood. But Molick couldn't muster the strength to stand up. It was a huge joy for Quill to see such a huge man having his muscles betraying him and his strong image as the fear already seeped deep into them. Quill never got to see Molick follow her downstairs, not until his subordinate fetched him for a sudden mission tonight.