Journey of Vampire Lord
Copyright© 2025 by Vamp
Chapter 19
“Thank you.”
“No problem at all! Then make yourself at home, sir knight!”
A young employee of the Palin Association bowed deeply before leaving. Eugene inspected the chainmail and the short sword brought to him by the clerk.
Eugene had left it in their hands after they said they would take care of it, and judging from the equipment’s condition, they were quite skilled.
His chainmail and the short sword had been damaged from fighting various monsters in the dungeon, but the equipment in front of his eyes had returned looking almost brand new.
“It’s certainly a big city. The artisans are quite skilled.”
It was even better because it was free. Bilmoa seemed hell-bent on earning favors with Eugene.
“Of course, of course! The food is wonderful and the taste of alcohol is amazing. I would just live here for the rest of my life!”
Mirian had been rolling around on the table for hours without even flapping her wings a single time. She popped her head out of a large piece of cheese she had been devouring. Of course, even though she had been indulging, only a tiny piece of cheese was missing. No one would even notice that it had been consumed.
“We will be heading out soon, so get ready. If you want to eat more, you can stay here.”
“Go ahead, go ahead. This little one needs some rest. Kyah! How nice!”
The spoiled spirit plopped down on her back while patting her bulging stomach. Eugene looked at her with a pathetic expression, then stepped out the door.
“Hello, Sir Eugene.”
“Huh? Hmm.”
Eugene nodded after a moment’s confusion. He had almost failed to recognize Partec. The latter’s hair and beard were trimmed, and he washed himself thoroughly. Partec had almost become an entirely new person.
“Now I look a little human, right? I wouldn’t bother if I were alone, but since I have to serve Sir Eugene...”
“Well, that’s fine. Let’s go.”
Eugene felt rather awkward that such a burly man was acting shy. He replied half-heartedly before moving away.
“By the way, is young master Felid going to stay in the Palin Association from now on?”
“Fortunately, BIlmoa rather liked the idea. It’s common for merchants to teach one or two assistants, so the association won’t say much about it either.”
“That’s good to hear. There are many merchants who can write and read that are illegitimate children of noble families. If it’s young master Felid, I have no doubts that he will do a great job.”
The Tywin family needed a merchant association to consistently take care of the mana stones and materials gained from the dungeons without any problems. In that sense, the Palin Association, which was centered around Maren, was one of the best options. However, it was a little risky to leave it all to the association.
However, when Eugene recommended Felid as the family’s agent, Camara’s worries were solved. Felid’s status as the younger brother of Lord Tywin and an aide of a knight was sufficient to protect him from any mistreatment at any associations. Moreover, Felid already knew how to write and knew numbers. If he learned from BIlmoa, he would do his worth soon enough. In addition, Bilmoa would do his best to secure ties to the Tywin family, since his performance had been rather lacking recently. Teaching Felid well and maintaining good relationships was the only way he could continue to manage the dungeon business, and he was well aware of it.
Lastly, Eugene also benefitted from the event as well. He would not need to pay a high commission to process monsters’ materials separately, but rather, he could proceed alongside the Tywin family.
In other words, Eugene, Camara, Felid, and Bilmoa – all of them benefited.
‘I told him that he could increase his benefits if he set up an agent from the Tywin family to sell his materials, but ... my goodness.’
Partec had made the suggestion while looking out for Eugene, but he never imagined the knight would weave it into something so large. He shook his head in wonder. He still got the chills whenever he recalled the knight’s performance in the dungeon. It seemed the knight had both the brains and the brawn.
‘I guess my instincts are still quite useful.’
“Now! This way, please! I will show you to the best armor craftsman in Maren.”
Partec made a determination to follow Eugene until the end, and he proudly walked the streets of Maren while guiding the knight.
Eugene could not buy dwarven weapons and armor. Anything dwarven-made was more expensive than anyone could have ever imagined. However, he was able to purchase equipment with excellent performance at a reasonable price.
Partec introduced several artisans to Eugene, and he was able to purchase strong and practical weapons at a good price.
“Plate mail will take a while because it’s custom-made, but since there aren’t any extra requests, I will be able to make it in a couple of days. But I’m a little surprised that you did not buy a long sword.”
“I’m a bit more familiar with shortswords.”
It felt a bit wasteful, but Eugene sold his repaired weapon and bought a new short sword and a rondel dagger. On Galfredik’s advice, he also purchased two small battle axes and three javelins.
Including the plate mail, he spent more than 80 silver coins. But it was still worthwhile, considering he would have spent at least 20 extra coins without Partec’s presence. In addition, he still had money left over from selling the materials to the Palin Association, so there was no need to worry about money.
“Now, for the finale, shall we go take a look at horses?”
“I guess so.”
Eugene felt a little excited to finally purchase his own horse. Knights were all about horses, after all.
But then,
“Brother Partec!”
“Sir Eugene! Sir Knight Eugene!”
Eugene and Partec simultaneously turned their heads towards the tumultuous voices. Glade and Lavan were running towards them in a hurry.
“What are you two doing here? You said you were going to the guild to pay off your debts.”
“We already did that. Anyhow, that’s not the problem right now.”
“What’s going on?”
Glade regained his breath before speaking.
“You heard that there have been quite a few roamers spotted around this region lately, right? Apparently, they’ve just been spotted in the eastern outskirts.”
“What? Something like that, the city guards can take care of it, right?”
“There are more than a hundred armed goblins, and the orcs are commanding them.”
“What? Orcs? How many?”
“If there are a hundred goblins, wouldn’t there be at least two or three orcs?”
“Well!”
Partec hurriedly turned to Eugene with an alarmed expression.
“This is rather worrisome, Sir Eugene.”
“Is it because of the orcs?”
“Yes. They must have descended from the Brandish Mountains. Every few years, the orcs from there gather roamers and come down. There will be quite a few of them, and they are quick to hit and run.”
Partec hesitated for a moment, then continued in a determined voice.
“Sir Eugene, I think the City of Maren is going to hire knights and mercenaries to deal with the monsters. Why don’t you participate?”
“Me? Is there any reason to?”