Attendance… plz…)
….
Rimuru gently squeezed the documents in his arms. Once the Great Sage confirmed that every page had been memorized, a burst of flame erupted from his hand, incinerating the paper into ash.
He wasn't surprised that the text might have tracking spells woven into the ink. Even if there weren't, he would be careful. Not because he was afraid, but simply because he didn't want to kill anyone unnecessarily.
"So, why are you so desperate to find a Dead Apostle?"
Suddenly, a voice drifted from behind him.
Startled, Rimuru looked up into the mirror.
The restroom had been empty a second ago. But now, ripples distorted the glass surface like water.
Floating there, reflected in the mirror but not physically present in the room, was a girl with ankle-length black hair and crimson eyes.
She wore a short skirt that barely covered her thighs, and she was watching him with intense curiosity.
Gulp.
Rimuru swallowed hard, his brain stalling.
He wanted to find a Dead Apostle, yes. But honestly… he didn't want to find this one!!
The Ninth of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors. The Black Princess of the True Ancestors. Altrouge Brunestud.
"Searching like this won't work, you know."
Altrouge frowned slightly when she saw Rimuru staring blankly. She shook her head, pointing at the ashes in his hand.
"Most common vampires operate on instinct alone. They have no consciousness. If they appear in human society, they get wiped out immediately… As for high-ranking Dead Apostles…"
She paused, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. She leaned closer to the "glass," her image expanding.
"What would you do if you found one? What do you want…?"
What do I want? I want to dissect them… obviously.
Rimuru swallowed again, staring at the fourteen-year-old girl floating in the mirror. He didn't dare speak.
If he remembered correctly, Altrouge in this form didn't have much combat ability before transforming. The fact that she could float and conceal herself meant she wasn't alone.
There was a bodyguard nearby.
Maybe the Black Knight (the Sixth Ancestor) or the White Knight (the Eighth Ancestor). Both were essentially demonic entities in terms of power.
Rimuru wanted to cry.
Before coming to Germany, he had carefully calculated the power levels. He was confident that with his Lord-class strength, even if he encountered a True Ancestor he couldn't defeat, he could easily escape using his unique slime physiology.
But…
Who walks out the door and bumps into three Dead Apostle Ancestors at once?!
Even if you gave him eight gallbladders worth of courage, he wouldn't dare mess with two Ancestors and the Queen of the Dead Apostles!
"Fou? …Fou, fou?"
Just then, a small, white, fluffy head poked out from behind Altrouge's shoulder. It looked like a cross between a cat and a squirrel, adorably stupid. It sniffed in Rimuru's direction, then tilted its head.
"He smells like Phantasmal Species. Doesn't look tasty, Fou!!"
Great… The whole gang is here.
Rimuru gave up resisting.
…
The small white beast was Primate Murder. The Beast of Gaia. Altrouge's pet dog.
Also known as the First Ancestor. The Fourth Beast.
In Rimuru's past life, this creature had a much more famous name.
Fou.
But unlike the lovable mascot from Grand Order who was harmless as long as it wasn't exposed to human society's evils, this version had been tossed out of Avalon by Merlin and left to fend for itself.
Upon meeting Altrouge, it learned to drink human blood.
It was classified as a vampire. It possessed a terrifying anti-primate conceptual advantage. It was a walking extinction event.
Even if the Twenty-Seven Ancestors weren't ranked solely by raw power, the title of the First Ancestor was enough to set off every alarm bell in Rimuru's head.
"Why aren't you talking?"
Altrouge's pale, exquisite face pressed closer to the surface of the mirror. Her petite nose was inches away from his reflection. Rimuru was forced to take a step back, his back hitting the tiled wall of the restroom.
Finally, she stopped advancing. Her blood-red eyes locked onto his golden ones, a playful, teasing smile curling her lips.
"Didn't you say you were looking for Dead Apostles?"
"…I was looking for ghouls or The Dead. You know, the mindless kind."
Rimuru leaned against the wall, squeezing the words through his teeth.
"I have no desire to provoke you…"
"I knew it…" Altrouge tilted her head, her smile widening. "You know who I am. But clearly, you aren't like Zepia, searching for Dead Apostles to gain immortality…"
Throughout history, countless magi sought to extend their lives to continue their research into the Root. Many willingly became vampires.
Unless they were geniuses capable of researching the transformation themselves, the easiest path was to seek a "convert" from a True Ancestor or a high-ranking Dead Apostle.
In other fiction, they called it the Embrace.
Zepia Eltnam Oberon, the Night of Wallachia, was the most famous example. He formed a contract with Altrouge and became one of the Twenty-Seven Ancestors.
"What if I said I was?" Rimuru suddenly countered.
"Then I could form a contract with you right now," Altrouge said immediately.
She floated back slightly, sitting on thin air. She crossed her legs, placed her hands on her lap, and looked at Rimuru with a cunning glint in her eyes.
"If you ask for it, I can grant you the transformation."
"How about it?"
"Your methods for finding Dead Apostles are laughably crude. You're less efficient than a rookie Executor… yet, the moment you saw me, that flash of recognition in your eyes was unmistakable. You know about Dead Apostles. Or rather… you know about me."
"You… you hold me in such high regard?"
Rimuru let out a dry, forced laugh, trying to force his heart rate down. Even though he knew it was a psychological effect, he could feel cold sweat soaking his shirt.
"You are interested in Dead Apostles. And conveniently, I am interested in you."
Altrouge spoke leisurely. Ever since she heard rumors of a 'Demon Magus' hunting vampires in her territory, she had been observing him.
Watching him transform from a delicate fourteen-year-old boy into this cold, arrogant German man had only spiked her curiosity.
"And if… I refuse?"
….
+10 chapters on my p@tr3on: Kazuma_trash
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