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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Awakening
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Awakening
Gate.
A door connecting one space to another.
Though they could only be installed in castles or cities, their utility in reducing vast distances to a single step was absolute.
It was no exaggeration to say that the Gates were entirely responsible for the hundred cities' ability to interact with one another while wandering the Labyrinth.
And at this moment.
There was a pair of master and servant using one such Gate.
"It's been a while since we've been to the Waning Moon City."
"Have you forgotten that you came just last month to borrow mana stones from Lady Elise?"
"Aw, that doesn't count. We didn't end up borrowing any, did we?"
"Remembering only what's advantageous to you and conveniently forgetting the rest… a memory that would impress a ground worm."
A boy with black hair shot through with white and a perpetually bright smile, and a dark elf maid armed with steel gauntlets and steel boots.
Dion and Parsha conversed nonchalantly as they gazed upon the city where a crescent moon hung in the sky.
The scenery of the Waning Moon City, where night was eternal, was not just unfamiliar but unsettling to outsiders, but that was only for first-time visitors.
For the two who had visited the city more times than they could count, it was already a familiar sight.
…Including the large castle standing tall on the city's outskirts.
The Castle of No Night.
Though it might pale in comparison to Unlight, it was the direct domain of the Blood Night Demonic Family, Vlad, masters of the Waning Moon City and one of the higher-ranking families of the Baekdaesega.
Normally, even a respectable noble would have to make an appointment and wait a considerable time to enter, but Dion and Parsha merely had to show their faces and…
*Clang!*
"Hmm?"
…they were not allowed to pass.
Dion blinked at the spear blocking his path.
He tilted his head as he looked at the gatekeeper clad in red armor.
"Hm, how strange. I didn't realize the Castle of No Night still had gatekeepers who don't recognize my face."
"I know very well who the young master is."
"Then what's 'this'?"
"It's an order from the young lady to block your entry at all costs."
Dion, who had been tapping the spear barring his way, turned to look at Parsha behind him upon hearing the gatekeeper's words.
"Parsha, didn't you tell Elise I was coming?"
"I did send word. The reply was that she didn't want to see your face, so you should stop loitering and get lost."
"Setting aside the fact that this is the first I'm hearing of this, I doubt Elise would send a reply so lacking in grace."
"I thought you might be tired of hearing the same old thing, so I simply interpreted the reply I received with a bit of my own true feelings mixed in."
"Aha."
Dion nodded as if he finally understood, then crossed his arms with a thoughtful expression.
"Hmm, this is a problem. If I'd known this would happen, should I have brought a shovel?"
"…Are you serious?"
"Ahaha, of course it's a joke. Causing such a ruckus in another family's home is something only a madman would do, right?"
"…"
*Normally, one would be called a madman for doing such things even in their own family's home.*
While Parsha remained silent, choosing not to point this out.
Dion spoke to the gatekeepers as if a good idea had just struck him.
"Then could you ask Elise again if she's willing to meet me?"
"There's no need to ask. The young lady asserted that she has no intention of meeting you, no matter what you say."
"Just relay one thing for me."
"Hah… Must I say it outright?"
"Say what?"
"I'm telling you to stop clinging so pathetically to our young lady and get lost."
"…"
"It's not just the young lady; no one in our House of Vlad welcomes your presence."
As if he could no longer stand it, the gatekeeper spoke with unconcealed disgust, as if looking at filth.
At his excessive words, the expressionless Parsha, standing behind Dion, raised an eyebrow and had to step forward.
But Dion himself raised a hand to stop her, speaking with a bright smile.
"Alright, if Elise still doesn't want to see me after hearing my message, I'll leave. So just relay it for now."
"I'm telling you, no matter what you say, it's useless…"
"—Ask her if she might be interested in breaking off our engagement."
"…!?"
***
It all happened in a flash.
The time it took for the gatekeeper to relay the message with unconcealed disbelief, and for the butler to personally come out and escort them to the drawing room.
They even served tea and politely asked them to wait a moment.
Considering they had just been turned away at the gate, it was a treatment so courteous it felt like a world of difference.
"Hmm, I didn't realize just mentioning the engagement would change their attitude this much."
"It's not as if the House of Vlad's desperation to dissolve their engagement with you is a recent development, Master."
"True enough, isn't it?"
This must be what they meant by 'wouldn't dare to ask, but secretly hoped for.'
As Dion chuckled at the dark elf maid's deadpan remark and sipped his tea.
The person they had been waiting for finally appeared from the other side of the drawing room.
*Click, clack.*
Golden hair that shone like treasure.
An elegant and splendid red dress.
Pink lips and crimson eyes.
All of it combined with her beautiful features to create an atmosphere of utmost allure and pride in the young woman.
The treasured daughter of the House of Vlad, known by the moniker of the Blood Princess, and…
"Hello, Elise."
"Shut that mouth."
"…Even so, isn't it a bit much to not even return your fiancé's greeting?"
Dion put on a hurt expression at the words of his fiancée, Elizabet Vlad, also known as Elise.
But what came back was a voice even colder and sharper.
"If you want to talk about what's 'too much,' you can start by paying back the money you borrowed from me. Do that, and I'll accept as many greetings as you like."
"Aw, that's impossible. What money do I have to repay such a huge debt?"
"Then be quiet."
Elise, silencing Dion as his creditor before his fiancée, let out a small scoff.
Then, with a *thud*.
She sat across from them, crossing her legs, and opened her mouth as she unfurled a jade fan.
"So, how much do you want?"
"Hmm?"
"I mean, how much money do you need to finally offer to break the engagement you've so stubbornly avoided until now?"
"I didn't exactly come here to break our engagement, you know?"
"…Then what was that message you had the gatekeeper deliver?"
"Oh, that? I just said it. You wouldn't have met me otherwise."
*Crack!*
In that instant, a chair splintered.
After a brief moment of stiffness, the girl slowly opened her clenched fist, shaking off the fragments of the crushed armrest.
Only after a long moment did Elise fold her jade fan and speak.
"Dion Unlight, every time I see you, you grant me a new revelation."
"I do?"
"In the sense that you show me just how despicable and pathetic a person can become."
"I think that judgment might be a bit premature."
"Hmph, it's already long overdue as it is."
As if it had been a mistake to even hope she might have brought some welcome news.
Elise glared at Dion with blatant disgust and said.
"Get out now, and don't ever come back. If you do, I won't hold you accountable for the crime of daring to mock the House of Vlad."
With that, Elise left her seat.
Or rather, she tried to.
If not for a single voice that suddenly drifted into her ear.
"—I've Awakened."
"…!"
Pausing mid-stride as she stood up.
Elise turned her head.
For a moment, she stared at the brightly smiling Dion with eyes full of doubt.
Only after seeing the maid behind him give an impassive nod did her demeanor change completely.
"What's your class? What traits did you get?"
The girl's eyes gleamed, like a master seeing a freeloader who had only been eating away at their resources finally bring home something of value.
But in the next moment, her face hardened once more.
"Now, now, I can't tell you that."
"…Are you being serious?"
"Even for a fiancée, there are lines one shouldn't cross, right?"
Watching Dion shrug from behind, Parsha had a thought.
For once, her young master was right.
To an Awakened One, their class and traits were everything.
Obtaining a 1-star class meant being treated as a half-wit, while obtaining a 5-star class would make even the Baekdaesega compete to recruit you.
It was one thing if he revealed them himself.
But to carelessly ask about another's class and traits was something that could be considered rude, even for a fiancée.
All the more so because revealing one's class and traits was akin to revealing one's own weaknesses.
However…
"Is that something you should be saying after borrowing over five billion Crutal from me to try and Awaken in the first place!!!"
*CRASH!*
As if she could no longer contain her rage.
Parsha could understand the fury of Elise, who had just smashed the table before her with a swing of her jade fan.
Despite being hailed as an unprecedented prodigy in the history of the House of Vlad.
She was a woman who had to share in Dion's infamy simply because she was engaged to him.
She had been holding on with only the hope that, as a direct descendant of the Unlight family, his talent would one day awaken.
But now that he was finally showing results, Dion was acting as if he had forgotten all the support she had given him.
Honestly, the fact that she hadn't smashed Dion's head in on the spot was a testament to her incredible patience.
Especially since that five billion was just the amount Elise had personally lent him; the family's investment was even greater.
But Dion himself didn't even bat an eye at the shattered table before him.
He merely swirled the tea in the cup he had been holding—which had thus survived—and spoke leisurely.
"I'm saying this *because* I borrowed over five billion Crutal. I can't just carelessly leak the class and traits I finally obtained after such an investment, can I?"
"…Are you worried I might sell the information to your brothers or sisters?"
"Who knows. Whether it's you or someone else who sells my information, it's clear I have no reason to shoulder such a risk for free, right?"
"…"
Watching Dion glance around at the knights and servants guarding the drawing room with a bright smile.
Elise narrowed her eyes.
And after a long silence, she finally spoke in a cold voice.
"Let me be direct. What do you want?"
"Just lend me another five billion Crutal."
"Get out."
"Hmm, I guess that's a no-go. Then how about we make a bet?"
"What kind of bet?"
"Simple."
As if to say she'd rather not hear about his class and traits at all than pay that price.
Hearing Elise cut him off so sharply, Dion slowly raised a single finger.
He pointed it at the soldiers and maids standing behind Elise.
Specifically, at the gatekeeper who had been glaring at him with a displeased expression, and smiled sweetly.
"I'll duel him."
"…What did you say?"
"Besides, even if I told you what class I got, you wouldn't believe me with just words, would you?"
"…"
"Instead, if I lose, I'll tell you my class and traits. If I win, just lend me another billion Crutal. Then, win or lose, I'll break the engagement if you want."
"…"
"How about it?"
*Refuse if you can.*
Elise stared intently at Dion, who made the proposal with a bright smile, and finally, after a long silence, she opened her mouth.
***
"Why did you propose such a reckless bet?"
"Hmm?"
Dion, who was browsing through various training weapons on one side of the Castle of No Night's training ground, turned his head.
He tilted his head slightly as he looked at the expressionless dark elf maid.
"You think it's reckless?"
"I do not know what class and traits you have Awakened, Young Master, but let me be clear."
Parsha, who answered without a shred of hesitation, added another sentence in a voice that was noticeably colder than usual.
"—At this point in time, Young Master, you absolutely cannot defeat that man."
As his nanny who had raised him since childhood, his tutor, and above all, his one and only guard before being his maid.
Hearing Parsha's declaration, based on the physical abilities he had displayed while killing the servants after his Awakening, Dion turned his head slightly.
He checked the status window of the gatekeeper on the opposite side of the training ground and answered cheerfully.
"Yeah, I know."
**Name:** Gerald
**Race:** Lowest-Rank Vampirekin
**Title:** None
**Class:**
[Vampire Servant]☆ LV10
[Lecher]☆ Lv9
[Soldier]☆ Lv8
[Spearman]☆ Lv8
[Brawler]☆ Lv7
**Traits:** [Child of Darkness (N)], [Lesser Vampirism (Un)], [Lesser Regeneration (Un)]
**[Vampire Servant]☆**
1. Strength Correction ↑ (Small)
2. Vitality Correction ↑ (Minor)
3. Holy Light Resistance ↓ (Large)
—Servants who exist to attend the nobles of the night may pledge their loyalty as children of darkness, but they will always dream of a higher station.