How to Live as the Vampire Lord - Chapter 106
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Chapter 106

The pirates fled as fast as they could even as they fell down and trampled over each other. Mirian murmured atop Eugene’s shoulder as she watched the pirates run. “It actually worked! Those bastards did seem like they were really scared of ghosts. But why did you say ‘you have been cursed~’?”

“I thought it would be enough to cause a strife among them,” Eugene responded. His original plan had been to directly take care of the pirates on the wall. But he changed his plan after eavesdropping on the conversation that a few of the pirates had.

The pirates were already trapped in their castle like rats, and they were crazy about superstition. Eugene knew from experience how humans behaved when they were trapped in a corner, so he changed his plan. He simply had to pull a small trigger called ‘ghosts and curses.’

“If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, I’ll just kill all of them,” Eugene spoke softly before once again assimilating himself into the darkness.

***

“I-it’s a curse! W-we’ve all been cursed!” the pirates shouted in fear. They abandoned their posts and crawled into the castle before making sure that all the doors were bolted tight. Many of them were busy incorrectly drawing the holy symbol in the air or chanting improper prayers.

“Come to think of it, I heard that the guardian demon god of the island died…”

“What? Is that true?”

“I heard it quite clearly earlier when I was running away from the beach. Apparently, one of the knights was deliberately eaten by the demon god and that same knight killed it by burning its insides with divine power.”

“Divine power? Then… is he a holy knight!?”

“What?! Then the knight from earlier today… he was a holy knight?”

“Ah! T-that means we swore at a holy knight, right?”

“...!”

An awkward silence consumed the atmosphere for a split second.

“That must be why we’ve been cursed!”

“Fuck!”

The expressions of the pirates paled. They had come to their own conclusion as to why a ghost had suddenly appeared among them. The pirates began to look for the cause and the solution elsewhere. It was typical behavior for those who were cornered.

“I’m sure that ghost told us to sacrifice the strongest one of us, right?”

“I-I heard it too! I’m certain that’s what it said!”

“W-who’s the strongest one…?”

With their original boss and numerous others dead, there was only one who could be called the strongest among them.

Shing. Tap.

The pirates sprang to their feet while grabbing their cutlasses, axes, and daggers.

“Let’s kill that bastard. In the first place, he’s the one who showed his ass and insulted the holy knight, right?”

“That’s right. We must kill him and surrender to the knights. That’s the only way we can escape the curse and survive.”

The pirates chatted among themselves before coming to a conclusion. Even though none of them mentioned exactly who they were referring to, they were all thinking of the same person. Their eyes burned with fierce lights.

***

The castle’s design was simple. With the inner courtyard at the center, there were two annexes to each side of the main castle, which formed the shape of an arch. The interior of the castle was as simple as its exterior as well.

Eugene recalled the information he obtained from interrogating one of the pirates as he quietly made his way to the back of the main castle.

He could not see any pirates at all, perhaps because of the ghastly disturbance.

‘Over there.’

Eugene found an iron gate attached to the cliff, which served as a natural barrier, and he opened it. After he descended the stairs that were tainted with the stale smell of the sea, Eugene arrived at a corridor lined with a few torches and metal bars.

“Stay behind and keep watch,” Eugene said.

“Sir, yes sir,” Mirian responded.

After leaving her behind, Eugene slowly walked through the corridor while maintaining his camouflage.

There weren’t many individuals inside the prison who were still alive. Most of the cells contained corpses that were partly or completely reduced to skeletons. They seemed to be nobles who had been held captive for ransom, judging from their attires.

Eugene headed deeper into the innermost part of the corridor before coming to a stop. Inside one of the cells was a ragged orc sitting on the dirty floor.

Eugene released his camouflage before speaking softly.

“Are you Rodrick?”

“W-who iz it?” The orc responded.

“I’m asking if you are Rodrick,” Eugene asked once again.

“Z-zat’s right. I am Rodrick. I am Ortos Rodrick, the son of Batu Rodrick,” the orc responded. Although his accent was a little thick, Ortos Rodrick was fluent in the language of the kingdom. Rodrick quickly rushed to the bars and looked up and down at Eugene with an astonished expression.

“A-are you an assassin? Have you come to kill me? Kieeeeg!” Ortos faltered with an orc-like scream.

‘What’s with this bastard?’

It seemed that the orc’s mind had become strange after being locked up in such an environment for a long time. As such, Eugene spoke with a softer voice, “I am not an assassin, so there is nothing to worry about, Young Master Ortos.” Eugene even went as far as to address the orc as ‘young master,’ since he was the son of the archipelago’s lord.

“I-iz that really true?” Ortos asked.

“I’m a knight after all,” Eugene responded.

“L-liez. H-how could such a pervert be a knight? I have never seen or heard of it,” Ortos said with disbelief.

“...” Even though Eugene’s body was covered with Black Scales, he was no different from naked. From Ortos’ point of view, there was more than enough room to misunderstand Eugene as a pervert in a strange, black suit.

“Kiek? How dare that pig! How dare he! Oh, but it is understandable. You probably shouldn’t go around without any clothes or armor,” Mirian said after mysteriously appearing out of nowhere. It appeared that she had abandoned her post.

Crack.

The blood vessels in Eugene’s forehead popped up.

“Kiek!”

Shing!

Eugene slapped away the spirit with one hand before slicing through the bars with his claws. He brought himself close to the cell and growled, no longer bothering to hide his true colors.

“Hey, you pigshit. Do you really think that this is the time to be arguing about this? Do you want to escape or not? If you don’t want to, feel free to rot away in here until you die.”

Eugene was rescuing the orc to prevent trouble in the future and to paint a more plausible, nicer picture overall. He would have the descendant of the original lord take over the legacy and continue to rule.

After all, cause and justification were very important values in the aristocratic world. However, such things could also vary depending on the time, place, and situation.

“K-kiwgh?!” Ortos’ expression underwent a dramatic change when he saw Eugene’s claws and the sudden change in atmosphere. However, he soon let out a dry cough before slightly lowering his head.

“Ehem! Ah, I see. An honorable, charitable nobleman must have hired you to rezcue me. I vill make sure to inform your master of your abu… bravery. Now, take the lead.”

“…?”

Eugene was dumbfounded. He hesitated for a moment before taking action.

Thuck!

“Kwegh!”

Eugene punched Ortos, and the orc fainted with a bloody nose. Eugene placed the skinny orc over his shoulder before heading up the staircase to escape the prison.

“There’s nothing unusual outside!” Mirian flew ahead before reporting back. As such, Eugene walked out before heading toward the inner courtyard without any interference.

“All the pirates escaped towards the main castle and the annexes! But the main castle is really noisy,” Mirian continued.

“Hmm.”

Indeed, Eugene could hear the faint, metallic sounds and screams resonating from the main castle. It appeared that the pirates were fighting with each other.

‘Now I just need to clean up.’

Tatatata!

Eugene quickly crossed the inner courtyard. He could feel the presence of pirates from all directions, but it no longer mattered. They would soon be dead anyway.

Eugene was about to pull out his claws as he ran toward the gate that was being guarded by several pirates. But then…

“Oh my god!!”

“It’s an orc ghost!”

“Hieeeeeek!” The pirates screamed in fear before running away with their tails between their legs.

“What? Ah…” Eugene immediately realized why the pirates had fled. He was currently invisible because of his camouflage. As such, the pirates would have been faced with an incredibly strange, bizarre sight of a bloody orc flopping toward them in the air in the middle of the night.

Kuwooooo! Boom!

Eugene opened the gate with a pulley, then picked up an abandoned axe before thrusting it into a cogwheel to keep the gate open. Then, he ran up to the top of the gate before waving a torch.

The sailors and troops quickly crossed the rocking bridge once they saw Eugene’s signal. They had been stationed at the other side and were waiting for Eugene’s signal.

“Sir Eugene!”

“Yes, captain. Take this guy and move him to a safe place,” Eugene ordered.

“Yes. But sir, who is this orc?” the captain asked.

“The future lord of this place,” Eugene answered.

“What?” The captain flinched. He had been looking down at Ortos with astonishment, but it seemed that he also felt burdened by the orc’s bleeding face.

The captain examined Ortos’ face for a moment before speaking.

“His nose is bleeding. The escape must have been quite hectic, right?”

“Sir Eugene?” the captain asked once again when Eugene maintained his silence.

“Charge! Let us get rid of all the pirates!” Eugene suddenly shouted.

“M-master! Aren’t you going to equip your plate armor? Master?!” Luke shouted.

“Let’s go!” But Eugene directly charged, wearing only the leather armor handed to him by Luke and both Wolfslaughter and Madarazika in his hands.

***

“Ugh…” The bald pirate staggered forward with various bleeding wounds on his body. The cutlass and the axe held in his hands were caked with human blood and flesh.

“Motherfucking traitors… Keugh!”

The bald pirate washed his wounds with strong rum, then patched them roughly with pieces of cloth. Then, he wobbled up the stairs. He could surely find one or two mana stones if he looked through the previous boss’ bedroom.

“Hey.” A voice called out.

“Hmm?” The bald pirate jerked around.

A figure with red eyes appeared from the darkness.

“Y-you bastard. Who are you?” the bald pirate cried out.

“You don’t recognize me because I’m not wearing any armor? Look long and hard, you cute, adorable little shithead,” the figure responded.

“…!”

The bald pirate became wide-eyed and started to tremble with fear. Eugene revealed his long, sharp fangs while looking at the pirate’s lower body.

“I told you, didn’t I? That I would slice your dick into pieces.” 

“Uah?! Uwaaaah…!”

Slice! Slice! Slice!

“Kuaaaaaaggghhh!!!” The bald pirate screamed as he finally understood the pain of having his flesh sliced raw.

***

“Kwegh!”’

“Uwaah!” Ortos suddenly woke up screaming, and Selena shouted with shock.

“W-where is this place…?” Ortos asked.

“Ah, don’t worry. This is a tent belonging to Sir Eugene’s expedition. I am Selena, an aide to Sir Galfredik, a knight under Sir Eugene,” Selena answered.

“I-I zee. Sir Eugene, is it? Perhaps…” Ortos hesitated.

“Yes. He is the one who rescued you. Moreover, he is the one responsible for freeing the Rodrick Archipelago from the pirates,” Selena explained.

“Kweht! Was there such a brave and honorable lord?! Keugh! I must immediately give my greetings to Sir Eugene!” Ortos shouted.

“What?” Selena answered with confusion. Eugene had definitely rescued Ortos in person, but he wanted to give his greetings once again?

‘It makes sense that their family had such a good reputation. Even though he is an orc, he has a great personality.’

Selena responded with a smile, “I understand.”

“Zank you,” Ortos responded. Once the girl left, Ortos gnashed his teeth.

“I will azk Sir Eugene, the captain of the expedition, to punish that assassin for being so rude and impolite. Even though I appreciate the rescue, I can’t forgive that man. Krrrr!”

After a while, the entrance to the tent flapped open and Eugene walked in.

“You’re finally awake?” he said.

“You! YOU! You’re that perverted assassin!” Ortos shouted.

Unlike last night, Eugene was fully clothed. However, Ortos could not hide his frustration and anger.

“You dare! How dare you show up in here?!” Ortos exclaimed.

Ortos believed that the commander of the expedition named Sir Eugene had sent someone to rescue him. But he had never imagined that the perverted assassin was Sir Eugene himself. Perhaps it was only natural, but no one in their right mind could have imagined that the commander of the expedition would come in person, especially in such an attire.

“Even if you are a member of the expedition… Ah, Sir Selena! You came at the perfect time! Please get rid of this pervert and convey my words to Sir Eugene!” Ortos hollered when Selena returned to the tent.

“Well… what exactly do you mean by that? This is Sir Eugene,” Selena responded.

“That’s right! So… Kwegh?! What? W-what did you say?” Ortos asked.

“This is Sir Eugene right here. Sir Jan Eugene, the captain of the expedition and the one who saved you,” Selena explained.

“T-this pervert…?” Ortos muttered.

Eugene met the orc’s gaze.

Grin.

“The little piggy still hasn’t come to his senses,” Eugene said.

Thuckkkk!

Kweeeegh! Kwegh! Kwegh!

Ortos would later be called the generous, wise baron of the Rodrick Archipelago. But right now, he was only a poor, tactless piggy who was paying for his crimes.