“Hey, hey, hey! Little Knight, since when did you become so cold-hearted?”
“Is it because you’ve spent too much time with that Melot? Did she turn you into this?”
“I’m only like this because I’m worried about you, yet this is how you treat me!”
Vivienne circled Arlette several times in a huff, incessantly attacking him with her words.
“Alright, alright, I was just joking.”
Arlette shrugged his shoulders helplessly.
“Since you know so much, do you know that because of you, I was even scolded by Miss earlier?”
“Well, that’s not my fault. I only gave you the medicine because I was worried about your health.”
“I didn’t mention anything about medicine at all.”
Arlette’s gaze suddenly became sharp.
“So… you even watched me serving Miss in the bathroom?”
“Cough.”
Only then did Vivienne seem to realize she had let it slip.
“You’d better not let Miss find out, or she will kill you.”
Arlette spoke quite a terrifying sentence in a cold tone.
“Tch, what’s there to fear from that little bat?”
“In terms of pure strength, she might not even be able to beat me.”
Vivienne spread her hands and gave a smug smile.
“But what about you, Little Knight? Why are you so obsessed with that bad-tempered girl?”
“I could definitely treat you ten million times better than she does.”
Arlette had no intention of slowing down for Vivienne at all.
“I’ve said it many times. Miss saved my life, took me in for ten years, and raised me to be who I am today.”
“If you know everything, you should also understand that I’m going back to the vampire territory this time to get Blood Brew for Miss.”
“If you know what’s good for you, stop following me.”
Arlette was very distressed.
If he was constantly pestered by Vivienne, who knows how Miss would find out about it again?
He didn’t want to experience the consequences of angering Miss ever again.
Things like being whipped… Although his body could barely endure it, it was best not to have to endure it at all.
“Oh my! Of course I know about that~”
“Rather, that’s exactly why I’m here.”
Vivienne winked playfully and tapped the iron armor on Arlette’s body twice.
“Look at you, your previous injuries haven’t fully healed, and now you’re sick again.”
“The journey from here to the vampire territory isn’t just a step or two away.”
“Even if you take the large-scale teleportation circle nearby, you’d still have to walk for a very, very long time.”
“But the me standing before you happens to have a way to help.”
As she spoke, Vivienne began to gather mana in the palm of her hand.
An ice-blue light erupted from within, gradually outlining layers of complex and magnificent mana patterns.
“This is…”
Arlette naturally knew what this was.
The other party had actually constructed a small-scale teleportation circle purely through spellcasting, without the help of any external forces.
“Do you see this?”
“With my ability, this teleportation circle is more than enough for two people to use at the same time.”
“And unlike the large-scale teleportation circles, it can freely choose a precise landing point.”
“In other words, as long as you’re willing to take me along, I can save you a huge amount of time.”
“That way, not only can you save your strength, but you can also return with the Blood Brew early.”
“Melot will definitely be very happy.”
At this, Vivienne couldn’t help but narrow her eyes slightly, revealing a thought-provoking expression.
“Furthermore, I can guarantee that as long as you don’t tell Melot, she will absolutely never find out about the two of us.”
“This is my confidence in my own strength; I’m certainly not weaker than that little bat.”
“How about it? Interested?”
Arlette fell into deep thought.
Indeed, it was just as Vivienne said.
If he traveled to the vampire territory on foot, he would waste a lot of time on meaningless travel.
Time was currently very tight for him.
Once the resting period was over, he would have to follow the adventure group’s progress and immediately enter the dungeon.
He even had to find a way to absorb that piece of the Gem Dragon’s Reverse Scale to improve his strength.
Time was very important to Arlette.
Therefore, he was indeed tempted.
“Miss’s vampire territory is private; there’s no one else inside right now…”
“If you count animals, there’s only a black cat.”
“With me watching, Vivienne shouldn’t dare to mess around with Miss’s territory.”
In fact, in this transaction, Arlette didn’t even need to pay anything; he only had to agree to the other party coming along.
“Alright. But there’s one condition.”
“You absolutely cannot touch anything in Miss’s territory. After entering, I will go into the cellar to take out the Blood Brew, and you must leave with me immediately.”
“Understood?”
“Un~der~stood~~”
“There sure are a lot of rules, Little Knight.”
“Now tell me the coordinates of your Miss’s territory, and I’ll take you there.”
***
It had to be said that Arlette’s choice was indeed quite correct.
In just the blink of an eye, the two arrived at Melot’s private vampire territory.
In this circular area, thick layers of clouds covered the sky year-round, blocking out the sunlight and the sky.
Around the territory was a vast landscape.
Gardens, fountains, ponds. Even with no one to look after them, they weren’t a mess; instead, they were always orderly, as if they possessed a consciousness of their own.
In the center of these man-made landscapes sat a large Gothic-style manor.
“It really is just like I imagined.”
After entering the territory, Vivienne followed behind Arlette, looking around curiously.
“Stay behind me and don’t touch anything.”
Seeing how active Vivienne was, Arlette was slightly uneasy and reminded her again.
“Hey, hey, Little Knight, where did you used to live here?”
“Miss gave me a dedicated room.”
“Eh? Melot didn’t let you sleep with her?”
“I’m just an attendant; how would I have the right to sleep with Miss?”
Arlette didn’t want to answer Vivienne’s questions too much.
He simply dealt with the questions in the shortest way possible.
While speaking, Arlette pressed his hand against the manor’s main door. Slowly applying force, he pushed it open.
Seeing Arlette’s indifferent attitude toward her, Vivienne originally wanted to say some more suggestive jokes to tease him.
As a result, before she could even open her mouth, a sharp howl came from inside the gate.
It was a cat that was pitch-black all over with golden eyes.
At this moment, it arched its back into an extreme shape, its fur standing on end.
In the next moment, a dull hissing sound surged out from its throat.
“Hiss!”
“Eh?”
The moment the black cat hissed, Vivienne was slightly stunned.
“A cat?”
However, before she could react, Arlette had already rushed forward, picking up the black cat and cradling it in his arms.
“There, there, Miss Wendigo.”
Seemingly because it smelled Arlette’s familiar scent, the black cat called “Miss Wendigo” suddenly calmed down and lay down on Arlette’s hard iron armor.
While his tone was incredibly cold when dealing with Vivienne, he became gentle when coaxing this black cat.
This made Vivienne extremely dissatisfied with Arlette’s double standard, and she immediately pouted.
“This is a cat raised by Miss, called Miss Wendigo. She’s quite aggressive toward strangers and likes to run around. But with me here, she shouldn’t do anything to you.”
Although Arlette had said he wouldn’t call anyone other than Melot “Miss,” Miss Wendigo wasn’t a person, so it didn’t count.
After speaking, Arlette slowly placed the black cat on the ground.
However, the black cat didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving. Instead, it kept its golden eyes fixed on the outsider, Vivienne.
Even though the two had already started heading toward the cellar, “Miss Wendigo” still followed closely behind them, never leaving their side.
“She’s probably just taking a walk; ignore her.”
“Is that so?”
Vivienne was slightly annoyed by this third party who had suddenly appeared and kept tracking her.
Even if it was just a cat.
However, she soon shifted her attention back to Arlette.
“Hey, hey, Little Knight, what’s that place?”
“Miss’s study. It contains many private files and materials left behind by other family heads. But Miss doesn’t like reading, so she basically never goes in there.”
“Currently, its use is basically just a place for Miss Wendigo to sleep.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Stop asking so many questions. We’ll leave as soon as we get the Blood Brew.”
“Hey, hey, Little Knight, why are you being so cold?”
Vivienne clearly showed her displeasure at Arlette’s cold attitude.
“You can talk so gently to that black cat, so why do you act like a completely different person toward me?”
As she spoke, she began to lean against Arlette again.
“After all, I did help you out, how can you be like this?”
Just as Vivienne’s mind began to think about how to cause some mischief, the unexpected happened in the next moment.
The black cat, which had been quietly tailing them, pounced toward Vivienne the moment she got close to Arlette!
“Hey, what the—ah!!”
To avoid the black cat, Vivienne abruptly took a few steps back.
At the same time, her foot slipped, and she fell right into Melot’s study.
In the next moment, her uncontrollable body crashed right into a huge bookshelf by the door.
Then, the powerful impact knocked the entire bookshelf over, and the various files and notes on top of it instantly scattered all over the floor.
Arlette, who witnessed the whole thing, let out a deep sigh and slowly spat out two words:
“We’re doomed.”