My Alter Ego’s Path to Greatness - Chapter 166 Meanwhile, in the West (2)

Episode 166 Meanwhile, in the West (2)

The process of injecting the Ufersh vampires with “Refined Blood Essence” was proceeding smoothly.

The blood of Heinz the Second, who had achieved ultimate evolution by extracting the dominant factors from vampires of various worlds.

The Blood Essence, with all the thoughts that could be considered toxins completely removed, was truly the best elixir for vampires.

The moment it was injected into the body, it dramatically changed the bloodsucking factor, instantly triggering evolution that had been stagnant for a long time.

And Heinz, the owner of the Blood Essence, could also guide the direction of specialization to some extent.

A spacious underground area in the mansion.

“Ugh…!”

“Haa— Haa—”

After a round of “Refined Blood Essence” transfusion, Heinz glanced at the vampires groaning from the aftereffects of evolution and nodded.

‘To properly operate, they first need to build immunity to the sun.’

It was something he had been concerned about since he first used “Refined Blood Essence”.

Actually, most of the vampires, who were at the Fledgling level, were so vulnerable to sunlight that there were many restrictions in using them during the day unless they used special blood magic.

They might be able to avoid such weaknesses if they continued to live hidden in the shadows, but they couldn’t do that now that they had decided to come out into the open.

They had to protect their territory now that they had declared it!

‘Even with this, it’ll be difficult to completely overcome it, but it’ll be enough to just reduce the penalty. And their other stats will also increase overall.’

And even though vampires were a minority race that lived scattered, their numbers were significant now that the members of two large clans were gathered in one place.

There were hundreds of Fledglings, who could be considered knight-level, excluding Servants and Slaves, and they were all much stronger than before…

‘And there are also dozens of Purebloods. There would have been over a hundred if it hadn’t been for the recent war between the two clans.’

It was Heinz himself who had killed the most vampires in that mess, but he deliberately ignored the truth and left the basement.

Creak—

“Good work, Lord.”

“Theodore, you said those inside are from the south?”

“Yes, that’s right. The south is also in turmoil these days, so they were a bit late in joining us. Now the only groups left are the southeast and the far east, arriving in a few days.”

“Hmm, we’re almost done.”

He walked down the hallway, talking to Theodore, who was waiting by the door.

‘Come to think of it, the Tribal Federation is a bit noisy these days. I should have Harley visit them sometime soon.’

The south was a closed-off region, difficult to obtain information from, because of its geographical location with the desert and other factors, so he had been neglecting it.

It was difficult for vampires to infiltrate because they lived in tribes, and the shamans who were common in the south were also the natural enemies of the ghosts Olivia handled.

‘They’re said to be a step above priests when it comes to handling souls. It would be difficult for ghosts, whose intelligence is lowered because their thoughts are suppressed, to deal with their exorcism techniques.’

But it was a bittersweet place, not worth the effort to focus on because of its small population and limited influence on the world due to its barren environment and closed-off nature.

‘Actually, I was putting it off, thinking it would be Harley’s job to handle any problems there.’

He had been postponing it for various reasons, but now that Harley had also built a solid foundation, it was time to plan a visit to the south.

It would also be a great story.

‘Harley, who became the hero’s comrade after a great adventure, finally arrives at Calcos, his spiritual home. But what awaits him there…!’

He was lost in thought, but Heinz, for whom multitasking was already an everyday occurrence, didn’t show it and naturally continued his conversation with Theodore.

“How is the situation with the overseas branches?”

“We’re organizing them, leaving only those in key locations. Of course, we’ve replaced them all with those who have received the Lord’s grace. They’ve all grown tremendously, so it’s been a great help in reducing the number of personnel needed at each location.”

It was a shame to abandon the foundations they had built while gathering forces in the Talia Kingdom.

And they needed to leave a certain number of blood relatives in each region to maximize their mobility through Blood Gates.

“We’ve also finished deploying them throughout the Talia Kingdom. We’ve set up Blood Gates everywhere, so we can now move anywhere within the kingdom instantly. The efficiency has also greatly improved, so we can even move to a nearby city like Raffella with relatively few resources.”

Theodore spoke with a proud expression.

It was only natural, as Blood Gates were one of the unique blood magic spells of the Ufersh Clan.

But Heinz, who just nodded and praised him, was lost in thought again…

‘Raffella City… Come to think of it, that’s where Diana and her siblings are. It’s about time I visited them.’

That was where the young siblings he had met in the early days of coming to Auterica were living.

He had promised to visit them about once a year when they parted ways, and quite some time had passed since his last visit.

‘It’s not even that far. Is this what people feel after their children leave home?’

He had never imagined he would experience this feeling.

He nodded, feeling a strange warmth.

It was a bit annoying, but honestly, it wasn’t a bad feeling.

‘Strike while the iron is hot. Should I go right now?’

He had finished most of the important tasks, and they said the Blood Gate was ready, so it wouldn’t be bad to try it out this time.

____________________

“Oh? Lord? W-welcome!”

“Welcome to Raffella City! Please exit this way!”

Heinz materialized in the middle of a room filled with a blood magic circle, human skulls, and other ornaments, and a blood-red air current. He casually waved to the people who were bowing and nervously greeting him, and then immediately headed outside.

‘It’s definitely eerie, as expected of blood magic, but the usage itself isn’t much different from the Church’s gate.’

As he left the hideout, disguised as an ordinary house, the familiar scenery of Raffella City unfolded before his eyes.

It was still an ordinary human city, no different from before, but it would soon face a huge change.

“…Isn’t this too expensive? Give me a discount.”

“You don’t know anything. It’s the same everywhere because of the monsters!”

“I heard your kingdom avoided the disaster because your leaders handled it well.”

“But it can’t be helped that prices are rising because merchants are hesitant to transport goods. The trade routes are also blocked.”

The sound of people bargaining over goods reached Heinz’s ears.

Thanks to their efforts, the Talia Kingdom hadn’t suffered much damage, but it couldn’t be completely unaffected in these chaotic times.

People’s faces were filled with worry, as their lives inevitably became harder.

Naturally, they complained about the current situation, and their resentment was naturally directed towards one being.

“It’s all because of that Immortal King Hans.”

“Come to think of it, there was a guy named Hans in my hometown, and he always had a strange look in his eyes. Well, you see…”

“Oh my! Actually, the Hans I know also…”

It was Hans, the absolute evil who had descended upon this world, the Immortal King.

Heinz walked through the streets, nonchalantly ignoring the curses directed at ‘Hans’ coming from all directions.

He felt sorry for all the Hanses in this world, but he had long since given up on trying to change his name.

‘It’s too late now. I should have chosen a good name from the beginning.’

That desire had culminated in the birth of his youngest, ‘Hesperon’.

It was a name he came up with after researching various names and eventually reaching Greek mythology…

‘Come to think of it, I was trying too hard back then.’

Now that he had calmed down, he felt a bit awkward about it.

As he was leisurely enjoying the cityscape and approaching the grocery store run by Diana’s uncle, lost in thought,

Crash—! Bang!

“Oh my, stop it! What are we supposed to do if you destroy our store like this?!”

“Waaaah—!”

“Come here, Rafi. It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t cry!”

He heard a commotion coming from the direction he was headed.

And he could hear the voices of those he knew among the chatter.

‘What’s this?’

In the next moment,

He was already naturally mixed in with the people gathered in front of the grocery store, without anyone noticing.

“Tsk, what? Don’t you have any more money hidden?”

“Should we take these first? They should be worth something if we sell them whole.”

“Yes, let’s take the expensive ones first, just in case they try to hide them later. Bring the cart!”

Six menacing men were ransacking the store.

But the guards patrolling the shopping district were just scratching their heads with troubled expressions, not doing anything.

Heinz listened intently and gathered information from the surroundings to grasp the situation.

And then,

“You bastards! What are you doing?!”

Diana, who seemed to have been called by Bolt, the pale-faced store owner, who was gasping for breath, hurriedly approached, pushing through the crowd.

“Ah? You’re finally here, old man. What do you think we’re doing? We’re here to collect our money.”

“Didn’t I tell you I would pay the rest later! What’s the meaning of this, coming to the store and preventing us from doing business?!”

“Ah? After calculating, it seems like the money you paid last time isn’t even enough to cover the interest. It’ll be the same if we wait any longer, so we decided to just take it ourselves.”

“That’s ridiculous!”

As Bolt, enraged, charged at the men after the argument, one of them roughly pushed him to the ground.

“Ugh!”

“U-uncle!”

Diana helped him up, and the rest of the family, who had been huddled together at a distance, also gathered around him with tears in their eyes.

“Ha, we’re being gentlemen, you know? If it were like before, we would have just taken you all…”

“Hey, hey. There are guards.”

“Tsk— Spit!”

The men glanced at the guards and then continued what they were doing.

Judging by their conversation, it seemed like they were planning to sell the entire store to someone else.

It was a disaster for the family that was making a living there.

Bolt gritted his teeth, glaring at the men with resentment, his wife hugged their three children, swallowing her tears, Rafi continued to cry because of the scary atmosphere, and Aaron was busy trying to comfort her.

And in the midst of that, Diana, who had grown a lot, was clenching her fists and trembling, her head bowed.

‘Hmm— The youngest daughter, Rafi, suddenly fell ill… and they needed money urgently…’

Heinz calmly organized the situation, combining the information he had obtained from the conversations of the onlookers.

Because of that, they had been borrowing money from everyone and eventually resorted to loan sharks.

He could also understand why the guards weren’t intervening.

It was because the men’s actions weren’t illegal, but rather a ‘legal’ debt collection that had been reported to the authorities.

It seemed like there was a corrupt official backing them.

‘There are so many things to take care of.’

This country was practically his.

He wasn’t pleased to see this happening when he was just starting to imagine how to manage it.

Heinz, having fully grasped the situation, deactivated “Existence Denial”, which was concealing his presence, and slowly stepped forward.

“…Sniff?”

Diana, who had been bowing her head, flinched and sniffed the air.

And she slowly raised her head, her tear-filled eyes looking towards him.

“…Mister?”

A tearful voice, filled with sorrow and unable to hide her joy.

It was a face that naturally evoked sympathy, but Heinz was thinking about something else.

‘…Her sense of smell is still abnormal. There’s no way this is a natural ability.’

He had just accepted it before because he didn’t know much about this world, but now that he had experienced enough, he knew.

That Diana’s ability was very strange, even in this world.

He hadn’t heard of anyone with a similar ability, even now that he was leading a fairly large force.

…Except for the ‘unique skills’ of awakened ones from Earth.

‘But Diana isn’t an Earthling. Hmm, I should keep her by my side and observe her.’

With those inner thoughts,

Heinz the Second stepped forward with a cold smile.