Vampire Reborn - Chapter 48: Departure

2 hours had passed, and it was finally time for departure. With a deep breath, Alucard dropped the book within his hands, stuffing it with him as he grabbed his bag from his side.

As he went to leave through the front door, Luck flew and buried himself within Alucard’s cloak, and with that, they left the room and walked towards the still packed area below.

Through the thick crowd of adventurers discussing in tables amongst themselves, he could not help but notice several glances in his direction, far more than usual in fact. However, he did not let them slow him down as he walked out through the swinging doors.

‘Seems like the news spreads fast, I guess it’s not too common for a copper ranked adventurer to so suddenly be so buddy buddy with golds,’ He smiled under his mask, yet as he fully left the door, the smile was immediately wiped away from his face due to the harsh sun that completely struck his body.

This was the first time in many weeks that he had allowed the full, afternoon sun to strike him, and the feeling was beyond agonizing. His body felt like it weighed tons, and the heavy armour he wore increased in weight and instantly sapped any strength from his system. Had he not trained himself to not rely on his breath as a vampire should, he was more than certain he would have been a pancake flat on the ground just as what happened before.

He furrowed his eyebrows and forced his body up. There were many eyes on him right now and he could not allow himself to show any sign of weakness lest they discover who he truly was.

He steeled himself and straightened his back, channelling all the energy he could as he walked out, hunting for the shadow of a building as quickly as his body allowed, breathing a sigh of relief once all was over.

As he travelled around the city heading southbound, he made sure to keep himself in the shadows, only exposing himself when absolutely necessary which was no big deal in his eyes and not at all suspicious.

This was the first time he ever witnessed the city at work during the middle of the day. He had thought that at sunset it was crowded, yet it paled in comparison to what he saw now. He simply lost himself inspecting everything around him. It made for great cover through the crowds, yet it made the problems and corruption in the city more apparent.

Seeing them did disgust Alucard somewhere deep within, yet he knew it was not his place to butt in nor his problem right now, so he left them be and pretended that he saw nothing.

Despite the city’s size, Alucard felt like he had reached the south gate in little to no time. The gates were opened, yet everyone had to wait their turn for their chance to leave, whether it was for work or travel.

However, luckily for him, Alucard did not have to bother with such an arduous process, all thanks to the adventurers guild.

Adventurers such as himself were provided a special exit allowed for only them, overseen by both the military and the guild to allow them benefits and so they could do their jobs more smoothly.

And that was where Alucard went. He entered through the smaller gate and had his copper plate verified before successfully leaving. Luckily for him, not many adventurers were there at the south exit, so he was not forced to wait long.

And as he left, there in the distance near the path and along the walls he noticed four figures resting near each other.

They stood in the shade of the city walls, and near them was a wooden wagon of modest craftsmen ship and size, clearly showing its age. The beige-stained tent at its back had an opening revealing the emptiness of creaking wood, and the horse at its front seemed capable yet not particularly well-fed and strong.

“Oh! Alucard! We’re glad you can make it!” Through the boisterous noise of the city ambiance around him, he heard a familiar sound enter his ears coming from the same direction he was gazing at.

Before he even approached them, they had already greeted him and recognized his figure, and thus, he quickly made his way towards them with a sense of relief in his heart that they were travelling in a carriage rather than on foot under the harsh summer sun.

“Greetings, I hope I was not too late,” He waved approaching them.

“Don’t worry! You’re right on time! We just finished preparing all we needed!” Lisvern beamed as he picked up a heavy brown sack, throwing it in the back.

“Lisvern! Was that the last of them?” The voice of the archer rang from the front.

“Yeah! I’m all done here! Alucard just came too so we’re just about ready to leave!” He yelled back, wiping the sweat off his face.

When Alucard looked inside, he noticed several bags similar to the one he saw Lisvern pick up all tightly packed out of the way, and he could not help but ask.

“What exactly is that?” Alucard pointed and raised an eyebrow.

“Oh these?” Lisvern Mused, smacking the sack with passion. “These are sacks of food of course! What else would they be!”

“Hmm?” Alucard could not help but blurt, as his initial instinct was that these were rations for the journey, but upon seeing how many bags there were he immediately unconsidered that. “Did you buy these bags with your own money to give to the villagers?”

“Well, yes! … Uhh… Kinda,” He chuckled, rubbing his hands on the back of his head. “What’s with the long face?”

“Oh, forgive me… I just find it odd. From what I’ve seen, I would have never imagined adventurers doing this…”

“Hahaha!” Lisvern broke out laughing, and Alucard grew concerned that he had said something idiotic due to his lack of knowledge.

“Damn right you are! But there are many good adventurers out there! I mean, I don’t wanna sound narcissistic or anything but I think we’re pretty good! Right Adam?” He looked over to his side where the man with a bow strapped to his back organizing the sacks in better positions to allow for more area for footrest.

“Lisvern, you’ve always been narcissistic but compared to a lot of people out there you’re like a saint…” He chuckled.

“How much did you spend on all of these? If I might ask?” Alucard continued.

“From me? It was all nothing. Most of this came out of Vernon’s pockets. 10 silver coins in fact!” He smirked, pointing with his thumb towards his small blonde teammate feeding the horse at the front.

“Him!?” Alucard could not help but blurt with shot-out eyes before inwardly cursing his big mouth. 10 silver coins were more money than Alucard ever had yet, it was not cause for such an overreaction.

“HAHAHAHHAHA!” Lisvern smacked his knees and held his stomach, almost as though he was in pain, catching Alucard extremely off guard. “Many people think the same thing when they first see him! It never gets old. Vernon might seem really pissy getting to know him but he’s honestly not that bad when you get to know him!”

“Huh? Did I hear my name? Lisvern! You talking shit!?” Vernon’s voice came crashing in from in front.

“Oh, it’s nothing!” He tried his best for damage control, yet his laughter still leaked, and a slight scoff was heard from the front.

“Ah— okay, I’ll keep that in mind…” Alucard nodded. “But you said most of the food came from him. What about the rest?”

“Oh! That! Well… A lot of this was also from the person we escorted yesterday. She heard about this so as to extra payment she gifted us with this food.”

“Oh, I see. Whoever that person is they seem like a very nice person…”

“Yes, she is a saint even amongst her kind…” Taylor the wizard interrupted from further behind, his gentle face slightly red to the point that Alucard almost saw him as cute before inwardly shaking his head.

“This might not be my business, but who exactly was she? I couldn’t meet her, but I felt a strong presence from her.”

“Sadly, we can’t tell you… It’s top-secret… And if all goes well, you wouldn’t have to know…” He sighed, his tone becoming alarmingly sombre to the point it made Alucard reflect.

“Lisvern! What’s the hold-up! You done talking! If we wanna make it there before sunset we better get going now!” Vernon yelled from the front, and Lisvern’s face immediately shifted into how it was before.

“Yeah! We’re done! You can go in!” He yelled back as he held onto the handle of the cart, jumping into the back tent, Taylor following suit while Adam the archer who was the second tallest of the group behind Lisvern went towards the front.

“Come on! Jump in! We’ve got a long way ahead of us and a lot to talk about and pass the time!” Lisvern smiled brightly, holding out his hands to Alucard below.

Alucard looked up at Lisvern’s hand and act of kindness with a beyond open gaze and with much brewing in his mind. It was like his mind was torn on how he should feel.

But in the end, he inwardly shook his head and grabbed Lisvern’s palm who pulled him up into the back seat. “Thanks for that,” He thanked as he took his seat close to the back opening, Lisvern sat beside him with his greatsword underneath his feet, Vernon and Taylor directly in front of him on the other side and Adam sat up through the gap ahead in the sunlight with a rope in hand, ready to drive the carriage.

“You all ready? Nothing is left behind right?” Adam turned around and asked.

“Yes! Everything’s here! I made sure that Lisvern didn’t mess it up this time…” Vernon replied.

“Hey!” Lisvern interjected in a hurt voice.

“I’m sorry leader, but it’s true,” Taylor chuckled, and Adam who looked at them from the front had his serious expression turn into a subtle smile as he sighed and spoke, turning around and swinging the rope on his hands to make the horse move forward along the grass towards the stone-paved road.

“Alright then! Let’s get moving!”