The chicken sat proudly enshrined on a rock.
It appeared to be part of an ancient ruin. And while it offered protection from the wind and rain, it did not look very comfortable.
It was a great rooster. It had fine, silky feathers of pure white and a blood red crest.
A pretty chicken.
It could also just be described as a chicken with white feathers and red crest.
At a glance, it was any old chicken.
Serulis looked on in surprise.
“What? A chicken?”
“How insolent. How can you call Gerberga the God Fowl a chicken…”
“Cluck-cluck.”
Luchila was indignant that Serulis had called it a chicken.
But it was totally a chicken.
Indeed, it was pretty and white, and the beauty of its red crest drew the eye in.
“Cluck-cluck-cluck.”
Gerberga was clucking behind Luchila.
There was a small feeding box in front of Gerberga that Luchila had likely prepared.
It seemed to contain grass and insects.
Gerberga was eating it. The sight was of a chicken eating and nothing else.
“Um, Luchila. Uhhh, Ger…”
“Lord Gerberga.”
“Er, Lord Gerberga. What is he?”
“The God Fowl.”
“I see. And what is a God Fowl?”
“A chicken with the power of a god.”
“So he is a chicken!”
Serulis shot back. Luchila glared at her.
Gerberga was eating and seemed to be uninterested.
As I watched, I started to feel as if he carried a magisterial air.
I asked Luchila,
“Luchila. I don’t quite understand. What do you mean by ‘having the power of a god’?”
“Yes…I suppose I will have to tell you that.”
“And I want to know why you cannot relocate from here!”
Serulis said eagerly, but Luchila gave her a menacing look.
He was still angry that she had called it a chicken.
“Serulis. Be quiet.”
I said, hoping she would stop antagonizing him.
After a while, Luchila began to talk quietly.
“My Lord, the God Fowl is the God that my tribe worships.”
Apparently, there was a legend that Gerberga’s ancestors had awakened the world with their crying.
“Awakened the world…I don’t understand.”
“Does Lord Gerberga also have this mystical power?”
Luchila looked at us smugly.
“The Lord God Fowl’s power is to draw borders in the world. By awakening the world, I mean that the borders between night and day were created.”
“So…what does that mean?”
Luchila gave Serulis an exasperated expression.
But he gently explained.
The borders in the world had become clear.
In other words, the gate between dimensions could be closed.
“Why, that is amazing.”
“Yes, it is amazing!”
“Cluck-cluck.”
Luchila looked pleased. Gerberga was eating a hairy caterpillar behind him.
It looked like an average chicken, but it apparently had great power.
“I see. That’s amazing. But why can’t you relocate?”
“About that…”
Luchila suddenly became quiet at Serulis’s question.
And then he continued with an intensely pained expression.
Luchila’s tribe had protected the God Fowls for generations.
However, they were attacked and everyone except for Luchila had been killed.
“It was our enemies, the terrifying vampires.”
“Vampires. They are very strong.”
The Vampire Lord we had been fighting recently was trying to open a gate between our dimensions.
It would not do for them to spend so much effort in opening the gate, only to have a chicken close it again.
Maybe that’s why they attacked Luchila’s tribe.
“The chief entrusted the God Fowl to me, since I was the youngest, and told me to run away.”
“How far did you run?”
“My tribe lived in the north. That place is…”
It seemed that Luchila had traveled very far.
“The enemy kept chasing us… I used illusions and magic to evade them, but I do now know how long I will be able to keep them off.”
“Vampires are most dangerous.”
“Yes.”
Luchila nodded with a wary expression.
Vampires could suck people’s blood to increase their numbers and also charm their enemies.
It was possible that any humans that came near to them had already been affected.
If that were the case, then he would want to stay away from the humans here.
And so that is why Luchila used the illusions to keep them away.
“But why can’t you leave this place?”
“This place is an ancient temple ruin… There is a barrier that keeps the vampires away.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It was written on an ancient map that was passed down in my tribe.”
Luchila said with finality.
Indeed, this did look like an ancient ruin. But it didn’t seem like there was an actual barrier.
Did this place really keep the vampires away?
I wondered, and so I asked Luchila.
“So did the vampires stop attacking once you came here?”
“No. They attacked several times at first, but they have stopped recently.”
I doubted there really was a barrier here.
A while ago, Shia’s tribe had fought a tribe of vampires.
The result was that the vampires were all killed, with the exception of the Vampire Lord.
The Vampire Lord was gravely wounded and had to regain his power while using goblins as its servants.
Maybe that’s why the attacks had stopped for now.
I told this to Luchila.
“What? Is that true?”
“Cluck-cluck.”
“No…what am I to do…”
Luchila was in shock.
“Very well then. Why don’t you come with us to the royal capital?”
“Are you sure…? Won’t it mean trouble?”
“There is a barrier to keep out monsters that surrounds the entire city. It will be hard for vampires to get past that.”
Not just in the royal capital, but most large cities had a barrier of holy protection surrounding them.
The stronger the monster, the more intense the pain. These barriers made them unable to use their incredible strength.
And so generally speaking, Vampire Lords did not enter any large cities.
“But I might still be attacked by the vampire thralls…”
It was hard for strong monsters to get in, but easy for weaker ones.
Goblins, demon rats and thralls of weaker vampires would not be affected as much.
If they tried, a lesser vampire might even get in.
“We can just cast a barrier around the house to keep the weaker ones out. I am a Sorcerer, after all. I can make a barrier or two.”
“Mister Locke…”
Luchila looked at us with much emotion.
But then Serulis opened her mouth.
“But Mister Locke, don’t you live with us? I don’t know if daddy will allow people to bring in pets?”
“Lord Gerberga is not a pet!”
“Cluck-cluck.”
Luchila retaliated and Gerberga clucked happily.