It took me a few hours to fully recover from casting this curse, I wasn’t physically tired like Lilith and érica, but I was just as mentally tired as they were, maybe more.
Elsaris, Lilian, and Vanessa who were nearby helped us back to the mansion where we gathered in the living room for a chat.
“You were right Lilith, we are able to trace the curse and with that, we will be able to find the Vampire responsible.” (I)
“Yes, but I noticed that we can only do that when we are outside the Dungeon.” (érica)
Nix steps out of my shadow in her humanoid form.
“That’s because the Dungeon is a separate space anchored in the normal world, inside you are separated from the rest of the world and that’s why various spell effects, abilities, and communication items don’t work to contact the outside of the Dungeon, it also won’t work to talk from one floor to another in here.” (Nix)
“Someone will have to stay outside to direct the carriage in the right direction.” (I)
“Zzzzz…” (Lilith)
“Looks like Lilith has already given herself over to sleep, she was assisting you with the activation and control of the curse, but she doesn’t have your power level.” (Vanessa)
“Then I guess I’ll stay outside for today while érica and Lilith are resting.” (I)
“I will exchange with you in the morning, master.” (érica)
“Fine, but before I go outside, do any of you know why we were attacked? That still doesn’t make sense to me.” (I)
“We’ve just arrived on this continent and there shouldn’t be anyone who knows us, let alone someone who wants to kill us.” (I)
“Since when do you need a reason to do something bad to someone else?” (Elsaris)
“They’ve been following us since we left town, you and I feel it.” (Elsaris)
“They probably attacked us out of greed at the sight of such a large ship, but as they were only Vampire Slaves they had no independence of their own to flee when they saw the strangeness of us changing from a big ship to a grand chariot.” (Elsaris)
“Was it just to rob us?” (I)
“I don’t think so, something happened earlier while I was in town that I thought was unimportant to say at the time.” (Vanessa)
“What happened?” (I)
“As I walked around the destroyed city looking for some believer of the Goddess Selene, I felt murderous intent directed towards me, but it was only for a second, I wasn’t able to tell who it was.” (Vanessa) ．
“There are many who don’t like the Goddess Selene on this continent, mostly Vampires who chose other Gods to worship.” (Lilian)
“If we combine what the Priestess said with the Vampire Slave attack, then we can assume that they attacked us only because we were accompanied by a Blood Goddess Priestess.” (Lilian)
“I can’t believe this, they attacked us just for that reason?” (I)
“Vampires are commonly selfish, and I know that there are many who hate the Blood Temple Priests, that’s why Priests hunt those who tarnish the Vampires’ reputation by committing cruel acts on a large scale.” (Elsaris)
“You mean this Vampire was afraid that Vanessa’s reason for being here was to hunt him down?” (I)
“Maybe so, that’s my best guess, if I were him too I’d attack first just in case.” (Elsaris)
“I’m glad he attacked, now I know there’s someone who broke a Taboo on this continent, I wouldn’t have known it otherwise.” (Vanessa)
Sigh
“I’m going to rest, one of you could take Lilith to her room, she’ll rest better there, besides keep érica company in the carriage.” (I)
After saying all I wanted to do is say goodbye to the girls, I head to my room to try to get just a few hours of sleep.
———-
The trip took 8 days with me, érica, and Lilith taking turns who stayed in the carriage to correctly direct the direction where we realized the curse was.
I was a little sad that my tour time was delayed as we had to change our route making some detours to keep going in the direction we needed to.
Finally, after so many days we arrived in a capital city of the Kingdom of Kadra, we were outside hiding in the forest while looking at the city.
I, érica, and Lilith were together looking at the city, more specifically at the castle in the center of the city from where we could clearly feel the location of the curse.
“This is definitely the place.” (I)
“I can feel a strong Aura of vengeance being directed towards that castle.” (Lilith)
“That must be the curse, right?” (I)
“No, this is not from the curse of damnation, this must come from hundreds or thousands of people, these people can be dead or alive it doesn’t matter, the Aura of vengeance doesn’t disappear until the target receives an equivalent punishment.” (Lilith)
“If it’s coming from the castle, it could mean someone from the Royal Family or associated with them.” (érica)
“What do we do?” (érica)
“I asked Beatriz, Kira, and Elsaris to go see this castle, they should be back soon.” (I)
After waiting about 15 minutes the three appear in front of me.
“The castle has a tight patrol, in addition, Byakko noticed many magic traps in the walls around the castle.” (Kira)
Byakko, who normally fixes sleeping in her Cat form on Kira’s hood, stands up and lazily leans on her shoulder to speak.
“I also noticed there were hidden presences everywhere.” (Byakko)
“I sensed it too, though I’d capture one, but that would alert us to our presence.” (Elsaris)
“I found a place with a barrier around it, it was the tallest tower you can see from here.” (Beatriz)
“The defenses there seem even stronger as if they had to protect someone.” (Elsaris)
“It must be the bastard we’re looking for, I can’t say for sure without getting closer, but it must be him.” (Lilith)
“They must have been protecting him since he was mysteriously attacked, but I don’t understand how they still haven’t removed the curse.” (I)
“Removing a curse is not simple, they must have tried, but the curse we used was very strong, they will probably need someone at Catastrophe Grade or stronger.” (érica)
“Even though you may not be able to, you must remember that the Goddess Selene used some of her power in the curse, perhaps she did it to not allow the curse to be removed.” (érica)
“It doesn’t matter, guessing won’t do any good, let’s go into town and start asking around.” (I)
“The problem is, they might have our information from when we were in the port city, so it would be better if anyone who showed up in the previous city would be seen here.” (I)
“So who’s going to investigate in the city?” (Lilith)
“Let’s go back and have a meeting, I have an idea and I don’t want to say the same thing twice.” (I)