Chapter 62
‘What’s with the egg?’
I never imagined an egg would suddenly pop out instead of a man or a woman.
“Master, this is…”
“Is it an egg…?”
Si-yeon and Katarina also had bewildered expressions on their faces.
“Wow! The fifth one must be inside that egg!”
“M-my Junior is inside here…?”
Riri approached the egg as if fascinated, and Sera carefully peered into it with her eyes wide open.
I was just as curious.
‘Let’s check what it is.’
I tried using [Appraisal Eye] on the egg.
Then.
[Unidentified Egg (???)]
[Status: Desiring blood.]
“Desiring blood?”
This Message Window popped up.
Does this mean it’s still a Vampire even though it’s an egg?
To think it wants to drink blood before it’s even born.
‘But I don’t have any blood right now.’
The problem is that I don’t have any spare blood to feed it right now.
Because all the blood we had farmed so far was soaking and maturing in the [Oak Blood Barrel].
Eventually, that night, I had my Subordinate Subdue an additional Vampire to procure a fresh Mid-grade Blood.
“Hmm… how should I feed it? Should I just soak it?”
Splash, splash, splash - .
I poured the blood into the bathroom bathtub and carefully submerged the egg inside it.
I watched it quietly, but no dramatic changes happened to the egg right away.
I decided to leave it like this and keep an eye on it for now.
After roughly finishing up, I returned to the bed in My Room.
“…”
Katarina was sitting demurely on the bed in her pajamas, waiting for me.
Her expression was emotionless.
Her tightly clenched hands and faintly trembling shoulders made it obvious that she was extremely nervous and happy.
“She really likes it.”
When I first saw her, Katarina was scary because her aura was so immense.
But now that I was used to her, it was easy to read her emotions.
Anyway, it wasn’t even her first time sleeping with me, so was she really that happy?
I got into bed, pulled up the covers, and asked lightly.
“Katarina.”
“Yes, Liege Lord.”
“Does sharing a bed with me please you so much?”
Katarina answered my question without hesitation.
“How could I not be pleased? Not only did you grant me life, but you have also allowed me to be by your side like this. Just being able to feel my Liege Lord’s warmth beside me is an undeserved blessing.”
“…”
Such unwavering loyalty.
And unconditional affection.
I felt a renewed sense of gratitude.
“I was originally a nobody, just a job seeker stuck in my Home Base playing games…”
To like someone like me this much, to help me.
Even though it was a bond created by borrowing the power of the system, I was still thankful.
It wasn’t just Katarina.
Si-yeon, Riri, and Sera too.
To me, who had no family, my Retainers were truly no different from family.
‘…Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to sleep with the girls from time to time.’
With that thought, I slowly drifted off to sleep.
* * *
The next morning.
Heading to the bathroom, I checked inside the bathtub and widened my eyes.
“Oh?”
The red blood that had filled the bathtub was completely gone.
Instead, a faint red light was swirling on the surface of the once pure-white egg.
It seemed it really had absorbed it.
“…But it devoured a whole Mid-grade Blood in just one night?”
It eats way more than I thought.
That was all my precious EXP.
“Vamp-sulking…”
I looked sadly at the empty bathtub.
I wondered if I should just feed it Low-grade Blood from now on, but the status window that popped up above the egg changed my mind.
[
Status: Extremely satisfied after absorbing high-quality blood]
Seeing this text pop up.
It made me think that the better the blood I fed it, the higher its potential or stats would become.
“It cannot be helped.”
Letting out a short sigh, I soon nodded.
They do say prenatal care is important when raising a child.
Yeah, since I’m raising it anyway, let’s feed it the good stuff.
I gently rubbed the egg’s smooth surface and spoke to it inwardly.
‘Hey, I’m putting so much effort into raising you, so you’d better come out as a really good kid later, alright?’
Like that, for the next few days, I took care of the egg by generously pouring the blood my Retainers hunted into the bathtub.
Sure enough, consistently feeding it high-quality blood caused the egg’s color to turn a deep red, close to the color of blood.
“If I give it just a little more, it should hatch soon, right?”
Just in time, the moment approached for the next chapter of the Tower of Trials to open.
I decided to pack the egg carefully and feed it blood inside the tower as well.
Having finished my preparations, I entered the 3rd chapter of the 5th Floor with my four Retainers… no, five Retainers, counting the egg.
[You have entered the Trial 5th Floor, Nightmare Difficulty.]
[The third story begins.]
[Objective: War is imminent. Assist the Lord and lead Arden Castle to victory.]
As my vision brightened, the place that appeared was the Lord’s office in Arden Castle.
The Lord was sitting in his chair, looking much more haggard than the last time I saw him.
As soon as he spotted me, he jumped to his feet with an expression like he had met his Savior.
“Oh, Distinguished One! You have finally come!”
“Your expression is dark. What is the matter?”
“Not long ago, an envoy from the enemies visited. The envoy threatened to lay waste to the castle if we did not open the Castle Gate and surrender immediately…! It is truly a disgraceful and infuriating matter!”
The Lord trembled his fists and vented his anger.
Just as the system explained, the timeframe of the 3rd chapter was a time when war with the enemy Territory was imminent.
Originally, if this were a normal clear route, it would be a situation where I should have spent the entirety of the 2nd chapter solidifying the Territory’s internal affairs and training troops to be somewhat prepared for war.
But back in the 2nd chapter, I scouted Sera, who had S-rank Potential, and that immediately triggered a clear judgment, kicking me out of the tower.
“If it were up to me, I would want to wipe them all out, but the difference in Military strength is so vast that I do not know what to do…”
From the perspective of the Lord left all alone, his insides must have been burning up all this time.
“I should reassure him first.”
I slowly opened my mouth toward the Lord.
I intended to offer him words of comfort, telling him not to be afraid.
“Why are you afraid, o you of little faith?”
Of course, the words that popped out of my mouth were in a solemn tone that sounded like something out of a scripture.
“This True Ancestor has personally descended upon this place to be with you, so what reason is there to tremble at the shallow threats of mere Mortals?”
“…!”
The Lord’s eyes widened, and soon, with a deeply impressed expression, he knelt before me.
“At the Distinguished One’s words, the fear inside me has melted away like snow. I shall have the Archivist record these words in the family’s history book without missing a single letter, so that they may be passed down for generations to come…!”
‘…I don’t think you need to go that far.’
Anyway, the effect was good.
After calming the Lord down like that, I began to listen to a full-scale briefing on the scale and Military strength of the Enemy Army.
“The enemy’s Main Force consists of heavily armed infantry and cavalry. But the biggest problem is that there is news that the Holy Imperial Church has dispatched a High Priest to this war.”
An Enemy Army was composed of infantry and cavalry.
It was a development that matched sol-Peul-jeon-Sa’s strategy guide.
However, the setting of a High Priest from the Holy Imperial Church joining the enemy’s Faction seemed to be a special variable unique to my tower.
“How high is the position of this Priest?”
At my question, the Lord spoke with a face full of worry.
“He is said to be an official Bishop of the Holy Imperial Church, one who has even been bestowed with the red cross emblem.”
“Hmm. A Bishop.”
Is that considered strong?
I couldn’t quite get a feel for what rank that would be in terms of monsters or hunters.
It seemed to be roughly around the level of an A-rank Hunter, listening more to the Lord’s story.
For an enemy popping out on the 5th Floor, he was definitely a really strong guy.
But to me, who had super strong Retainers, it didn’t sound particularly threatening.
However, if there was just one worry,
“…I am a bit worried about divine power.”
This would be my first time facing divine power directly.
From what I looked up on Heon-gael and the Climber Community, undead monsters were vulnerable to divine power.
In other words, the same applied to my Retainers, who were vampires.
But since our side’s Military strength was much stronger, I figured we could somehow deal with that much.
‘Alright, I’m getting a grasp of the situation.’
I formulated a rough plan in my head and nodded.
According to the Lord, there was still a little bit of time left until the war.
In the current situation, it was impossible to strengthen the entire Territory’s Army or increase supplies.
Because that was the internal consolidation I should have done during the 2nd chapter in advance.
“I need to make choices and focus.”
I decided to intensively strengthen at least the Elite Knight Order of Arden Castle, namely the Knight Order where Sera used to stay.
When I revealed my intentions, the Lord was deeply moved and bowed his head repeatedly.
“Thank you so much. O Distinguished One!”
He was on the way to see the Knight Order under the Lord’s guidance.
“Ah, and everyone in the family has also strictly kept the commandments the Distinguished One previously handed down.”
At the Lord’s sudden words, I tilted my head.
“Commandments…?”
What commandments is he talking about?
Did I order something?
When I stared at him with bewildered eyes, the Lord continued as if he were extremely proud.
“I speak of your command to get plenty of sleep, drink lots of water, and refrain from strenuous movements. I have made sure that all our children and knights faithfully abide by it as well.”
“Ah. That?”
Only then did I recall the memory, and I almost let out a chuckle of disbelief.
Last time, when I made Sera my retainer, I drew quite a lot of blood from the Lord to soothe her first hunger.
So I just told him the post-blood donation safety guidelines in case he collapsed.
To think they were keeping that like some absolute commandment.
“Ahem. Well… you did well.”
I couldn’t bring myself to tell the truth and naturally played along.
Soon after, we arrived at the place where the Elite Knight Order was gathered.
The Lord and the Knight Commander stepped forward to introduce me to the knights.
Katarina, si-yeon, and Riri, who were following behind, lightly released their power and showed off their respective strengths.
“M-my goodness…!”
“Such incredible people have come to help us…!”
The knights couldn’t hide their shock and immediately bowed their heads toward us.
And Sera stepped forward in front of them.
“H-hello, everyone…”
“Sera!”
“Is it really you, Sera!”
The knights, recognizing their former comrade, approached with welcoming faces.
They let out exclamations of admiration as they looked at the splendidly transformed Sera.
“Your eyes have turned red like jewels! Your face has gotten whiter, too. You’ve become very beautiful!”
“Your posture and aura have completely changed as well. I can see you’ve gotten much stronger.”
“Moreover, this precious sword is clearly no ordinary item at a glance! To be chosen by a noble person and become so strong, it is truly a proud achievement!”
At her comrades' hospitality, Sera scratched her head as if embarrassed.
“Ahaha… Thank you, because my Master is truly an incredibly amazing person beyond imagination…! We will definitely be able to win this war!”
At Sera’s confident voice, the knights' morale also soared in tandem.
I watched the scene with a pleased smile.
It was right then.
“…Huh?”
When some foreign information entered my Field of vision.
“Hah. Look at this?”
I let out a scoff and tilted my head.
If I hadn’t stopped by here, it really would have been a disaster.
“Your camaraderie is quite nice to see.”
When I suddenly spoke up amidst the amicable atmosphere.
The knights and the Lord looked my way with faces full of expectation, as if they thought I was going to offer some words of blessing.
However,
“Just one thing.”
I lifted my parasol, looked at them, and twisted the corners of my mouth up.
“There is a rat hiding here.”
In an instant, the surrounding air froze cold.