He Became the Only Ally of the Abandoned Warrior

“It’s too much.”

“Eat up. We’ll be up late tonight, so you’ll need plenty of energy.”

Winking, the captain licked the grease off his fingers as he looked around and noticed that Tigrea was missing. He furrowed his brows and scanned the area further but couldn’t find her.

“Where’s the mage?”

“She said there was something interesting inside the ruins.”

“Is it related to the murderer?”

“Just… she said she was curious about the ancient aura and wanted to investigate.”

“Hah, mages are always like that.”

As the captain tore into the hind leg, the other members began their meal as well. The meat, which disappeared halfway through a single bite, left the members with looks of disbelief.

These were women driven by instinct as shallow as their thin dignity. Some shamelessly picked their teeth with their fingers to get at the stuck meat, while others spit out small bones onto their plates.

“It’s a spectacle. Discipline is a complete mess.”

The captain didn’t hide his disgust. Leaning in as if sharing a secret, the smell of meat wafted from his breath as he whispered to Lin.

“You probably hear it every night, but to make women like them obedient, you have to shut them up by giving them a good pounding.”

When Lin frowned, the captain flinched and straightened up.

“Of course, that’s not an honorable method for you. I’ll refrain from doing it in the future.”

Lin sighed and rubbed his face in frustration. He didn’t want to know why the captain, the leader of an exploration team, was trying to get on his good side and acting so familiar, but an unpleasant feeling kept bubbling up.

While the captain was busy chomping away, the other members, having finished their meal, were eyeing the leftover meat, wondering if they could take more.

Unable to stand it, Lin took out a knife and went around, cutting off portions of the untouched hind leg and sharing them with the others.

“How kind.”

When Lin returned to his seat, the captain immediately cut him another large piece of meat from the pig.

“This is too much.”

Another member grumbled, but the captain laughed off the complaint and raised his beer mug.

“Well, now that we’re full, let’s make a toast! Everyone, raise your glasses!”

Unfortunately, the timing couldn’t have been worse. With the meat Lin had given them still in their mouths, complaints erupted from all around.

The captain pretended not to hear them and raised his glass higher.

“You here are the few surviving members of my proud exploration team. There were over thirty of us, but now only seven remain.”

Although he was supposed to be giving a toast, the captain was staring intently at Lin.

“Each of you joined this expedition for your own reasons. You all had lovers and families back home.”

His voice began to tremble. The way he held his beer mug with both hands was unnerving. The members also looked disgusted, but their expressions quickly changed as the captain continued.

“And every single one of you, I slept with.”

“What…!”

“Captain!”

“You all claimed to be here for your families and loved ones, so I tested how pure your hearts were. But you all ate the meat I offered without hesitation, and under the influence of the aphrodisiacs and drugs in it, you panted beneath me. And after that, whenever I invited you to dinner, you came eagerly. Every single one of you.”

The members stood up. Seeing the meat they had been given thrown to the ground, Lin couldn’t help but feel sorry.

“I admit I gave in to my desires and rolled around with those women, but that’s in the past. Please believe me.”

Why is he asking for my trust?

Lin stood up as well.

But before Lin could speak, the captain silenced him with a raised finger.

“Please, hear me out a bit longer, my little kitten.”

“Enough of this nonsense! You bastard, give us the artifact! If what you say is true, we at least want something to atone for our sins to our loved ones!”

“The artifact? You mean this?”

As one of the members shouted and drew a knife, the captain pulled out a gem from his pocket.

It was a large jewel, its dark surface emitting a radiant orange glow.

“And what will you say when you bring this back? That you got it by letting the captain penetrate you deeply?”

“You… you bastard…!”

The member, unable to hold back, lunged at the captain, only to be struck by the captain’s beer mug and fall back, stiff as a board.

It was ridiculous, but even after falling, the member didn’t move. She was likely dead.

“Do you know how valuable this gem is? If before I only saw your filthy bodies, now this artifact lets me see your souls.”

Lin was also watching closely.

Using the unique special skill he had as a reincarnator, he quickly read the power of the gem through its item description, rather than a status window.

[Jewel of the Night Count]

Item Description: A gem created by extracting the essence from a vampire native to the Zramon Archipelago, which existed even before the ancient kingdom.

Effect: If kept for a certain amount of time, it turns the owner into a vampire. The degree of completion depends on the owner's aptitude, granting the vampire's inherent abilities of "Soul Sight" and "Blood Siphoning." If the aptitude is too low, only survival and reproduction instincts are enhanced.

Now he understood the detail that had changed.

It turned out the exploration captain was indeed the killer, and it explained why the corpses were drained of all blood.

In essence, the captain had taken on Denarua's role from the game, influenced by the gem.

However, something felt off.

Even in the game, the exploration captain had the gem.

It seemed his low aptitude had only resulted in him playing around with women more than before, but in reality, he had fully turned into a vampire.

The gap between the game and reality was widening.

“You all have dirty, tainted souls. I couldn’t find any blood worth drinking, so I had to violate and consume you, but it feels like bile is coursing through my veins!”

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As the captain ranted, the veins in his arms bulged unnaturally.

His eyes were wide and bloodshot, making him look like a monstrous vampire.

Despite this, the members slowly closed in, weapons drawn.

There’s a reason explorers are called as greedy as mercenaries.

“And then I met you. You fell from the sky with the mage.”

The captain shuddered at the memory of that moment.

“Ahh~. Aah♡”

“That bastard’s getting off!”

“This crazy bastard, was he bi?!”

It was a sight Lin couldn’t bear to watch, but he couldn’t close his eyes either.

If he did, something blunt might touch his rear.

“Huuuu~, this is my pure devotion to you! You have no idea how pure your soul is, do you? It’s full of light and warmth! Just like… the inside of a woman! Agh!”

The crazy man’s lower half was trembling with excitement.

Lin couldn’t stand it anymore.

As he hurriedly reached for his porter’s bag, a sharp blade was suddenly pressed against his neck.

“Hey, captain. Hand over the gem. Then your lover here won’t get hu—ggh!”

The man’s words were cut short as his head was blown off.

“Blood has splattered on my handsome face.”

With a snap of his fingers, the blood that had splattered on Lin was sucked into the captain’s mouth.

But the captain grimaced.

“It’s still tasteless. Filthy whores! My little kitten, do you know? The mage who was with you had an empty soul. It was just an outline. But as the days passed, a faint light began to fill it. It must be because of your purity.”

Spreading his arms wide, he shouted boldly.

“This is the first time I’ve felt this way. When I see your face, my heart races, and I want to look away, but I can’t stop staring! It would have been better if you were a woman, but it doesn’t matter! Come to me.

“It would have been better if you were a woman, but it doesn’t matter! Come to me. I’ll make sure you live in bliss forever, panting with happiness.”

“No thanks.”

Finally, Lin opened his mouth.

As expected, his answer was a refusal.

“This is completely insane.”

Lin was genuinely disgusted.

And disgust was not an emotion that the chains around Lin’s heart could protect him from.

“Get him! That brat is the captain’s weak spot!”

The greed-blinded members were no longer in their right minds either.

With their faces flushed red, they aimed for the gem in the captain’s hand while the captain puckered his lips at Lin, as if ready to kiss him.

This was unbearable.

“Ah, damn it.”

For the first time in his life, Lin cursed.

It was a signal, a trigger for someone’s anger to explode.

“Multi-target lock.”

That someone was the mage Tigrea.

Her voice, filled with intense emotion, echoed loudly from the buried ruins of the palace.

“Activate, heat, evaporate, decompose, ignite.”

“Where is the mage?!”

“Spread!”

As the spell was completed, Tigrea swung the Horned Bird's Horn Staff.

At the same time, an explosion erupted beneath the feet of every member of the exploration team.

BOOOOOOM!!!

“Aaaahhh!!!”

“It’s burning…! I can’t breathe…!”

The members collapsed helplessly, burning alive.

They had been nothing more than ordinary people driven by greed.

“Gyaaahhhh!!!”

The captain, too, flailed around, unable to extinguish the flames on his body.

Seizing the moment, Lin grabbed the gem that the captain had dropped and bolted toward the palace ruins.

However, Tigrea’s spell had not only affected the exploration team.

“How dare you, doll! You dare defy me!!”

Denarua, who had been waiting near the camp to rescue Lin, had also been caught in the blast.

“Aahhh! This is love! It’s hot! But I’ll endure it!”

“I’ll cut you down right now!”

The captain ran after Lin, while Denarua chased after Tigrea, who was at the entrance of the palace ruins.

In the end, with the way the directions played out, both vampires were now chasing after Lin.

“Ah, damn it…! Really!”

Lin was genuinely longing to see Lavin and Lucy.