"What do we do now? It's not exactly ideal to dig holes in the rain..."
Unlike that incident with the noble knight, where there were no towns around—just a single village, and a body dumped in the forest might go undiscovered for ages—their current location was already on the outskirts of a city. More precisely, this was a vineyard right on the city's edge!
Though not daily, people would come by every few days without fail.
If they left the bodies here, they'd definitely be discovered within a week.
Even ordinary corpses would bring guards to investigate, let alone when one of them was a vampire's body!
If Dylan was still in the city waiting for a ship to the archipelago when that happened, who knew what kind of trouble he might get dragged into.
Fortunately, Kloro lived up to his reputation as a professional—his methods for disposing of bodies were far more sophisticated.
Kloro pulled a bottle from his backpack, its mouth carved with simple sealing runes. After breaking the seal, he poured out its contents—a green, gelatinous slime.
"No need to dig holes. The slime will devour the bodies completely."
Kloro's expression was grim, and he looked at Dylan with a hint of apology in his eyes. After all, this whole mess was entirely his fault—his face as an older brother figure was thoroughly lost now.
"Brother Dylan, I need you to stay here and watch, make sure this slime properly digests the bodies instead of wandering off. I'll go back and clean up the traces. Sorry for dragging you into this."
Dylan waved dismissively, indicating it was no big deal.
Kloro sighed and retraced his steps back to the vineyard.
Left alone, Dylan watched the small blob of slime grow larger as it consumed more.
The woman before him, with her protruding fangs and crimson eyes, wasn't exactly a vampire—to be precise, she was a half-vampire who hadn't completed her transformation.
True vampires would turn to ash upon death. Only these half-vampires who hadn't yet gained noble status would leave behind corpses—this was common knowledge.
As far as Dylan was concerned, this whole affair was a complete disaster.
The two of them had already reached the outskirts of the port city of Clark when Kloro suddenly suggested visiting a safe house, resting there for a night before bringing Dylan into the city.
Dylan had no objections and followed Kloro to this vineyard.
Only upon arrival did he learn that this so-called "safe house" was actually the residence of Kloro's old flame.
What kind of spies are you people!?
And furthermore...
What the hell kind of development is catching someone in adultery!?
Dylan covered his face, recalling Kloro's words at the vineyard.
"Brother Dylan, wait outside for a moment. Let me go give her a surprise first."
"What's the meaning of this? Why is this man in your bedroom?"
"You pretty boy dare to stab me?"
"You're actually helping this pretty boy!?"
By the time Dylan rushed upstairs, the unnamed pretty boy was already lying in a pool of blood, while Kloro and his supposed lover were locked in fierce combat, both furious beyond reason, using deadly techniques and even deploying their battle skills.
Seeing Kloro being overwhelmed and on the verge of being killed, Dylan naturally couldn't stand by and watch. He grabbed his fine steel longsword and joined the battle.
When it was all over, this was the scene that remained.
A demon spy, on human territory, had killed another demon spy over adultery.
"What the hell kind of mess is this..."
Dylan actually wanted to ask: Are shapeshifters and vampires really compatible? But obviously, this wasn't the time for such questions.
Dylan also noticed that the pretty boy was genuinely pale, dressed in luxurious clothing—clearly a wealthy young master.
Definitely not the kind of person whose death would go unnoticed.
This was troublesome...
"Brother Dylan..." came Kloro's weary voice from behind.
After Kloro returned, they waited quite a while longer until the slime finished digesting the half-vampire and began enveloping the pretty boy before finally leaving.
"Don't we need to deal with the slime?" Dylan asked.
"No need. It's just an ordinary slime—who knows what it's eaten before."
After this incident, neither dared to delay, choosing to enter the city under cover of darkness.
---
Entering the city certainly didn't mean using the main gate. Not only were the gates already closed at this hour, but even if they were open, Dylan couldn't pass through.
The salty sea breeze hit their faces as Kloro led Dylan around the city walls to a drainage outlet near the shore.
The three-meter-square drainage outlet was embedded in the base of the city wall, its exit sealed by rusted iron bars, with collected rainwater flowing continuously from within.
Kloro approached and gripped the second iron bar from the left, lifting it out with a gentle tug.
At Kloro's signal, Dylan crawled through first with his backpack.
Kloro then used his boot tip to kick aside broken shells stuck in the stone channel before wedging the iron bar back into place and following.
Boot heels crunched through years of accumulated silt in the drainage tunnel as Dylan covered his nose and marveled: "This is my first time seeing such a large sewer system."
"Clark was originally planned as a major city for 400,000 people when it was established, so naturally the sewers couldn't be small."
Such extensive knowledge... Dylan figured this must be another part of spy training?
Kloro glanced at the water level gradually rising above the channel and warned: "Let's hurry. If the rain gets any heavier, this place will flood."
After walking briskly for quite a distance, they finally climbed a ladder before the water level rose too high.
Dylan expected to emerge directly onto the surface, but instead found himself in an intermediate level.
As soon as they climbed up, a shrill voice suddenly rang out: "Well, well! Never expected anyone to come up this way in such terrible weather!"
Dylan instinctively reached for his sword at his waist, looking toward the source of the voice—a ratman.
Seeing Dylan reach for his weapon, the ratman's hand moved behind his back: "You looking to start trouble here, boy?"
A hand landed on Dylan's shoulder—it was Kloro.
"Don't be nervous. This guy's new and doesn't know the rules. What's the current rate for passage?"
"Tch, keep your man in line," the ratman complained but didn't take it seriously. "Passage is 10 silver per person, but the tunnels are flooded today, so I can't take you up until tomorrow."
Kloro nodded and handed over 20 silver to the ratman, who tossed him two crooked but remarkably similar iron tokens in return.
Kloro gave one to Dylan.
As they continued deeper, Dylan whispered: "Is that ratman also a spy?"
"Of course not. He should be a member of one of Clark's gangs—if my intelligence isn't outdated, probably the Black Steel Brotherhood. Regardless of your identity, as long as you pay, they'll get you into the city when the time is right."
I see, Dylan nodded. He'd initially thought humans had been completely infiltrated.
Turns out it was just the gangs that exist in every city.
They soon reached a relatively clean area where various suspicious-looking individuals sat scattered about.
Some held iron tokens similar to Dylan's—apparently all dangerous elements looking to sneak into the city.
Further away, several figures dressed like the ratman, clearly gang members, guarded the exit.
Kloro found an empty spot: "Let's rest here for now. Try not to start conflicts with these people—if a fight breaks out, those gang members won't intervene to keep the peace."
Today had already exhausted him enough; he didn't want any more trouble.
However, just as he finished speaking, a scream came from behind Dylan.
"My hand—!"
A halfling clutched his bleeding wrist, kneeling and wailing in pain, while his severed hand lay several meters away.
Everyone's attention was drawn to the scene, though they all just watched like spectators.
Kloro immediately realized what had happened—this person was likely a pickpocket, and he was surprised by Dylan's alertness.
"Pretty impressive, brother. I didn't even notice someone approaching from behind."
"Ah? Oh, not bad, I guess..." Feeling the movement from his backpack straps, Dylan belatedly understood what had occurred.
Facing the gazes from all around, Dylan could only adjust his backpack more tightly.
At this moment, Lin Jun's attention focused on a black-robed figure's status panel.
【Skill: Abyssal Magic LV2】
A completely unknown type of magic!
And it sounded incredibly powerful just from the name!
Should he have Dylan go investigate what this was all about...
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