It died.

The vampire died.

How did it die? It felt so easy too. All this time, the vampires she met ran away after being handed their asses to them.

Fina looked at Kristoffer who was checking the little girl's pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief, indicating that the girl was still alive. Without looking at them, he picked up the poor orphan and said, "Thank you for your help. I'll bring her to the orphanage now. I'll treat you guys to some good food later." Thus Kristoffer ran off and vanished at the corner.

"Sis, did you see that sword?" Fina asked.

"Yeah," Dina said, still not taking her eyes away from the direction that Kristoffer disappeared to.

Fina stared at the dead body at her feet. "It harmed the blood-sucker in his mist form. I've never seen anything like that happen before."

Dina snorted. "Not only that, that kept the bug from using his mist form again."

"Eh, really?!" Fina couldn't hide her surprise. She thought it was weird that the vampire didn't even use it to escape when it was being butchered. She just grabbed at his wrist so that she could at least put in one good hit but never would have she expected that it would end up in a good ol' slaughter.

Dina looked up at the full moon, retracing a memory from a long time ago. "I've heard a few stories about that sword. Most likely... it's the sword that cancels out an opponent's ability to use a skill or spell for a small amount of time. The reason this bug screamed in pain at the start when the sword touched him was because the sword forcefully canceled his mist form." Even Dina gulped at the practical uses of such a weapon. In the hands of someone capable, it could stop a dragon's breath or even a druid's control of nature.

"Wait," Fina said, suddenly remembering something. "Isn't that sword a national treasure, a legendary sword used by the Dark Elf Hero?"

How did he obtain such an item? Did the Hero passed it down already or was it a different one? Fina and Dina stopped trying to think about it since it just created more questions for them and none of the answers.

"... Then how come the sucker slowed down so much after I grabbed his arm?" Fina gasped and answered her question. "It was the needles."

Dina nodded. Those were probably paralytic, and they took effect almost immediately too. Just how expensive was that scroll? It must probably be worth a small fortune.

It was a clever move when she thought about it. After Kristoffer activated the magic scroll, a magic circle formed in the sky, facing the opponent's back and shot countless needles, but at the same time, he used a Body Enhancement spell on himself, making it look like the scroll caused his body to shine, when in fact the scroll did something else. Heck, even the area was lit up by both spells. The enemy got distracted and didn't see it coming. Yes, it was a sly move, but it was also risky if used with unknowing allies. If Dina and Fina were a bit daft, they would have probably glanced at the magic circle, giving the trick away. Did Kristoffer believe in them that much? Or maybe he had more tricks up his sleeve in the case it failed?

That Kristoffer. Dina smelled great fear from his sweat but he was still able to come up with a brilliant move as it was quickly overshadowed by anger. She wondered why. Was it perhaps because he saw the poor child? She didn't expect a supposedly simple baker to help them kill their first vampire, although it was still him who delivered the final blow.

Dina very roughly grabbed the dead body, shoving her claws in its bloodied skin, tossing it behind several crates stacked up in the vicinity.

After making sure that no one could see them, they transferred back to their human forms. Good thing that their size didn't change much, otherwise, their clothes would have been torn. Dina and Fina started returning to the inn, hoping that no one would find the body before the cleaners. The cleaners were going to have their first job in a while after all.

Anyway, Quill told them to be friendly to the town's orphans and they all know that they were not your average orphans, yet the boss hadn't made a move to subdue them. At first, she thought that the boss couldn't care less about the orphanage but it didn't seem to be the case with her friendly relationship with the new director and Kristoff. Some of the gang thought that she was being careful not to catch the attention of the Dark Elf Hero who built the orphanage but with Quill's skill, without adding the troops' at that, she doubted it.

Dina didn't really care as long as everyone's happy, but she thought she now knew why: it's because these Silver Mavericks won't back down without a fight and the orphans were better off alive than dead.

If Kristoffer had that much fighting potential, then what about the rest? It would be a waste if they die. More so for the casualties on her side. Seemed like Quill thought it through. Slowly, a smile appeared on Dina's face as she praised her boss in her mind. Although, it only looked like a small wicked grin, as she knew there would be no casualties on their crew if Quill took to the frontline.

Fina, on the other hand, got infected by Dina's smile and was both scared and excited at the realization that her boss was right once again. The supposedly weak humans just went up two notches in her 'races not to be trifled with' list.

The two reached the inn in a few moments.

"A real vampire?!" the head chef loudly whispered.

"Yeah, and it was the baker who killed it." Fina planned to say that even before coming inside just because she wanted to see their reactions.

"""Eh?"""

All the kitchen staff listened in after hearing 'vampire' while still moving their hands but it was fun to see how the sounds of knives and pans just vanished with 'baker'.

---

Sheet. Sheet. SHEET.

Werewolves! They were WEREWOLVES!?

Kristoffer couldn't believe it. He was so focused on finishing that damn monster that he didn't feel scared about seeing two werewolves wearing waitress uniforms. But the moment the vampire dropped dead, ally or not, there were now two werewolves breathing down on his neck... not literally, of course, but that's how it felt anyway.

Good thing he had a proper reason to leave immediately!

He slowed down to a walk, thinking that he should be quite far enough from the two for comfort. His feet hurt like heck. The people could stare at him all they want, but he could just make up some excuse afterward. The girl in his arms was relatively unharmed. Despite what happened she was still lucky, all things considered. For all they know, if Fina didn't make such a scene at the inn, or if they were just a little late, she would have probably been detained inside a creepy house, away from sunlight and used as food for as long as she lived.

Then he stopped walking, his eyes widening at the sudden thought. He started sprinting again. The orphanage was no longer his destination. He needed to hurry. If he was right, then this was yet far from finished.

---

The port town of Arkbay. A bustling town of various races and occupations, the night being the peak hours of activities, unsurprisingly. To a specific short-statured creature, looking down on these bugs scampering about from her window was one of her hobbies.

"They look like trash from up here," she said, giggling to herself. She never said that line before, but hearing it from Carl made her want to try it out as well. That guy always thought of the weirdest yet most ingenious ideas out of nowhere, be it a simple line or a revolutionary invention of the century, it never failed to amaze her. She wondered how much wisdom that guy actually had.

But then, her subordinate interrupted her alone time. "Pardon my intrusion, my lady," said a bulky man, kneeling behind her. "The baker seeks to meet your lordship. We tried to drive him away but he insists that it's an emergency."

"Oh? What could it be?" she asked, smiling at what she expects to be entertainment.

"He didn't tell. He said that he wanted to tell you directly. The guys downstairs are this close to slitting his throat but he claims that if Lord Quill discovered we stopped him from meeting you, then you'd be enraged," said the man, frowning at his stupidity. He was just an average baker, an orphan, and a nobody. He should have just been done with it and buried him to the ground himself, but here he was frightened at the folly of a bluff. He couldn't bear the insolence of wasting the time of the Lady they serve but if what the baker claimed was true then he could already imagine the pain he's going to be in if they actually killed him... no, please, no more of that. He'd rather risk annoying her than enraging her then! He started sweating profusely, just remembering his first time meeting the tiny boss in front of him. No doubt, it was just on a whim that she forgave him after hours of...

He shivered on his knee.

The tiny boss turned to face him, approaching ever so slowly, or was it just from his perspective? Then, she whispered to his face with a grin that was a perfect copy from that nightmare a few years ago. "Good thing you listened to him then, Molick.''

She went past him and went downstairs in a good mood. But the bulky man, Molick, couldn't muster the strength to stand up, his muscles betraying his strong image as the fear seeped deep into them. It was only after a couple of minutes that he was able to force himself to stand up, albeit pale, as his subordinate fetched him for a sudden mission tonight.