Bear School Astartes

Chapter 454. The variety... is too complete.

Lann just gave Regis a ’let’s talk in private’ glance and didn’t call him over immediately.

Ged still thinks Regis is just a barber surgeon who knows some magic.

Lann isn’t sure if he’s the kind of Demon Hunter who’ll kill any monster on sight.

Even though Ged seems like an open-minded and hearty Demon Hunter, it’s better to avoid unnecessary trouble, so keeping it concealed saves a lot of hassle.

It would be awful if two friends ended up fighting each other later on.

And at the scene, once they confirmed it was a vampiric creature, the two Demon Hunters immediately narrowed their target range to an acceptable level.

"Although Blood Demons and Katakans both tear their prey apart and then lick the blood off the ground, tearing prey into pieces like this... doesn’t seem like a need for feeding, more like a thrill of the chase."

Ged picked up a piece of the frozen-solid, frost-covered corpse from the ground and gestured with it.

It was the largest piece he could reach without moving from his squatting position.

And this piece of bony goat meat wasn’t even as big as the palm of his hand.

"There’s also the marks in the centers of these fragments." Lann stood up, crossed his arms, and looked down.

"Something was rolling around in the middle of these pieces, enjoying itself while doing so."

After saying this, the young man clapped his hands clean of nonexistent dust.

"Bat-winged Brain Demon... it’s the only possibility."

Ged nodded in agreement and tossed away the piece he was holding, standing up from the ground.

"It’s troublesome, this thing is as strong as the Female Special Monster."

"Yeah, if three of them gather, they’d dare storm a city!"

Lann was referring to an incident in 1104 when three Bat-winged Brain Demons rushed into a city called Lanyeast and wreaked havoc.

Afterward, they were killed by a Demon Hunter named Olivier from Guleta.

Lann was well aware that cities in this world were generally inhabited by only a few thousand people at best, including surrounding areas.

But still, they were at least well-organized settlements with defensive forces.

The Bat-winged Brain Demons’ madness, power, and mindlessness were equally unforgettable.

"But I don’t think a few Bat-winged Brain Demons could give the dwarves in Hein Castle such a headache."

Lann’s fingers pressed against his chin as he continued.

"You remember the kind of welcome the dwarves had for us there, right? Fully armed, like solid iron blocks, with fine swords and strong bowstrings... They must have had hundreds of warriors like that. A few Bat-winged Brain Demons aren’t even enough for each of them to have one."

By now, he and Ged had walked out of the scene scattered with debris, and Regis, hearing their conversation, raised an eyebrow.

"Bat-winged Brain Demon? Was it that thing responsible for this?"

"At least in this area," Ged pointed to the rubble behind him, then shrugged.

"We can only find out more by looking."

Saying this, Lann unfurled the scroll, which listed several more sites that might not have been ’cleared’ by the beasts.

-----------------

As night fell over the Amel Mountains, the three returned to the dwarves’ Hein Castle.

Under the orders of Lence Ziva, they were provided with accommodations, food, and baths here.

Steam rose as they heard that the heat in the hot water came from the remnants of the forge’s fire.

The three of them wrapped only a large white towel around their waists and sat together in the hot pool.

Lann’s skin was pure and smooth, like the finest silk, making him appear ’expensive and luxurious,’ just like his silver hair.

Ged’s body, on the other hand, was like most Demon Hunters, covered in scars at various locations.

Burns, acid scars, cuts, claw wounds... The scars of Demon Hunters reveal the kinds of monsters they have faced.

Besides scars, Ged had tattoos on his arms and chest.

Regis, like Lann, was also pure and clean-skinned.

"Ah, a hot bath in the mountains feels great... It would be even better if there was a sexy waitress."

Ged placed a hot towel over his face and leaned back against the tile wall of the pool, expressing his thoughts.

"I almost forgot how high your hormone levels are, Demon Hunters."

Regis smiled gently.

"If you ever visit the capital of Temeria, Vizima, I could recommend an excellent brothel—House of Night. My girlfriend runs that place, maybe I can get her to give you a discount."

"Vizima?" Ged lowered the towel from his face, looking intrigued at Lann.

"Hey, Lann. You often take jobs up north, right? We could go check it out together!"

"No, thanks." Lann waved his hand, gulping down the Dwarven spirits in his wooden cup.

"I won’t enter Vizima, I promised someone."

"Hmm? Were you cursed?"

"You can understand it that way if you like; anyway, I promised not to enter... Now, could you fetch me another bottle?"

Lann shook the empty bottle in his hand at Ged, who nodded and got out of the water with a splash.

After he left, Regis calmly spoke.

"The water’s temperature can’t even open your pores, and the Dwarven spirits won’t affect your nerves... Did you just send him away?"

Lann nodded in agreement.

"I need to consult you about today’s matter, but it’s best not to tell Ged for now, you understand?"

Saying this, Lann pointed to his own two canines, indicating it to Regis.

This showed it was related to his identity as a higher vampire.

Regis then adjusted the flow of water into the pool, making the sound of the water louder.

"I neither have a Demon Hunter’s task experience nor your monster knowledge. What did you exactly find at the scene today?"

"Bat-winged Brain Demon, Blood Demon, Katakan, Bat-winged Demon."

"Wait." Regis gave Lann a surprised look, "We only visited six crime scenes today!"

"Yes." Lann’s expression was hard to describe, "Four different vampiric creatures appeared at the six crime scenes. It’s a bit too... comprehensive."

"Lence Ziva didn’t send us to deal with the gradually failing Anahad containment measure first. Instead, we handled these things."

"I’m sure that the message he’d written on the note to the leader of the Bear School was his biggest concern. So, can we think that... these vampiric creatures are related to the entity in that containment measure?"

Lann turned his head towards Regis, his amber cat eyes seeking insight.

Regis’s clever and long-lived mind soon caught on.

"You’re suspecting that the entity in that containment measure is a higher vampire?"

The young man nodded.

After some thought, Regis didn’t counter.

"As far as I know, some of my kind can control these lower blood-sucking creatures, but... would it be such a coincidence? There aren’t many of us left."

"...Who knows?"

After a moment of silence, Lann responded just as Ged returned with the bottle.

The private conversation between the Demon Hunter and the higher vampire paused for the time being.