Reincarnated as a Vampire Who Acquires Skills Through Blood

Chapter 110 - Leaving the City [4]

With Verc’s order; Tatum and Jed destroyed the metal chain on the necks of the slaves. They did it with their raw strength.

Anyway--

All of eighteen from the underground part of the slave shop, those who aren’t humans, decided to go with Verc and follow him.

They stood in a cluster, their eyes fixed on the man who had just shredded the papers of their bondage. For them, the choice was not really a choice at all, but a final straw to grab onto in a world that had tried to drown them.

Unlike the humans who had cities and villages to return to, these eighteen individuals had nothing but the clothes on their backs and the memories of what used to be.

After all, all of them have no home they could go back to anymore. Their homes and villages were already destroyed by the Kingdom of Halveron—by the Empire of Ironcrest.

That was the reason why they were in the slave shop in the first place. Their lands had been burned, their families scattered or killed, and their very existence turned into a commodity for trade. To go back would be to return to ash and ghosts.

The eighteen of them consisted of three [Beastwomen], five [Dark Elves] (three males, two females), eight [Dwarfs] (four males, four females), and two male [Kobolds].

Verc accepted them with open arms.

He didn’t make a grand speech or promise them a paradise. He simply stood there.

The humans, on the other hand; they have a family they can go back to, relatives... and so, they decided to come back to them. They had roots that, while damaged, were still buried somewhere in the soil of the empire. They had a chance to reclaim the lives that had been stolen by debt or misfortune.

Which Verc had no problem with, he gave them the choice, and just as he said—he doesn’t need a slave. He just bought them and freed them on a whim, just because he can.

He didn’t want the responsibility of people who would rather be somewhere else.

Moving on, the humans took the gold coins Verc gave them and split all of it evenly among themselves.

They huddled around the pouch, their hands trembling as they counted out the coins. For many of them, this was more money than they had ever seen in their entire lives. It was enough to pay off old debts, buy back a family home, or start a small business in a new town. It was a literal bag of hope.

They then thanked Verc continuously. They were really happy that they started tearing up and crying. The sound of their sobbing filled the quiet street in front of the Azure Crest. They fell to their knees, clutching their meager belongings and the new gold, looking at Verc as if he were a god descended from the heavens.

Verc told them to stop, but they didn’t. He felt a bit of discomfort at the display. He wasn’t used to being the center of such raw emotion, especially gratitude. He just wanted them to take the money and go so he could focus on the task at hand.

"C-Can you tell us your name, kind sir?"

Then, an old man asked that. He was leaning on a younger human woman for support, his eyes red from crying.

At that question, everyone stopped and looked at Verc. The silence returned, expectant and heavy. They wanted a name to remember, a name to tell their children when they spoke of the day they were given their lives back.

Verc just looked at all of them, then with a casual shrug of his shoulder—

"My name is Cole, a travelling knight."

He declared that with a straight face. He used the fake name without a hint of hesitation.

And after this, the humans started chanting his name.

"Sir Cole! Sir Cole! Thank you, Sir Cole!"

Verc cringed and frowned, the sound of his fake name being shouted in the night air making his skin crawl. He wasn’t the heroic type, and he certainly didn’t feel like a ’Sir Cole.’ But he just let them be and didn’t say anything.

He stood there until the chanting died down and the humans began to disperse into the night, heading toward the gates or the cheaper inns of the city.

Anyway—surprisingly... not all the humans decided to leave.

Three of them stayed behind and decided to follow Verc. They stood apart from the eighteen non-humans, looking at Verc with a different kind of determination.

One was a muscular man with a deep cross scar on his right eye. He looked like someone who had seen his fair share of battles. He didn’t cry like the others; he just stood there with his arms crossed.

The second was a woman with short crimson red hair. She looked sharp, her eyes darting around the group as if assessing their strength. She didn’t look like she was looking for a home; she looked like she was looking for a purpose.

And then...

"My name is Nara! I’m five!"

A little girl spoke up, her voice high and clear. She was standing between the scarred man and the red-haired woman, looking at Verc with big, curious eyes.

"..."

Verc had some questions why they decided to follow, but he set those aside for now. He looked at the scarred man, then at the woman, and finally at the little girl who was happily announcing her age to the world.

He didn’t ask for their reasons.

"Prepare for travel, we’ll be leaving not long."

He just said that and accepted the three with open arms as well.

*****

Once it was decided who will be coming back with them in the [Cursed Forest], the atmosphere turned from emotional to logistical. The carriages were waiting, the horses were huffing in the cool night air, and the new members of Verc’s group were starting to settle into their roles.

Verc took Bong, who was in the private barn of the Azure Crest. The horse seemed to have enjoyed its time in the barn, away from the dust of the road and the dangers of the forest. As Verc walked into the stable, he noticed that Bong was looking a bit fatter now, and he looked well rested. His coat was brushed clean, and he looked much more energetic than when they had first arrived.

’The staffs really took care of him for me, huh.’

Verc said in his head after seeing Bong, smiling a little. He reached out and rubbed the horse’s nose, feeling the warmth of the animal.

Anyway, all of his items and even Tatum’s and Jed’s were already in his spatial storage. He didn’t need to worry about packing bags or securing luggage to the carriages. Everything he owned was tucked away in the invisible space, leaving his hands free.

Verc then assigned the Beastwomen and the Dark Elves as drivers for the five carriages given to him by the Governor. They were the ones most familiar with handling animals and navigating, and they seemed eager to have a job to do.

"You’ll switch turns every few hours. We won’t be stopping much."

Verc instructed them.

They nodded silently, taking the reins with practiced hands.

And with all of that done—they departed.

The small caravan of five carriages moved slowly away from the Azure Crest.

Tatum and Jed were riding their own horses, they are at the each side of the group to keep everyone in line.

... ... ...

... ... ...

Verc and the group reached the back gate not long after, the one where they had entered just a few days ago.

With so many people in their group leaving the city, especially a mix of races that usually drew a lot of suspicion, Verc thought that it would take a while to get through. He expected questions, inspections, and perhaps even having to pay a heavy exit tax.

But to his surprise—

"Are you Sir Cole? The Governor informed us that you might be leaving the city today and instructed us to let you through without hassle. You and your group can go now."

When he arrived in front of the gate and approached the guards, he was informed of that. The guards didn’t even look inside the carriages. They simply pulled the heavy iron levers and swung the gates open, standing at attention as the caravan passed.

’Wow... that guy, he’s a good friend.’

Verc thought to himself, thankful for Geremie for saving him some trouble. It seemed the Governor really was a man of his word, and his influence in the city was absolute. Having the path cleared for them saved Verc at least an hour of headache and several gold coins in bribes.

And so, after thanking the guards with a brief nod—

TAK— TAK— TAK—

The sound of the horses’ hooves on the stone road transitioned into the soft thud of dirt as they left the city limits.

Verc and the others left the city without a single problem, the towering walls of the empire slowly shrinking behind them as they headed toward the dark silhouette of the horizon.

*** *** ***

A day after Verc left the city; the slave shop he went to unfortunately got into an accident. In the dead of night, when the streets were empty, a fire broke out in the basement. It spread with terrifying speed, fueled by the very hay and wood that had served as bedding for the captives. By the time the city watch arrived, the building was a hollow, blackened shell.

Not only that, the Hive Company, the one owned by Moyap—the owner of the slave shop as well—got robbed on the same night. The storefront was smashed, the ledgers were burned, and every single coin in the safe was taken. The place turned into a mess, with luxury goods trampled into the mud and the office furniture smashed to splinters.

This ultimately made Moyap lose most of his riches in a single night.

... ... ...

(Verc commissioned people from the underworld to do all of this. He did this after coming from the slave shop; in Chapter 107. Verc had spent a few hours in the darker parts of the city, talking to people who made a living out of making others suffer.

With just a bit of asking and using money, it wasn’t really hard for him to do all of this.)