63 Tibia Street again!
Hailuot turned to look at Laem, who was meditating—so "we'll only discuss magic from now on" had been said for Dorothea's benefit.
Cunning old fox.
Hailuot flipped through the manuscript once more but couldn't find any message Laem had left inside.
Since 63 Tibia Street was his next destination anyway, he might as well see what secrets it held.
"Take me to 63 Tibia Street."
Bulaishini: "Yes, Master."
Hailuot led his guards out of the dungeon, where a carriage was already waiting outside.
Two Ghost Horses pulled the carriage. Their sturdy bodies shifted between substance and shadow, while their manes and tails drifted like smoke. Green Soul Fire blazed where their eyes should have been. The carriage was made from the polished bones of large creatures, with an exquisite design that retained the distinctive dread of the Undead.
The driver was a skeleton wearing half-plate armor.
When Hailuot appeared, the skeleton coachman jumped down and bowed. “Honored Bonecrusher Advisor, the road from here to the Western District is long. This carriage is a gift from the Marquis.”
Hailuot couldn't help marveling at how fast Dorothea acted.
Well, since the carriage was a gift, he might as well accept it.
"Thank the Marquis for me!"
Bulaishini stepped forward and opened the carriage door. The interior matched its exquisite exterior. Though made of bone, the furnishings had a polished, jade-like texture. Only the seats were somewhat hard...
After sitting down, Hailuot spoke quietly to Bulaishini outside the door. “Have our Vampire Guards drive the carriage, and send the skeleton coachman back to report to City Lord Dorothea.”
"Yes, Master."
A moment later, Bulaishini climbed into the carriage and sat across from Hailuot. "Master, it's arranged. Shall we depart?"
A Vampire Guard under Hailuot's Command now sat in the driver's seat, while the original coachman stood beside the carriage, unsure what to do.
Hailuot nodded. "Depart!"
Bulaishini knocked on the carriage frame, and it began moving.
The four Vampire Guards standing watch outside transformed into Bats. They circled the carriage once, then each clung to one of its four corners and hung there.
Wanting to learn more about Scorched Earth City, Hailuot continued chatting with Bulaishini.
“Since you're a newly turned Vampire, you must still have family in Scorched Earth City, right?”
Since boarding the carriage, Bulaishini had sat across from Hailuot with her knees together. Her body remained tense, strength held in reserve in case of trouble.
Yet her eyes never stopped watching her new master.
But Hailuot's question dampened her high spirits.
“Family?” Bulaishini repeated the unfamiliar yet familiar word. Then she answered, “Once I became Undead, I no longer had family.”
"So it seems you do have family. Are they still living in the Western District now?"
Bulaishini fell silent for a moment, and though reluctant, answered with a hum, "Mm."
Hailuot ignored Bulaishini's mood and continued. “After becoming City Lord Dorothea's Personal Guard, did you do anything to help your family?”
The questions continued until Bulaishini burst out, “Master, why are you so interested in my family?”
Hailuot said, "Because I also have a family member who gave up being a Living Being to become Undead. I want to know... after becoming Undead, do feelings for family fade?
I want to know... whether he will eventually forget me.”
Bulaishini was angry, but Hailuot's answer made her temper vanish at once.
She gazed wistfully out of the carriage, as if speaking to herself. “Undead transformed from the dead do not retain feelings for their family. But those of us who are Undead Transformed from Living Beings never forget. We must watch them grow old and die one by one. Then, over a long span of time, that pain wears us down until we become true Undead.
After I turned into a vampire, I didn't provide them any help."
"Why not?"
Bulaishini looked at Hailuot. "I had no means to help them. City Lord Dorothea provides us with everything we need—except money."
Hailuot had considered Bulaishini's lack of selfish motives and Scorched Earth City's strict rules, but he had never imagined this would be the reason.
Dorothea was stingy, but surely she wasn't so miserly that she would deny her Personal Guard some pocket money?
Hailuot kept asking.
This time Bulaishini didn't resist talking.
Dorothea's tightfistedness came partly from her stinginess and partly from the fact that she had no money.
The undead lands were made up mainly of the Undead, and the Undead themselves had no great material or spiritual needs, so naturally no large-scale commercial activity had formed.
Scorched Earth City was relatively prosperous because it tolerated Living Beings. The Undead Cities that rejected them were lifeless in the literal sense. Many Undead could dig a hole anywhere and lie there for ages, decaying into dust.
Scorched Earth City's prosperity was relative; compared with other Undead Cities, it was prosperous, but the city still had no money. In recent years, Dorothea had expanded her military to prepare for the struggle over the position of Ruler. As a result, the city's Storehouse had been swept so bare that not even dust remained.
Fortunately, the Undead had little need for material goods or spiritual fulfillment. Apart from supplying the Vampires with blood, the city did not need to pay soldiers' wages.
This was also the greatest advantage the Undead Army held over the armies of other Factions.
With a local Vampire like Bulaishini explaining the city, Hailuot gained a broad understanding of Scorched Earth City.
"Master, we've entered the Western District."
Bulaishini alerted Hailuot, her tone and expression far more wary than before. She even knocked on the carriage frame to signal caution to the vampire guards around them.
Hailuot looked out the window. The scene made him feel as if he had crossed into another world.
It looked exactly like a thriving human town.
They had walked through the Eastern District for a long time without seeing many people, most of them Undead patrols. The Western District was different. Its streets bustled with humans, Elves, Orcs, dwarves... The Undead were a minority here.
From what Hailuot could tell, most of them were Players.
No wonder he hadn't seen many Players in the Eastern District—they'd all come here instead.
Hailuot opened the Information Panel and unmuted the channels he had blocked earlier. The empty chat box filled with a jumble of noisy messages.
Some messages hawked goods, some Guilds recruited members, and some people flirted across the void. Most, however, came from Workshops offering power-leveling services.
The sight left Hailuot dizzy, so he muted them all again.
Then Hailuot noticed Bulaishini's tension and asked, "Is some danger nearby?"
Bulaishini answered, “The entire Western District is dangerous. Ever since these Adventurers arrived in Scorched Earth City in large numbers, vicious attacks have broken out throughout the city. The problem is worse here, where the Adventurers have gathered. You must be careful.”
Adventurers...
That must be what the Indigenous Natives of the Game World called the Players.