Chapter 2 – A Vampire In Orario

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Babel Tower, First Underground Floor

"Finally~." Shalltear almost cried in joy.

After what felt like an entire day, which might've been an exaggeration due to her being bored most of the time in the dungeon, she was finally done with this underground cavern with its vile creatures and smelly corridors. She was currently climbing the spiral staircase that lead to the outside light.

While most vampires would burn down under the sun, it's not like a small thing like that would affect Shalltear. Afterall, she was graced by her creator with immense power and resistance to most environments.

At the end of the staircase, she could see many people guarding the exit, fully armed with low level weapons that would no doubt be ineffective in a fight against her. She guessed that these guards were here to ensure no monsters got out.

"Hold it!" A dwarf that was guarding the entrance told Shalltear.

"Yes~?" She answered back in a neutral tone. Did they recognize her as a vampire even with the Hide Undead Abilities Ring on? But why though? The little boy she had saved earlier had the same eye color as her. Her vampiric presence should also be hidden by the ring's power.

"Are you part of the group that went in to exterminate that dangerous monster on the third floor? Do they need any reinforcements?" The dwarf asked in a serious tone.

'Oh. So that's what it is... They're guarding the entrance so that my True Vampire self won't escape. How bothersome... I should simply feign ignorance.'

"Third floor? Monster? No~, I came from the first floor~." Shalltear said in a sing-song voice.

The dwarf turned to look at the closest guard to him who had pointy ears and said: "Didn't ya say they've already evacuated all the folks down there?".

"Well, they were supposed to. I guess they didn't check the dungeon's every nooks and cranny." The guard with the pointy ears, whom Shalltear supposed was an elf, shrugged.

The dwarf gave a huge sigh and turned back to look at Shalltear.

"Well... It seems ya got lucky there, girly. The dungeon is a very dangerous place to venture in. Especially when incidents like that on the fourth floor happens. High level monsters sometimes manage to make their way on the upper floors. You should try be more careful next time, even with that impressive armour and weapon of yours." With his last bit of advice, the dwarf opened the path for Shalltear to walk past them.

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She took in a huge breath, and then exhaled. There was obviously no need to do so since her lungs weren't functioning, but it felt good, nonetheless.

'I made it out!'

She had to stop herself from the urge of dancing and shouting in happiness as it would not be relevant to her situation. She also couldn't act like this as an ambassador from Nazarick in front of beings that are far below her. Afterall, it's always the first impression that sticks and this was her time to show these lower life-forms how better the creations of the supreme beings held themselves.

Once outside the disgusting and smelly dungeon, the vampire tossed her long hairs out of the way and looked at her surroundings.

She felt somewhat awed by the sight even if none of it could rival Nazarick's beauty. The giant circular room was supported by white columns. On the ceiling was a painting, probably depicting some lowly gods. When she thought about it, the whole place felt godly. It was as if the entire building was built from using a high tier of holy magic. She looked at the floor to find a trail of blood.

She chuckled. All that blood must've been left by the kid she saved from earlier. It was still fresh so the kid must've gotten out not too long before Shalltear.

There were also many people. Like a lot, even beyond the guards stationed at the dungeon's entrance. She supposed that these people were some of the adventurers that had supposedly been evacuated after her crusade on the fourth and third floors was made known to all.

There were a lot of races from what she could see. There were humans, elves, dwarves, and more people with animal parts similar to those in Lord Peroroncino's sacred texts. She was very curious about their species because she had never seen any of their kind before in real life. As Nazarick's first line of defence, she usually met all kinds of different foolish opponents that would dare to try and invade the tomb and that is why the existence of these animal people intrigued her a lot.

Perhaps this was why no one seemed on guard against her. If they were accepting of any race, then that could also go to vampires. Yet, she did not see any vampire among those races. Could it be that they think that she belongs to the human race? The boy that she saved also had red eyes so it should not be uncommon.

The sight was truly baffling. Some were armed to the teeth with armour, weapons and potions, some wore light cloaks with swords hiding beneath it, some only had knee pads and breast plates, and some of there were in... Underwear?

Shalltear spotted quite a good amount of lovely dark-skinned women amongst the crowds wearing only a strip of cloth around their chest and a pareo around their waist. All of them had almost perfect facial features as if beauty was in their genetics. If there were so many beauties, did that mean the girl named Ais wasn't special after all?

At this point, she gave up on that blonde swordswoman. She felt a little bit disappointed.

It didn't take long for Shalltear to notice the stares she was getting for looking at everyone around her. Adding her impressive armour with the pair of wings along with her Spuit Lance and the lustful gazes coming from the men; she was indeed causing quite a bit of a disturbance.

She snapped out of her beautiful contemplations and ran towards the exit. Most of the adventurers on this floor of the tower simply saw a flash due to the vampire's immense speed.