:: Pant Pant Pant... Sh*t! Th-this Undead City is too big! Everyone is long gone or just walking around in d*mn circles! Can't they shrink the scale! Pant Pant.......Sigh... I wonder how's Nello doing... I hope he doesn't get kidnapped....AH F**K! LEVEL 3 BAT SWARM! KYAAAA!::

[https://66.media.tumblr.com/572f45ad3ccb6622a0d8a75591cbb043/tumblr_pnr1czw6jv1wqnuuso1_1280.pnj]"Hat Lady. Have you seen Big Sis?"

"Is your Sister a Golem or an Undead?"

"...I don't know what either of them are."

"You don't know what an Undead is?"

"....................Should I?"

Nello was having trouble. There were too many rules to learn in a short amount of time. For instance, he had trouble digesting the definition of 'living dead', 'immoral immortals', or 'h*llish abominations'.

First off, he didn't know what a Golem was. That's problem number one. Second, he didn't have a brain... That was not an insult, feel free to climb into his crew quarter and see where in his body could they cram an organic brain. In desperate times where mass production and cheap material costs were at an all-time high, be lucky there's enough elbow room for five guys to sit together without punching each other in the face.

Now, back to the story.

"I'll be honest, sugar, as much as I would like to sit down and teach you from the beginning, I don't have the time. I'm in a bit of a rush, you see. We're leaving town."

".............................................Can I come with you? The people here are scary."

"....... I don't see why not. Come, come!"

<< NELLO wants to join your Party? Do you Accept (Y/N)? >>

=> YES (A) << Congratulations! T-34 TANK has joined your party! Your Power Level has increased by 600%! >> -----

<<__ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED!!__>>

~Friends in High Places~

You invited a Party Member that is 30 times your level. Does He Owe You Money?

-----

"...Hat Lady. Why are there all these glass things covering my face? I can't read them."

"Sugar, mind telling me hat's a T-34 Tank?"

"Me."

"Who?"

[https://66.media.tumblr.com/572f45ad3ccb6622a0d8a75591cbb043/tumblr_pnr1czw6jv1wqnuuso1_1280.pnj]

Amy Oakley didn't mind Nello joining her, not one bit.

First, she had no f**king clue what a tank was, neither did she see any tactical value to have a tank in her company. In fact, from her perspective, it was no better than having another child to look after. She may have been single, but she had faith in her maternal instincts... to a certain degree.

"Bafu. Bafu."

"I-I will give you milk later. First, we leave this town before the other noticed our escape. The fake dolls I made could only last so long!"

"Baaaaa..."

"Oh don't be like that Clementine... Oh, alright, I'll give you a piggy back. Come on."

"... Do you need help Hat Lady?"

"I may look dainty, but trust me - I've wrestled worse... No Clementine, I do love you. Now climb on."

Nello would watch as the nice lady he met would kneel down to allow the weary Werewolf Puppy to climb up on her back. With a heave, a ho, and a hup, she got the little tike on her back, patting her bottom. The second Lily Tiger found herself comfortable, she turned into a Canadian Log... snoring.

"Bafyuuuuzzzz....Bafyuuuuuzzzzz...Bafyuuuuzzzzzz."

"Poor girl. She's all tuckered out. I shouldn't have pushed her this far... but it's necessary."

"Why is that? Is something wrong?"

"Of course, my fellow Vampires are planning to execute her."

"............................." 

The Tank came to a slow stop, like a protagonist hearing a news that weighed upon his shoulder. Only to have the Vampire Riflewoman nod her head for the tank to keep following her, or be left behind.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"... Why would they want to hurt her? She's so small."

"It's because she's so small, that they want to use this opportunity to make an example of her."

"Example?"

"To show true dominance over the Werewolves. Personally, I think this ageless feud is completely stupid."

".........................."

"...Come on, sugar. We can't dawdle."

"Oh! S-sorry!"

Amy Oakley smiled, watching the tank unpause and quickly trot after her on his tracks. This was the first time she had a decent conversation with someone. True, she had Lily Tiger, the little Werewolf pup with cute floppy ears she could play all day and all night.

Alas, the Pup could only say one word... as if she was trying to cast herself for a role in a series of monsters in your pockets. Still slightly lonely.

Now, the Vampire Riflewoman felt like she had a chance to unload her inner thoughts... like a diary.

"My kind always hated the werewolves. It has been going on for centuries. No one knows when it all started."

"...Why? The Doggy People are very nice. They even gave my Big Sis corn."

"I know. But that's how we were raised. My pops and my uncles all taught me to loath them Beastfolk, even think of them as ants you can step on freely. Despise, judgement, cruelty... To this day, I've mistakenly adopted their dislike for their kind. And it's not a habit I can easily kick."

"...Isn't that wrong?"

"It is, little one, but who are we, the next generation, to question about our Elder's Way...Especially if the old fogeys ran the Vampire Enclave for millenias... Honestly, I'm sick and tired of this sh*t."

"...Is that why you're leaving?"

"...............................................................Huh. Look at me. Being all so brave to rescue a little Werewolf from certain death... Knowing that doing so would expell me from my kin....... Yet would you find it hilarious... how I never had this courage for myself since I was a little lass?"

"... You were scared to run away... weren't you?"

"Bet your britches, little one."

"... What's a Britch?"

Nello wished he had a tongue. That way, he could bite it to stop himself from ad libbing. He felt guilty for saying that out loud. However, to his comfort, the Vampire Riflewoman shook her head with a small and guilty laugh, all the while carrying the Werewolf girl on her back... as if she were her own flesh and blood daughter.

"I worked hard, to become the best shooter in this parts... so no one would bully me. So they wouldn't mind who I really am... I was delusional really, they've never accepted me from the day I was born."

"H-how come? That sounds really mean."

"Because I'm a Half-blood... I'm a Dhampir........."

".............................................................."

"That's right... I'm not a real Vampire... isn't that funny?"

"...... N... no it's not that, I--"

"I had always wished, I could be part of my clan. To be a real Vampire and hold my chin up at their level... so everytime they beat me, or spit on me... calling me an impurity... I... I was scared, that if I left then - I would lose everything I was working for... I'll be brought back to zero... I didn't want that kind of loneliness...Sniff."

"Um. Hat Lady. Hat Lady, we--"

"You're right... I'm a coward... look at me... crying at a time like this. I'm supposed to be helping little Clementine out of this h*ll hole... yet look at me... weeping like a lost girl... I'm really pathetic aren't I?....Sh*t... my vampire blood is messing with my body again... I-I honestly can't stop crying unless I hit myself... but my hands are full... Hey, little one... can you hit me?"

Nello swung his nose out at her, straight to the face and---

*BTAAAANG!*

---Bounced off a bullet from hitting Oakley's right eye.

"......................Heh?"

"Hat Lady... did you um...call for back up?"

"... No...Why?"

Amy Oakley blinked the water from her eyes, even shaking her head to force her nerves to stop crying. Once she had control over her sensitive emotions..........................

...She saw the 30 different Vampires and Zombies standing on the road... on the porches of dead saloons... the rotting rooftops.

They were all armed with either an iron crossbow or exotic matchlocks, trinkets left behind by unfortunate Adventurers who ventured this far into No Living Man's Land. They all had their sights trained on one person...

The Dhamphir girl who was piggybacking a Werewolf girl.

"........ Wh...what's all the fuss? I'm just taking Celemtine on a stroll."

"Who do you think you're trying to fool, Half-blood. The moment I saw the decoy dolls, I knew something was up."

"Tch... I should have raised my Seamstress Skill a little higher."

Amy Oakley flinched at the voice that called out to her. A voice that made Nello perk his nose up and look around.

"... Wait. How come I recognize that voice?"

".............Sh*t. You're the last thing I want to deal with right now. My head still hurts just from looking at our tracks."

Nello turned his turret head, to the sound of a sword stabbing into the ground multiple times. He didn't know what it meant, but deep down he felt it was a bad omen.

Maybe because the one approaching him, was a man - half biological, half crystal. He looked like someone who got accidentally sawed in half, and had this miraculous surgery to a form of animated crystal formation that made up his one leg, torso, shoulder, arm, and even half his face.

The rocks were of a color crimson, like enchanted blood.

And there was only one person who could scowl violently upon seeing the T-34 Tank.

"... As much as I want to just gut this traitor with my new hands... You and I have a score to settle, golem."

"What's a golem?"

<< NELLO used INNOCENT INSULT on VAMPIRE Lv30. Dealt -9000 Emotional Damage >> << VAMPIRE Lv30's Status is: P*ssed off. Please seek counselling. >> -----

<<__ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED!!__>>

~Slapping Al Capone~

You angered a known Dangerous Figure in the community - Are you stupid!?

"Are you calling Mad-Eye Jack an idiot!?" 

"I really don't know what it means!"