Anaheim sighed. “Alright, my name’s Anaheim,” she said, gesturing towards Monika and Duchess Rose. “It’s nice to meet you. This is my home, by the way, so don’t do anything to destroy it. Thanks.”

“I’m Monika Akinom, a wizard from the world that you call a game,” Monika said with a nod. She tipped the brim of her conical hat backwards and smiled at Anaheim. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m Duchess Rose, lord of all vampires,” Duchess Rose said, tearing her gaze away from the twitching blankets in the corner of the room. “I’m here to help my god track someone down.”

“Is this what you meant by finding a tracking skill?” Anaheim asked Khrx, furrowing her brow. “I don’t think anyone would appreciate a vampire being let loose into the world. You know I’m the descendant of the hero, right? I’m supposed to help save the world.”

“If I don’t find Fufu, the world will end,” Khrx said with a nod. “Even if Rosey is a vampire, you have to let her help me.”

“What did you just call me?” Duchess Rose asked, raising an eyebrow. “Rosey sounds like something you’d name a pet guinea pig. If you wish, you can call me Elizabeth.”

“Could she help me find Luke?” Anaheim asked, her eyes lighting up.

“Ask her,” Khrx said with a shrug. He yawned again before walking over to the pile of blankets, throwing himself on top of it and wrapping thick wool around himself. One thing he missed about his weak body inside of [Resolution] was the fact it was warm-blooded. In reality, he needed to keep himself warm and cozy to have motivation to do anything. Sure, he could expend mana to maintain his body temperature, but as a dragon, he was lazy.

“As long as I have a single strand of my target’s hair, I can track them down from anywhere,” Duchess Rose said. “If you have the target’s blood, then that’s even better.”

Anaheim beamed. “I don’t have Luke’s blood or hair,” she said as she reached towards her neck. She pulled on a string, revealing a red necklace shaped like a teardrop. “But I have the crystallized blood of the demon lord. It’s been passed down from generation to generation.” She removed the necklace and held it towards Duchess Rose. “Can you find the owner with this?”

“Oh? If it’s blood, then it should be easy,” Duchess Rose said as she grabbed the necklace. She brought it up to her nose and closed her eyes. Her chest expanded as she inhaled deeply, breathing in nonstop for a full minute. She lowered her hand as she exhaled, her eyes staying closed.

Anaheim waited. A minute passed, but Duchess Rose remained in place, her body perfectly still like a statue. Another five minutes passed with only the sounds of Khrx having a war against Mr. Bubbles for the blankets. When Anaheim was about to say something, Duchess Rose’s eyes snapped open. “Found him.”

“That easily?” Anaheim asked, raising an eyebrow. If this vampire became a detective, wouldn’t it be impossible for criminals to escape as long as they left a single piece of biological evidence behind?

“That’s right,” Duchess Rose said as she passed the necklace back to Anaheim. “But I only know the general direction he’s in.” As Anaheim put the necklace back on, Duchess Rose fidgeted, shifting her weight from foot to foot. “And there’s an extremely strong curse on that necklace. I wouldn’t wear it if I were you.” Her brow furrowed as Anaheim tucked the necklace away into her shirt. “Actually, the curse is so firmly entrenched that it won’t matter whether you wear it or not.”

Stolen story; please report.

Anaheim raised an eyebrow. “Do you know how to dispel the curse?”

“There’s a few easy ways to do that,” Duchess Rose said with a smile.

“…Really?” Anaheim asked, her voice full of doubt. A curse that had plagued her bloodline for nearly two thousand years could be dispelled that easily? “How?”

Duchess Rose smiled as she lowered her head and admired her claws, turning her attention away from Anaheim. “The easiest way is to simply…”

“Simply?” Anaheim asked, resisting the urge to bite her lower lip.

“Oh dear,” Duchess Rose said, placing her hand on her forehead. She looked up at the ceiling. “I seem to have forgotten.” Her gaze flitted down to inspect Anaheim’s expression before returning to the ceiling. “I’m sure I’ll be able to remember if you provide me a hundred able-bodied men and women.”

Anaheim’s eyes widened. “This is extortion!” she shouted. “I’m not going to give you people to eat! I’m a hero! Hero!”

Duchess Rose blinked. “Then I’m sure a large sum of money will jog my memory too,” she said and glanced at Khrx. “How much is a lot of money around these parts?”

Khrx shrugged. “Luke gave me one and a half million euros like it was nothing.”

“Mm, alright,” Duchess Rose said with a nod. She smiled at Anaheim. “One and a half billion euros should be sufficient enough for me to recall a way to dispel the curse.”

Anaheim stared at the vampire with a blank expression. “So about those hundred able-bodied men and women…,” she said. “Does age matter? I know some people who wouldn’t mind becoming vampires.”

“Weren’t you supposed to be a hero…?”

“If you were given the choice between a terminal illness and dying before the age of twenty or becoming a vampire, which one would you choose? If you were eighty years old and living in a retirement home because your family no longer wants to take care of you, would you want to rot away into oblivion or become a vampire? Obviously, becoming a vampire is the best option in both cases,” Anaheim said as she stuck her chest out. “I’m doing a good deed.”

“There’s no stigma against vampires in this world?” Duchess Rose asked, blinking twice.

“We grow bags of blood in laboratories for blood transfusions. You wouldn’t have to eat someone to survive if you became a vampire,” Anaheim said with a shrug.

“Am I in paradise?” Duchess Rose asked, a far-away expression appearing on her face. She shook her head. “Interesting. Very interesting. If that’s the case, as an expression of goodwill, I’ll tell you all the ways I know how to dispel the curse in advance. You can pay me in bodies later.”

Anaheim nodded. “I don’t break promises,” she said. “You can trust me.”

“The easiest way to break your curse,” Duchess Rose said with a slight grin, “is to override it with a more potent one. Are you interested in becoming a vampire by any chance?”

“No,” Anaheim said. “Next option.”

“Another way is to find the owner of the blood and convince him to remove the curse,” Duchess Rose said. “But given the fact that he cursed you in the first place, he might not be willing to do that. Of course, you can kill him to dispel the curse too.”

“I can convince him? It’s not necessary to kill him?” Anaheim asked, a sense of relief flooding her chest. Her back straightened as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders. Wait, why was she feeling relieved? Demon lords were meant to be killed.

“Another option is to ask Fiel to remove the curse for you,” Duchess Rose said.

“Fiel?”

“The goddess of reincarnation,” Duchess Rose said. “But she tends to stay away from worldly matters.”

“Yeah…, I don’t know how I’ll bring this necklace into the game,” Anaheim said. “Any other options?”

Duchess Rose nodded. “You can eat it.”

“Pardon?”

“Eat the necklace,” Duchess Rose said. “I’m sure it’d be palatable if you added some soy sauce.”

“Hold up,” Anaheim said. “If I eat this necklace, the curse will go away? What’s the catch?”

“There’s a possibility that you’ll explode,” Duchess Rose said. “And that’s all the ways I know.”

“I think I’ll take my chances with asking the demon lord to remove the curse,” Anaheim said, her expression darkening. “You said you found him? Can you bring me to him?”

“No!” Khrx said, releasing the blanket in his hands. Mr. Bubbles tumbled backwards and crashed into the wall from the sudden loss of resistance. “Rosey has to find Fufu first!”