Under the starry night sky, a passenger ship docks at a city's port. People start to quickly, but uniformly, pour out of it. Among them Ernst, a fifteen year old boy with a fancy attire, eyes brown as dirt and hair black as coal.

  Having finished his studies at his country's main university, he decided he wanted to expand his knowledge through the biggest libraries in the world, one of them located in this city.

  "From what I've heard, this city's library stays open at all times, I might as well go check it out now." In truth, he's so excited to visit the library that he cannot bring himself to wait for tomorrow.

  As Ernst walks through the city, a problem becomes increasingly clear, he has no idea where the library is. That kid seems lost, he must be new here... I guess I can look over him for a bit to make sure he doesn't get into trouble. Unbeknownst to him, he just gained a protective vampiric guardian for the night.

  He ends up taking a wrong turn at some pointing and ending up in a back alley with some unsavory figures. The bandits eye his fancy attire, seeing it as a big "this guy has money" sign. One of them steps forward, likely their leader. "You give us all the money you have on you and you get to leave this place with your legs unbroken. What do you say?"

  "Well, I, uh..." He stumbles over his words, unsure how to respond.

  "Picking on a kid? Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?" Ernst hears a feminine voice coming from behind him.

  In a moment, she moves to stand between him and his assailants. "Area: Pressure!" All of the bandits fall to the ground on their knees. While they are in such a state, she puts each of their lights out, that's to say, she knocks them all unconscious with her fist.

  "Alright, that wasn't much of a challenge..." She sighs and stretches her arms. Under the moonlight, it can be seen that she wearing a simple set of leather armor, though it doesn't include a helmet or anything else that would cover her head.

  "Thank you for saving me!" Ernst bows deeply in gratitude.

  "No problem," she turns to face him, with a smile on her face. "I'm here to help!" I bet I look real cool right now!

  As she smiles at him, he notices her fangs and deduces her vampiric nature. He might've have deduced it earlier if he had noticed her red eyes, but the moonlight was too dim for him to be able to see color. However, his focus swiftly shifts towards something that's now worrisome with this new information. "Vampire lady... I believe the sun is coming up."

  "Oh, right," she raises her hand and points up towards the sky, "Obscure!" A beam of darkness surges, just above the tip of her index finger, and it flows quickly up. Stopping after reaching a few dozen meters of height and starting to spread horizontally in all directions, curving downwards as it spreads.

  "It's beautiful..." He looks mesmerized at the hemisphere being formed, but soon it becomes too dark to see anything clearly. The only source of light inside the dome comes from lit candles inside buildings, they are too dim and too few to be of help though.

  Aware that vampires have night vision, he tries to look in the direction he thinks the lady is. "I'm Ernst Brennen, youngest graduate in the history of the Fernes kingdom."

  "That's very impressive..." Even if he's a university graduate, I still find it weird that his parents would let him travel on his own. They must be very irresponsible. "I'm Kristina Sanguis, an ex-noble and currently an adventurer. It's nice to meet you."

  "It is... Nice to meet you too..." Ernst feels shy around her, but he doesn't understand why. Interacting with beautiful women was never a issue for him before... Could he be developing feelings for her? He always focused way too much on his studies to pay attention to matters of the heart.

  "Now, Ernst, I trust you to look away while I change clothes," Kristina speaks in a light-hearted tone, completely unaware of the new feelings brewing inside Ernst.

  "Yes, ma'am!" He turns his back to her, with a sudden blush on his face. Considering how little light there is, it's not like he would even be able to see it even if he were looking at her, but the fact that she's changing right there brings forth a feeling that's unfamiliar to him, embarrassment.

  "Store, Equip. I'm done, you may turn back now," the Obscure's dome gradually starts to fade away, letting the rising sun's light in. Ernst turns back to face her and witnesses her new outfit. A simple leather mask covers her face, while a cheap brown tunic covers the rest of her body.

  "So, where were you heading Ernst?"

  "The library, though I'm not sure of where it's located."

  "Well, you truly got yourself very lost, it's quite literally on the opposite side of the city from here. Hmm... I was going to visit the library next night anyways, I could take you there with me?"

  "I would appreciate that very much, thank you again."

  As they arrive at the inn, a melancholic expression overtakes Ernst's face.

  "Let me guess, you were pretty excited to visit the library, weren't you?" Kristina asks, already knowing the answer.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  "Indeed..."

  "And now you are bummed out about having to wait until night time to go there?"

  "Yeah..."

  "Trust me, the library is best at night, it becomes almost completely empty... Empty of people I mean, the books stay there."

  "Alright, I'll trust you on that..." His mood seems to have improved a bit, but not by much.

  "Hmm... You know what, this inn also sells food, so pick whatever you want to eat and I will pay for it!" No child will go hungry during my watch!

  "I have really not eaten anything since I arrived to this city..." He approaches the innkeeper, a beastfolk woman sitting behind a desk. "Hi, do you have garlic bread?"

  "Yes, we do, little sir," she looks down to speak with him.

  "Then I would like garlic bread with extra garlic. Please."

  "Ernst...?" Kristina gives him a look of suspicion. Doesn't he know that garlic is practically a vampire repellent? It smells so bad to a vampiric nose...

  "Oh, sorry, I just really like garlic!"

  "Alright, alright... I'll pay for you still, just eat it away from me please."

  Kristina walks through the forest, followed by Ernst, who somehow convinced her to let him accompany her. Suddenly, a giant snake-like monster, called a "Boiuna" jumps out from a river they were walking by and moves towards then.

  Boiuna is a giant snake from Brazilian folklore, Emilia would have been very happy to see her country receiving representation, but Kristina doesn't even know what a "Brazil" is.

  "Be careful!" Kristina shouts. "It can use illusion spells to trick you! I've fought this type of creature before!" She turns to face the snake monster. "Appraise!" Level 29?! That's 9 more than me! If it were even one level higher I wouldn't have been able to use Appraise... "Equip!" On each one of her hands a sword appears, as she rushes towards the snake.

  She tries to attack it with a dual strike using both her swords, but they pass right through and the snake disappears as if were never there. It was an illusion. Damn it! If it were a lower level than me I might have been able to see through its illusions... I can't use any large area spells because it would risk hurting Ernst... I knew I would end up regretting bringing him here... But he had such puppy eyes...

  "Someone! Help!" Screams a feminine voice, both Ernst and Kristina turn their heads to find the origin of the scream. What looks to be a beautiful woman lying injured on the forest floor.

  "Fireball!" Kristina casts without a single gram of hesitation, launching a volley-ball sized ball of fire towards the image of the woman. Ernst observes in shock as it explodes when it hits the ground where the woman was supposedly standing. However, the woman simply disappears at same time that a pained hissing can be heard.

  "She was an illusion..." Ernst realizes what happened. Normally, when I'm fight them by myself, they have a guy as the illusion. From what I've heard they try to use illusions of the opposite gender of their target, since most people are attracted to the opposite gender... I guess it must be targeting Ernst then, that's not good...

  "Ernst, make sure to not touch the shield," Kristina warns.

  "What shield?"

  "Vampiric Shield!" A semi-transparent hemisphere made of solid red light.

  If I can't rely on my vision or my hearing, then I might as well try other senses. Sniffing, she's able to smell burnt scales. Aha! Thanks to the density of the forest they are in, there's not much wind to throw her off course. By following the smell and barely managing to avoid the monster's attacks, she manages to eventually defeat the Boiuna.

  "You really were amazing! The way you defeated that giant snake is engraved in my memories!" Ernst gushes, acting like a total fanboy.

  "That 'snake' is called a 'Boiuna'... And I really think you should have slept instead of accompanying me, are you sure you won't fall from exhaustion when we arrive at the library?"

  "I have been awake for longer, there's nothing to worry about," he says, lying completely.

  As they enter the library, Kristina looks at him and asks: "So, Ernst, what did you want to read in here?"

  "Nothing in specific, I just wanted to broaden my knowledge. I plan to read at least one book on each subject, hopefully more." They keep walking as they talk, Kristina heading somewhere specific while Ernst follows her unthinkingly, observing his surroundings excitedly.

  "I see, in that case, would you like to come to the necromancy section with me? I wouldn't mind the company."

  "This library has a necromancy section?" That is quite unusual, as it is seen as a taboo subject in most places.

  "Yes, that's why I have been coming here."

  "What do you need necromancy for though? You are already undead."

  Kristina stops walking for a moment and, noticing this, Ernst stops as well. "There's someone I lost, but he has been dead for too long for standard necromancy to work... Thus, I'm looking for a different necromancy method that will allow me to bring him back."

  "I see, that goal is very understandable..." He feels bad for having asked now.

  "Although, I don't even really know if such a method even exists..." Still, I know that there must be a way for me to bring him back though, there has to be...

  "In that case, allow me to help you look for it. We can cover twice as many books if we work together."

  "Why would you do that for me?"

  "I'm going to be reading books anyways, so I might as well. Besides, I would like to thank you for all you have done for me so far."

  "Then I welcome your help, thank you," she smiles in genuine gratitude.

  "Well... There's actually another reason as well," he kneels before her. "Kristina, allow me to be you servant!"

  "Eh?!" What's this all of a sudden?!

  "I've never met someone as amazing as you before, so please allow me to stick with you."

  "Well, I'm an adventurer, having servants is not our type of thing... However, we could make a party together if you wish."

  "That would be great..." Having gotten what he wanted, his exhausted body lacks the willpower to stay awake and he soon dozes off to sleep right where he's standing. Thankfully, Kristina is here to catch him before he falls to the floor.

  Ernst feels a familiar vampiric smell. "She's back." He heads to Kristina's bedroom and gently opens the door. "My lady, I'm afraid an incident happened while you were away..."

  Kristina just stares at him blankly.

  "My lady?"

  "Sorry," she shakes her head. "I don't know why, but I was remembering the first time we met..." Kristina's memories just won't stop coming, huh...

  "I see..." Ernst tries not to cringe as he thinks of how he had acted back then.

  "So, what was the incident?"

  "I was attacked by a vampire from this world."

  "How did it go? I assume you have won considering you aren't in Frederick's care right now."

  "Indeed. I'll give you a more detailed report about it later, I can see you wish to rest, but there's the matter of what should be done with her corpse."

  "Have Frederick revive her. She might have useful information."

  "Yes, my lady."

  "Oh, did you get the workers from the village?"

  "Yes, they are already set to work the fields when the guards finish clearing the space for those. They have also accepted to commute from the village to the estate until we build residences here for them."

  "That's perfect... You have become a most dependable servant, Ernst."

  He kneels before her, just as he had long ago. "Thank you, my lady."