We came back home and Leo went to sleep nearly immediately. I told him I was going to go out hunting again, but that was a lie. After what happened at my home, my thoughts were a messy blur. I sat on the bed in a little blanket cocoon, staring at him from the small window for my eyes. The way he breathed, the way he smelled, it all struck me as more fascinating than anything else.

Even though I’d never felt it before, I knew this was love. It almost hurt, to watch him breathing in peace. My fangs itched, and I bit down on the blanket to soothe them. My instincts were torn, the vampire in me struggling to make sense of these feelings. The longer I watched him, the more risky it felt.

Any second now, I’m going to lose control and just bite him. I don’t want to kill him either, just a quick bite and drink some of his blood. Just a little taste should be fine, right? I thought to myself before squeezing my eyes shut. No, no, no! He’ll never trust you again if you do something stupid like that! It’s too dangerous, I don’t want him to think of me as a monster.

It took what felt like an hour or two of tossing and turning after that and nibbling on the blankets before I could sleep. My sleep was mostly peaceful as always, but I woke up with a dry mouth. The sun was hanging low, and there wasn’t a danger of getting burned by the sun inside the cabin. With a small yawn, I shuffled out of bed still wrapped in my blanket. Simon was waiting for me at the table beside Leo.

“Good morning, Sen.” Simon said, waving his hand once. “Morning for you at least. We’re going to go to the castle as soon as the sun goes down. You’ll leave a little bit ahead of us though. I can assume there will be some sort of affair for my arrival that will distract them from you entering.”

“Aren’t they going to have guards outside? You said they had another clan they’re fighting with, so wouldn’t it make sense?” Leo asked.

“That’s... well, it’s hard to explain. I have a couple theories, but nothing concrete until I actually go inside. They won’t suspect anything from Senna either way, since they don’t know about our deal at all.” Simon explained before leaning back in his seat. “Can’t go on without some risks, right? We should be fine, don’t worry about it.”

“Um... do you really have to go, Leo? It seems too dangerous for you...” I asked, rubbing my arm nervously.

Leo shrugged his shoulders and stood up to get closer to me. The air felt warmer when he was near, and I let the blanket slip down to match. His hand rested comfortingly on my shoulder, and a thought suddenly came to mind. I rushed back into the room and grabbed both the sword and the dagger from my room. When I came back I glanced down at both with a frown.

Should I give him the sword? That will probably be safer in a fight. If he’s going in as cattle, maybe he should just have the dagger, and I’ll take the sword. What if they catch him with the dagger itself? Should I take both? I just want him to be safe, but either one of these might be putting him in danger...

“You have weapons? Those look like the blades I’ve seen on display in the vigilant halls, where did you get them?” Simon asked, standing up to get a closer look.

I pulled them away from him and he lifted his hands sarcastically. I carefully held the sword out for him to inspect. My feet shifted a bit, moving me closer to Leo.

“We found them in Senna’s old home. She said they’re artifacts from her grandfather; they’re made from silver.”

“A s-silver alloy, Leo.” I corrected him.

“Hm, so something like what the vigilants use? That could come in handy for you if we get in trouble. You should bring them both along just in case, now let’s get—" Simon started to instruct.

“I want to give the dagger to Leo.” I said. “Since he’ll be in danger doing this... and I don’t want him getting hurt while we’re inside.”

Simon shrugged and waved his hand towards Leo. I gently placed the dagger in his hand and then put my head through the loop of the sword strap. With both of us prepared for the journey, I was sent out first as soon as the night fell. Moving back towards the Ainz estate was strangely quiet. It was either the tension passing over onto the animals in the woods, or I was just distracted from everything but the mission.

Before long I was in front of the estate. A large stone path smoothly led up the side of the mountain to where it was planted inside. In order to avoid being too steep for carriages, it had to loop back and forth a few times before reaching the property. From the angle I was at, there wasn’t much I could make out of the property itself. Shaking the sightseeing from my mind, I followed the directions Simon gave me to the back entrance.

At first it looked like a stable or small shack had broken down in some storm and been abandoned. After stepping inside, I found the mass of large rocks he’d warned me about ahead of time. I stepped around it a few times to make sure there wasn’t a trap set near it, and then crouched in front of it. Through the cracks of rock, it was too dark to see anything, but the lack of light meant there probably wasn’t someone waiting for me.

I pushed the largest of the rocks aside with a small grunt of effort and slipped into the tunnel. Once inside, I let it fall slowly back into place and started my way down the path. Despite the massive rise at the front entrance, there was only a slight rise here. There was only a straight section left when I first saw a glimmer of light again, and crawled towards it as quietly as possible.

The ground was damp, solid rock. As I got closer to the source of the light, I was able to make out that it was a plain wooden door. I couldn’t hear anyone on the other side of it, and gently pushed it open. The door had opened up to the kitchen for the home, yet it looked like it hadn’t been touched in years.

Odd, surely they’d make the kitchen more presentable if they pass through it often. Maybe the disuse is supposed to dissuade people from looking in here for a hidden entrance in the first place? I thought, moving my body completely into the kitchen and standing up. Then again, don’t they have to feed their cattle something? I’ll have to ask Simon about that when we meet up.

I looked around the room for someplace that would be better to hide, but nothing seemed to function like it should. Cabinets had locks on them, or no hinges at all. There was also a closet on the opposite side of the entrance that had only a small window into a lightless room.

Looks almost like an ice locker. Using the cold of the ground that could be useful, but why would they store things like that down here to begin with? I would check inside, but I get the feeling there’s something off about this room.

Moving to the door outside, I opened it slightly to peer down either way. The hall was lit with some kind of glowing paint or fungus. It stretched in swirling patterns up the path and away from the kitchen, which seemed to be the only room this far down. My curiosity only grew as I realized this hallway was cut from the same kind of smooth stone that was in the hidden entrance.

I closed the door and hurried back to the closet before pulling the door open suddenly. Had it not been for my rough few decades of existence, my stomach might have spilled out of my throat from the stench. The bloated bodies of several men rested inside of the room, which was filled with a small layer of water at the bottom. I closed the door and fell down to my knees facing away from it. Each breath was hard and heavy while my mind raced with fear and questions.

What the hell are they doing to all of those bodies?! It was like an unnatural kind of rotting! I can imagine why they keep whatever that is down here, that smell could seep through anything but bedrock. What the hell are the Ainz even doing down—?

My thoughts were interrupted by an abrupt stomp up above me, followed by sporadic falling noises. Thinking fast, I ducked inside of an empty cabinet, and kept a small crack open to watch the entrance of the room. The footsteps grew louder and louder until eventually the door flew open and Leo stumbled inside. Before I could rush out to help him, someone else entered afterward.

She moved far more calmly than Leo, with a weird strut in every step. Her outfit was a flowing dress of black silk. With a small shift I could see her hair was long and pitch black, but not her eyes. Leo was stuck over the counter and panting heavily, but I couldn’t see where his dagger was.

“Are you finished?” The woman asked. “I’m afraid there’s no way out of here for you. Running deeper and deeper into the house was rather foolish, honestly.”

I saw her lift her hand threateningly and something snapped inside of me. The cabinet door slammed open, drawing both of their attention, and I flew out while I drew the sword at the same time. Rather than slicing first, I only raised the sword slightly to distract her and knocked her to the ground with the force of my body. She landed with a crash into the cabinets and smashed one of them up.

“Senna?” Leo asked almost in awe while he moved behind me. “Sorry about messing things up, unexpected circumstances...”

“Gah, stupid splinters...” The woman groaned, pulling a large piece of wood out from her back. “Senna, did you say? I didn’t think the little rat was still alive, let alone skulking around here.”

I can feel Leo’s heart racing behind me. This is making me kind of dizzy, but I’ve got to stay focused. If the situation is violent, I just have to make sure she doesn’t let anyone know where we are while we escape.

“Listen, rat, just hand the human over. He’s all hairless and small. I’m sure you’ve got little forest critters ready to bite outside, right?” She said in a mocking tone. “Surely you don’t want to die trying to—"

“I would, but I won’t.” I interrupted her annoying speech. “In fact, if you’re the one that hurt him, I’m not going to let you leave here alive. Your head is going to roll off your neck and I’ll leave your body in that gross cellar to rot.”

My right eye was twitching. Even in the brief time I was human, I’d never felt this alive. Raw hatred seethed out of me, and I felt like I was going to crush the grip on my sword. Even the repugnant woman in front of me must’ve felt a glimmer of my fury, because I could tell she was going to rush for the exit.

I placed my sword down on the ground between us, drawing her attention once again. As I did, I knew Leo was screaming at me in his head, but I knew this would convince her the odds were stacked in her favor.

She’s an idiot. I thought, crouching down with my fists ready. I’ve slaughtered cows plenty of times before.