A/N: We fell to 3^rd on the daily rankings, but it’s that title we’re talking about

No matter if I’m a vampire, both my brain and nose will be numb and my sense of smell may go haywire if I continued to inhale the smell of iron, thus I stopped using 《Blood Scent Detection》.

Even without putting stress on my sense of smell further, I had already verified that the drunkard kin had been steadily increasing subjects by smell, so I guess the necessity of my smell isn’t that great this time.

『Another town turns to a sea of blood……』

『Rather, there’s not even a single adventurer in sight ww』

『Amulbell is wider than the Starting Town after all, looking in the dark won’t work at all』

『And there’re many blind spots』

『RIO-sama is on vacation today』

……Unlike my yesterday’s inexperience and clumsiness, I’m working my best to uphold today’s theme of underwater operation after all.

However, after trying to find adventurers with Blood Scent Detection, I couldn’t even find two digits of them but, I guess it’s quite reasonable.

After all, the game had been in service 3 years ago, there’re already more than 20 towns in the game, probably close to no adventurers are still staying in the second town.

It was when I was thinking like that.

「……Who? 」

「……」

Someone was hitting my waist lightly.

As I turned around reflexively, a little girl with an expressionless face like a Noh-mask about the height to my waistline and looked like a doll was carrying a A5-sized board in her hands stood there.

「They found me already? What a bummer. 」

Before I dispelled Blood Scent Detection, I was sure that there’re no adventurers within a radius of 10 meters, in any case, I readied myself to break the board that might be her weapon with a hand chop, but I stopped immediately, because――, she started writing on it.

「――」

(Wait, I’m not your enemy, RIO-sama)

Looking closely at the board the girl was holding, I see, it was a communication tool known as whiteboard that felt very much unnatural in this fantasy world.

As I couldn’t sense any hostility behind her innocent eyes that stared at me, my fighting spirit had died down without me realizing.

『She doesn’t look like an adventurer』

『I feel like I’ve met this girl before I retired……』

『Don’t let your guard down! She wrote RIO-sama’s name, meaning she knows who you are! 』

『Humans are all enemies』

I suppose that’s the case, since someone had seen through my identity as RIO despite my effort at hiding, it doesn’t matter if the opponent is a young girl or not.

Just as I thought to resume my offense mercilessly, at that moment, the whiteboard showed another sentence.

(My player name is “Parnilla”. I’m also a criminal like RIO-sama. We’re the same, not enemies)

Without any traces of having used a pen, the text had changed with incredible speed.

Just like that, because of her words that were over polite and somehow trustworthy, my offensive intent was slowly being shaved away unknowingly.

It felt like she had used the power of words to counteract my hostile thoughts.

――So, I made an exaggerated expression but, looking at the girl who has not a sliver of intention to fight, it’s unlikely she’s someone hunting for me.

「Well then, even if you’re not my enemy, I could’ve still attacked you with no questions asked. Do you have any business with me that is worth such a risk? 」

『wat』

『She actually managed to quell RIO-sama’s killing intent』

『I’d never thought communication is ever a thing for RIO-sama』

『A properly talking RIO-sama is a rare RIO-sama』

This is a gamble of its own too.

It may not be a good idea to leave a person that might be an assassin alive, being careless is also not a good idea.

To prepare for the off chance if there’s a fight, I took out my dagger from the inventory slowly as I tried to probe for her intentions.

「……」

T/N: By the way, I think the ellipsis means she’s staring at the whiteboard, no clue, the original was っ……, a kind of silent character if on its own, idk how to tl.

(There’s a place I want to bring RIO-sama to, that’s why I’m here)

「Bring me? Is it an inn or the guild? Tell me where it is first. 」

(You will know if you come. You won’t if you don’t)

「Mumu」

Careless is the greatest enemy.

In a manner that isn’t provoking as much as possible……, it may already be too late but, I think I will decide how to deal with this girl that named herself Parnilla after seeking advice from the viewers.

『So anyone checked her name yet?』

『There’s no way to tell if she’s not an adventurer or an infamous criminal』

『Maybe an exclusive quest for RIO-sama……nah, not possible』

『It’s still too early to give up』

『I remembered. It’s that girl with a 10 thousand bounty』

『↑NICE! 』

There’s already helpful information from the chat.

Well, that’s enough of verifying her identity for now.

「Everyone, thank you for your information. I decided to trust this person for now. 」

Facing the camera, I explained my next plans.

Although it’s an amount miniscule when compared to my bounty of 2.25 million, to think that I’m trusting a fellow wanted felon, am I too trusting despite the average high school girl I am?

Well, if she only has a 10 thousand bounty, that pretty much means she wasn’t seen as much of a danger anyways. So, I think I have lesser risk even if I trust her as a fellow wanted felon.

「Uu, uugaAAaaa! 」

When I was deep in thought, one of the citizens that was turned into kin came running towards here.

He’s supposed to be my kin but, could it be there’s an event where they try to overthrow me……, or rather, he’s aiming at Parnilla-san.

「I order you. Any actions against this girl, Parnilla is not allowed. 」

「Vv……」

Immediately pacified, the kin that surprisingly listened well withdrew.

It looks like my order won’t work on the kins that I can’t see but, I will just repeat what I did if another appears.

Hearing closely, the groaning sounds within the town had become quite audible, looks like the Amulbell eroding operation is progressing smoothly but, will the place where Parnilla-san is going to bring me be safe?

(Thank you. Here, this way)

Since I’ve already told the viewers and made my decision to go, I followed behind her.

Being led by her hand, I was taken to a well on the outskirts of the town by going through the town infested by undead kins, all while disposing any adventurers we came across that were trying to deal with my kins with my other free hand.

「It appears that the town wouldn’t last any longer…… so, I came this far trusting your texts but, what are you going to do to me? 」

『It’s not too late, KILL! 』

『Ambush! 』

『Bounty! Bounty! 』

『Y’all are too much of a battle maniac』

……The viewers’ opinion is reasonable, after all, looking at this place, there are no other noteworthy structures around other than the well. Since it’s a rather shady alley, it’s a great place to set up an ambush.

So, I activated 《Blood Scent Detection》 and try to identify my enemies.

「……」

(Here. This mound of grass, there’s a hidden lever that I need to activate)

Before I could, Parnilla-san who was crouching down pulled something with an audible mechanical sound, after the dull sound, several heavy doors sounded like they were opened all at once.

「!」

(Okay―)

Parnilla-san turned around, seemingly not caring that her butt is on the ground as she stuck up her thumb with a smug face.

Well, I suppose she has an adorable side. If she wasn’t a player, I felt like I would’ve wanted to keep her as a non-combatant kin for my peace of mind.

As my worries were extinguished, I looked at the direction where the sound came from.

「……This is, you were guiding me to a hidden area? 」

A staircase going down appeared from the ground that had nothing but soil before.

The unnatural well that was constructed there might be for the purpose of marking the hidden mechanism.

(Unn. Come with me for a bit more)

Parnilla-san who responded with the expected text proceeded down the staircase as if in a hurry.

Since I’ve come this far, there’s no use even if I keep up my suspicions. If it’s a trap after all, I will just have to deal with it that time, as I made my resolve and followed behind her.

▼▼▼▼

(I wanted RIO-sama to visit this town)

If ignoring the fact that the kins are slowly infesting it, the cityscape aboveground would be wonderful but, calling this damp space a town feels a little out of place.

After all, it’s only a cave made by digging out soil.

Thanks to the faint glow of the transparent stone pillars, walking without night vision wouldn’t be a problem but, the place itself suggested that encountering reptile-type Enemy wouldn’t be strange.

For the record, most people we passed by were NPCs that seemed to be occupied with something on their mind.

「For the sake of convenience, can I consider that this town is also a part of Amulbell? 」

(Unn)

「Then is the entrance we entered from the only entrance for this town? 」

(Unn)

「I see, then I suppose the kins wouldn’t find themselves here. In other words, the only undead in this place is me? 」

(Unn)

I was shooting my questions in an interrogation style but, her text didn’t change at all, since Parnilla-san is nodding as well, it’s safe to say that she’s answering in a proper manner.

I finally gotten a read on how to treat this idiosyncratic person.

『Who would’ve thought there’s such a place under Amulbell』

『RIO-sama hasn’t let her guard down right』

『I mean, it looks like nothing but a dungeon after all』

『RIO-sama become small please』

『↑This guy』

……It may seem like a playful message at first but, a smaller stature certainly will be useful in maneuvering around this tight space.

Also, this town doesn’t seem to be lively at all, since Parnilla-san already knew my identity in the first place, I have no use to continue disguising, and so I returned to my original appearance.

「……」

I grasped the hem of my flared skirt as if to correct myself from losing focus while staring at the whiteboard absentmindedly.

Even if considerable time had passed since I’ve logged in, I can’t be a child to lose focus just because of that.

Being strict to myself, I turned my attention to the whiteboard again.

(I have a secret to tell. If RIO-sama don’t mind, I hope you can cut the stream)

Fumu, it seems like she has a business more serious than I thought.

A/N: Today 1 more update

T/N: Today no more update