"By the God of Forging, I must be under some Vampire spell, hallucinating!!"
No one came to answer Valen’s confusion. After handing him over to the other Vampires, Stanley left.
Valen also didn’t get any further opportunity to observe the city. He was escorted away from the plaza by Human soldiers and Vampires together.
At the same time, Dwarf Prince Anakin and the other unconscious Dwarf were not taken with Valen but instead brought to a different location.
Valen had no way to resist these damned Vampires and could only helplessly let them do as they pleased.
As daylight approached, the once-quiet city slowly began to awaken, and the slumbering Dawn City stirred to life.
The streets, previously sparsely populated, gradually grew livelier as the sky brightened.
The bakeries that had risen early to prepare food had already finished baking fragrant honey bread, while farmers heading out to the fields carried their tools and prepared to leave.
Under the escort of five Vampires and twenty patrolling guards, Valen stepped from the plaza onto the street.
The moment he entered the streets, a wave of bustling energy rushed into his ears.
Looking at the scenes unfolding before him, his expression was one of deep shock, his eyes filled with disbelief.
This was a Vampire city??
The streets, paved with bluestone, were clean and orderly, with no trash in sight. The green plants and flowers on both sides emitted a faint, pleasant fragrance.
The residents coming and going conversed with smiles on their faces. Long queues formed neatly in front of the bakery, with not a single person cutting in line.
Just as Valen was already shocked by the city, an even more astonishing scene unfolded.
The passing residents smiled and greeted the Vampires escorting him. At that moment, a child beside a woman suddenly ran forward and hugged a Vampire’s leg, even standing on tiptoe to try and grab the partially folded bat wings behind the Vampire.
Yet the Vampire showed no anger at all. Instead, he picked up the child and kissed the child’s face with a beaming smile.
If seeing Humans and Vampires patrolling and chatting together surprised Valen, then seeing residents of this city interact so intimately with Vampires, these creatures of darkness and terror from legend, left him completely stunned.
By the God of Forging, this has to be fake. How could such a thing happen?! This was ten thousand times more shocking than those sissy Elves living in harmony with Dwarves.
Vampires and Humans living in harmony??! Even the most shameless bard wouldn’t dare sing of such nonsense!
Valen could bet that if he told anyone what he had seen, no one would believe him.
Yes, no one. Not even his own kin would believe it!
Humans and Vampires getting along so well, it was like a prank by the Goddess of Misfortune!
And yet, here it was, unfolding right before his eyes, something that couldn’t happen even in myths and legends.
The mental shock he was experiencing was beyond what others could imagine, like witnessing a fundamental truth of the world being overturned.
Valen felt as if someone had told him that ore didn’t come from underground but grew on trees. It was absurd and utterly unbelievable.
He could only widen his eyes and look around, trying to find a flaw in this illusion.
But it was all in vain.
The flower shop owner at the street corner bending down to arrange red roses, the white relief carvings praising the gods on the clean walls, the solid feel of the bluestone beneath his feet, and the warm, fragrant aroma of freshly baked white bread from the nearby bakery.
Everything around him told Valen that this was not an illusion.
Valen felt that this road he was walking was incredibly short. In just the blink of an eye, before he could even observe many details, they had already reached the end.
Just then, thump thump thump, a tremor shook the ground.
From around the street corner appeared a towering figure nearly four Blades tall.
Its grayish-white wrinkled skin was eye-catching. On its hairless head sat a giant single eye. Its body was burly and full of strength.
This was... a Cyclops youngling?!
[T/N: Changed hatchling to youngling, dunno why I didn’t do this earlier but better later than never.]
Valen immediately recognized the creature. He was no stranger to Cyclops, having slain one during his younger years of adventuring.
But that wasn’t the point. The real question was: why was such a ferocious creature appearing in this city??
He was once again deeply shaken.
Suddenly, he recalled the glimpse of the giant figure he saw from the air earlier. So there really were Cyclops here.
Next, Valen watched as the Cyclops youngling, seemingly excited, ran over to the leading Vampire.
"Good day, Lord Hill."
Continental Common Tongue??
Cough cough cough. Valen choked on his own saliva.
By the gods, since when could Cyclops, whose intelligence was never high, speak the Continental Common Tongue so fluently?
"Sorey, why didn’t you attend class at the Mage Tower yesterday afternoon?"
The Cyclops youngling’s huge eye revealed fear. "The homework was too hard."
Hearing this exchange, Valen’s mouth twitched hard. These damned Vampires, what were they doing?? Were they even teaching Cyclops magic????
"Remember, you’re not allowed to skip class today. Otherwise, I’ll report you to Lord Kosso."
At the mention of Kosso’s name, the Cyclops youngling was startled and quickly nodded before turning around and running off, clearly afraid of being reported.
Valen was speechless at this scene. Was this really a city ruled by Vampires??
Why did it feel so surreal??
"Let’s go. The blacksmith shop is just ahead," the leading Vampire said.
The Vampires weren’t surprised at all. The Cyclops younglings had lived in Dawn City for quite some time now. After prolonged contact with Humans, their intelligence had significantly developed.
Thus, not only had these ‘little ones’ learned to hold simple conversations, but they were also selected by the Dawn Mage Tower to participate in research on whether semi-intelligent creatures could become more intelligent. They were now studying magic at the Mage Tower.
At present, the intelligence of these younglings was roughly equivalent to that of twelve or thirteen-year-old Human youths, making communication with them quite easy.
Valen took a deep breath. He opened his mouth, wanting to ask the Vampire something, but closed it again.
This well-traveled Dwarf who had lived for three hundred years no longer knew what to say.
Before long, they arrived at the blacksmith shop.
When Valen saw Golddig, who possessed partial Dwarven blood, a trace of joy appeared on his face.
In this unfamiliar city, he instantly felt a slight sense of belonging.
Golddig was also delighted to see Valen.
"Lord Golddig, the Patriarch has instructed that this Dwarf will be placed under the care of the blacksmith shop for now. His body has been restrained with anti-magic chains, and the shop should have no problem securing him.
Also, the Patriarch specifically emphasized that this Dwarf currently does not recognize the Saintlight Vampires as friends, so he is considered our war trophy. He must complete a sufficient amount of work daily to receive food.
Lord Golddig, the blacksmith shop is still surrounded by patrolling squads and Saintlight Vampire sentries. If any trouble arises, notify us as usual."