The Death Mage that doesn't want a fourth time 36

The most peaceful, prosperous age that the world of Lambda ever experienced, the age of the gods. The ones who ended it were the Demon King Guduranis and the countless evil gods that followed him.

The one who cursed the water, earth and even the air, turning them into poison that ruined living creatures, the【Evil God of Cursed Poison.】

The master of massacre who knew of nothing but hunting and competing, the one who taught the people the pleasure of drawing blood, the【Evil God of Mad Slaughter.】

The one who toyed with all forms of life, the one who created numerous evil synthetic beasts, the【Evil God of Distortion.】

The one who corrupted the people with immoralities that had never existed in Lambda before, the【Evil God of Ruinous Greed.】

Their leader was destroyed by the gods and the heroes, but there are still many evil gods lurking in this world.

One of those, the【Evil God of Distortion】, had a subordinate god, Hihiryushukaka, the【Evil God of Joyful Life.】There was a Vampire community obeying this Evil God and receiving his divine protection.

Hihiryushukaka was an evil god who taught his followers that toying with life was the ultimate pleasure, a way of proving oneself to be a superior being.

If someone begs for their life, toy with them, give them hope and force them to obey before finally pushing them off the cliff of despair and taking their life.

If there are insects who desire power, give them a power they do not want that leads them to ruin and make them scream in regret that they do not need power.

If someone is proud of their strength, rob them of that strength. Tear off their limbs, crush their eyes and rip out their tongues. Make them into nothing more than insects that are only capable of crawling on the ground.

Only by doing that can you become superior beings. Only by creating a pile of the weak beneath your feet and trampling over it can you reach a higher place.

The Vampires had lost Vida, their『Goddess of Life and Love.』For Hihiryushukaka, who advocated such teachings, converting them into his followers may have been one of those pleasures for him as well.

A hundred thousand years later, those who followed the【Evil God of Joyful Life】were a prominent force even among the other Vampires who had begun to follow the evil gods.

There were over a hundred Noble-born Vampires, ruled by three Pure-breeds who possessed tremendous power. Below them were countless Subordinate Vampires and human followers who desired eternal life. If one included the Undead, monsters and even the groups of mercenaries and bandits who were not even aware that they were serving as the Vampires’ pawns, it would be foolish to try to count their numbers.

Their military strength was equivalent to that of a large country, and their influence was so great that they would be able to manipulate such large countries.

「Now then, the first topic of discussion is the aforementioned Dhampir.」(Birkyne)

The one speaking was Birkyne, one of the three Pure-breed Vampires ruling the community. His outward appearance was that of a man of around twenty years of age with delicate features consisting of thin lines. He seemed like someone who might gather sons and daughters of noble families to host tea parties and balls.

「Dhampir? Ah, the one who was born between one of your Subordinates and one of the guards?」(Female Vampire)

The one who replied was a woman who looked to be over twenty years old. Her attractive figure and beautiful face would be enough to conquer any man if she smiled, but they were clouded by a somewhat dull-looking gaze.

The dress that revealed much of her chest and left her back exposed was extravagant, but in bad taste. Rather than looking like a noble lady, she looked like a high-class prostitute that noble families might pay for.

「Both the mother and child are working hard in my castle with their backs stuck together, moving around with eight limbs.」(Female Vampire)

「Ternecia, isn’t that from a hundred years ago?」(Birkyne)

「Then are you talking about the one that came from the stomach of that Beast-person? Didn’t you kill that one? Along with its whole clan.」(Female Vampire)

「That one was from five hundred years ago.」(Birkyne)

Ternecia, the one engaging in this two-person comedy act with Birkyne, was another one of the Pure-breed Vampires.

She was the third most powerful in this community, and recognized as the most powerful female Vampire.

「The Dhampir I am referring to is the one born at Gubamon’s place between one of the Subordinates in a very low position and a Dark Elf.」(Birkyne)

「Ah, the one at Gubamon-jiisan’s place! Now that you mention it, something like that did happen there, didn’t it? So, where is Gubamon-jiisan? I don’t see him around.」(Ternecia)

Birkyne and Ternecia spoke a third name, Gubamon. He was the last of the Pure-breed Vampires ruling the community.

But even though Ternecia looked for him, she couldn’t see him at all.

「L-Lord Gubamon is absent today because he is busy with other matters…」(Vampire)

The pale-faced Noble-born Vampire who had spoken was likely one of Gubamon’s followers. He was trembling violently, unable to endure Ternecia’s glare.

「What did you say?! He’s absent today as well?! I’m only absent for nine out of ten meetings, but that jiisan has already missed twenty! Hurry up and bring that shitty old man out here!」(Ternecia)

「Please forgive me. Lord Gubamon is dealing with some matters at hand, and he asked me to apologize to you on his behalf, Ternecia-sama and Birkyne-sama.」(Gubamon’s follower)

「Stop making excuses! Do you want to turn into materials for one of my creations?!」(Ternecia)

Ternecia looked as if she would pierce the trembling Noble-born Vampire with her fangs at any moment. Birkyne and the other Noble-born Vampires chuckled at this scene.

Even their own brethren didn’t deserve their compassion.

「Let us leave it at that. We have already received a report on the details, you see.」(Birkyne)

Unlike Subordinate Vampires, creating Noble-born Vampires took a considerable amount of effort, and though it was very pleasant to see disputes between Gubamon’s faction and Ternecia’s faction, it could cause the community to disintegrate.

Birkyne enjoyed the spectacle for a little while before putting a stop to it.

「Is that so?」(Ternecia)

「Yes. As you know, Valen was executed by one of Gubamon’s subordinates. The body was disposed of in a way that it will never come back to life. And I have heard that the religious fanatics in Amid were used to burn the Dark Elf mother at the stake.」(Birkyne)

「Wow, considering that shitty old man has nothing in his head except filling up his collection, his subordinates perform pretty well, don’t they? So what happened to the Dhampir?」(Ternecia)

「Apparently he managed to slip away.」(Birkyne)

「Huh?!」(Ternecia)

As Ternecia’s face twisted in surprise, Birkyne raised a corner of his mouth and continued his explanation with a pleased look on his face.

「He was never found, but as he was still a baby of breast-feeding age, it was thought that he would be unable to survive on his own and was left alone. I do not know how he did this, but as a child not even three years of age, he apparently gathered several hundred Ghouls under his control. And when the humans dispatched a large extermination force after him, he apparently led the Ghouls across the Boundary Mountain Range before the extermination force could reach him. What he did and how he did it is a complete mystery.」(Birkyne)

As Birkyne spoke, not only Ternecia, but all of the other Vampires showed all sorts of reactions.

There were some who were half-laughing, thinking that this was some kind of joke.

Others were silently dumbfounded.

Others still were confused, wondering if they had misheard something.

「You’ve got to be kidding me!」(Ternecia)

The only one to respond with anger was Ternecia.

「So you’re saying that someone let him go thinking that he would die, then helplessly watched as this Dhampir gathered hundreds of followers and crossed the Boundary Mountain Range?! What the hell was he thinking?! No, does he even have brains to think with in the first place?! Kill that guy, right now!」(Ternecia)

Ternecia bared her fangs in anger. She wasn’t scared of the Dhampir. She simply understood that the Vampires had ruled world in the shadows for a hundred thousand years because of the evil god’s divine protection and because they had prepared their battles in a way that they would win before fighting them.

She wouldn’t feel this sense of danger facing a mere Dhampir or human. However, there were Pure-breed Vampires residing beyond the Boundary Mountain Range. Beings that stood equal to themselves.

They had shown almost no movement at all during the last one hundred thousand years, but if they were to begin moving, it was certain that the Vampire community here would have its existence endangered.

「She is right, Birkyne-sama, please execute the one responsible immediately and leave the Dhampir to us!」(Vampire)

「No, please leave this to me, Carmine!」(Another Vampire)

「I will do my best to live up to your expectations, Birkyne-sama and Ternecia-sama!」(Yet another Vampire)

And then the Vampires, seeing this as an opportunity to add some achievements to their own records, raised their hands one by one even though nobody had asked them to. It was impossible for a Noble-born Vampire to become a Pure-breed Vampire through achievements, but if Hihiryushukaka acknowledged them, they would receive his【divine protection.】

If they received this divine protection, they would rise one or two steps above the other Noble-born Vampires in power and privilege.

「No, no, I am thinking of still making the person who failed to work to deal with the matter.」(Birkyne)

「What?! Are you saying that you’re taking pity on someone who has failed twice already? It’s certain that he’ll just fail a third time!」(Ternecia)

「Well, I think so as well, but I was impressed by his enthusiasm. Ah yes, let me introduce him to everyone.」(Birkyne)

With these words, Birkyne gently raised his thin, white hand.

With a whooshing sound, a man with his whole body covered in blood fell down from somewhere.

「Allow me to introduce you; this is Gubamon’s subordinate, Sercrent Ozba-kun.」(Birkyne)

With a smile, Birkyne raised his hand to introduce this man… The Noble-born Vampire who held connections to Earl Thomas Palpapek, currently letting out a small groan.

His appearance could be summed up in one word: Ghastly. All of the fingers on both of his hands had been pierced through by silver skewers; his legs were covered in burn marks as if he had been roasted in a fire and the flesh on his back was covered in countless protuberances.

One of those protuberances appeared to burst. A mouse with no skin or fur crawled out from within and began to eat into Sercrent’s nearby flesh. And then once it had eaten a quantity of flesh equivalent to the size of its own body, it pushed its head into the hole it had created and returned beneath Sercrent’s skin.

This was one of Hihiryushukaka’s curses.

「For… give… me… This… I will… definitely…」(Sercrent)

As Sercrent mustered his strength and looked up, the Vampires looking at him gasped. He had no face.

His eyes had been gouged out, his nose sliced off, his cheeks dug out and his lips torn to pieces. His head was like a skull that was covered in blood.

The cruelest thing about all this was that none of the things that had been inflicted upon him, including the curse, were fatal. Noble-born Vampires possessed incredible Vitality and regenerative capabilities; they wouldn’t die even after having this done to them.

Even the Noble-born Vampires who had transcended the limits of mortality were nothing but playthings for Birkyne. As they were reminded of this fact, the other Vampires fell silent.

The mice that were made of flesh continued consuming Sercrent’s tissues as they regenerated. Ternecia rose from her seat, approached him and kicked him in the face with all her strength.

「Geuh!」(Sercrent)

「Birkyne, what are you planning on having this half-dead bastard do? He wouldn’t even be able to kill a single caterpillar.」(Ternecia)

Sercrent was in agony after his jaw was crushed by Ternecia’s kick. Indeed, he looked more like a pitiful criminal on death row awaiting execution than an assassin.

「With all due respect, I would say that Ternecia-sama is right. I believe it would be impossible for this person to cross the Boundary Mountain Range, find the target, get through hundreds of Ghouls and dispose of the Dhampir.」(Female Vampire)

This remark was made by a female Vampire who shared Ternecia’s opinion. The other Vampires seemed to be in agreement as well.

Though differences existed between individuals, Vampires were a powerful race. If one were to only look at the Pure-breeds, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they were the strongest among all the races that Vida had created.

They could slaughter Dragons with ease; one Pure-breed Vampire could destroy an entire nation on his own. The only ones capable of opposing them would be a party of adventurers of A-class or higher, equipped with legendary-class Magic Items.

However, Sercrent was a Noble-born Vampire, a being considerably inferior to a Pure-breed. Even so, he would be a great threat to knights or adventurers, but there were plenty of monsters on his level of strength in the Boundary Mountain Range.

Anyone trying to cross the Boundary Mountain Range high in the sky would encounter the monsters inhabiting the Devil’s Nests in the skies… The Devil’s Skies. They would be considered as challengers to the fight for domination over the air and be torn to pieces.

But crawling across the steep mountain surface like a human would take time, and there were still no guarantees that one would make it through that journey safely.

Monsters were overflowing from the unknown Devil’s Nests and unexplored Dungeons; they would attempt to devour any outsiders.

In order to avoid that, hundreds of warriors strong enough to ignore monsters and capable of fighting while climbing the steep cliffs would need to be gathered, and they would have to travel in a large group while intimidating the surrounding monsters to deter them from attacking.

No matter how one thought about it, it was impossible. Unless a god and his followers were to act directly, or some incredible trick was used, this could not be done.

Not only would Sercrent have to cross the mountain range, but he would have to follow the Dhampir’s tracks, slip through the sight of the hundreds of Ghouls that had survived the journey and kill the Dhampir. If Sercrent could at least complete that mission, the Vampires here couldn’t care less whether he lived or died, but it would be problematic if he were to die before completing it.

「There is no problem. Sercrent-kun said that he would even go as far as to risk his life to complete his mission. Isn’t that right, Sercrent-kun?」(Birkyne)

「Y-yaash. Leaf ert... Leaf ert ter meh!」(Sercrent)

Sercrent immediately responded to Birkyne’s question with his shredded tongue and crushed jaw. The other Vampires were secretly amazed that he was still capable of hearing despite having no ears.

「I don’t give a shit about his willpower or motivation. What I’m trying to say is that I can’t trust his ability.」(Ternecia)

「What you are saying is completely reasonable, Ternecia. That is why I am thinking of dispatching one of my lovers for this.」(Birkyne)

「Huh? One of your prostitutes?」(Ternecia)

The Vampires began to murmur. Their faces expressed uncontrollable fear and disgust.

Vampires were generally very proud; they would never make an effort to raise someone of the same rank above themselves.

The reason Subordinate and Noble-born Vampires formed a hierarchy was because the ones at the bottom of the hierarchy would be treated as slaves.

At least, this was true for the Vampires who had come to follow the evil gods.

And Birkyne greatly enjoyed watching this hierarchical process. It was a hobby to him; even things like torture were nothing but casual pastimes compared to this.

The Noble-born and Subordinate Vampires that he had turned into his subordinates, he would make them compete and fight amongst each other. He would make them crush each other and draw each other’s blood, granting his favor to the victorious and bestowing severe punishments onto the defeated.

He was saying that he would have one of his lovers… one of his own bodyguards work with Sercrent.

「Eleanora, you will do this for me, won’t you?」(Birkyne)

A beautiful woman with red hair that came down to her waist appeared from within Birkyne’s shadow. If she were to appear at a ball, noblemen experienced in giving compliments would exhaust their vocabulary to praise her beauty from the depths of their hearts. She was wearing a smile that would instantly make any man fall in love with her.

「Yes, please leave it to me.」(Eleanora)

「Fufu, make sure you get along with Sercrent-kun and the others. Also, the ruins of Talosheim are nearby, so it would be very helpful for you to collect the bones of the Sword King Borkus if they are still around. That would allow me to have Gubamon owe me a second favor.」(Birkyne)

「Certainly, my beloved lord.」(Eleanora)

Eleanora. While she was the youngest among Birkyne’s subordinates, having only become a Noble-born Vampire several years ago, she was a talented woman who had established herself as one of the best. It was expected that in a few hundred years’ time, she would become one of the most powerful followers of the【Evil God of Joyful Life】other than the Pure-breed Vampires themselves.

Even Ternecia had killed several of her own subordinates out of irritation at the fact that they would never reach her level.

「Hmph, be careful to not let your guard down and go through a painful experience.」(Ternecia)

It would be even better if Eleanora and the Dhampir simply killed each other. As Ternecia spoke these words that concealed her true feelings, the discussion regarding this topic came to an end.

What came afterwards was a regular meeting with the same contents as usual… How the Guilds hiding in the shadows were doing, the recent movements of Amid’s Church, how the conflict to become the heir of the Hartner family of earls was intensifying, the exchange of information that would help the Vampires pass the time during the long nights, reports on the status of various projects. Finally, candidates to become Subordinate Vampires were introduced. Once they were acknowledged, they underwent the process to transform into Vampires and then the meeting was adjourned.

There were four Dungeons in the Devil’s Nests surrounding Talosheim.

They were Garan’s Valley, Doran’s Aquatic Cavern, Borkus’s Evil Dragon Savannah and Barigen’s Fall Life-Mountain. All of them were Dungeons that imitated natural environments, but the materials obtained from these Dungeons had supported Talosheim’s prosperity.

Vandalieu had decided to clear the one with the lowest-difficulty among them, the D-rank Dungeon, Garan’s Valley.

It would likely be about as difficult as the Dungeon that he had entered in the Mirg shield-nation (or so Vandalieu thought), but this had been a training ground for Talosheim’s inexperienced adventurers and one of the sources of Talosheim’s prosperity.

Garan’s Valley was a place where rock salt and stone could be obtained. The rock salt in particular had been particularly important; since Talosheim was located in an inland area surrounded by a mountain range, it wouldn’t have developed into anything more than a small village without this salt.

Vandalieu was currently on the first floor of Garan’s Valley. The members with him were the usual cast with the exception of Basdia having replaced Sam.

「Gyih! Gah!」

He was fighting one-on-one against a Goblin Soldier armed with a short spear.

Though the Goblin’s movements were poor in Basdia’s eyes, it did have some degree of technique as it thrust its spear towards Vandalieu repeatedly.

「…」(Vandalieu)

Vandalieu used martial arts with some degree of technique to repel the thrusts and tried a counterattack with his claws.

「Gyagyah!」

His attack was dodged and the spear was thrust towards him again.

This crude exchanged continued. Though it was suspenseful to watch if one remembered that it was a battle between a three-year-old child and a monster, if one thought of it as a warrior fighting another, it would be yawn-inducing.

There were dozens of Goblin Soldier corpses all around them. The one who had done this was… not Vandalieu, but Bone Man, Basdia and the others.

They had slaughtered an entire group of Goblin Soldiers except one to allow Vandalieu to take it on.

『How is Bocchan’s talent for unarmed combat?』(Saria)

As Saria asked Basdia this question while wiping the blood from her halberd, Basdia replied,「I don’t know how to put it.」

「I’ve said this to Van before, that he has an aptitude for this. So much that it makes me excited. But I feel like it would be wrong to call it talent.」(Basdia)

『Umm, so does that mean that he does have talent?』(Saria)

『He has better memory than me, so he will probably surpass me soon, won’t he, Nee-san?』(Rita)

Saria thought hard about Basdia’s words. As Rita said, it seemed to her that Vandalieu had good memory.

They were now Undead Living High-Leg Armor and a Living Bikini Armor. But while they were alive, they had been maids, and thought they had used a broom for cleaning, they had never wielded halberds or naginatas or shot monsters to death with bows and arrows.

Thus, they were reliant on the increased Attribute Values that they had obtained from becoming monsters to wield their weapons. They had received the instruction of Vigaro who had told them that their movements were those of beginners and they had made use of the fact that Undead had no need for rest or sleep to train all night, every night. Through this, they had finally learned their skills.

To them, Vandalieu seemed to be quick to learn things in comparison. He slept at night and every week on his day off, he only did one hour of practice.

Vandalieu was receiving the Goblin Soldier’s counterattacks and suffered injuries, but it couldn’t be helped. Unlike Saria and Rita who were suits of armor, Vandalieu had a flesh body.

「Van has no hesitation, no fear and he doesn’t seem to be impatient at the moment.」(Basdia)

『Jyuuh? Is that not a good thing?』(Bone Man)

Bone Man was examining a Goblin’s corpse with the tip of his sword to see if a Magic Stone might come out. In response to his question, Basdia replied,「You’re right.」

「It’s a good thing. Vigaro got angry at me plenty of times back in the day. He would tell me not to close my eyes, not to be scared, not to get impatient.」(Basdia)

Basdia calmly recalled the times when she was still an amateur. She was now a Rank 4 Ghoul Warrior, but, of course, that didn’t mean that she had been strong right from the beginning.

Because she had grown up in a dangerous Devil’s Nest, she had gone through and overcome harsh training.

The Ghouls had no military exercises or anything of the sort; instead, they had used Spartan-style training that emphasized practical experience, making the inexperienced fight against weak monsters such as Goblins that had been captured alive.

But even so, real battles and training are different things.

When someone is facing an opponent that really intends to kill them, they wonder if this attack will be enough, what could happen if the attack is dodged, and this causes them to hesitate.

Exposed to the bloodthirst-filled gaze and attacks of their enemy, they fear being wounded or killed.

Unable to display their ability in real battle as they do in training, they become impatient.

『Is that how it was?』(Saria)

『Ah, I might get the impatience part.』(Rita)

『Yeah, I don’t know about the hesitation or fear, but I do understand the impatience part.』(Saria)

It seemed that the Undead didn’t have much sympathy for that, however. Their senses were different from those of living creatures, so that was to be expected.

「But Van doesn’t have any of those.」(Basdia)

Vandalieu attacked with no hesitation, received attacks with no fear of pain and counterattacked patiently.

Basdia had asked him whether he was simply covering it up with his expressionlessness, but it seemed that he really felt no hesitation or anything else.

「The worst thing that can happen is me being injured. I won’t die from something like that, anyway.」(Vandalieu)

Vandalieu had the【Danger Sense: Death】spell constantly active, so he could sense how likely it was that he would die. The bloodthirst of his enemies was just another danger.

It seemed that he was also able to ignore pain. He wasn’t dulling his senses, but rather, delaying them.

「I’ve experienced far more painful things in my previous life.」(Vandalieu)

It seemed that he had learned a way to divert his attention from pain in his previous life. This was further supported by the high-speed regeneration ability he possessed as a Dhampir and the no-attribute spell,【Enhanced Healing Power.】

And because he knew that he would simply feel a little pain even if he failed, he felt no impatience. Even if his fingers or legs were cut off, he would simply need to pick them up and reattach them. That would be problematic for his eyes, so he would be careful about those.

「That’s why he does things like that.」(Basdia)

As Basdia said this, the Goblin Soldier’s short spear pierced Vandalieu’s arm.

『Aah!』(Saria)

『Wah, Bocchan!』(Rita)

『GRRR?!』(Bone Wolf)

Rita and the others panicked, but Vandalieu remained composed. That was only to be expected; he had used his arm as a shield against an attack that he had decided that he couldn’t avoid.

The Goblin Soldier smiled and tried to pull his spear out, but that was the cause of his downfall.

「Fuh!」(Vandalieu)

With strength that seemed impossible for a three-year-old body, Vandalieu moved his arm that still had the spear piercing it and broke the Goblin Soldier’s stance.

「Gyagihih?!」

And then as the Goblin Soldier fell forward, he dug out the Goblin Soldier’s side with his claws. With blood spurting from its wound and its mouth, the Goblin Soldier became yet another corpse on the ground.

「Fuh… A failure.」(Vandalieu)

With these words, Vandalieu pulled the spear out of his arm, cast【Sterilization】and healed the wound.

『It wasn’t a failure! What would we do if you were to die?!』(Saria)

『If I recall, humans die if they lose too much blood, don’t they?!』(Rita)

『Geeh?! Geeeeh?!』(Bone Bird)

「Calm down, I’m not going to die. Sorry, sorry.」(Vandalieu)

Vandalieu apologized, trying to calm Seria and the others down. This was why Basdia was kept on her toes when watching him, and it was difficult to get angry at him as well.

「I’m sorry. I couldn’t complete my attacks and I lost my footing because I tripped over one of the corpses on the ground so I couldn’t avoid my enemy’s attack. I used my arm as a shield to avoid a more serious wound. Next time, I will use my claws to deflect the spear or defeat my enemy before such a thing can happen.」(Vandalieu)

For Vandalieu, using his arm as a shield was an action he took to avoid the worst-possible outcome, something that couldn’t be helped. But even so, he knew that it wasn’t pleasant for those close to him to see that… and if he was scolded harshly, he would fall into a panicked state.

「Good, make sure to be more careful next time.」(Basdia)

And so after Basdia said those words, she settled on teaching him what he should have done in that situation.

Vandalieu was aware of his own lack of ability, so once he gained the skills that he was lacking, he would no longer need to do such reckless things. Basdia thought this, as did Vigaro and Zadiris who heard about these things from her.

Nobody allowed their own bodies to be wounded because they enjoyed it. Even Vandalieu felt the sensation of pain. If there was a way to survive and win without being wounded, he would definitely choose a method that allowed him to avoid pain.

In fact, Zadiris and Vigaro who were stronger than him had fought through battles and been forced to do absurd, rash things to somehow survive. Zadiris in particular had pushed herself like that only to be rescued by Vandalieu.

「So, Van. I’m going to have you raise your skill quickly. After a short rest, we’re moving onto the next.」(Basdia)

So Vandalieu would have to learn some proper skills while they were still on a floor where he could get away with pushing himself.

「… Isn’t the pace a little fast?」(Vandalieu)

「It’s not.」(Basdia)

「Then am I allowed to use magic?」(Vandalieu)

「You want to get stronger, don’t you? Do your best, Van~♪」(Basdia)

「At the very least, can I do a normal ambush or surprise attack instead of facing them head-on?」(Vandalieu)

「You won’t learn the techniques if you do that, right? You have to fight~♪」(Basdia)

It wouldn’t make for good training for Vandalieu if he were to use magic, and Vandalieu was not yet skilled enough to combine both magic and martial arts while fighting.

Making use of his high Attribute Values, he would be able to kill a Goblin Soldier in one hit with a surprise attack, but then he wouldn’t learn the essential skills he needed.

And above all, men needed to be strong.

「I heard from Kachia that wives raise not only their children, but their husbands as well. Rest assured, Van. I’m going to raise you well~♪」(Basdia)

「… Y-yay…」(Vandalieu)

Vandalieu was the one who had asked her to teach him unarmed combat because he wanted to be stronger, and he knew that this almost-real-combat training was an efficient way to do learn.

「It’s alright, Van. You can do it!」(Basdia)

「Yes.」(Vandalieu)

And most importantly, Vandalieu was the type of person that was easily affected by praise.

And so on this day, Vandalieu defeated two Goblin Soldiers, one Kobold, two Mini Needle Wolves and a Goblin Knight all on his own.

【You have acquired the Unarmed Fighting skill!】

Chapter end