Brandel clearly remembered hypnotizing the odd vampire lady a night ago.
'Is she a local? Why can't I remember seeing her in the town before? She must have forgotten me, right?'
In the corner of his eyes, he observed the girl. A full minute had passed since she had taken her seat without looking in his direction. She just sat there, quietly watching the other diners and guests. However, Brandel could not feel at ease. While mentally frowning, he approached the owner of the bar and asked for a leave. Then he went out while occasionally looking behind him.
Melissa saw his actions as she was quietly observing his reflected figure, something a vampire would never have, on the surface of the glass in front of her. She became puzzled. However, when she thought of their encounter yesterday, she immediately realized the reason and began to feel helpless.
Of course, the man would dare not think that her presence there was a coincidence. For a spy, prudence was the number one rule so even though she never looked his way when he was still in the bar, he did not want to gamble on his mission and identity. Despite performing the hypnosis, Brandel could not guarantee that she would not 'remember' him. Probably from the moment that she entered his eyesight, he made up his mind to abandon his job and move away.
'It's an oversight on my part. I still find it hard to adapt to the fact that I regress and that this is the past.'
Melissa inwardly sighed, her eyes never left the back of the man that was heading for the back door of the tavern. For a while, she mentally debated whether to go after him. But then she came to her senses and realized that she should not push her luck lest it pushed him away.
After brainwashing herself that seeing him once today was enough, she also left the pub.
If he was the Brandel she knew, she was sure that he would abandon his current identity and fake another one. He would definitely change his residence too. Perhaps he would leave the town for good. Then she would not be able to locate him anymore.
'What should I do?' Melissa tried to calm herself as she walked down the street that would lead to the center of the town.
Ridiculous plans formed in her mind, for example, having one servant of her family 'look' for their missing relative who would somehow turn out to be Brandel. However, she had to dismiss the thought because it was totally unacceptable to brand him with the label 'servant'.
So what choice was left for her? If she let fate arrange their next meeting, would it mean that it would be after the high nobles determined that he was a spy?
"Whoosh!"
A solemn look was on Melissa's face when she bent her neck to the side to avoid the arrow. Her body did it instinctively as soon as she sensed the danger in the air. Her train of thoughts stopped and she automatically turned in the direction of the archer.
"What a rude thing." With furrowed brows, she narrowed her eyes. She was not pleased with practically everything today. Since she met Marietta, things had been constantly getting on her nerves.
But on top of the roof, the assailant did not even bother to hide his figure or even just the bow in his hands, clearly harboring no care for his target's mood. Another arrow was fired instead, followed by another.
Melissa had no time to wonder who sent somebody after her life. She also did not bother thinking whether the other party was too haughty to kill her covertly. Unlike the first arrow, the succeeding ones were infused with corrosive poison. The tip of the arrows was also made of silver.
Knowing no good ending would come to her if she let herself be grazed by it, she hurriedly turned into countless bats. A black mini cyclone formed on her spot which swiftly flew to the side. When the attacks from the archer did not stop, Melissa continued dodging while approaching the attacker's location. Through telekinesis, she fired back the arrows that she already evaded.
'So the target is not as stupid and talentless as they said. She's proficient in controlling her bat form.'
'It's safe to assume that she has the combat ability of a rank 2 soldier.'
The assailant's face was covered with a black mask, but his eyes were visible and gave off an indifferent vibe. When none of the arrows struck his target, he flew away and disappeared into the darkness. Naturally, Melissa who was about to pummel the guy had no choice but to stop in place. Her normal form resumed at the same time that cries of alarm began to echo behind her.
She furrowed her brows as she looked in the direction where the archer fled. 'Testing me? So it's Leonora?'
When she thought of her classmate's name, she was reminded of the duel that would take place in a few days. However, no panic showed on her face after she realized that parts of her capabilities had been revealed.
She looked around a little and saw that a few vampires came out to the street when the brief commotion began.
Melissa frowned and then walked towards the shadow where her figure blended into the darkness. Before she turned into countless bats, she noticed that the last arrow from the assailant actually grazed her left leg. No wonder there was a faint smell of burnt and blood around. Her unpleasant mood worsened. However, a moment later, a faint glimmer flashed across her eyes, and an arc formed on her lips.
...
Minutes passed since Brandel left the pub. Because he was hellbent on discarding his current identity, he resolved to destroy and burn every single thing that would leave traces of him. He even activated one of his magic tools, a ring that could store items, to pull out a fresh corpse that would help him distract the neighbors and the authorities. When he exited his burning house, there was only a knapsack behind him containing two sets of clothes and some money.
"Since the entire body got burned, they would definitely not be able to confirm whether it belongs to me or not. Or rather, they would not be able to see the face. If the vampire investigators are as impatient as I think, they would immediately conclude that the deceased is me, a weak vampire 'turned' by a weak fifth generation descendant of a baron."
No hint of emotion could be glimpsed from his eyes that were not hidden by his mask. Brandel did not feel unwilling to abandon the town and the life he had here. The same thing had happened a few times already so he was not reluctant to walk away.
In no time, the man disappeared into the forest and reappeared several miles away after an hour. He was already two cities away from the town.
However, just when he was about to step foot onto the official road that would lead him to the capital, Brandel stood still when he saw a figure emerge from the forest on the left.
It was a girl. Bewilderment was evident on her face when she spotted him in front of her. She recognized him even though his facial features were hidden. However, it did not take long for her to hastily look back. Even though it was only for a split second, Brandel was confident that he saw fear in those beautiful gem-like eyes.
When she confirmed that there was nothing behind her apart from the usual darkness ever-present in the vampire empire, she sighed in relief. Then fell forward.
Brandel could only look ahead with a dumbfounded expression on his face. 'What the-'
A moment later, he cursed under his breath before he moved forward to check on the weird vampirette that collapsed at the roadside.