Chapter 4 ~ Pre-eminence of Darkness

I awoke at an unusual time. My body did not wish to be awake during the daylight hours and I felt the grogginess that happened to all vampires. Most races in the world were able to sense some factor, such as the elves who could feel when the forest around them was in danger. For us vampire, we detested the sunlight and our bodies could feel when the sun was out. In a way, it was like an internal clock system. While we were able to be out during the sun, it was akin to a human trying to stay awake for a whole day without sleep.

Still, I wanted to try and spend the time Lily was awake with her. After getting dressed, I headed up the stairs and placed my hand on the doorknob. My body was telling me not to go. For a brief moment I was greeted by a tiny sliver of light. Closing the door with haste, there was no denying that I would not be going out during the daylight hours. Retreating back into the darkness of my room, I took a second to sit down in my chair. My body felt as if I was dehydrated like a human who had not partaken in their ritual of daily water intake.

My head was starting to spin. The sunlight had drained my body to the point that all I wanted to do was sleep. A few minutes passed until I could hear the sound of the door opening and footsteps echoing down the stairwell. Lily stood in the doorway with a concerned look on her face and a bottle of red wine. After popping the cork off the bottle I ensured to down every last drop of the alcoholic beverage. I could tell she was waiting for me to explain myself.

“Okay, so—”

“You wanted to try and spend the day with me because you felt bad about our conversation during the picnic, right?”

Lily sighed and then smiled as she hugged me gently.

“I told you that it’s fine. Now, go to sleep so you can be healthy, okay?”

There was no reason to argue with her. Deciding to to agree with her was the best decision overall. Getting into my coffin, I bid her goodnight and allowed myself to enter into a deep slumber. I relived the memories of the time before I met Lily. My life was filled with only two things that I held dear to me: my sister and the life of the shadows. During that time, red was the colour I saw the most of. Yet, that changed when I met Lily. Thanks to her, I learned that this world had more to offer than simply red and black.

The time in my coffin felt like a few minutes; however, in truth it was several hours. With the night hour setting upon the world, I awoke from my quiescence state and opened the lid of coffin. Sitting at my desk was Lily busy writing down the inventory and sells she had made throughout the day.

“Good morning. Hope you slept well,” Lily said as she continued writing.

A soft yawn escaped my mouth as I crawled out of my coffin.

“Morning. I guess I slept okay.”

I made my way over to the desk and took note of all the information Lily was writing down. We had managed earn a decent size profit from the influx of travellers that had passed through Nullus. While it was a countryside that most people avoided, there were occasions of strong monsters and beasts that roamed within the surrounding areas. This in turn drew adventurers here from time to time, although most did not survive the encounters.

Nullus was not an extraordinary place to live, nor was it the place to find glory. It was simply a countryside with little value. Being a border reign with little to offer, Nullus did not bring fame to adventurers that were seeking it. There was little to be gained here, if anything. The life one lived here was simple like the landscape. Still, it was magnificent, a sight that many young adventurers would pass up in their quest for glorification and laurels of grandeur. Had I never met Lily, it was likely this place would have passed me by as well. I would have only seen it in two colours at one point in time.

My sister had been around the area at one when Nullus was just being founded about a hundred years ago. At that time, it was no more than six wooden houses before more people started settling down. Now, it was equivalent to a small town which was still slow to grow. This was one aspect of why Nullus was not as populated as the capital. The time it took for shops and other major commercial buildings to catch on was often years. For the longest time, there was no guild hall for adventurers to accept and complete quests for rewards. It was not until about twelve years ago that a small guild branch was constructed. Even though it only had two employees, it managed to run as well as the one in the capital.

“You want to do some shopping later?” I asked as Lily put the quill down.

“We might have to do it tomorrow. After today, it looks like we will need to gather some more ingredients and I do need to ensure our alchemical garden is properly maintained.”

I looked over the notes Lily had written. Based upon everything I knew, she was right about postponing the shopping.

“Yeah. We still need to take care of some other matters but I should be able to do most of them by tonight.”

After discussing the important matters, Lily grabbed me by the hand and led me up the master bedroom on the second floor. I did not ask why as she motioned for me to hop into the bed with her. Her cheeks were flustered a soft shade of red, like she was embarrassed by me seeing her strip down into her underwear. Laying down beside her, she smiled and cuddled up to me.

“Nyizel, sleep with me tonight, okay?”

“I don’t think you want me inside—”

“N-Not like that! I meant just be here with me until I fall asleep, please?”

Playing with her hair gently, I nodded and allowed her to fall asleep in my arms. The hours passed in silence until Lily had finally fallen asleep. Moving as silent as the shadows, I exited the room and headed downstairs. I took a moment to look over what we needed to restock in the main area where we displayed all the merchandise for sale. There were some products we needed to get rid of and others that if they did not sell soon they would expire. After looking over the notebook and taking stock of the inventory, I got dressed and gathered up everything I knew that needed to go.

Once I had everything placed in a small bag, I exited the shop and ensured to lock the door behind me. Making my way down the road, the moonlight stroll was quiet and peaceful. It had been quite a while since I had travelled alone. While I missed Lily’s company, it was a nice change of pace. The guild branch of Nullus sat just outside the town, bordering inside it by a few millimetres. It did not see much use and often only two or three adventurers could be found hanging around. Sometimes, they would indulge in drinks but there was little that happened inside the building. There was always a short burst of excitement when a new traveller would enter and accept a quest or fill out a form of completion. Yet, the exhilaration would quickly fall dead after they left.

The Nullus guild branch was simple in its design and structure. A two-story building made of wood from the surrounding forests and lined with paved stone at the base of the foundation. Two paths led inside the building with the main one leading into the guild hall and the other off to the right leading into a forge where adventurers could get their weapons and armour repaired. Entering into the guild building, I was greeted by the usual sight of a near empty guild hall with only one adventurer sitting at a table.

The girl was a child prodigy who was, to be blunt, insufferable. She was a B-rank adventurer that graduated from the capital’s most prestigious academy at the age of 13 and made B-rank adventurer at age sixteen. Her name was Iystaria Ryoseilia Phydiel but she often went by the nickname Phantom Ryose which simply got shorten to Ryose. While she nearly hated most people, other than herself, she was infatuated with my sister to the point that she would worship the ground she would walk on. Of course my sister always took advantage of this. Many people in Nullus disliked her.

I continued my way past her table in hopes that she would not speak to me. Her child-like tone and voice was enough to grind at my ears. While I could have put up with her if she was nice and kind, Ryose was not that type of person. With her condescending attitude, it was shocking she had not been a target by assassin’s world-wide.

“Nyizel, where is Lily?”

Had Lily been with me, Ryose would have been easier to deal with. She respected Lily, Emily and Aine. Surprisingly, to some degree, she respected me, though what the two of us defined as ‘respect’ may have different definitions. I suspected that she actually remained nice to me due to my connection with my sister.

“Sleeping. I’m just here to sell these leftover herbs and whatnot to Mel.”

“She stepped out for a few minutes.”

I had two options: go back to the shop or wait with the hell-spawn. Sitting down at the table, I steeled myself for the various conversations that could happen within these few minutes. Lily had taught me ways to deal with Ryose and so far, it had worked. I could only hope that it would continue to work. I watched as she started to remove her pair of arcane ankle-length boots.

“Hey, Nyizel, my feet hurt. Massage them, now.”

“I am so sorry, goddess. It would be beneath me to have my hands touch flawless petite feet such as yours.”

From head to toe, Ryose was truly a divine beautiful. Her crystal blue hair flowed down past her waist even when she kept it tied in a ponytail, firmly with a carmine ribbon. Her outfit and body screamed that she was beautiful beyond any vampire I had met within my lifetime; yet, she was by all accounts, a narcissist who believed herself to be a goddess.

Ryose quickly jumped to her feet and laughed. I watched Ryose spun around on the ball of her foot. Her overly exaggerated pose made me, as well as others, wonder if she was actually younger than what she claimed. It was either that or she suffered from a mental illness – which could explain a lot about her.

“Yes! You’re right. A divine goddess such as myself should have my feet touched only by my own hands or by the unparalleled beauty Myilia. Anything else is unworthy!”

I was tempted to bring up the fact that she allowed Emily to partake in the divine pleasure of her feet but last thing I wanted to do was stroke her ego and light an even bigger fire. Ryose sat down while I took a second to breathe. I was eternally in debt to Lily for help me deal with this nightmare child. The few minutes managed to past in silence since Ryose was busy rubbing her own feet from heel to toe. Once Mel had returned to the front desk, I quickly got up and made my way over to her.

“Oh, hey Nyazel!”

Melizya Faeriyse was the only cat-girl I had ever met in my travels. According to her, the race was an extremely rare breed. She was unique due to her cat ears that stood out atop her head. Likewise, her way of speech was not something I had heard of during my lifetime.

“Hey Mel, I was wondering if you needed any herbs that were nearing their expiration. I need to get these off the shelves.”

Mel looked over everything I had for moment.

“Sure. I can nyake these off your hands.”

After placing the gold coins on the counter, I gathered them into my pouch and readied myself to leave. Last thing I wanted was to end up in a conversation with Ryose again.

“Did Nyosie give you any trouble?” Mel asked.

“No, just the usual.”

“Did she ask for you to rub her nyeet?”

“She did. I swear that girl stares into a mirror and enjoys seeing herself too much. Anyway, don’t worry about it. I’ll be going. Come by the shop if you need anything. I know Lily would love for you to come by.”

Without much left for conversation, I exited the guild building with haste and made my way back to the shop. While there was a lot to do tomorrow, I was glad that I was able to get most of the stuff out of the way.