Chapter 36: Run

After leaving Larvia’s room, Chloe went straight back to her own.

Locking the door, she kicked off her boots and flopped face-up onto the bed.

“Now what…”

Chloe stared at the ceiling, muttering to herself.

She’d never imagined Larvia would flat-out reject her demands.

Sure, she knew her requests were a bit much, but she thought Larvia would just haggle over the cost, reluctant to part with the money.

She never expected Larvia had been toying with her from the start.

‘Ugh… so annoying…’

Her mind a mess, Chloe rubbed her face in frustration.

‘What now? Do I actually leave?’

‘I said all that to Larvia—there’s probably no place for me in the palace anymore.’

‘But if I go, where do I even go?’

Chloe felt lost.

Truth be told, aside from fighting, she was pretty much useless at everything else.

Vampires followed a policy of seclusion, only retaliating when attacked.

But resources didn’t fall from the sky. The vampires’ prosperous lifestyle relied heavily on their vassal states.

As a powerful higher race, few lesser races dared refuse their terms.

The terms weren’t outrageous, ensuring relatively peaceful lives.

In fact, most peaceful higher races used similar tactics—even the outwardly elegant elves.

In a way, humans could be considered vassals of the elves.

Thus, vampire wars happened on other nations’ soil. The only conflict in vampire territory was currently at Tarrilberg.

‘Go back to the humans?’

‘No way… the transformation potion only lasts a week.’

Chloe rolled over, distressed.

Forget the mental strain of brewing a potion beyond her level. Even if she could endure the splitting headaches, gathering the materials weekly was impossible.

Not to mention, a single vial of fourth-tier magical blood wasn’t something she could just grab.

At least, not among vampires.

In the human empire, she could try being an adventurer.

She could take on enough jobs in a week to afford the potion’s materials, then keep brewing to extend the transformation.

If she avoided using her signature Sword Saint techniques, no one would recognize her.

After all, who’d suspect the empire’s legendary Sword Saint was now a loli… though, strictly speaking, she wasn’t a loli when transformed.

But she wasn’t exactly busty either.

That raised another issue.

Fourth-tier magical blood, extracted from fourth-tier magical beasts and processed to preserve its mana, was rare in vampire territory and outright precious in human lands.

If Chloe needed a vial every week, she’d soon become infamous.

“Ugh… what do I do?!”

Chloe wailed, rolling around on the bed.

‘Whatever, just go!’

‘I said what I said. I can’t stay in the palace anymore.’

‘There’s always a way forward.’

‘Fate favors the brave!’

She had a week’s transformation time—enough to at least see her sister.

Worst case, she’d return to vampire territory and live out her days in some small town.

As for where to go…

Chloe’s mind flashed to the wilderness where she’d fallen.

‘I’ll go back via Tarrilberg.’

With the war there, security might be lax enough to slip in.

Then she remembered the letter.

“Traitor…”

A wave of unease hit her.

After a moment, she shook her head, pushing it away.

‘Traitor or not, that’s Larvia’s problem.’

‘If she can’t handle that, she might as well give me the queen’s throne.’

‘Better leave soon. If Larvia spreads the word, it’ll be harder to go.’

Chloe opened her wardrobe, packed a spare maid outfit, and tossed the dozen silver coins from her desk into her wallet.

Those were pocket money from Larvia for snacks—a small compensation for her docked wages.

Vampire currency had gold, silver, and copper coins, with a 1:100:10,000 ratio. An average Montpelier resident earned about 8 silver coins daily, so her money would last a few days.

‘What else to bring… I don’t have much money, need it for food and lodging…’

‘If I could save on food, like eating a big meal now and taking some for the road…’

‘But how do I openly take food from the kitchen? It’s not mealtime.’

A lightbulb went off.

‘Sorry, ancestors!’

At the palace’s main gate, two guards stood watch.

Tap, tap, tap…

Light footsteps approached.

They turned, saw the visitor, and bowed respectfully.

“Good evening, Your Majesty.”

Larvia nodded.

“Anything happen today?”

“Your Majesty, nothing major. All is well.”

“Good.”

“But this afternoon, a maid left the palace. Her behavior… seemed odd.”

“Oh? How so?”

“She carried a heavily packed bag, not like she was just shopping.”

The guard pulled a report from his pocket.

“Your Majesty, this is her exit application.”

“Alright.”

Larvia took the form and glanced at it.

[Name: Chloe]

[Position: Probationary Maid]

[Date: April 17, 1354, 14:32]

[Reason for Leaving: Purchasing daily necessities]

‘Pretty sloppy writing.’

“Anything unusual, Your Majesty?”

“Nothing.”

Larvia shook her head.

“I’ll keep this form.”

She tucked it into her pocket.