Taming My Vampire Servant

The warm days passed by, and the green foliages turned into red, yellow, and orange. The inn was surrounded with autumnal flowers, such as aster and chrysanthemum, and the pumpkin-spice scent could be smelled from the inn. The changes in the colors and the weather were an attraction, not only to the locals, but also to visitors and travelers. Ivory, together with the others, continued their tasks in the inn as well as in cleansing the black stones.

One night, inside the mysterious cave, Ivory and her companions never stopped cleansing as many small to medium-sized boulders as they could. As she and Lycus removed Dark Mana, Lucius and Sigmund patrolled the cave, until they reached the very end. 

Using his heightened hearing, Sigmund confirmed that there was nothing behind the rock wall. "This is it, rich boy."

"Hmm… This cave is smaller than I expected," Lucius uttered.

Sigmund responded, nodding his head, "I observed that most of the infested boulders are at the middle part of the cave." He then gestured for Lucius to walk ahead, and he followed. Both of them went back to Ivory and Lycus, who both finished the cleansing ritual.

Afterwards, Lycus went ahead to the secret passageway to leave, while Lucius and the others decided to come out of the cave. But they did not expect Town Guard Chief Draven and three of his subordinates to go to that area!

"Oh, Qawiun Academy students, what happened?" the man asked worriedly after seeing Ivory being carried by Sigmund with closed eyes.

"She's... too tired. Apologies, but it would be best for her to go back to the inn. I will patrol the mines myself," Lucius told him.

Draven then shook his head, and glanced at the dark opening of the southwesternmost cave. "Maybe you're tired as well. You are all too hardworking, even checking the inactive mines. I haven't been there, but I've heard that the castlemen excavate coal-like stones which they use for the fortification of the castle fortress. For the locals, those excavated by the castlemen were worthless compared to the gemstones and coin materials. Why would they try hard to excavate very low value coal, when they knew the income cannot be compared to other ores, right? " realizing that he talked for too long, he said, "Ah, I held you back. Get going, you three. Take care, and see you tomorrow night again!"

Lucius and Sigmund excused themselves and headed back to the inn. 

After putting Ivory in her bed and covering her with the thick, cotton blanket, Sigmund stepped out of the room. He told Lucius, "We're almost done with our plan. I think they can cleanse everything in that cave before winter comes."

"As soon as they finish the cleansing ritual, we must return to our homeland as soon as possible."

"Rich boy, what if the castlemen check the cave?" the Vampire questioned in a serious expression.

Lucius responded, crossing his arms, "Let them," he grinned, "I wonder how they will handle the situation."

"They must have thought that only the Priestess and the disciples in the Sanctuary could cleanse Dark Mana. Those knights outside the Sanctuary are just for show. I am sure the King placed them there because they just wanted to keep an eye on them if they'd leave the holy place."

Lucius agreed with him. Not yet sleepy, he invited Sigmund to talk outside, and they went to the front yard to discuss more about their upcoming plans.

Fast forward, the night they were all waiting for finally arrived. With only one remaining big and thick boulder infested, Ivory and Lycus worked together to cleanse it. 

Sigmund stood on guard near the entrance, while Lucius watched how the two did the ritual. It took thirty-five minutes before they could fully cleanse it!

Ivory felt her knees weaken, and she slid down the cold, rock floor. Yet, a wide smile escaped her lips, as she felt that she had achieved something great in her lifetime. 

"Master, are you alright?" Lycus offered his hand.

"Yes, thank you," she took his hand and stood up. 

Then, they felt the ground shake a little, and suddenly, the aura of the cave changed. When they moved the lamp closer to the wall, they noticed the drastic changes around them. Lucius casted Fire magic to lighten up the inside even more, so they could see what was happening around them. The stone walls, which were previously dark in color, had now become ash blue. They were even more surprised when medium-sized blue topaz crystals were embedded in boulders, and tiny ones in stone walls!

Without delay, Lucius immediately looked at the ore closely. When he touched it, he said, "Let's bring a sample to the Gemstone Division."

"Good idea," Ivory answered. "I wonder what that ore is," She remembered seeing it similar to the fortune-teller's crystal back then during the Summer Topaz Festival.

"It seemed to be? It is similar to a topaz's description. If I remember correctly, the gem is considered sacred to Topazeon town. It is said to be rare, that only less than ten people in town are in possession of it."

"It seemed like the Dark Mana suppressed the appearance of this special ore and hid its beauty," Lycus uttered while he was slowly scraping the Fire-and Earth-enchanted dagger on the surface of the rock. Then, when the small blue ore went off, he grabbed it and gave it to Lucius.

And so, Ivory, Lucius, and Sigmund went out of the cave front, while Lycus still used the secret passageway. As he walked forward, he made sure to place behind him obstacles and boulders using simple Earth magic. Since the southwesternmost mountain became free of Dark Mana, there was no more reason to go back to it. After getting out, he broke and crushed the top portion of the secret passageway opening and made sure that nobody could enter it anymore. 

The next day, they went to the Inventory Office to ask about the ore they discovered. They visited Mona of the Gemstone Division.

"THIS IS!!!" Mona gaped in awe as she examined the piece, "TOPAZ!"

The others who heard this immediately ran towards her and swarmed around to take a good look of it. 

Mona pacified the crowd and told them to calm down, then gave the ore to Ivory. With her suggestion, Ivory and the others brought the ore and showed it to the Town Leader.

Coincidentally, Town Guard Chief Draven was conversing with Town Leader Dante when they came. Like Mona's reaction, the two were surprised as well. 

"Where… did you get this?" Draven asked.

"At the cave where the castlemen excavate the black stones," Lucius answered, "The reason why we were there everyday is because we noticed those ores, but we were not quite sure yet, so we explored the whole cave first. There are plenty of them, especially in the middle of that cave."

The old town leader raised the small piece of blue topaz in the air, "This is the Goddess Destinia's blessing! Our town will prosper even more. We give our thanks to the Goddess!" He exclaimed, then faced the town guard chief, "Dante, tell your subordinates to guard that cave. From now on, we will take over the cave. I will explain the details to the King, and I am sure he is kind enough to understand."

Draven bowed his head, "Understood. Anything else, sir?"

"We will hold a feast for this! I will invite the King and the royal family."

Hearing this, Ivory and Lucius glanced at each other with creased brows. If the King realized that they were the ones involved in cleansing the black stones, they might be captured too soon! They must leave the town before the feast!

Draven nodded at the old man, then patted Lucius' shoulder, "Lad, this is a great achievement to you and your companions," he smiled at him and to Ivory and the others as well, "Our humble townspeople will be delighted with the good news! You will all be rewarded!"

"Draven is right," Dante uttered, "We will grant a wish for each of you! Tell us anything, as long as we can give it to you within our abilities, we will surely give it to you." 

"There is something we all wish for, sir," Ivory answered. Even without talking to her companions, she already knew what to say, "Can you please grant us our three simple wishes?"

The town leader and the town guard chief both nodded, and listened to them carefully.

"First, please do not tell anyone that we were the ones who discovered the topaz in that cave. Second, please do not tell anyone that we were allowed to roam around the mines. If anyone asks, tell them that the Qawiun Academy students only guarded the mining entrance and were assigned only at the gates."

"I will tell this to the town guards and every officer who knows of your tasks," Draven responded, pleased that they were humble young people.

Dante then asked, "You said you have three wishes. What is the third?"