Savoring the wind at high altitude, Chen Yu saw the swamp fortress from afar. The damp, chilly mist of East Swamp brushed over his gel as the fortress's outline flickered in and out of the thin fog, carrying a tranquil air untouched by the years.
Yet one sight beside the fortress gate shattered that harmony. Beneath a swamp oak seemed to lie a corpse.
Huh? Wait.
Something seemed off.
Chen Yu lowered his flight altitude and looked carefully. It did not seem to be a corpse, but a noble human so thin he was little more than skin stretched over bones, pale and utterly bloodless.
Could this be the vampire Little Flower had mentioned?
How had he become this skinny? Were the vampires of The Gloomy Lands so poor they could not even afford food?
Or was this skeletal beauty somehow fashionable among vampires now?
Driven by curiosity, he changed direction and silently glided down, landing atop the fortress battlements.
To avoid exposing too many secrets of the Slime territory, a thought stirred in his mind. The gel wriggled and reshaped itself, mimicking a short skeleton.
At the same time, to highlight his dignity as a lord, he carefully "kneaded" a tiny crown from gel onto the bare skull. Though it looked a little ridiculous, it was at least a symbol of status.
Under the oak, Casimir was half-conscious, his awareness muddled, on the verge of passing out completely once more.
Then, with a plop, a small lump of sticky stuff fell onto his forehead.
Immediately afterward, a voice trying to sound stern came from above.
"Vampire down there, I heard you have been looking for this lord?"
Casimir was jolted awake by the sudden sound and the icy touch on his forehead. He struggled to raise his head.
His