A Helpless Plan

The bats chittered in the dim corner.

"Ryan, is that vampire still coming? I feel like the intervals are getting longer and longer." Kate asked, eagerly anticipating another vampire attack.

The vampire had emerged from all sorts of unimaginable corners several times already, but each time, Kate had confidently stopped him. Ryan had only displayed the strength of an ordinary young wizard throughout it all, yet even now, the vampire had gained nothing.

Kate had noticed that the vampire was always trying to drive her toward certain spots, presumably where traps had been laid. Yet Kate dodged every one of them. Ryan even suspected she had a full-map hack.

There was even one time when the vampire changed tactics and attacked Ryan. Kate ambushed him—an actual ambush that even Ryan failed to notice. This girl really was a natural-born assassin.

Another fifteen minutes finally passed. Just as Kate was about to lose patience, Ryan sensed the vampire appearing again. He began mischievously providing sound effects for the vampire's actions.

A black bolt of lightning suddenly shot out from the corner. Ryan turned sideways and blocked the bat's surprise attack. Kate pounced as well, using both hands to scoop up the little black creature in a net.

Ryan did not remind Kate that this was not the vampire, merely a bat under his control. It would not be fun if he exposed it. Sometimes, it was better to be a little confused.

Just as Kate caught the bat, accompanied by a cloud of black mist invisible to the naked eye, the pale, ordinary-looking vampire emerged behind them. He was apparently planning to snatch the torch, the Silver Net, or the Garlic Necklace. What a cunning vampire.

Perhaps Heaven had given him below-average looks, then opened another window for him in terms of intelligence.

"You little brat! What do you mean, ordinary? Why do you keep emphasizing that? Are you messing with me?!" The vampire stood where he was, as though he had given up resisting. Was this the loss of humanity or the collapse of morality?

"Shut up!" The ordinary-looking vampire twisted his face into a ferocious expression. Somehow, he looked a little more handsome that way.

"Really?" The vampire's face lit up with delight.

"By the way, can you read minds? How did you know what I was thinking?" Ryan looked innocent.

"You said it all out loud!" Salvatore cried excitedly.

"Yes, Ryan, you were talking to yourself the whole time. But it was pretty interesting." Kate struggled to suppress her laughter.

"Honored guests, shall we continue?" Salvatore took a deep breath. For the sake of making a living—and gathering material—he put on a fawning smile.

"Of course we'll continue. I remember there are plenty of traps here besides you, aren't there?" Ryan said.

"But you and this charming lady refuse to run, and you will not split up either." Salvatore looked helpless.

"Ryan, he called me a lady! And charming! Looks like this vampire isn't completely useless after all! Aside from looking ordinary—aren't vampires all supposed to be handsome?" Kate waved her arms in excitement. She was so delighted that she accidentally voiced her inner thoughts.

Salvatore, who called himself one of the Blood Clan, pretended not to hear. Since he did not want to be tormented any further, a plan that might otherwise have gone unused throughout his entire career suddenly surfaced in his mind.

"Mr. Ryan, Ms. Kate, behind this castle lies the largest dragon reserve in Romania—and indeed, the entire world. From the top of the castle, you can also observe dragons up close in their natural habitat."

"Why not let me serve as your guide and lead you to enjoy the rare natural sights behind this historic castle?" Salvatore said with a proper smile.

Over the next few hours, the well-dressed vampire acted like a gentleman's butler, leading Ryan and Kate through the traps and secret passages on the first floor one by one. Ryan found them all rather boring, but Kate thought these traps and hidden passages, built purely from mechanisms, were undeniably authentic.

At last, it was time for lunch.

Soft music slowly began to play. Torches were relit along the dark corridors, and the bats tactfully disappeared. For some reason, it gave Ryan the feeling of his high school cafeteria opening for lunch in his previous life.

There really were a lot of secret passages. Although they had not used a single one, they had only barely finished touring the first floor. This castle had five floors, and the very top—the fifth floor—was a rooftop terrace where they could see the natural habitat of Romanian Longhorns. If they were lucky, they might even spot a dragon.

As for why it depended on luck, it was simply because, for safety reasons, the castle itself had been enchanted with a variation of the Muggle Repelling Charm: the Dragon Repelling Charm.

This spell was surprisingly common in Muggle society. Otherwise, how had no Muggle ever seen a dragon in the city? It also showed just how closely intertwined Muggle and wizarding society were.

Even the castle of the supposedly pure-blood Malfoy family, which despised Muggles, stood right next to a Muggle roadway.

Kate's nostrils twitched slightly. She had probably caught the scent of lunch. That made sense—after that intense chase, she was likely hungry too.

When they arrived at the Great Hall, Ryan was greeted by an incredibly lavish lunch: cabbage rolls, finger-sized mici sausages, sour meatball soup, potato beef stew, roasted pork knuckle, and, of course, the ever-present cornmeal.

"Mr. Ryan, Ms. Kate, allow me to introduce the dishes." Vampire Selvato bowed.

"This is a dessert called papanash, a kind of fried doughnut covered with jam and sour cream." Salvatore pointed at a pink thing Ryan had not noticed—or rather, had no interest in.

Ryan had no appetite for it at all. He merely complained a little about the lack of rice. Wasn't potato beef stew best paired with rice?

Unsurprisingly, Kate loved the dessert.

The staple was cornmeal. Only after Salvatore's introduction did Ryan learn that it was called mamaliga, and that it was meant to be mixed with sour cheese and cream.

"My God, what kind of devilish cuisine is this? Good thing there's bread." Ryan breathed a sigh of relief.

As for the sour meatball soup, it had fresh lemon juice added to it. It was not Ryan's favorite kind of sour soup, but it was unexpectedly delicious. Salvatore even brought out a spice called Laveqi Herb, saying that it was the secret to its flavor.

Next, Salvatore introduced the local ways of eating the dishes.

The cabbage rolls, filled with a mixture of pork and beef, were to be eaten with corn porridge—that was, mamaliga. The mici sausages were to be served with bread, mustard, and the pork cracklings placed to the side.

Yes, pork cracklings. Ryan felt as though he had returned to China. If Salvatore had not immediately gone on to explain their distinctive way of eating them—with raw onions, bread, and plum brandy—

They were not seasoned with salt and pepper. It was unbelievable. Every dish was heavily flavored too; the chefs were probably reincarnations of the Salt King. Still, it was acceptable. The seasoning was quite well balanced.

As for the pork knuckle, "Let me try a piece of skin first. Uh, it's not tender enough. It has the texture of roasted pork skin. I don't like it."

Salvatore proudly mentioned that he had prepared this dish-introduction program long ago, but no customer had ever given him the chance to use it.

There's a faint Fear Charm fixed into your clothes. Don't you know that yourself? Ryan thought as he chewed on a cabbage roll. If he had not been here, and Phoenix Harmony's magic had not dispelled it, ordinary wizards probably would not even have been able to eat.

After eating their fill, Ryan and Kate began touring the second floor with Salvatore. Hopefully, it would be more interesting.

Thanks to Unslumbering Listening to Waves for the monthly ticket.