I Was Told to Drink Poison, So I Drank It - 27 - Creepy Forest Trap

“Mm…”

“Prince Lawrence!! Are you alright!?”

He had taken three spears to his body.

Normally, there was no way he could be unharmed, but from the way he looked just now, the wounds seemed to be healed.

When I called out, Prince Lawrence had the back of his hand on his forehead and looked dazed.

Then, after blinking a few times, he slowly sat up.

Louis placed a hand on his back.

“Thank you.”

Prince Lawrence expressed his thanks and looked around.

Then, he saw the spears stained with his own bl00d.

“…A trap, huh?”

“I’m just glad you’re safe. But, Prince Lawrence…”

Before I could figure out how to ask, someone else answered instead of the prince.

“Vampire—”

It was Louis who quietly muttered the word.

I looked at him without thinking, and Louis, sensing my gaze, quickly looked up in surprise.
Then, though he seemed hesitant, he continued.

“…No. Just now, when I looked at His Highness’s mouth, I thought I saw something like fangs. That’s when… I remembered. The history of this country.”

“The history of Victoire…”

I echoed Louis’s words.

Victoire, the country of victory.

Just like the name says, Victoire was a land won by the ancient people after their triumph.

They named it Victoire so that its honor would never be forgotten. As proof of their victory, people long ago gave it that name.

Long ago—in the founding legend, Victoire was said to be ruled by demons.

To fight back, the holy maidens of that era rose up.

People protected the maidens, and eventually, they defeated the demons.

The freed people then named the land Victoire.

“But… Prince Lawrence said he wasn’t a demon.”

Also, the founding legend is more like a fairy tale.

It was created long ago, and over time, it has been embellished. Now, many different theories exist.

Children in Victoire are told at bedtime, “If you don’t sleep soon, the demons will come take you away.”

That line makes little kids shiver, but as they grow up, they learn.

Demons don’t exist—

Or so it’s believed.

It was Prince Lawrence who responded to my words.

“I’m not a demon. In my empire, Arcana, we don’t believe in such things.”

In other words—

“I remember seeing illustrations in picture books and old documents when I was young. Drawings of what people called demons. …They had long fangs that left an impression. One document said demons drank bl00d and stole power from humans. …Scholars have studied the founding myth for years, and countless theories have been proposed. There are so many that no one knows what’s true anymore. But—I suddenly thought of it, when I saw… your fangs.”

When Louis said that, I too remembered some of the documents related to the founding legend.

As he said, there are many records, and many different ideas about what the demons really were.

Some say they were related to trolls, others claim they were like mindless bacteria. There are all kinds of ideas.

But—I had seen records like the one Louis mentioned in the past.

(…A vampire?)

Prince Lawrence?

As I stood in confusion, he calmly, quietly responded.

“That’s right. I’m a vampire. But it’s impressive you figured it out from just that.”

“……”

The words had just slipped from Louis’s mouth. He probably didn’t think it would actually be true—that he really was a vampire.

Louis gasped in shock.

On the other hand, I found myself strangely calm.

Everything that had happened made more sense now.

Why the Arcana Empire, despite its small size, had such strong military power.

Why so many other countries were its vassals.

It was because… they weren’t human.

If they could recover from injuries like that so easily—
Then in war, they’d be terrifying.

Bullets and blades wouldn’t work on them.

Even though I was shaken by the unrealistic fact that Prince Lawrence was a vampire, maybe it was because the forest itself already felt unreal.

That’s probably why I was able to stay composed.

“Let’s stop the exploration here. Going any further… is dangerous. We’re not prepared.”

I said this while looking at the stairs leading down into the underground, which had appeared when the stone tablet moved.

Suddenly, I felt dizzy.
I quickly braced my legs to stop myself from stumbling.

(Why… am I dizzy?)

I asked myself that, then instantly realized—no, this wasn’t just dizziness.

It was a lack of holy power—

Then I remembered Prince Lawrence’s words.

“If the time comes and you don’t have enough holy power… you’ll be in danger.”

(…I see. So this is what he meant.)

During the journey, I had used holy power on Louis.

And just earlier, I had tried to heal Prince Lawrence’s wounds with it.

The healing hadn’t worked well, but apparently it used more holy power than I expected.

I’ve always been told my holy power is extraordinary.

I hadn’t run out of it in years.

So I was shocked.

But at the same time, I understood something.

This forest really is strange.

How much holy power do I have left?

I lowered my lashes and quietly estimated the remaining power within me.

(…I’m still okay.)

As long as I don’t use it to purify magical elements or heal people, I think I’ll be fine.

As long as the forest doesn’t do anything.

I lifted the corner of my mouth and smiled.

Even though I should feel desperate or anxious, for some reason, this situation made me feel a strange sense of confidence.

Prince Lawrence fixed his messy shirt and robe with his hands and looked at me as if to check on me.

“Chalize?”

At his word, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, then looked at him.
And I answered clearly.

“…I’m worried about how much holy power I have left. I think we can still get out of the forest, but I wanted to let you know, just in case.”

Louis gasped. Prince Lawrence’s eyes widened.

But then, the prince calmly nodded and replied.

“…Let’s hurry and leave the forest.”

He stood up as if nothing had happened.

It didn’t look like the actions of someone who had just fallen to a deadly blade.

He really might not be human after all.

As I found myself staring at him, Prince Lawrence spoke.

“…You don’t seem that surprised, Chalize.”

“No. I’m surprised. …But if you—no, if the people of the Arcana Empire are vampires, then a lot of things make sense. You don’t die from blades or bullets, do you?”

My voice held surprise, but I also wanted to be sure.

Prince Lawrence shrugged and answered.

“That’s right. Vampires don’t die that easily.”

“……”

“Well then, shall we go back? Knight escort—what time is it?”

Prince Lawrence asked Louis.

Louis furrowed his brow and looked troubled.

He was probably upset that I had to use my holy power.

But normally, that much wouldn’t cause me to run low.

Maybe it was the forest’s influence.

Or maybe using holy power on Prince Lawrence—a vampire—used far more than expected.

We didn’t know the exact reason, but thinking about it now wouldn’t help.

Right now, I just wanted to get out of this forest.

Louis probably felt the same.

He quickly pulled out a pocket watch.

“It’s currently 6:41 in the evening.”

We both looked up at the sky.

The conifers spread out from the spring at the center, but around here, no trees were growing.

Sunlight still shone down on the spring.

If we hadn’t checked the time, it would feel like midday.

The forest was that bright.

Prince Lawrence took the pocket watch from Louis, closed it with a click, and spoke.

“This forest is creepy… But we learned something. If we investigate the underground, we might be able to neutralize the forest’s power.”

And so, we began our journey back.

We just had to return the way we came—but…

“The path is… different?”

As we walked through the forest, Louis, Prince Lawrence, and I, I muttered that.

It was hard to tell because of all the trees, but—

It didn’t match my memory.