The Death Mage that doesn't want a fourth time

112 Q: Is this a prisoner? A: No, it is live bait.

"Finding them took a lot of time, but once we found them, it was pretty easy work, wasn't it?"

"Indeed. But I wonder what these guys were doing in a place like this that isn't even their base?"

"Probably hiding from the enemy army. Even if they call themselves the resistance, they're just rats."

The vice-captain of the Reborn Sauron Duchy Army, Rick Paris, had been tied up on the ground. His handsome face twisted in frustration as he listened to the Vampires conversing somewhere over his head.

What a blunder! To think that Vampires would come attacking...!

Rick and his men had been committing murders within the Scylla territory to blame them on Alda extremists and cause negotiations between the Scylla and the Empire to break down. They had been hiding in a temporary hideout while waiting for their next murder.

Rick's older brother Raymond, the commander, would travel around to each Scylla village and persuade the chiefs. Meanwhile, Rick and his men would murder another Scylla and blame it on enemy extremists, and Raymond would fan the flames of the Scylla race's anger towards the Empire's army.

That had been the plan, but their hidden base in the Scylla territory had been attacked by Vampires. Half of them were Subordinate Vampires, but the other half were Noble-born Vampires who could fly through the air and use high-level magic. Taken by surprise, Rick had been unable to put up any resistance. All but two of his men had been killed, and Rick himself had been captured.

A male Vampire with a thick jaw and a rough-looking beauty to his face, who seemed to be the leader of these Vampires, laughed. "After this, all we need to do is capture this guy's older brother. Heal the injuries of the ones who survived a little."

The Vampire's rouge-colored lips spoke with a female tone*. Rick and his surviving companions looked at him with wide eyes, but the other Vampires seemed to be accustomed to this; they didn't show any particular reactions and began carrying out his orders.

TLN*: This Vampire talks like a woman. Unfortunately I can't really convey this through the translation so just imagine a macho-looking Vampire with the lisp and "gay" voice.

With their injuries healed, Rick's two men became able to move. Despite having pale faces, they put up a brave front against the Vampires.

"What are you planning to do to us, you beasts who betrayed the goddess?!"

"Th-things won't go as you plan! The commander will definitely avenge us!"

But these words that the two of them had mustered up their courage to say were nothing more than cliché jokes for the Vampires. Rather than being displeased, the Vampire leader's smile grew wider.

"I want to request something of you," he said. "You're very lucky; your lives can be spared if you just do this one task. I want you to go to your precious leader and tell him, 'If you value your precious younger brother's life, come by yourself to the designated location.'"

They're after Ani-ue after all!

For Rick, his older brother Raymond, born to a different father, was more than just an older brother.

Despite possessing the blood of the Sauron family, Raymond was treated indifferently because he was the duke's illegitimate child. And yet, he was more resourceful and charismatic than anyone else; he was the great man who should be ruling the Sauron Duchy.

Even now, with the Sauron Duchy under the Amid Empire's occupation, Rick believed that bringing his older brother to the position of duke was his divine task.