Akimi and his group left the monster stables of the Korloy family in a sorry state, under the mocking, smug, and scornful gazes of Bardun and his men.
A knowing smirk even appeared on Bardun's face, as if everything had gone exactly as planned.
He deliberately raised his voice and said to their retreating backs,
"Oh my, didn't I say there'd be out-of-control monsters? Looks like Nirrnir had a bit of bad luck, huh?"
At the front of the group, Kio, carrying Nirrnir in her arms, said nothing in response.
But the bulging veins on her pale hand betrayed the inner turmoil she was suppressing.
Once Akimi's group was completely out of sight, Bardun stroked his beard and muttered under his breath,
"I wasn't planning on killing you… but you just had to come and get in my way… Would've been easier if you'd just looked the other way, wouldn't it?"
------------------
After returning to the casino, Kio entered the room carrying Nirrnir, her expression filled with hostility.
She ordered Huazo and the female beast tamer, Luje, to stand guard at the door.
In the living room, Asuna and the others looked on in confusion as Kio swept past them like a gust of wind, rushing into Nirrnir's room.
A loud bang! followed as the door slammed shut.
"W-What just happened?"
Asuna asked Akimi, who had just entered the room.
After Akimi explained everything in detail, Asuna frowned slightly and said,
"It seems clear now. That snake raised by the Korloy family wasn't meant for the arena—it was meant to attack Miss Nirrnir."
"…I should've seen it coming…"
Akimi sighed.
"That snake was way too small for the kind of iron cages used in battle arenas. They weren't even trying to hide it."
He glanced worriedly at the tightly shut redwood door to Nirrnir's room, unable to shake a feeling of guilt.
Beside him, Kirito clenched his fists, his expression tense—his thoughts mirrored Akimi's.
This whole thing could've been prevented if the two of them had just realized something was off about that snake earlier.
If they had warned Nirrnir in time, none of this would've happened.
Seeing how dispirited they both looked, Argo gave them each a hearty slap on the shoulder and said,
"Don't be so down. Miss Nirrnir is the head of the Nactoy family—she's not going down from a bit of snake venom. Besides, now's not the time to mope. If it's snake venom, there has to be an antidote, right? What was the name of that snake?"
"Argent Serpent, if I'm not mistaken—basically, Silver Serpent."
Akimi rubbed his forehead as he replied.
Asuna and Argo both nodded in understanding, but Kirito looked completely baffled.
"Wait, Argent…? Isn't 'silver' just 'Silver'? Why is it 'Argent' now?"
Akimi shrugged and explained,
"Because 'Silver' comes from German, while 'Argent' is from French."
As a bit of a Francophile, Akimi knew quite a bit about both German and French.
For instance, he knew that "Maginot" in German meant 'warm welcome' (joke).
Kirito, being the innocent little virgin he was, clearly had no clue about these linguistic nuances.
Kirito nodded slowly at the explanation but still looked confused—why on earth would a creature's name mix both French and English?
Then, Kizmel's expression turned serious the moment she heard Akimi mention the snake's name.
She ignored the language discussion and asked solemnly,
"You're certain Miss Nirrnir was bitten by the Argent Serpent?"
Akimi nodded firmly.
"Yes… Why? Kizmel, do you know something about this snake?"
"…Yes."
Kizmel replied grimly.
"This… could be a real problem. At the very least, there's no way we can get an antidote in a human town…"
The people nearby were startled, and Asuna asked urgently, "Huh?! Why?"
Kizmel hesitated for a moment, then lowered her voice and said, "Actually, in the language of the old era, Miss Nirrnir should be called Dominus Nocte... or in other words—the Lord of the Night."
A term they had never heard before—not even during the closed beta.
Everyone, including Akimi, looked puzzled.
After a moment of contemplation, Asuna chose her words carefully and asked with a strange expression, "Are you saying... that Miss Nirrnir is actually a vampire?"
Kizmel gave a very slight nod and said, "You could put it that way… but please don't use that term to refer to Miss Nirrnir. The Lords of the Night are nothing like those lowly humanoid monsters. They are an extremely noble race, and their lifespans are even longer than those of elves."
That finally explained why Nirrnir's room and the lounge had thick curtains drawn during the day, why she wore outrageously thick clothing when going outside, and why Kio and the others would form a human wall to block out the sunlight for her… and also why being bitten by the silver serpent had become life-threatening.
After all, the known weaknesses of vampires are sunlight and silver (things like garlic are a bit far-fetched—personally, it seems more likely that vampires just dislike garlic, not fear it).
"As for why I said this is difficult…" Kizmel sighed and said slowly, "Silver serpents reside in caves deep in the western region of the seventh floor. They feed on silver ore, and their scales are specially refined silver, making them extremely valuable."
"And the 'Silver Venom' secreted from their venom glands causes immense harm to monsters like ghouls and the undead. Even with the noble blood of the Lord of the Night, resistance to Silver Venom is virtually nonexistent."
Akimi collapsed onto the couch and muttered softly, "So that's how it is…"
Looking back, Bardun's expression at the time seemed to say, "Serves you right"—he must've planned this from the beginning.
When Nirrnir negotiated with him and requested to inspect the stables, he had likely already made up his mind.
"...So is there any way to cure this poison?"
The dark elf knight shook her head and said, "I don't know."
"There is. But there's only one way."
At that moment, a voice came from the direction of Nirrnir's room.
It was Kio.
She gently closed the door to Nirrnir's room and spoke with extreme exhaustion.
Usually unreadable and expressionless, Kio now had a pale face and a deep sorrow in her eyes.
"...How is Miss Nirrnir now?" Asuna asked softly.
"Not good at all," Kio shook her head.
"Miss Nirrnir's identity… Kizmel should have already told you about it, right?"
Akimi and the others nodded. "Yes."
Kio slowly walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window behind the large sofa—where they had first met Nirrnir.
She pulled the thick curtain open slightly and gazed out at the sun, which was about to disappear beyond the horizon, silently watching for a long time.
After the sun had fully set, leaving only the orange-red afterglow in the sky, Kio turned around, looked at the group, and spoke slowly:
"Just as Kizmel said, Miss Nirrnir is an immortal Lord of the Night—though I don't know the exact timeframe, she has guarded this casino and the Nactoy family for at least over three hundred years."
"!"
"Th… Three hundred years?!"
Oh no. She's a seriously over-aged loli.
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