I will not die a Villainess's death

"So, someone decided to hunt you down for your blood and the first thing you did was to run into a human settlement to try and lose them? Did you not think that you would cause problems for all these innocent people?"

Elysia was still trying to wrap her head around what she had discovered.

"Hey, I am a victim of my circumstances as well. Sometimes a girl gotta do what she can to survive in this world."

There was no guilt or remorse in Sara's eyes but Elysia could still not find it in herself to blame Sara for everything that happened.

How could Elysia do that without sounding like a hypocrite herself? She had also killed a lot of innocent people just because she wanted to survive past her death flag.

"What? Did knowing the truth suddenly make you lose interest in me? If you don't like me then you should shout it to my face. Don't worry, I will be able to take it."

As she attempted to bluff her way out of this situation, Sara's voice trembled.

Elysia was aware of the anguish that might result when someone shuns you when you're in need. Elysia wanted to contact Sara because she recognized a lot of herself in her.

Yes, there was a chance that Sara might replace Elysia in Eve and Adam's life but that was a concern for later.

For now, there was someone who needed Elysia's support and would also help her solve this case.

"I was never interested in the first place but I don't find you disappointing. I think it was brave of you to try running away from certain death. And I am also glad I found you tonight."

"Are you for real? I just told you that this town is suffering because of me and you chose to console me instead of getting rid of me? You are weird."

For once Elysia had no idea what to say in this situation. She was not feeling sorry for the town since she had no connection to it.

"Would it make me a bad person if I said I did not care for it? I only came here to help solve this case because my superiors wanted me to."

Elysia was not sure why she was speaking the truth. It was dangerous to open herself like this in front of a stranger.

If the news got out about Elysia's real character, then it would be difficult for her to be able to survive in the noble social circles. She would not be able to help Eve out in those cases.

'But I guess it would finally give people an excuse to nullify my engagement with Adam.'

But those things were beside the point right now.

Currently, Elysia had a laughing female in front of him. Sara's body was shaking due to the force of her laughter and Elysia had no idea what had set her off.

"Man, I do like you. I would have offered to become your familiar but you already reak of someone strong and possessive. I am not going to set off a possessive familiar and risk my life."

Sara's words were interesting but they were not something Elysia wanted to look further into. Elysia had a habit of overthinking and she did not have a lot of time to overthink currently.

Not when she was feeling weird all of a sudden.

Rot was detectable in the air. Even the subdued sweetness of the fog Sara had used to cover her tracks couldn't withstand its power.

Elysia was now certain that the fog had some sort of magic to keep people off the streets at night, but it didn't seem to have any effect on extraterrestrial species.

"Shit, it is here already. Elysia, we should start running now. It would not be a pleasant experience for us to be caught by that Dhampir. It's been chasing me forever and I cannot get rid of it."

Sara sounded distressed but tired as well. It seemed like it was not her first encounter with the beast following after her.

Elysia wanted to get rid of the Dhampir following after them but she noticed a problem immediately.

The houses in Kelvin town were too close. Elysia could not risk fighting here since it would cause massive property damage.

But like the other regions ruled by Dirac, the Kelvin town was encircled by the enchanted forest. It would be impossible to fight there.

'And I cannot take Sara to the forest as well. It would be too dangerous to venture in there.'

Sara might be a half-beast but she seemed not to have a lot of knowledge regarding her specie. And if she had not entered the enchanted forest yet, that meant that she could not do it.

"Should we take the Dhampir out of Kelvin town? I can deal with it for you."

Rarely did Elysia volunteer to murder something. Looking back, I can see that there had never been any request where Elysia had offered to kill something for someone.

The Head Priest had meticulously planned each of her murders to advance Eve or the temple.

'I guess there is a first time for everything. Sara will be important for Eve in the future so I want to make sure she is alright.'

"Awww. that's sweet of you to offer me a kill but it won't work. I've killed the Dhampir more times than I can count but it keeps coming back."

Sara sounded happy but her voice dropped to a disappointed tone pretty soon. It did seem like she was speaking from experience and not making up things.

"A master is therefore in control of the Dhampir and reviving it. We now know why the residents of Kelvin Town are having their blood drained from them, I suppose."

"Right, now you get it. So, any ideas? What should we do about this case?"

Elysia had to take some time to think over her options. But there was nothing she could immediately do to solve this situation.

For now, there was only one thing the pair could do.

"Let's get out of here for now and find a way to detain the Dhampir. We will have to purify the spell cast on the Dhampir to ensure that it doesn't come back. Unfortunately, I am useless in this regard. But I know someone who can help us out."

It was shameful for Elysia to admit this fact. Healing and purification were the core principles of the temple but Elysia's magic lacked both properties.

She could only count on Eve to help her out with such a task.

'Somehow, this works out better than I would have expected it to. I was asked to help Eve solve this case and I hand over the important step to her.'

The case will be deemed solved by Eve as long as she put a purifying spell on the town and no additional cases appeared in the following instances.

Elysia could take this time to seek out the real mastermind and eliminate them so that this case ends on the right note.

"Shhhhh, it's here. Hurry, follow after me. We need to get out of here before that Dhampir spots us."

It sounded like Sara had a lot of experience. She even managed to cast under her breath as she led Elysia out of the danger.

Elysia did not put up much of a fuss when Sara led her toward the chimney and pushed her to climb up.

"Hurry up and climb. I never used the chimney so it should not have any soot inside it."

That was not what Elysia was worried about but she decide to humor Sara by taking the front watch.

It was only because of Sara's guidance that Elysia knew where she was going. Sara was narrating to her what she should and should not do.

Somehow, Sara was making the most difficult part of this journey easier without even knowing it.

Elysia expected to find herself on top of the roof once she exited the chimney but she found herself in the middle of a pathway.

"Move out of the way. I need to get out as well." Elysia quickly gave Sara the way to be able to exit the chimney. As soon as the half-fox was out, the hole disappeared into the ground.

'The chimney must have some kind of magic spell cast on it. I wonder what kind of spell it was and who enchanted it.'

"Don't ask me who did the enchantment work. It was already like this when I bought the house so I have no idea. And before you ask - No, I cannot read minds."

Elysia had not asked the question but it must be showing up on her face that she was curious.

Sara just looked amused as Elysia went red at being caught thinking the same question she had answered.

"Are we out of danger now?" Elysia asked, trying to divert the attention to another topic. It was beyond humiliating to be caught like this.

Thankfully, Sara decided to let this topic go and focus on what Elysia was asking.

"We have a head-start but I'm afraid we are not out of danger yet. I managed to throw the Dhampir off our tracks but I did not manage to wipe our tracks from my home."

So the Dhampir would be after them again soon. That did not sound good at all.

Ideally, Elysia would like to kill the Dhampir and be done with it for tonight. But it would be a better alternative if she somehow managed to capture it alive.

"Sara, on a scale of 1-10, how intelligent is this Dhampir?"

"Huh? Why would that thing have any intelligence? It's made up of a dead human and doesn't have a brain capable of functioning. Still, near 3-4 if I have to guess?"

That was low but perfect for Elysia to be able to capture the Dhampir in a trap. Had the Dhampir had no intelligence, it would have been difficult to lure it into a trap.

"So Sara, how do you feel about luring the Dhampir into a trap and capturing it alive? It would help our temple friends a lot if we managed to get them a sample of what they are dealing with, right?"

"Well, I guess it would make it difficult for the controller to send any more creatures after me if one of his creations were to be caught. So, what do you have planned for tonight?"

Elysia did not have a solid plan yet but she was beginning to form one in the back of her mind.

All she needed was a little time to lay out a very complicated spell somewhere abandoned.

"Take me to an abandoned part of this town and I will show you what I am capable of. I have a feeling our meeting was pre-determined for a reason."

Elysia felt like her meeting with Sara was not a coincidence. It might not be a vision from the ceremonial pool but it had been in a future vision for sure.

Whether this meeting would help her out or bring doom to Elysia, was something she still had to decide.

For now, she would trust her instincts and help Sara out. Any repercussions that might result because of this, Elysia would deal with later.