Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint-Chapter 473: The Shepherd Boy and the Liar

Somewhere, the sound of barking echoed again. Shortly after, a gust of wind swept through. A figure landed lightly beside Azzy, carried by the highland winds—a beastkin with jet-black fur.

Fast.

But not just fast. Agile, like a nimble hound. Their movements and directional shifts were so swift that they seemed almost frantic, yet not a single sound was made. It was the embodiment of agility itself.

Above all, it was extraordinary that a vampire could move so freely in broad daylight.

Thick fur running from their head down their back shielded them from the sun. Their fluffy, striped tail swayed up and down. Though they wore a loose raincoat to block the light, even without it, they wouldn’t suffer much harm—their double-layered fur would offer sufficient protection.

The Ain of Runken, the guardian of the shepherds. The black whirlwind that raced across the plateau. The darkness that ran beneath the noonday sun.

The shepherd hound, Collie, approached Azzy before her black fur had even fully settled.

“Woof?”

“Stay still... please! I can’t get any work done if I take my eyes off you for even a second...!”

Collie, a shepherd hound renowned for intelligence and swiftness, shook her head in exasperation. As she did, twigs and dust clinging to her black fur fell away.

“If the King of Dogs gets too friendly with humans, the hierarchy will start to crumble....”

“Woof woof! Friend!”

“I know... I know. But this land doesn’t belong to you....”

Before her stood the King of Dogs. To both ordinary canines and beastkin alike, the King of Beasts held a special significance. Even though she had become a vampire, Collie’s instincts as a dog still guided her.

After giving Azzy a reassuring pat, Collie let out a low, disgruntled growl and turned to me.

“Nikol. Who is he?”

Perhaps because he was tense from encountering a vampire, the startled boy stammered as he answered.

“C-Collie, ma’am! Th-this person came from Black Valley Village.... He said he spotted a suspicious person and wanted to report it to you.”

“Bilitaire’s village? I don’t recall there being a human like you there.”

Collie scrunched up her face and sniffed at me. It was a clear sign of suspicion. Fortunately, even among beastkin, vampires didn’t have an exceptional sense of smell. She wouldn’t be able to detect anything unusual just from my scent.

“I-I’m not sure if you’ve heard of me, but my name is Humil from Black Valley Village. It’s an honor to meet you, Collie....”

“Ah-woo—. Forget it. You’ve never come here to tend sheep, have you? It’s odd that a strapping young man like you has never shown his face around here.”

“I visited once when I was younger... but not as a shepherd’s apprentice.”

Even after becoming a vampire, her keen instincts for detecting anomalies remained unchanged. If she had just asked me directly, I could’ve read her mind and answered accordingly.

At that moment of crisis, my unexpected savior was—

“Woof woof! Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!”

Azzy, completely oblivious to the tension, happily circled between me and Collie, sniffing around.

As she moved about, leaving her scent everywhere, Collie let out a frustrated sigh.

“Wait, wait...! I have work to do...!”

“Woof woof. Are you hurt? In pain?”

“That scent of blood isn’t mine—it’s because—!”

Suspicion without evidence isn’t truly suspicion. If there’s no proof, even a small shift in circumstances can dispel doubt. Since Azzy, the King of Dogs, showed such friendly behavior toward me, Collie’s wariness also softened.

“Ah-woo... Fine. What did Bilitaire say?”

“He mentioned that a ‘livestock that jumps over walls’ appeared....”

In vampire jargon, ‘livestock that jumps over walls’ had a specific meaning. It referred to a human who had surpassed vampires in strength. Defeating a Yeiling meant surpassing a wall, defeating an Ain meant surpassing a fortress, and defeating an Elder... meant surpassing the species itself.

Of course, I hadn’t actually heard this anywhere—I just pulled the most plausible-sounding explanation from my mind-reading. Collie seemed to accept it and tilted her head back.

“Ah-woo... Now that you mention it, we didn’t send a messenger to Bilitaire. He must be unaware of the situation.”

“Situation?”

“A high-priority individual has escaped, so security has been tightened. Orders are to capture them alive and transport them to the castle. But....”

Collie trailed off, her gaze shifting resentfully to Azzy.

“Of all times, the King had to appear.”

“Woof? Me? I’m Azzy!”

“The King bit my Yeiling, so I wasted time chasing and capturing them. Until then, I thought the King was the high-priority target. Ah-woo. I should have judged more rationally. It’s the King’s fault. The timing was awful. It was confusing.”

She was explaining herself. It was strange for a vampire to justify themselves to a mere human, but Collie, at her core, was still a beastkin. Even as a vampire, her fundamental nature hadn’t changed.

As a shepherd hound beastkin, Collie was bound by strong duty and loyalty—loyal to Runken and Azzy above, and to the humans she tended below. Failing her mission must have wounded her pride deeply.

...Of course, I had no reason to humor her whining. So, I feigned ignorance and asked,

“The King? A high-priority individual? Who exactly is this beastkin you’re after? Are they a vampire?”

Collie scowled, clearly irritated by the prospect of explaining from the beginning.

“Ah-wooooo! There’s someone like that! Stop prying!”

After grumbling, she quickly turned to the young shepherd boy.

“Nikol, return to the village!”

“Y-yes....”

The boy, who had been quite confident around me, became as timid as a lamb in front of Collie. With occasional nervous glances in my direction, he retreated toward the village.

Once she had sent off both the boy and the dog, Collie plopped down onto the ground. As expected of a beastkin, she sat in the exact same posture as Azzy.

“So? What’s the message?”

“There’s an unidentified fugitive in Black Valley Village. He was caught stealing food, and when the village chief tried to apprehend him...”

“He lost, right? No wonder they’re considered important. Anything else?”

“What do you mean...?”

“Their appearance, abilities—anything that would help track them.”

An unexpected meeting, but that made it an even greater opportunity.

As I had already realized, escaping from Collie was impossible. A shepherd hound beastkin vampire. Trying to outrun her would only turn me into a plaything.

So, as always, I had only one option—deception.

“Late thirties? A man slightly older than me. He wore a hooded robe, probably to conceal his appearance. After fighting the village chief, he quickly fled beyond the village. I’ve never seen anyone move that fast... well, except for you, of course.”

“How did a human defeat Bilitaire?”

“I have no idea. The fight took place inside the chief’s hut. But I heard the chief mention something about him burrowing into the ground—some kind of earth magic, maybe?”

A fabrication.

He had used both earth magic and druidism, but mentioning two abilities would make my deception too obvious. Instead, I hinted at just one to mislead my pursuer.

“Digging tunnels? Ah-woo. That’s a hassle. Now I have to check underground too.”

Perfect. I had no intention of burrowing into the ground, but if I made it seem like my only ability was earth magic, she’d fixate on it.

“Anything else?”

“I’m not sure if this will help, but... the chief asked me to pass this along.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

I reached into my coat and pulled out a torn scrap of cloth. Knowing about Collie’s presence, I had made sure to retrieve it before leaving.

“This is a blanket from the place he stayed. The chief thought the scent might still be on it.”

Of course, it wasn’t from the fugitive—it was Hilde’s blanket.

Collie moved like a flash. Before I could even react, the scrap of fabric was already between her jaws. She sniffed it carefully, taking in its faint traces.

“Bilitaire. Not bad.”

“Oh! Since you’re a beastkin, Collie, you can track him by scent! I completely forgot about that!”

“Ah-woo. I’m not that good at it. But I’m not the only one.”

Right? Good. I was worried she might actually go looking for Hilde or pick up on the lingering traces of my scent.

Collie, who had been fiddling with the scrap of cloth, suddenly extended it toward Azzy.

“King. Do you think...?”

Sniff sniff. “Woof?”

“Can you track down the owner of this scent?”

“Woof! Here!”

Azzy took a whiff, then abruptly turned and started pawing at my feet. My entire body tensed. As the King of Dogs, Azzy would have recognized my scent along with Hilde’s. Was she about to expose everything?

“Woof woof! Woof woof woof!”

Thank god. Azzy wasn’t one to explain things in lengthy detail. Collie, seemingly unfazed, sighed.

“He’s the one who brought it... Ah-woo. Forget it. That was stupid of me. Even if he knew, he wouldn’t have helped.”

Collie sprang up in a single fluid motion. Lightly vaulting over my head, she turned back to glance at both Azzy and me.

“I have plenty {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} of hunting hounds with me. If I give them the scent, we’ll find him soon enough. Since your scent might interfere, you should return to the vill—wait.”

‘The King seems to have taken a liking to this human. I’ll leave him in their care for now. If he wanders around recklessly and attacks my Yeiling, it’ll be a hassle.’

“Watch over the King. If she’s with you, no human will dare cause trouble.”

“Huh? Where exactly?”

“Anywhere!”

Collie responded dismissively and took off. In the blink of an eye, she was gone, vanishing like a gust of wind toward the shepherds' outpost on the misty highlands.

This had gone better than expected. Running into Collie had been Azzy’s fault to begin with, but thanks to that, I had managed to explain things smoothly—and more importantly, I now had free rein to move.

Most importantly, I had a reliable bodyguard.

“Hey, Azzy.”

“Woof?”

“How did you even get here?”

“Woof!”

Azzy tapped my foot with her front paw. So, she had followed my scent. Well, that made sense—Azzy would definitely remember my scent. More than anything, though, there was still the matter of our promise.

“What about Shei? Weren’t you with her?”

“Woof? Her? Woof?”

Azzy tilted her head, showing not even the slightest hint of recognition. She had no idea why I was even bringing up the regressor.

What the hell is this? Weren’t they supposed to be watching her? She could become a catastrophe in the future, yet they weren’t even keeping track of her? What kind of owner is this?

Well, it worked in my favor. I ruffled Azzy’s head and said,

“Anyway, good to see you.”

Azzy’s ears perked up. Feeling my touch between her thick, fluffy ears, she beamed and wagged her tail.

“Woof! Good to see you too!”

Dogs really are man’s best friend. Just having one around makes things feel much safer.

A shepherd hound beastkin vampire? Hah. Azzy is the King of Dogs. She’s on a whole different level. I’ve been through prison with her, traveled with her. We’ve even shared a promise as companions. A mere beastkin? One that follows an Elder? She’s nothing compared to Azzy.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.

Earlier, I had held back since Collie was watching, but now was my chance. With a sly grin, I whispered,

“Azzy, you remember that black-furred beastkin from before?”

“Woof? Her?”

“Yeah. If you see her again... just bite her.”

If it were a human, she might hesitate. But this was the Principality—a land ruled by vampires. Azzy could bite, tear, and rip apart vampires without any restrictions. She’d open the way, and I’d just stroll through.

I chuckled darkly, but my amusement was short-lived. Azzy tilted her head and let out a bark.

“Woof! No!”

“...What? Why?”

“She’s a friend! I won’t bite her!”

“Friend? She’s a vampire! Didn’t you smell her blood?”

“Friend is hurt! Woof! Protect!”

Protect what? That’s a vampire! Even if you bite her, she’ll just regenerate! If you’re going to protect someone, it should be me—the weak one!

“Hey! Why are you always only half helpful? Can’t you just help me fully, for once? You’re way too loose with this!”

“You too!”

“Me? What about me? I didn’t have the power before! I had no choice! But now, I’ve gotten a bit stronger! I can keep my promise! So help me just this once!”

“Pfft!”

“What do you mean, pfft? Have you even seen my strength? I’m serious!”

Azzy wasn’t going to attack Collie. Well, that was fine. That’s why I had made my move early.

No matter how fast and agile Collie was, searching every corner of this vast mountain range would take time. While she was busy, I’d cross the range with Azzy. Any minor problems—Yeilings, wolves—Azzy would handle them.

Azzy’s only real weakness was that she wouldn’t attack humans.

But that didn’t matter. In this land, humans were livestock. They wouldn’t try to stop me.

Heh. This was going to be easy. Smirking to myself, I stepped forward.

***

“Hey, Nikol! Long time no see.”

“Oh? Brad! It’s been a while!”

“Yeah, it has. You’re really looking the part of a shepherd now! You should start thinking about marriage soon!”

“Hah! Introduce me to a nice, pretty girl from the valley first, then we’ll talk! But seriously, what brings you all the way out here?”

“I came on orders from Chief Bilitaire. A fugitive headed this way, so I’m here to report to Collie.”

“Huh? Another one?”

“What do you mean, another one? Are there more fugitives here? Damn, is this some kind of escape season? Why are there so many?”

“No, I meant the messenger. The village already sent one.”

“Sent someone? Who?”

“A guy named Humil. Tall, kinda slick-looking.”

“...What are you talking about? Humil? There’s no one by that name in our village. And besides, why would the chief send someone else when I’ve been a shepherd here for years? I’m the one who knows this place best.”

“...Huh? That’s weird. He said the chief sent him.... But if that was a lie, then who is that guy?”

A man who hadn’t been sent by the village, yet had the audacity to deceive a vampire.

A liar with an unknown identity.

The answer was obvious. The shepherd boy quickly pieced it together and turned his head sharply.

“The fugitive!”