The Sound of the Bell

  Danton watched Lord Gerberga eat bread from my hand and then said in a worried voice,

  “Lord Gerberga. Have you had enough? We can bring more food right away.”


  “Cluck-cluck!”


  Gerberga cried loudly.

  Danton did not know what Lord Gerberga meant and stopped for a second.

  Then he looked at Luchila, who was smiling.

  “There was enough food. Right, Lord Gerberga?”


  “Cluck-cluck.”


  Lord Gerberga nodded his head in agreement.

  “I think he was just happy that Mister Locke offered him food. And so he ate it.”


  “I-I see. Well, it wouldn’t do to feed him too much as well. Especially if it meant he could not eat dinner.”


  “Cluck?”


  And so I stopped giving Lord Gerberga bread.

  Lord Gerberga then buried his head in my hair.

  On the other hand, Grulf had finished eating. He put his jaw on my lap.

  “Fooo……roof.”


  He wagged his tail expectantly.

  “Grulf. Be quiet.”


  “.……ooof.”


  He whimpered as he looked up at me. But I wouldn’t give him anything.

  Grulf had already eaten.

  Grulf was a spirit beast and not a normal wolf, so there was no harm in him eating human food.

  However, it was also important that he learned to wait.

  And so I just patted him on the head instead.

  And then Danton seemed to remember something.

  “So, you really finished the magic tool? I’m not saying I don’t trust you or anything……”


  “Yes, it’s finished. Mors and Kathe are highly capable.”


  “No! It was all Mister Locke.”


  “Yes, that is right.”


  We ended up all praising each other once again.

  “We finished one of them, in any case. Would you allow me to install it in the entrance of your mansion?”


  “I was going to ask you to do that very thing.”


  “Thank you.”


  And then I explained the features of the magic tool to Danton.

  That the radius was as long as five men and that it detected all dark ones.

  And when it detected something, a bell would ring.

  “So it will detect all of the dark ones?”


  “Yes. This was because it turned out to be more difficult to only have it trigger when there was someone who was charmed.”


  “I see. Well, it is more useful this way.”


  When we were finished eating, Danton called the rest of the chiefs.

  When they were all present, I explained everything to them as well.

  Then I told them of our plans.

  “We only have one now, but we should be able to make more soon.”


  “We will pass them out to all of the tribes within two to three days!”


  Kathe added. And the chiefs thanked us.

  After that, the youngest of the chiefs raised his hand.

  “Uh, Mister Locke. I have a question……”


  “What is it?”


  “This alarm sound. What does it sound like?”


  “Uh……”


  –Ring-ring-ring-ring……

  “It sounds just like that! Right, Locke?”


  Kathe said with a big grin.

  “Exactly!”


  As I said this, I took Lord Gerberga off my shoulder and put him in my jacket. Then I ran off.

  Before leaving the room, I called out to the chiefs.

  “Go and check the children!”


  “Leave it to us!”


  Most of the chiefs were veteran fighters. They understood the situation immediately.

  However, Luchila and Kathe looked surprised.

  “Mi-mister Locke?”


  “What happened?”


  I ignored them and ran to the room with the magic tool. There was no time to explain.

  Mors was quick and he followed after me.

  “It’s an invader, isn’t it?”


  “Yes.”


  I answered simply as I ran.

  Grulf was now running with me as well.

  The room with the magic tool was in a windowless corner of Danton’s mansion.

  We had wanted a room with no sunlight.

  So it should have been a room that was difficult to enter.

  We arrived in no time. No more than 10 seconds had passed since the alarm went off.

  However, there was no one in the room.

  “Did they escape?”


  “But I don’t see any holes in the wall.”


  “Grulf. Smell the room.”


  “Groof.”


  I left Grulf and Mors to search the room and went to check on the magic tool.

  It was broken. It seemed like it had been destroyed by brute force.

  My impression was that it had been done to stop the alarm.

  I threw it in my bag, just in case I needed it later.

  “What happened?”


  Kathe asked when she arrived. Luchila was not behind her.

  She had probably been taken by the chiefs along with the other children.

  “A dark one has entered. And the magic tool was destroyed.”


  “What! But this is the beastkin mansion!”


  “Indeed. This is a matter of great significance.”


  It was the mansion of the chief. The last fortress against the vampires.

  And so it was incredibly bold of the enemy to come inside.