Kingdom of Kristalia, N’Raeth

It is dusk when Martin Spica and his wife Lina walk hand in hand with their son Cedric, who has just turned eight years old.

They are walking along a short path through a small forest that leads from the wheat field where the man works to the village where they live.

"Dad, Dad — when I grow up, I want to come work in the fields with you too!" the boy exclaims enthusiastically.

As he says it, he hops along while his parents hold him suspended by the hands.

"Thankfully you won’t need to break your back under the sun all day, son. You were born with magical power — you’ll study at the finest magic academy in the kingdom and become an exceptional mage."

"Ugh... but I want to harvest wheat with you, Dad..." the child grumbles.

"Instead of complaining, you should thank your father for making enormous sacrifices so that one day you’ll be able to study at the prestigious Astralea Academy!" Lina intervenes sternly.

"Come now, dear, don’t be so hard on him — he’s just a child."

"Dad, can we go see the Astralea Academy? I want to see it, please."

"Unfortunately, it’s very far from here — it’s located in Lumindor, the capital of the kingdom. That’s where the king lives, you know? If you study hard and truly apply yourself, who knows... maybe one day you’ll join the Royal Guard and live there too... but I’d say it’s a little too early for this kind of talk — we’ll discuss it again in six years when you begin the academy."

"Will you and Mom come with me to Lumindor too?"

"We’ll see, son. We’ll see..." Martin murmurs, trying to hide the sadness in his voice.

He knows perfectly well that for a simple farmer like him, managing to enroll his son in that elite academy is already a miracle — and following him there is completely beyond his means. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

They are about to finish crossing the path through the small forest... when a group of ten bandits armed with daggers suddenly emerges from behind the trees. An ambush.

They all wear the same brown tunic with two intertwined embroidered "D"s on the chest.

"Martin Spica, you know why we’re here, don’t you?" the leader of the bandits asks threateningly.

"Dad, who are these men? Why do they have daggers?" Cedric asks innocently, a hint of fear in his voice, but Lina covers his mouth with her hand and pulls him close.

"They’re friends of your father, my little one. Everything will be fine, don’t worry," she reassures him softly.

But despite trying to calm him, the trembling of her body and her teary eyes only increase the boy’s fear.

"Y-Yes, but I don’t have all the money you asked for! What little I manage to earn selling wheat is barely enough to feed my family and guarantee my son a future."

Martin drops to his knees, bowing at the bandit leader’s feet.

"I beg you, please! I only have four silver Zirc left — this is everything I have! Take these, and give Don Dargot my sincerest regards!"

"Four silver Zirc?! Who the hell do you think I am — some beggar looking for scraps? Ten gold Zirc — not one less, or all that’ll remain of your damned wheat field will be scorched earth!"

"I-I already told you — even if I wanted to, I can’t pay you, I don’t have that kind of money! B-But... I can repay you in wheat! I promise that within four months I can provide wheat equal in value to ten gold Zirc!"

"Four months? Don Dargot doesn’t have that kind of patience. Still... perhaps we can find a compromise."

The bandit’s gaze falls upon little Cedric, trembling in his mother’s arms.

"There are rumors around the village that your son was born with magical power. Quite a rare occurrence considering both you and that whore of a wife of yours were born without it. Let’s do this — hand over the brat, and I’ll consider this year’s tribute paid."

As hard as he tries not to break down in front of Cedric, Martin bursts into desperate tears.

"P-Please, not my son... he’s all I have! Take me instead — I’ll work for Don Dargot for as long as he wants, but I beg you, leave my little Cedric alone!"

"Don Dargot has no use for a worthless farmer! Since you don’t want to cooperate, you leave me no other choice. Now we do things my way."

The bandit leader then turns toward his men.

"Go on, grab the brat... and the woman too — and be careful not to hurt her too much, otherwise I won’t be able to enjoy myself properly tonight."

"Y-You bastard, keep your hands off my family!"

Martin, still collapsed on the ground, suddenly springs to his feet and desperately lunges at their leader. He tries to disarm him, but is met with a stab to the stomach.

A horrifying scream of pain erupts from Martin’s mouth. Then he crashes heavily to the ground, agonizing and bleeding from the deep wound in his abdomen.

At the sight of his father being stabbed, little Cedric breaks free from his mother’s embrace and kneels beside his father’s body.

His small hand tightly grips his father’s large, rough one.

"D-Dad, wake up, please... wake up, Dad..."

But Martin Spica gives no sign of response.

"If that idiot had cooperated, this wouldn’t have been necessary. Come on, grab the woman and the child and let’s go — we’ve already wasted too much time."

One of the bandits reaches for the child, while two others move toward the woman. But before they can grab them, three crimson tentacles shoot out from the surrounding woods and wrap around the necks of those three bandits.

They tighten with such force that their heads are torn clean from their bodies in an instant, and fountains of blood erupt, staining the path red.

"W-What the fuck just happened?!" the bandit leader shouts, frantically looking around with his weapon raised. The other bandits do the same.

They do not have to wait long before a woman with long pink hair streaked with black emerges from the darkness at the end of the path, a red whip tightly gripped in her hands — Levreeshka Dulcar.

She wears adventurer’s clothes and carries a large leather bag with her.

From her scarlet irises, everyone immediately understands that she is a vampire.

"A... vampire? What the fuck is a vampire doing in a place like this?! And more importantly, what do you want from us?! Why the hell are you sticking your nose into business that doesn’t concern you?!" the bandit leader asks furiously.

"Being a vampire and having nothing to do with your affairs doesn’t change the fact that you hurt a father and were about to go after his wife and child too. Such a vile act is something I cannot stand by and watch without doing anything."

"Oh, yeah? Even if you weren’t a vampire, it’d still be obvious you’re not from around here — otherwise you wouldn’t dare act all tough with me. So tell me, filthy red-eyes, what exactly are you planning to do now? Warn the Royal Guard? Too bad for you — these lands have long been abandoned by the king, and we’re the ones who make the law here!"

Levreeshka shakes her head, and a thin malicious smile spreads across her face.

"No. I prefer quicker and more definitive solutions. Which means... I’m going to kill you."