I sneaked out of the annex building with a single goal in mind ‘To save Misha’. However, soon after, I found myself rooted in place. Outside the grounds of Baron Endenburg, spread a dramatic scenery straight out of the European middle-ages. People and carriages filled the stone paved road, their busy life raising a constant tumult.

As expected, the game only drew the scene relevant for the play area. Here, I could see buildings rising up to touch the horizon, and the blue sky stretched overhead with no end in sight. “Ahhh…” The vibrant scene before my eyes, the smell reaching my nose, the sounds rattling my eardrums, the taste of the air on my tongue, all of it possessed a quality that a game could never reproduce, and they far surpassed my own imagination.

Everything in this world seemed overwhelming from a five-year-old’s point of view. I am supposed to change this world? Suddenly, it felt like I was a truly diminutive existence. No, not felt like. I was a diminutive existence. The physical form was of a child with no notable talents and inside that body was the soul of a failure who’d been a NEET in Japan. With a lot of hard work behind it, only my magic was worth talking about, but even in that, there were people out there who were much better.

How was such a brat to change the world?
How was he to save Crescentia?
Before that, how am I going to save Misha?

“Ha ha” To think there was a part of me that had believed I was unparalleled just because I had the game knowledge. I could only laugh in the face of such stupidity. What can I even do with just the game knowledge? Even if I could predict the future using the world’s secrets, I was just a five-year-old brat. Even if I were to give it everything I had now, I doubted I’d have any impact on this world. Like a drop of black ink in an ocean. That was what I was capable at the moment.

Maybe I should just shut myself in the annex… When my thoughts were sliding downhill like that, Misha’s face flashed in my mind. For the past three months, she’d done all she could for me without minding the danger that’d placed her in. Our days together were not so superficial that I could just abandon her.

Nevertheless, my legs wouldn’t move. I was terrified. Ah shit! I really am incorrigible. This is why I was a NEET! Why did I have to realise that this world was no game?

Things probably, no, definitely won’t go as easily as I’d hoped. “Argh! Shit!” No, I can’t be negative now! I need to think positively! My opponent was a vampire! Their physical abilities are far greater than humans, and if it’s of a superior lineage, then it would also possess a powerful unique magic. The enemy this time was more of a mid-boss in the game, so there was no need to worry about him using a unique magic, but even then his combat prowess is nothing to scoff at.

*However…, that would be the case ten years from now. Only after that time would he have gained the strength fitting of a mid-boss. If it’s now, when he’s just begun attacking humans, even I might be able to take him on.*

The plan was simple. With a conceited personality, the vampire would likely judge me by my appearance and drop his guard. He was like that even in the game’s plot. Taking advantage of the opening, I should use Body Strengthening and the weakness of every vampire, the Holy attribute¹, to take him down in one go.

Though, considering that I had no combat experience, I doubted if I could pull off such a vague plan. With my mental resolve still on crutches, I began searching for the vampire’s hideout.

⚪️

A hideout location must satisfy several conditions for the vampire to move about easily, that helped to narrow down the possibilities considerably. The first condition is that the place should receive no sunlight. Vampires are vulnerable to sunlight, and when bathed by it, they will be greatly weakened. Even the beams that leak through the curtains’ gaps are sufficient to burn their skin. Which meant that he would definitely be hiding in a place where he wouldn’t be exposed to sunlight even by chance.

The second condition is that there should be no flowing water in the surroundings. A vampire is immortal, in other words, a being for whom the flow of time has stopped. With such a disposition, its affinity with flowing water, which embodies the flow of nature itself, is extremely poor. When he tries to cross a river, he would once again be greatly weakened. So if possible, he should have chosen a place that had no flowing water in its environs.

And the third condition, to be near nature. A vampire has the ability to transform into a bat, and it can also make familiars out of animals by making them drink its blood. Normally, he should be using animals to spread a vigilance net to detect any intruders. And if deemed necessary, he can easily transform into a bat to make his escape. That’s how vampires usually operate.

Which meant, I had to find a place that satisfied all three conditions. As to how I went about this search without knowing the lay of the land, that’s where my game knowledge came in. Romeria, the city I lived in, was a place one would definitely arrive at during the final stages of the game. Having cleared it over a thousand times, I have the map committed to memory. And there was only one place in Romeria with any kind of nature.

I headed to that place without delay. I walked down the main street, passed the numerous stalls through the market, and went further past what seemed to a residential district. And the place I finally reached was a spacious public park. With grass spreading before me in every direction, I could hear the sounds of animals even if I couldn’t see them. There was some flowing water in the area, but it was just a slender stream. With a planned escape route, it would pose little trouble. The only condition remaining was a place that could block sunlight. But as far as I could see, there didn’t seem to be any place like that.

Did my guess miss the mark? No, there is nothing that proves that the vampire has to be hiding in the park itself. Let’s try increasing the search radius a bit. I began focusing on the buildings that were around the park. I did pass the residential district, but the number of buildings lived up to Romeria’s title as a city². There were all kinds of buildings, from brand-new to decrepit and dilapidated. It was going to be hard to find the vampire’s hideout among all these buildings.

“Hmmm!?” Suddenly, a mouse ran past me. It could have been the vampire’s familiar. I need to search without being found out. And so, “Uuu, Where’s mommy? Mommyyy~?” Since it would be suspicious if I suddenly started crying, I began calling out as a set-up first. With this I can masquerade as a lost child. Now I could use the act of searching for my mother to study the buildings.

I don’t know if I should have expected it, but despite my brilliant acting, my search of the buildings, alleys and other suspicious places yielded no results. I couldn’t find the vampire’s hideout. Searching further, only time passed without me finding anything. Having walked a long way, I found myself in the main street again.

Even though I needed to continue my search, my legs were buckling, unable to take the strain of walking since morning. My childish constitution was also beginning to demand for sleep. I can’t go on like this. But, what should I do then?, I wondered, standing stock still in the middle of the of busy main street. I don’t know if the people of this world were indifferent in general, but they just walked past without trying to help a dazed five-year-old boy standing in the middle of the street.

Feels like Japan, actually. Nothing is going well after all. But I couldn’t give up. If I gave up, Misha would die. She might already… “NO! Of course not!” I slapped my cheeks to psych myself up and began moving forward. I’ve left the disgusting indecisive part of myself back in Japan. The only one here is the Norwin who’s going to change this world. I can’t be disheartened by just this much.

“All right, I can do this.” My will power was still intact. It was when I began walking to resume my search that I heard someone call out. “What happened, boy? Are you lost?” I unconsciously turned towards the voice, and seeing the man standing there, I opened my eyes wide in surprise.

What is he doing here at this time?
“G-General Schneizel?”
“Oh? So you know who I am already.”, said the man, Schneizel, patting my head and smiling broadly.

In the original plot, Schneizel was introduced as the General of Arcadia Kingdom. Considered as the strongest by many, he would even become the main characters’ ally depending on the route chosen. And soon after my encounter with such a personage, I opened my mouth without thinking and said, “P-Please help me!”

T/N Notes:

1. This is the first time he’s mentioning the holy attribute. Until now, he only talked about the basic attributes.
2. I called it a town before, but city makes more sense with the context, so I’ll be switching to that. I’ll make the change in the previous chapter too.