Reincarnated as a Vampire Who Acquires Skills Through Blood Chapter 13 - Gifts

A full week had already passed after arriving in the village, and right now—

I am standing just outside the wooden gate, positioned right at the main entrance. I’m not alone, of course; Miguel and a few of his hired workers are gathered here with us, preparing the final details for our departure.

It was finally ti to make our way toward the city of Nash.

The sun is barely beginning to peek over the horizon, casting long shadows across the dirt path. We have to leave this early so we can make enough progress to get out of the dense forest that we’ll be traveling through by the end of the day.

But even though the day had only just started and most people should still be asleep— all the villagers had gathered at the entrance to see us off. Or to be more exact, they were all here specifically to bid a final farewell.

"Sir Knight, please co back and visit us again!"

One of the younger kids shouted from the crowd, waving enthusiastically.

"Are you absolutely sure you don’t want to just marry and settle down here instead?"

Then, one of the young girls followed up with that, a playful and joking tone in her voice.

I couldn’t help but smile at that. Seeing that they had all made the genuine effort to wake up at such an early hour just to see off made feel truly happy.

"I have really enjoyed my short stay here. I thank you all for your kindness."

I said as I bowed my head toward them. I am honestly very grateful to everyone in this village. They treated with nothing but respect and warmth, and I learned a lot about how to live in this world from them.

"Take care, everyone. Let’s hope we et each other again soday."

I added as I stood upright again, offering them a final nod.

Just then—

"Have a safe journey, Sir Verc."

Hans, Barbara, Clarissa, Kyla, Noah, and Molly all stepped forward, separating themselves from the crowd to approach directly.

"Are you guys feeling well enough to be up this early?"

I asked them, noticing that they still looked a bit tired from their recovery.

"Yeah, we’re doing much better. We should be able to start working again in a week or so."

Barbara answered in everyone’s stead, a look of determination on her face.

"That’s good news. Just make sure you all continue to rest well until then."

I nodded my head and said that, genuinely relieved to see them on the nd.

"We will. But before you go, we’re just here to give you sothing."

Then, they replied with that. My brows furrowed slightly after hearing their words, wondering what else they could possibly give . But before I could even say a word of protest— Hans’s wife erged from the crowd.

And she was pulling a brown horse on a lead rope!

"Huh?"

I stood there, completely surprised by the sight. Then, when they finally reached —

"A knight needs a proper horse to ride. This boy is the fastest and strongest one I have in my stable. He might not be a trained war horse, but I promise he wouldn’t let you down on the road."

Hans said that, his voice filled with sincerity.

"I’m sure a horse like this isn’t cheap, Hans. What about you? You probably need him more than I do."

I replied, trying to politely decline the generous gift. It might seem discourteous to refuse, but I didn’t want Hans or his family to face any financial trouble because of .

Just then, however, Hans shook his head firmly. And with his lips parting—

"I’ll just take the donkey that we got from the goblins. That strong girl is more than enough to help with my work."

He declared that with a smile. I rembered the donkey he was talking about; it had been in his care ever since we arrived at the village. I fell silent for a mont, processing his kindness, but after a while...

"Haaa... Thank you. Truly, thank you."

I just let out a defeated, appreciative sigh and expressed my deep gratitude to Hans and his wife.

After him, Barbara, Clarissa, and Kyla followed suit. They handed a sturdy travel bag, and before I could even ask what was inside—

"They’re full of new clothes. We sewed them for you while we were recovering this past week. We noticed that you don’t really have much on you even though you are traveling; we thought that maybe you lost your belongings sowhere along the way."

Barbara explained that. The two girls were behind her, looking a bit shy.

"Ah, haha... Yeah, I did lose my bag. Thank you, this helps a lot."

I laughed awkwardly and accepted their gift. This will be a massive help to ; aside from the few spare clothes we scavenged from the goblin village, I literally had nothing to my na.

After that, I saw the village chief, Kael, give a small nudge to his two children. Then looking a bit embarrassed— Noah and Molly slowly walked toward .

I just smiled warmly at them. When they finally got near , they reached out and handed a small, simple box. I took it from their hands, and then, out of curiosity— I opened it to see what was inside.

It was a pendant. It featured a black dallion about the size of a coin as the main design, and on that dark surface— a white crescent moon had been carefully engraved.

"We bought it with the money we saved up. It’s not much, but we really hope you’ll take it with you on your adventures."

Molly said shyly, her voice barely a whisper. Noah, who was younger, hid behind her back in embarrassnt.

I felt a genuine warmth spreading through my chest seeing these two kids act like this. I smiled—

"I really like it. I’ll make sure to always wear it. Thanks, you two."

I said that, and every word I spoke was genuine.

I saw the faces of the two children light up instantly. it seems like they were actually very nervous about how I would react to their gift. But just like I said, I really did like it— the design, the sentint, and all.

I imdiately placed the pendant around my neck. Looking at the two kids again—

"What do you guys think? It fits very well, right?"

I asked that with a confident, proud smile. The two of them excitedly nodded their heads in response to .

"Grow up to be strong and kind. See you around."

I said to the kids before finally standing up and joining Miguel and the rest of the traveling party.

"We’ll be going now."

Miguel said, signaling the start of the journey.

The chief, Kael, stepped up one last ti.

"Take care, all of you. And Sir Verc, thank you once again for saving my kids and for finally freeing us from the goblins’ terror."

He said. I just waved back at them and told them again that it was nothing. Miguel, the others, and I bowed our heads one last ti as a final goodbye, and after that—

"Bye!"

We left the village behind.

I saw Noah and Molly crying as we got away... Goodbyes really are always sad.

*****

Miguel ntioned that it would take at least three days of steady travel to reach the City of Nash.

We have a total of six people in our group. There’s , Miguel, and four of his workers.

Two of those workers are the coachn who are driving the two carriages. One carriage is completely full of vegetables, at, leather, and various other items from the village that are ant to be sold in the city.

The other carriage is reserved for Miguel and the two escort guards. Those guards were actually rcenaries that happened to be passing through the village on their way to Nash as well.

They had offered their protection in exchange for a ride and food, which Miguel had accepted to save on costs.

Apparently, there are a lot of bandits and monsters lurking in the forest that we’ll be passing through later today.

Anyway, I’m currently riding outside the carriages on the horse Hans and his wife gave . I’m incredibly glad I learned how to ride a horse in my past life during a random business trip; if not, pretending to be a knight while being unable to stay in a saddle would have definitely caused so suspicion.

The saddle Hans included was well-worn and comfortable as well.

I looked down at the horse, and after thinking about it for a while—

"I’ll just na you Bong-Bong. And I’ll call you Bong for short."

I said that, reaching out to pat the side of its head. Bong answered with a soft neigh and a toss of his mane.

And just like that, we continued traveling peacefully through the countryside.

... ... ...

Until, later in the afternoon, we finally reached the edge of the dark forest Miguel had been talking about.

We haven’t even entered the forest yet—

"GET OUT AND LEAVE THE CARRIAGES IF YOU DON’T WANT TO DIE!!!"

And bandits already greeted us.