Picking up Girls With My System

The more Arthur followed Tessa, the more strange the entire situation became. She was the daughter of a duke, a rank-three vampire mage, yet that was not a motive for her to have so many contacts inside the castle and to act behind the back of the rank-four vampires in charge.

She was plotting something, but for Arthur to know, he would have to learn more about the situation. But, with his current level, it would be hard to follow her through the secret passage in that library, but doable if he did everything correctly.

“There has to be something,” thought Arthur, looking at Tessa and the other vampire talking inside the library.

Then, the vampire took out a robe with a mask from behind the counter and gave it to Tessa. It was a blue robe with a hood and a golden mask that covered the face entirely.

It reminded Arthur of the Doom Order, but that order had disappeared long ago, which did not mean another type of order could not appear.

“If that man belongs to it, he should have a robe himself!”

Tessa put on her robe and mask and moved to a specific shelf in the library — Arthur made sure to watch her every move, especially the book she pulled for the passage to open — and then she left, entering the passage, which closed after she passed.

The vampire in charge of the library cleaned up a little before closing, ensuring all the books were in the right place, and nothing indicated that Tessa had been there. Instead, he kept constant watch around the area to see if anyone approached the library, yet no one except Arthur, who was already inside, hid behind some shelves.

After ten minutes, the vampire closed everything and left the library, leaving only Arthur inside it. The moment the vampire left, Arthur went to look for the robe, not wasting any time.

He looked behind the counter, but there were only some leather bags with gold coins, blood flasks, and nothing more. Arthur grabbed all of it too.

“Why not? I am poor in this secondary body.”

But the thing he was looking for, the blue robe and golden mask, weren’t there. It made sense, as no one would store something secret in plain sight, but Arthur would not give up after failing one time.

Arthur looked everywhere and thought, “this thing will be in a place no one would look for, like… his underwear drawer!”

A door in the library led to a room, or more like a house. It was where the vampire lived, and the only reason for him to leave was to eat, which Arthur guessed.

So, there was not much time for him. He went inside the bedroom of that vampire and looked where the underwear was supposed to be. It was not fun to search, and there was even pink-colored underwear, “what is this?” thought Arthur, puzzled by the situation.

Despite his torture, the thing he was looking for was there! A blue robe and a golden mask, precisely like the ones Tessa had — the only difference was the size of the blue robe.

Arthur grabbed everything and even got himself some more coins and mana stones, which was nice, but then he heard a noise from the library.

“Why is he back so soon?”

The vampire in charge of the library had left only for five or ten minutes, which was not enough time for Arthur to search around the area and use the secret passage without anyone knowing.

“Fuck, fuck.”

There were few exits to that house, and the vampire would notice him if he left using the same door he used to go in. Arthur had no choice but to hide beneath the bed or inside the drawer.

“Why don’t they have windows? Wait, what’s this?” thought Arthur as he went beneath the bed to see a secret trap door.

Where would that thing lead him? Maybe to his freedom, or perhaps to a dangerous area, but there was no time to think, as the vampire was approaching, and would notice something was off. Hell, if the man participated in the meeting, he would look for his robe to see it was not there!

“Let’s go in and hope for the best!”

Arthur opened the trapdoor and went down a wooden ladder into a wet, dark, stink dungeon.

It looked similar to the dungeon where the humans were trapped, but there was no way a weak vampire like the librarian would have private access to the dungeon just for himself. If it were the house of the duke, then Arthur would believe in it, but a librarian. No way.

So it was a secret dungeon beneath the castle. That was intriguing, and it caught Arthur’s attention the moment he stepped inside it.

“This place smells like shit,” he thought, moving in a tunnel, which had water dripping from the ceiling — brown water, that is.

Arthur kept going until the walls beside him, which had nothing but rocks, now had some cells on them! So when he glanced at those cells, the people inside of them looked like humans.

“Human cattle? No, this is different….”

“Wait, werewolves?”

Werewolves! Arthur knew that was the case because he met two werewolves before reaching the Von Stein territory and could smell them. But what were they doing in there?

Those werewolves were all rank-one, but in one of the last cells, which had the most security — Arthur could tell there were dozen magical formations in those cells — there were five rank-three werewolves!

It was like a secret werewolf army beneath the castle, ready to take control of it when given the order. Arthur moved stealthily throughout the cells so no werewolf noticed him — as they were all sleeping — but by looking at them, Arthur could tell they were being treated decently enough, better than the human cattle.

“What is happening here? Why are there werewolves beneath the castle?”

Arthur was trying to find the answers, and then he noticed the tunnels continued, to other places, reaching other parts of the castle. From afar, in one of these tunnels, Arthur heard two vampires talking to each other, walking toward his direction.

“There is no way to hide!”

With no other choice, Arthur put on the robe he had just gotten and the mask. Not only that, but he hid his power so that only rank-three mages could tell his level — a unique spell from the Blood Monarch, Nightveil of Blood.

He stayed in that corridor, acting as if he was looking at the werewolves to see if they were fine. Then, when the two vampires saw him, they stopped talking, showing their respects.

Arthur could not tell if they were man or woman at first — both vampires had the same blue robes and golden mask as him — but he could not understand why they suddenly stopped talking.

“Did they see through me?” he thought, but it was the opposite.

“Hello, sir! I assume you are a high member of our order. Are you here to see if the werewolves are healthy? We are doing the same, and we are sorry to bother you!”

Those vampires were rank-one mages but could not see through Arthur’s Nightveil of Blood, meaning they could not see his power level! But, of course, that could only mean Arthur was at least a rank-two mage, a high-ranked member of their order, and one that rarely went down in the dungeon.

Arthur was afraid they would recognize his voice, so he changed it a little bit, as it was customary for mages who wished to have their identities a secret.

“Don’t need to worry about bothering me. They are looking healthy, especially the rank-three werewolves. Who is the one taking care of them?” Arthur asked, trying to get more information subtly.

“Milton is the one taking care of our army. You know, the one who is in charge of the library. I think he is at a secret meeting now, but he comes here every night to feed them.”

So it turned out the librarian was taking care of an army of werewolves!

“I see. Anyway, I will be leaving now.”

The two vampires bowed as Arthur passed through them, and they made sure to open the path for him to pass. They did not suspect him at all, as their order had many members, and most high-ranked members had yet to show their faces.

Only rank-one mages and bellow had to have their identities known. Rank two and beyond could keep it a secret if they wanted to, so that was why Arthur did not look suspicious in their eyes.

He did not know that, but that was what saved his life. After he left the area where the werewolves were, Arthur looked for a tunnel that led to a way out — one that did not lead to someone else’s room.

Arthur found one, which led to the forest outside of the castle. The passage was hidden, and no one could see it unless they wore the golden mask.

“The mask is probably enchanted or something like that,” he thought.

The plan of sneaking into the secret meeting was a failure, but Arthur still got some information, and now he knew two members of this secret order, Tessa, and Milton, the librarian.

Not only the two, but there was that guard from the watch tower, which Arthur did not know the name, but still remembered his face, and also the duke.

Why did they have an army of werewolves locked in a dungeon beneath the castle? Arthur knew the only way for him to find out more was after he entered the secret order himself, and to do that, he had to get better rankings, and the first step was to become the vice-captain of the squad under the duke’s command!