Overlord: Blue Citadel Alternate

Killing intent. Vertum could suddenly feel the killing intent of a much smaller human being, though one more powerful than those he had encountered before. It was incredibly amplified by blood l.u.s.t, but it wasn't even directed towards him.

Turning his head while the boy was observing the decanter, the Dragon spotted a female in the alleyway nearby. She was dressed scantily beneath what appeared to be a simple cloak.

He pursed his lips slightly, watching as the individual didn't even seem to notice him looking right at her. He could see a bit of blonde hair, a pair of red eyes. The jawline reminded him of a particular member of the Black Scripture, the One Man Army. A small grin showed over his lips, matching the maniacally excited smile she was sporting.

That was when he followed her gaze. Her focus seemed to be directly on the boy in front of him. It now donned upon Vertum that he didn't need to eliminate the boy himself. Someone else had already volunteered for the job!

He wanted to laugh at this, not having to get his hands dirty.

Though perhaps, this person wasn't going to kill him, she could have an entirely different action in mind. A killer's intent, the blood l.u.s.t, that could be entirely different than what she was after.

Then his thoughts went back towards the recent rise of death in this Fortress Town of E-Rantel.

This person had definitely killed before, and as he took in a slow and subtle deep breath, the scent of human blood reached his olfactory senses. His assumption was correct, this person was guilty of murder if not mass slaughter.

"Th-this solution," Nfirea suddenly took hold of the man's attention as he began to speak, "Can we really take this?" The blonde was looking all over the Dragon for some sort of catch. It was clear while he wasn't looking, the boy had appraised the item himself.

"Yes, is there a problem?" Vertum raised a brow.

"This particular reagent is better than the one we currently use in our potions, it has superior binding power..." He was pretty sure the would be able to increase slightly more powerful healing potions and perhaps other potions given the time to experiment.

He nodded his head in a soft manner toward the young male, before setting his sights back on Enri who nodded in acknowledgement. Vertum then returned his gaze to the boy. "And the herbs?"

"I-I will purchase them as, w-we'll need them for new potion experiments." Nfirea feigned a smile. Though he was admiring the things that he was being given, he was still jealous.

This only made Nfirea feel bitter, as he was more of an introverted type. It was hard for him to reads signals off of the stranger who he now knew the name of, but he could tell he'd out do him in terms of assets. Vertum also seemed to be far more outgoing than him, it was hard to think of a way to impress Enri, let alone make her his own.

Vertum on the other hand, while ignorant of the boy's thoughts, was well aware of his feelings.

It wasn't the person who was watching the shop, they were still out there in the alleyway, their scent was far different and there was no blood.

As he made it to the back room doors and he opened one of the double doors in the archway. Vertum went walking on in without any reservations.

"Huh?! Who are you?" Lizzie Bareare, a short woman with grey hair and a face wizened in age, practically cornered the Dragon as he was making his way to the corner of the room.

Vertum stared down at her, his vibrant hues glowing in the moderately lit room. "A Friend of the Carne settlement. My name is Vertum," He could see she was immediately sizing him up, already suspicious of his response due to his very high quality clothes.

He almost appeared to be a noble, but his clothes didn't seem to match current fashion trends.

"Uh, From Carne? You look like a noble, or some sort of Adventurer..." Her eyes narrowed around his neck seeing the absence of a rank plaque around his neck, "Or a worker. Not a Villager."

She rubbed her index finger across her chin in pondering thought.

Vertum snickered at her as she assumed he was one of three things. Out of all them, he was probably closer to a Noble, rather than an Adventurer or a Worker. Though if there was something he really wanted, he would most definitely go out of his way to appear as an Adventurer or a Worker, whichever suited him most.

A worker went without rules and protection, an Adventurer however worked with an abundance of rules and protection. Both sides had their perks.

"I'm from the Forest of Tob, a magic caster. I rescued the village from an attack..." Vertum paused briefly as he thought of how to address himself. Would be the Overlord of Village? Or could he just refer to himself as their protector. "I've become their current protector," he didn't take his time and made up his mind rather quickly.

"Protector..." Pursing her lips, she nodded slowly before looking towards the doorway where her grandson came walking into the room. "Nfirea, what are those?" Her eyes narrowed on the wooden basket of decanters.

"He has given us really powerful reagents for our potions," without Enri in the room, the boy seemed a bit more engaging towards his grandmother than he did to Vertum.

"Oh?" Lizzie blinked at this and looked at the man inquisitively for a few seconds before walking over toward the basket as her grandson put it down. She proceeded to remove a recanter and place it on the nearby table in the center of the room.

Once there, he watched as she casted a spell in order to appraise the object.

『Appraisal Magic Item 』

After a brief moment of silence, she turned her head and stared at the man who was watching them. "You're giving this to us?" She was clearly starry eyed, though at the same time, suspicious of such a gift.

"Yes, it might help in making better cost efficient potions," Vertum exclaimed as they wouldn't have to make their own. "Think of it as a taste of what I'm capable of."

Guild Bases produce infinite amounts of the Zolue Solution, the very item he was gifting them with, it actually had nothing to do with him. They however didn't need to know that.

Knowing that they could use it with their current ingredients, allowed him to monopolize upon the greater potion solution from another world.

"So what are we going to do now?" Nemu asked as she stood before him with her arms acutely out from her sides.

"Ninya's group will be meeting us here soon..." Vertum looked to the alleyway, it was empty. Taking in a deep scent, he pursed his lips slightly. Through all the 'data flow' he was able to focus on that one scent, though it was faint, it appeared to be in the cemetary. "Huh..."

Enri raised a brow and looked over towards the Alleyway, seeing nothing there, she looked over towards Vertum curiously. "What is it?"

"Nothing in particular," Vertum shrugged lightly.

About thirty minutes later, the group of Adventurers came walking around a corner in their general direction. Peter was in the front, Ninya was behind him and behind her was the Druid.

Lukrut was walking a few paces behind the entire group, his hands folded behind his head. "Why don't you guys every have my back? It's really depressing," laughed the man.

"You make it very hard to, Lukrut." Peter still laughed aloud, shaking his head.

Ninya just sighed at this and lowered her head a bit, "It'd be easier if you stopped flirting with every girl you came across!"

"Hah... Yeah..." Lukrut looked to the sky as time was passing them by. "I guess we're rather thankful we don't have any girls in our group. We wouldn't be able to focus on the job!"

"You mean you wouldn't be able to focus on the job," The big man with the mace dismissed with a rise and drop of a hand.

Ninya remained quiet, hiding a pained expression from her friend's words. She couldn't help but think that she'd be outed from her group, a group she had named. Though as they were approaching the potion shop, she raised her head and looked to Vertum.

"Ah! Vertum-dono!" Peter called out with a wave, he seemed a bit more cheery than before.

Vertum gave the blonde man a once over, there was a faint blush on his face. He could smell the scent of mead. A small smirk formed over his lips, before his gaze moved to Ninya, locking eyes.

"Hello there," was his first greeting as he placed a hand on Nemu's head.

"Ready for the Tour?" Ninya stepped forward in front of her leader.

Enri smiled, "I'd like to get some rest, so how about once Nemu and I get a room at an Inn?"

Vertum nodded with a light smile across his lips, "Sounds like a good plan. Yes?" His eyes moved from the duo to the adventurers and back.