Side Story: Worries

"… Another day without incident."

I am Rei, the vampire—a monster.

Summoned to a dungeon, a monster's job is to repel intruders…

Or so it should be, but my job is to welcome intruders.

The other day, I received the name Rei and officially became a named monster. The title of named monster is something incredible—enough to qualify one as a boss. Despite that, my job is as an inn receptionist. And just as support staff at that.

Since I received my name so grandly at that naming ceremony, I want to contribute to the dungeon no matter what, but honestly, my current job feels like a letdown.

I want to mow down intruders, squish them, and offer their DP to the dungeon.

That said, this dungeon's Dungeon Master, Kehma-sama, is a human. In other words, did he choose the path of survival by cozying up to humans, his own kind? … No, Master must surely be sharpening his fangs right now. Even if he usually looks sleepy, the commanding presence he showed at the naming ceremony was extraordinary.

Just recalling his honorable form clad in that gorgeous gold and silver armor—not at all gaudy—equipped with that transparent, gleaming blade, makes me want to pledge my loyalty all over again.

… And yet, the job assigned to me is inn receptionist.

"Haah…"

I opened the window of my assigned room and looked up at the sky… The sun is dazzling. Horrible weather.

Bathing in the sunlight again, I reconfirm what I am. I'm a vampire, but sunlight doesn't bother me.

Originally, vampires have many weaknesses.

However, true ancestors have none. They exercise overwhelming power both physically and magically, walking freely not just under the night sky but even in broad daylight. That is a true ancestor. The origin of vampires and the strongest of their kind.

Even among regular vampires, some possess resistance to certain weaknesses, like a throwback trait.

Among vampires, this is called a true ancestor reversion.

I am one such true ancestor reversion, possessing those resistances. Moreover, all the resistances have manifested in me, just like a true ancestor.

Couldn't I just be called a true ancestor at this point?

… If not for the curse that reduced my attack power to zero, that is.

Or rather, I can't use any vampire powers at all. This makes me no different from a regular human—no, worse than a human. My combat ability is even lower than a goblin's.

I sighed again.

At first, I wondered what they planned to have a monster with no combat ability do. When I heard I'd be working at an inn, I thought they might make me do succubus-like work.

But what I actually do is sit at the inn's reception, tell the occasional guest the prices, receive money, and give change. That's it. The [Abacus] even tells me how many coins to hand over for prices and change calculations. I just need to not miscount the coins… Does my presence here even matter? It's that easy a job.

Despite doing work that anyone could do, I'm given excellent food and lodging. Apparently the same things Master and Rokuko-sama eat… This can't possibly be a fair exchange. In fact, considering that Ichika-kyoukan and Niku-senpai rent a double room at the inn, we who were given private rooms might actually have better treatment.

… I can't understand what Master is thinking. Am I just a pet to him? No, even pets work to comfort their owners, so aren't I below even a pet?

This is… bad. As a (lowly, but still) proud vampire, this is a grave situation.

If I can't be useful to Master somehow, I won't be able to maintain my pride. Even though I was given a name, it's come to this.

There was a knock at my door.

Who could it be? Well, it's obvious. Kinue, the silky.

Nerune, the apprentice witch, is learning work and magic from Niku-senpai as a preliminary step before Master teaches her magic. Since it's not mealtime right now, she's probably doing magic practice.

If Master or Rokuko-sama needed something, they'd use the dungeon's communication function. If it were Ichika-kyoukan, she wouldn't just knock elegantly—she'd call out while knocking.

Since the [Employee Dormitory] attached to the inn is off-limits to non-staff, the only one left is Kinue.

"Rei-san, I'd like to clean."

"… Kinue. Cleaning can be done quickly with [Purify], so why did you bother bringing cleaning supplies?"

"If all cleaning could be done with [Purify], cleaning supplies wouldn't exist."

"Well, that's true, but…"

For some reason, this silky wants to clean without using [Purify]. I vaguely know from the knowledge imprinted when Master created us that silkies are that kind of race, but she only just cleaned a little while ago. What a peculiar one.

Well, I do leave it to her since having a clean room feels nice.

"I'll be cleaning now, so please step out."

And so I was kicked out.

… Nothing to do. Hmm.

Come to think of it, Kinue also cleans the inn and is learning to cook. Nerune is training in magic too… Once she can use more magic, she'll probably be useful to the inn in some way.

… I'm the only useless one, aren't I… This is bad. At this rate, my only use would be for nighttime services… "Hehehe, you're good at night since you're a vampire, right?" "Oh no, please give me back my clothes!" "For a freeloader like you, this is the only way you can be useful…" … something like that.

… Uu, thinking weird things made my face hot.

I wouldn't mind if it were with Master, but anyway, I need to find some way to be useful to the inn.

For now, standing around in front of my room isn't helping, so I left the inn for a walk.

The weather is horrible with the blazing sun, but it's just right for me now.

After walking a bit, there was a field. The golems Master controls were harvesting crops.

There were several types of vegetables, but what they were harvesting now seemed to be sugar beets… Should I help with the harvest?

"…"

… There's no opening for me to help. The golems are handling the simple work perfectly. Moreover, since I don't have command authority over these golems, forcing my way in would just be a hindrance. And since golems don't get tired, there's no point in me helping anyway.

Ugugugu. Am I useless here too?

I continued my walk.

I arrived at the [Tsuia Mountain Tunnel]… Hmm. So what.

Entering the cave costs money, and there's no point in me going in anyway.

… Ah, a merchant is passing through.

A trader with a carrying frame on their back—the type called a peddler-adventurer.

Merchants who pass through here mainly transport salt from Pavera to Tsuia to sell. Then they carry woodcrafts and dried vegetables from Tsuia to sell in Pavera.

Right, I could earn money the same way… No, to begin with, I can't do math properly. Not without [Abacus]-san's help…

Uu, I need to keep studying the [Times Table]. But first I need to learn addition and subtraction without making mistakes.

I'm bad at math… Is there anything else I can do…?

… Next time, I should ask Master if there's something I can do.

Ahh geez, I'm sick of not being able to do anything.

I finally received a name, and I don't want to be useless.