As guild master Aizawa had some work to finish before he could go out with Elena and Tomoe, it took them some time to reach the meeting spot in the abandoned factory. So the Duke's envoy was already waiting for them there. After reaching that spot, Elena and Tomoe saw that the people who looked like maids and butlers had turned this area into a luxurious picnic spot. Seeing this no one would ever believe that this area was filled with powerful monsters just a few days ago.

There was a man with slightly blue hair and green eyes sitting on a resting chair while getting served by a few mainds and butler, as soon as Aizawa saw this person, he immediately tensed up and asked in tk surprised voice -

"Duke Moronto, what are you doing here ?"

So this man turned out to be the duke himself. Even though Aizawa never had a chance to meet or even see the duke before, almost all the vampires were familiar with the faces of notable noble vampires. So it was not a surprise that Aizawa was able to immediately identify the duke.

After seeing that the Guild master and the S rank adventurers were here, Duke Moronto immediately stood up from his chair and welcomed everyone. More chairs were immediately taken out by the maids and the duke requested his guests to take a seat.

Elena had thought that the envoy might prefer to have some privacy and secrecy while getting the valuable item but it looked like there was no need for that. As the duke himself was here, there was no way any thieves or bandits would be able to do anything.

All the dukes among the vampires were actually S rankers. Not only that but they also had powerful bloodline abilities and skills. In terms of power and authority they were above almost everyone except for the vampire queens. So there was no way that he would be in any kind of danger if another duke did not attack them.

So after everyone comfortably sat down and were given some drinks, the meeting finally started. At the very beginning duke Moronto introduced himself as Karl and asked to be called by that name. Then Karl asked to see the item. Elena did not waste any time and immediately took it out and put it on the table between them.

Carl checked the small item very thoroughly from many angles. Only after observing it for fine minutes or so, he became sure of its authenticity and put the item down from his hand. Then he thanked Elena and Tomoe for retrieving this ring for his household and paid them a large amount of money as reward.

Not only that but the duke said that this item was very important to him so just time money was not enough to show his full gratitude so if Tomoe and Elena had any wishes the duke was ready to do his best in fulfilling them. So he asked both of the ladies.

Elena and Tomoe really did not have anything that they wished for the current moment that they needed the duke help to get. So Elena told the duke and that they would hold the duke on his word and in future when there was a need, they would make their demand.

After that the duke started to have a conversation with Elena and Tomoe. It was not always that he would get the chance to meet other S rankers who were from different continents, so the duke Karl was very interested in having a conversation with Elena and Tomoe.

While talking with them when he learnt that Elena and Tomoe were basically here to visit various places and see the beauty of the vampire continent that was always shrouded in darkness, the duke gave them a proposal.

In about a month's time, the city he was ruling would be holding a festival called the Floating Lantern festival. It was an ancient traditional festival of his household and it was extremely famous. So he invited Elena and Tomoe to visit his city during this festival time. He promised that both of them would have fun there and they would not regret it.

After thinking about it for some time, Elena thought that it was a good idea. Not only them but the other ladies like Alisia, Kaya and Leshia could also join them at this festival. The city where Karl ruled was also very famous for having the best magic items collection in the whole continent and there was also a famous academy there. So even without the festival, it was a very good place to visit.

After learning that Elena and Tomoe were interested, he was overjoyed and immediately handed them a coin with the symbol of a thorny lotus drawn on it. This was a special item that the ducal house of Moronto provided to its most esteemed of guests. Elena and Tomoe both casually recieved them and thanked the duke.

Then the duke suddenly asked for a sparring match against any of the ladies. This topic came in suddenly but Karl was very respectful about it so the request for a match did not feel weird. Karl was also the first S rank vampire that Tomoe had seen so she was also interested in learning how strong a vampire duke actually was, so she accepted the request.

The attendants of the duke were ready and immediately used a magic item to create a makeshift arena for the battle. There was even a barrier capable of stopping a few S rank attacks covering the arena. Elena was impressed by the quality of this magic item. It looked like the famed magic items of the city of Moronto were really something special.

Aizawa was currently shaking in excitement. He did not have to do anything after coming here and now he was getting a chance to see a showdown between two of the strongest people he had even seen in his life. This was a fantastical situation for him.

He excitedly started to tell Elena about the duke. He had no idea how Tomoe fought or how strong Tomoe was among the S rankers but as a fan of S rank powerhouses, he had a very good idea of how duke Karl Moronto liked to fight.

Moronto was a very famous mage who had the title of Phantom Sage even before he became a duke. He was an expert at using darkness and water magic. But instead of using them in the usual way, he mixed both of them together to create a new spell which was perfectly suited for his own fighting style.

He could create several phantom copies of himself using his special magic. These copies were illusions but Karl was able to mix inside these illusions and attacked his opponent in such a way that they would feel like real. And when there was even a single gap in the confused opponent's defense, Karl would go for the finish.

This was an interesting fighting style that Tomoe had not come across before. So Elena was looking forward to how she was going to respond to it.

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