Farming in the Magical World

"What, vampires?"

Upon hearing this unexpected answer, Lenny's mouth dropped open, and he stood there stunned for a moment.

This script is wrong. It's supposed to be a magical world, so how did it turn into a fantasy world?

“Yes, you heard me right, Lord Claudia is a vampire.” The old butler nodded affirmatively, indicating that Lanny had not misheard. “Or in other words, the Wells family is actually a vampire family.”

"This secret has been with me for many years, and now it's time for you to know it!" The old steward let out a long sigh of relief, and even his ramrod-straight posture relaxed.

He paused, looked at Lanny with a kind and reminiscent expression, and slowly began to recount the past of the Wells family.

"To the outside world, Lord Claudia has always claimed to be a mage, a level nine mage."

"But in reality, this is just a way for him to cover up his vampire identity."

"His true identity is actually that of a glorious and great vampire!"

"Including your father, who was once a vampire!"

"My father was also like that, and even in the past?" Upon hearing this, Lanny seemed not to understand what "in the past" meant.

The old butler nodded and smiled slightly. "Yes, in the past."

Then, his expression darkened. "However, before you were born, your father, August, gave up his vampire identity at Carol's urging."

Carol? Her own "mother" whom she had never met?

After recounting his family history, Frank looked at Lanny again with a kind smile. "Strictly speaking, you also have vampire blood flowing in your veins. If you want, you can also become a great vampire."

Oh? Lanny turned his head to recall how he felt after waking up, but did not feel anything unusual.

"I don't feel any different from ordinary people. I don't feel any strange sensations in my body, and I don't think I can turn into a bat or anything like that."

"I haven't discovered any special preference for blood, and I'm not even afraid of sunlight."

Looking at my hands, although they appear somewhat pale due to the lack of sunlight, they are still within the realm of human beings and don't seem ghastly.

Hearing Lanny's strange statement, Frank's face grew darker and darker. He couldn't help but raise his hand to stop his young master's nonsense. "Where did you hear these strange things? Even Lord Claudia can't transform into anything else."

"What exactly do you think vampires are?" Frank's face flushed red, as if he had been insulted.

Seeing Frank's unusual expression, Lenny curled his lip, thinking to himself, "I don't care myself, why are you getting so worked up?"

After thinking for a while, he could only borrow a legend from another world to try to describe his impression of "vampires".

"It likes human blood, fears sunlight, has an almost infinite lifespan, and can transform into a bat in the dark. As long as it bites someone's neck and performs a so-called [embrace], it can turn that person into a new vampire, right?"

"Of course not!" The old butler's expression was somewhat angry. He waved his hand forcefully and growled, "What do you take the vampires for? Demons? This is slander, this is fabrication!"

Then he thought of something else, his face stiffened, he coughed awkwardly, and lowered his voice, "Ahem, it can't be said that all of it is wrong, vampires still need a certain amount of fresh blood."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lanny's expression changed, and he immediately added, "It's just animal blood, just animal blood, no human blood needed."

Seemingly tired of talking, Frank paused to calm his rapid breathing before speaking again.

"Some people do have long lifespans, but only a few decades longer than the average person. It's not like you have an eternal life."

Frank sighed, his face full of regret, "If you really had a long lifespan, maybe you could have seen your grandfather again?"

Elderly people often find themselves reminiscing about the past, whether it's recalling bygone years or remembering friends from their youth. Regardless of whether their youth was eventful or uneventful, once they reach old age, they will cherish those days dearly.

Frank felt the same way. Whenever he talked about Claudia, the master who gave him a second life, the elder who was like a father to him, he couldn't help but fall into nostalgia for Claudia.

"Back then, Lord Claudia always said that being fortunate enough to become a vampire was both an honor and a responsibility for the Wells family..."

As the old butler slowly recounted the history of the Wells family in his aged voice, Lanny gradually came to understand that the Wells family was not as simple as it seemed on the surface.

The vampires he had heard of before, or what were called vampires, were not exactly the same as the vampires he had heard of before; in fact, they were completely different things.

They are bloodthirsty, but any blood will do, from any animal, so there aren't many restrictions.

They have long lifespans, but only a few decades longer than ordinary people, with the longest being around a hundred years old. They don't often produce ancient monsters who are hundreds or even thousands of years old.

Their power originates from their bloodline, not from magical training. The bloodline activation ritual determines the upper limit of their power, making further training almost useless. This is somewhat similar to the legendary vampires, but the power of vampires is not some strange or bizarre ability. Instead, it's more like the magic that mages often use. Otherwise, Claudia couldn't have disguised himself as a mage for decades without being easily exposed.

As for the difference between this power and the magic used by mages, Frank naturally didn't know the details. After all, he didn't have this bloodline, and Claudia couldn't explain it to him, even if Claudia treated him like a son.

Only after Lanny inherits the bloodline power can he further understand the true difference between this bloodline power and magical elements.

Of course, this bloodline isn't all good; it also has its drawbacks.

Occasionally, it exhibits bloodlust, that's one aspect.

Furthermore, once the vampire bloodline is activated, it will cause difficulties in having offspring. This is why Claudia was almost forty years old before she had a son, and it is also the reason why her father, August, gave up the power of the bloodline.

Why was August so easily killed by a group of barbarians? It was because he gave up his bloodline power and instead focused on practicing knightly skills.

Although knights are powerful, this is still just physical strength, and its upper limit is very low. At most, they can maintain a deterrent and oppressive effect on ordinary people. When facing barbarians like the Grumman who wield giant hammers, knights are still just mortals and can still die.

It wasn't that August didn't want to activate it again; it was mainly because he had promised Krol, and also because he had already given up once, the success rate of the second activation was too low, so he never thought about performing the activation ceremony again.

Of course, this is what he told Frank, and Frank doesn't know if there were any other reasons.

Meanwhile, in the distant Kingdom of Nicholas, there is a Holy Guardian Army dedicated to hunting down vampires. Once a vampire is identified by a Holy Guardian, that vampire will be subjected to endless pursuit by these fanatics.

It is unknown why they hate vampires so much, but they seem to have a special skill: as long as a vampire uses the power of their bloodline, they can sense it from afar, and it cannot be hidden even if the vampire tries.

"Huh, so that means we're not the only vampire family?" Hearing this, Lanny couldn't help but interrupt the old butler.

“That’s natural,” the old butler nodded, not annoyed by Lanny’s interruption. Instead, he patiently explained, “Back when Lord Claudia and I went out, we met other vampire families more than once. They were almost everywhere on the continent, hiding in every corner.”

At this point, he raised his head, his face filled with pride. "But the master also said that only our Wells family has a family mission among vampires. This is both an honor and a responsibility."

"Responsibility?" Lanny stroked his chin, but some strange thoughts popped into his head. "Could it be protecting the world and resisting natural disasters?"

Frank, of course, couldn't understand Lenny's nonsensical grumbling. He simply shook his head, indicating that Claudia hadn't told him the truth.

Indeed, Lanny also felt that Claudia would never tell Frank the truth and raise him as a son again. It would still be different from a real blood relative. Since they could not inherit the bloodline, what was the point of saying so much?

"What exactly does this activation ritual activate? And how do you do it?"

Since he couldn't find out what this so-called responsibility was, Lanny stopped investigating and instead became curious about the activation ritual.

He was now very curious about what kind of magical ability this bloodline or activation ritual had, that it could allow someone with no magic power to perfectly simulate a magician after completion, skipping the intermediate years or even decades of training.

Could it be that this ritual activates magic, similar to a sudden enlightenment? A transfer of power from the top of the head?

He shook his head, finding it somewhat absurd. This wasn't the world of martial arts novels; where did this sudden enlightenment come from?

"I don't know about that!" The old steward shook his head. "You can take a look at the Inheritance Box for details. I believe you can find the answer inside."

"The Box of Inheritance?" Lanny was completely bewildered by this sudden reappearance; he genuinely didn't remember such a thing existing.

Perhaps the previous incarnation knew?

Damn it, I didn't inherit the memories of my predecessor. If this thing is hidden in some particularly secret place, won't I never be able to find it again?

Fortunately, just as Lenny was starting to get anxious, Frank stood up and waved to him.

"Young master, please come with me!"

Following the old butler downstairs, the two walked through a dark corridor to a closed room, which was Frank's bedroom.

This was Lanny's first time in this bedroom; usually, he would pull the summoning bell or call someone directly.

Upon entering the room, I realized that it was directly below the study on the second floor, which explained why the summoning bell was located there.

Or perhaps, the butler's room was placed here because the study had a summoning bell?

A rope from the ceiling runs through the passage between the floors and connects to a bell in the room. Presumably, pulling the summoning bell will make it ring, and Frank will be notified.

The room wasn't large, and the furnishings were very simple. There was a wooden bed, a bookcase, and a wooden chair by the window—that was about it. There wasn't even a wardrobe.

The old butler ignored Lanny, who was looking around, and went straight to the bedside. He bent down and laboriously dragged a large wooden box out from under the bed, then blew off the not-too-dusty dust.

After opening the wooden box, all that was revealed inside were clothes, but judging from the shape of these clothes, there should be something else hidden underneath.

Sure enough, after parting the clothes, a wooden box about the size of a book was lying quietly at the bottom of the trunk.

Frank picked up the box with both hands, carefully wiped it with his sleeve, and then respectfully handed it to Lanny.

"Young Master, this is the Box of Inheritance. Today, I entrust it to you!"

Seeing the solemn and serious expression on his face, Lanny also became serious, standing respectfully opposite him and reaching out to take the box.

“Young Master, you must remember, this is the glory of the Wells family, the family’s responsibility, the family’s roots. You must take good care of it!” As he said this, the old butler did not let go immediately, but stared intently at Lanny with his slightly cloudy eyes, as if waiting for his answer.

Only after Lanny nodded solemnly and said, "I understand," did he release his hands, as if all his strength had been drained away. He slowly walked to the chair by the window, lay down, and waved to Lanny with his back turned.

"Young Master, Frank is tired, so I won't see you off. Please close the door behind you when you leave!"

Seeing Frank's condition, Lenny asked with some concern, "Frank, are you alright?"

Hearing Lenny's question, Frank, who was lying in the chair, turned his head and smiled, but the smile seemed so weak and so reluctant.

"It's nothing, don't worry about me. I'm just... I've been keeping this inheritance box for many years, and I'm a little reluctant to part with it. Don't worry, young master!"

After observing him carefully for a moment, Lenny realized that Frank seemed to be just a little sad and was physically fine. Relieved, he tiptoed out of the room and carefully closed the door behind him.

"Master, Frank has completed the task you entrusted to me! However, this old servant is not sure if it was right to hand this over to the young master so soon?"

Frank, who had come into the room, heard the door close and seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps confiding in someone.

Under the bright moonlight, Frank's aged face seemed even older as he sat alone in his chair and slowly fell asleep.

 …

Lanny, holding the box of inheritance in his hands, returned to his room with mixed feelings.

Frank's condition just now worried him a bit. Although he checked him over and over again and it seemed that there was nothing wrong, he still felt that Frank seemed to have aged a lot in that instant.

After staring blankly for a while, he finally looked down at the inheritance box on the table.

The box is dark red, and it's unclear what kind of wood it's made of. It feels exceptionally smooth to the touch, and judging from its appearance, it's quite old, with severely worn edges and corners, and some areas are covered in a patina.

The box had no decorations or carvings on the outside, which was quite different from what Lanny had expected.

Furniture and utensils belonging to nobles were typically carved with intricate patterns and adorned with family crests to signify their wealth and status.

The box, which was so important to the Wells family, was a blank sheet of paper.

The box wasn't locked; it just lay quietly on the table, seemingly waiting for someone to open it.

Gently open the box, and you'll find a few sheets of parchment and a small leather bag; nothing else.

Lanny immediately became interested in the small leather bag. Since it was already in the box, putting it in a bag meant it was obviously more important.

As for those parchments, they were probably manuscripts recording the details of the activation ceremony, which he could look at later. However, it was this little leather bag that interested him more.

Picking up the small bag, the feel of it told him that it contained stones or something similar. It was quite round and heavy. He weighed it in his hand and found that it was about the same weight as a pebble, and even the size and shape were similar.

Lanny opened his hand and poured the contents of the bag onto it. His pupils contracted, and he was deeply shocked.

What appeared in his hand was actually a piece of milky white jade.

Could this be something that the magical world has only heard of but never seen—a relic?