Then.

Under the crowd’s wildly differing gazes, Sang walked into the bathroom alone, followed the entire way by two Blood Clan knights in black cloaks.

Even while he soaked in the wooden tub, the two Blood Clan knights stayed close by, just on the other side of a screen.

Probably afraid he’d run away.

At that moment.

Sang sat in the wooden tub with a bath towel wrapped around his face, slouched in a sprawled-out pose as he gazed up at the battered ceiling. What was he feeling? Panic, unease, fear, reluctance to leave… that sort of thing. In short, nothing but negative emotions.

“Man, I’ve been here for so long, and this is the first time I’ve ever been treated like I matter. And it’s for this reason.” Young Sang muttered to himself.

Run away?

It wasn’t as if Sang hadn’t thought about it.

The last time he contaminated the blood, it had been his first close encounter with the Blood Clan. If Lord Ben Loren’s knights were all on that level, then perhaps Sang really did have a slim chance of survival.

But when he thought it through, if he ran away, wouldn’t everyone at the orphanage suffer for it?

“I can’t run.” When he thought of Lillian, Luna, Adolf, and every child at the orphanage, there was no way he could just abandon them and flee.

“Man, why couldn’t I have moved faster when I contaminated the blood last time?”

Just as young Sang was indulging in a bit of pointless self-pity and making fun of himself, two figures suddenly stepped through the dilapidated screen. They were the two Blood Clan knights.

Wait…

Why does something feel kind of off?

Sang immediately tensed, his brows knitting together. He cautiously asked, “There should still be some time before people from Central arrive. Is there… something you need?”

The Blood Clan had emotions and desires like anyone else, and they had physical needs too. But he was the True Ancestor’s Blood Servant, for goodness’ sake. Surely they weren’t going to force themselves on him here?

But then—

Just then.

One of the figures wrapped in a black cloak spoke in a crisp, spirited feminine voice. “My codename is Hyacinth. I’m beginning the mission now. Mission codename: Bird in a Cage.”

The instant her words fell.

The woman in front of him removed her cloak’s hood, revealing her true face. She wasn’t Blood Clan at all—she was human.

She looked to be around twenty and stood about five foot five. Her long hair was brown, the most common hair color in this world, and the shade reminded him of chocolate. Still, with a face as pretty as hers, she was a rare beauty. Unfortunately, her black cloak hid her body, so it was impossible to tell what her figure was like.

No, no!

Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about the woman’s looks or figure. What had she just said?

“What are you even talking about?” Young Sang asked, fighting through his embarrassment as he covered his junk.

Just then.

The other Blood Clan knight—no, now that he got a better look, he wasn’t a Blood Clan knight at all. He took off his hood too, revealing a burly, rugged-looking man. His thick beard made it hard to guess his age.

He glanced at the woman beside him and reminded her, “Hyacinth, we’re out of time. People from Central are about to arrive. We have to explain everything quickly!”

The woman who’d introduced herself as Hyacinth nodded seriously. Then she looked back at young Sang, not at all bothered by his embarrassment, and got straight to the point. “Sang, we’re with an organization called [The Hunt]. We came here specifically to find you, Sang!”

In this world, there were organizations that secretly resisted the Blood Clan. They were devoted to wiping out the Blood Clan and restoring humanity, and had long been carrying out underground operations against them. Quite a few had even infiltrated noble families.

[The Hunt] was one of them—and a relatively powerful one. It was full of hidden talents, with plenty of powerful humans among its ranks.

“Are you here to save me?” That was young Sang’s first thought. His face lit up with excitement.

But—

Reality doused his hopes with cold water. The two exchanged a glance, then shook their heads in unison.

After a moment, Hyacinth spoke gravely. “We came on behalf of the organization. We’re not here to save you. We’re here to ask you for a favor.”

“Ask me for a favor?”

“You’re about to become the True Ancestor’s Blood Servant. We want you to provide us with any information you can. It’ll help us prepare to defeat the Blood Clan.”

Young Sang wasn’t stupid. He understood what she meant right away. In short—he’d have to go undercover!

Sang rolled his eyes, disappointed. “No way… I’ve heard about it. This isn’t being a Blood Servant. It’s being a living sacrifice… I’ll probably be drained dry as soon as I get in there, then die.”

Hyacinth was a woman of conviction.

At that moment, even in the face of the boy’s dejection, her eyes still blazed with resolve. “If we want to defeat the Blood Clan, we have to defeat the True Ancestor. And if we want to defeat the True Ancestor, we need information… It’s been decades, perhaps even a century or more, since the Blood Clan’s True Ancestor last awakened. You’re the only human in all these years to be chosen as the True Ancestor’s Blood Servant, and the only human who can get close to the True Ancestor… Your chances of dying may be high, but even if there’s only a one-percent chance, we have to try!”

Hyacinth thought her speech had been inspiring enough to move any human boy. But the next second, she lifted her eyes and met young Sang’s dead-fish stare.

Sang rolled his eyes, looking helpless. He was a total couch potato, not some firebrand. He wasn’t completely unmoved by this sort of speech, but he knew his own limits.

He wasn’t cut out for anything big.

“I… don’t want to do something like that…”

If he really had to die, he just wanted to go comfortably. He didn’t want to die carrying a pile of regrets and ideals.

“You…!” Hyacinth’s beautiful eyes widened. She glared at Sang, furious and helpless all at once.

Just then.

A commotion broke out outside the orphanage, and it was quite a big one. There was no doubt about it—the Central knights had arrived!

At that moment, Sang, Hyacinth, and the other man from [The Hunt] were still in the bathroom. For a moment, they were at a stalemate.

“We’re out of time!” the young man warned.

Hyacinth nodded gravely.

Hyacinth wasn’t one to give up easily. Besides, this was a mission assigned by their leader. The odds were slim, but if they missed this opportunity, who knew how long they’d have to wait for another?

No matter what, she had to complete this mission.

The next second.

Hyacinth drew the knight’s sword at her waist and held it against the side of young Sang’s neck, her cold, murderous gaze fixed on him.

Sang immediately caved. As mentioned earlier, he really was much stronger than the average person—but he wasn’t invincible. A sword could injure him, fire could burn him, and if you threw him in water, he could still drown.

When someone’s got a sword at your throat, there’s not much you can do.

Sang didn’t even have time to worry about being naked. He threw his hands up in surrender, leaving his junk on full display. Hyacinth seemed completely uninterested in his naked body.

Damn it, at least look!

The damage was bad enough. The humiliation was even worse.

Sang said, “What’s wrong with you!? You can’t get your way, so you just try to kill people!”