Chương 107: The Hope of the Whole Village

Based on how the world in the painting works, I can indeed find a loophole and let someone in.

But this method only works for you.

Because you are the only one who can speak with me, I can only sense your soul — what?

just me?

Richard recalled the vampire named Vespera who had just appeared.

Hmm, Jon said he was a high-ranking one, right? He wants me to deal with him?

Unless he is also a dual-soul entity with a kind personality named Grace inside him, what difference is there between this and suicide!

Richard's Adam's apple bobbed slightly. He gripped the picture frame and asked furtively, "Isn't there any other way to get more people in?"

No, because the vampires have inscribed three magic circles inside my body, restricting my control over it.

But if you can destroy two of those three magic arrays, then I can let a few more people in— Okay, although it still sounds difficult, at least there's some hope.

So, should we take this risk?

Richard hesitated.

Hesitating for a moment, he caught a glimpse of the girl's pained face out of the corner of his eye.

Then, the smile on the girl's face when she gave him a basket of honey-baked apples about ten days ago flashed through his mind— Oh.

Hesitate, my foot!

Richard turned to the painting and said, "I understand. Let me in."

【Okay, you can come in now————】 Richard stretched out his finger and gently poked at it, his fingertip touching a small blade of grass through the canvas.

"No, no, no, Your Highness, the magic here is far too complex; it couldn't be any faster—good heavens, Mr. Targaryen, how did you do that!"

Nearby, Jon, who was arguing with Isabella, noticed Richard's actions and exclaimed in surprise.

The others also looked over in surprise.

Richard shrugged and smiled.

"Perhaps I am the person you're talking about who fits this painting perfectly."

After saying that, he lifted his leg and crawled into the painting.

Isabella quickly called out, "Wait, Richard, you're not thinking about being alone—" Grace, who was standing nearby, reached out and tried to pull Richard out.

Unfortunately, Richard was quick; in less than half a second, he was inside the painting.

He turned to the crowd and gestured for silence: "Shh, don't lure the vampires back! They don't know I'm here yet, which is my advantage."

Grace withdrew her hand and lowered her voice, saying, "Little poet, are you sure you want to do this?"

Richard spread his hands, revealing a magnanimous smile: "We have no other choice, and we don't have time, do we?"

Then he asked Jon, "You said before that the vampires sealed off the world in the painting, do you know how they did it?"

Jon paused for a moment before gesturing and answering, "There's a special sealing array, it looks something like this—" Hmm, it's similar to how oil paintings are described, so there's no problem.

"Everyone, I won't throw my life away. I'll try to operate covertly, disrupt the vampires' magic circle, and let everyone in so we can wipe out these monsters together!"

Richard explained his plan to the crowd, and then, without wasting any more time, he followed the direction Vespera had just left and blended into the crowd depicted in the painting.

Outside, the crowd looked at each other, their faces showing either shock or worry.

"Honestly, I must say, she truly lives up to her reputation as my little poet —" Grace crossed her arms and exchanged a glance with Isabella, who was clenching her fists. She knew that at this point, she could only trust Richard.

This little bard was their only hope!

Marek and his men felt that Richard's solo challenge against a high-ranking vampire was, if not extremely risky, a near-certain death.

However, they didn't dare say these words aloud to the princess's face.

Meanwhile, inside the oil painting.

Richard left the picture frame that was floating in mid-air, which allowed him to see the people outside, and looked around.

All I could see was blue sky and white clouds, and lush green grass.

In the distance are castles and villages built along the river, while closer by are wooden enclosures and stands, surrounded by colorful tents, where farmers, merchants, craftsmen, prostitutes and fully armed soldiers roam.

Is this the world depicted in the painting?

It feels like I've traveled through time again.

Richard took an unassuming robe from his dimensional bag and put it on, then whispered, "Hey, hey, can you hear me at the first duel of the first Earl Schneider?"

[I can hear you. You are now inside me and can speak to me anytime, anywhere.] That's so convenient!

Richard nodded and asked, "Speaking of which, I'm not quite sure what's painted on your body. I only know it seems to be related to a martial arts tournament. Could you tell me about it?"

【no problem】 What I am presenting is a martial arts tournament that took place five hundred years ago in Coppertree Town, the Kingdom of Roland (the predecessor of the Empire).

This gathering was jointly organized by the local Viscount Cole and the Prince of the Kingdom, calling on young knights and noble sons to display their bravery and compete for honor, in order to celebrate the coming of age of the Viscount's daughter, Miss Kara, who is also a classmate of the Prince.

[Dunk Schneider's ancestor, who at this time had lost his fiefdom and lord and was merely a knight in name only, won the championship in this tournament, thus changing his fate and founding the future Schneider family.] Oh, I see. It's the entrepreneurial history of people like Schneider.

No wonder he painted such a large picture.

After Richard had a general understanding of the background, he asked, "So, where are those magic circles you mentioned drawn?"

They were drawn in three different places, forming an equilateral triangle. The one closest to you is on your right.

Following the painting's guidance, Richard arrived at a barn built on the riverbank.

He wanted to go inside and take a look, but found two guards at the entrance.

One was a level 3 vampire, the other a level 4, and they were chatting leisurely: "This place is terrible. There are fresh necks everywhere, but we can't suck any of them. They all taste like paint when we put them in our mouths."

"On the bright side, at least the sun here isn't so scorching; after all, it's just painted with paint—"

"Damn it, I stepped in a pile of paint poop!"

"Uh, that lump looks like what I just saw—you know, there's no toilet around here—"

"Oh shit!"

Richard did not act rashly, but instead went to find the second magic circle mentioned in the painting. He eventually discovered that it was painted inside the tent of a knight from out of town, and guards were standing at the entrance as well.

With the two locations determined, Richard knew the location of the third magic circle without needing the painting, based on the theory of equilateral triangles.

It's not somewhere else, but inside that towering castle in the distance.

Without a doubt, there will be plenty of guards inside.

So, now we can summarize.

He needs to destroy at least two magic arrays in order to allow reinforcements to enter.

The one inside the castle is probably out of options.

However, there shouldn't be much of a problem with the barn and the tent. The vampires didn't expect him to be able to get in, and the guards they arranged were only enough to keep out the unrelated mannequins in the painting, but they couldn't possibly stop him.

The problem is that the distance between the barn and the tent is not short, making it difficult for Richard to destroy the magic arrays in both places at once.

If one of them is destroyed, the vampires will become alert, and if Vespera personally takes over to watch over the rest, then Richard will be helpless.

He realized he needed an assistant.