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“Keugh…”
“Kagh…”
The two men, who were crushed into immobility by Davey’s feet, glared at him with a deadly gaze.
“Your Highness! We found the survivors.”
“There are thirty people!”
“Transport all of them to the temple and have them receive advanced purification magic spells. I will cover all of the costs incurred.”
“Yes, sir! What are you all doing?! Move!”
As the knights were impartial, neither part of the nobility nor royalists, they clearly seemed infuriated by this situation. Humans were kidnapping fellow humans to sacrifice them to monsters; such incidents were common in the criminal underworld, but this situation was of a large enough scale to be entirely different.
“Gurgle… Kagh… L… Lord Pace will kill you!”
All Davey found in the basement were two low-rank vampires. There weren’t many high-rank vampires here. Perhaps they were not stationed here, or they had gone somewhere else.
Davey clicked his tongue as he watched the victims, ranging from little girls to older women, being transported by the knights with blankets wrapped around them.
‘Asking them won’t do anything, since they also have failsafes…’
Crackle.
[Sir Davey, Rinne reports that the problem is resolved.]
“The damage?”
[Rinne is an excellent combat weapon. Reporting that there is no damage. Furthermore, Rinne has found many human females and is transporting them to the temple.]
“Good work. We just went through the last storage, so you can withdraw.”
[Rinne understands.]
Davey turned off the short-range communication crystal and stared down at the vampires who stared back menacingly. He was their archnemesis.
The vampires looked similar to humans, but they were strange because of their pale skin, long incisors, and the red eyes that appear whenever they release their powers.
-Those qualities already make them pretty different, right?
‘You’re right?’
Davey silently stared at the vampires under his feet with benevolence.
“You damn human! Lord Pace will rip you up into shreds!”
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“How dare a lowly human!”
Davey nodded as they bombarded him with violent comments. He commented, “Sure, it’s natural for you predators to feed on humans, who are the predated. So, I will forgive you.”
When Davey spoke to them as benevolent as an angel descending down from the sky, the two vampires looked confused. However, they put on a twisted smile and smirked like they were transformed by his kind smile.
“Then untie thi…”
“But will she forgive you?!”
Splatter!! The vampires’ heads flew up into the air as Davey instantly erased his smile and cut their tough necks with Red Ribbon like slicing tofu.
‘Um, Red Ribbon says she can’t.’
[Red Ribbon did it! Did it! Did I do a good job?]
‘Aw, I don’t know whose daughter you are, but you are so good.’
Red Ribbon wasn’t in her human form, but Davey could hear her voice ringing in his head with a faint vibration.
‘Even if they are vampires, low-ranking ones will be finished if beheaded by a blade with holy power.’
Davey let go of his insane expression and nodded at the knights staring at him in confusion and awe. He ordered, “Collect all the bodies; they will be displayed in the capital's square. Write their crimes on their bodies and hang them naked.”
‘Since they live such prideful lives, this will drive the hidden ones crazy and force them out.’
As prideful as vampires were, they would be infuriated by the attack of someone they considered inferior. This rule applied even to their own kind. Since vampires had more pride than any other kind, this was bound to work.
“Sir, the rumors are spreading and spreading. And their next hiding place…”
“Lead the way to the next place. We are getting to all the places by the end of the day.”
The knights, who were surprised by Jack’s sudden appearance, hesitated before quickly getting into position. They followed Davey.
* * *
“Damn it!!!”
Crash!!!
Public opinions were a scary thing.
“How dare these lowly beings do this to me!” Carlus clenched his jaw and made a big scene, even forgetting the fact that his wig had fallen off his head.
Carlus couldn’t hide his anger. He was of great blood ever since birth. His talent, appearance, and bloodline; he had lived his entire life thinking that everything about him was the best in this kingdom. Anything that bothered him was gotten rid of with one word, and he had always been told that he was extremely gifted; he would be the next king; he was a great and noble being. For someone who had grown up hearing those things, this public and widespread hostility toward him brought unbearable anger. His ears were practically hurting from the loud screams of people demanding his execution.
“It is your fault. If you did this more secretly, this situation wouldn’t have happened!!” Carlus shouted, shaking from anger.
The man slowly opened his eyes and stared at Carlus with a frighteningly cold gaze. He smirked, no longer deep in thought.
“It seems like that greenhorn, Davey, knows what makes the nobility angry,” Pace commented. “I think ripping his limbs off and sucking the blood out of everyone he cares about will make me feel better.”
Listening to Pace quietly mumbling from his seat, Carlus trembled slightly. He could feel the vampire’s frightening killing aura and red energy flowing out, so he soon stepped back. “You…”
“We are being bothered just as we’re close to the finish line. Well, alright. We can start after getting rid of the insect bothering us. You do what you can, Your Highness.”
“What’s your plan?”
“I have to crush the insect that has attacked us without knowing his place. I am done playing.”
Carlus couldn’t help but wipe the cold sweat dripping down his face as Pace disappeared into space. Although they had a contract, there was something more eerie about Pace than the cold gaze of Shari, Carlus’ mother’s lady-in-waiting.
* * *
“This can’t be!”
“Vampires?? Have you been doing something this insane without telling us?! Your Excellency?!”
Duke Bariatta was silently listening to the nobility’s protests. He knew that this would get out some time, but it came out much worse than he had expected.
Duke Bariatta wasn’t blind; he knew that Carlus was accompanying some unknown presence and that it was some strange being that didn’t hide his weird aura, unlike the lady-in-waiting whom his daughter was with. The quick ones already noticed the eerie difference that Pace had.
Later, Duke Bariatta found out that Pace was a vampire, and he accepted the fact that they were going to help Carlus. Of course, there was a little problem where Duke Bariatta himself had to kidnap some people and offer them, but he thought there was no way a few deaths would interfere with his path.
It was a good idea to disguise the storage space so well that even exceptional priests and mages couldn’t recognize it. It was an investment, considering the absurd amount of power Duke Bariatta had. He believed that everything would be fine if he won the internal war with the vampire’s help, even if the crown prince position was given to Davey instead of Carlus. That was because, by that point, the royalists and nobility would already be past the point of no return.
“Everyone, calm down.”
“Calm down?! Do you think we can calm…”
“Are you suddenly afraid?” The nobility went quiet as Duke Bariatta spoke nonchalantly. The duke continued, “Everyone here has already taken part in the act. Do you think they will back off even if you stop now?”
“…”
“Then, let’s think. We are going to do what we can. If this war is going to happen anyways, we’re better off having something we can win with up our sleeve.”
The nobility murmured amongst themselves and then quietened down.
“Count Vons.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
“What happened to the delivery of military supplies?”
“We have successfully received a large number of weapons, and they are new dwarf-made ones as well. It was like they were scraping together as much money as they could. We bought a good amount at a cheap price through different routes.”
“Hm, dwarf-mades… Where did you buy them?”
“The Heins Territory. Hehe, Prince Davey was stupid. The weapons he sold will come back to choke him. In fact, the new weapons’ durability and sharpness that we tested with steel swords was clearly outstanding. Thanks to that, we were able to…”
Duke Bariatta flinched. “What?”
“The weapons are outstand…”
“Before that.”
“Oh, we bought them from the Heins Territory.”
Duke Bariatta rubbed his forehead as he heard Count Vons’ report.
‘Something is off.’
From what Duke Bariatta knew, Prince Davey wasn’t stupid enough to openly do something like that. To think that the prince rushed to do this out of hostility and anger toward them… It seemed too much like a well-thought-out game. It was like he had helped them behind the scenes to cause an uprising…
‘Oh… It’s a trap.’
Duke Bariatta clenched his jaw. He was certain that it was a trap, but he couldn’t back out or do anything in this situation. It didn’t matter what vampires were like or what kind of person Carlus was; everything would be decided by the result of this internal war, and with his plan, he would be able to withstand the pressure from other kingdoms as they had no right to interfere in internal conflicts of this kingdom. If Marquis Peiltris hadn’t taken the ledger with their corrupt deeds, and if the First Prince wasn’t here, there wouldn’t have been any problems, but it was too late to think that now.
58. If the Palace Gates Are Too Strong, Destroy the Palace Walls.
This was a rebellion caused by a few high-rank nobles with Duke Bariatta as its leader. As the spark was lit on the internal conflict, the atmosphere of the palace was at its worst.
The nobility and Duke Bariatta, the cause of this rebellion, had an army of thirty thousand and had one Swordmaster, along with a few vampires. As he held half the military power, he had gathered an astonishing number of people considering the population of this kingdom. Even a Swordmaster, who each had the power of an entire army, would definitely lose if they fought against ten thousand people.
However, the army that the royalists had scraped together were ten thousand people and Marquis Peiltris. To be exact, they also had Davey, who was thought to have just started using holy magic from his stigmata. Everyone knew that the royalists were at a huge disadvantage for this flight. Even the ten thousand was filled by young men of the kingdom who volunteered in fury after hearing they had colluded with vampires and took royal subjects as sacrifices.
“We are ready, Your Highness.”