Chapter 2: Vampire Encounter (Part 2)

Night fell—the fourth night since the vampire's first appearance.

In these days, the priests from the Magic Academy had taken on the role of the city's royal guards, patrolling the capital from dusk till dawn. Their holy light spells to detect evil could be seen everywhere, yet not a single clue of the vampire had been found. Rumors had even begun to spread that this was nothing more than a mundane murder case, with the scene staged to mislead investigators.

This suspicion wasn't without reason. Vampires, known for their cunning and secrecy, would have little need to hunt so brazenly in the heart of the capital near the Magic Academy. By the third night, the number of patrolling guards and priests had visibly decreased.

However, no one noticed a shadowy figure weaving nimbly through the streets like an agile cat. The figure darted swiftly through the capital, evading both guards and priests with ease.

Before long, the figure had exited the massive city and arrived at a remote, desolate field far from the roads. With a soft thud, the shadow split into two; it turned out to be two people intertwined.

In the faint moonlight, the one who collapsed to the ground was revealed to be a frail, half-grown child. His tattered clothes clung to a thin frame, and his lifeless eyes stared blankly at the dirt. Despite being filthy, his pale, almost translucent skin glistened under the moonlight. On his neck were two deep puncture marks, with faint traces of blood trickling down his ghastly white skin.

The shadow that had carried the boy quickly began digging into the ground with a small spade, moving deftly and powerfully. In no time, a sizeable pit was excavated. The figure placed the boy's corpse into the hole, covered it with dirt, and scattered some vegetation over the top to disguise the spot.

This location was far from both the capital and any main roads, making it unlikely anyone would ever stumble upon the body. In a large city like this, the disappearance of a street urchin would hardly draw attention—a small ripple vanishing unnoticed in the sea of humanity.

The shadow's movements were so practiced it was clear this wasn't their first time. But after completing the burial, they didn't leave immediately. Instead, they knelt in place, staring blankly at the mound of dirt. Gradually, faint sobs broke the silence, interspersed with fragmented murmurs:

"Almighty Lord... We confess and mourn our many sins and evils, committed through thought, word, and deed. These offenses warrant Your judgment and wrath... Forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil and darkness. To You belongs all glory, now and forever... Have mercy, O Lord…"

It was a prayer of repentance, the kind a devout believer would recite while kneeling before a holy statue in a church. But here, the voice belonged to someone kneeling alone in the wilderness, repenting beside a freshly dug grave. The voice, soft and weak, betrayed that the shadowy figure was a woman.

The sobs and choking sounds seemed deliberately muffled, but eventually, the woman bent over and began retching violently. Yet no matter how hard she tried, nothing came out—only convulsions of pure torment wracked her body. In the moonlight, it became clear there were three other inconspicuous mounds nearby, identical to the one just made. The woman lay amid them, groaning in agony like a prisoner enduring some unspeakable punishment.

"I thought you'd have gotten used to this by now," a voice came from behind her.

The woman spun around as if stabbed. In the pale moonlight, the shadow revealed a face of breathtaking beauty—the face of the queen herself. But now, her expression was twisted with fear. The traces of pain and despair from earlier remained etched upon her features.

Under the same pale moonlight, another figure appeared: the handsome, commanding visage of Cardinal Jarvis. His face was radiant, as though lit by the sun rather than moonlight. He gazed at the frightened queen with a smile no different from the one he'd worn in the royal palace that day. Calmly, he said, "Since you've already learned to act discreetly, why haven't you gotten used to it? This must be your fourth meal, no?"

"It's all your fault!" the queen shrieked, her face twisted with fury and terror. Her mouth opened in a scream, and her sharp fangs glinted coldly in the moonlight. Like an enraged panther, she leapt at the cardinal with a speed and ferocity completely at odds with her usual grace.

But Cardinal Jarvis merely waved his hand lightly, and the queen, charging like a bolt, was instantly repelled by a burst of holy white light. Her scream pierced the desolate night, the sacred glow searing her skin and leaving trails of smoke.

The cardinal stepped forward and placed his hand on the queen, murmuring an incantation. A black mist swirled around her, mending the wounds caused by the holy light. He frowned and shook his head. "Your powers have only just awakened, and you can't even resist basic holy magic. If it weren't for your high-born bloodline, you probably wouldn't survive in sunlight either."

Though her wounds had healed, the queen slumped to the ground, seemingly too drained to stand. She stared at the dirt, muttering repeatedly, "I'm not a monster. I'm not a monster…"

"You think feeding on humans makes you a monster?" the cardinal asked with a faint smile. "No, it's a sign that you're above them. Just as humans eat chickens and pigs, you now take humans as your sustenance. To those animals, we are the monsters who devour them. Have you ever repented for eating a chicken?"

The queen lifted her head to glare at the cardinal. Tears streamed down her face, and though her fangs peeked from her lips, she looked more pitiful than threatening. "I want to be human, not a monster! Why did you do this to me?"

"I did this to you?" Cardinal Jarvis shook his head and sighed. "Do you realize that without my help, the half-completed vampire's kiss inside you would have turned you into a mindless beast? Without a proper embrace to stabilize the transformation, the dark forces within you would have driven you mad. That incomplete ritual only introduced part of a vampire's essence into your body—enough to awaken it over time but not to transform you completely. Without my necromantic magic stabilizing you, you'd have been lost."

"I don't know. I don't care. I'd rather die than live like this!" she wailed. "Pretending to be sick during the day, sneaking out to feed at night—I can't take it anymore…"

"Your body may have surpassed human limits, but your mind is still that of an ordinary woman," the cardinal remarked regretfully. Then his tone turned stern. "But I suggest you adapt quickly. And don't act recklessly. Have you thought about what would happen if your identity were exposed? The one who would suffer most wouldn't be you—it would be your sister. Psychologically and otherwise. You're her only living relative, her sole emotional anchor. And if others found out you've become a vampire, how do you think they'd view her? Even though everyone saw her fighting vampires in that incident, can you guarantee no one would harbor doubts about her because of you?"

The queen froze, her fury replaced by a vacant stare.

"Trust me," Jarvis said, his smile returning. "If you follow my lead, you'll soon adapt to your new existence. You won't have to kill to feed anymore, and your life can return to normal. I'll show you how to obtain sustenance without harming anyone. You'll never have to worry about aging or sickness again. You can continue watching your sister live a happy life."

After a long silence, the queen finally spoke. "What do you want me to do?"

The cardinal's radiant smile widened, this time filled with genuine delight. "It's simple—just support me in taking control of the Magic Academy."

"But… I've never meddled in these matters. I don't even know where to begin… And it's His Majesty and Captain Roland who make those decisions."

"Don't worry. I'll guide you. It won't be difficult, nor will it trouble you. As for Emperor Griffinhart and Captain Roland…" He smiled again, more enigmatically this time. "Leave them to me."

Before long, the cardinal and queen's silhouettes merged into the night as they flew back toward the capital.

From the distant shadows, an angry female voice suddenly broke the stillness. "You bastard! Let me go! I'll kill you!"

A strange darkness receded from the bushes and brambles far from where the cardinal and queen had spoken. Though the area had seemed cloaked in natural shadows, it became clear that this was an unnatural, almost tangible darkness that had swallowed all light. With its dispersal, three figures emerged.

As the darkness dissipated, three figures emerged. At the center stood the dark elf Jessica, who let out a long sigh. The enveloping shadows had been conjured by her, a special ability unique to dark elves. The voice that had cried out earlier belonged to a tall, valiant woman clad in armor—Temple Knight Talice.

The third figure, Asa, withdrew his hands from Talice's mouth and waist. Watching the knight leap out of the circle of shadows, he quipped, "Do you think I wanted to hold you? Do you have any idea what would've happened if you had charged out just now and been caught by those two? I'll tell you this—I wouldn't bother saving you. I'd just turn around and walk away. Let your precious Cardinal have his way with you before finishing you off and disposing of your body."

"Ugh! You covered my mouth with the same filthy hands that touched that dark elf! I'll need to cleanse myself with holy water for a week, praying for forgiveness every single day. Oh, Lord above, forgive me. I didn't mean to rely on the wicked arts of a dark elf to hide myself, only to uncover the truth."

Jessica rolled her eyes at Talice, who was making the sign of the cross on her chest after stepping out of the shadowed circle. "Honestly, I think Asa shouldn't have stopped her. Idiots like her deserve to be used, killed, and buried. If it weren't for my advanced Shadow Veil skill, which can suppress minor noises, her loud mouth would've given us away by now."

Asa sighed, glancing back toward the capital with a frown, his thoughts drifting before he turned to Talice. "So, do you finally believe me now?"

"I… I didn't think…" Talice stammered, her expression shifting between anger and shock. The veins on her forehead throbbed lightly as her emotions churned. "I can't believe… That man is truly a spy from Dehya Valley? Unbelievable..."

"Does this mean… what you said is all true? I… I must return to Celeste and consult my mentor. I have to ask His Holiness, the Pope…"

"And get yourself killed?" Asa interrupted coldly. "Didn't Lancelote already tell you that the Pope has likely known about this all along?"

Over the past four days, Asa had honed his ability to manipulate people without resorting to brute force. Talice, raised on the rigid principles of chivalry and a strict sense of duty, was entirely unprepared to deal with someone who used favors and moral obligations as leverage. She had been coaxed into making an oath not to expose their identities or escalate the situation. Yet, uncertain of her path and with nowhere else to go, she had chosen to stay at the same inn as Asa under the pretense of monitoring him for any assassination attempts.

On the very first night, however, the vampire incident had shaken the capital to its core. Talice became suspicious of Asa's involvement, though her oath prevented her from taking direct action. She had kept a close eye on him ever since, almost never leaving the vicinity of their shared lodging. This constant surveillance left Asa, Jessica, and their companion with little freedom to act, though Asa had managed to sneak out a few times.

Jessica and Ruya had both strongly suggested that Asa find a way to eliminate or shake off this troublesome knight, but Asa seemed to have no intention of doing so. Instead, he often struck up casual conversations with her. Naïve and troubled, Talice quickly fell into Asa's conversational traps, revealing more than she likely intended.

"So, how exactly did you know about this place?" Talice suddenly asked, as if something had just occurred to her. She turned to Asa, suspicion lacing her voice. "It's almost like you knew all along what was going to happen here. You brought me here on purpose, didn't you?"

"Of course. I scouted this location beforehand," Asa replied with a faint smile. "And I happened to overhear that your beloved Cardinal had declared he would spend tonight in deep meditation, not to be disturbed. Naturally, I suspected he might 'meditate' here."

Talice thought for a moment, her astonishment growing. "So… you knew beforehand that Jarvis was connected to the vampire? How could you possibly have known that?"

"Simple. I asked someone," Asa said lightly.

"You asked someone? Who could you possibly ask?"

"That's none of your concern," Asa replied, shaking his head. "Now tell me—now that you know all this, you're not going to stand in my way anymore, are you?"

Talice froze, her brow furrowed in thought, unable to answer immediately.

Seeing her hesitation, Asa spoke again, his tone cold. "Have you really not considered the possibility that I might have brought you here in the dead of night to kill you? Do you realize how many opportunities I've had along the way to end you before you could even react?"

Talice faltered, her face paling. Though she didn't want to admit it, she knew he was right. If Asa had been able to cover her mouth just now, he could have just as easily snapped her neck.

"In just four short days, you've let your guard down completely—because I saved you once, because we've spent a few days together without incident. You've already forgotten the opposing sides we stand on. Have you even considered that my act of saving you might have been purely self-serving? Circumstances change, and so might my motives. Haven't you thought of that?"

Talice opened her mouth as if to retort, but no words came out. Under the moonlight, her complexion darkened—whether from embarrassment or anger was unclear. Finally, she muttered, "Are you going to claim this counts as saving me 300 times?"

Asa couldn't help but laugh. "No, no, I'm not that shameless. I'm just trying to make two points: First, under the current circumstances, we're allies, not enemies. Second, you're far too naïve and need to strengthen your resolve. Facing the truth and tackling difficult challenges is the best way to grow stronger."

"You want me to work with you?" Talice interrupted, frowning.

"Not as dense as I thought," Asa said with a faint smirk. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean. I'm short on manpower right now. What I thought would be a reliable helper has decided to avoid getting involved in this mess. So, I'm left with no choice but to turn to you, my former stumbling block, as an ally. Don't worry. If you help me out, we'll call it even for everything that's happened between us. From now on, you won't have to deal with me using your precious knightly code against you. I promise—"

"Fine, I'll help you," Talice interrupted abruptly. Her voice was firm and resolute, her earlier hesitations gone. It seemed she had reached a decision or come to terms with something, her expression now clear and determined.