The remaining three vampires involved in Princess Mezzlen’s kidnapping...
Among them, the man closest to being their leader quietly observed the academy church from the shadows.
‘...She should be waking up about now.’
Having lost so much blood, her mind likely wouldn’t be fully clear. This moment of confusion was the perfect opportunity to lure Princess Mezzlen out again.
There was likely only one more chance left.
No matter how insignificant and useless an illegitimate child she was, royalty was still royalty. And Seraphine was not the type to abandon her younger sister. If it were one of her older siblings, she might cast them aside without hesitation, but Antonio and Mezzlen served as her allies within the palace. She had absorbed enough power from below to enter the imperial succession race at such a young age, so even if Mezzlen had been foolishly captured, she couldn’t be ignored.
‘Jeremy, that loudmouth, will keep them distracted, and Alon is trustworthy when it comes to acting discreetly. He should have already made contact with Mezzlen.’
And the maid, the bait to draw out the princess, was bound beside him, barely clinging to life.
It wouldn’t have been difficult to end her life right then, but there was no need. If she didn’t appear for the first bait, she would still be useful. Her wrists and ankles were only loosely bound, but resistance wasn’t an option—her thumbs and index fingers had already been cut off.
The severed fingers were being used as bait to lure out the princess, and if Mezzlen fell for it, this maid would lose her value as a hostage and soon be turned into a ghoul.
"...You... bastard..."
"......"
"You’ll... never... die peacefully... The crime of kidnapping and dishonoring the princess, you’ll never..."
Thud!
"......Ugh!!!"
"Still got some fight left, huh? You’ll be dead soon enough, so hold on to that pitiful life for a little longer."
"Hah... huff..."
"If she doesn’t show up after the first bait, I’ll have to pluck out one of your eyes."
With his foot pressing down on Kate’s face, Miguel looked down at the church.
He confirmed the movements of the other two vampires through his blood sorcery, focusing on the sensations to understand the situation.
"...So, here you are."
A cold voice from behind made his body instinctively jump.
"Wh-Who’s there...?!"
"...As expected, you're worthy of being called a hero of prophecy."
"How did you find this place...?! No, wait—aren’t you that...?"
"...It wasn’t entirely accurate, but this is close enough. Did they calculate even this much when they sent me?"
Ignoring Miguel’s words, the man approached, talking to himself as if in a monologue.
Miguel, an advanced vampire capable of handling even experts with ease, found himself overwhelmed by the aura of the human before him. The man in front of him was the only sword master within the academy.
"D-Damn it!"
Miguel couldn’t understand how his location had been discovered, but that wasn’t the most important thing. What mattered now was how to handle the situation.
If things continued like this, he wouldn’t even be able to check whether ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the plan was proceeding correctly before being cut down by the sword master.
"...You’re Kate, right? I hope I’m not too late."
"......!!!"
Yes, that woman.
Even a sword master was still human at heart. He would prioritize saving the fragile life in front of him over killing an enemy.
Thinking this, Miguel dragged Kate’s body in front of him.
"D-Don’t move! It looks like you were sent here by the princess, but if you make any sudden moves, this woman’s life will—"
Shing.
"...Urk, ugh..."
Suddenly, a crushing sensation in his throat stifled his voice.
And as his vision tilted, Miguel realized with dawning horror that he had already been cut.
Thud... Drip...
"Ugh... ghkk..."
"...Did I take too much blood? I'm feeling a bit tired."
The sword master, holding the maid in his arms, began to walk away as Miguel’s body, sliced into pieces by the holy-infused blade, crumbled to dust in the forest.
⁂ ⁂ ⁂
Thud!
"Guh... Gah...?!"
"I didn’t expect you to come back for my sister so soon after your first attempt. But it seems the hero was right."
"That voice... Could it be...?"
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"Since you’re here, it must mean the remnants have appeared elsewhere too, just as Sir Volt predicted. I’ve already sent trustworthy people to deal with them, so your last plan will likely fail as well."
As she spoke, the princess tugged at her crimson twin tails, irritated. As soon as she removed her wig, Seraphine’s flowing blonde hair was revealed.
"...Since when were you in disguise...?"
"I don’t think I’m obligated to tell you. Besides, telling someone who’s about to die is pointless anyway."
Thud!
"Ugh, huff..."
"...I’ll be taking these fingers back. I could heal them with regeneration magic, but it’s much more stable to reattach the original ones."
As Seraphine picked up the purple box used to lure her, two women appeared behind her.
One was a maid with red twin tails, and the other a butler with short gray hair. They slowly approached Alon.
"...Thank you for your hard work, Princess Seraphine."
"What should we do with him?"
"Cut him up and burn him. Just like Sir Volt said, we can’t risk him regenerating."
"Understood."
"It’s been confirmed, Princess Seraphine."
With the sounds of slicing and burning behind her, Seraphine carried the box with the four fingers back toward the church.
Although the groans of a man in agony echoed behind her, she didn’t pay them any mind. She had no time to care about the screams of someone who had abandoned their humanity.
⁂ ⁂ ⁂
I had somehow managed to put Isabel to sleep and escape from the dormitory.
Though I succeeded in escaping, the situation wasn’t exactly ideal. Approaching the hero’s party like this wasn’t an option, especially since I looked anything but normal.
‘What is this, some kind of King of Fighters boss?’
The chain around my neck was still wrapped around the table leg, making it look like I was dragging around a giant iron ball. I even considered swinging the chain around as a weapon, though that would make me look even more suspicious. I couldn’t just barge into the hero’s party like this, especially with this chain of obedience.
Anyone who saw me would think I was caught in some sort of lover’s quarrel with Ethan, and explaining that was the last thing I wanted to do.
As I continued to watch the situation from a hiding spot, one of the remaining vampires approached the hero’s party. I observed as the party, led by Geralt, dealt with the vampire.
‘They’ve caught the loudmouth vampire, so now it’s just the gloomy one and the leader left...’
As expected, the gloomy one must have infiltrated to kidnap Princess Mezzlen again. The leader was likely watching from a vantage point, overseeing the situation.
Their actions were similar to those they had shown during the Auguste confrontation, even if the target had changed. I needed to get this information to them.
‘If Mezzlen gets kidnapped again after all this trouble, everything will have been for nothing. I guess I’ll have to face Ethan even if he catches me after my escape.’
As I prepared to leave my hiding spot and step out from behind the trees, Seraphine suddenly appeared and joined the hero’s party.
"Sir Volt."
"Ah, Seraphine. How did it go on your end?"
"Just as you said, one of the vampires showed up targeting Mezzlen. I took advantage of his moment of carelessness and took him down. I left him in a near-death state, and Luke and Miss Agnes are finishing him off now."
"That’s good to hear. This means Mezzlen won’t be kidnapped again, Seraphine."
"Once again, I owe you my thanks, Sir Volt. I still haven’t repaid you for the last time..."
"Don’t worry about it. I’m just doing what I need to."
‘...Wait, what?’
What was that conversation just now?
From what I gathered, Seraphine had taken down the vampire trying to go after Mezzlen, and Luke and Agnes had finished him off.
Could it be that the hero anticipated their behavior, knowing the remaining vampires would act similarly to how they had in the Auguste confrontation?
‘But surely they couldn’t have predicted the leader’s hiding place. I’ll need to head to the hill behind the church.’
It might be tough to handle him one-on-one, but if I let him escape, it could cause all sorts of problems later.
Thinking it was worth having escaped after all, I started moving, dragging the table leg behind me. But before I could take more than a few steps...
"I’m glad to hear everything went smoothly on your end, too."
Harold’s voice suddenly interrupted my thoughts, making me turn my head back toward the hero’s party.