Chapter 96 - Yulio The Soldier

This reunion was unexpected. Their shouts stirred the sleeping Sangfroid, who from just seeing someone from outside the cave, immediately got his bow and arrow to shoot!

"No! Sangfroid, don't!" Leron stopped him in time, putting a hand on his chest. "It's an old friend, Yulio. The one who challenged me to a swordfight."

Sangfroid regarded the man with the bright orange hair that looked like flames with unwavering suspicion. "Are you sure this is your friend, Your Highness? What if it's the creature wearing his face? Mandrien can do that."

"Mandrien manifests in dreams only." Vladstin said. 

"We cannot be careless." Sangfroid did not put down his weapon.

Yulio slowly raised his hand, staggering. "Wait! I can attest my identity as a high guard of Faldenhorf. Whoever this Mandrien is, it is not me! Look!"

He took a small booklet with a stamp and a seal outside. He went closer to hand it to Vladstin. "A true prince can certify the authenticity of this identification document. Please convince him, Vlad."

The former prince who was now a vampire examined it, and it truly was authentic. He gave a serious nod to Sangfroid. "It's real. He's Yulio, an orphan that we knew of, former head of the Crescentian military.... and I suppose, now a guard in Faldenhorf."

Sangfroid carefully lowered his bow, still remaining vigilant, and Leron sighed in relief.

"It's good to see you again, Yulio." Leron went closer to his former friend, then noticed the trails of blood he left. "You're injured! Oh, we must take care of it right this instant!"

"I can't believe it....." Yulio rubbed his eyes, like checking if he was having a dream. "I was told Prince Vladstin was dead, and it was you who killed him, yet you're together and..... Ahhhh!" 

He noticed the many corpses on the other side of the cave with them, just standing with their droopy eyes, along with the undead wolves.

"Wh-What.... What in the world..." Yulio cursed in Crescentian as his eyes were laden in fear. 

"Haha, I almost distrust you too like Sangfroid since you're too polite compared to the Yulio I know..." Vladstin flashed his fangs as he laughed. "But it seems that you're just the same as always, a potty-mouth rascal through and through."

"Y-You're not human..... anymore....." Yulio only came upon this realization. "So the rumors were true....."

"What rumors?" Leron went to support him to sit on one of the logs. "Rest here for a bit as I fetch something to clean the wound and wrap it up. Why are you here?"

"I'll go get it, Your Highness." Sangfroid said, and went inside the tent.

"I was... sent in a mission..." Yulio winced as he laid his badly injured leg. "It was a discreet mission from the King of Faldenhorf himself."

"The King sent you for what?" Vladstin zoomed by his side. Yulio jolted, and he relished his friend's jumpiness towards him.

"He received a tip that there was a letter sent to the King of Ilvedia, who was his guest, but it was discarded, and now the King of Ilvedia wants to extend his stay in Faldenhorf." Yulio explained, as Sangfroid now join them with the materials. "The tipper said the contents of the letter mentioned the word vampire, and that the sender... was his own son."

"I see. As I thought, he has read our letter and chose to burn it to ashes." Leron scowled, and bent down to tend on Yulio's wounds.

"....And the bastard's been staying for far too long. Fattening himself like cattle. So of course, I wanted to know his deal too, and went out to Ilvedia as soon as I received the order." Yulio then yelped. "Ouch, bunny-man! Not too hard!"

Sangfroid's eyes narrowed at this. "Bunny-man?"

"Ooops, that slipped out. Sorry.... ugh..." Yulio gave an awkward smile. "Vlad used to refer to him as his black bunny when we were younger."

Even Leron already know that, and yet he still blushed. But there's serious matters at hand, so he continued to steer the conversation in that direction. "How long have you been traveling? Why are you alone?"

"Not long, maybe a week or something. But.... I'm not alone. At least, I wasn't before." Yulio's face darkened. "We were attacked. I was separated from my men."

"What attacked you?" Sangfroid asked, more intimidating than ever now that his scratched eyes were now visible thanks to his braid.

"I-I don't know either!" Yulio stammered from his intense gaze. "Some kind of big wolf.... and....."

The more he spoke, the more intense Sangfroid's eyes became, and he finally broke.

"P-Please don't eat me! Vladstin, Leron, Mr. Archer....." He put both hands together and pleaded with them. "I don't taste good, I promise! And I still have a child to take care of back at home...."

"We're not going to eat you." Leron finished tying the bandage. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, Vladstin here has grown fangs, and you have death all around you---" He gestured to the whole cave. "What else can a poor man think!?"

"I think a re-introduction is in order." Vladstin suggested. "We are not the same people as you knew before, Yulio, and of course, you haven't been acquainted with Sangfroid yet. I'll go first--"

He dramatically offered his hand. "I am Vladstin, the only existing Vampire Lord of this century, had achieved immortality itself, and is now hoping to ask a Hermit to undo it so I may achieve eternal rest."

Yulio tried to process that information, but he can't and dumbly went. "Wha...?"

"You go next, Leron." Vladstin said.

Leron sheepishly introduced himself to his friend again. "Well..... Here it goes. I'm Leron, the Prince of Ilvedia sent to spy on your kingdom so my father will find a way to strike. The one who betrayed you all and caused thousands to be killed. I've been bitten by Vladstin, so now I'm also looking for the Hermit for an antidote."

He looked at Vladstin, and lightly nudged him. "Your turn, Sangfroid."

Sangfroid did not open his mouth, still intimidating as ever with his crossed arms. Then, he uncrossed it and sighed. "Sangfroid. I was a friend of Prince Leron too when we were young, and I grew up to be a Noble Hunstman to protect him. That's all you need to know."

"He's also an orphan like you." Leron added. "The Bishop took care of him and his fellow vampire huntsmen."

"And the new king of New Ilvedia, don't forget! The true heir, with an Amulet that brings to life anything he wishes!" Vladstin unhelpfully added, making Yulio more confused.

The soldier really was so confused even now that they introduced themselves. Because from what they said, there's no sense in them being altogether after all!

What's a vampire huntsman doing with the vampire he's meant to kill? And what's a vampire doing with his killer he bears a grudge to? Instead of enmity and tension, you can even sense some unity in them.

No matter what angle you look at it, this trio is really strange!

Leron saw his eye twitching from information overdrive and sighed. "Don't focus too hard on us. When you get enough rest and feel better tomorrow, we'll explain everything to you. Right now, the focus should be on you." 

He turned to get a bowl of soup. "Would you like something to eat? We can cook some for you."

"No need...' His stomach betrayed him with a thunderous grumble. "Alright, I suppose I'm a little hungry from all the running...."

"I'll go check if the creature is outside. " Sangfroid took his bow and arrow as he stood. "You can eat the deer meat we have kept stored, but if you want something else, you should ask me now."

"Uh..... deer meat would be fine. Are you really going to check by yourself? If the creature spotted you, you might get killed!" Yulio asked worriedly. 

"He have me." Vladstin grinned. "And I have an army to block it for us no matter how powerful the enemy may be."

Yulio felt dumb to forget it just because of food. Of course! He's with an actual vampire, a creature he had only heard when he moved to Faldenhorf after Crescentia's fall. 

"Are they all... Really dead? Why are they still standing, yet not talking, like you do?" Yulio suddenly have an unreadable expression on his face, like he was ruminating on something. 

"Vladstin is different from them all. He is the only one sentient, and he can give commands to them. But that's all, they don't..... act human." Leron explained.

Yulio looked disheartened. "Then..... Is Raishti with them?"

Vladstin and Leron exchanged a look. Right, he and Raishti....

Leron also did not notice any of the corpse puppets resembling Raishti, and Vladstin confirmed it by shaking his head.

"I thought so." The soldier's face was crestfallen. "Don't mind it then, go on your way and be careful, boys."

Vladstin and Sangfroid nodded, going out on their way. 

"I saw it, you know. The fire. I was returning back home that day." Yulio turned to Leron. "Crescentia never conquer other kingdoms. We're satisfied with what we have. The only use of soldiers is to ensure safety and report if the report of the duke and lords on the difficult to reach areas were true, and if the common folk had any dire need of assistance from natural disasters."

"I.... I know that." Leron nodded, feeling guilt creeping on his veins, making his on breathing prickly.

"I was bored, actually. I didn't expect the job of a military head would be that easy. Your attack is actually what I've been imagining when I was a child to be my legacy, my one opportunity for heroism." Yulio chuckled. "But I was wrong. Battle..... It brings so much destruction that you can only fathom when it's right before your eyes."

"I was too late. There's no one to save when I arrived." He put his hand on his head. "I was overcome with rage. He was at the Capital at that time.... The sound of the cannons sounds like his screams..... I got paranoid, imagining all sorts of things...."

"I'm sorry." Leron said sincerely, patting his back. "I'm sorry."

"I ordered some of my men to go sent out a signal to the rest of the kingdom to evacuate, to prepare for the pillaging of these foreigners. And with the remaining, I trudged forward with our horses." Yulio's eyes were starting to be ridden with red veins. "It was exhilarating, the feeling of slashing your sword back and forth to the people who hurt your family, your kin. I saw the Royal Orphanage burning, and my anger seethed until I managed to kill a few hundred on a horse and a few hundred on foot when they shot down my stallion."

Leron listened to his friend's story in shock, his mouth agape.

Yulio turned to him and his lips quirked up, looking even more unhinged. "I can't believe it either! There's so much blood..... I think I was covered head to toe with it. I look at the Royal Palace and I saw you on the balcony. Blood splattered on your clothes, talking with one of those Ilvedian bastard soldiers. But you know what else I saw?"

He gripped Leron by the shoulder. Leron stammered. "W-What?"

"Him. Raishti, my brother, the half of my soul." Yulio's red eyes glowed bright, like the magma of a volcano, while his hair looked like the wild eruption of flames. "His face was on the flames, and he beckoned me, told me not to do it. To spare your life, have kindness and pity in my heart. Perhaps there's an explanation..... Perhaps you have no choice....."

Leron broke down in tears. "He was wrong. I had a choice and I just choose wrong, because I was a coward... I was a fool....."

Yulio didn't say anything for a while. Then, unexpectedly....

He hugged him.

"I know, brother. Leron, you're like a brother to me. I know you would never do such a thing of your own volition." Yulio rubbed his head delicately. 

He continued his story as they embraced. "After that, everything went black, like ashes. I found myself in King Faldenhorf's den... among the other comrades of mine that he can find.... He gave us a new home, as long as we pledge allegiance to him to follow his every command like loyal dogs."

"He said, he will give us everything we wanted in return for our service. Money, prestige, power....."

He hugged Leron tighter and tighter and tighter.....

And tighter....

And tighter....

So tight that he couldn't breathe!!!

"Yulio..... Wait..... I... Let go....." Leron caught his breath as he could feel his ribs being crushed under the pressure of being squeezed tight on between Yulio's muscular arms and hard body.... that seems to grow bigger and bigger. 

"Most important of all, he gave me you. Your location.. He allowed me to take this mission, and for that, I am thankful."

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