CH 122

The interior of the manor house was even worse than how it appeared on the outside. The floor wasn’t rock nor wood, but rather simple dirt. There weren’t even any glass windows. Instead, there were wooden open-and-close windows.

“Something heavy. Is it there?” Eugene asked after looking around the interior, pointing at a specific place on the ground.

“Ah! His Excellency Crawlmarine has bestowed us a gift…”

“Nothing! It’s nothing!” Calburn hurriedly cut off the words of a tactless family member.

But it was too late...

“Gift? How curious. Lord Crawlmarine. He came so suddenly, gave a gift, then left?” Eugene turned toward the boy in his mid-teens and asked with a friendly smile.

Eugene possessed a beautiful appearance as a vampire aristocrat, and he was armed in fancy, expensive armor. The boy’s cheeks colored red, and he answered shyly. “Yes, sir. The count gave us a box full of silver coins, as well as armor and clothing made from monster by-products. Of course, it’s nothing close to your own armor, but it was very rare and luxurious…”

“Lloyd!” Calburn shouted his name, and Lloyd, jumped back in surprise and turned to his father.

“You…” Calburn attempted to continue, but Galfredik stepped forward between Calburn and his son.

“Hehe.” Galfredik chuckled with a mean glare in his eyes, and Calburn immediately shut his mouth. His instincts were warning him that the brutal knight wouldn’t hesitate to slap him if he continued talking.

Eugene placed his hand on Lloyd’s shoulder and spoke in a gentle voice. “Your father. He will have a good time with my knight. Anyway, Young Master Lloyd, is it? A wonderful name. Honor of a knight. I can clearly feel it. You will be a wonderful knight.”

“Ah…”

Lloyd’s expression became ecstatic after receiving the praise of a dreamy, honorable knight.

Eugene continued. “So, Young Master Lloyd. Lord Crawlmarine. Does he come often to give presents?”

Lloyd replied, “Not at all. It’s the first time he came since around this time last year. He didn’t come even when my father took over the land.”

“Hooh. But yesterday, he came so suddenly and even gave a gift?” Eugene asked once again.

“Yes,” Lloyd answered.

“Young Master Lloyd. Do you know why?” Eugene asked.

“Um… Well, I’m not too sure…” Lloyd said while scratching his head.

“I see. Thank you,” Eugene said. Eugene stroked the boy’s head once more before walking over to Calburn. He had already obtained all the information he needed.

“I think you might know the reason, sir. What do you think?” Eugene asked.

“...!”

Calburn’s expression had grown bleak along with his son’s conversation with Eugene. His face had undergone a dramatic change, and anyone could see that his face was now filled with great shock and fear.

‘A coward. He’s not even a quarter of the man that Luke is.’

Eugene laughed inwardly. From his experience, timid, cowardly humans were easy to overcome with power and strength. Moreover, it also meant that they were easy to manage and manipulate.

Clack!

“Heup!”

Eugene suddenly stretched his left arm, and Calburn stepped back with a gasp.

“Why are you so surprised?” Eugene asked.

“I-I…” Calburn stuttered, realizing that Eugene had simply raised his arm.

“The real surprise should start now,” Eugene said with a grin. He proceeded to slightly release his Fear. The energy immediately obeyed the Origin’s will and accumulated in his left arm.

Woooong! Clack! Clack!

“Heuk?!”

“W-what is that?”

Everyone not belonging to Eugene’s group became wide-eyed with surprise. Eugene’s gauntlet, which was quite commonly worn by knights on the continent, started to emit a strange, metallic sound before transforming into a large shield.

“A magic shield?”

“Such a marvelous treasure…!”

Everyone expressed awe and wonder after seeing the shield, which was inscribed with the crest of the red dragon. Eugene held out the shield toward Calburn and asked, “Sir. The shield’s crest. Do you know which family it belongs to?”

“I-I’m not sure. I don’t really…” Calburn started to respond.

“The Batla Duchy,” Eugene stated.

“...!”

Calburn froze on the spot. Although he was only a lord of a small territory in the countryside, it was impossible for him to not know the Batla family. Apart from the dynasties that claimed legitimacy to the throne, the Batla Duchy was the most prominent family in all of Brantia. The Batla family’s honor and reputation were tremendous, and there was even a saying that none could truly inherit the throne without the support of Batla.

“The shield of the Batla Duchy. Why was it in the lycanthrope king’s cave?” Eugene asked.

“H-How could I know… Hmm?!” Calburn started to feign ignorance without thinking, but then quickly stopped himself. The fear he felt almost suffocated him.

“That’s right. I killed it. Marine Forest. Lycanthrope king.”

Too much shock could cause a person to stiffen on the spot, and that was exactly how Calburn and his family reacted.

Click! Clack!

The shield of the Batla Duchy reverted into a gauntlet.

“And. There was this, too,” Eugene spoke while taking an object out of his pocket. Calburn remained motionless with a pale expression.

The object was a shredded, bloodstained piece of parchment, and at the end of the parchment was…

“The crest of the Bosch family, right?” Eugene asked in an icy voice.

“I-I…”

Calburn stuttered before falling to his knees.

“I’m sorry!”

***

“So, earlier this year, Sir Laplas Batla headed into Marine Forest and went missing?” Eugene asked.

After sending away the others, Eugene was left alone with Calburn. Bosch’s lord then proceeded to tell Eugene about the incident with Laplas Batla, a direct descendant of the Batla Duchy.

“Yes, yes. None of the knights who came to my castle returned. B-but I attempted to dissuade him! I told him that he must never enter Marine Forest and that there were demons inhabiting it!” Calburn desperately defended himself.

Eugene stared at him coldly while responding, “That’s what you say. What is written here, is that you gave permission for them to enter the forest, sir.”

“...!”

“If the Batla Duchy finds out, you will not be free from responsibility. And the news regarding Sir Laplas. They haven’t been notified yet, right?” Eugene continued.

“Heuk.” Calburn shook with fear as he dropped his head. He looked as if he had lost the world, but Eugene’s expression remained icy. This was just the beginning.

“That person,” Eugene said.

“...?” Calburn managed to raise his head with great effort, and he turned to where Eugene was pointing.

“Is that the late Lord Bosch?” Eugene asked. His finger was pointing at a hanging portrait of the late Lord Bosch and Lady Bosch.

“That’s right.” Calburn nodded. He felt a sinister, cold feeling creeping up his spine.

“You look very similar to him,” Eugene stated.

Why was he stating the obvious? It was natural for the father and the son to look similar in appearance.

“However. He looks nothing like Luke. Not even a little bit.” Eugene continued.

“...!”

“How intriguing,” Eugene muttered.

“W-what do you mean by that?” Calburn responded in a trembling voice. 

Eugene stared directly into his eyes before speaking clearly. “I saw the sculptures of the previous counts in Crawlmarine Castle. Lord Crawlmarine, he doesn’t look similar to the previous counts.”

Clack! Clack!

Calburn’s teeth started to clatter as well.

“Rather, Luke looked very similar to the previous count,” Eugene said.

On the day Eugene met Count Lucas at the castle, he became suspicious of Lucas’ strange gaze and behaviors. As such, he carefully examined all the other people in the castle, and Eugene realized something strange.

Lucas Crawlmarine and his two younger sisters looked nothing alike. Strangely enough, he could see similarities in the facial features of Luke and the two girls. It turned out that Lucas took after his mother, while the two girls looked like the former count. So, the next day, Eugene carefully examined the sculptures of the previous counts as he walked through the hallways to leave the castle.

Then he found it. The late Count Crawlmarine, who died last year, had a stubborn chin and serious eyes which were quite similar to Luke. Although Eugene had a hunch, such a simple resemblance couldn’t serve as concrete proof. As such, he departed the castle without taking action.

However, his suspicions were reinforced after he met Calburn Bosch and the rest of his family. No, rather, he became certain.

At the least, Luke didn’t inherit Lord Bosch’s blood.

As such, Eugene fished for it. Since Calburn Bosch was already incredibly frightened of him, he recognized that there was something to be gained.

And his predictions hit the mark…

“I-I… I… I really… Don’t know…” Calburn stuttered.

Paa.

“Such cliched words. I don’t want to hear it. Did you forget who I am, sir?” Eugene said while slightly expressing his Fear. His red eyes seemed to glow even darker than usual.

Then, Eugene’s pupils started contracting little by little, and soon, they turned into two thin vertical slits.

“I-I… I…” Calburn muttered.

“What are you so afraid of?” Eugene whispered in a deep, soft voice. His tone was completely different from usual, and it felt as if he was reciting a poem with a sense of rhythm and dynamics.

“Humans. Everyone makes mistakes and commits shameful acts. Everyone does. So, let it out.” Eugene continued.

“Ugh…” Saliva started to flow down the edge of Calburn’s lips. His gaze was blank as he stared into Eugene’s slithery eyes.

“Sir Calburn Bosch. Right now. What are you most afraid of? What is it?” Eugene asked in a soft voice.

“What I’m… afraid of…” Calburn repeated Eugene’s words.

“That’s right. What is it that you are ashamed of? What is it that you cannot tell others? Your crime. Your sin. Those who you killed. Whatever it is, whatever you fear most. The stories that shouldn’t be told. Why don’t you tell me?” Eugene’s quiet, enchanting voice slowly made its way inside Calburn’s mind. It was a mournful request, or rather, an order to the soul, an irresistible instruction that simply could not be denied.

“T-that’s… Oh my god!” Calburn’s dazed eyes stopped moving for a moment.

He was seeing something in Eugene’s eyes. The images of the two people he killed were reflected in Eugene’s eyes.

“Heuh, uaghhh…” Calburn groaned.

“What do you see?” Eugene asked.

“F-father, and… the count,” Calburn answered.

“Yes. And what did you do? What did you do to them?” Eugene asked.

“I had no other choice… Lucas… Lucas Crawlmarine ordered me to kill them… Your Excellency, F-Father… I-it wasn’t my fault. I d-didn’t do it. Lucas… Lucas told me to…” Calburn moaned regretfully.

“Who did you kill? Lucas Crawlmarine. What did he do?” Eugene pried even further.

“I-I killed Lord Crawlmarine… L-Lucas killed my father… We killed each other’s… fathers,” Calburn admitted.

The secret shared between the young count and Calburn was revealed. Both of them had taken over their fathers’ positions at a similar time, and the reason behind the seemingly coincidental arrangement was revealed.

Eugene had obtained the ‘berserker’ ability after consuming the red mana stone of the lycanthrope king. It was a fraudulent ability that temporarily boosted his physical abilities and senses manyfold, but it also had a fatal weakness of exhausting all of his energy once its duration was over.

However, the ‘berserker’ wasn’t the only ability Eugene gained. As the fragments of his hazy memories became clearer, another one of his vampiric powers had awakened. He had regained a unique ability of an Origin Vampire, the power to ‘charm.’

‘This is quite useful.’

There were a couple conditions that needed to be satisfied before the ability could be activated. First, he needed to be alone with the individual, and second, the opponent was required to have a strong interest or fear toward Eugene.

It was a powerful hypnotic ability capable of extracting the truth from an opponent, regardless of their race. Eugene had initially felt disappointed after gaining the ability since he could extract the truth from anyone by simply beating them up and threatening them, but it seemed to have its uses as well.

“What a bunch of immoral bastards,” Eugene muttered.

“Uagh?!” Eugene’s sudden shift to the language of the Caylor Kingdom jolted Calburn awake. His eyes were no longer dazed, although drool was still dripping down his face.

Mirian slowly stuck her head out of her leather pocket. “Kieh? Sir, are you done now?”

The spirit had stayed true to Eugene’s orders and remained in her pocket while the two men conversed. Eugene nodded in response. “That’s right. This bastard and Lucas Crawlmarine. They killed each other’s fathers.”

“Kieeeeeeeeeeeh?!” Mirian exclaimed.

That was how the two men had ascended to their respective seats at roughly the same time.

“Dirty, unfilial bastards,” Eugene muttered. Perhaps they had been unable to bring themselves to kill their own fathers and had opted to perform the dirty deed for each other. However, that didn’t free them from the responsibility of their sacrilegious acts.

“S-sir? W-what happened just now…? And what did you just say?” Calburn asked while hurriedly wiping the saliva off his face. He couldn’t understand the language of the Caylor Kingdom.

Eugene responded with a cold smile, “The fact, that you, sir. Killed Count Crawlmarine. And that Lucas Crawlmarine. Killed Sir Bosch?”

“What?!” Calburn shouted with a pale, stunned expression.

Eugene grabbed Calburn’s face and pulled him close before speaking in a voice lathed with killing intent. “You’re done for. Ill-bred bastard.”