CH 137

The battle with the Fransil family, or to be exact, with Lorraine Fransil’s forces, resulted in a big profit for Eugene. First, about half of the mercenaries she hired had been absorbed into Eugene's army, and the majority of her cavalrymen were killed or left gravely injured. In addition, as a direct descendant of a prestigious family, Lorraine brought many workers and slaves with her in this campaign. Their ownership was transferred over to Eugene after the battle.

Although an increase in the number of people came with some of its own problems, mainly regarding supplies, there was no need to worry about paying them wages. In addition, Eugene could simply sell them off as slaves at any time. Finally, Lorraine and her knights had been riding on horses and were quite wealthy as well. All of it was Eugene’s for the taking, and among the spoils, there were expensive silver weapons made to target vampires. Moreover, their horses were also very distinguished and possessed their own pedigree, although they weren’t quite as good as Silion.

In conclusion, Eugene obtained a lot after this battle.

‘There’s a lot to be gained from a single victory compared to five or even six rounds of evil land subjugations. No wonder knights are so crazy about wars.’

Eugene nodded with understanding and satisfaction.

Odd approached while rubbing his hands and spoke, “And so! Assuming you will be maintaining the same number of troops that you have now, you will be fine to operate them for a couple of months without any problems, sir.”

Odd smiled to reveal his yellow teeth. In this regard, he was an outstanding merchant.

Eugene responded, “And that’s excluding the amount we can receive as ransom?”

“Yes. Even without it, there is still a huge amount of money and goods. Silver weapons and warhorses are very expensive after all. Um, with all due respect, could I offer a suggestion?” Odd asked.

“Yes.” Eugene nodded.

“Don’t sell the horses; take them with you when you negotiate a ransom with the Fransil family. Nobles, especially knights, tend to be quite fond and value their personal horses. Even more so if they have had their horses for a long time. I’m sure you could get more money compared to selling them off.” Odd suggested.

“That’s a very good idea. Excellent. Feel free to offer similar suggestions at any time,” Eugene said.

“Hehe. Thank you,” Odd said while bowing. Although Eugene was like a demon on the battlefield, he was unexpectedly bold and highly flexible regarding such matters. Odd could only hope that all of his noble employers in the future would be similar to Eugene.

“You may leave. Have the prisoners of the Fransil family come here.” Eugene ordered.

“Yes, sir.” Odd left after bowing. Soon, a knight from the Fransil family and Lorraine entered with haggard faces. The knight’s name was Bonmer. He was the one whose shoulders had been pierced by Galfredik’s javelin.

“Your shoulder. Is it better?” Eugene asked.

“Feeling better, thanks to the mana stone,” Bonmer replied in a cold voice.

“Feeling better?” Eugene asked with a cold gaze.

“Y-yes, much better. Thank you.” The knight quickly lowered his gaze and changed his tone.

Lanslo spoke after watching the interaction from the side, “Sir Eugene is a respected knight in the two port cities of Maren and Moffern, as well as a lord with his own territory in the Kingdom of Caylor. He is also highly favored by the Marquis of Archivald and the Count of Winslon. Please show respect for his honor.”

“…!” The two became wide-eyed. They had never heard of Maren, Moffern, the marquis, or the count, but they immediately recognized that the vampire in front of them possessed tremendous status. At the same time, they also realized that they had arrogantly demanded such a figure to come under their service and that they had dared to insult him.

‘Maybe it’s a lie…’

Lorraine hoped although everyone knew that there was no reason for a knight from the Drak family to tell such a lie. She barely muttered, “I-I’ve heard that the kingdoms of the continent are hostile toward members of the Tribe of the Darkness.”

Lanslo turned his stern gaze toward her and responded, “It depends on the person. All the figures that Sir Eugene has established relationships with are free from the influence of the Central Church. They aren’t very friendly with the cardinal who had initiated the war against Brantia. In other words, they trust Sir Eugene to be someone worth sharing a deep friendship with.”

“Wow. Even I thought he was telling the truth for a second. Such a skilled liar,” Mirian whispered while stealing a glance at Eugene. However, Lanslo’s explanation was technically true. Although it was a little exaggerated, there was no falsehood at all.

“Sir Eugene was greatly disappointed and angered by the disgraceful behavior of the Fransil family. Sir Eugene.” Lanslo stepped back.

Eugene spoke while gazing at the two people, “I am not hostile to the Fransil family. However, you provoked me and declared war against me. I will hold Lord Fransil accountable.”

“…!” Bonmer’s expression turned pale, and Lorraine’s eyes started quivering.

‘Hmm?’

Eugene became suspicious of the two people’s reactions. However, he was a vampire, and he was crafty and sneaky above anyone else. He wasn’t about to reveal his guesses to his opponents. Eugene chose his next action as his instincts indicated. 

“…”

He simply stood still and quietly stared at Lorraine, who was already extremely flustered. In most cases, people who had already caused a major accident or were on a knife’s edge would…

“I-I would like to implore you not to inform His Excellency about my mistake. Please, Sir Eugene,” Lorraine said.

‘As expected...’

“And why should I? So, I’m the one who attacked you first then?” Eugene responded.

“Well…” Lorraine started.

Bonmer interrupted her, “Phew. Let’s just tell him the truth, Lady Lorraine.”

“Sir Bonmer!” Lorraine squealed, but Bonmer ignored her and sighed deeply before continuing. “Lady Lorraine is currently on her quest to knighthood.”

“Quest?” Eugene already knew what it was, but he asked anyway.

Bonmer continued bitterly. “Yes. The direct descendants of the Fransil family, regardless of their gender, must prove their worth as knights after serving as aides. Lady Lorraine…”

Lorraine began her quest about a month ago along with the knights and soldiers from her family. A traditional, true quest to knighthood would have her be accompanied by only one or two of her aides, but there was no way her father, a self-proclaimed king of Brantia, would allow her to suffer such an arduous journey. Moreover, all of her older brothers and sisters had been accompanied by dozens to hundreds of troops for their own quests. In a sense, she had been very brave to only take two territorial knights and thirty cavalrymen with her.

The Fransil family’s direct descendants would accomplish their quests to knighthood by eradicating roamers and bandits, as well as subjugating evil lands in places where their family had influence. This way, they would be able to build up their reputation as a knight.

However, Lorraine had been getting desperate. She had accomplished very little compared to her siblings, and she paled in comparison to her siblings as a knight. If she didn't have real results, she would be married off to her fiancé’s family in two years.

Then, she would live the rest of her life as a prisoner. Even if she were to get married, she wanted to live within the Fransil family’s territory with her own land. As such, getting married off somewhere was absolutely unacceptable for Lorraine.

That was why Lorraine had started to get greedy. She decided to venture out beyond the Fransil family’s territory to a city or a large village and make her name known by accomplishing great things there.

“…And so we arrived in Brighton five days ago. We had been planning to take up a request to eradicate a large group of roamers or notorious bandits.” Bonmer concluded.

“And did you happen to hear about Sir Eugene in Brighton?” Lanslo asked.

“…Yes.” Bonmer nodded after a moment of hesitation.

Eugene’s eyes turned toward Lorraine. “There, you hired knights and mercenaries. To attack me?” Eugene asked while recalling the three knights who had been killed after challenging him.

Lorraine jumped with surprise and hurriedly made an excuse. “I-I didn’t mean to target you from the beginning, sir! The City of Brighton also made a request, but I thought it would be too difficult… And it’s also true that Lord Riwad has a connection to our family, although it was three generations ago…”

“Hmmm.” Eugene narrowed his eyes before continuing softly. “In the end. You thought I would be easier than the city’s request?”

“…” Lorraine closed her mouth with a grim expression.

Bonmer stepped out in her stead. “Sir, you may think of this as an excuse, but we were against Lady Lorraine’s judgment. We weren’t stupid enough to think that a battle against a knight capable of taking down Lord Riwad, who was called a swordmaster, would be easy.”

“Hmm. Is that why you begged me to not use my abilities?” Eugene asked. His expression was a bit extreme due to his ineptitude in Brantian, but he wasn’t technically wrong.

Bonmer lowered his head. “Yes. I assumed that the odds would be fifty-fifty if a member of the Dark Clan wasn’t using their abilities. Now that I think about it, it had been a foolish decision.”

Bonmer seemed intelligent, as would one would expect from a territorial knight.

“That woman. Why didn’t you stop her?” Eugene asked. 

Lorraine trembled at his words, and Bonmer responded after a long sigh. “From the moment you embark on your quest to knighthood, you are responsible for making all decisions. We can give advice, but we cannot argue against Lady Lorraine's decision.”

Eugene responded, “In other words, she had been inflexible and stubborn.”

“…”

Eugene’s conclusion was simple and crude, but it was completely true. The inflexible woman and her knight had nothing to say.

“Kieeee! What a silly, stupid girl. The ugly ones are always so shtoooopid. Sir, I think it would be best to hand her over to her family for a box of gold and treasures!” Mirian whispered a suggestion befitting her status as the spirit of desire.

Eugene contemplated without responding. Eugene’s ability to infer and reason had vastly improved. He noticed something in Lorraine and Bonmer’s story.

Eugene spoke, “I think the City of Brighton used you.”

“What?”

“W-what did you say?”

The two people were startled by the unexpected words. Even Lanslo looked at Eugene with considerable surprise. Eugene resolved the three people’s curiosity. “Brighton. They must have been planning to attack me. But you showed up—a stubborn, inflexible woman hell-bent on accomplishments with a father who proclaims himself to be king. The City of Brighton. What would they think?”

“Hmm…!”

“Hooh! I see.”

Lorraine didn’t seem to understand, but the two knights exclaimed with understanding.

“The flag of Brighton. That’s proof. If you win, Brighton can take a share of the pie. If you lose, they can turtle themselves against a siege. And this is just my idea, but Brighton must have something in their hands that can stop me. At least, they are certain that something is capable of stopping me,” Eugene explained.

“Now that you explained it, I think your judgment is correct. Those vile, disgusting creatures!”

“I-I won’t forgive them!” Bonmer shouted in fury, and Lorraine belatedly jumped to her feet.

Eugene responded coldly, “Prisoners should act like prisoners.”

“Ah.”

“I-I apologize.”

The two hurriedly took their seats.

“Hmm. Something to stop Sir Eugene? What could it be?”

“I don’t know.” Eugene shrugged. However, he was curious rather than anxious or afraid. The City of Brighton didn’t know that he was an Origin. They only considered him to be a high-ranking vampire noble. In all likelihood, they possessed some power or a weapon that would be effective against a lord or a banneret, or perhaps a high lord at best.

“We can head over there and ask them directly. We have the justification now,” Eugene said.

“Well, that’s true,” Lanslo said with a smirk. Then, he turned his head as if he had suddenly remembered something. “By the way, Lady Lorraine, Sir Bonmer.”

“…?”

“What was the initial request from the City of Brighton? If you considered it more difficult than facing Sir Eugene, it must have been something quite challenging,” Lanslo asked.

“Oh, about that.” Bonmer lowered his posture. Then, he continued in a whisper. “A death knight. Apparently, it was cursed by a vampire banneret who resided in Brighton. Even his soul was corrupted. It would have been impossible for us to defeat it. And above all else…” Bonmer trailed off before turning his gaze.

Lorraine hesitated before stuttering a whimper, “G-ghosts are scary.”

She found ghosts scary, but not high-ranking vampires. Eugene stared at her with pathetic eyes. Suddenly, the spirit flew forward and tightly embraced Eugene.

“S-sir. E-even I’m scared of ghosts. Kieeee… It’s scarier than the water dragon’s asshole. Protect me, sir.” the spirit muttered before rubbing her face against Eugene.

“…”

Eugene didn’t know what a death knight was, but he was certain that for them, this experience had been much more terrible than encountering a ghost. 

“Hahaha!” In the end, Lanslo burst into laughter. 

Eugene was embarrassed, and the other two were puzzled.