Chapter 161: What? Trying to run away?
"Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!"
Falling out of the teleportation, the bloodborne girl felt like her head had hit an iron te, causing her to grimace in pain.
Until a weak voice came from beneath her.
"Miss, you''re... pressing on my wound."
The girl''s face stiffened as she realized she had fallen directly onto the knight. The rough contact she felt was from his dented armor. At that moment, blood was seeping through the cracks in his chest te.
"I''m sorry, Lahel! I didn''t mean to!"
She eximed, quickly wriggling her bound body like arge caterpir to the side.
Then she cautiously brought her face close to his, worriedly asking:
"Are you... are you in pain? You''re bleeding!" "Not mortally... The elf''s attack avoided the vital area."
The knight coughed weakly, his face pale. He struggled to get up, but the girl stopped him.
"Don''t move, I''ll untie you!"
Then she realized she was also bound.
"Dagger... there''s a dagger at my waist."
The knight said weakly.
The girl looked at the knight and quickly found the dagger. She wriggled into position and awkwardly used her hands, tied behind her back, to take the dagger from his waist. Slowly, she cut through the anti-magic chains binding her.
Once free, she wasted no time and immediately cut the chains on the knight.
"Quick, treat your wounds!"
She struggled to help the knight up and took a sk from her pocket. Opening it, a strong smell of blood wafted out. The sk didn''t contain water, but blood, which had long coagted. However, the girl seemed used to this.
Biting her fingertip again, she let a drop of her blood fall into the sk. Like a magical reaction, the coagted blood quickly liquefied.
The knight tried to take the sk, but she stopped him again.
"Don''t move, I''ll feed you."
"Lahel, you''re myst family. I don''t want anything to happen to you! That''s an order!"
Seeing her determined eyes, the knight reluctantly opened his mouth, and she fed him the blood. As he drank, his eyes glowed a strange crimson. With each gulp, his pale face regained color, and his wounds began to heal.
Seeing the knight recover, she breathed a sigh of relief and copsed to the ground.
"Phew... Being a bloodborne isn''t all bad. This healing method is far beyond human capabilities."
"Good thing I prepared the teleportation array, or we would have been prisoners of Castell today!"
She then asked, puzzled.
"Lahel, isn''t the Scarlet me de Sebastian supposed to have fallen in rank? Why is he still so strong? Even you, undefeated at night against another Silver Moon, aren''t his match?"
"And... what''s the deal with Castell''s heir? Why did that annoying book spirit betray me for her?"
"Strange! It''s really strange! Even the sadistic Count Sherdet didn''t get that level of respect, and he''s a devout follower of the Bloodborne Archduke!"
The knight Lahel thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"I don''t know..."
"As a bloodborne, my power at night far exceeds that during the day, but I clearly felt I was no match for the Scarlet me de Sebastian..."
"He’s not an ordinary Silver Moon; he originally fell from zing Sun rank. Before his fall, he was famous in the mercenary circles of Eastern Yteds and Coria Kingdom."
"It seems he has found a way to regain his power. Though not fully restored to zing Sun, he''s far beyond an ordinary Silver Moon."
"As for Castell''s heir, I''ve heard some mercenary rumors, some uncertain guesses..."
The girl was intrigued.
"Tell me!"
The knight hesitated, then said.
"There are rumors that a year ago, when Charlotte de Castell was attacked by the Blood Demon Cult, she awakened and received the favor of the God Harald..."
"Recently, there were also rumors that during hering-of-age ceremony, a miracle urred, with the Holy Light of Harald descending directly."
"She... might be a saint chosen by the Gods!"
"If that''s true, the Book of the Dead likely sensed Harald''s power."
"You know, for such an evil artifact, the power of the Holy Court is its greatest fear..."
Hearing this, the girl frowned.
"A saint of the Holy Court... can she be called a ''saint''?"
The knight shook his head.
"I don''t know... Unless she''s a reincarnated God? If that were the case, the Theocratic State would have dispatched the Temr Knights to escort her. But look at Castell''s convoy, only a hundred or so of their own armored knights came, clearly not heavily guarded."
Hearing this, the girl''s face remained troubled. She sighed.
"Fine, I''ll ask that damn book spirit directlyter."
After some thought, she muttered in frustration.
"Damn it! That squinty-eyed prince''s information was too inurate! Had I known Castell''s side was so strong, had I known there were so many secrets, I would have extorted him more! At least doubled themission, no, tripled! No, quadrupled!"
"Even with quadruple themission, such opponents are beyond us."
"But I could have sought reinforcements! Many Bloodbornes are very interested in this castle. Using it as a trade, I could find a Bloodborne Count. I bet a Bloodborne Count could handle them! An awakened extraordinary for just a year can''t be that powerful!"
Lahel: ...
"Miss, this castle is worth far more than anymission."
The knight pointed out.
"But it''s not our castle. We might stay here for now, but we''ll have to leave eventually. We can''t sell it to humans; that would endanger them."
"Trading a destined-to-be-lost castle for Castell''s head, a heftymission and a Bloodborne Count''s friendship seems worth it!"
She eximed excitedly.
Hearing her reasoning, the knight was speechless.
Remembering something, he asked.
"Miss, did you really put our task contract in the storage ring?"
"Of course not! I tricked them! The contract is here in the castle."
She shook her head, smiling proudly.
Surprised by her response, he stared at her, making her ufortable.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Nothing... I just didn''t expect you to lie."
The knight shook his head.
She fell silent.
After a moment, she spoke softly.
"After all... people grow. Since bing a Bloodborne, I''m no longer who I was."
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Sighing again, she added.
"However, our mission has failed..."
"As long as there''s a backup n, there''s always hope, Miss. We’ll have another chance."
His words brought a faint smile to her face.
She patted her cheeks and forced herself to cheer up.
“You’re right, we still have a chance.”
She pursed her lips, took out a pre-drawn scroll, and said through gritted teeth.
“Alright, time to summon that damned book spirit back. Don’t stop me, today I’m going to give it a proper lesson! It needs to know who its true contractor is!”
Contractors have a binding link with their sacred objects. No matter where the sacred object is, it can be summoned back through the contract. That’s why, even though the Book of the Dead was taken, the girl wasn’t worried.
However, when she injected magic power to activate the summoning scroll, the Book of the Dead didn’t respond. The scroll burned to ashes in the mes of magic power, confirming the contract was active, and she could feel the Book of the Dead receiving her summon… but nothing happened.
The girl’s eyes widened and she exploded.
“Noting back? It dares… it dares note back?!”
...
“Master, there is no mercenary contract in the storage ring. We’ve been deceived.”
Sebastian reported, holding the tattered package with a grim expression.
Hearing this, Charlotte slowly opened her eyes, withdrawing from her inner thoughts. She had suspected as much when the girl and the knight escaped, but knowing for certain they had been tricked still irked her.
She quickly adjusted her mood and chuckled.
“Never mind, let them go. They’lle back.”
She had just used Blood Summoning to search and found that the stars representing the girl and the knight had vanished from the nearby vicinity. Clearly, their teleportation destination was far away, blending them into the vast sea of stars, making it difficult for Charlotte’s current perception to track them unless they were nearby or unless she used divine power.
But she wasn’t nning to expend extra divine power to find them. She knew they would return.
The Book of the Dead was still with her, and it was clear the girl was its contractor. Unless a legendary force intervened, the sacred object contract couldn’t be unterally terminated. Though the contract prevented the Book of the Dead from outright betraying its contractor, and Charlotte likely couldn’t extract specific information about the girl, holding the book gave her leverage over the girl’s life.
The reason was simple. The Book of the Dead would draw power from its contractor to function. For the bloodborne girl, this meant using her blood and life force to maintain the book''s operations.
This book, which bullied the weak and feared the strong, wouldn’t dare trouble Charlotte. If she used the book, it would continue to drain the bloodborne girl’s strength. In other words, Charlotte didn’t n to sever the contract but instead use the Book of the Dead to continuously bleed the girl dry. With this lethal leverage, the girl would undoubtedly try to reim the book.
Thinking this, Charlotte’s gaze shifted to the Book of the Dead in her hand. It was shimmering faintly, emitting a soft glow. Feeling a mysterious rhythm, Charlotte smirked.
“Trying to run?”
The Book of the Dead trembled slightly, its glow extinguished, and it obediently settled down, acting as docile as the Gospel of Blood.
“That’s better.”
Charlotte nodded in satisfaction.
...
After confirming that the remnant teleportation circle couldn’t track the girl and knight, Charlotte and Sebastian returned to the camp.
With the undead tide retreating, the battle in the camp had ended, and the knights and mercenaries were tallying casualties.
Thanks to Nice’s high-level area protection spell, the caravan had few casualties. Apart from the knight Daren, who ventured alone into the woods and was ambushed, only four died, all during the initial surprise attack of the undead tide. Thirty others were injured, but the apanying priests were treating them.
“If it weren’t for Miss Reina’s support, I would’ve been killed by the undead.”
A mercenary undergoing treatment by Lottie remarked.
“Indeed, me too.” others echoed.
“Reina?”
Charlotte was slightly curious.
“Reina?”
Sebastian was puzzled, finding the name familiar.
“A young mercenarydy from the Kane Trading Company. She’s very young!”
A mercenary enthusiastically introduced her to Charlotte.
A mercenary...
Charlotte became interested.
“Where is she?”
“She’s… huh? Where did Miss Reina go?”
“Huh? Where is she? She was just here…”
The mercenaries were puzzled.
Seeing no sign of her, Charlotte didn’t press further. She knew not all mercenaries liked nobles. Many young mercenaries particrly disliked them. Reina’s disappearance seemed to indicate she was avoiding Charlotte, so she let it go.
“For those who died in battle, triplepensation.”
Back in her tent, Charlotte instructed Sebastian.
“And… quietly check the people in the caravan for anyone suspicious. Don’t reveal yourself.”
“Suspicious people?”
Sebas raised an eyebrow.
“For example… a hidden bloodborne.”
Charlotte said.
Sebas was taken aback but then nodded solemnly.
“I understand.”
“Additionally, spread the word that the attackers were mercenaries skilled in necromancy, hired by the third prince of the Crescent Kingdom.”
Sebas raised an eyebrow again and bowed.
“As youmand.”
With the orders given, Sebastian went to make arrangements. Charlotte leisurely took out a cup of extraordinary blood and began to sip.
She hadn’t forgotten there was still a hidden bloodborne in the caravan. However, since they hadn’t caused any trouble, they were likely just catching a ride with the Castell convoy.
Curiosity didn’tpel Charlotte to use divine power to root them out; this task was better suited for Sebastian, who had be more sensitive to the presence of Bloodbornes due to his connection with the Blood Magic.
As for the Third Prince, who allegedly orchestrated the attack, Charlotte was inclined to believe the bloodborne girl’s im. But for now, returning to her territory took priority, and she didn’t have time to confront the prince directly. The prince, being a member of the royal family, was well-protected, unlike the more vulnerable Count Tulip.
Without the mercenary contract to prove the prince’s conspiracy, rumors would suffice to handle many things.
As for concrete evidence, that woulde when the bloodborne girl returned for the Book of the Dead.
...
Meanwhile, in an inconspicuous tent within the Castell convoy.
An elderly woman, Anna, frowned at the girl before her.
“Reina, didn’t I tell you not to act recklessly on this journey?”
Reina trembled slightly and looked up with big, pleading eyes at Anna. Seeing those beautiful eyes, the elderly woman’s heart softened, and she sighed.
“Alright, alright. I had nned to observe a bit longer, but since you’ve taken action, we might be exposed.”
“In that case… tomorrow,e with me to meet her in person.”