Chapter 14 – Basilica of the Holy Blood State

A dark secret room.

A person wearing an eye patch over one eye spoke to the person facing him.

“As you know, our party’s will is extremely firm. Rejecting the vampires who reign as the dominant species, we desire a world of pure humans only.”

The one facing him,

covered by the shadows of the secret room, was difficult to even distinguish in appearance.

“I also watched the Party Representative’s speech with great impression. Probably, there is no one who would not be shaken upon hearing that speech.”

“Everyone who hears it is the same. They fall into that speech like magic. I also heard the Party Representative’s speech and joined the party. As if possessed by something.”

“The path to joining is the same for everyone. It is a relief that I am not the only special one.”

“By the way… I do not know how a believer with deep faith came to request help from our Revolutionary Party.”

“I also hate vampires. I won’t speak of the circumstances behind it. Instead, I will show you the proof.”

To ease his vigilance,

the mysterious believer led the one wearing the eye patch to the passage outside the secret room.

Another secret room arrived before long.

Inside, there was someone bound to a chair beneath a spotlight.

When the hood was removed, a young-looking vampire girl was revealed.

The girl was blindfolded, and a gag was stuffed in her mouth.

Snap!

When the believer snapped two fingers, the girl even temporarily lost her hearing.

“This child is a very special vampire. She is a Saintess candidate whom the vampire faction within the Holy Order has put their heart and soul into raising for ten years.”

“A Saintess candidate…”

“She is not a simple candidate. She is a child who will be elected with a very high probability in the upcoming Saintess competition. In other words, the child we are looking at is the next Saintess.”

“Ah…”

“Can you feel my sincerity with this much?”

The one wearing the eye patch revealed his appearance beneath the spotlight.

He was a knight wearing magic armor.

The knight, who finished thinking briefly, spoke.

“If that is true, there is no longer room for doubt. The next Saintess…”

“The Holy Blood is slowly being defiled. Neither the Empire nor the Holy Order should be ravaged by vampires anymore.”

As if agreeing,

the nodding knight handed him the bag he was holding.

“The Party Representative told me to deliver this if there were no major suspicions. You must have met the Party Representative already?”

“Yes, I met him. He was a charismatic and enthusiastic person. And I saw his sincerity regarding vampires.”

“It is the Arcane Flower. It is an ultra-high purity mana bomb developed by our party for the revolution. Its power is extremely strong, but the range is more limited than you think.”

The knight also informed him of other precautions.

“There is a detonator with a timer, and once activated, no one can stop it. It is that dangerous and powerful of an item. So you must exercise caution in its use.”

That dangerous item,

the knight asked the believer who carefully accepted it.

“By the way, where are you going to use it? Because I think we should at least inform our party members of the location.”

“It would be best to avoid the vicinity of the Basilica and the Papal Court for the time being.”

“The Papal Court? Weren’t you a faithful believer? Why the place that believers consider the most holy…”

He revealed his twisted belief and resolve.

“A vampire Saintess… If the Holy Blood is to be defiled like this, it would rather be better to blow up the Papal Court. This is my solemn warning to the Holy Order. So that vampires will never climb up again. The Holy Order must also become pure and clean like the future Empire.”

* * *

Arcadia, the imperial capital.

And a small country located inside it.

Basilica of the Holy Blood State.

The heart of the Holy Order where the Holy Order’s major facilities, including the Papal Court and the Heresy Inquisition Bureau, were situated.

A single magitech bike noisily burning mana stone fuel entered that place.

“What is the matter?”

The one blocking Rashid was an armed cleric who controlled entry to the Basilica.

He immediately recognized the identity of the person entering, and Rashid handed him a document.

“I came because I have business with the knighthood. The permit is here.”

“The knighthood?”

The cleric in charge of security had a question.

“Was there any business for a cleric to visit the knighthood? It is a task I am hearing of for the first time.”

“Their Commander called for me.”

The cleric scanned his face and soon realized something.

“Did you happen to fight a duel with the knighthood?”

“Yes.”

The cleric, who rarely smiled, let out a chuckle.

Rashid did not know it, but he was already a celebrity among the clerics.

“Please go in. For the location of the knighthood, go straight and turn right immediately. There aren’t many buildings, so you will find it quickly.”

The cleric did not leave out these words either.

“I heard you were recommended as an Honorary Cleric. I will root for you.”

Entering the Holy Blood State in that manner, Rashid headed straight to where the knighthood headquarters was located.

Since it was a small state situated inside the capital, the location was not very far away.

Arriving at the knighthood headquarters, Rashid informed the guard guarding the headquarters of his visit, and before long came to face a vampire knight.

Grrrrrr~

Making Rashid, who had appeared riding a magitech bike, lose face,

the knight who came upon hearing the news descended from the sky, leading his beloved steed.

It was a wyvern, which knights were said to ride as their main mounts.

Grrrrrr~

After lightly calming the wyvern that continuously blew air from its nostrils,

the vampire knight who had arrived in an instant stepped up in front of Rashid.

Long silver hair and pure white skin.

Steeped in nobility and loftiness, he was a handsome fellow who would make even another man admire him.

“Cleric. We were acquaintances, right? I was waiting. You must have already heard the story from the Commander?”

Acquaintances?

Rashid could recall one of the two vampire knights who had provoked him at the cafe.

Somehow, his handsome face was especially disagreeable, and there was a reason for that.

A dislike based on memory.

“It is you whom I saw at the cafe back then. Then I will speak comfortably. Since I am an invited guest, I have no intention of showing great respect just because you are a knight. If you do not like this, I will just go back.”

Although it was the same at the cafe,

his provocative appearance was the same here as well.

Toward Rashid’s bold appearance, the knight who had arrived smiled bitterly.

But because of the words the Commander had spoken, the knight also had no choice but to yield a step.

“I heard the Commander recommended you as an Honorary Cleric himself? Fine. Then I won’t expect honorifics. Because if it is an Honorary Cleric, we naturally have to show respect.”

“I am not one yet, though?”

“If the Commander recommended you, that’s enough.”

The knight continued speaking.

“And I formally apologize for the matter back then. It wasn’t something I wanted to do either. However, to protect the honor of the knighthood, it couldn’t be helped. Our footing is narrow as it is, and there would be nothing more terrible than us being framed as Her Highness the Saintess’s assassin.”

What was the use of continuing to chatter about past events?

“I forgot about the past. Let’s talk about the work instead. From what I know, I heard there aren’t many who know about that matter.”

“I am one of those who know. Helping you under the Commander’s special instructions.”

Cutting off his words, conscious of the guards guarding the entrance, he led Rashid.

“Let’s move locations first. Leave the bike over there and follow me.”

In that manner, Rashid followed him and went to sit at a cafe located outside the headquarters.

“My introduction was late. My name is Akard Valentine. I hold the position of vice commander in Rosenkreuz.”

“Rashid Preston. As you know, a cleric.”

Akard found this situation of sitting facing him a little funny.

To think things would turn out like this.

Well, who would have known?

“You heard the story from the Commander, right? The Saintess candidate we were pushing disappeared. We must find that child before the competition at all costs.”

“How did she disappear?”

“It’s kidnapping.”

Akard’s complexion changed quite seriously.

“It’s a professional expert. They killed the two guarding knights and took her. Whether they took her or took her and killed her, we cannot know anything for now.”

“If they intended to kill her, they would have probably killed her on the spot. She is probably alive.”

“You speak as if you are certain of something.”

“It’s just intuition.”

“Intuition…”

Why did it not look like intuition?

Akard recalled his achievements that he had looked at before coming to this place.

“Your achievements were exceptionally good. I looked them up out of curiosity. Since you seem quite capable in this area, can you lend some of that wisdom?”

“It is humble skill. I just happen to know a lot.”

Professional knowledge on investigation?

Rather than that, it would be correct to say he was guessing to some extent what would happen.

‘This case is the same. Though not complete, I grasp it to some extent. Although I do not know who the culprit is, they must be targeting the Papal Court building. Because almost most of it was blown away.’

The so-called Arcane Flower.

It was a name given because the spectacle created when it exploded closely resembled a blue flower crafted of mana.

‘The culprit is random, but Lazarus is in the background.’

In this quest, he wouldn’t face Lazarus directly.

To be precise, it would be a crime committed by someone cooperating with a Lazarus villain.

“First, I’d like to see the scene. Since the culprit might have left evidence.”

“It will be very chaotic there, but fine. More importantly, have you ridden a wyvern?”

A wyvern?

Although he had ridden one, Rashid preferred comfort.

“If it is not that far, a bike or a vehicle seems better.”

There was nothing as troublesome as riding a wyvern with which he hadn’t bonded.

A short while later,

two magitech bikes departed the Holy Blood State and headed to the vampire residential area located inside the capital.

Since vampires were mostly nobles, they lived in nice mansions built on quite spacious plots even inside the capital, and the place they arrived at was also one of those.

“It’s genuinely been a long time since I rode a bike. I rode it briefly during apprenticeship. Follow me.”

Before long, the two arrived inside the room where the Saintess candidate had gone missing.

Broken windows and scattered furniture.

And bloodstains splattered here and there were clear.

“We preserved the crime scene as much as possible. Since there might be evidence the culprit left behind.”

Rashid, without looking around here and there,

immediately began to focus on the text written in blood on the wall.

‘The Holy Blood is defiled…’

It was writing the culprit had scribbled in blood.

‘This pattern is always the same. The culprit is the anti-vampire faction.’

“If nothing else. Looking at that writing, I think I know for sure what kind of guy the culprit is.”

Akard drew close to his side, wearing a rather displeased expression.

“The guys who would say such words are probably only those fellows.”

“Hatred toward vampires is nothing new. Just two hundred years ago, vampires and the Holy Order were arch-enemies. Although we forget about it now, those who are still trapped in that time would still hate vampires even now.”

“Cleric.”

Rashid turned his gaze to him.

“Do you also hate us?”

“In fact, I have no feelings at all. Does that matter?”

“Is that so?”

“Rather, it seems the culprit is indeed a believer. It would also be someone who extremely loathes vampires.”

Currently, the Holy Order was.

a majority anti-vampire faction and a minority vampire faction were confronting each other.

The reason the minority vampire faction did not lose power here was because most of them were imperial nobles.

Furthermore, even the imperial royal family.

“They probably kidnapped her due to the upcoming Saintess competition. If the competition is held, nine times out of ten the candidate we are pushing will win.”

It was clearly an act committed to hinder the vampires’ long-cherished wish.

Akard trailed off worriedly.

“She might have been killed already…”

“It won’t be so.”

Akard harbored doubt.

“Why? If it is to prevent that child from becoming a Saintess, isn’t that the cleanest way?”

“It would be. However, that probably isn’t the goal.”

The culprit was a highly intelligent person buried in twisted beliefs.

For such a person to simply kidnap and kill a Saintess candidate?

‘Although I do not know who it is yet, they are surely drawing a bigger picture.’

At that moment,

one of the maids guarding the mansion hurriedly came to find them.

To be precise, she came to find the Vice Commander, Akard, and delivered some news.

Whether the content was quite shocking, Akard’s expression sank low.

“That… one of the other candidates who was scheduled to participate in this Saintess competition.”

Akard continued the remaining words to him, who looked at him indifferently.

“They say she is dead. It seems she was massacred.”