#Episode 20
***
“Young Master!”
“I told you to call me an Investigator. If you keep failing to distinguish between public and private matters, I’ll send you back to the family!”
Bernardo couldn’t stand Matteus, who kept calling and following him, so he stopped walking.
Even though Bernardo shouted angrily, Matteus just snorted at Bernardo’s nagging.
“That’s exactly what it means to be unable to separate public and private matters. How could excommunication in Rampas be decided by worldly intimidation?”
“Anyway, you’re very good at talking.”
Bernardo clicked his tongue at Matteus’s cheeky attitude.
Bernardo Gydo, originally a high-ranking noble, became a Holy Knight due to his innate divine power.
Matteus, who was the child of a nursemaid, also became a squire under the pretext of assisting Bernardo and acted as his aide.
Because of this, Bernardo was quite lenient with Matteus, who was living a life of penance away from the secular world because of him.
Bernardo hurried his steps, glaring at Matteus. Matteus kept close to Bernardo’s side and asked.
“By the way, why did you leave in such a hurry earlier? What was that crest?”
“A dragon biting its own tail. It’s the symbol of the Van Drake.”
Matteus jumped in surprise.
“The Van Drake? You mean the Van Drake recently declared heretics by the Order?”
Bernardo nodded.
“Yes. The child who received treatment at the hospital is undoubtedly the last surviving member of the Van Drake.”
“Come to think of it, I heard we lost track of them in the nearby mountains… To find traces of the Van Drake that the Order has been chasing like this, surely the light of Lamphas has revealed the path of truth to you, Young Master.”
Matteus was in awe, but he soon realized the gravity of the situation.
“Wait a minute… So, did a vampire save the Van Drake?”
“Probably. I don’t know if they knew he was a Van Drake or not…”
When doing this kind of work, you tend to grasp the hidden intentions behind apparent phenomena.
A vampire saving a Van Drake…
The implication of that is…
“Well… Whether they took him unknowingly or intentionally, a vampire’s involvement usually means a short lifespan. If they took him knowingly… It might be that the vampire spared the Van Drake for revenge. The Van Drake have been the mortal enemies of vampires for a millennium.”
They would probably torture him to the point where death would be preferable. The mere thought of such horrors was enough to make one shudder. To put it bluntly, it would have been a stroke of luck for that Van Drake to fall into the hands of the Lamphas Order.
Matteus sighed.
“In the end, that young Van Drake’s fate will be death, no matter what. It’s pitiful.”
“……….”
Matteus’s conclusion was reasonable.
The Order would view it the same way if this fact were reported.
Since the immature Van Drake has fallen into the hands of a vampire, they would conclude that the Van Drake no longer needs to be of concern and is as good as dead.
And they would dismiss the need to search for the low-ranking vampires.
The Lamphas Order was half-hearted about exterminating the low-ranking vampires.
They believed low-ranking vampires could be dealt with at any time, so they preferred them to cause enough terror among the people to heighten the prestige of the main church.
Thus, they would only dispatch Holy Knights as investigators for cleanup without conducting proper searches.
Such an approach was utterly disillusioning for Bernardo.
His dissatisfaction with the main church didn’t stop there. Bernardo also recalled the deep-seated malice within the Lamphas Order.
The Lamphas Order was constantly embroiled in political strife between the faction prioritizing doctrine and the faction emphasizing miracles.
They were on the brink of declaring each other heretics and splitting into factions.
The most recent hot topic in the Lamphas Order was the treatment of the Van Drake family.
The Van Drake had long served as the sword against vampires, but as vampires began to disappear one by one, their raison d’être started to waver.
The Divine Faction defended the Van Drake, who had received a miracle from the Holy Dragon, while the Faith Faction antagonized them for not adhering to the doctrine.
The Faith Faction claimed that the Van Drake’s’ power came solely from the holy relics they possessed and that if the relics were in their hands, they could easily deal with the remaining vampires using the power of the Lamphas Church.
Eventually, they allied with the royal family and brought down the Duke of Van Drake.
This event exacerbated the conflict between the Divine Faction and the Faith Faction.
Bernardo, who became a Holy Knight due to his high divine power, belonged to the Divine Faction.
He found it absurd that while the Van Drake were busy fighting high-ranking vampires and risking their lives against vampire lords, the Faith Faction, who had been lying low, suddenly became so eager to prey on the Van Drake’s once the vampire lords hadn’t shown themselves for just a century.
However, Bernardo didn’t have the opportunity to voice his opinion on the matter. He was merely a sword of Lamphas.
He couldn’t actively oppose the orders from the church, as that wouldn’t be virtuous for a sword…
As Bernardo’s thoughts deepened, Matteus, unaware of Bernardo’s inner turmoil, asked nonchalantly.
“So, how should we report this to the church? Should we say we found traces of the Van Drake’s? Or that we discovered evidence of involvement with low-ranking vampires?”
“Wait.”
Bernardo interrupted Matteus. His expression was complicated.
If they reported this incident, the church would likely order them to withdraw and return.
That would leave the last Van Drake to meet a tragic end at the hands of the vampires.
It would be akin to Bernardo abandoning him to his death…
How would that make him any different from the other church members he found so disillusioning?
After a moment of silence, Bernardo steeled himself and spoke.
“…Let’s leave out the part about the Van Drake’s and report that we’re not certain if the vampire is a low-ranking one.”
“Are you suggesting we deceive the church?”
Matteus was startled. Bernardo awkwardly smiled and added.
“It’s not deception, just being vague. I mean… we haven’t confirmed that the vampire is a low-ranking one.”
“Wow, Young Master… Really, wow…”
Matteus was momentarily speechless. Having been with Bernardo all his life, he knew exactly what Bernardo intended. Realizing Bernardo’s plan, Matteus was bewildered and asked.
“Are you planning to rescue that young Van Drake’s from the vampire?”
Bernardo didn’t respond, only smiling slightly. Matteus could only open and close his mouth, but soon understood Bernardo’s resolve and sighed deeply, burying his face in his hands.
“Ha… This is crazy…”
Yet, despite his words, Matteus did not object, which made Bernardo laugh heartily.
“Haha, as expected of you, Matteus. You are my milk brother and brother in faith!”
“Don’t call me brother only at times like this… Earlier, you were talking about excommunicating me and sending me back to the family…”
Matteus grumbled, his shoulders slumped. Unlike the dejected Matteus, Bernardo, who had gained his agreement, was elated.
“Then, we need to find out more about the vampire who took the Van Drake.”
“Wait, take me with you!”
Bernardo, eager to gather information, pressed forward without hesitation.
The uncertainty that had swayed him earlier was gone, replaced with resolute determination in his steps.
Bernardo’s eyes, gazing ahead, shone with the light of Lamphas.
***
Hoo-hoo…
The sound of an owl echoed through the dark forest. When the moonlight was obscured by clouds, it seemed nothing would be visible.
Vasha occasionally checked the map that appeared on the letter as she walked confidently through the pitch-black forest.
“Hmm, it seems we need to go further west…”
“Hey.”
“Or maybe just keep going?”
“Hey!”
Annoyed by Vasha’s feigned ignorance, Todd shouted.
