Chapter 121
Chapter 121
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 121
Chapter Title: Silent War (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
When asked who was the busiest among the executives under the current Immortal King, everyone would point to one person first.
It was Banshee Queen Olivia.
The first mission Hans had assigned her—uncovering the Oath of Reverse Heaven—was an ongoing task, given how widely their forces were spread.
On top of that, absorbing the ones they'd already identified was another job that couldn't proceed without her.
And now, in the midst of all that, a new order had come down from Hans.
An assassination attempt on a merchant in Taraki by a vampire. She was to investigate the details and report back.
[Haa... This girl is going to die from overwork...]
Olivia grumbled to herself as she floated through the cave's darkness, surrounded by her ghosts.
It was a killer joke only the undead could pull off, but unfortunately, there was no one in that space to appreciate it.
[And that's why... my skin feels rougher these days... Even though I've been avoiding sunlight, the enemy of all skin...]
A translucent, slender finger brushed over her equally translucent, smooth cheek.
The chill reaction from her surroundings didn't deter her; she tried another round of humor, but... of course, no one responded.
[Sigh... I was the fool for expecting any sense from these idiots...]
She never dared speak so freely in front of the Immortal King, but after centuries of lonely solitude, muttering and puns had become second nature.
But what good were words when there was no one to understand them...
In the end, Olivia gave up and closed her eyes, diving into the analysis of the information her ghosts had gathered.
Ghosts stripped of strong emotions like desire and obsession had minimal presence, but their egos faded too, making them tricky to handle as desired.
Extracting and piecing together the needed intel from a disorganized mess of indiscriminately collected data was nearly impossible for ordinary folk.
But of course, she was anything but ordinary.
[This is strange... The failed assassination of merchant Hubert in Taraki... It's full of oddities...]
First off, she couldn't locate the victim himself, Hubert.
Tracing back from the victim was common sense for a thorough probe, so she'd planned to start with his whereabouts.
'...He's hidden behind some elaborate barrier, I suppose. Still, it's a blow to my pride that even I can't pinpoint his location.'
Since he wasn't her original target anyway, she shelved the search for Hubert and combed through the suspects instead.
Just two days later—while juggling other tasks—she'd scoured them all.
From rival merchant houses centered in Taraki, to nobles even slightly tied to Hubert's firm, to shadowy groups with vested interests.
After a sleepless marathon, she finally shook every last one clean.
[All squeaky clean, though... Most didn't even know he'd been targeted...]
Her final conclusion: no direct grudge tied to Hubert or his firm.
After days of grueling effort, all for naught...
[Euhuhuuk— This is enough to make ghosts wail...]
Whooooosh—!
As Olivia began to sob, the air trembled, and waves of death rippled outward.
A horrific power that could kill the unprepared just by hearing it.
[Kieeeek—!]
[Euuhuuu—]
The ghosts filling the cave writhed and shrieked under the aura, turning the area into instant pandemonium.
But Olivia, the cause of it all, ignored the chaos around her. Her face already calm again, she resumed sifting through the data.
If Hubert wasn't the direct issue, the cause lay outside.
Her next mark: digging into the vampire perpetrator.
But that one was no pushover either.
He'd hidden so thoroughly that the ghosts' belated sweeps couldn't track him down.
She couldn't fail a mission from the Immortal King, though.
So she unleashed her ghosts to investigate every vampire in the area, pulling in intel relentlessly.
Putting the Oath of Reverse Heaven probe on hold, she obsessed through days and nights of exhaustive checks—
[Ufufut... Looks like these little ones are our culprits...?]
Finally, she pinpointed vampires converging on Rapella City in the Thalia Kingdom.
A group entirely separate from the ruling Brocoslak Clan, brazenly invading their turf.
[Things are getting interesting... Time to report to the Immortal King first...]
—Lady Olivia? It's Dwel here. How much longer must I wait?
At that moment, a transmission came from Dwel MacKane, who was rooting out the Oath of Reverse Heaven with her.
She'd told him to hold while she chased the vampires, and he'd pinged her right as she wrapped up.
[...Haa. Really, this girl is going to die from overwork...]
And so, Banshee Queen Olivia spent another busy day as usual.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 'An invasion by another vampire clan?'
Days after tasking Olivia, she'd exceeded expectations, unearthing the truth behind Hubert's assassination attempt.
Not friction with his firm, but an issue tied to their Brocoslak allies, of course...
And the clan behind it was assembling in Rapella City, Thalia Kingdom.
'Before hitting Thallaria, they planned to divert eyes outward? Losing investigators would've been the cherry on top.'
The Brocoslak Clan, isolationists hunkered in their domain, were finally pushing for expansion.
From the outside, it looked like a meticulously planned effort.
Naturally, when such a hard-won scheme started creaking, they'd scramble to diagnose and fix it.
'And strike at that opening... Something like that.'
Olivia noted they'd seemed rushed too.
Their barriers screamed stealth, yet they'd botched it, moving hastily and getting nabbed by her.
Which meant the raid was imminent.
'Problem is, Brocoslak hasn't noticed yet. Security's lax with the monster forest mess and expansion pulling staff...'
Vampire numbers already thin, stretched thin with holes in surveillance.
Plus, the teleport circle's cooldown had two days left, so Heinz 2nd couldn't head to Thallaria immediately.
'Hans stepping in risks exposure if he goes full power—and that blows it wide open. No longer just vampire infighting.'
Too soon for the Immortal King to go public.
Waiting for his undead horde to swell with evil forces, and the continentals to unify post-summit.
'The intruders? Suspected Yupersh Clan, right?'
Makes sense; few had the chops for this.
If Brocoslak—one of vampirekind's 'Big Three'—had snagged a small western kingdom, Obaipo dominated the eastern republics.
The last of the trio, and strongest: Yupersh Clan, based in the central Azerion Empire, active continent-wide.
Their leader? A Sacred Blood vampire—the pinnacle of purebloods.
'Didn't expect to tangle with a Sacred Blood like this.'
Sacred Bloods were rare sightings.
Only two confirmed: Brocoslak's in eternal slumber, unknown awakening; making this one effectively top dog.
'Big enough for Viscount Yupersh to show personally. Headache.'
He knew Yupersh and Brocoslak weren't on good terms.
Friction during Thalia's conquest: clashes as they booted Yupersh vamps to solidify turf. But Brocoslak holing up in their corner ended that.
'Yet here they come, full force out of nowhere.'
Some shift in mood? Or irked by Brocoslak's growth? No clue.
But with it underway, response mattered now.
'Tch, no choice. Daring to touch Hubert and wreck our hard-won Brocoslak... Can't sit idle.'
Time to do what they could.
The moment he resolved that—
Harley, lingering at the Northern Steel Citadel slaughtering monsters, mobilized.
And Hans, who'd been stealthily patrolling nearby while preparing spells, slipped into motion too.
'No telling how it'll play out—better have insurance.'
If the Immortal King went all-in, eyes would turn, but excuses could be spun.
Need vampire corpses, or wanting them under his banner—loose lips would cover it.
Preferring to avoid that, Hans crossed space to Thallaria—and spotted something unexpected.
'Huh? This... might not be so bad?'
For good reason.
An utterly unforeseen player had set up shop there.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Yeah, I know the situation already. Get caught slacking, and you know what happens, right?"
"Y-Yes... Of course, Lord Harley!"
"You trust me? I get scary when mad? Kahahaha—!"
"...Absolutely! Don't worry!"
The man's face stiffened awkwardly as he groveled in response.
A look screaming 'You're scary even not mad,' but probably just imagination.
"I'm swamped right now, so mind Howard for a bit. Keep the underlings in line—no idiots testing how many lives they think you have! I'll find out everything later!"
"Yes! We'll treat Lord Howard as the young master's proxy and serve him accordingly."
Taraki and the Steel Citadel were just a day's ride apart, so Harley's exploits had already reached here.
No way the firm overlooked news of him, Hubert's near-equal co-head.
His overwhelming prowess, backed by the Church and courted by Count Aonia—defying him took guts few possessed.
'This side's stabilized for now. Next up...'
After tightening reins on Hubert's firm again, Harley headed straight for Taraki's temple.
'Gotta hustle. Bought a few days' grace, but process fast and return to the citadel.'
Count Aonia and the citadel folk had tried holding him, of course.
His feats had been massive; his absence loomed large.
'Still, after non-stop defense, a short break's fine.'
Combining cleanup with rest made slipping away easy.
Count Aonia even offered to order Taraki guards to watch extra close during Hubert's absence.
Opportunists might stir sans Hubert, so he gratefully accepted.
"Oh? Lord Harley? Thought you were at the Steel Citadel—what brings you here?"
"Uhaha—! Well, about that..."
Finally reaching Taraki's temple, Harley—
Used its gate to reach Thallaria's temple in the Thalia Kingdom.
Straight to the flashpoint of brewing vampire strife.