Episode 121 Silent War (3)
If you were to ask who the busiest member of the current Immortal King's executive staff was, everyone would agree on one person.
Banshee Queen Olivia was the protagonist.
The task of uncovering Oath of Heaven's Defiance, Hans's first order, was something that had to be continuously carried out because their forces were widely distributed.
And she was also indispensable for absorbing those they had already identified.
In that situation, she received another order from Hans.
To investigate and report the details of a vampire's assassination attempt on a merchant in Tarak.
[Sigh… This girl is going to die from overwork…]
Olivia muttered to herself as she floated in the darkness of the cave, surrounded by ghosts.
It was a joke that only an undead could make, but unfortunately, there was no one in this space who could respond.
[And… my skin seems to have become rough lately… Even though I'm avoiding sunlight, the enemy of skin…]
A translucent, slender finger stroked her equally translucent and smooth cheek.
She tried humor again, undeterred by the cold reactions of those around her… but of course, no one responded.
[Sigh… I was a fool to expect any sense from these idiots…]
She couldn't speak so freely in front of the Immortal King, but she was used to talking to herself and making puns because she had been alone for so long.
But it was all in vain without anyone to understand her…
In the end, Olivia gave up and closed her eyes, starting to analyze the information the ghosts had brought her.
Ghosts, whose desires, obsessions, and other thoughts were removed, had their presence greatly reduced, but their egos also became faint, making them very difficult to handle.
It was almost impossible for ordinary people to extract and combine the necessary information from the disorganized list of indiscriminately collected information.
But of course, she wasn't ordinary.
[This is strange… The attempted assassination of Hubert, a merchant in Tarak… There are so many strange things…]
First, she couldn't find Hubert, the victim himself.
It was common sense to start by tracking the victim for a more accurate investigation, so she intended to first identify his location, but…
'…He must be hiding in a carefully constructed barrier. It's embarrassing that even I couldn't find his location.'
But he wasn't her original target anyway, so she eventually gave up on finding Hubert and thoroughly examined the suspects.
After a few days of working on it alongside other tasks,
She finally succeeded in uncovering everything about them.
[But they were all innocent… Many of them didn't even know he had been attacked…]
The final conclusion was that it wasn't a crime motivated by a direct grudge against Hubert or his company.
And as she was frustrated that her efforts had been in vain…
[Ugh— This is a tragedy…]
Goooo—!
The atmosphere vibrated, and a wave of death spread as Olivia started to wail.
A terrifying power that could instantly kill those without spiritual defenses just by hearing it.
[Kkiiiiik—!]
[Ugh—]
The ghosts filling the cave writhed and screamed in response to the energy, and the surroundings instantly became chaotic.
But Olivia, who had caused the commotion, was already calmly analyzing information again with an indifferent expression.
If Hubert wasn't directly involved, the cause must be external.
Her next target was to delve into the vampire who was the culprit.
But that guy was also extraordinary.
He had concealed himself so thoroughly that she couldn't track him down just with the ghosts' belated investigation.
But she couldn't fail the mission the Immortal King had given her.
She released the ghosts, intending to investigate all the vampires in the area, and gathered information.
And after several days of obsessive investigation, day and night, putting aside the matter related to Oath of Heaven's Defiance for now—.
[Uhuhut… It seems like it's these children…?]
She finally located the vampires gathering in Raffella City in the Talia Kingdom.
A group of vampires completely different from the Brokoslack Clan that ruled the place was invading their territory.
[This is getting interesting… I should report this to the Immortal King first…]
-Lady Olivia? It's Dwell. How long do we have to wait?
At that moment, she received a communication from Dwell McCain, who had been investigating Oath of Heaven's Defiance with her.
She had told him to wait for a while so they could investigate the vampires, and he contacted her right after they finished.
[…Sigh. Really, I'm going to die from overwork…]
And so, Banshee Queen Olivia had another busy day.
____________________
'An invasion by another vampire clan?'
A few days after entrusting Olivia with the task, she had thoroughly investigated and uncovered the truth behind Hubert's assassination attempt.
Not only did she figure out that it wasn't caused by a conflict within Hubert's Trading Company, but that it was related to Brokoslack, who was in a cooperative relationship with them…
She even found out that the clan that carried out the operation was currently gathering in Raffella City in the Talia Kingdom.
'Were they planning to divert attention before attacking Talaria? It would have been perfect if they had also lured out the investigation team.'
It was the first attempt at expanding their power by Brokoslack, who had been holed up in their own territory and pursuing an isolationist policy.
Of course, from an outsider's perspective, they would naturally judge it to be a carefully planned and executed operation.
And when a plan that had been so meticulously prepared suddenly started to falter, it was natural for them to try to figure out the cause and fix it.
'And they're going to take advantage of that opening and attack the headquarters… Is that their plan?'
Olivia added that they seemed to be in a hurry.
Judging by their preparations, including the barrier, they had intended to maintain secrecy, but they were caught by her because they were moving hastily without properly utilizing their preparations.
And that meant that the attack was imminent.
'But the problem is that Brokoslack hasn't noticed yet. They're vulnerable because of the monster forest incident and the external expansion…'
The already small number of vampires was further reduced as they were dispatched to various places, creating holes in their internal surveillance network.
And since the transfer formation's cooldown still had about two days left, it was impossible for Heinz the Second to immediately head to Talaria.
'And it's not a good idea for Hans to intervene… If he uses his full power, his location will be revealed, and that would make things too big. It won't be just a conflict between vampires anymore.'
It was still too early for the Immortal King to personally appear.
He was waiting for the immortal army to gather more evil forces and for the continent to reach an agreement at the summit…
'They said the ones who invaded this time are presumed to be the Ufersh Clan, right?'
Well, they were the only ones with the ability to pull off something like this.
If 'Brokoslack', one of the top three vampire clans, had taken over a small kingdom in the west, then 'Obaipo' was wielding power in the republic in the east.
And the remaining one of the top three, and the strongest among them, was 'Ufersh', a clan based in the central Azeria Empire and active throughout the continent.
And their leader was also— a 'Sacred Blood', the pinnacle of Auterica's vampires.
'I didn't expect to face a Sacred Blood like this.'
Sacred Bloods weren't beings you could easily encounter.
He currently knew of two Sacred Bloods.
Excluding Brokoslack, who had entered a long hibernation and whose awakening time was unknown, he was practically the strongest vampire.
'And Visque Ufersh himself will probably be involved in this. This is a headache.'
He knew that the relationship between Ufersh and Brokoslack wasn't good.
There had been some conflict with them while they were taking over the Talia Kingdom.
Friction arose as they drove out the Ufersh vampires in the kingdom and solidified their territory, but after Brokoslack retreated to a corner of the continent and holed up, there were no more clashes…
'But they suddenly launched a large-scale attack.'
He didn't know what had changed their minds, or if they were just annoyed by their expansion…
But now that it had happened, the important thing was how to respond.
'Tsk, it can't be helped. They dared to touch Hubert and try to ruin Brokoslack, which I worked so hard to obtain… I can't just stand by and watch.'
He had to do everything he could.
The moment he decided that,
Harley, who had been staying at the Iron Fortress in the north to slaughter monsters, started to move.
And Hans, who had been scanning the vicinity and recruiting, also began to move stealthily.
'I don't know how things will turn out, so I need insurance.'
If the Immortal King had to personally intervene, it would inevitably attract outside attention, but he could always come up with an excuse.
He could just say he needed vampire corpses or that he wanted to bring them under his command.
Hans, who arrived in Talaria, hoping that he wouldn't have to intervene directly, noticed something unexpected.
'Huh? This is… not bad.'
It was because…
There was an unexpected presence there.
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"So, you know the situation, right? You know what will happen if you try anything funny?"
"Y-yes… Of course, Harley!"
"I trust you. I'm scary when I'm angry, right? Kkahahahat—!"
"…Of course! Don't worry!"
The person answering Harley's words with a forced smile had a stiff expression.
He looked like he wanted to say 'You're scary even when you're not angry', but it must have been his imagination.
"I have some urgent business right now, so listen to Howard for a while. And manage the employees well so that no one tries to test their luck! I'll know everything later!"
"Yes! I'll treat Howard as the company owner's representative and serve him well."
Tarak and the Iron Fortress were only a day's journey apart, so Harley's achievements had already reached this place.
Naturally, those in the company couldn't be unaware of him, who was practically a co-CEO with Hubert.
His overwhelming abilities, the Church's protection, and even Count Aonia's love call…
It would take incredible courage to go against his will.
'This side is settled, then next is…'
Harley, after checking on Hubert's Trading Company once again, immediately headed towards the temple in Tarak.
'I need to move quickly. I was given a few days, but I have to finish things quickly and return to the fortress.'
Of course, those at the fortress, including Count Aonia, tried to hold him back.
Harley's contributions so far were so great that they couldn't help but worry about his absence.
'But I've been defending nonstop, so this much time…'
Thanks to that, it wasn't difficult to take a break and recover.
Count Aonia even offered to personally order Tarak's security forces to pay special attention to Hubert's Trading Company when he heard that Harley was leaving because of the incident related to Hubert's attack.
He decided to gratefully accept the offer, just in case there were those who tried to take advantage of Hubert's absence.
"Huh? Isn't that Harley? I heard you were at the Iron Fortress, what brings you here?"
"Hahaha—! Well, you see…"
And Harley, who finally arrived at the temple in Tarak,
Was able to move to the Talaria Temple in the Talia Kingdom through the gate there.
To the place where a conflict between vampires was brewing.