Chapter 835: Don't trust anyone
Reaching the King’s castle was no easy task. At least getting past the guards that was. Last time Quinn had come here, it had been in the midst of a council meeting. At the time, he also had Arthur by his side, and the guards had been less cautious.
However, this time, there were several checks put on Quinn before he was even allowed to step in. They didn’t allow any weapons nor any armour past the entrance. Everything had to be left before he could enter. Not that it mattered much in Quinn’s case since he kept all of his important stuff in his dimensional space.
If he ever needed something, he could equip it with Shadow equip at any time. The reason why Quinn wasn’t wearing his armour or weapons out in the open in the Vampire World was due to what substances they had in them.
Before coming here, Quinn had asked Alex to create weapons using his blood, not just for him, but also for the others from the Cursed faction. Similarly, everyone else was also hiding them in their shadow.
After the checks were done, Quinn was finally led into the castle, however accompanied by four guards, two in front of him and two behind.
The King’s castle was quite similar to the others, with only slight differences, like the rooms being slightly bigger adorned with a lot of giant paintings. Quinn guessed that they had to be important figures in the vampire’s history, as well as important events.
’I thought the tenth castle was already big, but this is just ridiculous. Who needs all this space?’ Having lived most of his life on earth in a small apartment, Quinn wasn’t used to these kinds of grand rooms.
Previously, Quinn had just been in a council room, which happened to be a floor under the King’s throne room. Alas, it appeared as if he wouldn’t get the chance to check it out this time either, as he never left the first floor. Instead he was escorted to one of many dining rooms.
Dwight was already sitting there, all on his own, with some light snacks red in colour and tea.
"Thank you for escorting him safely. You may take your leave now." Dwight instructed the guards who had been following him. They all nodded and did as they were told.
"I don’t remember coming through this many checks last time, although I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about you being cautious with the King’s eternal slumber." Quinn commented, as he sat down opposite from Dwight.
"Indeed, especially with some parties daring to attack other castles, one can’t be too safe. Those guards were just as much for your safety as ours." Dwight explained. "Before we start Quinn, I want to make sure that everything spoken here is just between me and you. I hate having to act this paranoid, but with everything that has happened I can’t trust anyone else. I can only advise you to do the same. After you leave this room, perhaps you should even start doubting me."
The Royal Knight being this cautious was outside of Quinn’s expectations, and he was now completely focused on the conversation. He had believed this was just to make sure nothing would interrupt the King’s eternal slumber, but things appeared to be more dire than he had initially thought.
"I will spare you the details as I’m sure your Vampire knight must have gone over this with you, but the one responsible for the attack on your castle is someone named Rowa. He used to be the second family’s leader, but has now turned into a Bloodsucker or had done. His grudge against the current King was no secret. Unfortunately he was also very strong, yet we never imagined him to attack us head on and so suddenly like that."
"To be able to attack any of the castles, what’s more to so easily enter the inner castle area of even the tenth castle, there is only one explanation. There is someone among the leaders who must have helped him." Dwight shared, clenching his fist on the table. "I didn’t want to believe that someone would work with those Bloodsuckers, to force the King’s hand like that! And now it has come to the point that we must replace him! What I’m most afraid of is that this was that mystery person’s original goal."
It was news to Quinn that Rowa used to be the second family’s leader, although he had come to learn that it wasn’t too rare for the families to change their past leaders if they turned out to be incompetent.
"Why do I have the feeling you’re thinking something incredibly rude about me?!" Vincent asked, but Quinn chose to ignore him.
"For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. You and the King seemed close, and I honestly wish I could have thanked him for saving the people he could." Said Quinn.
"You really have grown." Dwight sighed, taking a stronger look at Quinn. "I should probably come to the point of why I have summoned you here. I originally just wanted to apologise failing to do our job, but I also never expected you to return like you have done now. I can smell and feel the aura of a real vampire leader on you now."
"As I said, there is at least one traitor among the leaders. Let me be honest with you, right now I suspect every single one of the other families. Well, all except yours, Quinn. You were away when the attack happened, neither you nor anyone you interacted with in your family had anything to do with Rowa, and most importantly, I can’t think of a single reason why you would attack your own family."
"I never thought I would say this, but you’re the only person I can trust and I would like your help. If the goal of the person working with Rowa was really to get rid of the King, then I can only assume their end goal lies in obtaining the seat for themselves. The powers are split into two groups, so they will be coming for you, Quinn."
"I want you to report everything that either side attempts to do, feel free to lead them on. Agree to help them and try to find out who was, and possibly still is, working with the Bloodsuckers."
"I won’t lie to you, doing this could place you a big target on your back, but I will be trying my best to help you all the way. It would be best if you prepare for another attack. Your family is weak right now and they might strike again."
Thinking about this, if his area was to get attacked, Quinn was wondering if he could use the new reputation shop in his system to improve his defences. He could build towers, statues and set up flags to help fend off against attacks.
The only problem was obtaining the reputation points to upgrade the place. Once he figured out a way to quickly and reliably get more, he could create a fortress stronger than all others.
"It’s your choice whether you want to help me or not, but you should be aware that you are bound to get dragged into this either way. All I’m asking is when you do get dragged into it, that you do your best to try and can find anything useful. In return I will try to do whatever I can to help you and your family."
"Right now, although the King can’t speak, he has given me authority and power to act on his behalf. If there is something you need, you should ask now before the ceremony."
Quinn agreed with Dwight’s analysis of the situation. As a family leader, he would be wrapped up in all this whether he liked it or not. Honestly, he also wanted to find out who was working with the Bloodsuckers. They had killed his people, killed Edward and had tried attacking the others, so he wanted revenge!
Quinn felt quite lonely in the Vampire World. His family was regarded as an outsider compared to the rest, and here a powerful ally was holding out their hand.
"I’ll help you." Quinn declared. "However, there are a few favours and things I would like to ask myself."
"Of course, Quinn." Dwight replied happily. "For someone who has only recently become a leader, you are going far beyond that would normally be expected of you. As long as it’s within my power, I will deliver what you need."
There were so many subjects and questions Quinn wanted to ask and talk about, but he decided to start with the one that weighed on his mind the most.
"The first one should be easy enough. What do you know about Jim Eno? I need to know everything that he did after Vicent left!"
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