Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Pastor Anthony was jolted awake.

At first, he was somewhat dazed. The sluggishness of age made him take a good while to react. By the dim, yellowish light, he finally made out two faces, shadowed with anxiety, before him.

"Anthony! Good heavens! Holy Father! Please, wake up! Anthony!"

"...Yes, oh... I'm awake, alright, alright. Put your hand down, I'm awake. Let's have no violence."

The old priest coughed twice with a tremor, rubbed his sore and numb knees, and then let out a long sigh. "Now, would someone tell me why the esteemed friars from the small monastery have suddenly come here? Could it be the aroma of the roasted peacock from the banquet has drifted halfway across the town?"

"Not at all!" One of the gray-robed friars rushed over to light several white candles. As the candlelight flickered before Anthony's eyes, he realized the world outside the window had turned into a resplendent gold.

The setting sun pierced the dark and crimson sky like a blade of soft light, casting a dim glow through the wispy gaps in the clouds.

So it was already this late. The old priest rubbed his forehead. He had slept from noon, after the funeral ended, until the sky was about to darken.

"Anthony!" Seeing him lose focus again, the gray-robed friar had to raise his voice. "I'm asking you, was it you who examined the body of Harvey Thomas?!"

As if catching a key word, the old priest finally snapped back to attention. "It was me. What of it?"

The two friars exchanged a glance. One of them immediately got up to light more candles.

As the room grew brighter, Anthony finally noticed the anxiety and unease permeating the air. The friars' eerie silence felt like the dreadful prelude to a storm.

More importantly, why were there friars in his room?

Friars existed only within the small monastery and the Holy Monastery. Unlike priests, who were solely responsible for spreading the Lord's gospel, conducting baptisms, and providing purification rites for sins, friars were the true worker bees of the Holy Court, managing the operation of the entire Central City and all its administrative affairs.

Even though they were divided into different administrative districts, each held authority and often looked down their noses at others. Why had they suddenly burst into his room?

Soon, one of the friars provided the answer.

"Anthony, you should know that every three Holy Days, the small monastery conducts a review of the records from the surveillance Doves. This time, we found something very strange—coincidentally related to Harvey Thomas."

As soon as he finished speaking, the friar took two plain white paper doves from an inner pocket at his waist.

If Lyle were here, she would recognize these paper doves as identical to the one Vig had released.

Of course, Anthony understood more than Lyle. He knew that these divinely blessed Doves, besides carrying messages, could be imbued with an additional ability if the Holy Court required it—the "eyes" constructed from Sacred Utterance, capable of observing and recording everything within their field of view.

Each Dove could retain its "memory" for three Holy Days. The Holy Court used these unobtrusive little devices to monitor the entire Central City.

But what did this have to do with Dr. Harvey?

The friars brought over a basin of clean water and placed one of the Doves into it.

Soon, the water dissolved the paper, and black ink sank into the depths.

As the ripples swayed, the writing gradually transformed into a flickering, distorted image. The image showed a sky and sunlight familiar to Anthony, along with a grand, magnificent aerial view of the small monastery.

Except... the small monastery in the ripples seemed... a bit too quiet. Not even the usually stationed Crusaders were visible.

Anthony was about to ask when he suddenly noticed a barely perceptible flash of gold at the rapidly rising edge of the perspective.

That was... a person? A person climbing out of a window at the edge of the small monastery?!

Anthony bolted upright in bed, but was immediately pressed back down by a friar's firm hand.

"Not finished yet. Keep watching this one."

The second Dove was placed into another basin of water. It showed similarly brilliant sunlight, with faintly visible houses and bluestone paths that left Anthony bewildered.

However, this bewilderment lasted only a moment. The next instant, as the gaze swept rapidly past, the same flash of gold suddenly appeared.

Coincidentally, this time, the golden hair was seen climbing from outside a house into it. Even though the house appeared for only a brief moment, Anthony, who had just been there, immediately recognized the location.

"Gray Pigeon Street, the Thomas residence!"

"Exactly," said the friar who had produced the Doves, his gaze boring into him. "Just yesterday, a bottle of Corruption Water went missing from the small monastery—you know what that's used for. To identify the thief, we urgently reviewed all the 'eyes' and discovered this horrifying scene—the golden-haired thief who stole the Corruption Water slipped into Harvey Thomas's house that same day. So we wanted to ask..."

The other friar placed his hand on the table, leaning closer to Anthony. "When you examined the body, did you notice anything strange? Anthony, I hope you understand, this was the elder brother of the Paladin Commander. The entire Holy Court has only twenty Paladin Commanders, each a legend forged in the fires of hell."

"So we, or rather, you, Anthony, if there's a problem with Dr. Harvey's death, can you withstand the wrath of a Paladin Commander?"

All sound seemed to recede at that moment. Staring at the scene replaying endlessly in the water, recalling Vig's strange reaction during the body examination, Anthony finally realized something, and his face went deathly pale.

"Corruption Water... Corruption Water... How... how could this be... Vig... Where is Vig?!"

The friars simultaneously spread their hands. "We don't know either. We cannot notify him directly about this matter. Anthony, this is your responsibility."

Anthony was stunned, then consumed by panic. He hastily threw on his clerical robe and coat and rushed outside.

He had to find Vig and inform him of this as soon as possible!

Otherwise, if Vig found out on his own after a delay... Anthony shuddered violently!

The afterglow of the setting sun, warm and orange-red, spread across the vault of the sky. A few white doves flapped their wings, circling in the heavens.

Just a little longer.

Lyle lowered her head listlessly, using the shadows and her hair as cover to touch the burn on her forehead.

To play the part of a completely heartbroken woman, and to avoid drawing any attention, she had stood here silently and motionless for an entire day. Now, as dusk fell, her satiety had dropped to 57.

The newborn vampire uncontrollably licked her teeth. Hunger clung to her body like a gaping hole.

Just a little longer.

The pale moon had already risen. Just a little while more, and the sun would completely disappear below the horizon, its suddenly vanishing light welcoming the darkness she loved so dearly.

Then everything would be resolved. The child would be brought to her home, and warm human blood would soon fill her stomach.

But just then, Lyle suddenly heard several voices.

She turned her head toward the monastery. Anthony was hurrying out from inside. He anxiously questioned the people he encountered, and scattered words drifted distantly to her ears.

"Where is the Paladin Commander? What? He left? Hasn't returned yet? Holy Father! Oh, wait... Where is Mrs. Thomas? What? Don't know?"

Lyle was concealed by the shadows cast by the tree canopy. Moreover, Harvey's grave was not at the edge of the cemetery, so unless someone specifically walked over to look, they wouldn't notice someone was still standing here.

And who would think a wife could be so foolish as to stand before her husband's tombstone for an entire day just to mourn him?

But what could have happened to make Anthony look that way?

Lyle could have spoken up, but the pastor's agitated state made her nervous.

If there really was some pressing emergency, if the pastor gave her a reason she absolutely had to leave the cemetery, what should she do? As long as the sun hadn't completely set, she dared not step out.

So, the vampire remained quiet in place, watching Anthony rush toward the direction of her carriage.

Anthony was indeed in a hurry—after all, he had examined the body, set the funeral time, and was the one in charge!

But as if the Holy Father himself were punishing his negligence, Vig was still at the Holy Monastery and hadn’t returned at a time like this!

That was the most sacred place on the Solafiso continent. Without an invitation, he had no right whatsoever to set foot there.

So—Anthony quickly decided—finding another trustworthy person would do just as well!

That was Mrs. Thomas, who was deeply in love with Dr. Harvey! A love that even moved the Holy Father was the most unwavering, and Mrs. Thomas would surely be able to get this important message to Vig.

If anything really went wrong, the unfortunate Mrs. Thomas could help him take half the heat from the Knight Commander!

Anthony looked around and immediately turned toward the carriage stand outside the forest.

He began hoping that Mrs. Thomas’s carriage hadn’t left yet. If the carriage was still there, it meant the lady was still lingering nearby.

Fortunately, as soon as he passed through the small garden, he spotted the bored iris-flower carriage driver cleaning the carriage cabin.

“Thank goodness!” Anthony stopped his hurried pace, took a deep breath, and approached. “Hello, is Mrs. Thomas nearby?”

“What?” The driver turned around and, seeing the visitor, shook his head respectfully. “No, the lady hasn’t shown up at all! Look, I’ve already wiped the cushions clean—I’ve been waiting for her all along.”

“How could that be?” Anthony paced anxiously right where he was.

“Are you in a hurry, sir?” The driver observed the pastor’s expression and said, “Don’t worry, sir. If she hasn’t come out, she’s probably still at the cemetery. She loves Dr. Harvey deeply and surely wouldn’t want to leave just like that.”

“You’re right!” Anthony’s eyes lit up. Since Mrs. Thomas hadn’t left yet, there were only two places she could be: inside the monastery or at the cemetery.

Since he hadn’t seen her in the monastery, that left only the cemetery.

Poor woman, would she still be stubbornly standing by her dead husband’s grave at this hour?

Anthony was instantly deeply moved. He smiled and waved to the driver, intending to bid farewell and leave.

But just then, he caught sight of something strange out of the corner of his eye.

A strange feeling came over him, making the pastor instinctively stop and instead approach the carriage cabin. He squinted, carefully examining a small hole on the footboard.

The driver watched all this in confusion. “What’s wrong, Pastor Anthony? Oh, this—it might just be gnawed by rats. Don’t worry, I can fix it right away.”

No.

Anthony carefully ran his fingers over the area around the small hole. The wooden material had melted and turned black, as if burned by fire or scorched by something intense.

And along the edges of the hole, there were barely noticeable traces of dried, coagulated bloodstains.

His expression turned somber and horrified. This wasn’t something rats could gnaw—rat teeth wouldn’t cause corrosive effects on wood.

In fact, in this world, he knew of only one race whose blood could corrode its surroundings—

Vampires.

Only vampire blood had corrosive effects. Just like burns from sunlight, vampire blood was also a weapon to humans, capable of causing similar damage.

He whipped his head around and confirmed with the driver bathed in the twilight glow, “Who has ridden in this carriage recently?”