Chapter 46: Arcadia’s Secret Part 1

Audrey Arcadia, the heir to a noble title, hailed from the historic Arcadia Clan.

Rumor had it that this clan was even older than the Giant Kingdom itself—true blue-blooded nobility. However, ancient families often harbored stubborn, severe ideologies, including the practice of inbreeding to ensure the purity and nobility of their bloodline.

Thus, in the eyes of Ordinary People, such noble bloodlines were generally seen as the product of incest.

"If you have an opinion, just spit it out. I’m listening." Audrey arched a beautiful brow, glaring at the silent Blaze.

Blaze sat bolt upright, sweat beading on his forehead. This woman was incredibly sharp; she had instantly sensed the disrespectful, anti-noble slander of a commoner brewing beneath his helmet.

"He’s just guessing whether you’re the product of a brother-sister union or a union between cousins," Herbie said, bluntly exposing Blaze’s thoughts while casually offering her own theory. "I think it might be an older sister and younger brother, since the women in Arcadia tend to be quite dominant."

"I agree..." Blaze started.

Audrey stood up without a word. Her face, back to the light, was cast in dark, blurry shadows, but it scared Herbie and Blaze enough that they instinctively steered the conversation back on track.

"How many weapons specialized against Werewolves can we gather in a single night?"

"I’ve already mobilized everyone to prepare. If necessary, we’ll melt down all the reserves of Silver Coins that Hermes’ Travel Hat has in Balkan City."

Werewolves were incredibly powerful Monsters. Because of the Filthy Blood in their bodies, they were immune to the vast majority of Control Skills, but they were not completely without weaknesses. Silver and the thorns that grew around a Church could inflict fatal damage on a Werewolf.

Silver was a sacred metal. Weapons made of Silver could effortlessly slice through a Werewolf’s skin, the cold blade searing their flesh and wounds like a red-hot branding iron. If a nail made of Silver was driven into a Werewolf’s heart, it would kill them in a single strike.

The thorns found around a Church had a similar Effect; if woven into a whip, they could easily flay a Werewolf’s flesh to pieces.

"Rumor has it that Silver doesn’t actually react to the Werewolf itself, but rather to the Filthy Blood inside it," Herbie said. She picked up one of the Silver Coins stamped with the profile of the Goddess, making it dance and roll nimbly across her knuckles like a magic trick before it vanished into her palm for its final curtain call.

"The sacred metal brings Purification to a portion of that Filthy Blood, returning it to a pure state. But to a Werewolf’s tainted body, pure blood is as incompatible as fire and water.

"Unable to withstand the boiling heat of the purified blood, the Werewolf dies in agony."

"I am an illegitimate child," Audrey said out of nowhere.

"What a sudden bombshell!"

One of the Silver Coins popped out of Herbie’s sleeve and began spinning on the tabletop, the reliefs of the Goddess and a castle flashing back and forth.

[Exclusive Quest: Arcadia’s Secret Part One]

[Recommended level: 65]

[Accept: Yes/No]

"Exclusive?" Blaze wondered, staring at the Blessing prompt before him in sheer disbelief.

If special quests could only be obtained by a tiny minority, then exclusive quests could only be obtained by a single person.

Special quests usually possessed extremely harsh trigger conditions, demanding incredibly high technical Skill from the person initiating them, or requiring specific Professions and equipment loadouts. But as long as there were requirements, they could be met. And if they could be met, the quest could be triggered repeatedly. Therefore, even for a Foreigner, the methods to trigger special quests were the most closely guarded of secrets.

However, an exclusive quest was exactly what it sounded like: once someone triggered it, no one else could ever get it. It was a one-time, monopolized quest. Thus, exclusive quests were untraceable, chanced upon but never actively sought out, and impossible to steal.

Figuring that he had to help escort them anyway and might as well do both quests at the same time, Blaze chose to accept.

[Exclusive Quest: Arcadia’s Secret Part One]

[Accepted]

[Arcadia’s Secret Part One: The Mystery of the Countess’s Origins]

Blaze paused. "Audrey hasn’t inherited the title yet, so why is she already addressed as a Countess?" he wondered.

The coin stopped spinning and toppled over, landing with the Goddess relief pressed face-down beneath the castle side.

Audrey began to share her secret—or rather, the secret of the Arcadia Clan.

The story wasn’t long; in fact, it sounded more like a myth.

Back when Arcadia was still a barren, dead wasteland where not even crops could grow and people struggled simply to survive, a beautiful wanderer arrived. This wanderer was named Lai Kaion. He could travel a thousand miles in a day, scale high mountains with his bare hands, and command packs of wolves. Bathed in moonlight, he possessed an Undying Body.

He generously gave people food and politely invited them to take shelter in his home.

The people willingly submitted to Lai Kaion’s immense strength and charismatic personality. Following this wanderer, they carved out a life in the wilderness, and Arcadia gradually prospered. From a tribe to a village, they eventually built a massive castle upon this Earth.

Lai Kaion fathered fifty sons, each inheriting his noble blood, each a valiant warrior. Those fifty sons went on to have children of their own, and those children’s children likewise inherited Lai Kaion’s Blood. Thus, the massive Arcadia Clan was formed.

However, with Lai Kaion’s death, the glory of the Arcadia Clan faded. Their descendants grew increasingly frail and weak, eventually reverting to little more than Ordinary People.

Ultimately, no longer able to protect the Arcadia Territory, the Arcadia Clan chose to become part of the Giant Kingdom.

In an effort to prevent Lai Kaion’s Blood from diluting any further, the Arcadia Clan resorted to inbreeding. But the results were catastrophic: their descendants became increasingly ugly and deformed, suffering from diminished Intelligence while appearing more and more like Wild Beasts.

A terrifying rumor gradually began to spread beyond the borders of the Arcadia Territory—that this once-great clan shared a common ancestor with the dreaded Monsters of the Arcadia Territory: the silver-white Werewolves.

"To quell the fallout from these rumors, I was born." Audrey puffed out her chest with absolute conviction, speaking with immense pride. "My adorable, Angel-kissed face conquered everyone, leaving no one to doubt the Arcadia Clan’s bloodline anymore. Even though the vast majority of my looks came from my commoner mother."

"Question." Blaze raised his hand. Audrey tipped her chin up in acknowledgment before he continued, "Why would anyone suspect that your clan shares a common ancestor with Werewolves? Wasn’t Lai Kaion a Human?"

"Ah, I can answer that for you." Herbie wiggled her eyebrows smugly at Audrey. "When it comes to back-alley gossip and street rumors, how could a Princess living in a castle possibly know more than someone like me, who’s been scraping by in the gutters since childhood?"

"What do you mean ’scraping by’? You mean scamming people," Audrey said, rolling her eyes. She sat back down, yielding the floor to Herbie.

Herbie stood up, cleared her throat, and lowered her voice.

"Legend has it that Lai Kaion died, but his blood didn’t. That blood, brimming with Life Force, summoned Lai Kaion’s Followers—the wild wolves. The wolves dug up Lai Kaion’s body and devoured it completely.

"Then, something terrifying happened. Those wild wolves stood upright, growing massive and heavily muscled. Under the moonlight, their fur radiated a Silver glow.

"Those were the Werewolves.

"If the Arcadia Clan are the descendants of Lai Kaion, then the Werewolves are the descendants of Lai Kaion’s corpse.

"And now, using the pretext that Werewolves are maintaining Stealth among the Arcadians, Arcadia’s Deputy Lord has initiated a Witch Hunting campaign, issuing bounties on Werewolves to the Foreigners."