Chapter 2216: Vampire Kind Secret Technique

Chapter 2216: Chapter 2216: Vampire Kind Secret Technique

Emilia was getting more excited:

"Great! I want to pick up shells, and conchs, and go fishing! Oh, will Little Liana be able to come with us by then? I want to ride her and fly over the sea, she’s never seen the unfrozen ocean either."

Saint Byrons is located on the northern ice cap, actually, it’s very close to the sea region called the "Arctic Ice Sea." However, that sea only thaws for two months a year and is filled with floating ice, so it’s quite different from the ocean around Moon Bay.

"I’ll figure something out by then. Don’t get annoyed by my nagging, but I have to emphasize once again, this week you need to pay attention to what’s happening around you. If anything seems amiss, immediately tell me. If I don’t appear, tell Earl Belindel right away, okay?"

Shard asked again, and the elf girl nodded once more, carefully concealing her little thoughts.

After settling Emilia, Shard also reminded Miss Belindel to pay attention to any anomalies near the estate recently before bidding farewell to them. Of course, Mia was temporarily left at the Belindel Estate, asking Emilia to help take care of her. This was partly to let Emilia know that he would return in the evening and also to ensure that the elf girl and the Little Unicorn would have a "familiar cat" with them in an unfamiliar place, so they wouldn’t feel so lonely.

[Quite a tactic.]

"She" whispered gently beside his ear.

On Sunday afternoon, the meeting place between Shard and Mr. Benhart was once again the Spider Hostel. However, before entering, the chickens raised freely in the hostel’s courtyard inexplicably focused on Shard, following him all the way to the door before leaving.

Shard shared this with Mr. Benhart, who had arrived ahead of him, but the latter waved his hand, not bothering with the topic. It was evident that he seemed more haggard compared to their last meeting half a week ago; Shard suspected his investigation wasn’t going well:

"The bloodline source of the hybrid creatures in the sewers, is it related to Velindale City?"

As he asked, he observed the other people in the hostel. On Sunday afternoon, even the worst drinking spots in the slums had their fair share of patrons. Naturally, most people were here to pass the time, and many were playing cards.

"No relation, the same clan and the Great Elder from Velindale have helped me verify that."

Mr. Benhart shook his head, his expression growing darker:

"This indicates that indeed there are members of the same clan in Moon Bay City who have betrayed the Order. Using our bloodlines to create monsters is a severe desecration for the Vampire Kind. But the current situation is tense; rumors say something big is going to happen here in Moon Bay, and Velindale can’t send people here for the time being to investigate. So the Order assigned this task to me..."

He let out a dry laugh:

"Not only have they allocated a generous action fund for me, but they’ve also sent some decent relic weapons. Actually, I was already pursuing this matter, so even without these, I wouldn’t give up. The fact that the Order values it so much can only mean that this issue is not trivial."

"No worries, we’re going to investigate anyway, so having additional support is certainly a good thing. So, any progress on the investigation in Moon Bay?"

Shard asked again, Mr. Benhart sighed deeply, as if trying to expel all the frustration from his heart, then took a sip from his glass:

"At least I’m certain that Ptolemy is definitely not involved. I won’t go into details about the methods I used, but I’m sure he isn’t entangled in this affair. This half-week, leveraging my local connections, I’ve visited many local same clans and have roughly narrowed down the potential collaborators with the Dragon Feast Cult."

Being able to narrow down suspects in half a week isn’t indicative of Mr. Benhart’s efficiency alone, but also because there aren’t many Vampire Kind who meet the bloodline criteria.

"Is there a chance of any oversights?"

Shard continued to ask, Mr. Benhart nodded helplessly:

"Of course there is, this is only the first step of screening. But today we won’t visit them—now that I have the Order’s support, I can use its identity to probe those suspects first. Once we’ve practically identified a target, I’ll ask you to join me for a trip. If there’s any danger, I might not be able to handle it myself."

Though he’s an Eight Rings, he knows that the Shard opposite might defeat him with one hand.

"No problem, so do you have time tonight? I want to catch that Vampire Beast. The plan has been made, now it’s just about whether our bait works."

"No problem."

Mr. Benhart raised his glass to clink with Shard’s, quietly lamenting:

"In the end, I’ve certainly been swept into the vortex of trouble."

The information on the Vampire Beast was provided by Miss Belindel; currently, Shard held detailed intel on the general range of the creature’s activities, and the fact that it favored the blood of drunken virgins under 25.

During lunch at the Belindel Estate, Shard mentioned this matter to the Witch, and she helped perform a divination, predicting that Shard’s actions tonight would likely yield results.

Therefore, Shard devised a simple bait plan, and the bait, of course, was a "drunken virgin under 25." Such a girl was easy to find at the Belindel Estate because the Countess’s age didn’t fit the criteria, so she recommended her apprentice and head maid, Miss Matilda, to assist Shard.

However, this suggestion was also rejected by Shard, as the Church was also investigating the matter, so he did not want anyone from Belindel Estate to get involved. Thus, after receiving Mr. Benhart’s willingness to act together at Spider Inn in the afternoon, and learning of a marvelous Vampire Kind Secret Technique, he returned to Belindel Estate at dusk and simply asked the Witch for blood that met the requirements.

"So, you’re planning to disguise as a woman, carrying that blood, and wander around Moon Bay tonight like a girl?"

At the dinner table, the Countess curiously asked Shard. Shard immediately thought of the Transmutation Ring. Emilia’s pointed ears moved, looking curiously at Shard, who promptly shook his head:

"Of course not, I don’t have any strange preferences like that. My Vampire Kind friend can make a person’s blood scent be exactly the same as someone else’s. I plan to use this method to let the scent of that blood stick to me, then I’ll disguise myself with Illusion Technique."

"But won’t that monster be suspicious?"

Emilia asked curiously, and Shard didn’t hide the matter from her.

"No worries, my Vampire Kind friend added some ’ingredients’ to the blood, which can make the monster lose its mind wanting to feed at the mere scent, it’s like..."

Shard looked around wanting to give an example and suddenly saw Mia:

"Like catnip to cats."

The ladies nodded in understanding, while Shard thought Mia seemed to have never seen catnip before.

After dinner, Shard hurried to the morgue at the end of Spider Alley. With the spellcasting help of Mr. Ptolemy Albert and Mr. Benhart, Shard managed to acquire the alluring blood scent.

The ritual process was simple, but quite cumbersome for Shard. He needed to lie in a stone platform with a human-shaped groove, wearing simple clothes while the two Vampires poured a potion—made from ’the blood of a drunken virgin’—into the groove until Shard was completely submerged.

It’s worth mentioning that a small bottle of blood was made into a large barrel using additional chicken blood. As for what the human-shaped groove stone platform was originally used for.... the robed coroner kindly advised Shard not to ask:

"It’s an antique I’ve acquired, related to some ancient penalties."

In any case, Shard held his breath for five minutes submerged in blood, as the ritual symbols carved in blood on the stone platform lit up one after another, until the blood that covered Shard began to emit a crimson glow. The blood’s temperature shifted from cold to hot and then dropped to a near-freezing cold.

Mr. Benhart and Mr. Albert’s spell words became oddly peculiar due to the liquid’s isolation, and Shard abruptly sat up from the platform after receiving the ’thud thud thud~’ knocking signal, gasping as he wiped the red liquid from his face:

"I must say this ritual is a bit over the top, I’ve never used a ritual requiring so much blood."

"The monster has a keen sense of smell, we also don’t want your heel or some other spot’s blood scent revealing you’re male,"

Mr. Benhart joked from the side, while the coroner handed Shard a wet towel soaked in special potion to dry the liquid off him.

"But do I really have the ’virgin blood scent’ now? I can’t seem to smell it."

He tried twitching his nose, only to cough a few times from the stench.

"This isn’t a scent a human nose can detect, but it’s quite apparent to us. To give an inadequate example, you’re now practically doused in the most expensive women’s perfume,"

Mr. Benhart said, while Mr. Albert again sized up Shard:

"Though we trust your Illusion Technique, to be safe, I’d suggest you should drink some alcohol to maintain a tipsy state."

Shard hesitated for a moment:

"With my constitution, I can’t imagine how I’ll get drunk... alright, I’ll try to control myself. Come to think of it, I’ve never been drunk in my life."

The Outlander’s words greatly surprised the two Vampires, and Mr. Albert further inquired:

"Are you naturally good at drinking?"

"No, I don’t really like drinking, and even if I do, I’m very cautious, so I’ve never been drunk."

The Vampire Species Coroner expressed his admiration without reservation:

"If those who die from street drunkenness, accidental falls, and drunken brawls had thoughts like yours, my daily work would be much easier."