Gospel of Blood

"This is an authentic Daniel piece! They say one of these is worth at least six thousand gold tana!"

"Coria silk! The curtains here are woven from Coria silk, with a trace of Parsu's style. It must be the work of a master from the East!"

"Porcelain! This is carved porcelain from the Far East! This is amazing! I once saw something like this at an auction in the capital with my father. It probably costs at least ten thousand gold tana!"

"Rich! So rich! No wonder this is the top VIP room of the Castell Mercenary Association! It's so luxurious, it almost rivals our old home!"

In the VIP room of the Mercenary Association, the young bloodborne girl Agnes looked around, touching the various luxurious furniture and decorations, her eyes shining with excitement.

However, her excited antics made the middle-aged knight next to her twitch an eyebrow.

"Miss, please... be careful. The things here are worth thousands of gold tana each. If you accidentally break something, we can't afford to pay for it."

"Oh, I know! I'll be careful! Besides, once we sell the castle, we'll make a lot of money. I calculated it, and even though the Spire Castle is a bit remote, it should sell for tens of thousands of gold tana! We'll be rich too!"

Agnes said excitedly.

"Miss... about the client the Mercenary Association mentioned, I have an uneasy feeling."

"Do you think it's really that coincidental? We just came to commission the castle for auction, and the Mercenary Association immediately found someone interested in buying it and wants to meet us?"

Seeing her knight's worried expression, Agnes felt a pang of unease.

"You mean..."

"Miss..."

Lahel's expression became serious.

"As you said, Spire Castle can be auctioned for tens of thousands of gold tana. That's not a small amount. Even in wealthy Castell, there are very few who can easily come up with that much money."

"This is Northport, the capital of Castell. Someone who is a VIP customer of the Mercenary Association and interested in buying a castle and its land, and can easily come up with such a large sum, could it be..."

Agnes raised an eyebrow.

"Are you worried we might have run into the little Countess of Castell?"

Lahel hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Agnes immediately jumped up.

"Shh! Don't say such unlucky things!"

"But... we should be cautious. The Countess of Castell is very mysterious. Even the Book of the Dead that you couldn't control listens to her. She must not be simple..."

The middle-aged knight reminded her.

Agnes pursed her lips and said:

"I know she has secrets. She might even be, as the rumors say, a saintess of the Holy Court, a divine favored one walking the earth, possessing powers unknown to mortals."

"But there's no need to worry too much. I secretly investigated yesterday. She should be at the Castell Silver Mine right now. I heard there's a big problem there."

"Hey, the Castell silver mine seems to be targeted by those guys too. She'll be busy for a while."

The girl said gleefully.

"Of course, you have a point. There aren't many wealthy patrons who can come up with that much money. They might know her, so we should be careful. Even if we meet, we should disguise ourselves."

"I've already told the receptionist not to reveal our true identities. After all, we are registered mercenaries, and the Mercenary Association has its principles."

With that, Agnes rummaged in her pocket and took out two masks, putting one on herself and handing the other to the middle-aged knight Lahel.

"Here, put on the mask! Once the deal is done, we'll change out of these ragged clothes, and no one will find us!"

After some thought, she went to the window and opened it, ensuring an escape route was ready.

Taking the mask from the girl, Lahel put it on as well. But looking at his rusty armor, he couldn't help but mutter.

"Let's hope it's not really her..."

"Stop saying such unlucky things! Change your mindset! Now we are mysterious bloodborne mercenaries!"

Agnes glared at him.

While they were talking, the receptionist who had led them to the VIP meeting room returned.

"Honored Miss, Honored Sir, the client who wants to meet you has arrived."

With that, the receptionist stepped aside respectfully.

Agnes and Lahel immediately became alert.

The next second, they saw two familiar figures, one tall and one short, entering the room accompanied by the branch president of the Mercenary Association, Layton.

A golden-haired girl in a black and white Gothic noble dress and an elegant elf butler in a black tailcoat.

Who else could it be but Charlotte and Sebastian?

The bloodborne girl Agnes's smile froze almost instantly, and Lahel's hand instinctively went to the hilt of his sword.

At the same time, seeing the two masked figures, Charlotte and Sebastian were momentarily surprised, but their expressions quickly turned peculiar.

Charlotte's gaze lingered on Agnes's worn noble dress and Lahel's still ragged knight armor. She smiled slightly and said.

"Miss Agnes, Sir Lahel, the world is indeed small. We meet again."

Agnes froze completely.

She swallowed hard, adjusted her mask, and forced a laugh, lowering her voice.

"Uh... this beautiful lady, you must be mistaken."

Charlotte looked at her with a half-smile.

"Miss Agnes, before disguising, you should have changed your clothes too. The sleeve you tore when you escaped last time is still not mended."

Agnes: ...

Sebastian's gaze fell on the chest plate of Lahel's armor, which bore a sword mark he had left himself, and he asked with a smile.

"Sir Lahel, does the wound still hurt?"

Lahel: ...

Seeing the two people suddenly on high alert and the countess and her servant with faint smiles, the branch president of the Mercenary Association, Layton, was slightly taken aback.

"Lady Charlotte, do you... know each other?"

"Know each other? Of course. Just over half a month ago, these two mercenary friends gave me quite a gift—almost left my Castell convoy stuck in the Violet Forest with an undead army."

Charlotte said with a smile.

Hearing her words, President Layton's face changed color.

By now, the news that the Countess of Castell was attacked on her way to her territory had spread through the trading caravans.

Though mercenaries follow the money, some things shouldn't be spoken of openly.

Attacking a noble is a taboo under the Sacred Code.

Moreover, this matter likely involved the Third Prince of the Crescent Kingdom.

Seeing Layton's reaction, Charlotte realized he probably didn't know about Agnes and Lahel's deeds.

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"Lahel! Retreat!"

The bloodborne girl Agnes shouted.

Without hesitation, she turned and fled, jumping out of the VIP room window like a nimble rabbit.

The middle-aged knight Lahel acted quickly too.

He grabbed the priceless carved porcelain nearby and hurled it towards Charlotte and the others.

Charlotte slightly shifted to dodge the porcelain, while President Layton's face changed, and he hurriedly caught the falling porcelain before it hit the ground, sighing in relief when it didn't break.

Taking advantage of this distraction, Lahel followed Agnes and jumped out the window to escape.

"Sebastian, chase them."

Charlotte commanded.

"Yes, master!"

Sebastian swiftly jumped out of the window and gave chase.

Charlotte didn't follow but instead looked at President Layton, who was guarding the porcelain, with a meaningful smile.

Feeling guilty under Charlotte's gaze, President Layton gritted his teeth and turned to the receptionist.

"Send people to assist Mr. Sebastian in capturing them!"

After giving the order, he carefully placed the porcelain back in its original spot, and then apologized to Charlotte.

"Countess... I'm sorry. We had no idea they were the ones who attacked you, and that they used necromancy..."

"They must have used a private contract. Our Mercenary Association can only supervise the general process, not the specific details."

Charlotte nodded slightly but didn't respond, continuing to look at him with that half-smile.

She understood some about mercenary matters. With so many registered mercenaries in the North, no one could know all the details of every contract.

Especially contracts for tasks like "ambushing nobles," which are grey areas in the mercenary world. Even if a mercenary contract is signed, it might indeed be as President Layton said—a secretive contract with undisclosed details.

However, understanding aside, dissatisfaction still needed to be expressed.

After all, Agnes and Lahel were registered mercenaries with the Northern Mercenary Association. Such grey contracts were part of the association's own oversight issues.

Under Charlotte's meaningful gaze, President Layton felt immense pressure.

The Mercenary Association had good intelligence. He knew what the young Countess had done in Silver Mine City recently.

To have quickly regained control of the Castell silver mine, this young countess was not to be underestimated.

Although the Mercenary Association was a continent-wide organization and didn't fear the nobles of any kingdom, the headquarters was different from the branches. Even a strong dragon can't suppress a local snake.

And besides, he didn't want to get involved in the Crescent Kingdom's political struggles.

Thinking this, President Layton resolutely said.

"Countess, this is our fault. The Mercenary Association will definitely give you a satisfactory explanation!"

Charlotte nodded slightly, then casually sat down in the room and picked up a piece of parchment from the table.

Her mood turned strange as she read it.

It wasn't just any parchment—it was the deed to Spire Castle, certified by the Holy Court, dating back to the Crescent Kingdom's great expansion period.

Agnes had fled quickly but left the deed behind.

At this moment, Sebastian returned, but he was alone.

"Did you lose them?"

Charlotte raised an eyebrow.

Sebastian's expression was displeased.

"They disappeared into the crowd. In the blink of an eye, they were gone, likely using teleportation magic again. But before they escaped, I fought with them briefly. Lahel should be seriously injured again."

"Doesn't matter. They can run, but they can't hide forever. This time, they even left their property behind."

Charlotte handed the parchment to Sebastian, who took a look and then had a strange expression.

"A sacred deed? Do they really abandon everything? Without this, they lose their legal rights. The Holy Court manages the Crescent Kingdom's land rights."

"Well, let's see if they dare to return now."

Charlotte chuckled softly.

She turned to President Layton with a smile.

"Sir Layton, Agnes and Lahel attacked a kingdom noble. I'll take their deed. Any objections?"

President Layton, steeling himself, replied.

"No... no objections! Attacking a kingdom noble is a serious crime. As the Lord of Castell, you have the right to reclaim their land in Castell."

He then patted his leg and said.

"I'll immediately arrange to revoke their mercenary status and issue a high-priced bounty for their capture..."

"Good, but the bounty content needs to be decided by us."

Charlotte said.

"Of course, as you wish. Just inform us, and we will cooperate."

President Layton responded respectfully.

"No need to rush the bounty. I'll take care of it after the Northport banquet."

Charlotte closed her eyes for a moment, then suddenly said.

"Banquet?"

President Layton was puzzled, not understanding the connection between the bounty and the countess' banquet.

But Charlotte didn't explain further.

Seeing this, President Layton didn't press the issue and, after apologizing again, respectfully saw Charlotte out.

"Master, should we contact Baron Angus of the Valais family? Spire Castle is nearby, and if we order him to send troops now, we might still catch those two bloodbornes."

"Although they escaped again, Lahel was wounded by me. Baron Angus should be able to handle them."

Sebastian asked respectfully.

"No, we turn around and head to the outer district."

Charlotte shook her head.

"The outer district? What are you planning to do?"

Sebastian was puzzled.

Charlotte smiled slightly.

"Of course, we're going to catch some little mice."

With that, she closed her eyes to sense again and chuckled.

"This time, they haven't teleported far. They're still in the city."

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