Journey of Vampire Lord
Copyright© 2025 by Vamp
Chapter 29
“Everything ... I only did as I was told by that man! I just did what he told me to! Kihee! Kihehehe!” Maverick’s frightened appearance disappeared, and he started screaming and laughing in a strange manner. He broke free from Partec and Breen, who had been holding him in place, then started talking like a madman.
“T-to think that I tried to kill that man! Yes ... Because of the request I received from Bertel Tywin, I tried to ... Hiek! What did I even try to do?! Uhu, uhuhuhu!” After confessing his sins, Maverick suddenly began to cry with his hands wrapped around his head.
Camara and the mercenaries were stunned. It was then...
“Kihehehe! S-someone like me needs to die. Yes. People like me don’t deserve to live! We don’t!” Maverick suddenly shouted, then jerked around.
“Grab him!” Camara shouted.
Partec flung himself towards Maverick, but it was already too late.
“Ehehehehehe...!” Maverick rushed towards and threw himself out the window. No one had expected such a dramatic turn of events.
Thud!
“What the...”
Partec and Breen stuck their heads out the window, then stiffened at the sight. After falling down, Maverick had been pierced by a sharp wooden picket installed inside the moat. An unpleasant silence descended after the sudden, vain death of Maverick.
Eugene’s voice broke the silence. “His testimony was unmistakable, and we have many witnesses. Lord Tywin, what will you do?”
Camara flinched and turned around. The face of Bertel, his younger brother, was crumpled into a hideous expression.
“B-brother. Surely you won’t believe in the words of a madman, right? He only said what he wanted to before killing himself...”
“Sir Eugene, you can take care of it however you want.” Camara gave his permission. Bertel’s eyes filled with emotion, and Eugene raised him up by the neck.
“I will give you a choice.”
“H-how dare...”
“Unsheathe your sword. Beat me in a place where all of the castle’s residents are present. If you win, I will let it slide.”
“...!”
Everyone in the room was shocked by Eugene’s declaration, including Bertel. To demand such a thing from a person who attempted to kill him could only mean one thing.
“Wow! You really are dogged. To make your first slave commit suicide.”
“That was his original purpose anyway.”
After answering Mirian’s words, Eugene equipped his armor. It was maintained and polished. Originally, it was a job for the knight’s aide, but Eugene had Mirian. She was fast and agile, and she liked expensive objects. As such, she volunteered herself to take care of the plate armor, and she performed better than expected.
“Anyway, it will be very useful to have a few of such slaves. Some of my seniors said that high-ranking members of the Night’s Tribe had dozens of slaves as their guards.”
“That’s something to think about later. It would be dangerous to have that many slaves right now. Moreover, anyone could tell that Maverick wasn’t in his right mind. If I kept him alive, it would have definitely created more trouble for me.”
“That’s true. All humans are full of suspicion.”
Eugene had turned Maverick into his slave in the dungeon. Vampires drained blood for two purposes – they either restored their energy and filled their stomachs, or they turned the subject into a vampire by enslaving them.
The former only required sucking the subject’s blood, while the latter required a slight injection of the vampire’s own blood into the subject.
Enslaving was quite draining for the vampire, so Eugene had attempted it only once in his previous life. The slave obeyed all his orders without question but was not very strong nor mentally sound.
Like how Maverick behaved before death, the identity of the slaves would be quickly discovered because of their altered mental state and their fear of sunlight. As such, Eugene only used Maverick to have him confess his sins, then ordered him to commit suicide.
“But I’m glad the muddy catfish played its role before dying. How dare he try to hurt our esteemed Sir Eugene?” Mirian complained in spite.
In the first place, Mirian had no affection for humans. She only acted and thought in the best interest of her contractor, Eugene.
“You have to make that ice-faced bastard pay as well! If you let someone like him slide, he’ll do something stupid again,” she continued.
“Did I say I would let him slide? Why do you think I gave the lord a choice?”
Eugene could have gone to Maren and asked for a formal trial, but the procedure was cumbersome and could only be held with a priest in attendance. Above all, he could not punish Bertel with his own hands if he headed to Maren.
However, by forcing Camara to make a choice, Eugene could now punish Bertel ‘legally.’
“As expected, the slyness of the Tribe of the Night! Kieeeek! This is why I like our esteemed Sir Eugene!”
After putting on his armor, Eugene placed his battle axe on his belt and left.
‘The grim relationships from my past life have finally come to this point.’
It was Jung Dircht who cut off his head, but Bertel was also one of the biggest contributors. Including this lifetime, Bertel had already attempted to kill him twice. Thus, Eugene had no intention of letting him off.
“The second young master tried to kill Sir Eugene?”
“Apparently he instigated Sir Maverick. The knight confessed the truth in Lord Tywin’s presence before committing suicide.”
“Huh! That’s truly...”
At sunset, the people of the Rose Castle were all called out by the lord’s order. They were in a state of extreme confusion. The subjugation was only half-successful, and one of the participating knights had committed suicide. On top of that, the younger brother of the lord had instigated a knight to kill Sir Eugene, the hero from the dungeon opening.
The story sounded especially convincing since there were several witnesses present at the scene. Moreover, the lord himself had made an announcement.
But they were especially surprised by something else.
“A duel of honor...”
“So what happens if the second young master wins?”
“He gets to keep his honor. But...”
The people of the Rose Castle had known Bertel for a long time. They knew him for three or four years at the shortest, and some knew him ever since he was born. Nevertheless, they were not convinced that Bertel could achieve victory over Eugene.
Even if it was a practice battle, the opponent had once bested Galfredik. In addition, he pulled out the head of a troll with his bare hands and killed two orc warriors with a single spear in the City of Maren. Even though it had been only a few months since he made his appearance, the outstanding skills of the knight Jan Eugene were already deeply imprinted on the people of the Rose Castle.
“H-he will win! No matter what anyone says, Young Master Bertel is the strongest knight in our territory, right?”
“Right! He will definitely win and regain his honor. I’m sure he will prove his innocence, that he’s only being framed!”
Many people were gathered in the courtyard. They chatted in loud voices filled with anxiety. Under the red sunset, the mercenaries created a circle in the middle of the courtyard.
The lord of the castle, Camara, appeared on the balcony while facing the dry wind. The gust brought along with it the changing of seasons.
“We shall begin the duel of honor!” Camara announced without giving any explanation. The mercenaries opened the way.
Eugene was armed with plate armor and a battle axe, while Bertel wore full-body chainmail, a surcoat embedded with the symbol of the Tywin family as well as a shield and a shortsword.