Chapter 190

Chapter 190

***

It was not an easy thing to travel a region unvavorable to outsiders. It was dangerous, and uncomfortable.

However now that too was near an end. Rickart's party who camped for one night and climbed the mountain from morning arrived at the ruined village. A lonely and desolate wind blew.

Rickart was an outsider here, but ruins were familiar. Because he had seen all kinds of ruins, and had tried making ruins himself too.

Whether Roy and Belynn had become close, or whether they were still awkward couldn't be known, but the two stuck together and roamed the ruins. There wasn't any particularly affectionate conversation.

Rickart looked around the ruins alone. That there were scorched marks that could be so, but what should be said, traces of being systematically torn down were seen.

In this case it was one thing. Someone had obtained construction materials from the ruins. Plaster couldn't be used again, but well-made bricks could be used when building new buildings even if they were burnt.

Moreover white bones or anything like that, traces of people dying weren't seen. Did someone bury them? It was a ruin but a ruin, nevertheless a place where human touch was felt everywhere.

Was it a simple and peaceful village once. It couldn't be known but Rickart looking around the ruins suddenly raised his head and looked somewhere.

Far away, the sight of the morning sunlight hitting a certain peak and shattering finely was seen.

The stranger's words were right. It was a place where sunlight shatters. Sunlight shattering wasn't a metaphor but it actually did. And that must be the quartz mine they tried to mine then stopped.

It was a beautiful sight rare to see but it was also something that had called death. Like a rose all beautiful things existing in the world weren't just entirely beautiful.

"It's a bit different from what I expected."

The voice of a stranger was heard. Rickart as soon as he heard that voice didn't answer but called someone first.

"Roy!"

Thereupon immediately following Roy and Belynn turned the corner and revealed their appearances. Fortunately they weren't caught as hostages or anything like that.

However Roy walked towards Rickart, but Belynn walked to the stranger. Before walking to him, she seemed to hesitate very briefly looking back at Roy but it wasn't to the extent of slowing her steps.

Roy approached Rickart and watched Belynn who was getting gradually further away. His gaze was indifferent but continuously chasing the girl with his eyes seemed like a handful of lingering attachment remained.

It wasn't up to exactly a sense of betrayal, should it be said he knew it would be like that. Anyway Rickart said to the unfamiliar man only after Roy came to his side.

"Keep your promise now."

At Rickart's words the man first lowered the hood covering his nose and mouth. Generally it was a normal-looking face but it was an impression somewhat depressed and haggard.

And besides him people revealed their appearances from all over the ruins. They too finally lowered the hoods covering half their faces.

They were people consisting of men and women from their 20s to 40s. Their complexions somehow resembled the ruins here.

Belynn stood beside the unfamiliar man, and resembling strangely looking at it just they looked like father and daughter or at least relatives.

The man said.

"I am Kalla. As you guessed we are the Benzinen Brotherhood. All from Benzinen village we swore revenge. Dunkel too, Sally too were our members. However Dunkel what should be said, wanted a more dramatic and fundamental revenge."

Seeming like he was going to tell a long story Rickart kept silent for now and listened.

"We wanted a ringleader-centered revenge, and Dunkel wanted the death of all the people living in the Esk region. So he followed Helauman. Because the Count Palatine has such power. However the result is being treated like a dog who lost its master after being thoroughly worked. Even if Helauman was still alive from what I see he wouldn't have granted his wish. Nevertheless Dunkel was enthusiastic. I didn't understand in the past, but I understand now."

Dunkel was the Guild Master of the Beringen Adventurer's Guild but the reality was he was Helauman's lackey, it was a brief explanation about why he became like that.

The man named Kalla watching the sight of the sunlight shattering from afar with seeming tired eyes said.

"Outwardly he says he wants a complete revenge but no. That is a deficiency. An endless hope for what was lost. However a deficiency absolutely unfillable. Revenge is just an excuse deceiving his own self. He needs a father. No matter how harsh, no matter how much he uses him up, even if it is a lie. He needs a person like a father."

The man turned his gaze away from the peak where the sunlight shattered and looked at Rickart again.

"There is no big reason for killing Sally. Just washing her hands and marrying a man from the Esk region must have approached him as a huge sense of betrayal. The reason Sally followed Dunkel around was largely because she pitied him though. Well anyway, Dunkel is following Vampire Papa right now. His role is supplying beautiful boys and providing necessary things. Filling the deficiency by even doing up to that, even we look at it is no longer understood. So I do not expect understanding from you either. Just, now I want you to resolve Belynn's request."

Belynn's request was nothing else but exactly killing Vampire Papa. Ultimately everything connected like this. Starting with the old woman at first, then Sally, Dunkel, and Vampire Papa.

"Suppose I kill Papa, what about Dunkel?"

"We kill him."

Since they couldn't handle the vampire Rickart handles it, and Dunkel they would kill him, that was what they were saying.

To think they themselves would, who were once childhood friends, and comrades who swore revenge together, and also family. Perhaps killing Sally leaped over the line that shouldn't be leaped over.

Rickart pondered deeply. The pondering was exactly from where they made a plan to weave him in. The old woman visiting didn't seem to be a plan, could it be from the time he first set foot in the Esk region?

"By the way using a kid to weave it in seems like an act a bit lacking in class."

"Because you seemed to be wandering. There are no freebies in the Esk region. Whether money or whatever you must pay a price."

"It doesn't matter though. Since a promise is a promise. But what kind of heart is it to kill Dunkel? Sense of revenge? Or is it compassion?"

"It's compassion. Now it has become time to put an end to that pitiful life of his."

"In a neighborhood running on revenge and revenge it's relatively okay in its own way. Guide the way. Whether Papa or green onion root I will kill him for you." (PAPA AND GREEN ONION ROOT (PAPPURI) RHYME IN KOREAN)

Rickart said lightly. However he couldn't be more reliable. Because it wasn't words originating from arrogance, but because he was truly madly strong.

Opponents who aren't human could only be dealt with by equally non-human beings, existences transcending humans. At least a Sword Master or above, or a person possessing the foremost skill among Vampire Hunters who learned specialized techniques.

Sword Masters widely known to the world were the White Sword and Black Sword, Rickart and the previous Emperor's Champion approximately. The rest were only conveyed by unverified rumors, and therefore hiring a Sword Master was an almost impossible task.

Hiring a Vampire Hunter that at least had good accessibility, but finding a truly highly skilled person was harder than hiring a Sword Master.

"We don't know where Papa is either. Because he is so meticulously thoroughly careful, elaborate and cowardly. However, a lackey knows. Raphael. A man who became the boss of Diabol Eska recently."

Rickart knew who Raphael was. The man who was killing the existing boss and his household members in the mountain village he passed by recently. A thought feeling a bit disgruntled in a corner of his heart but 'serves him right' subtly bloomed up.

"I know where that is. And I know who he is too."

"If you touch it wrong Papa might hide. You must handle it swiftly, and carefully."

"You guys take care of the aftermath. Since I will gain the information. By the way what is the vampire elixir thing? The one Belynn had."

"I don't know the full details, but what is certain is it makes one Papa's slave. They say if you drink this liquid your soul connects with Papa."

"Then it's not Holy Oil of Ilya."

"Were you a person believing in things like legends? There is no such thing."

"Well."

After saying so Rickart immediately moved his footsteps. Since he knows where it was, and there was nothing to delay.

Roy followed. However Belynn who merely watched the mood while the adults were talking hurriedly ran to Roy and said.

"I didn't lie."

"Who said anything?"

"Are you angry?"

"No. Why would I."

"......The shoes, I will give them back."

"You take it. I was going to throw them away anyway."

"......If I apologize will you let go of your anger?"

"I told you I wasn't angry. I have to go."

Rickart who had already gone far was standing still and looking this way. Roy hurried his steps and approached his Master and the King he served.

Rickart stared blankly at Roy then asked.

"What are you doing?"

"I talked for a bit. I am sorry."

"No, not that, I'm saying why are you picking a fight pointlessly, to her."

"......I don't know."

"What did you expect the people getting entangled with in this kind of dog-shit neighborhood would be like. Even if it's a kid there must be five snakes inside their belly."

"Indeed."

"It's not 'Indeed', it's to take it into account and accept it. Don't feel sad now. Or just don't give your heart from the start. Whether the soles of the feet blistered or not. Looking at it it didn't seem like she went around walking barefoot for a day or two either."

"Was that why you rejected the Queen two times, Master?"

"......Where did you hear that from?"

"From Mr. Bori."

Rickart who maintained his composure even in the midst of all this tragic entanglement finally ended up crumpling his face.

When night comes the sound of bugs crying was heard exceptionally loudly. They always cried except in winter. Was it reflecting my heart, or was it originally that sorrowful.

It was an ordinary mountain village if saying ordinary, and special if saying special. While the night bugs were crying, the bright shining moon bestowed blessings on the madness-crazed ones.

Several pitch-black shadows climbed the base of the mountain. Seeing them purposefully climb a rugged place that wasn't a path, the intention not to be caught seemed abundant.

The place the shadows headed was the mansion situated at the top in Clorence village, the headquarters of Diabol Eska.

However exactly like a cockroach riding a wall, one shadow climbed the base of the mountain exceptionally fast. It was like a wolf or fox running in the middle of the night.

However the true identity of that shadow wasn't a beast but a person, Rickart.

Rickart pulled the hem of his cloak so it wouldn't make a fluttering sound. Sometimes he climbed the steep slope riding with two legs, and sometimes he climbed riding with three legs.

He stretched and went up rip in an instant, then reached a wall exceptionally lower than other places. Two sentries were deployed there, but they didn't even dream Rickart would come up.

While the two were chatting the moonlight seemed to dart suddenly into their eyes so they shut their eyes tight then died exactly like that. Because that was the sword light reflecting the moonlight. They didn't even know the fact that someone had intruded.

Not even able to scream two corpses collapsed with a thud. The Benzinen Brotherhood people who arrived presently ended up missing Rickart entirely, and merely found the two quietly fallen corpses.

Because he was so fast if saying fast the thought he wasn't human naturally arose. And feeling they hired well that much too.

Rickart rushed squarely to the mansion in a straight line, and securing the escape route and quietly dealing with those approaching was the work for the Benzinen Brotherhood to did.

Roy who fell behind clenched his teeth and chased his Master but it was insufficient capability. Because Rickart had been considerate until now, if he truly moved properly there was almost no one who could follow besides Bori or Ice.

As the Benzinen Brotherhood entered the inner courtyard of the mansion the sound of night bugs crying abruptly stopped. Because the bugs first noticed the murderous sense of incongruity.

Rickart didn't exactly hide and secretly infiltrate or anything like that. Because he naturally knew exactly where the enemies were by presences.

So he was pre-calculating the people to kill and the people who could be spared from several meters away and entering. Perhaps because it was night, looking from afar it seemed exactly like refreshingly sliding on an ice sheet. And in the places he passed by only the sound of people collapsing was intermittently heard.

Sounds and smells, and the sense of incongruity beyond that, or the sense that had no choice but to be called a sixth sense accurately pointed out the exact spot where Raphael was.

Rickart followed that spot up the stairs, and reaching the dark corridor he could hear sounds to the extent even an ordinary person would be able to notice. It was a sound going slap, slap.

Light was leaking out from the crack of the door of the bedroom where Raphael was. Rickart exactly nonchalantly walked without hesitation, and opened the door. Thereupon he ended up seeing the most bizarre, madness-crazed sight while living his life.

Raphael was wearing strange leather clothes, and covering even his head to cover his eyes he was in a facedown posture.

And the one hitting him with a whip was a man wearing clothes a woman might wear. Moreso a man with bushy hair growing thickly on his chest as well as arms and legs.

"Heu-heok! Heu-heok! Dammit! So good! Dammit! More! More!"

"Shut your mouth! You bug-like bastard! You cannot make demands!"

"I, I'm sorry! Heu-heok!"

Although sights of heads or limbs being cut off and blood being sprayed were familiar, since it was his very first time for this kind of sight Rickart froze on the spot. Was this a sin, or a penance?

The two men were so heavily intoxicated in the act they were doing they didn't even know Rickart had entered.

While Rickart didn't know what to did with himself, the Benzinen Brotherhood people rushed in en masse. Only then did the two men who were raising their heat in full swing turn around quickly swoosh greatly surprised.

To the person swinging the whip they rushed instantly and slit his throat with a dagger, and Raphael several people clung to him and pushed him to the wall side then subdued him pressing him down tightly unable to budge.

Kalla held a sharp dagger close to his neck.

"Eok! Eok! W-what!"

"Shut your mouth. Or I'll slice your Adam's apple."

"N, Now now now, Wai, Wait, W-who? Who? A new play?"

"I said shut your mouth. You don't need to know who it is. Tell me the place where Papa is."

"......"

Raphael seemed even more not having presence of mind as he was wearing a leather cover-like thing on his head, but hearing the word Papa his body froze exactly like that.

"......What are you talking about?"

"Do you think we came to find you not knowing? If you try to feign ignorance it will not end well."

Silence flowed for a moment. Just when Kalla was deliberating whether he should intimidate him more, Raphael said.

"I don't know who you, you guys are, but I don't want to know either. But do you understand what act you are committing right now? Just kill me instead."

"No. You will come to beg us to kill you."

"Well."

Saying that Raphael completely clenched his molars tight. A gnash sound was heard, so surprisingly surprised Kalla shoved his dagger into his mouth and forced it open but the poison had already passed down his throat.

Raphael tightened his neck and trembled shuddering then quickly died. Starting from the neck his entire face turned blue in an instant. It seemed to be a very fatal extreme poison.

"......Dammit."

A heavy silence laid down in the bedroom. Even though there were several people, no one couldn't bring up words about the failure of the operation.

Rickart quietly looked at Raphael who had died wearing strange leather clothes then said.

"It can't be helped. We have no choice but to ask an acquaintance."

"An acquaintance you say?"

Because figures related to Papa were so extremely few and almost nothing was known, they couldn't know who on earth the outsider Rickart was saying he would ask.

"Because there is a vampire I know. Named Lehman. He's a bit peculiar though, still since he's ostensibly a High Vampire wouldn't he know something?"

"Lehman?"

"Bahnstein. Lehman von Bahnstein."

Hearing the word Bahnstein, a silence of somewhat different meaning from before laid down in the bedroom. It was a silence somewhat mixed with absurdity.

Because no matter how much they lived hidden since they lived so long there were several vampires known to the world, and no one could touch them and most were High Vampires related to True Ancestors.

The first vampire was Cain, and the 2nd generation was Armant, and Lehman was the 3rd generation. They were existences of a different dimension from riff-raff like vampires, to the extent of seeing through the past unrestrictedly though limitedly or even acquiring precognitive abilities.

But since Rickart said he knew him, they couldn't help being dumbfounded. Simply put the class was different from the likes of Papa, and compared to Lehman such Papa was at the level of a small fry.

Of course whether contact would be reached if they contact him couldn't be known, and whether he would readily help couldn't be known, but in a situation like now there wasn't anything they could did otherwise either. Because dead men have no words.

However what act he did before he died was enough to know sufficiently. Rickart and Kalla, the Benzinen Brotherhood people left their seats leaving the murder scene exactly as it was.

The night bugs began to cry again.