Chapter 282: Snakes hiding in the dark.
While Victor was flying towards Clan Fulger.
He suddenly felt something.
He stops flying and looks in one direction.
"Who is the idiot that is leaking such obvious killing intent?" He looked with his blood-red eyes towards the individual and saw a man with white hair standing on end and blue eyes.
"These characteristics..." The man was very reminiscent of the people he encountered from Violet"s Clan.
The Snow Clan.
The man walks towards a wall in an alley, and he suddenly disappears.
"..." Victor narrows his eyes when he sees this strange situation and focuses his senses where the man disappeared, but he can"t feel anything.
Victor takes a step in the air and appears in the alley where that man was.
Everything indicated that this was just a normal alley, but Victor felt a strange sensation.
It was the same feeling he"d had when he"d found those ruins at the Hunters" Base in Texas.
Victor walks towards the wall, and using his powers, he "walks through" the wall and finds himself in a completely new place.
"I knew..." He looked around and realized he was at the entrance of a large mansion.
"You-."
Realizing that he was seen before the man tried to speak, Victor"s world slowed down, sparks of lightning started to shoot out of his eyes, and in the blink of an eye, he was already ahead of the man.
He looks at the man and sees that he"s a tall, dark man, and he didn"t look like a vampire...
He grabs the man by the neck and forces the man to look into his red eyes:
"Silence." He whispered in a low voice.
"...Yes..." The man looked like a puppet that had all its will withdrawn.
[Master? What"s going on?] Kaguya suddenly asked.
[I do not know yet.]
Victor looked at the man he was holding and thought.
"I have two options, leave him here and interrogate him, or investigate further." Victor doubted the guards would know anything.
[Is Master feeling something...?]
This kind of situation wasn"t unusual to Kaguya, as her master always seemed to get himself into this kind of situation.
...Or should she say that his instincts for finding trouble are pretty good?
[Wrong, I was just curious why someone from the Snow Clan was here.]
[... Huh? What is someone from the Snow Clan doing so far from Agnes" territory?]
[... Well, there are several possibilities, Agnes herself must have ordered something, but now that I"m here, I won"t be satisfied until I kill my curiosity.]
Victor also found it strange that this place was clearly being protected by magic.
It was as if they were trying to hide something.
Victor lets go of the guard"s neck.
"Act normal, forget you saw me here, everything is as usual."
"..." The guard nods his head.
Victor smiles a little.
[Kaguya.]
[Yes, Master.]
Victor suddenly disappears into the shadow world and starts walking around the entire establishment.
Like a shadow, as long as he was in the darkness, few beings would be able to perceive him.
Victor went through every room in this place, and the conclusion he came to was.
[This place is weird...]
[Yes, not just humans, but even werewolves and vampires are here.] Kaguya spoke up.
[....] Victor remained silent and continued searching the place until he found a meeting room.
...
"Gentlemen, is everyone here?" A man with long golden-red hair spoke up.
"Yes." Several men spoke at once.
They were gathered at a round table, and their expressions were serious.
"Four adult vampires, and two older vampires."
[That man is from Clan Snow... That man is from Clan Fulger, the remains I don"t know.]
Victor looked at the golden-haired man and the white-haired man.
"Let"s start the meeting." A bald man with a fierce expression spoke in a neutral tone.
"..." Everyone nodded.
"Countess Annasthas.h.i.+a Fulger has returned to power. She has regained everything she lost and rebuilt the relations.h.i.+p she had lost with her sister." The golden-haired man began to speak.
"...." Victor narrowed his eyes since he didn"t think he would hear his mother-in-law"s name here.
"And not only that, she seems to be getting stronger despite it being at a slow pace."
"An older vampire can"t get stronger all of a sudden." The black-haired man spoke in a neutral tone.
"Black, don"t interrupt." The bald man spoke with a twinkle in his eye.
"..." Black nodded.
"Continue." The bald man looked at the blond-haired man.
"...She"s getting stronger at a slow pace... And she"s acquired a new obsession."
"The new Count appointed by the King of Vampires, Count Alucard."
"...." This information didn"t seem to be new to the group because they all didn"t react much. After all, they all saw what happened in the fight between Natas.h.i.+a and Niklaus.
It was pretty obvious that they seemed to be quite close and have some sort of relations.h.i.+p.
"Anything else?"
"Yes, according to some maids and butlers of Clan Fulger, the Countess is having s.e.x with the new count."
Everyone narrowed their eyes a little:
"...This is worrying..." A brown-haired man spoke up.
"It will be irritating if that irregularity has children with that crazy woman... Just imagining the fruit of those two beings... Won"t the world end?" A man with long blue hair who had a rather weak appearance spoke up.
[Irregularity...] Victor pointed to himself in Kaguya"s world.
[Get used to it, Master.] Kaguya spoke in a flat tone, with a blank expression.
"You"re missing the point here." The bald man suddenly spoke:
"Vampires can"t have children so easily, so it would take a few hundred years. What is more important is the new count"s influence over the four great vampire count clans."
"That man is a disciple of Scathach, so we can deduce that he has some voice within Clan Scarlett."
"And he"s quite close to the Snow Clan heiresses, and Fulger too."
The white-haired man adds, "Don"t forget Countess Adrastea. She is a disciple of Scathach too, so they must have met at some point."
[They really have no idea about my relations.h.i.+ps, huh? They can only make a.s.sumptions.]
[You know, Lady Scathach... She"s quite overprotective about this sort of thing.] Kaguya started to speak.
[Indeed.] Victor flashed a small smile:
[Only beings who have resources like Vlad can pa.s.s through Scathach"s protection.]
[... I even think it"s impossible for beings like Vlad.]
[Oh? What do you mean?]
[Master, you may not understand how impressive Scathach is due to how she reacts to you... But she is a monster in every way possible, she is the strongest general.]
[And as the strongest general, she has knowledge of all sorts of strategies, which is why she values information above all else, and always protects her daughters and people she "likes".]
[...I see...] Victor knew that in a war, information was the most valuable weapon and, because of that, he agreed with Kaguya"s thinking.
[But this only applies to Scathach, right? They must know something about Clan Snow or Fulger, maybe even Adrastea.]
[.... Master, is Clan Blank just a decoration for you?] Kaguya asked with a neutral gaze that was glowing blood red.
[I would be surprised if anyone could get past Clan Blank"s a.s.sa.s.sins and get some important information, my Clan literally watches over Clan Snow 24 hours a day.]
[... Ah.] Victor scratched his face a little, he had honestly forgotten about the Kaguya Clan.
[And not only that, everyone knows what kind of personality Countess Agnes has.]
[... Oh?]
[That woman, she does not forgive traitors, if it is discovered that there has been betrayal by the main clan, they will literally burn them to death without mercy.]
[... Well, as expected of Violet"s mom, I guess?] Victor touches his chin and thinks:
"She just doesn"t do it because she doesn"t have the patience to deal with bureaucracy? After all, she is Violet"s mother. I feel that if Violet had to deal with that kind of problem, she would do the same thing Agnes does."
Just burn it all down, and voila, problem solved.
[Clan Adrasteia and Clan Fulger must have their means of preventing information from leaking out... Although due to the current circ.u.mstances, I think the Clan most vulnerable at the moment is Clan Fulger.]
[Hmm....] Victor looks down in thought and agrees with Kaguya"s thinking.
[Kaguya, can you record this?]
[I"m already doing that.]
Victor opens his eyes in shock a little and soon displays a smile, [... As expected of you.]
[Of course, after all, I"m a hardworking Maid.] She flashed a small smile.
[...] Victor couldn"t help but caress Kaguya"s head when he saw her face since she looked very cute.
Kaguya"s body shook a little, but she didn"t deny Victor"s headpat.
"This is troubling, this man literally appeared out of nowhere, and in less than a few months, he seems to have influence throughout vampire society." The weak-looking man spoke.
"He"s just a vampire baby! And he already has that kind of influence!" The black-haired vampire tapped the table.
"...Stop that bigoted mentality. What kind of baby vampire can stop an attack from a vampire count with his own mouth?"
"Or are you going to tell me you could do it when you were his age?"
"....."
All the vampires fell silent at the bald man"s words.
"Everyone here knows that the irregularity called Alucard cannot be measured by our standards." The bald man continued:
"The pace he gets strong is insane, the pace he gains influence is insane, he"s a monster in every way possible."
[Influence? What is this man talking about...]
[Master...] Kaguya looked at her master with a blank look.
[You literally sleep naked with the three heiresses of vampire counts in your bed, and, not only that, the mothers of two heiresses also sleep naked with you.]
[....] Victor couldn"t defend himself from Kaguya"s gaze.
[But these influences are not mine, but my wives and mothers-in-law. I have nothing to do with it.]
[... If you asked any of your wives to do something, do you think they would refuse?]
[....] Victor was silent again. After all, he knew the answer to that question was...
Noo, they wouldn"t deny a request from him.
[This is what we call influence, with just one word from you, you can literally take 3/4 of the power of the vampire worlds.]
[Hmm...] Victor thought that what Kaguya said made sense. He had never thought of it that way, considering he prefers to use his own strength and achievements, and, because of that, in his fights, he only fights with what he " created".
Which in this case would be his Maids, and his own strength.
Kaguya stops staring at Victor and looks at the vampires:
[Not to mention that the mother of one of these heiresses is literally opening her important place waiting for you to come in and fill it all up.]
Hearing what Kaguya said, the image of Natas.h.i.+a filled Victor"s head:
They were the way they came into the world on a bed, while Natas.h.i.+a was looking at him with an obsessive gaze:
"Husband, fill me up completely~…"
That thought put a perverted smile on Victor"s face.
"Tsk, if it goes on like this, I wouldn"t be surprised if he provokes a revolt to take our king"s throne."
[...Hmm?] Victor"s thoughts were interrupted when he heard what the black-haired man had said.
[s.h.i.+t.] Kaguya broke out in a cold sweat.
Seeing Victor"s interested face, Kaguya cursed these extras for giving her master this idea!
"For that alone they deserve to die!"
Ignoring the men, for now, Kaguya had to get the ideas out of Victor"s mind:
[Master, don"t think bulls.h.i.+t.]
[Hmm? What kind of bulls.h.i.+t?]
[... I mean, a revolution or something...]
[...Hahahaha~.] Victor laughed in amus.e.m.e.nt
[...?] Kaguya didn"t understand Victor"s reaction.
[My dear Maid, taking the kingdom from a person who has ruled for over thousands of years is a very difficult thing.]
[...That"s true.] Vlad has been in power for a long time, and he"s very much loved by vampires, not to mention he"s a 5000 year old monster.
[And I have no interest in ruling either, I prefer to fight, train, spend time with my wives, and get stronger.]
[But I don"t think this applies to your wives. Lady Ruby, for example, seems interested in this sort of thing.]
[Ruby prefers watching anime and spending time in her lab, Sasha prefers to be lazy all day and sometimes watching anime with Ruby. Every now and then, she practices her dagger technique, so she doesn"t feel rusty... And Violet... Well, I don"t need to say anything about her, right?]
[Yes, she prefers to keep the master more than anything.]
[Indeed... None of my wives have ambitions to rule, and the same applies to Scathach and Natas.h.i.+a.]
[Oh...? Master already considers his two mothers-in-law as his wives?]
[Of course...] Victor displayed a small smile and didn"t fall for Kaguya"s teasing.
Kaguya pouted a little.
Victor laughed a little and patted Kaguya"s head:
[But... Yes... If I were to do something like go against Vlad.]
Victor"s smile grew evilly, and his eyes gleamed dangerously:
[I would not make a revolution.]
Gulp.
Kaguya swallowed hard when she saw Victor"s face. He was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with pure hate. It was like the man had killed a relative of his or something.
[I would destroy everything he built, and from the ashes of that destruction, I would create something to my liking.]
Staring into Victor"s face, memories of Victor"s state flashed through Kaguya"s mind.
In the time when he wasn"t occupying his mind with something, Victor would often sit on the floor, and his whole being would seem to be lifeless.
It was as if he had lost the purpose of living, and his condition only improved when Ruby appeared or one of the Maids.
Because of this, Kaguya always stood by Victor"s side when she wasn"t training the Maids.
"The Master state always reminded me of those husbands who lost their other half and went into a coma..."
"The ritual, huh?" The effects of staying away from the wives weren"t that severe because he still had Ruby around and because he"d fed on a lot of their blood before.
"But putting together my master"s personality and the side effects of staying away from his wife, his reaction is quite understandable."
For vampires who marry through ritual, their wife is "everything". If they die, they literally lose their reason to live.
They become an empty sh.e.l.l...
And the only feeling left in that empty sh.e.l.l was pure hate... uncontrollable rage.
"My master will never forgive Vlad... And if one day my master turns his sword to Vlad... What will I do?"
Kaguya"s response was instantaneous, she clenched her fists and thought:
"I must prepare myself to eventually fight with the forces of the vampire king..."