What the fuck has happened to me? Drac thought as he was leading their group through the snowy tundra.
He was upset that he let it slip that he had a ship. That was supposed to be a secret, and usually, he would not have any problem keeping it the secret as well. But he doesn't know what has taken over him ever since his transformation, he can't control his impulses.
Helen even asked him whether he had a ship, but he didnt reply. His brain just refused to come up with a plan or excuse. And for some reason, he doesn't have the guts to turn around and face them as well.
Usually, he is very good at making stuff up to fool others. But now he has no idea what he should do…
Drac stopped walking abruptly and gestured for everyone following him to stop as well. His hands went for the sword on his waist and he unseathed it. “There is someone or something in our front… And that being is dangerous,” he whispered.
His new ability enabled him to sense the being. He could feel it in his bones that the being was strong, definitely stronger than him. He could sense the exact distance between him and the being as well, but other than that he did not know what he was looking at, whether it was a Vampas or mana wielder, it was difficult to tell.
Suddenly goose bumps rose all over his body.
Instinctly he immediately turned around and yelled, “RUN!” His legs started moving, and with one swipe, and picked up Helen on his shoulders, with Agatha on his other one.
He would have only taken about 10 steps from his original position when something fell from the sky in front of the group. Something very heavy.
“HALT!” the voice rang in Drac’s ears, and he stopped after creating some distance. He looked back to see a hulking 8-foot-tall man with blond hair standing before him. The man was wearing very heavy black armor, with the Lord Itab’s cross itched on its chest.
“Run, and you will get killed like the dogs you are,” the man spoke in a venomous tone. Drac looked around and everyone had stopped and were looking at the man with fear in their eyes.
“YOU!” the man pointed towards the leader of the soldiers, “Identify yourself,”
With hesitation, “My nam.. My name..” She gulped hard and then replied, “My name is Shirley.. I am the captain of the 45th squad of House Sumor,”
“Why did you start running as you sense me?” the man asked.
“I.. I.. I..I” Shirley stammered then pointed at Drac, “He is the one who sensed you. And ordered to run away,”
“The mana-less runt?” the man said.
This angered Drac. He let go of the mother and daughter duo and said, “Now hold on for a second skidmark. Have you seen your size and face.. You would run from you,”
The man didnt expect his answer and was taken aback a little bit as well. So he changed the question, “How did you sense me? You are not even a mana wielder,”
“I dont know,” he simply.
“You dont know?” the man said, “That is suspicious as hell,”
Drac scoffed, “Oh.. So, I am suspicious. The guy who weighs two tons and fell from the sky is not suspicious… Yet I am,”
The man opened his mouth to say something but immediately closed it. In the end, he was not able to come up with anything, so he said, “Whatever, I will let her deal with you. Follow me, everyone,”
Helen and the soldiers were clearly intimidated by the man but followed him nonetheless. Drac also started following him, what no one noticed was the big smile that he had on his face.
Fear. The certainty of cruel death. They were before him, staring him in the eyes, making his heart beat faster and faster. It was in his nature to get excited about such events. But after his transformation, that feeling had grown to that of ecstasy. It was giving him a high that he had never expirenced before…
The hulking man took them through the snowy tundra and eventually brought them to a small clearing made in the forest. Based on the Sumor Logo flags waving all around the camp, they soon understood where the giant was taking them.
“Father,” Agatha exclaimed, and everyone in the group started smiling.
The camp was more like a small village. There was a 6 feet wall made of freshly cut wood surrounding the village, and there were centries present every few meters. No one could get in or go out of the camp without being seen. Inside the camp were several make-shift tents, and in the center of the tents was a grand white color big tent with the cross of the Lord Itab embroidered on every side.
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As they ventured into the camp, the soldiers stopped and gave a look to Helen and Agatha. But they didnt even notice the giant as if they had been living with the being for some time now. The giant took them to the centermost tent, which was big enough that the giant was able to get in with no trouble.
They saw there was a huge table in the center of the tent, with what looked like the map of Alanor Kingdom in the middle. And hunched over the map was the Lord of Sumor family himself, Daniel.
“FATHER!” Agatha yelled, making Daniel look up. With the sight of Helen and Agtha, Daniel bloomed a very big smile on his face and ran towards them. The mother and daughter duo started crying while in Daniel’s arms. The Lord of the Sumor family had his eyes closed and was embracing his family.
Drac was sure that if there weren't any guards or people around, Lord Sumor would have even cried a little bit.
After they separated Daniel spoke, “It is so great to see that you are both well and unharmed.. I dont what would I have done if you guys…” In the end, he did start choking, so the lord realized it would be for the best if doesn't say anything.
Helen seeing his husband's condition looked around and spoke, “Everyone.. Could you please leave us all alone for a moment? I would love to have some private word with my husband here,”
The soldiers and attendants made their way out, and so did Drac and the hulking inquisitor.
Camp itself was a chaotic mess, soldiers were running here and there, and several tents were filled with injured soldiers who were just a few steps away from death. In the chaotic mess, Drac soon found a stool to sit on over the edge of the camp to think about what he should do now.
So, Helen knows about a boat. She does not know that it is a mana boat… I can just feign that I was talking about a normal boat here or a ferry that I will be able to get from the harbor. Yes, that would be optimal.
The only reason to tell them the truth would be to get some more manpower in order to get the boat up and running. But as he can't be in public places now. Even now, he was having feral urges to go berserk in the camp, there are several mana wielders here who are just a few steps away from death. And that itself was very tempting. The only way that he was able to control himself was because he was full for now.
Speaking of food, I need to get my hands on some blood orbs. I dont think that I would be able to make the journey to another continent without some food.
That was also a challenging part, as protecting the blood orbs would be those Ulaspas demons. He might have become faster after his transformation. But surely could not go toe to toe with them.
I also need to find that bitch, Victoria. She has my satchel. I need it back.
But these were all secondary problems for him. The major problem that he was facing currently was the inquisitor in the camp. He does not understand how those giant inquisitors work or what their code of conduct is. The only thing that he knows is, the sooner that fucker realizes what he was, the sooner he would die.
This black inquisitor didnt kill me on sight. Which means either he has not realized what I was, or is pretending to not know. The latter is mostly improbable…
Drac then started to think back to when he first encountered the inquisitors.
He started thinking back, to realize that the albino woman didnt want to show her face in public. And there could be only two reasons for it. Either she was a famous dark mage and didnt want to be recognized, or she didnt want to be associated with what was happening in the kingdom in no way or form.
Based on what he saw that day, the woman went to fight with inquisitors. As he doesn't know the nature of the dome that he saw that day, he assumes that maybe the inquisitors have a way of distinguishing between good and evil mages. But how, he was not sure of that.
Can I dupe the big fellow to get information? He thought the idea seemed to be the only viable option at that moment. Running was not an option, he didn't think that he would be able to outrun the big fellow.
After making up his mind, he pushed himself up and started making his way towards the inquisitor…
Drac found the big fellow sitting tree stump and cleaning a six-foot-tall heavy sword at the corner of the camp. He saw that most soldiers and attendants were ignoring the big fellow altogether, which didnt seem like a good sign. But he was desperate.
“Hello there,” he said making his way to the giant.
“What do you need,” the giant, paying heed to his presence.
“Just..” Drac hesitated, “Just wanted to apologize for the remarks I made of your appearance and stature… I might hold a little bit prejudice against tall man wielders,”
The giant let out a small chuckle, “Didnt mind it all. It was flattering in some way.. If I look scary to you, then I look scary to Lord Itab’s enemies as well,”
“People tell me that you are an inquisitor, is that right?” he said, trying to make conversation.
The giant let out a small chuckle, “The servants of the Lord Itab are divided by many chapters. And no my friend, I am not an inquisitor. I am a Black Knight.”
“What is the difference between you and an inquisitor?” From where Drac stood, he did not understand what the main difference there was between them.
With a sly smirk, he replied, “Inquisitors are the blade of Lord of Itab. I am the Shadow of that protects Lord’s Kingdom from the shadow,”
“Oh,” Drac said, but inwardly he started to freak out a little bit.
From the sound of it, Black Knights are the warriors who work in shadows to do the dirty work for an organization. From all the movies and the books that he had read about this kind of work is, no one in their right mind would advertise that they do this kind of work.
So there are two things possible. Either the people of the world are so stupid that they were really making this kind of mistake. Or, the big fellow was telling him this because he knows that he would not be able to tell the story to another soul again. After all, the dead man tells no tales…