Chapter 225 - Vampire Slayer

A few days had passed since the last time Clarice had heard of Regulus, and she couldn’t help but worry. She spent three years only hearing rumors about him and one day he suddenly appeared just fine, but she couldn’t help but worry a lot more than before given the situation… he was walking in a territory that was going to hold a large war.

Once things get going, they probably won’t start because if the Elven forests start to suffer damage, all the elves will fight with eagerness to crush their enemies. Their forests were that much sacred to them.

As if that wasn’t enough, Clarice was waiting for someone at the entrance of the town that her brother was ruling over… she thought that he would keep hidden a lot of things from her, but he was being surprisingly honest… or maybe he was just messing with her telling to send a certain letter and then receive this person who was coming as ambassador of the empire and also reinforcement.

“Envoy… What a joke. I am just an errand girl.”

A few days had passed since she heard that a lot of war vehicles that the dwarves made had entered their territory through the northern and southern parts of the Aeloria Dominion. She knew that a lot of Elves were unsatisfied with their society, but not to the point that they would allow that.

They were taking a lot of risks with this… not only could it destroy a large part of the forests in their lands, but if they fail, they might tarnish their names for the rest of the time. Such a thing never happened in their society and they would be considered disgraces like never before.

“Please… don’t let this war start…”

Clarice had no idea whom she was praying to… perhaps it was because of the person that she was waiting for that she felt like praying, even though she never did that before. She was taught to thank the forest now and then for their good life, but only that much.

While she was thinking about that, she saw a carriage and a large group of paladins approaching in the distance, protecting the vehicle. The ambassador and the reinforcements had arrived… Clarice’s posture straightened up and her expression sharpened. She was supposed to welcome this group, but she couldn’t help but feel her anger boiling. Someday, she will get her brother for this…

A couple of minutes later, the carriage stopped in front of Clarice and from it, just two people emerged from it. The first was a fully armored man in his early twenties who had a neutral expression on his face. He was wearing a full set of silver armor and a silver spear, and a large shield was on his back.

‘They have the same eyes…’

He had blond hair and green eyes. He looked like a normal and calm person, but he had become famous recently thanks to his accomplishments. Many called him the vampire slayer. Despite his young age, he had killed and hunted dozens of vampires… his name was Jacques Dawnshield.

Jacques had in front of his armor and the shield the emblem of the Holy Order. The emblem was a shield-shaped crest that embodies their mission to combat unholy creatures and their diverse composition of paladins, priests, and monks. At its center is a radiant silver sword, piercing a black crescent moon to symbolize their triumph over darkness and abyssal forces. 

The emblem’s design reflects the Holy Order’s values and flexible philosophy. A braided gold and silver border surrounds the shield, symbolizing the unity between their warrior, cleric, and brawler traditions. Flanking scrolls bear the inscription “Faith, Sacrifice, Valor,” emphasizing their guiding principles. The shield’s slight curves soften its rigid form, suggesting balance and humanity within their purpose. The emblem as a whole captures the harmony between their unyielding faith and their practical approach to life.

After Jacques, a young woman in her late teens emerged as well. She was wearing light clothes commonly worn by the priests of the holy order. Clarice wasn’t expecting this one, but she could tell by her eyes as well… this one was also Regulus’ sister. Iri Dawnshield.

“Greeting, I am the ambassador of the empire to help the Aeloria Dominion deal with recent matters. My name is Jacques Dawnshield, and this one is my little sister, Iri. Thank you for coming to receive us.”

“I am Clarice Urikas. It is nice to meet you both.”

Jacques and Iri bowed slightly and Clarice decided to act cordial to them as well… she didn’t hear a single bad thing about Jacques, it was a known fact that he was planning to even abandon his family’s name and inheritance to become the next leader of the holy order.

On the other hand, she only heard bad things about Regulus… his attitude in the places that he had been didn’t help him either. He was supposed to be the cowardly archer that killed one of the human commanders during the skarnash tribelands war with a sneaky attack from behind and then ran away. He actually used a sneaky attack, but it was from behind, and she knew that.

He was also supposed to be responsible for the death of a rich merchant in the war against the Aquarians two years ago, but it was only a rumor that began to spread around now and Clarice heard that he kept his face hidden back then, so it didn’t make any sense.

“My brother asked me to guide you both to his office. Please, follow me.”

“Understood.”

Clarice began to guide the siblings through the town. That was just basically formality. They didn’t need to be guided, but it was still as nerve-wracking for Clarice as it could be since she was trying to maintain her neutrality. Entertaining those who saw his friend as a monster wasn’t something that she wanted to do, but Clarice knew the value that he could get from them… besides, antagonizing them wouldn’t help anyone.

On the other hand, helping them could give her some connections and information that she wouldn’t receive using ordinary means. It was a bit annoying to act like that. She didn’t want to get involved with anyone that could see a part of their family as a worm, but she had to be smart if she wanted to make some change.

“By the way, Miss Clarice. Is it true that someone around these parts helped my little brother cause some chaos?”

Clarice looked over her shoulder and then saw Jacques’ expression. He seemed genuinely curious and still as calm as ever, so she wondered if that was a facade or not. His sister also acted like him, so both of them were hard to read.

“That is right. I was the one who did that.”

“You did? That is surprising. Is there any reason why you would help him cause problems in your own backyard?”

Clarice wondered what she should say at this moment. She stopped to think for a moment to consider some things and then decided to speak up. 

“Three years ago, I met Regulus while he was assuming another identity. Back then, I didn’t know who he truly was. We joined another party and conquered a good party of the Hellblazer labyrinth together.”

“Really? It is hard to imagine Regulus working with anyone. He even killed our sword instructor, after all.”

“He said to me a few things about that instructor. I am not sure that he was fond of him as you were. Didn’t he quit after teaching just for a year?”

“Rowan did that. Regulus wasn’t that eager to fight the way our instructor taught, so he didn’t feel the obligation of teaching him for longer.”

“That would explain why Regulus didn’t hesitate in killing him, when this Rowan person entered the dungeon alone to kill him instead of capturing him, right?”

Jacques remained with his expression unfazed. It looked like he was trained to remain like that no matter the situation, but his first teacher was killed, it was impossible for him not to feel anything about it.

“Anyway, a lot of things happened and the group split after someone caused an incident and tried to incriminate Regulus. I know that humans and elves were involved in that incident, which made some of our friends also swear that they would take their revenge on him. So, I decided to investigate this matter and Regulus showed up here recently. When he learned about my goal, he decided to help me, but we failed and the issues of war began to get in our way.”

“I see. It looks like the image that I had from my little brother is vastly different from yours.”

“You are probably right. I am not sure if either of you tried to get along with the other, but five years is enough for people to change a lot.”

I can’t say that we tried… Back then, we were kids and since then, we have followed very different paths. I can’t say that we are going to be able to see each other eye to eye. Even more so after he killed our sword instructor.”

“Even if it was in self-defense?”

“He could have just surrendered.”

“He didn’t draw his weapon until when your other brother attacked him. Why do you think that your sword instructor would have acted differently?”

“My other brother? Which one? I heard that Ulric and Remi met him in the Skarnash Tribelands, but I didn’t ask for details. Without hearing their side first, I can’t say anything, aside from that your view on the matters is probably very biased.”

“I can’t deny that, but can you not do the same? You speak like when it comes to Regulus, he is guilty until proven innocent.”

“I am very aware of how vampires operate. They tend to enjoy fooling their prey as much as possible and tasting their blood while they are shocked and suffering in agony. It is never a good thing to underestimate them or think otherwise. They don’t live among others because when they see people like you and me, they only see a walking barrel of blood.”

Clarice thought that she would be able to take a glimpse at Jacques’ nature and find some semblance of concern about his brother, but there was no such a thing in his heart. He felt a deeper connection to his sword instructor than his own little brother, whom he saw being ignored and treated badly from the moment he was born… For Jacques, his youngest brother was just another night creature that needed to be hunted down.