CA – Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Although Tang Qiu said to forget it, she actually still planned to help Lucille clear out the remaining monsters in Edry. However, before they had even walked out of the Fallen Crow Forest, she felt her consciousness suddenly blur.
“Wait.” Tang Qiu reached out and grabbed Lucille’s arm. Fighting back the growing sleepiness, she looked up at Lucille with a slight smile and said softly, “If I faint here, you won’t just leave me behind, will you?”
Lucille felt that although Tang Qiu was smiling as she said this, her tone seemed to contain a threat. She gave a rare quirk of her lips and said faintly, “Not necessarily.”
Seeing a smile on Lucille’s face for the first time, Tang Qiu was stunned for a moment before raising an eyebrow and teasing with a grin, “I hold a grudge.”
She let go of Lucille’s arm, wanting to check the parchment she kept close to her body inside her clothes before she passed out. However, the moment her hand slipped inside to feel for it, the expression on her face froze. She muttered to herself, “...Damn.”
Lucille watched her with confusion. Just as she was about to ask what was wrong, she saw Tang Qiu’s eyes close as she suddenly pitched forward. Lucille instinctively reached out and caught her.
Tang Qiu fell unconscious into Lucille’s arms, her head resting against Lucille’s shoulder. Her warm breath ghosted across the side of Lucille’s neck, making her turn her head slightly in discomfort. The priest’s hair had returned to its original color, and a few mischievous strands had escaped from her hood, mingling with the red hair that fell over Lucille’s chest.
Lucille held Tang Qiu, staring blankly at their intertwined hair. The golden and red strands, tangled together, looked incredibly intimate, much like the two of them in their current embrace.
Her hand slowly moved down to grip Tang Qiu’s wrist, her thumb gently stroking the swollen bite marks on the inside of her wrist.
Since her mother’s death, Lucille hadn’t had such intimate contact with anyone. The warmth of another body made her feel extremely uncomfortable. She wanted to just leave the woman there, but after a moment’s hesitation, she bent down and lifted her into her arms.
Leaving the depths of the Fallen Crow Forest, she found Anna and the others waiting where they had been left. The thick fog had dispersed, and most of the monsters had gone to the main city, leaving only a few scattered ones behind. Protected by the light barrier Tang Qiu had left before she departed, Anna and the others were perfectly safe.
After being separated from Tang Qiu and Lucille, the Sengo Mercenary Squad had also retreated here. Jane had been killed by the black crows, and the squad had lost two other members. David and his remaining companions were all covered in wounds.
Seeing the miserable state of David and the others, Anna was extremely worried about Lucille and Tang Qiu’s safety. If she hadn’t known that going in would be suicide, she would have already charged in with her people.
After an anxious wait, Anna finally saw Lucille’s figure and couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. However, she sucked that breath right back in when she saw the unconscious Tang Qiu in Lucille’s arms. She exclaimed, “What happened to Grace?”
Lucille frowned and glanced at her.
Anna caught Lucille’s look, paused for a moment, and then compliantly asked, “Marshal, are you alright?”
Lucille gave a cold snort.
Anna looked at her with some surprise. After a careful inspection, she discovered that the gloom and melancholy in Lucille’s eyes had completely vanished. She had even deigned to respond to Anna’s “nonsense” question.
Normally, Lucille’s “bad moods” would last for ten days or so; she shouldn’t have returned to normal this quickly... A flicker of doubt crossed Anna’s eyes, and her gaze subconsciously fell upon Tang Qiu. She raised her hands, intending to take the priest from Lucille.
Lucille sidestepped slightly to avoid her, placing Tang Qiu in the carriage to keep company with the other priest, Yelena, who had fainted from pain.
The dark formation in the Fallen Crow Forest had been destroyed, but the monsters it had already created were still rampaging through Edry. Charles II was in a panic. Hiding in the heavily guarded palace, he still felt unsafe and even ordered his men to find Lucille, fantastically hoping to summon her back to the palace to protect him.
When Anna, Lucille, and the others returned to the main city and heard of Charles II’s order, they scoffed out loud. Everyone in Edry knew that Lucille was not someone Charles II could command.
Perhaps only Charles II himself was still living in a dream.
The monsters were concentrated mainly in the capital. With Lucille’s return, the knights finally had their backbone and began to handle the monsters with ease.
Clad in armor, Anna rode her horse over to Lucille’s side and said in a low voice, “We found these in Davis’s private treasury.” She moved back a little, revealing several knights behind her holding trays.
Lucille glanced back. There were about a hundred bottles of Holy Water of Light on the trays. She nodded. “Distribute them.”
Anna gestured to the knights behind her, then curled her lips into a slight smile. In a good mood, she said, “He made a contribution, at least.”
The Holy Water of Light was the bane of monsters. Using what they had seized from Marquis Davis, plus what Charles II had “contributed,” Lucille’s knight legion sacrificed a third of its members but, after a fierce battle that lasted a day and a night, finally killed the last monster.
However, Edry had suffered heavy losses, and the main city was nearly reduced to ruins.
Tang Qiu remained unconscious for a day and a night before waking up. Her aching body and exhausted spirit kept her from sitting up immediately after opening her eyes; instead, she lay there in a daze for a while.
Her memory stopped at the image of Lucille pinning her down to feed. Lucille had been biting her wrist, but her eyes were fixed on Tang Qiu’s neck with an aggressive intensity, as if she wanted to devour her whole.
Recalling this, Tang Qiu’s brow furrowed involuntarily. Although it had been a matter of necessity at the time, and she had mentally prepared herself, Lucille was still far more dangerous than she had imagined.
She struggled to lift her heavy arm. Her sleeve slid down, revealing the bite marks on her wrist, which were red, swollen, and bruised. Against her fair skin, they looked particularly shocking. And because Vampires were creatures of darkness, she couldn’t heal the wound with light magic.
Speaking of which, light magic was supposed to be the bane of darkness. Priests could use it to heal others, but when they themselves were injured by a dark aura, they couldn’t heal themselves.
Can it only save others, but not oneself? Tang Qiu gave a helpless smile and threw back the covers, intending to get out of bed.
Her priest robes were wrinkled from being worn for several days, and the collar had been torn by Lucille. Tang Qiu had no choice but to take out a new set to change into.
As she unbuttoned her robes, a bit of ash fell from her clothes to the floor. Tang Qiu looked down at her stained undergarments, frowned, and cast a cleaning spell on herself. Then she took out a fresh set of undergarments and changed into them as well.
After changing her clothes and tidying her messy hair, Tang Qiu composed herself before pushing the door open. The first thing that met her eyes was an unfamiliar environment.
A maid walked over. “Your Excellency the Priest, Lady Anna asked me to convey her kindest regards to you.”
Tang Qiu put on a smile and said in a gentle tone, “Thank you. Could I trouble you to take me to her?”
The maid shook her head, looking troubled. “Lady Anna has gone to see Marshal Lucille.”
“However, the other priest is here. I can take you to her.”
The other priest... Yelena... Remembering what had happened to Jane, Tang Qiu’s mood grew heavy. She nodded, motioning for the maid to lead the way.
Although Anna held no title, her manor was in no way inferior to Marquis Davis’s estate. Tang Qiu followed the maid for a while, then remembered something and asked, “Are the members of the Sengo Mercenary Squad here as well?”
“They left after they had rested.”
“...Have the monsters been driven out of Edry?”
The maid nodded, her tone reverent. “It’s all thanks to Marshal Lucille.”
Lucille... Tang Qiu rubbed her still-sore wrist through her sleeve, her eyes lowered. A marshal beloved by the people of Edry.
A Vampire who held Edry in the palm of her hand.
She felt it would be best to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.
Yelena had woken up earlier than Tang Qiu, but according to the maid, she had locked herself in her room ever since and hadn’t taken a single step outside.
The door was shut tight. Tang Qiu raised her hand and knocked, waiting quietly for three seconds. When there was no response, she announced herself. “It’s me, Grace.”
It was quiet inside for a moment, then the sound of heavy footsteps approached. The door opened to reveal a haggard-looking Yelena. She glanced at Tang Qiu and said with red-rimmed eyes, “Come in.”
Tang Qiu sighed silently at her condition.
The two of them tacitly avoided mentioning Jane. Yelena’s injuries weren’t serious, but because they were inflicted by a monster, they were healing very slowly. She would have to endure the physical pain for some time. “Did you kill the Black Witch?”
“No.” Tang Qiu didn’t know how Lucille had gotten her out after she’d fainted, nor how the dark formation had been dealt with, so she could only respond to Yelena’s question with a smile.
Yelena frowned, her expression bleak. “I want to kill her.”
Tang Qiu opened her mouth, trying to bring her back to reality. “There will be chances in the future, once your training is over and your light magic has improved.”
“I’ll have to continue my training alone from now on,” Yelena said, her voice low.
Tang Qiu smiled but said nothing.
Yelena waited for a moment, but when Tang Qiu didn’t respond, she couldn’t help but ask directly, “Can I follow you?”
“...My training is almost over,” Tang Qiu replied, gently refusing her. “I’m also very lost about the future.”
“Actually, I came to find you to discuss when we should go see Marquis Davis.”
Although they hadn’t been the ones to kill the Black Witch, their ultimate goal had been accomplished.
After collecting the rest of the Holy Water of Light, she would also get an exit permit from Davis, and then she could find an opportunity to leave.
Her objective unachieved, Yelena’s face grew even darker. She didn’t pay close attention to what Tang Qiu said next, merely staring down at her own arm.
Tang Qiu, who had been speaking, paused. After a moment of contemplation, she took two bottles of Holy Water of Light from her Space Gem and placed them beside Yelena’s hand, comforting her in a gentle tone, “The setbacks we encounter during our training are tests given to us by the Light Goddess.”
“I believe you will pass them in the end.”
She was unwilling to let Yelena follow her because she could barely manage her own affairs right now and had no time to look after someone else.
While she didn’t mind Yelena’s occasional hostility, she had no desire to be a babysitter.
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