Elsewhere.
Royal Academy of Magic, Headmaster's Office.
This room, located at the top of the Mage Tower, was astonishingly spacious. The vaulted ceiling was magically painted with a vast starry sky, where countless stars slowly rotated, emitting a soft glow. Bookshelves surrounded the room from floor to ceiling, packed with heavy, ancient volumes that exuded an aura of history.
The air was thick with a faint scent of ink mixed with the shimmer of magical power.
The elderly Headmaster Griffin sat behind a massive oak desk. He looked at the doll-like girl before him, his face filled with an uncontrollable mix of excitement and awe.
“Miss Cecilia.”
Headmaster Griffin's voice trembled slightly with excitement; he even used a formal honorific.
“I... I swear upon my two hundred and seventy years of life that I have never seen a talent like yours. This is simply... a miracle carved by the hands of the gods.”
Cecilia sat obediently in the chair opposite him, her small feet dangling in the air, swinging gently.
She wore a small, academy-issued white dress. Her honey-gold hair fell softly over her shoulders, making her look as pure as a true angel.
“Is that so?”
She tilted her head, her obsidian eyes filled with nothing but pure curiosity and innocence.
“Could you tell me how you do it?” Headmaster Griffin leaned forward, his aged face full of a thirst for knowledge. “That... ability to remember everything at a glance and instantly understand it all. It defies all known laws of magical learning.”
Hearing this question, the smile on Cecilia's face became even sweeter.
She placed her small hand over her heart and answered in a tone that was almost like a chant, filled with childlike sincerity.
“Because of love.”
Headmaster Griffin was stunned.
Love?
He looked at the girl's pure, flawless face and her eyes, which held not a single trace of impurity, and the shock in his heart was beyond measure.
What a pure, simple answer.
It wasn't because of some bloodline, some divine artifact, or some forbidden knowledge.
It was simply because of “love.”
A pure love for knowledge, an instinctive yearning for truth.
Only one with such a pure heart could remain unbound by any worldly rules and reach the very source of magic.
Headmaster Griffin suddenly understood. He leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh, a smile of relief appearing on his face.
“I see... I see... I was too caught up in the details.”
He looked at Cecilia with admiration and affection.
“Rest assured, Miss Cecilia. The academy will provide you with the best resources. Whatever you wish to do, we will support you with everything we have.”
Cecilia gave a sweet smile and nodded vigorously.
“Thank you, Grandpa Headmaster.”
...
The capital, the backstreets.
Inside a filthy wooden shack, Bell picked up a slave contract written in twisted runes.
This was a vicious contract specifically designed for non-human races. Once signed, the slave's soul would be branded, making them forever unable to resist any order from their master.
The prerequisite was that the slave themselves must have completely lost the will to resist.
Bell picked up a quill, dipped it in ink, and signed his name at the bottom of the contract.
Bell Lucas.
He did not hesitate for a second.
He needed a tool.
An absolutely obedient tool that could die for him.
The moment the contract was signed, a red light flashed on the parchment. It then turned into a streak of light and sank into the forehead of the small figure in the iron cage in the corner.
Bell pushed the heavy bag of gold coins toward One eye, then took a bag of blood from him and tossed it through the iron bars.
“It's yours.”
The figure in the cage moved.
Those dull, lightless red eyes erupted with a terrifying light the moment she saw the blood bag.
She lunged forward, tearing the leather bag open with her sharp nails and burying her face in it, making greedy, beast-like sucking sounds.
Gulp.
Gulp.
As the fresh blood poured in, her sickly pale skin began to regain color at a visible rate. Her cracked lips became full, and her matted silver-white hair seemed to regain a hint of luster.
One eye opened the money bag. Seeing the yellow gold coins inside, the flesh on his face wrinkled into a smile like a blooming chrysanthemum. While counting the coins, he vaguely reached out and unlocked the iron cage.
“The second requirement,” Bell spoke coldly. “Information on a top tier assassin.”
“Heh, well...” One eye tucked the gold coins away and rubbed his hands. “The law is strict in the capital; there aren't any established organizations like that here. However, if you really want to look, you can try Akasha City.”
“Akasha City?”
“That's right. The largest adventurer's guild is there. It's a melting pot where all sorts of people gather. As long as you can pay the price, let alone killing a person, there are people who would even take a job to slay a dragon.”
Akasha City.
Bell memorized the name.
He walked to the cage, reached out, and yanked the girl—who was still greedily drinking blood—straight out of the cage.
The girl stumbled, and the blood bag in her hand fell to the ground. She tried to pick it up, but Bell pulled her away roughly.
“Name?”
The girl winced from his grip. She lowered her head, not daring to look at Bell, her voice as faint as a mosquito.
“Lilian... Lilian Carlyle.”
“Understood.”
Bell casually grabbed a relatively clean rag from a nearby pile of junk and threw it over Lilian's head, covering her face and silver hair.
He pulled her along as they walked out of the disgusting shack one after the other.
Outside, a few rays of grimy sunlight filtered through the gaps between the buildings above the alley, dappling the ground.
Vampires were light-sensitive.
Bell instinctively wanted to quicken his pace to lead her away from the patches of light.
However, Lilian, whom he was pulling, suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She didn't dodge, nor did she let out a cry of pain.
Slowly, she lifted her head.
The rag covering her head slid off.
She stood there in the sunlight, letting the warm rays pour over her pale face.
She closed her eyes.
What appeared on her face was not pain.
It was a kind of... deep, almost pious enjoyment.
Bell was stunned.
From the wooden shack behind him came an incredulous, high-pitched scream.
“Holy shit! A Daywalker!”
One eye's eyes bulged so far they almost fell out of his sockets. He rushed to the doorway, staring intently at Lilian as she bathed in the sunlight, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.
A Daywalker!
An anomaly among vampires! A mutation that legends said might not appear once in centuries!
Not only were they not afraid of sunlight, they could even draw strength from it!
They were the nightmare of all vampire hunters!
He... he had actually treated a Daywalker like a piece of dying, common stock and sold her for only thirty gold coins?!
One eye's heart bled; he was green with regret.
But as he looked at the contract in Bell's hand that had already taken effect, he could only punch the doorframe in frustration.
The contract was sealed; it was too late for anything.
Bell also recovered from his shock.
He looked at the girl enjoying the sunlight.
She was a tool even more useful than he had anticipated.
He didn't waste any time. He pulled Lilian along and left the filthy alley.
He took her to a clothing store to change out of her tattered prison rags.
A simple grey dress was put on Lilian. Although it still couldn't hide her thinness, it at least made her look like a human being.
After doing all this, Bell led the silent vampire girl, who did nothing but follow behind him, back to the Royal Academy of Magic.
The magnificent white gates looked holy and solemn in the afterglow of the setting sun.
Bell stopped at the entrance.
Rate on N.U.
