Tome of Blood

"A blood earl named Hall? But as far as I know, there seems to be no earl rank among the several blood clans living in seclusion in Castel and the surrounding area."

Sebas frowned.

After thinking about it, he added:

"Of course, my understanding of the blood race is also very limited. The few blood races I know are also relatively loud in the extraordinary world, especially the mercenary world. The blood race has always been low-key, and many of them have even been sleeping. People forget... You know, some blood races even wake up to find that their castles have been demolished because they slept for too long. Well, maybe it’s a blood race that I don’t know, especially those who came from deep sleep The old guys who woke up in the middle of the night."

"Master, I remember that Ms. Anna once provided you with a piece of information about the blood race. Is there any relevant information mentioned in it?"

Charlotte shook her head slightly:

"Most of the information provided by Ms. Anna is from the blood clan of the Ness clan. The part about the New Moon Kingdom is mainly concentrated on the Shedete clan. The lunatics of these dark families are more active in the hinterland of the New Moon Kingdom, especially in the capital, but here It is in the north of the New Moon Kingdom."

"However, she did mention several blood clans living in seclusion in the Principality of Roman, but she did not mention the Earl named Hall."

"Why don't you ask the Necronomicon again? It should know something about its master, right?"

Sebas asked.

Charlotte's face darkened:

"I've already asked. Apart from knowing that the former owner's name is Hall and that he is a fourth-generation blood clan, that trash book spirit doesn't know anything else."

"Perhaps it really has something to do with the reason you said. The fourth-generation blood clan is also quite ancient. Maybe it is really an old guy who has been asleep for many years."

"However... it doesn't matter who Earl Hall is. If the information provided by the Necronomicon is good, he should have been killed by that vampire named Agnes."

"The current 'Earl of Hall' is disguised by Agnes's knight named Lachel."

Having said that, Charlotte's expression is a little weird:

"From this point of view, maybe there has been something wrong with the plan of the Ness clan, but they just don't know if they know it."

After hearing Charlotte's words, Sebastian's expression was also a little strange:

"That would be interesting. If that's the case, as long as the Necronomicon is still with you, we'll just wait for them to come."

Charlotte nodded slightly.

She thought so too.

"but……"

Charlotte changed the subject again:

"It's too passive to just wait for them to come by themselves. Since it has been confirmed that the Nass clan is behind the scenes, maybe before the banquet, we can also visit the blood clan of Castel first. They may know something."

"The blood clan has a very deep concept of the sphere of influence. For me, the Nass clan is an invader, but for them... why not?"

Sebas's heart moved, and then he was eager to try:

"Are you finally planning to visit the blood races around? Who do you want to visit first?"

Charlotte thought for a while:

"Who is the blood race closest to us that you know?"

Sebastian replied respectfully:

"That should be Viscount Laval. Viscount Laval is the honorary president of the Northland Mercenary Association. He has made many friends in the mercenary world. I visited him once ten years ago when I was traveling in Castelland. "

"Of course, he is a Viscount, but he is not a nobleman of the New Moon Kingdom, but a Viscount of Blood in terms of blood."

"At the same time, although he is a vampire, he behaves quite decently, and hardly drinks the blood of intelligent creatures. He is considered a disciplined sect among vampires."

"Viscount Laval?"

Charlotte's heart moved slightly:

"That Raval from the Valdrat clan?"

Sebastian was a little surprised:

"You even know?"

"It was mentioned in the information provided by Ms. Anna."

Charlotte said.

"But...is it okay? That's the blood of the Wild Clan. I remember that you seem to have some conflicts with the Vadrat Clan."

She glanced at Sebas.

Sebastian's expression was a little unnatural:

"It's okay, Viscount Laval is from the Discipline faction, and the blood of the Discipline faction is also an exile from Valdrat. Otherwise... I wouldn't have visited ten years ago."

Charlotte's heart moved:

"Viscount Laval... also lives in seclusion in Beigang?"

"Of course, he is the honorary president of the Northland Branch of the Mercenary Association, and the branch of the Mercenary Association is in Beigang."

"Do you know the exact address?"

"Well, if I remember correctly, he's been in the branch all the time."

"Tsk, it's far away in the sky and right in front of you! If that's the case, it's much more convenient. It's better to hit the sun than to choose a date...Let's visit the branch of the Mercenary Association tonight."

Charlotte laughed.

...

"Miss, they have called us more and more frequently for Void meetings recently. I am really worried when we will reveal our secrets. I even feel that they are already a little suspicious of us..."

"Besides, they are recovering Mithril and trying to control the Castel Territory. They must be planning some terrifying conspiracy."

The middle-aged knight Lahair said worriedly.

"What are you worried about? Let them conspire against them. Anyway, it has nothing to do with us. The sky is falling and there is a tall man standing on top of it. Even if it's a headache, it's the little Earl of Castel who has a headache!"

The blood girl Agnes shook her head and said.

The middle-aged knight couldn't help muttering:

"But I don't think the little earl is tall..."

Agnes gave him a blank look:

"A metaphor! It's a metaphor!"

The middle-aged knight hesitated:

"Then we..."

"We continue to fish in troubled waters. It's best to figure out what they are doing. If we don't know, we can find a way to get some benefits. It's okay to be suspected, we can run away anyway!"

Agnes said.

As she spoke, she poked the middle-aged knight's elbow again:

"Okay, don't make a bitter face. It's hard to come to Beigang and have a good time here. You have to go to the association to go through the formalities at night, and hang up our commission by the way."

The middle-aged knight's eyes twitched:

"Are you really going to sell the castle? With all due respect, under the circumstances that we may have been suspected now, if we put up a commission on the black market, will it attract the attention of those people?"

"The earl of blood is too rare, even the one you were able to kill back then was because he had been sleeping for too long and was too weak, and he was poisoned... I am very worried that even if we do find an earl, it is likely to be one of those One of the guys."

"Today's warning has also been confirmed. They should not kill Earl Castel unless it is absolutely necessary."

Agnes was silent.

Her expression changed, and she finally gritted her teeth and said:

"Since that's the case, let's do this...we don't directly seek the blood clan of the earl level, but directly entrust the auction. After we get the money, we go to the black market to find other Chi Yang to sell! Anyway, Chi Yang is not only the earl of blood! "

"As long as you complete the commission of the third prince and get the order of enfeoffment of the kingdom, that's enough!"

The middle-aged knight Lahair was silent.

After a long time, he sighed:

"Miss, the third prince... will he really keep his promise?"

After hearing what her knight said, the blood girl Agnes also fell silent.

After a long time, she sighed softly and said quietly:

"We are already blood races, is there any other choice?"

"He is the royal family after all. No matter whether he will redeem his promise or not, even if there is only a slight possibility, we should give it a try."

After speaking, Agnes patted her face:

"Okay! Let's take a step and see! No matter what else, let's sell the castle first! Before he loses his vest, he will make a fortune!"

...

It may also be that they gradually realized that the Earl really didn't plan to meet any nobles before the banquet. After returning to Beigang, the requests to visit Charlotte suddenly decreased a lot.

Charlotte was uncommonly relaxed.

It might be strange to say that she is leisurely, after all, as a lord who has just taken office, according to common sense, she should be very busy.

But that's the way it is.

Charlotte is temporarily refusing to visit, the cabinet of the earldom is also temporarily suspended, and the municipal officials are dealing with the affairs of the direct-controlled territory... Apart from looking through the detailed information of some territories, Charlotte really has nothing to do at present .

The only busy mining workshop has already been taken care of by Sebastian.

In fact, this can be regarded as the normal state of the nobles of Miria.

As a matter of fact, the nobles of Myria, who are lords and managers, often do not manage the territory by themselves.

As long as they control the extraordinary power, as long as they coordinate properly, they can use high-level officials and low-level nobles to control the territory. As for the specific management...it is normal to delegate power.

The lord, on the other hand, only needs to make decisions on major matters.

In fact, many extraordinary nobles may instead focus more on improving their strength and being responsible to their lords.

Especially those nobles who entered the lord's cabinet.

Rather than worrying about the management of their own territory, they may be more concerned about how to fulfill their obligations to the lord every day, and how to intrigue in the higher-level aristocratic system...

And for a lord like Charlotte who has neither fulfilled his duties in the Principality nor fully controlled the territory, it is really normal for him to be idle.

More decentralization, more confrontation.

The advantage of doing this is obvious, that is, the nobles of Myria can free their hands and have more energy to do other things.

But the disadvantages are also obvious.

If the lord's strength is weak, it is easy to be emptied, especially when the two generations of nobles are handed over, problems often occur.

In a sense, this is also the reason for the predicament that Charlotte encountered after returning to the territory.

This is also the norm in Miriam.

Thinking in another way, Charlotte believes that the situation faced by the newly appointed Duchess of Boulder, Eleanor, may not be much better than her.

To put it bluntly, Charlotte herself is a rebellious boy of Boulder.

Of course, idleness is relative. While Charlotte insisted on practicing innate magic, while familiarizing herself with the affairs of the territory, time passed quickly.

It was night in the blink of an eye, and the time agreed with Sebas to visit Viscount Laval at the Mercenary Association also arrived.

Like Boulder City, Northport is divided into an inner and outer city.

Among them, the inner city is located on the shoal island where the city was first built, also known as the inner island area, with more land than waterways; the outer city was reclaimed and expanded by mages for hundreds of years, with more waterways than roads. Also known as the outer island area.

As an institution that has existed since the establishment of Beigang City, the Northland Branch of the Mercenary Association is located in the Inner Island District, not too far from the Earl's Mansion in Charlotte.

Considering the special nature of the person to be visited, Charlotte didn't say hello in advance like visiting other nobles, but directly boarded the family's carriage when night fell, and went straight to the Mercenary Association branch with Sebas.

As for why not choose daytime...

In Sebastian's words, Viscount Laval likes to sleep during the day, and only sits at the guild at night.

This is Charlotte's first visit to the resident of the Mercenary Association.

There is also a Mercenary Association in Boulder, but the scale is not too large, and the resident is relatively simple, but the branch of the Mercenary Association in Castelland, which was once a paradise for adventurers, is obviously much more luxurious, and it looks like a small Earl's Court.

However, perhaps because hundreds of years have passed, as the Dark Forest has shrunk, the mercenary organization in the Castel Territory has also gradually declined.

Up to now, although it seems that the branch of the Mercenary Association is very grand, in fact, there are not many mercenaries coming and going, and it can even be called deserted.

The Castel family logo is still very authoritative.

The moment Charlotte's carriage stopped, the mercenaries standing guard at the entrance of the Mercenary Association's branch immediately rushed into the branch.

And after a while, Charlotte saw the staff who had obviously uniformed their clothes rushing out.

The leader is an old mage, bringing a slight pressure on Charlotte.

That turned out to be a mid-rank mage with silver moon strength!

However, at this moment, Master Yinyue had a smile on his face when he saw the carriage, and that smile was even a little flattering.

He came to the carriage, saluted Charlotte respectfully, and said with a smile:

"Leighton, the president of the Northland Branch of the Mercenary Association, has met the Earl! I wonder what the Earl's order is when he comes to the Mercenary Association?"

Charlotte was a little surprised:

"you know me?"

President Layton smiled and said:

"Of course, the Castel family is the big sponsor of our association. The day after you set off from Boulder, the portrait has already spread throughout the association."

Charlotte: ...

It was only then that she remembered that besides the family's own knights, the most frequently employed escorts for her family's caravan were mercenaries from the Mercenary Association.

Seeing the enthusiasm of the Mercenary Association, Charlotte didn't keep it secret, but straight to the point:

"Mr. Layton, I am here this time because I have something to call on His Excellency Laval."

However, after hearing what Charlotte said, the mercenaries of the Mercenary Association suddenly looked at each other with inexplicable expressions.

Even Master Layton, the branch president of the Mercenary Association, froze.

Charlotte quickly sensed something was wrong.

"Mr. Layton, could it be that... His Excellency Laval is not here now?"

she asked.

The old mage sighed:

"My lord, this matter is a long story. It's windy outside. Please enter the guild first. Let's talk slowly."

Charlotte was puzzled.

However, she nodded and entered the branch surrounded by mercenaries.

Not long after Charlotte's carriage entered the Mercenary Association, two figures, one large and one small, also appeared in front of the Mercenary Association.

"Huh... finally arrived, I was exhausted on this journey."

The blood girl Agnes wiped the sweat that didn't exist on her forehead and said.

"Miss, if you are too tired, we can call a carriage."

Beside Agnes, the middle-aged knight said respectfully.

"Carriage? No! It's too expensive! At least three intanas for a trip! We don't have much money, so we need to save some money!"

The girl shook her head.

"Okay, let's go in quickly! Finish the matter quickly! Then go prepare for the banquet in two days' time, and then steal...ah no, take back the Book of the Dead and scare the little earl!"

As she said that, she took the lead and walked towards the hall of the association with a look of excitement on her face.