Translator: Mukyuu
Editor: Mikyuu
Though they had been rudely chased away the night before, Singh and Woodrace still arrived at the mansion before noon the next day.
The injury to Woodrace’s mouth has already been healed and no trace of it could be seen.
Singh looked up at the obviously skinnier house and said with a smile, “Looks like our guests are quite enthusiastic about redecorating.”
Woodrace replied, “Are you sure that’s not because of your butler?”
Singh got closer and examined the collapsed portions on either side of the house. He stroked his chin and said, “The right side looks like Louis’s style. You know he always likes to go find the chef’s knife from the kitchen while sleepwalking and then hack at the wall. So when the wall collapses, the upper half of the building is pretty intact.”
Woodrace didn’t say anything, just turned his head around to look at the complete and utter wreck on the other end.
“I remember that to be the master suite,” Singh paused and then added, “once upon a time. I also recall that the window was rounded. I like watching the sky from there in the middle of the night… also once upon a time.”
Woodrace asked without any expression, “Do you think we’ll find the husk of a human or a newborn vampire?”
Singh said with a chuckle, “Or perhaps two naked bodies.”
Woodrace gave him a surprised look.
Singh sighed and smiled. “It’s so great to be young.”
The door hung halfway in the door frame because of whatever had happened last night.
Woodrace reached out to move it aside and then walked into the living room with Singh.
Because of the collapse, the living room’s east and west walls had two giant cracks, which allowed the wind to blow through uncheckered. The candles lit up to reveal a floor covered in dust and debris, which was dramatically different from how they had left it the night before.
“From how it shattered and what remains, the mansion’s load-bearing structure was nicely designed,” Singh complimented. “At least it only lost the east wing and west wing.”
Woodrace asked, “How long do you plan on standing there and congratulating yourself?”
Singh laughed quietly and turned his head to call up the stairs, “Mr. Edward, we’re sorry to be troubling you this early in the morning.” His voice wasn’t loud but he seemed certain that the other party could definitely hear him.
He walked over to the sofa, wiped away the dust on it with his hand, and then turned around to look at Woodrace. “Sit?”
Woodrace remarked, “I’d much rather stand.”
Singh said with a smile, “I thought someone accustomed to wandering would be quite used to this kind of environment.”
“Being used to wandering does not mean lowering one’s living standards.”
Singh shrugged his shoulders and turned around to look upstairs. “Do you think we should go upstairs?”
Woodrace summoned a bat.
“Speaking of bats, I have a better one.” He whistled and, after a while, a bat flapped its wings and flew in. He reached out a hand to let the bat land on it and said with a laugh, “Prilli is on good terms with Edward. I think it’ll be much safer if we let him go up.”
Prilli’s wings vibrated; from the way they were vibrating, it didn’t seem like an agreement.
“Go.” Singh gently flicked something off his arm.
Though Prilli wanted nothing less, he had to fly up. He had seen Baal in an angry state and the only hope he had right then was for Baal to not be in such a foul mood.
—As he hoped for.
The one in a foul mood was not Baal but Wang Xiaoming.
Nobody would be happy after being tortured for an entire night, not even stopping when the house collapsed.
Baal was the exact opposite. All the worry and anger he had experienced the day before vanished after the night.
So when Prilli flew in, all Baal did was whack him from midair and then kick him out the door.
“What is it?” Wang Xiaoming’s eyelids opened a tiny crack as he was mostly still asleep. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to open them more, but he was so utterly worn out that he didn’t even have the strength to lift his fingertips. He had originally thought that the master suite collapsing would be a reason to stop, but who would have thought Baal would carry him shamelessly into the guest suite to continue.
Now that he contemplated things, having one bedroom in a house was the smartest decision.
“Nothing, there was a fly,” Baal answered with a happy smile.
As Prilli struggled and tried to fly back in, he heard what Baal said and almost slammed into the wall. Fly, he actually called him a fly! Maybe he didn’t have any right to speak inside these walls, but he was a fifth generation Kindred. Methuselah, he was still quite highly ranked among the Kindred.
Baal watched as Prilli stubbornly rushed over and simply moved him to the window using instant movement.
So Prilli, who had his eyes closed as he rushed forward, rushed out of the window.
“Ah, it’s almost daylight.” Wang Xiaoming looked out the window.
It actually wasn’t really light, but the sky had turned into a dark shade of gray and the surroundings were somewhat visible.
“Not almost daylight but rather currently daylight,” Baal answered. “This is the brightest it gets in the Kindred Realm.”
“The brightest it gets?” Wang Xiaoming repeated as his eyes got a bit wider. He suddenly asked, “Then what time is it now?”
“Another three minutes and it’ll be noon.”
“Ah.” Wang Xiaoming used his elbow and wanted to push himself up, but he only succeeded in raising his chin.
From Baal’s point of view, those deliberately revealed pale neck and delicate collarbone were clearly a subtle but tempting invitation.
“It is still a bit early,” Baal laughed and leaned back down.
Wang Xiaoming, in the middle of struggling to get up, watched the body that was leaning down and opened his eyes wide in fear. “No…”
“Not a bad idea. I know.” Baal shut Wang Xiaoming’s mouth.
“…” It was supposed to be no more, no more!
Before Wang Xiaoming sank into lust, he accused tearfully.
As Baal wreaked havoc in Wang Xiaoming’s mouth, he accepted the accusation and then lifted his lips slightly. “So it’s not enough, not a problem.”
“No…” Wang Xiaoming’s lips weren’t free for more than a second before they were captured again.
Louis had woken up and already cleaned up the living room.
Singh and Woodrace sat on the sofa, lightheartedly enjoying a rack of lamb and red wine infused with blood. Unlike the day before, these lamb racks were still rare.
“I think, we might be staying for dinner.” Singh raised his head and looked at the ceiling.
Maybe because the mansion was fairly old, or maybe because two walls had holes in them such that wind and sound leaked through, or maybe because the battle upstairs was too fierce, but the long and short of it was that as they were dining, they were treated to a feast in taste and sound.
Prilli flew in from the giant crack on the right and landed on the armrest to Singh’s sofa.
Woodrace put the last bite of the lamb on his tongue and swallowed it. “Even if my life is limitless, I don’t want to waste time.” He stood up and subconsciously touched his lips. “You can finish the rest of the matter by yourself.”
Singh said with a smile, “Of course I can take care of these things myself, but we haven’t seen each other for a very long time and I wanted to have a few more meals with you.”
Woodrace looked at him with hooded eyelids. “When you lie, your gaze turns very sincere.”
“The same is true when I’m telling the truth,” Singh added.
Woodrace replied, “So I’d rather believe you were telling a lie.”
“That’s such a shame.” Singh picked up the glass of wine and took a small sip. He watched with smiling eyes as Woodrace turned into a bat and flapped his wings, crossing the door that wasn’t a door into the sky.
“Louis.” He twirled his wine glass.
Louis, carrying a tray and glass of wine, slowly walked over to the sofa, set the tray down, and then picked up the fork and knife and dug in.
Singh sighed, “I invited you to dine with me, not to watch you eat.”
Louis looked up. “This is the only thing I’m willing to share with you.”
“You won’t even offer me words of comfort?”
Louis put on a professional smile and replied, “As a insomniac vampire who often loses sleep because of extra work, please allow me to maintain my right to silently rejoice at your misfortune.”
Four forty-four in the evening, the sky began to turn dark and the wind that rushed about the living room got colder and colder.
Baal finally carried Wang Xiaoming and walked down the stairs.
Singh looked up from the newspaper and smiled at him. “Very glad that you could remember you still have a guest.”
“You’re not gone yet?” Baal frowned.
Singh smiled self-deprecatingly. “Looks like I celebrated too soon.”
Louis came out with a tray that held a little basket of bread and two cups of warm milk.
Singh remarked, “Suddenly, I don’t think I could bear to part with you.”
Louis said without looking at him, “That is horrible news.”
Singh smiled and said, “Please allow me to introduce myself. I am an Elder of the Giovanni clan.”
Louis set down the basket and glasses onto the coffee table one by one and then put away the tray. “That’s the second piece of bad news I’ve heard.”
Singh’s smile didn’t change as he watched Louis nod politely and deferentially and then disappear into the direction of the kitchen.
Baal gently placed Wang Xiaoming onto the sofa.
Wang Xiaoming didn’t move. The truth was that he didn’t even have enough energy to feel embarrassed anymore.
“Didn’t I tell you to scram?” Baal looked unhappily at Singh.
Singh spread his palms unabashedly. “Guess I’ve accidentally proven that the earth is round.”
“Did you need anything?” Baal asked as he tore off pieces of bread and placed them against Wang Xiaoming’s lips.
Wang Xiaoming gave him a dissatisfied glare.
Singh was about to speak when he heard Baal threaten Wang Xiaoming with a quiet laugh, “Or do you want me to chew it and then feed you?”
… Singh understood and shut up.
Wang Xiaoming imagined how that would look and caved as he opened his mouth.
Baal nodded in satisfaction. “You have to eat as much as you have energy.”
… Get energy?
Wang Xiaoming’s dissatisfaction seemed on the verge of spreading.
Baal feared the man might choke and picked up the glass of milk, slowly tipping it into his mouth.
Singh waited until Wang Xiaoming finished eating and Baal had started to feed himself before saying, “There are only three more days before the handing out of Victory Fruits stops. I was hoping to send you to participate today.”
“Victory Fruit?” Baal’s knowledge of the Sacrificial Night of Fresh Blood was only limited to its ending.
“Yes. They release Victory Fruit every day at 8am, 12pm, and 4pm at the first arena. Only those that have it are allowed to enter the competition.” Singh thought the confusion on Baal’s face was because he was wondering why they couldn’t just give him one, so he explained, “Even with our support, we can’t change the rules of the competition. But with your skills this will be a piece of cake.”
Baal listened with a frown. “Is there a way to get to the Bloodnight Mountain just by winning once?”
Singh blinked and looked at him for a long time, before answering with a smile, “After we establish a clan that belongs to us, we can start such a revolution.”
