Episode 331

Bacchus’s words made Zeke’s eyebrows twitch.

“The Emperor wants the remains of Gio Luvern?”

Preserving the bodies of saints or holy knights was a common practice from the Holy Empire to the Holy Kingdom. However, Zeke had never heard that the remains of Gio Luvern, the first Holy King, were still in the Holy Kingdom.

Originally, the Holy Kingdom founded by Gio Luvern worshipped the God of Light, but the current Solar Order revered the Sun God, who had diverged from the Creator God, leading to differences in doctrine. From the Holy Kingdom’s perspective, while they acknowledged Gio Luvern as a saint, there was no need to preserve his remains.

“The relics of Gio Luvern. Even the Holy Kingdom couldn’t enter, so the artifacts and remains were left untouched.”

Zeke looked at Bacchus and spoke.

“The Emperor wants Gio Luvern’s remains. Where did you get this information?”

“If you want to make a deal, guarantee the safety of me and my companions. Then I’ll give you all the information.”

Zeke pondered Bacchus’s words for a moment before nodding.

“Alright. Let’s do that.”

With Zeke’s agreement, the oppressive atmosphere that had filled the chapel dissipated. Bacchus, momentarily relieved, coughed as his strength left him. Roban, watching Bacchus with concern, supported him.

Zeke suggested to Bacchus, “We should move to a different place.”

Bacchus nodded, patting Roban’s head as he said, “Roban, wait here for a bit. I’ll be back soon.”

Roban nodded with a fearful look in his eyes. Bacchus turned to Zeke and said, “Let’s head upstairs.”

Bacchus and Zeke climbed the narrow stairs to a space above the chapel. It seemed to be Bacchus’s hideout, with an old bed and clothes scattered about, remnants of daily life.

Bacchus offered a seat and said, “I heard you like tea, but given the circumstances, I can’t offer you any. Sorry about that.”

In response, Zeke took out teacups, a teapot, and hot water from his inventory. Bacchus’s eyes widened in surprise. Zeke brewed the tea and poured it into their cups. Bacchus savored the aroma.

“It’s a good tea. My mother would have liked it too.”

“Isn’t it strange for someone who killed his own mother to say that?”

Bacchus frowned at Zeke’s words. “I didn’t kill my mother.”

“Sir Carly confirmed Carmilla’s death. Are you denying it?”

Bacchus fell silent for a moment before speaking slowly. “The information about the Emperor seeking Gio Luvern’s remains came from my mother.”

“What?”

It had been months since Bacchus supposedly killed Carmilla. It seemed impossible for a dead Carmilla to know about the Emperor’s recent actions and intentions.

“Explain how that’s possible.”

Bacchus took a sip of tea before beginning his story. “You know my mother was a vampire, right?”

“Yes, Sir Carly told me.”

“Did you also know she was a progenitor, a descendant of the royal vampires?”

Zeke looked surprised. “Carmilla was a progenitor? Wait, did the head of the family accept her knowing that?”

“Arthur Draker is… a complicated man.”

Zeke agreed. Despite both being Arthur Draker’s sons, neither considered him a father.

Bacchus continued, “As a progenitor, my mother was bound to Arthur Draker. She sought refuge with Sir Carly to find a way to escape his grasp.”

“Wasn’t it because she was a vampire and a threat to the family?”

Bacchus nodded. “That was part of it, but not the main reason. She wanted to break free from Arthur Draker’s control and reclaim her true progenitor powers. If she succeeded, she could wield the full power of the royal vampires, rivaling even the Black Knights.”

“True progenitor powers. So Arthur Draker’s control prevented her from awakening them.”

“Yes, she eventually found a way to break free. That’s why I pierced her heart myself.”

“You killed Carmilla to free her from her bonds? Is that a metaphor?”

Bacchus shook his head. “No, it’s literal. Progenitors can be resurrected during a full moon ritual, even if they die. They lose some power, but under certain conditions, they can’t truly die.”

“A being that can resurrect even after death.”

Zeke hadn’t known progenitors had such abilities.

“So you killed Carmilla to break her bonds and then performed a resurrection ritual?”

“Yes, my mother is currently recovering her strength, free from Arthur Draker’s control.”

Zeke understood why Bacchus had killed Carmilla, who had been held hostage.

“Hmm, but how did Carmilla learn about the Emperor’s interest in Gio Luvern’s remains?”

“There are countless powerful men across the continent who desire the company of a beautiful vampire woman. They possess information even the Black Stage can’t uncover. They consider my mother their matron and tell her everything.”

“So Carmilla runs an intelligence network through vampire women?”

“As a progenitor, my mother has lived a long time. She left traces everywhere, even before Arthur Draker bound her. Red Eye is one of the seeds she planted.”

Carmilla’s influence seemed to extend across the entire continent.

“Ordinary vampires have lifespans similar to or slightly longer than humans. But a progenitor could live many times longer.”

Zeke asked Bacchus, “What does the Emperor intend to do with Gio Luvern’s remains?”

“The aging and ailing Emperor desires only one thing.”

Bacchus spoke slowly. “He wants to use the first Holy King’s remains to restore his body to youth and health.”

“Even the Holy King’s remains wouldn’t have such power.”

“He must know a special method, which is why he’s seeking the remains. Perhaps he knows how to harness the miraculous power the Holy King wielded.”

As a healer, Gio Luvern could use both light magic and miraculous powers. If the Emperor could access the Holy King’s power, he might not achieve immortality, but he could certainly rejuvenate his body.

“We must prevent him from reaching the Holy King’s relics first.”

As Zeke organized his thoughts, Bacchus spoke again.

“Zeke Draker, I have a proposal for you.”

Zeke turned to Bacchus, who was sweating nervously.

“What do you want to propose?”

“You may not know, but my mother and I are searching for traces of the royal vampires.”

“To fully restore your true progenitor powers?”

“Yes, it’s the only way for my mother to completely escape Arthur Draker. Though she’s free now, if he seeks to bind her again, we have no way to stop him.”

“Does Arthur Draker know Carmilla is alive again?”

As Zeke conversed with Bacchus, he realized Arthur’s interest might not be solely in Bacchus.

“Why does Arthur Draker want to keep Carmilla captive? Even as a rare progenitor, she shouldn’t be of such concern to the head of the Draker family.”

Even if Carmilla, as a progenitor, unlocked her true powers, she couldn’t possibly challenge Arthur, who possessed Grand Master-level strength.

Bacchus hesitated before speaking slowly.

“The being my mother and I seek isn’t just any royal vampire.”

He paused before continuing.

“We’re searching for traces of Caligula, the Vampire King.”

Zeke frowned at Bacchus’s words.

“The Vampire King?”

In his past life, Zeke had never heard of a Vampire King. Reflecting on it now, Bacchus and Carmilla likely perished during the continental war in his previous life.

Zeke asked Bacchus, “Are you asking me to help find traces of Caligula?”

Bacchus nodded. “If you do, we’ll become your eyes and ears, Zeke Draker.”

“Hmm.”

“Our information network is faster than the Black Stage’s, especially in the shadows. After dismantling the Syndicate, this offer should be quite tempting for you.”

As Bacchus said, after dismantling the Syndicate and developing the Kingdom of Cusco and the southern islands, maintaining an information network had become more challenging. The Syndicate’s network had suffered some losses with its dissolution.

Zeke pondered Bacchus’s offer.

“If I hand Bacchus over to the Black Stage, the head of the family promised a great reward. He rarely uses such expressions, so I might even receive the rank of Guardian Knight. But if I help, I could gain the cooperation of a progenitor.”

After deliberating, Zeke looked at Bacchus and spoke slowly.

“Why reveal all this to me and ask for my help? Do you have a reason to believe I can find Caligula’s traces?”

“The one who sealed Caligula on the surface was none other than an Elder Dragon. The Elder Dragon used the Fairy King’s power to seal him. With the Fairy King’s blessing, I believe you can find the traces and break the seal.”

Zeke had never heard that an Elder Dragon had sealed the Vampire King.

“If the Elder Dragon sealed it, there’s a good chance we’ll need to open the sealed area through the system.”

With the Absolute Compass in his possession, Zeke found tracking the traces to be a straightforward task.

After pondering for a moment, he nodded.

“Alright, I’ll accept your proposal.”

Bacchus looked genuinely surprised at Zeke’s response. He had hoped for this outcome, but he had also expected it to be a tough sell. Yet, Zeke had agreed more easily than anticipated.

“Really?”

“Why, do you not want me to?”

Bacchus shook his head. “Of course not.”

Zeke settled into a more relaxed posture and looked at Bacchus. “Then tell me properly. Why did you pass false information to Sister Kali?”

Bacchus hesitated, looking uncomfortable, before speaking slowly. “I didn’t foresee it either. I double-checked the information before passing it on… I never imagined it was a trap set by Siemens.”

“If that’s true, it makes me question your abilities as an informant.”

Bacchus shook his head, flustered. “It might sound like an excuse, but if I’d had more time, I would have realized it was a trap. But everything was happening so fast, and suspicions about me were growing within the Black Stage. Souma was bringing in internal inspectors, so I had no choice. I knew the information was incomplete, so I warned them to be cautious.”

Kali had indeed acted hastily upon receiving the information about the Pirate King from Bacchus. If she had been more cautious and prepared her forces more thoroughly before heading to the island, she might not have fallen into the trap so easily.

While Zeke’s suspicions about Bacchus weren’t entirely dispelled, he saw potential value in making a deal.

Zeke retrieved a contract from his inventory. Bacchus looked at the contract on the table with the same surprise he had shown when he first saw the teacup.

“You carry these around?”

“You never know when or where you’ll need to make a deal.”

Zeke drafted the contract according to their agreement and signed it. Their names appeared on each other’s wrists as a mark of the pact.

After tucking the contract back into his inventory, Zeke turned to Bacchus. “Alright, but why did you kidnap the Pope’s successor while you were on the run? The Black Stage claims you plan to hand him over to the Emperor and seek asylum in the Empire.”

Bacchus shook his head. “It’s quite the opposite. The Emperor enforces policies of racial oppression. There’s no way a human supremacist emperor would grant asylum to a vampire.”

He paused before continuing. “The traces of Caligula were linked to the Holy Kingdom. I intended to rescue Rovan and extract information from the Pope.”

Contrary to the Black Stage’s assumptions, Bacchus had been trying to protect the successor and send him to the Holy Kingdom.

Still puzzled, Zeke asked, “Then why keep him here instead of sending him to the Kingdom of Badoka?”

Bacchus’s expression darkened. “Because taking Rovan to the Kingdom of Badoka right now would put his life in danger.”