Episode 185
“Hey, Mackie, you little punk.”
“Yes, boss!”
“Do you think I’m a joke?”
“Not at all, boss!”
“Then do you think the Shadow Court is a joke?”
“Absolutely not, boss!”
Master Baro spoke, and Mackie, the judge and high-ranking assassin of the Shadow Court, responded with his head pressed to the floor. The other assassins were no exception.
“So, is there a reason you run around calling yourself a high court and bossing the underlings?”
“Well, it’s just that with so many groups under us, we needed some way to differentiate…”
“Smart thinking.”
Dale interjected at that.
“With a chain of command like that, having a higher organization to manage things isn’t a bad idea. It’s actually quite efficient, isn’t it?”
“Thank you!”
Mackie quickly bowed his head, and Master Baro retorted with disbelief.
“You little punk, you left the court to rot in Harlem without a word and now you’re trying to set up your own little kingdom?”
“N-no, it was the decision of the High Court to move the court to Harlem! I was just following orders…”
Mackie explained, and Master Baro quietly swallowed. Piecing together the puzzle wasn’t too difficult.
“Master Baro, who’s the boss of the Shadow Court?”
“Ha, that would be the Shadow Lord standing right in front of me.”
Baro continued in response to Dale’s question.
“So, one of the judges of the High Court was scheming without informing our boss.”
“Are there any other suspicious activities happening in this city?”
Dale asked again, and Mackie momentarily held his breath.
“Ha, our little Mackie here says there are a lot of suspicious things going on.”
It wasn’t hard to read the answer from his reaction.
“I was just following the High Court’s orders…”
“What did the High Court command?”
“They told us to ignore and keep silent about the ‘events’ happening in certain districts of this city…”
Dale’s expression froze at those words.
“So, what’s happening in this city?”
“We were ordered to remain silent about the crimes occurring in the Whitechapel area of East Harlem. Recently, there have been frequent murders of prostitutes and disappearances of young boys. Similar orders have been issued in the Free City Alliance…”
“So the High Court ordered silence on those crimes.”
“Yes!”
“What was the reason given?”
“They only mentioned it was for some kind of ritual offering.”
Murders of prostitutes, disappearances of boys, sacrifices.
Dale frowned. The Shadow Court, after all, was a successor to a heretical sect worshiping the Shadow Goddess, claiming to be an assassin guild and a cult. The Shadow Lord had distanced himself from the old ways by becoming the new leader of the organization.
At least on the surface, none of the High Court’s upper echelons openly opposed the Shadow Lord’s intentions. The twin heads of the Shadow Court, the Sword of Shadows and the Shadow Saintess, were loyal to Dale.
But that didn’t mean the entire Shadow Court, or the High Court, was aligned with the Shadow Lord’s vision.
Just as the hardliners of the Black Tower once resisted Dale’s father, the Black Duke, he now understood a bit of his father’s struggles.
“I figured as much.”
It was nothing new.
“Master Baro, you said you weren’t fond of the fanatics in the Shadow Court?”
“Ha, you could say that.”
“It’s time to uproot those fanatics.”
In a world where even they couldn’t fully grasp the size of their own organization, it wasn’t surprising that someone would exploit it.
“Ah, hearing that really gets me fired up. But…”
“Don’t worry about the Shadow Saintess. While you’re away, trusted members of the Grave Guard are protecting her.”
“Ha.”
Master Baro chuckled awkwardly and turned his head.
“Now, Mackie, my boy.”
“Yes, boss!”
“I’m planning to clean up some trash. You don’t want to end up in the garbage bag, do you?”
“Absolutely not!”
Mackie frantically nodded in agreement.
“Then spill everything you know about the High Court in the next five seconds.”
“Recently, when the entire family of the Count of Wallachia was massacred and their relatives sold the estate, a noble from Britannia purchased it!”
Mackie answered, and Dale’s shadow twitched at the mention of Wallachia. The Count’s estate wasn’t far from Harlem.
“He was called Gilles de Rais, a man who claimed to be the standard-bearer of the Holy Maiden during Britannia’s war of independence. Fortunately, he was released without charges after cooperating with the Empire, thanks to his strong influence within the kingdom.”
As that name was mentioned, Dale’s shadow twitched again. Master Baro continued without missing a beat.
“So, why bring up this noble from Britannia?”
“The High Court ordered us to follow the commands of ‘Count Gilles de Wallachia’!”
“What else did he command?”
“He ordered the abduction of devout children from the city to be secretly transported to his estate!”
“Oh dear, the kidnapper bought an imperial estate and became the Count of Wallachia. Does he have a past he wants to clean up?”
A noble’s surname comes from their estate. If they own multiple estates, they usually take the name of the most powerful one.
For example, the Duke of Saxony might hold several baronies and counties within the Empire, holding multiple titles as a baron and count.
“Moreover, the sudden sale of the estate by the relatives after the massacre isn’t ordinary.”
“Without connections in the Empire, a noble from Britannia couldn’t pull this off.”
And the ones backing him are the High Court of Shadows.
“We’ve caught a big fish.”
“Ha, indeed.”
After hearing the story, Dale replied, and Master Baro shrugged in agreement.
Meanwhile, at the Wallachia estate.
Gilles de Rais, now known as the Count of Wallachia, was there.
Alongside the demon sorcerer Prelati and members of an organization known as the “Consortium” he had contacted within the Empire.
“Ha, I never imagined we’d meet again here.”
A comrade of the Consortium smiled at the Count of Wallachia.
”…!”
“Yesterday’s enemy is today’s ally. What a splendid saying.”
It was the witch with blood-red hair. How could he forget her? Known as a power player in the Red Tower alongside the Crimson Duke, she wielded significant influence within the Empire. During the kingdom’s war of independence with the Holy Maiden, she had unleashed unforgettable hellfire upon his homeland.
“L-Lady Scarlet…”
“Delighted to see you again. Or should I call you Count of Wallachia now?”
The true nature of the Consortium that Gilles de Rais faced was beyond his wildest imagination.
“Now, let’s raise a toast to our new member of the Consortium.”
Lady Scarlet lifted her glass as she spoke.
“Jack hasn’t joined us yet.”
The demon sorcerer Prelati interrupted her, but Lady Scarlet sipped her drink unfazed.
“He’s probably busy indulging in his hobbies in the back alleys. Well, shall we start our meal?”
She said, and the servants unveiled the dishes.
“Aaah!”
A maid screamed and collapsed on the spot. Lady Scarlet smiled, unfazed, revealing sharp fangs beyond her lips.
The dishes were there.
Each one retained the shape of a human.
“Drinks in a glass lack flavor, don’t they? The same goes for food, wouldn’t you agree?”
At that moment, the members of the Consortium rose from their seats.
As they turned to the screaming, horrified maids, they revealed their monstrous forms. Blood splattered. It was a feast of beasts, devoid of noble grace or etiquette. A scene of predators burying their heads in human bodies, devouring entrails.
“A-ah…”
In the face of this demonic madness, Gilles de Rais trembled in horror.
“What’s the matter, knight forsaken by God?”
Lady Scarlet asked, seemingly amused by his reaction, but Gilles de Rais’s horror was short-lived.
“No, no…”
Disgust, indescribable vileness, yet these feelings didn’t stem from their evil.
“──It’s not elegant!”
Gilles de Rais stood up, slamming the table as he shouted. The Consortium’s movements paused, and Lady Scarlet maintained her silent smile.
“There’s no grace, no decorum, no elegance! It’s neither beautiful nor elegant! I cannot tolerate such a ruinous act upon my meal!”
At his words, Lady Scarlet snapped her fingers, and the members of the Consortium bowed with smiles.
“Indeed, as you say. Please forgive our earlier indiscretions.”
One of the members of the society offered a polite smile. It finally dawned on me—this was their test.
“Très Bien! This proves that you possess the dignity befitting our society.”
“Allow me to speak again, Count of Wallachia. You, the knight forsaken by God and seeking the devil.”
Lady Scarlet spoke, sipping the blood-red wine in her hand.
“Congratulations on joining our society.”
Leaving the shadowy court behind, Dale made his way to a certain place in the city’s eastern district.
Recently, suspicious activities had been occurring there, involving an unexpected name.
Gilles de Rais, the maiden Aurelia reduced to ashes, and her lone knight.
The fact that he had purchased a noble estate on imperial soil, right near the crime-ridden area of Harlem, was information that could not be ignored.
”…Lady Aurelia.”
Dale whispered her name into the shadows. No response came.
Just then, a chilling sensation ran down his spine.
In the moonlit back alleys of the city, winding like a labyrinth, the scent of blood lingered. Dale raised his head to the silent screams that couldn’t even form a cry.
”…!”
Dale sprinted through the darkness, and there he was.
A gentleman, impeccably dressed, stood before the torn remains of a male prostitute.
“Ah, who do we have here?”
The gentleman turned his head. Not a drop of blood stained him, save for the blade in his hand.
“And who might you be?”
In response to Dale’s question, the gentleman answered courteously.
“They call me Jack the Reaper.”