Chapter 203: Tracing Blood

Two people were flying in the sky on a magic carpet in another part of the Virtue Kingdom.

"It's faint, but the smell came from that way."

It had been an hour since I met with Lucy and tracked the blood. And we had already returned to Academy City twice in that time.

"Are you sure it's the correct one?"

"To be honest, I am not so sure. The one we are trying to find knows how to handle Vampires' senses."

Yes, that was the source of our problem. Whoever kidnapped Milea and Mia knew how to hide. Most probably, they were trained as professionals like Sandra.

"The scent of the blood is spread almost all over the Kingdom, so I am not sure which hiding spot they use. It could also be that whoever kidnapped your nun has already fled to the Sin Kingdom."

"That's impossible. They won't be able to cross the border separating the Virtue Kingdom and the Sin Kingdom easily."

"I understand, but..." Lucy tried to say something, but after seeing my serious expression, she sighed and said, "I will do my best."

It was no use wasting time trying to reason and guess where they were. We could use this precious time to move to the nearest place that would likely be their hiding spot.

"<Tracing Blood>"

Once again, Lucy used the skill to trace blood while holding the letter I had. A drop of dried blood used to write the letter moved and turned into an arrow, pointing at the nearby area.

This skill worked by making the drop of blood move toward the nearest place where the same kind of blood was located. It would usually always point at the owner of the blood as the same kind of blood flew within their body. However, this skill had a weakness...

"It's there," Lucy claimed, looking in the same direction where the blood flew.

I nodded at her and controlled the magic carpet to follow the flying drop of blood. It went toward a nearby forest where I created a flower hill a few days ago.

And when we reached the middle of the forest, the blood dropped to the ground, and we also descended. There was nothing in the area, and my <Presence Detection> didn't find anything.

But the blood still moved toward this area. And when we descended to the ground, we found it.

"Another miss," Lucy muttered, jumping off the carpet and going to the bushes. A rustling sound followed suit before she returned with a small jar filled with red liquid in her hand. "It's another decoy made from the Half-Vampire's blood. Whoever did this, I bet they quite hate you, Arthur."

The vampire girl threw the jar at me, and I put it away into my inventory.

Yes, this was this skill's weakness.

The blood would go to where the same blood gathered. As long as there was a certain amount of blood near the place where we used the skill, that drop of blood would always point to that location even though the owner of the blood wasn't there.

And it was the fourth jar we had found tonight. Meaning the owner of the blood at least bleeds enough to fill four jars. Just imagining her dedication just to kidnap my nun was scary.

'What is their goal?'

A question appeared in my head. Something like this, scattering blood in a jar all across the kingdom wasn't an easy task for an individual. There should be people helping the owner of the blood.

'That doesn't matter.'

If I wanted to know, I could always interrogate them later.

"... Jump on. Let's move toward the Capital City now."

"Of course," Lucy replied, jumping to the magic carpet again.

As we were flying, Lucy's words resounded in my head.

'Whoever did this kind of thing surely hates me, huh?'

To be honest, I didn't think that was the case at all. When Lucy mentioned the one owner of the blood was a Half-Vampire, I already had some kind of suspicion as to who the culprit was. That was why I wasn't worried about them too much, but I still wanted to make sure of it.

And probably, someone also helped the culprit to plan this. 10 days of my absence would be enough to have a discussion between the culprit and the collaborator. They could also prepare for this plan.

The fact that Mia didn't return to the mansion and Milea got kidnapped right under my nose when I returned meant the culprit was in Academy City before.

If you asked me who was the most suspicious person, whom I didn't use my 'Requirement Appraisal' yet and could enter my mansion freely, to be the culprit, that girl was the only one that came into my mind.

"We need to be fast," I muttered as I sped my magic carpet up.

Whoever it was, good job at making me angry.

***

In the Capital City, at the highest room of a certain tower, a shadow was sitting on the balcony, looking down at the city lit by various magic lamps, giving life to it.

The dark sky didn't hide the beauty of the biggest city in the Virtue Kingdom. Many people were still walking out of their houses, doing activities, or even simply gathering together in a good mood.

This wasn't a rare sight in the Virtue Kingdom, and the shadow of the girl had seen this many times. So she turned around toward the small table in front of her.

Extending her hand, she picked up a white cup in an elegant manner, causing two dolls leaning against it to fall.

"She should be finished now."

The girl's lips curled up in an evil manner. She slowly took a sip of the tea inside the cup and let out a satisfying exhale.

"Fufufu, I wonder how he will react."

Her gaze went toward the dolls. Both of them were made from stitched clothes with proportions similar to a miniature male human, and they wore what could be recognized as Virtue Royal Academy's uniform, a combination of white and blue blazers and pants.

One doll had a roughed-up appearance. Its black hair was cut, and its face had a trace of stitch as if it was fixed after something sharp cut it in half. It also held a sign, saying 'Useless' written in black ink.

The other doll was in far better condition, with blond hair and blue eyes. She looked at it and fixed its position, sitting it on top of the black-haired doll.

"One is already useless, so I will use you."

She muttered in a low voice, placing the cup back on the table. Her blue eyes narrowed in amusement as her long blue hair fell to her white nightgown.

The soft wind tickled her skin, and a long, low laugh echoed on the tower's highest floor. Her pupil dilated and turned into a heart shape. Anyone who had seen this girl before would praise her for her beauty, but if Arthur saw her, he would call her crazy.

"Ah, father. Please wait a little more. I will soon embrace you and make this country a better place!"

That girl, Princess Carissa, the first Princess of the Virtue Kingdom, hugged herself like a crazy maniac. She lost control, but she wasn't worried about being heard. Her room was filled with magic items to prevent anyone from peeking using any skills or even hearing a single voice.

After laughing for a while, she turned her gaze toward the doll—especially the blond-haired one.

"For that..."

Her grin widened as she picked it up and brought it closer to her face.

"... I hope she achieved what she wanted. We're quite similar in regard to love. And I hope for her happiness, as I will achieve mine soon. Giving her more than a dozen [Teleportation Gems], [Hiding Talisman], and a few agents from my loyal followers will be worth it if I can achieve my goal."

The night was long.

Drifting ever so slowly, the cloud parted and revealed a full moon. The moonlight washed away the shadow covering the Princess' face.

And once again, Princess Carissa was beautiful. Out of 100 people, 99 would definitely say so, while the one fainted first before they could say anything.

However, they would definitely agree with one thing if they saw her smile right now. She looked like a crazy villain who planned for the Virtue Kingdom's downfall.

"Fufufufu. I just helped my new friend to achieve her love. Her story quite fascinates me, after all."