Blood Holy Scripture: True Ancestor Charlotte de Castel

"Sheriff, it's that courtyard ahead! I saw for myself a carriage enter, followed by two horse-riding attendants!"

"They were also holding crossbows!"

On the dilapidated street, a gaunt vagabond pointed towards a nearby yard, speaking obsequiously.

Before him were two groups of knights.

One group, clad in black robes and wielding silver swords, was clearly from the Demon Hunting Institute, led by the Silver Moon Second Tier knight, Captain Kara, and the son of the Duke, Lord Laino, with the anxious old servant of the Castel family, Casimodo, following behind.

The other group, dressed in uniform leather armor, were the City Guards of Bold City, led by a mustached noble in a long robe.

It was this robed noble who was conversing with the vagabond.

He demurely pinched his mustache and nodded slightly, then turned obsequiously towards Lord Laino:

"Lord Laino, this must be the place. This was once the estate of Count Broey, abandoned after the disaster ten years ago."

"We received a report about fifteen minutes ago claiming that someone sped through the city on horseback, in a carriage resembling that of the Castel family, likely the kidnappers."

Lord Laino solemnly nodded and then turned to Kara.

Kara, without a word, led the Demon Hunting Knights charging into the yard.

Startled, Laino impulsively followed but paused after a glance at the vagabond, hoping to please. Delving into his pocket, he fumbled around.

The vagabond's eyes brightened with hope.

But after a moment, Laino looked rather embarrassed.

He met the vagabond's gaze, coughed awkwardly, and averted his gaze, nonchalantly telling the others:

"Captain Kara has already entered, let's hurry and join her."

Having said that, he rode forward.

The vagabond sighed and turned his gaze towards the robed noble acting as Sheriff.

Robed Noble: ...

"What are you waiting for? Move aside! Can you afford to delay the Demon Hunting Institute's business?!"

His face stern, he cracked his whip in the air and commanded.

Then, he too charged in with the remaining City Guards.

Leaving the vexed vagabond cursing in the rising dust:

"Damn these stingy nobles! May your children be born without a--"

...

The group entered the courtyard, overwhelmed by a strong smell of blood.

Their faces almost simultaneously changed.

Kara's gaze swept over the beast-like bloodstains on the ground. She dismounted, and kneeling, grabbed a handful of blood-stained earth.

"The blood hasn't congealed for long, likely between fifteen to thirty minutes ago. Judging by the battle signs, it was some kind of small creature, humanoid."

Laino also came over, his gaze scanning the surroundings as he spoke.

Kara gave him a surprised look but did not respond.

Her eyes followed the trail of blood to a broken carriage and the grotesque corpses.

"Two attendants had their hearts torn out, another—hiss—it's ghastly, looks like they encountered the creature first."

Laino clicked his tongue.

Contemplatively pinching his chin, he murmured:

"This killing method seems like—"

"Blood Demon."

Kara continued.

Her gaze still lingered around, evidently searching for something.

"Blood... Blood Demon?! Lord Kara, are you suggesting my master encountered a Blood Demon again?!"

Casimodo's eyes widened with terror, sweat beads instantly appearing on his forehead.

"Let's not panic; your master isn't here, that's good."

Laino consoled.

After speaking, he moved forward to search, but stumbled over something.

Bending down, he discovered it was a hand crossbow.

He casually picked it up, examined it for a moment, and was about to discard it, but then his expression subtly changed.

Furtively glancing at the Demon Hunting Knights and City Guards who were still scrutinizing the scene, he discreetly kept the crossbow.

The scene in the courtyard was harrowing.

After a thorough search, everyone had confirmed that the three men suspected of kidnapping Countess Castel were all dead.

Even the cart-horses were found dead in the forest.

However, the kidnapped young lady had disappeared.

Casimodo grew increasingly anxious, and the faces of the Demon Hunting Knights turned solemn.

And in that moment, a crazy roar suddenly burst from deep within the courtyard:

"Roar—!"

Without hesitation, the female Knight Kara immediately dashed over, followed by the remaining Demon Hunting Knights.

Laino hesitated, then also led the Sheriff and City Guard in pursuit.

They circled around a patch of woods, and their view suddenly opened up.

What caught their eyes was an abandoned garden, prominently featuring a silver Light Cage against the night sky, holding a hunchbacked humanoid monster.

It had a pair of sharp fangs, and its long tongue dripped with slime; it roared and struggled incessantly within the cage.

Laino's gaze slightly tightened, and a cold gleam flashed across Kara's eyes:

"It's a runaway Blood Demon."

"Yo! You guys finally came meow!"

A raspy voice drew everyone's attention.

The crowd looked over to see a chubby Black Cat lazily lying on a damaged sculpture not far from the Light Cage.

It human-like propped its head on one paw while yawning with the other:

"Yawn... If you hadn't come soon, Master Cat here might have fallen asleep."

"Lord Nisi? What are you doing here?"

The Demon Hunting Knights were slightly taken aback.

Knight Kara, on the other hand, was not surprised and straightforwardly asked:

"Where is she?"

"Yawn... She's in the carriage behind me!"

The cat gestured with its mouth towards the rear.

Over there stood an undamaged carriage.

The moonlight was like water, and a gentle night breeze blew open the carriage's curtains to reveal the scene inside.

A delicate and beautiful young girl was curled in a corner, sleeping quietly.

Her breathing was steady, her white dress very clean, her chest gently rising and falling, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, occasionally smacking her lips, possibly having a sweet dream.

"Master!"

Casimodo rushed over, full of joy and surprise.

"Shh—! Keep it down! She's still asleep!"

The Black Cat swiftly raised a paw to its lips and blew gently, glaring with its cat eyes.

"Uh... Oh oh oh!"

Casimodo was stunned, quickly covered his mouth, and nodded, his movements more gentle and careful than ever before.

This relieved the Black Cat.

At this point, Kara finally turned to it, her voice as cold as ever:

"What happened?"

"Hey, what else? Those three fools were unlucky, choosing this courtyard of all places for their base, not knowing it was hiding a runaway Blood Demon!"

The Black Cat sneered.

It added hatefully,

"That was pretty ugly and cunning Blood Demon! Cruel and wicked!"

"Without Master Cat quietly watching over, Miss Castel might have been caught in the disaster!"

"It's good you guys came. Maintaining this Order Cage has exhausted me!"

"You? You saved my master?"

Casimodo looked deeply grateful.

The Black Cat's expression was a bit awkward.

It coughed and glanced guiltily at the sleeping girl behind it, then pompously stated:

"Well, Master Cat was simply entrusted by others to protect your young miss recently! If you want to thank someone... thank Lord Lawuer at the Church Hospital!"

When it mentioned the name Lawuer, it almost gritted its teeth.

"Thank you! Thank you so much! The Castel family will definitely not forget your kindness!"

Casimodo kept saying thanks.

The noise from the crowd seemed to wake the sleeping girl, and a weak hum came from inside the carriage.

Casimodo perked up and quickly approached, announcing with delight:

"Master! Master, you're awake!"

Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and the girl slowly opened her sleepy eyes, her gaze a bit confused.

Seeing Casimodo's ugly yet worried face, her vision gradually sharpened, her delicate and charming face broke into a sweet, innocent smile, her crisp voice delightful, like an angel:

"Oh! It's Casimodo..."

"Are we home yet?"

Nisi: …