Gospel of Blood

Chapter 17: How should I call you?

Chapter 17: How should I call you?

Charlotte discovered two characteristics of the bloodborne.

Firstly, if one goes without blood for a long time after craving blood, they will eventually lose control and go berserk, doing unpredictable things.

Secondly, if one drinks fresh blood while in a frenzy and sustains injuries, even if the blood comes from animals, as long as the injuries are not fatal, they seem to heal rapidly.

As for the cost... It is the deprivation of the feeling of fullness and satisfaction brought by drinking blood, replaced by hunger once again. At the same time, after the frenzy ends, she also becomes extremely weak.

The moonlight tonight is beautiful. However, Charlotte had no interest in admiring the moon.

Looking at the bloody scene around her and the trembling attendants, only shock remained in her heart...

What has she just done?

In fact, Charlotte's memories from before were very clear. It was truly a terrifying experience.

On one hand, her consciousness was very chaotic, on the other hand, she seemed very clear-headed. She vividly remembered the moment when the old servant opened the carriage door, and the restrain in her mind finally snapped.

She vividly remembered how she erupted and brutally killed the other person... She vividly remembered how she dragged the packhorse into the woods to drink its blood, enjoying the sweet taste as if it were rain after drought... She also vividly remembered how she tore off the crossbow bolts from her body, how she scooped out the escaping attendant's heart with one move...

The moist heat of the flesh, the slippery texture of the heart, the pulsation of the blood vessels... she remembered all the sensations clearly.

Cruel, brutal, bloody...

If it were now, even if she decided to kill those two people, she would never use such bloody methods. But at the time of those memories, it was as if she were controlled by some kind of murderous instinct, almost like a wild beast, ruthlessly destroying anything that posed a threat to her. Not only that, she felt very pleased at the time.

It wasn't until the last attendant begged for mercy with tears streaming down his face that she finally came to her senses, shuddering directly, and threw the heart in her hand away...

That was Charlotte's first time killing someone.

No nausea, no disgust, no fear.

She didn't know if becoming a member of the bloodborne had somewhat affected her thinking, making her heart become colder and harder. The brutal self just now made her feel very unfamiliar. Charlotte knew that she had definitely "gone berserk" at that time.

The only thing that made her feel somewhat fortunate was that she managed to maintain a bit of rationality during the frenzy and didn't drink the blood of the corpses... Even though their blood smelled much better than the foul-smelling animal blood. This could be considered Charlotte's bottom line. She always felt that if she really drank the blood of corpses, she would completely lose her humanity and gradually sink further into the path of depravity, becoming a true "ghoul."

It was obvious that she still knew too little about the power of the bloodborne.

Charlotte closed her eyes lightly, her long eyelashes trembling slightly. After a long time, she opened them again. At this moment, she made a decision. She must completely control the power of the "bloodborne" and never allow such out of control "frenzy" to happen again!

Just now, she was very powerful, extremely powerful, definitely reaching the level of an extraordinary. But uncontrollable power was meaningless.

This time, her enemies were in front of her. But next time, what if it's her companions? Or what if it's an enemy she can't defeat?

The sobbing cries were extremely harsh in the deep night, interrupting the girl's thoughts. Charlotte shifted her gaze and looked at the last attendant who was completely terrified.

She didn't continue to kill this person just now. It wasn't because she came to her senses, but because her frenzy had ended. She felt like an amateur athlete who had just finished a marathon, sore and exhausted all over, weak, feeling like she could faint at any moment.

Honestly, Charlotte was even a bit nervous now. Because if she really had to fight, she might not be able to beat the other person in her current state.

Fortunately, this attendant had been scared out of his wits and Charlotte's current weak state was completely unknown to him.

This was also good. Charlotte still had some questions she needed to ask.

She still kept the appearance of going berserk just now, with a sinister smile on her lips yet her voice sounded indifferent and lacked any emotion.

"Tell me, who are you people?"

If her crimson eyes hadn't reverted to the sky-blue color like before, Charlotte would have looked exactly like the killing machine she had just been. Of course, the terrified attendant had already stopped noticing these details.

"Mercenaries... We are mercenaries... We are free mercenaries from Borde!"

He sobbed as he spoke.

Free mercenaries...

Charlotte's heart moved slightly. After meeting Duke's son, Leno, that day, she had specifically consulted Priest Lottie about mercenaries, knowing that in this world, unaffiliated mercenaries were equivalent to adventurers and bounty hunters in the fantasy novels of her previous life.

The difference was that the vast majority of unaffiliated mercenaries were ordinary people struggling to make a living, rather than extraordinaries. Of course, when saying they were ordinary people, it was in the sense of strength compared to extraordinary. In fact, most mercenaries were desperados who had nothing to lose. As long as the bounty was attractive enough, they were willing to do anything.

"Who sent you? What was your mission?"

Charlotte asked again.

"I... I don't know who our employer is..."

"We just took the job from the Rose Society's task board, which asked us to kidnap the young lady of the Castell family and deliver her to the person who came to pick her up..."

The attendant said shakily.

"The Rose Society?"

Charlotte raised her voice slightly.

"The Rose Society is the largest underground gang in Borde, often acting as an intermediary between mercenaries and employers, taking a cut..."

Underground gang...

Charlotte remembered the name of the Rose Society.

Charlotte looked at the "old servant" called Hatchet lying on the ground:

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"Who gave him the appearance?"

"It... It was our employer..."

"Huh? Didn't you just say... you don't know who the employer is?"

Charlotte's voice suddenly became cold.

The attendant was on the verge of collapse.

"I... I really don't know..."

"He covered his face and deliberately changed his voice... all we know is that he is a mage..."

"Oh, right! It was he who helped us prepare the carriage, and he also helped us prepare the crossbows and costumes!"

Listening to the man's words, Charlotte pondered.

Whether it was disguising mercenaries as servants of the Castell family, forging Castell family uniforms, or knowing the schedule of her return to the estate, it all showed that the other party knew a lot about the Castell family. Not only that, the fact that the other party could obtain crossbows, a banned item, meant that the other party either had a background in the military or had dealings with military personnel.

Only the direct vassal nobles of the Crescent Kingdom and the trusted confidants of the direct vassal nobles could get involved. In other words... it was the direct vassal of Duke Borde in the Crescent Kingdom.

But another problem came up. Since they wanted to kidnap her, with so many unafiliated mercenaries, why did the employer choose such an unprofessional group? And what was the significance of kidnapping her?

At this moment, Charlotte smelled the scent of conspiracy.

"Where is your rendezvous point?"

"Outside the city... our first stop was here, we had to change to a new carriage hidden in this courtyard in advance, then leave Borde City through the west gate..."

The attendant said tremblingly.

The rendezvous point is not here!

Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief. Her current state was not good, if the other party's rendezvous point was this courtyard, she would have to consider fleeing immediately.

"Tell me the specific location of your rendezvous, then get lost."

Charlotte said indifferently.

The attendant was overjoyed. He hesitated slightly before he took out a piece of parchment from his pocket, offering it with both hands.

"Ma... ma'am... it's the location marked on the map."

Charlotte took the map and looked it over.

"Ma'am... can I go now?"

The attendant asked cautiously.

Charlotte glanced at him.

"Get lost!"

The attendant was like he had received amnesty.

"Thank you... thank you, ma'am! Antonio will never speak of tonight's events! Antonio swears on God!"

With that, he stood up tremblingly, staggering towards the courtyard, his posture very embarrassed, obviously still very weak. However, just as he was about to leave the courtyard gate, he suddenly stopped, hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and turned in another direction.

There... were the nearest Holy Court Church and Demon Hunter Base!

The attendant took a step forward, about to run out of the courtyard, but the next moment, he suddenly felt a pain in his chest. He slowly lowered his head, only to see half of a crossbow bolt protruding from his chest. He widened his eyes, opened his mouth slightly, and then slowly collapsed.

Behind him, Charlotte, with an expressionless face, slowly put down the crossbow in her hand. She had no intention of letting him go. From the moment he participated in the kidnapping and recognized her bloodborne identity, she had already sentenced him to death. Letting him run first was only because she, in her weakened state, didn't have the confidence to defeat him.

Although she looked cute, she was not a saint!

The last kidnapper who knew her secret died, and Charlotte also put away the crossbow in her hand. This crossbow was really good, it was a pocket-sized type, but it had great power, and it didn't require too much effort to use. She was already planning to take it back and use it as a self-defense weapon in the future.

Well... it could be hidden in her skirt!

Charlotte quickly had an idea. However, just as Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief, a hoarse voice suddenly sounded behind her.

"Would a great being like yourself use a mundane weapon that even secular knights look down upon to deal with ants like ordinary people?"

'Who?!'

Charlotte was startled. She turned around and saw, under the moonlight, a fat black cat slowly walking out of the shadow.

A... talking black cat?!

Charlotte's heart was instantly on guard. As a member of the blood race, she couldn't even sense the presence of this black cat just now!

The black cat's face had a human-like solemnity. Under Charlotte's vigilant gaze, it elegantly made a bow with its front paws and then spoke hoarsely.

"Meow... Nice to meet you..."

"I am Nice, an elegant noble among cats, and also a devout follower of the God of Contract."

Saying that, it raised its head, and the fat cat's face showed a meaningful smile.

"You tell me, should I call you Miss Charlotte or Your Majesty the Bloodborne Royalty?"