"Why have you brought them here?" Jane asked. "I remember you saying that no one will be allowed in this castle, no matter what happens."
"You are changing my words. And yes, no one is allowed in the castle without my permission. Also, they are not in the castle. They are within the castle walls."
Rudy was quick to reply, seemingly, he had anticipated that question from the girls. And it was understandable. All of them were confused and curious.
"I have brought them here for a certain task. It's part of my grand plan which should succeed and come into action when the time is ready. As for who they are…"
SNAP!
A holographic screen appeared in front of the girls and Rudy showed them everything, except the fight scenes, as they were too brutal and gore.
"I can't believe humans can do such things to other humans," Vriti muttered. "This is insane."
"There is nothing insane about this," Rias commented. "Vampires kill other vampires. Every race kills their own. Every race is as despicable as the human race."
"That's not true, dear sister." Jane quipped. "If what you say is true, then why was it only the human race that was abandoned by the lord and not others?"
"..." Rias couldn't say anything in response.
Rudy found it amusing as Rias also bore hatred towards the humans when he first met her in 1989. Although she also had a soft side for humans, as she knew that not all humans were the same.
However, it was completely natural for every other race to hate the human race, as the humans were responsible for the great partition and they had to leave the mortal realm to avoid clashes.
Hearing that, Maria frowned her face and uttered, "Excuse me for being a human."
"Don't you have enough decency not to speak about humans in front of humans?" Ruby remarked.
"I wasn't talking about you. You shouldn't take offense to something you are not. If a person is not evil, then they shouldn't get mad because they are not evil."
"Wow. You just destroyed the concept of defending oneself."
"I…" Jane paused for a moment and sighed. "Yes. You are right. I didn't think that through. But you have to understand that I don't have anything against humans personally. They are the most hated race, even though the other races haven't interacted with them.
And whenever I refer to humans, I don't include you. Just get used to it because you will get this even more. For example, we vampires are called monsters by humans. IN the movies and shows we watched, the humans hunted vampires and used them for their evil purposes.
However, those humans were portrayed as heroes. Did I ever take offense to that?"
"That was a movie! Out of 10 movies, 9 have humans as villains. Of course, we wouldn't take offense if a human calls other humans evil."
"Except vampires were hunted by humans for real. The great hunt— also known as the era of witch hunting. Do you have any idea how many innocent witches were hanged to death by the illiterate humans?"
"No such things happened. It's all conspiracies."
"Ask him." Jane shrugged her shoulders and pointed her gaze at Rudy.
Rudy let out a weary sigh and muttered, "I would be embarrassed to defend the humans."
"You are also a human."
"I wouldn't be surprised if the other races invade the mortal realm one day and kill all the humans," Jane asserted. "That would be a justifiable thing for them."
"Do not worry. I won't let anything happen to you girls," Rudy said with a wry smile on his face and got up from his seat.
He looked at the balcony and muttered, "They are almost done eating. I need to go."
After saying that, Rudy disappeared.
The girls looked at each other in confusion and asked, "He didn't answer my question, did he?"
"He didn't. He said it's part of his plan, so who knows what that might be?"
"..." Rias glanced at Jane and stared at her as though she wanted to say something to her.
But Jane's attention was on the other girls.
"Should we go after him?" Maria asked. "I mean, should we go out and see what he plans to do with them?"
"Let us be."
"What's wrong, Angelica?" Lilim noticed Angelica hadn't spoken a word ever since they began to talk about the liberated people.
"Nothing. Just feeling lazy."
"If you are feeling sleepy, you can go rest in… Rias' room. Her room is the only room that's ready."
"Why my room?" Rias immediately retorted.
"I just started my reason."
"But why my room? If she wants to sleep, there are many other options." Rias pointed her hand at the empty couches and said, "She can crash at the couch."
Under normal circumstances, Rias wouldn't have minded, but she couldn't let anyone enter her room since it was under the preparation of her revenge plan.
And of course, Angelica and the other girls knew about the plan. However, Lilim was genuinely worried about Angelica and wanted her to be in her best condition.
"I am fine. I just need time." Angelica calmly said. "I am recovering my memories slowly and I am thinking about those memories most of the time, which is why I am absentminded lately. Don't mind me."
"Why were you so rude to her, Rias?" Jane asked angrily. "You can't talk to others like that."
"Jane… you have no right to tell me what is rude."
"..." After a moment of silence, Jane asked, "What's been eating you?"
"When you mentioned the other races invading this world, Rudy had a reaction on his face…" Rias mentioned hesitantly.
"And…?"
"Do you remember a story Grandma Nyxia used to tell us when we were kids?"
"...which one…?"
"About a being that would do justice to all the races and let them go back to the world they belong? This world. And it would cause the great apocalypse."
