Chapter 563: Recruiting Allies.
Nightingale.
"…I officially hate this whole job," Violet muttered tiredly as her head rested on the office table. Next to her were her mother and Hilda, who were also helping her.
Hilda and Agnes didn't say anything, as they just continued organizing, maintaining, and screening the beings arriving in the new city.
The entire Snow Clan was in a mess, with Vampires running to and fro, reports coming in, and new people in the territory.
This work was vital because they could not allow spies from the Demons or other Factions in the new city. So they were shamelessly using their Vampiric Charm to do the triage.
Everyone was required to participate, even those families who had supported the Snow Clan for decades.
And the work, despite being tiring, was not in vain.
"… The amount of spies is ridiculous," Agnes muttered in irritation.
"121 counting the last one we caught," Hilda replied and then added:
"Of course, that number is without counting those hiding in the shadows that Clan Blank has killed."
"The other Factions seem to be very interested in the flow of Humans to Nightingale, huh," Agnes murmured.
"It's natural. Although influential Humans come here several times, it's rare for such a large flow of them to enter."
"Hmm…" Agnes tapped her chin, "Are you separating Supernatural Beings from normal Humans?"
"We don't want to cause trouble now."
"Yeah, for now, the Supernatural Beings are staying on the 'Supernatural' side of town, and the Humans are separated too." However, this was a flawed measure in the long run because it could generate prejudices, racism, etc.
Humans would claim that they were 'favoring' the Supernaturals.
But for now, it was enough. It was just a temporary measure to ensure that fights didn't break out.
The initial plan to separate the city into a part that didn't know about the Supernatural and those that did had all gone down the drain because of Diablos' sudden invasion.
The city would be separated into two districts, and those who didn't know the Supernatural would be introduced 'GENTLY' to that side of the world. This measure was necessary because people tended to overreact when faced with something they thought shouldn't exist.
This was a plan to reduce, as much as possible, the 'fear' of the unknown.
But now, all that was lost, and they had to find a way to sort it all out.
The city itself wasn't even completely ready yet. After all, June left in the middle of her work, but luckily all the buildings were already prepared, but only a few buildings had Runes and Magic Stones that increased the 'space' inside the property.
The people using this space were the personnel of Clan Snow, who made a temporary office in these houses.
"Ugh, Scathach is so unreasonable. Why did she do this to her own territory!? Can she please not throw work at me? My hands are already full!" Violet complained. She was at her boiling point and would explode at any moment.
"..." Agnes unconsciously couldn't help but agree with her daughter. However, unlike Violet, Agnes wasn't at her boiling point yet, since she was a bit used to it by now, although the amount of work didn't even compare to what she usually had to manage.
"… Well, it was unexpected for me too, but knowing Scathach, she must have had a reason," Hilda spoke.
"She just doesn't want to leave her daughter alone in this state of war. A lot of things can change, and fast." Violet snorted with disdain. How many years had she known the woman? And to make matters worse, her husband was just like that woman, and she could guess his thoughts easily.
"Countess Agnes, we have urgent news." Oda stepped out of the shadows and appeared in front of the three women.
"What is it, Oda? Some idiot Supernatural looking for a fight again?" Violet spoke tiredly.
How many times had she heard that report?
What happened was that when several different species were together in the same space, that type of thing tended to happen, especially when they came into contact with humans.
"That's not it, Lady Violet. It's about Count Alucard."
"… What did Darling do?" Violet started to feel a bad feeling about the matter, and when she heard Oda's words, her bad feeling was confirmed:
"Count Alucard made a move in the war. He joined the battle for the Vatican, eradicated the Demons, and helped the Angels."
"..." The movement of the girls' hands stopped, and they looked at Oda with shocked expressions.
"""He did what!?"""
Somewhere in Japan, in a traditional house.
Just as Violet, Hilda, and Agnes received the news, so did a certain red-haired woman.
"That man, is he deaf or something? Which part of remaining 'HIDDEN' did he not understand!?" Veins were bulging in Scarthach's head.
"...." Ruby, Luna, Siena, Lacus, and Pepper just kept silent.
Natalia, who was also nearby, just flinched. She didn't think that Scathach would react like that.
'If I had known about this, I would have told Ruby.' Receiving murderous intent from someone like Scathach was not good for the stomach.
The reason why Clan Scarlett was in Japan and not its territory was as follows.
Clan Scarlett's territory was 'abandoned', and Scathach told her citizens to go to Clan Snow's territory to seek refuge.
And when everyone left, she made sure to freeze the entire territory with her Ice Power. Only someone with insane stamina, like Scathach, Ruby, or Victor, could survive in that ice.
She did it to prevent strange beings from using the abandoned buildings as a refuge or something. Most of the critical stuff from Clan Scarlett was put in the suitcases and dimensional bags that Victor bought for them.
Scathach wouldn't have the time to administer her territory in this ongoing war. [Something she never did.]
And she didn't feel comfortable leaving her daughter Siena alone in that place.
Did they evacuate too quickly?
Pfft. It was a city run by Scathach, so there was no such thing as a slacker who lived there. So you either obeyed quickly, or you got frozen.
Another reason was... They were used to it.
How many times had Scathach 'accidentally' destroyed something, and they had to fix it later?
"Haaah, no use getting angry now. You knew this would happen. That is why you focused more on his armor." Ruby commented.
Currently, she was wearing the armor that Victor gave her.
"Yes, I knew." Scathach didn't deny it, but soon she added even more angrily, "But I didn't expect it to be so fast! It hasn't even been one day properly since we started moving!"
"In just one day, he threw the whole plan to shit and did whatever he wanted!" Scathach grumbled, complained, and cursed her disciple.
Couldn't he follow the fucking plan!?
"Hmm… Countess Scathach"
"What!?"
Natalia flinched a little, but she took a deep breath and spoke:
"According to Kaguya's report... Without Victor's intervention, a Seraphim would have turned into a Fallen Angel or even died."
"Oh?" Scathach visibly calmed down; her control over her emotions was incredible.
"Tell me what happened."
Natalia nodded her head and started narrating Kaguya's report. Of course, as a Maid, she didn't forget to narrate all the details, and she also didn't forget to mention the sensitive parts about how her Master 'helped' the Seraph.
But in the report itself, she put quotes stating that Natalia should not say this now, and this had to be said in person to avoid possible problems with Victor's wives.
Why did she put this in?
That simple act of Victor could lead to consequences in the future, and everyone should 'eventually' know what happened, but this type of information had to be said in person.
After all, it was something sensitive.
Something Natalia understood all too well, and following the Head Maid's order, she said nothing.
"The Angles now owe us a significant debt." After finishing the report, Natalia unconsciously said 'us' without realizing it.
Ruby, who was more observant, noticed this and only displayed a small internal smile, but the other part of her head was focused more on the details of the war.
"…Darling, got that strong? Aren't those the powers of the Maids?"
"Kaguya used Shadow Incarnation." Scathach was able to tell how the fight went from only the report.
'That fool, he really is a goddamn genius.' She couldn't help but flash a satisfied smile.
"... What is it?"
"A secret Technique of the Blank Clan that makes the user merge with their 'Master's' shadow."
"And by merging with their Master, the members of Clan Blank can use their Master's energy as a 'boost' for their own Powers, empowering them."
"... This was what should normally happen, but... That foolish disciple took it to another level."
"He is a Progenitor and also the 'father' of all his Maids, so they all have his blood. Consequently, all of them did not suffer from incompatibility."
"But Kaguya doesn't have his blood?" Luna spoke. She remembered that Kaguya was already a Vampire before meeting Victor.
"Her blood changed when she started to consume Victor's blood, and Victor started to consume her blood."
"She no longer has any record of Vlad's lineage in her blood."
"... Is that possible?" Luna asked in shock.
"Yes, Progenitors are just that special. They are the 'beginning' of everything, and if the individual is willing, that individual can 'change' the 'Progenitor' from which they originated."
"...." Siena, Lacus, Pepper, and Luna, who didn't know that, just looked at Scathach in surprise.
"Proof of this is that Ruby and I are already 'children' of Victor."
"… What?" The five women looked at Ruby and Scathach.
'That is also the reason for my increase in power.' Scathach thought about a theory her own daughter thought up.
The closer the children were to the Progenitor, the greater the Progenitor's influence on the children. That is, their potential will be unlocked and increased more and more as they drink the blood of the 'father'.
That was the theory that Ruby came up with after observing her sisters and her own mother's increase in power, the main research object of which was Scathach herself.
'If she had just increased power, I wouldn't have thought of it, but...' Ruby remembered the new technique that Scathach had created in her training, and it made her body tremble.
'She can't develop that with just a simple increase in power. Instead, her potential has been increased, and her Ice Lineage has been improved. Not just hers... Mine too.' This was why Ruby thought Victor's blood did not only increase 'Power' but 'Potential' too.
When one's potential was 'expanded', an increase in 'power' and 'quality' could be realized.
Sincerely? Scathach wholly believed in this theory. Ruby had given her enough reason to believe it, and those reasons coincide with her observations over the years of Vlad himself and the beings he transformed.
Progenitor blood was just that special.
Vlad was the father of most of today's Noble Vampires. The reason for this was that in the beginning, he went around transforming everyone into Vampires to increase the Vampire population.
And each time these Noble Vampires spread across the world, more Noble Vampires were created, but the origin was always Vlad.
Even Scathach herself, somewhere in the past, her ancestor was born from the union of two Noble Vampires that Vlad created.
The man was 5000 years old and spent most of his early life traveling the world and spreading his 'Bloodline'.
"When Kaguya used that technique, she not only used her Master's body as a battery, but the Maids inside Victor as well, and because of that, Victor was able to use his Maids' powers."
"Honestly, the Blank Clan Bloodline seems like it was made to support a Progenitor. Kaguya is simply a perfect match for Victor."
'Now, I understand why that Maid never leaves his shadow.'
Once Scathach even asked Kaguya why, and all the Maid said was:
"I feel comfortable... It's like I've come home after a long time away."
"......" A hush fell around.
"... Haah, I've promised myself several times that I shouldn't be surprised by the things Victor does, but this... This is just bullshit." Siena grumbled.
"..." Pepper, Ruby, Lacus, Luna, and Natalia just nodded in unison, 100% agreeing with Siena.
The reason for their shock?
Scathach just said that the girls used Victor as a battery.
And knowing Victor, he didn't hold back on the battlefield, and even after using all those Powers, he left the battlefield as if he hadn't even felt tired.
'That monster... Just how much stamina does he have!?' Everyone thought at the same time.
"Oh, Countess Scathach, Victor asked to deliver this to you." Natalia approached Scathach and handed over the rifle and the bullet that was in Ariel's body.
Scathach inspected the runes on the rifle.
'A weapon of the Dwarves?' She narrowed her eyes and analyzed it calmly, '…But this is a mediocre job for a dwarf-made weapon, but these Runes and signature style clearly indicate that it is a dwarf-made weapon.'
"This is the weapon that nearly killed a Seraphim of The Seven Virtues, and this projectile is what was in the Seraphim's body."
Ruby opened her eyes widely and quickly approached her mother. Without asking permission, she took the gun and began to analyze the weapon, as she grabbed the backpack that was near the table and opened it, quickly pulling out a simple brown bag. She opened the bag and started taking out various technological equipment that she used for research.
"...." Scathach and her daughters just smiled tightly when they saw the way Ruby was working.
"Incredible... The readings are off the charts. The Miasma contained in this bullet easily surpasses the Miasma that is passively released from Demons." She started mumbling at high speed.
"Hmm, Daugh-." Scathach was going to say something but stopped when she felt someone approaching.
A man with long white hair and nine white fox tails appeared as he lowered his head and spoke respectfully. He didn't want to provoke this crazy woman who committed mass genocide in the past:
"Countess Scathach, Commander Haruna will receive you now-." Genji stopped mid-sentence, lifted his head, and looked at the gun in Ruby's hand, specifically the bullet she's been analyzing, with a shiver down his spine.
His nine tails bristled, and he cautiously eyed that bullet.
"W-What is that?" Without realizing it, he stuttered.
"...." Scathach flashed a small smile, a smile that her daughters and Luna knew very well.
'She's planning something.' They all thought in unison.
"… Something we got from the Demons, a weapon used by a mediocre Human who almost killed a Seraph of The Seven Virtues."
"..." Genji swallowed hard.
'Is the situation really that dire? If this kind of thing is common...' Genji didn't even want to think about it. He just thought, 'We need to do something and better understand what's going on.'
Scathach's smile only grew as she understood Genji's thoughts easily.
Her reason for doing this? Giving the Youkai a sense of urgency, she was already starting negotiations before meeting with the commander herself.
.....
