Chapter 60. The Red Count
“I won’t bore you with my birth or life. I’ll start from when I encountered your lowly species.”
Gaiard prefaced with the kingdom’s history.
“You know, centuries ago—three hundred years— the kingdom nearly fell.”
“Wait, you’re aware of all that time?”
“Did you think I hibernated? You know the kingdom’s history, right?”
“Uh? Yeah.”
I didn’t.
Why the kingdom nearly fell.
“When Bakan, the northern overlord, and his army seized the capital, someone visited the island. Ernst.”
“Hold on. No humans came to the island before?”
“There were. Scholars observing, poachers. Scholars were fine, but poachers became my prey.”
After Gaiard’s existence became known, the kingdom sent hunters, mercenaries, and knights to eliminate him.
None were his match.
Without a large-scale operation, killing him was impossible, so they ceded Benner Island.
“Wise. Why fuss over a small island?”
“Yes. It calmed things and helped soothe my irritation.”
The kingdom thought it lost territory, but it was a lifesaving choice.
“Had they kept provoking me, I wouldn’t have entertained Ernst’s talk.”
“What did he say?”
With the kingdom’s fate at stake, a Great Mage visited Benner Island, far from the front lines.
“He asked me to fight for the kingdom. Ridiculous, even now. Different from you.”
“They saw our Count as a monster yet bet the kingdom’s fate on him? A bold choice.”
“Kindly put, yes. Harshly, they threw away pride.”
Some continental factions tamed or controlled monsters for battle.
But that was use, not equality.
This was a genuine request, humans bowing first.
“His request—I had no intention of accepting. What did the kingdom’s fall matter to me?”
“Yet you changed your mind.”
“Yes. He convinced me. If the kingdom fell, the northern barbarians would hound me until the last one died. Not scary, but annoying.”
“So you agreed?”
“Annoying either way, I left the island like I was hunting. And to drink blood.”
Leaving Benner Island, Gaiard’s role, per Ernst’s request, was simple: disrupt Bakan’s rear.
“I blended into the militia and fought Bakan’s army.”
At full strength, Gaiard turned battlefields into bloodbaths, a calamity scattering blood.
The barbarians in the rear trembled in fear.
A refined noble with a blood-soaked face roamed, earning the name “Red Count.”
“How were the barbarians back then?”
“No match for me. Except one. He was memorable.”
“Bakan?”
“Yes. The man I acknowledged, the northern overlord. We fought for days without resolution.”
Thanks to their clash and the militia’s efforts, the kingdom pushed the front lines back.
“While I stalled Bakan, the kingdom reclaimed the capital and drove the barbarians off the mainland.”
“The outcome with Bakan?”
“A draw, regrettably. An impressive guy. I’d love to fight him again.”
As the barbarians retreated across the sea, the war ended.
The king honored the heroes who saved the kingdom.
Though not openly, he acknowledged and praised Gaiard’s contributions.
He gave him the surname Lecan and officially granted Benner Island as his territory.
“Wait. What’s Lecan mean?”
“One who defeated Bakan.”
“You didn’t win.”
“The kingdom wanted history to say I made Bakan retreat. Humans twist things in their favor, don’t they?”
So far, it seemed a happy ending.
“Now we get to it. How’d you catch the queen’s eye?”
The story’s climax—how Gaiard fell for the queen.
“It began at a banquet for the heroes.”
“That show-off event?”
Gaiard smirked at my jab.
“We’re on the same page. Yes, that show-off event. I was invited. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone.”
“Sudden thought—did they prepare a special banquet for our Count? A pool of blood…”
I spread my arms wide; Gaiard frowned.
“We enjoy blood, not exclusively. What do you take us for?”
“No, I read it. A vampire bathing in a tub of virgin blood.”
“That one’s a lunatic. I’ll give you that.”
Gaiard returned to the story.
“Anyway, what fun is a human banquet? Even Ernst, the only one I could talk to, was hard to find.”
Leaving the chaotic banquet, he explored the palace.
There, he saw a mysterious woman.
“I saw a woman leaning on a railing, feeling the breeze.”
“The queen?”
“Yes.”
“Pretty?”
“…Yes.”
Gaiard shot me a disdainful look.
“The queen seemed bored with the banquet. When I flew to the railing, her eyes sparkled. We talked for a while.”
“Was that when?”
“Don’t think me a beast. We just talked. There was some attraction, but we knew our places and didn’t cross lines.”
But love can transcend species.
The queen, confined to the palace, was drawn to the free-spirited vampire.
“We met a few more times. But the tail grew long, and trouble brewed.”
I chewed jerky with a tense expression, as if I were there.
“On Founding Day, the king was away, but the queen stayed, claiming illness. I brought her medicine.”
“And?”
“What ‘and’? That’s it. We just talked.”
“Huh?”
“But the damned king burst in. He figured out something between me and the queen.”
A vampire intruding in the queen’s chamber.
The king was furious that his woman was charmed by a monster.
Perhaps he’d been wary of Gaiard before.
“I gave him an excuse. The Red Count, a hero, must’ve irked him.”
A kill order was issued, and the kingdom hunted Gaiard.
Even Great Mage Ernst joined.
“Even if it was a misunderstanding, what I couldn’t forgive was Ernst helping to capture me.”
All the Executors of that era attacked, killed him, and sealed him in a coffin.
Ernst’s seal locked him away.
Unbeknownst to Gaiard, Ernst took measures to block external access, including bringing the Hydra to Benner Island.
Gaiard revived after a brief death but was trapped by the sealing magic.
He put himself in a dormant state, waiting for a chance to escape.
Centuries later, he emerged using the blood of the Viper gang.
“I heard there were no records. So this happened? They erased it?”
“Likely. My existence wouldn’t look good in the kingdom’s history.”
“So you seek revenge? On who, now?”
“The kingdom that used me to the end. Their descendants, at least.”
Gaiard seemed deeply wounded.
Unlike me, who gave up revenge when the culprits died.
“Thinking about it, aren’t those humans here? Or reincarnated?”
“I don’t know. But you’re right—those who did this might still be around.”
“The queen too?”
“Enough about her.”
He looked sad, so I didn’t press.
His eyes held too much sorrow.
“Anyway, I want out for revenge. But even at my peak, it was impossible. How now?”
“We’re not the only ones who want out, right?”
“What… You mean the Hydra?”
I nodded.
“You’re not normal.”
“If I were, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Fair point.”
“What’s wrong with using the Hydra? It could be our breakthrough.”
The Hydra, far stronger and larger than us.
Using it wasn’t a bad idea.
Just one practical issue.
“Unlike me, the Hydra can’t leave the island. It can’t swim. How do we use it?”
“Give it wings.”
“What?”
I mimed biting my arm.
“I heard being bitten by a vampire grants their powers.”
I flapped my arms.
Gaiard stared, dumbfounded.
What was I talking about?
Then, realizing, he choked.
“That’s utterly insane.”
“Why? It’s the only way off the island.”
“Bite you instead. I’ll do it now.”
“No way. I’m a morning person.”
“So you want me to bite the Hydra? Give it our clan’s power?”
Vampires could absorb nutrients, including blood.
Those bitten faced a curse—becoming kin, living as vampires.
Most died from nutrient drain before the curse took hold.
But a strong being like the Hydra could endure until it did.
The curse meant living as a vampire.
A curse for humans, limiting daylight life, but not entirely, as it granted vampire abilities.
Crucially, this included flight.
“Shall we go alone? At least it’d draw attention, giving us a chance.”
“If the Hydra gains our power, it’ll be uncontrollable.”
“We’re not the ones dealing with it.”
“True, but…”
A winged Hydra.
The thought of that beast flying was terrifying.
Though, as I said, it might not concern us.
“Fine. But how do I bite that ferocious Hydra?”
“Hm? That’s your problem, isn’t it?”
“Crazy bastard, get lost.”
Gaiard kicked the chair and left the dungeon.
I followed.
“I got it! A great idea!”
“Get lost. I’m not listening.”
Emerging from the dungeon, sludges filled the fortress, greeting us.
“Grooo.”
Gaiard spoke.
“So, what’s this great idea?”
“Clear these first, then I’ll tell you.”
I drew the magic sword Venus.