The First Vampire

Colin’s words left Quincy standing there, dumbfounded.

It took him a while to regain his senses, then he asked in disbelief: “My, my lord, do you, do you mean…”

“That’s right, I’m giving you this opportunity to return to your position as the tax commissioner of Ice Rock City.”

“Thank you so much! Your kindness and wisdom are as dazzling as the sun, and as endless as the sea…”

“Hold off on your thanks.” Colin waved his hand, interrupting the overly-agitated Quincy. “If you mess this up…”

“I will spend my life guarding the library for you!” Quincy exclaimed loudly.

Colin rolled his eyes.

Who would have thought this old man would be so crafty.

At his age, who knows how many years he has left.

If he messes up and ends up guarding the library, it didn’t seem like such a bad deal after all.

It’s almost as if Colin was providing for his retirement.

“No, not just you. If you mess this up, your son—oh, you have a son, right?” Colin continued after seeing Quincy nod. “Your son will also spend his life guarding the library!”

Only then did Quincy’s face change a bit.

“What’s wrong? Are you scared? Was all that bravado just hot air?” Colin began to goad him when he saw this.

“Of course not!”

“Well then, it’s your choice. Either you continue guarding my library or you seize this one chance I’m giving you and take a bet.”

Quincy’s chest heaved violently, and after a long while, he gritted his teeth and said with determination:

“My lord, if I can really make Ice Rock City the most outstanding city in the

North Territory within ten years, could you grant me a request?”

“Go ahead.”

“I hope you could grant me a surname!”

An eyebrow quirked on Colin’s face.

In the Glorious Empire, only nobles were allowed to have surnames.

Of course, Quincy’s request was not for Colin to grant him nobility.

Because, that was not allowed.

According to the world’s rules of nobility, commoners were not allowed to be granted nobility.

Because they don’t possess noble blood, they are not worthy!

However, commoners were not entirely without ways to achieve mobility.

The only way to move up the ranks was to marry a noblewoman.

If the noblewoman birthed an offspring, that commoner and noble offspring would have noble blood; although not as pure, but it’s just barely acceptable by the nobles.

He would then be eligible for a noble status.

Once nobility was granted, the offspring could be given a surname by the granting lord (if he has not inherited the matrilineal surname).

And that surname can be shared with his father, grandfather, great-grandfather… together.

This is the truest form of glorifying one’s ancestors.

Quincy’s current request was meaning that – asking Colin to help him, uh, he had probably aged too much to wed.

He most likely wanted Colin to assist his son in marrying a noblewoman so his family could move up the ranks!

“Okay.” Colin nodded.

Not only was he not annoyed by Quincy’s ungrateful request before delivering on his merits, he viewed it as a manifestation of self-confidence.

Ability generally matches temperament.

Rather than a mild-tempered mediocre person, he preferred someone with personality and that dared make demands.

If this former tax commissioner could truly transform Ice Rock City into the wealthiest city in the North Territory, Colin believed this man deserved to join the noble ranks.

When Colin agreed to his request, Quincy first wore a look of disbelief, followed by ecstasy.

Finally, he knelt before Colin without hesitation and pledged his loyalty.

Colin tapped on Quincy’s shoulder with the Blade of Judgement, accepting his vow of loyalty.

“Alright, the matter of the tax commissioner is settled. Now, it’s your turn to find some records about this sword for me.

“Of course, of course! Please wait a moment!” Quincy hasn’t recovered from his excitement, his body was still trembling incessantly.

For a commoner, there is nothing more honorable than to join the noble class.

Even though it hasn’t happened yet, Quincy seems to have already envisioned a bright future for his family.

Without letting Colin wait too long, Quincy came out, shaking with a thick book.

After a bit of searching, Quincy respectfully said, “My lord, all the records about the Blade of Judgment are in here.”

Colin nodded, sat down, and began to read carefully.

In fact, there is no such thing as an “artifact” in this world.

It’s impossible to rule the world with a knife or sword.

Perhaps the deity has something like this, but it has never flowed to the earthly realm.

The Blade of Judgement is just a well-crafted knight sword made by a famous dwarf blacksmith, sharp and tenacious, but it can’t destroy everything.

The arcane array engraved on it does greatly increase its value, but that’s it. It’s impossible to think that one could transcend ranks and ravage the world with this sword.

If it had such power, Duke St. Hilde would not have casually bestowed it upon Colin.

The real reason this sword made a name for itself is who had held it and what significant deeds had been done with it.

According to the records, this sword was initially the sidearm of Duke St. Sean.

The most remarkable thing Duke St. Sean did in his life was to personally kill a monarch of the Glorious Empire!

And the weapon he used at that time was precisely this Blade of Justice!

This event had a significant impact at the time, nearly causing the Glorious Empire to collapse.

After killing the monarch, the “regicide” Duke St. Sean became the target of public criticism and was despised by all humans.

The entire human empire was in chaos, and the lords raised their troops one after another, ready to attack this “regicide”.

But an incident happened soon after, turning this “regicide” into a “judge”.

Not long after the regicide took place, the Pope of the Glorious Church publicly announced Duke St. Sean’s innocence and released an oracle — “Those who harbour darkness will face judgment!”

Considering the situation at the time, this oracle clearly meant— the emperor harbored darkness, and Duke St. Sean was judging him!

This oracle saved Duke St. Sean.

SOnce the Lord of Glory issued an oracle, naturally, no one dared to continue to condemn Duke St. Sean.

All the accusations were immediately transferred to the slain emperor.

Because of the phrase “harbour darkness” in the oracle, the pitiful emperor was henceforth referred to as the “Dark Emperor”.

The public opinion reversed instantly, making the “Dark Emperor” the most foolish and evil monarch in the history of the empire, while “Judge” Duke St. Sean became a hero of the empire, unmatched in popularity for a time.

Hence, the knight sword he used to kill the “Dark Emperor” was called the Blade of Judgment.

After reading this part of history, Colin had more doubts in his mind.

Why did Marquis Garcia want him to know about these things?

Was he hinting at something to Colin?

Once, Duke St. Sean used this sword to kill his sovereign. Could it be that Marquis Garcia was also hinting at Colin to kill his liege, Duke St. Hilde?

That wouldn’t be so straightforward, would it…

Colin suddenly recalled that Marquis Garcia pointed out the history of the sword while discussing with him the topic of loyalty.

Therefore, the message Marquis Garcia wanted to convey should also be related to loyalty.

What is loyalty?

Is Duke St. Sean’s regicide considered loyalty?

If this was a betrayal, why would he be forgiven by the Lord of Glory?

After thinking for a while, Colin suddenly turned to ask Quincy on the side: “Find me the detailed records of the Dark Emperor’s life to see.”

“The Dark Emperor?” Quincy thought for a while, but then shook his head and said, “”l’m sorry, my lord, there are no records of this emperor’s life here.”

“No?” Colin raised his head in surprise. The doubt in his heart deepened suddenly.

How could it not be?