The First Vampire

“So, the one who assassinated Count Uman last night was from the Dwarf faction?”

Joyce’s naive voice echoed in the Conference Hall of Lion Roar Castle.

Knight Chester, the captain of the St. Hilde family’s guard, respectfully replied, “Young master, the one I fought with last night indeed was a dwarf warrior, but… it should not be this corpse.”

“Why?”

Faced with the slightly foolish question from Joyce, Knight Chester had to explain patiently:

“Young master, one who could fight me without losing must at least be a fifth-rank warrior. And how could a fifth-rank warrior be killed by the collapse of a warehouse?”

“Oh…” Joyce nodded and then seemed to have a flash of insight, and he asked, “What about the fourth rank?”

“Likely not.”

When he heard this answer, Joyce’s eyes lit up, as if he had discovered something extraordinary and he proudly said:

“So, by that logic, Thomas, as a fourth-rank knight, should not have been killed by the fallen church ceiling? But had died in the confessional before that, is that correct?”

“Ahem…Maybe…” Knight Chester was suddenly a bit embarrassed.

For a moment, he didn’t know whether to praise the young master’s cleverness or his foolishness.

Helplessly, he signaled the butler Derrington with his eyes, probably meaning that you should handle the conspiracy of your own making; don’t make me clean up the mess…

“We should thoroughly examine Knight Thomas’s corpse to see the real cause of his death!” The clever Joyce yelled.

Butler Derrington sighed, not able to keep silent any longer, but as he was about to explain, a tall figure walked in from the door.

Then, the lazy and captivating voice of Archbishop Agani rang out:

“Master Joyce, Knight Thomas indeed died from being crushed, an angular giant stone happened to hit his head, causing this unfortunate incident.”

“Sister Agani!” Joyec immediately jumped from his seat, stepped forward, and eagerly took Agani’s hand.

Seeing this scene, Knight Chester instantly frowned.

Actually, as the Captain of the St. Hilde family’s guard, he had a clear understanding of the power struggle within Lion Roar Castle. But he himself had no bias. Whether Joyce or Vera inherited the position of Duke, he did not have an opinion.

However, watching the sycophantic Joyce clinging to Agani, Knight Chester felt a sense of repulsion:

How could the Northern Duke act like a fawning and ingratiating person in front of the church?

At this moment, Joyce in front of Agani seemed like a little dog trying to please its master. Even though he originally questioned Thomas’ death, after a few casual words from Agani, he completely believed that the one who died from the collapsing church ceiling was the culprit.

As for how the church ceiling collapsed spontaneously, well, of course, it was caused by a lightning strike.

To witness such an easy path to the truth, even the always-neutral Knight Chester was left speechless.

However, when he saw Count Uman’s head, he sneered in his mind – the people on Vera’s side are also not simple characters; there will be good drama ahead.

“Master Joyce, the urgent task is to appoint a new commander of the city defense force. Moreover, the Uman Clan’s army also needs a new commander, in order to avoid chaos.”

Regarding Agani’s suggestion, Joyce would naturally not refuse. He nodded repeatedly and said, “Alright! What are your recommendations for the position of commander of the Winterfell City defense force, Archbishop?”

Agani lightly smiled and shook her head, saying, “The secular issues should be handled by the lords, and the spiritual issues belong to the deity. Master Joyce, the appointment of the commander of the Winterfell City defense force should not be decided by me.”

Fine, at least she has some sense of shame.

Knight Chester muttered inwardly.

However, he understood that Agani had merely declined ceremoniously. The actual candidate must have been discussed beforehand, were they really expecting a ten-year-old to make such a decision?

Indeed, Joyce, who was indecisive, turned to look at Butler Derrington and asked, “Derrington, who do you think is suitable?”

The old butler smiled modestly and suggested, “Young master, I think Knight Louis is not bad. He is the Deputy Commander of the Golden Lion Legion, with military experience, brave in combat, and loyal to the St. Hilde family. He will definitely serve as a qualified commander of the city defense force.”

Joyce did not hesitate and immediately nodded, “Alright, let Knight Louis take over the city defense force.”

Knight Louis, who was standing aside, immediately stepped forward, knelt before Joyce on one knee, and loudly said,

“Thank you, Master Joyce, for your trust!”

Subsequently, Butler Derrington drafted an appointment letter and handed it to Joyce.

Joyce eagerly signed his name, as if at that very moment he had truly become the Northern Duke.

The sensation of controlling others’ destinies with just words and decisions sparked an unusual feeling in Joyce’s heart. He perhaps didn’t understand what it was, but he was already uncontrollably captivated by it.

Joyce suddenly understood why his father, busy day in and day out, never complained and even found joy in it. He once felt fortunate not to be the eldest son so that he wouldn’t have to worry about handling these tedious political affairs in the future.

But now, he finally understood his father’s joy.

Handing the signed appointment letter to Knight Louis, Joyce raised his head high and proudly surveyed the room, reveling in the feeling of being the focus of everyone’s attention.

Especially Archbishop Agani’s gaze, cold as water, yet containing an overwhelming charm. Joyce’s desire for possession could no longer be restrained. He longed to ask the butler whether he really had to wait until his coming of age ceremony to get married…

“Young master? Young master?”

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

Joyce was awakened by the butler’s call and quickly withdrew his lustful gaze from Agani with a guilty conscience.

However, the young man’s affection was already noticed by everyone present. Some were pleased, while others frowned.

“Count Uman was unfortunately murdered, we need to catch the culprit as soon as possible. Of course, more importantly, we must appease those warriors of the Uman Clan in the city.” Butler Derrington proposed once again.

“Uman Clan…” Joyce pondered for a moment, then looked around the conference hall and asked: “Why isn’t Viscount Walra here?”

Butler Derrington immediately explained: “I have already sent someone to inform Viscount Walra about the Count’s demise, and requested him to come to the conference hall for discussion. But I don’t know why he hasn’t appeared yet.”

“Was he injured and couldn’t come?” Joyce asked.

Knight Chester answered: “Master, Viscount Walra was indeed injured in last night’s attack, but from what I saw, his injuries were not serious.”

“Then send someone to hurry him up!” Joyce’s face started to show impatience, as if he felt his authority being challenged.

“Yes!” Butler Derrington immediately responded, promptly sending someone to inform Viscount Walra.

Joyce then asked again: “What about the killer who murdered Count Uman? Knight Chester, you just said the corpse of the dwarf found with Uman’s skull is not the killer?”

“Probably not.” Knight Chester patiently explained, “As I said, the one I fought was a fifth-tier dwarf warrior. There’s no way he could have been killed by a collapsing warehouse. The body of the Dwarf we found should just be a scapegoat.

In addition, we only found Count Uman’s skull, but the rest of the body is missing. I guess it was taken by the real killer.”

“Why did the killer take Count Uman’s body and leave only the skull?” Joyce asked curiously.

“I guess, maybe he wanted to hide something.”

“Hide what?” Joyce insisted on asking to the end.

Knight Chester immediately felt a headache.

In his view, Joyce was exhibiting typical childish behavior, incessantly questioning irrelevant things, but turning a blind eye to truly important matters.

Fortunately, Archbishop Agani spoke up, bringing the topic back on track: “Master Joyce, the reason why the murderer took Count Uman’s body is not the key issue. We should pay more attention to, who planned the assassination against Count Uman?”

Joyce repeatedly nodded: “Then Archbishop, what’s your opinion?”

Agani looked at Knight Chester and asked: “Knight Chester, you said there were three assassins last night, one big man in blue armor, a dwarf in red armor, and a creature with large wings?”

“Yes.”

The archbishop’s eyes flashed, then she smiled and said: “The identity of those two armored men is a mystery, but the winged one has appeared before.”

“Really?” Joyce asked curiously, “Can people really grow wings?”

Seeing Joyce’s focus drifting off again, Archbishop Agani smiled lightly, and redirected the topic:

“I’m not sure about that. However, during the coup that took place in Silver Moon City last year, a ‘Winged Knight’ appeared. It was said to be a knight with large wings, who should be the same person who appeared at Lion Roar Castle.”

“Winged Knight?” Joyce’s eyes glistened with anticipation; he eagerly asked, “Then Archbishop, do you know his real identity?”

Archbishop Agani did not respond, but instead turned her gaze towards the entrance of the conference hall.

Just there, a heroic figure appeared.