Chapter 99: The Empress in the Diary

There once was a highly learned Grand Mage of the Transformation school who conducted in‑depth research on the habits of great dragons.

Compared with lizards, this Grand Mage thought great dragons resembled cats more, both in size and temperament.

Every great dragon possesses a curiosity like that of a cat.

The "Empress" spoken of by the vampire spawn inevitably piqued Juan Ce Long's curiosity.

Late at night, Naimi Xisi descended the stairs to the tavern's ground floor, where the place had fallen into silence; only a few drunkards snored on the tables, the other patrons having long gone home.

Even the bartender named Jieshi was dozing on a lounge chair behind the bar.

Naimi Xisi sat at the bar, extended a gold coin, placed it on the table; the round, plump coin slipped forward, clattered onto the floor inside the bar, and the crisp impact awoke the dwarf.

The dwarf first opened his eyes in bewilderment, then glanced around warily, his muscles tensed; only after seeing that the seated guest at the bar was the same patron from earlier that day did he relax.

Half‑asleep, he rose from the lounge chair, his voice heavy with fatigue as he asked, "It's so late, patron—still want a drink? The price is doubled, consider it my overtime fee."

Naimi Xisi shook his head, pointed at the coin on the floor, and asked, "I have something I'd like to ask you."

Although Mind Power hadn't uncovered any information, Naimi Xisi's mind instantly conjured someone who might know part of the background.

It was the bartender right before him.

The senses of great dragons are extremely acute; most of the time Naimi Xisi could hear the faintest stirrings from great distances.

The same held true this afternoon.

He seemed indifferent to his surroundings, yet he heard every word spoken by everyone, storing them in the corner of his mind with powerful pictorial memory.

He appeared impatient merely because he was uninterested in trivial matters; for a Mage great dragon, his eidetic memory had accumulated countless useless junk memories, and when faced with such, he would filter them out, even ignore them.

The bartender's warning to Keli Te, he heard it crystal‑clear and remembered it perfectly.

"If you don't want to die, it's best not to go out at night," the youth repeated.

His dim yellow pupils stared at the dwarf before him, his head tilting as if awaiting an explanation.

With an annoyed expression, the bartender waited a few seconds, and when the other gave no reply, he growled, "Got nothing better to do? What do you want from me?"

Juan Ce Long raised an eyebrow; seeing his intention unperceived, he expanded the query, "You said that. Why say it?"

The dwarf Jieshi gave no answer, merely waved impatiently, ready to return to sleep.

He was about to sit down when he heard the other continue,

"Did you also see those vampire spawn?"

The dwarf's pupils narrowed; he snapped his head up toward the speaker, his voice tinged with fear, "Y‑you've seen her?"

Naimi Xisi nodded.

"She just appeared in my room; I caught her, tried to extract information, but she died too quickly."

The dwarf Jieshi's eyes lit up at the news of the vampire's death, then he slumped onto his chair, sighing.

"My first sight of her was twenty years ago, when my brother and I were newcomers and had just opened this tavern in Lv Yin Town."

The dwarf's voice carried a hint of bewilderment and a touch of relieved exhilaration.

"I still recall that night; the moon was unusually full, just like today. I got up at midnight to use the bathroom and heard a stir coming from my brother's room."

"I called out to my brother, but no one answered; I walked to his door, intending to knock and ask what was happening."

"To my surprise, the door was ajar; when I pushed it open, I saw my brother's pale corpse sprawled on the bed, and a woman's silhouette crouched at the window, leaping down."

"I went over trying to wake my brother, but all that remained was a corpse drained of its last drop of blood." The dwarf clutched his head in pain, his voice choked.

"The town guard had no idea what had happened; my brother's body was taken by the guard in the morning and vanished by afternoon. I tried to tell others what occurred, but no one believed me."

"Only I know that it was that monster—a legendary evil vampire—that killed my brother."

Naimi Xisi pondered; this matched the vampire's monologue. She had been hunting wayfarers who came here—when the dwarf brothers first arrived, she killed one of them, and after the other settled here, she never struck again.

It seems that the so‑called "Empress" holds absolute authority over these vampire spawn.

"Have you ever heard the term 'Empress'?" Naimi Xisi asked curiously.

The dwarf Jieshi froze for a moment, seeming incredulous: "H‑how could you know that word?"

Naimi Xisi raised an eyebrow; it seemed he had found a direction.

"The term 'Empress' I have indeed seen. I once spent a period secretly investigating that monster's information; I know that all vampires were once ordinary beings, and that monster must once have been human."

"I scoured the town's library, the archives, and even slipped into the church to investigate covertly."

"I found a diary that had belonged fifty years ago to a noble of Lv Yin Town."

"The Viscountess of Lv Yin Town at the time—Wa Ni Sha—was precisely the human identity that monster once had!"

"How did you determine that Wa Ni Sha is that vampire spawn?"

In response to Naimi Xisi's question, the dwarf gave a wry smile, opened a dust‑covered large chest behind him, and retrieved a portrait.

Naimi Xisi saw the name beneath the portrait, compared the face—identical to the vampire spawn—and the tattered yet ornate dress, confirming it was indeed her.

"That diary mentions the term 'Empress'; beyond that, I know nothing else."

"Hand that diary over to me."

Despite the youth's commanding tone, the dwarf unusually did not get angry; he simply stared silently for a moment, then handed a leather‑bound notebook to him.

"I want you to kill more of these monsters—the more, the better," the dwarf Jieshi said, his voice filled with deep, searing hatred.

Naimi Xisi took the diary, chuckled lightly, "I fully agree. Such hideous creatures dare to covet me; they should be prepared for me to uproot them completely."

He is a very grudging, petty dragon; although Naimi Xisi does not acknowledge it, it's his greatest 'advantage'. — When he rose that morning, he learned that a vampire spawn had dared to attack Juan Ce Long's Losri En and Keli Te; both were incensed. Keli Te immediately brandished Count Luo Sa's title, summoned the mayor of Lv Yin Town, and questioned him.

"Lv Yin Town has harbored such monsters for decades, harming people. Mayor, I think your town guard is grossly negligent," Keli Te said, her face icy, tone harsh.

The mayor's expression was also sour. "You, an unknown earl, aren't even the one who conferred my title; why should I heed your scolding!"

But he dared not retort, for he had just learned that this party before him had been invited by the royal family to the capital as guests, changing the dynamics entirely.

In theory, the viscount nominally answers only to his superior earl.

In practice, however, the Bu Tu Royal Family, as a sovereign house in the supernal world, wields enough force to ensure all nobles obey their directives.

If these people truly dared speak up before the royal family, his newly‑granted viscount title would be at risk. Thus, the aggrieved mayor had no choice but to act like a dutiful grandson before this earl, who had nothing to do with him.

"Yes yes, you're right, I will definitely punish the captain of the town guard! However, we really don't know anything about this vampire derivative matter, you may not know, I was only ennobled as a viscount by Marquis Huakai a dozen or so years ago; before that, I wasn't even in Greenfield Town!".

Ke Lite let out a cold snort, turned and left, leaving only the sweating town mayor with a face full of curses.

The caravan set out again; after that night's mishap, they weren't in the mood to rest another day here. Fortunately, the vampire derivative's first victim was likely Naimi Xisi, who was then killed, so the mercenary band that Losrien had hired for several thousand gold coins suffered no loss.

Naimi Xisi sat in the carriage, examining that diary in his hands; he had already finished reading it.

The first half of the entire diary is just nonsense, recounting the trivial daily affairs of a noble named Wanisha.

Only the second half became interesting.

For example, one entry: July 7, 1453, clear.

The royal capital is truly luxurious; fortunately I latched onto Lady Huakai's thigh, giving me a chance to attend the capital's noble gathering!

At today's gathering, that person certainly looked at me with new eyes—no, Wanisha, you need to work harder; you must seize this opportunity!

Also, another entry: September 1, 1453, overcast.

That person actually wrote me an invitation to attend the small banquet she personally organized! Good heavens, could I really be about to make it big?

Immediately after:

September 10, 1453, overcast.

Heavens, why is it like this? What have I done? Wanisha, what have you done? That's an innocent person—how can I be so cruel!

But why, when I slit his throat and watched his blood drip down, do I feel a hint of pleasure in my heart?

Shangtiya, please forgive me. October 20, 1453, overcast.

The sky is forever so dim; why did I never notice before that the gatherings convened by that person are always overcast? Indeed, everything that's free already has a price secretly set.

I am no exception. —The notes stop here; it's clear from the last line that the author wrote with great force, even puncturing the second page of paper.

After that, the notes consisted of various meaningless scratches until Naimi Xisi flipped to the last page, where a few scarlet large characters formed a bizarre sentence across the whole page.

"Empress! My perfect empress, you are the darling of the dark night and also the destined slaughterer of the lambs. Please lead us, let us rule the land of Enbutu!"

(End of chapter)