Chapter 599: Vampires Don’t Drink Blood

The heart of a vampire is somewhat similar to a lich's phylactery, except that a lich's phylactery seems to be merely a coordinate guiding to the real world, while a vampire's heart is the core of life.

In the elongated box, five hearts were collected by Liszt, including Tubote's heart.

He would not trust vampires.

However, he tossed the mass of blood back to Elizabeth: "Tubote is dead, unexpectedly. I originally intended to ask him some questions. Now that the pureblood is dead, how do we contact the other four hybrid vampires?"

"Just squeeze the heart, and they will sense it and come to you. With the heart in your possession, we are all your vampire servants." Elizabeth, after her heart was taken by Liszt, quickly changed her attitude, showing complete gentleness and obedience.

She clearly understood that Liszt had become her master.

"We should head back first, or my father might go chat with the Crown Prince." Liszt whistled, calling for his chocobo, Loki.

Elizabeth had already absorbed the mass of blood into her body and flirted with a smile: "My body is still weak, my lord. Mind if I ride with you?"

"I’ll be blunt, Elizabeth. Your tricks won’t work on me, understand? Plenty of noblewomen in the Duchy would kill for a night with me, but few catch my eye... So, sticking to being a vampire servant is the most reasonable choice."

With that, Liszt rode straight for the port of Ironhoof City.

Elizabeth stamped her foot angrily, seething but powerless. She could only transform into a bat and chase after the departing chocobo.

...

Back on the Sunset, Liszt first visited the Tulip to meet with the Count.

"Is the matter resolved?"

"Much easier than expected—just some light-shy bat. Unfortunately, I struck too hard, and Black Knight Tubote was killed on the spot. He had five hybrid subordinates, who now basically are my vampire lackeys. Perhaps we can get some secrets out of them."

Liszt briefly recounted the events. The arrival of the vampires was not an isolated incident and had already affected the internal stability of the Duchy.

"Who knew vampires were real and have been hiding among us?" The Count pondered for a moment before saying, "Let’s pretend this never happened. You must keep those five vampires under control and make sure they stay hidden... The Grand Duke’s business isn’t ours."

"I understand."

"By the way, why didn’t you bring Elizabeth here? I’d like to see what a vampire looks like, especially one that can turn into a bat." Lee William was curious.

"After we set sail, I’ll bring her to show you. A vampire turning into a bat is pretty wild."

The conversation didn’t last long. After receiving the Count’s advice to downplay the incident, Liszt returned directly to the Sunset. Elizabeth Black Knight was in his room, going through Tubote’s confiscated gear.

There were five items in total.

A gleaming silver dagger, which Elizabeth knew well: "My lord, this dagger is called 'Silver Oath,' one of the Black Knight family’s heirloom magic gear. It enhances the power of blood magic, making it a top-tier weapon for vampire night kills."

A set of clothing, including a black cloak with a red lining and a tailcoat similar to Frac Abbaye. This outfit, like Elizabeth’s skintight leathers, was ordinary magic gear that could adapt to transformations, offering only minor defensive properties.

An item that looked like a book.

Elizabeth also recognized it: "This book is called 'Rebirth Ritual.' Its sole purpose is to use blood magic to boil a person’s blood, gradually transforming it into the cold blood of a vampire. It’s part of a set with the blood-drawing needle you confiscated... My transformation from a mage to a vampire was completed using this Rebirth Ritual."

She caressed the cover, lost in memory for a moment.

Then, snapping back to reality, she picked up the fourth item: "I’ve never seen this mirror before, but it feels like a protective artifact, likely capable of resisting sunlight and blocking light magic that weakens blood magic."

Finally.

She picked up the fifth item.

The item was a red mask: "I use this mask often, it's called the 'Blood Mask.' Every time I briefly retrieved my own heart and began training under Tubote's supervision, I would wear it. It can calm the restless elements in a vampire's blood, keeping it constantly chilled."

A vampire's blood is cold.

Sunlight or light-based magic can warm and boil it, thereby severely weakening their abilities.

After learning the purpose of each item, Liszt took them one by one from Elizabeth, paying no mind to her resentful look.

"I heard Tubote call you Mary—is that your real name?"

"After I became a vampire, Tubote gave me the name Elizabeth Black Knight. It's been twenty years now... Mary Truth was my name as a mage. Later, it became my codename within the Black Knight family... Bloody Mary."

"Hmm." Liszt narrowed his eyes.

A misty notification appeared before his vision: "Mission complete. Reward: Bloody Mary—Elizabeth Black Knight."

Before Liszt could remark on the boldness of the nickname "Bloody Mary,"

Elizabeth quickly added, "Half-breeds like us all have codenames. Purebloods dislike calling us by our real names. Oh, I forgot to mention—the other four vampires Tubote brought are named Scarlet Peggy, Bloody Hamill, Night Demon Wimbledon, and One-Eyed Uso."

All pretty badass names.

One-Eyed Uso in particular made Liszt's eyebrow twitch—his groom was named One-Eyed Barton.

The thought distracted him, and the smoke had already dissipated before Liszt could read the new mission details. But he wasn’t in a hurry and instead asked, "Do vampires survive by drinking blood?"

"My lord, vampires don't actually drink blood. Those purebloods prefer to call themselves the Sanguine Nobility. The authors of chivalric romances always portray us as blood-sucking monsters. In truth, we are merely mages who study blood magic—though our bodies have undergone some unusual changes."

"So you also eat food?"

"Of course, my lord. We eat whatever ordinary people eat."

With Tubote dead and his heart now in Liszt's possession, Elizabeth answered his questions thoroughly and without reservation, behaving like a loyal subordinate.

Gradually, Liszt came to understand these neither-human-nor-ghoul mages. Aside from their secretive traditions, nocturnal habits, turning into bats to cause trouble, and having a bad rap, they weren’t all that extraordinary. They were scattered across the continent, though their numbers were few.

For one, their birth rate was low—natural purebloods were extremely rare. Secondly, converting turned half-bloods required vast resources, and those without talent had no chance of becoming external hybrids.

A vampire family with fifty members was considered a major house.

As they talked, the conversation turned to the origins of this incident.

Bloody Mary went on, "Originally, Tubote had no intention of converting you, my lord. The resources needed to create a hybrid are too precious, even for the Black Knight family to waste. But after learning that you were the youngest Sky Knight in the Sapphire Kingdom, Tubote had a change of heart right then and sought to convert you."

Liszt gave no outward sign.

But inwardly, he understood—this must have been karma's backlash from his previous failed mission, drawing Tubote's malice toward him.

Yet, this malice seemed more like a blessing, handing him five vampire retainers.