Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

As Ron and the others attempted to enter the deactivated Array to move Mary’s body, they discovered that the Vampire Count had not taken the Magic Sword—the one said to devour flesh and soul. It was still embedded in Mary’s body.

”This sword is useless now,” Victoria said after a careful inspection, cautiously pulling the Magic Sword out. ”Its only purpose was to prepare for this ritual. Now that it has fulfilled its duty, even its Spiritual Light has almost completely faded.”

”But it’s not entirely useless,” Silvia countered, giving it a try. ”If we ever want to find that Count in the future, this sword can be used as Casting Materials and a tracking tool.”

The Vampire Mage took the ominous Longsword from Victoria, gave it a couple of casual swings, and then put it away without any sign of aversion. ”Forget this for now,” she said. ”How about I give you a tour of the rooms in the castle? There were places even I couldn’t enter when the Count was around. Now we can go wherever we want!”

Inside the Count’s castle, all the Undead Creatures were now completely immobile. The butler, Alfred, lay in a dozen pieces, scattered beneath the portico. He had likely sensed something was amiss when the entity in the black mist appeared and tried to flee, but with the entire domain enveloped, where could a mere butler possibly escape?

”What a shame,” Delaford said with a regretful click of his tongue. ”Ron, if we stitch him back together, do you think we could resurrect him?”

”Unfortunately, no. Its will has permanently left this body.” Ron and Silvia exchanged glances, the two Casters having reached the same conclusion. ”Judging by the condition of the corpse, we could try to reanimate it as one of the Undead, but the butler himself is definitely not coming back. The reanimated creature would just be a mindless Undead.”

”What about the Gargoyles?” Quest asked curiously, looking up at the several now-empty stone platforms on the vaulted ceiling. ”They’re Elemental Creatures. Logically, they shouldn’t have been drained away.”

”They’re Elemental Creatures, but they still ’belonged’ to this domain, or rather, to the Count,” Yelena said, flexing her still-sore wrists and ankles. Her joints had really taken a beating earlier. Even with Healing Potions and Magic, it would take a few days to fully recover. ”I doubt that thing is a picky eater.”

An empty, ancient castle is always unnerving, even with the sole heir right there beside Ron and the others. Aive walked cautiously at the front as the lights around them lit up one by one under Ron’s Magic. As the group drew closer to the Count’s former chambers, the atmosphere grew increasingly strange.

”Ha! That old bastard gave us such tiny guest rooms, but his own bedroom is this huge!” Delaford kicked open the ajar door. The inside was pitch-black, but they could faintly make out the silhouettes of dozens of coffins lined up against the wall.

”Does anyone else feel like something is watching us?” Ron frowned slightly. ’He was just one person, and he slept in a coffin. He wouldn’t need such a large room, would he?’

”And why would one person need so many coffins? That’s a bit too extravagant, even for a Vampire noble.”

”He probably shared this room with his wife, Hecate, before.” The few who had Dark Vision were unaffected by the faint, lingering Magic in the room and began to search around. ”Ron, these coffins aren’t all for him!”

”The name on this one is… Old Opal!”

Silvia’s shout drew everyone’s attention. Sure enough, on one of the coffins, a line of words chiseled with a hammer stood out starkly: Oppo Carter, Guard Captain of Cold Water Village.

”It must be a coincidence, right? Same name?”

”Impossible!” Silvia shook her head. ”When it was carrying me here, I could see the same name carved under its wing. Why else do you think I called it Old Opal?”

”Check the others!” Ron directed the group to start examining the other coffins. ”Did you get to know any other ’people’ during your time here?”

Victoria and Aive weren’t keen on interacting too much with the Gargoyles and Undead, but Quest and Delaford did know a few of them. As expected, the names of most of these creatures were also listed on the coffins in the Count’s room.

Coincidentally, all the names on the coffins belonged to Gargoyles; not a single one was for the Undead outside the castle.

”What in the hell!” Delaford exclaimed, gesturing at the size of the coffins. ”Are all these coffins Magic Items or something? How did those Gargoyles squeeze in here to sleep?”

”Is it possible that what’s inside isn’t the Gargoyles, but—” Aive suddenly had an idea. She placed her Flaming Hand Armor on the lid of Old Opal’s coffin, and with a heave of her shoulders, shoved the lid aside. ”Just as I thought!”

”A mummified Dwarven corpse?!”

As Aive acted, an emaciated corpse, nothing but skin and bones, tumbled out of the upright coffin. A massive cloud of dust and the stench of decay instantly filled the room, making everyone choke and sneeze.

”Open all the others!”

With everyone’s effort, mummified corpses from centuries ago tumbled out of the coffins, one after another. They were of various races, genders, and ages, but their expressions were peaceful. Their attire was also largely similar, consisting of Scale Armor or Chain Armor Shirts. Only the Scale Armor on ”Oppo Carter” seemed a bit more formal, with a few decorations that had nearly turned to dust.

”Look what I found! In the Count’s own coffin!” Delaford climbed out of the coffin, which was larger and more ornate than the others, coughing and waving a notebook in his hand. ”The Vampire Count kept this right by his bedside—it looks like a roster!”

”The first name is Old Opal! He was a… Knight?” Silvia took the notebook, flipping through the yellowed pages in shock. ”The others are almost all soldiers and members of the guard! What does the Count mean by this?”

”Using his dead subordinates to stand vigil for him?” Ron guessed. It wouldn’t be that unusual—except for the fact that the tomb’s owner was still ”alive.”

”No, they weren’t placed here after they died,” Quest said, pointing to a mummified human corpse that had been very young in life. ”He looks like he was only about twenty. There are no signs of battle on his body. He died of neither old age nor combat.”

”That’s right. They’re… sacrifices,” Silvia said after quickly finishing the notebook. She handed it to Ron. ”Benefactor, it seems the Count’s kind exterior was indeed a mask. He… never mind. You should see for yourself.”