Chapter 200 That Level Of Deception Won’t Work Against Me (2)
Chapter 200 That Level Of Deception Won’t Work Against Me (2)
"I can feel lots of hostile gazes..." Michelle whispered in Ashton's ears.
"I already know, your highness." Ashton replied without facing her.
How could he have not known? His perception skill was literally screaming at all the hostility oozing out of their eyes. Ashton almost felt like he had walked into a battlefield filled with enemies.
It was then he saw Alucard for the first time and all of a sudden, the hostility coming from the countless vampires present there didn't matter. The man in front of him was more than sufficient to make his heart come out of his mouth.
Even though Ashton knew the overlord held no hostile feeling towards him, the soul-piercing look in his eyes was sufficient for Ashton to subconsciously take a step back.
'That man... is a monster.' Ashton thought while gulping down his saliva, 'How the fuck did he ever reach to level 60? No... I need to take control of myself. Now is not the time to analyse his strength. For my plan to succeed, I need to get in his good graces.'
Their march halted at the steps of the throne Alucard was occupying. Ashton sincerely kneeled before him, just like the royal knights behind him. While Michelle followed the royal etiquette and used curtsy, a traditional bowing technique of the royals to show their respect to someone.
While Ashton could have done something similar and be done with it, he decided to greet Alucard as a soldier would. After all, at the end of the day, that's what he was... a soldier having the title of a baron.
"Please get up. Someone who saved my nephew doesn't need to kneel before me." Alucard urged Ashton softly, "If anything it should be the other way around. If it hadn't been for you, the relationship between countless kingdoms would have been jeopardized."
"I only did what a soldier like me would have done. Protect everyone, and punish those who dare disrupt the harmony between our nations."
"Haha, well said, very well said." Alucard laughed and patted Ashton's shoulder, "I can see why my good-for-nothing nephew took a liking to someone like you. As it is said, opposites attract... I guess it's true for personalities as well."
Even though Kai's face didn't change colour, anyone who could see him would know he was a bit embarrassed. It was true he wasn't as talented as Ashton was, but even so, he could easily pull his weight in the direst situations.
"Now, let's begin the ceremony for-"
"Permission to speak, my lord?" A loud voice boomed throughout the thrones before silence once again shrouded everything.
Through the corner of his eyes, Ashton saw a man walking toward them. Whenever the mountain of a man took a step, the floor shook vigorously. Standing 7' 6" tall, this bronze-skinned man had an unruly feel about him. A particularly notable feature was the weird scar on his face. One that stretched from his left chin to the right temple.
His upper body was completely exposed and was covered in a plethora of scars. Signalling that the man had been in his fair share of battles before and that he was proud of the scars he had received like any proud warrior should be.
His long, frizzy, black hair was worn in a tight bun while his moustache was a shade lighter than his hair, and was beaded, making him look like a nomad. He had a wide face, a pointed nose, and puffy lips. But his eyes... they scanned Ashton like he was an insect, and the man wanted to crush him.
"What is it, Griffin?" Alucard asked the man while shaking his head.
"With all due respect, your highness," Griffin replied in his astonishingly deep voice, "I tried to take young lord's tale with a grain of salt, but it seemed far-fetched that someone like him, killed over a dozen vampires that were on the verge of a breakthrough. Something in the story doesn't add up."
"Are you implying that I am a liar?" Kai lost his cool but was immediately calmed both by Irina who was sitting next to him.
"Never my lord! I'm just a humble servant to the throne. Sworn to protect anyone who sits on it. You're one of them, so how can I say a thing like that?" Griffin bowed down and apologised to Kai, "What I meant to say was, could we really trust the word of this kid? After all, Young Lord himself said he was unconscious throughout the duration of the fight."
Under Griffin's shadow, the rest of the vampires also suddenly found their voices back and began repeating what Griffin had said. After all, Griffin was the closest thing Alucard had to a comrade and a friend.
Their friendship was tighter than any other and that's why Griffin wasn't afraid of boldly voicing his opinions in front of Alucard when anyone else would choose silence over upsetting the overlord by mistake.
"How can we trust that it wasn't the plan of the werewolves from the beginning?" Someone yelled from the crowd, "For all we know, the werewolves could have colluded with Camilla, considering how easy it would have been to do so."
"Yes. The fact that we never found Camilla's remains is also suspicious." Someone else chimed in, "Also, whatever dismembered corpses we did receive could count for six assassins, which is half the amount lord Kai remembers seeing."
The questions kept popping up one after another, like wild mushrooms in a monsoon. They only stopped once Alucard raised his hand, making everyone stop.
"I hear you loud and clear," Alucard expressed as soon as everyone calmed down, "but if you keep throwing allegations one after another then how will the young lad defend himself?"
He continued, "If you have the patience to keep asking questions one after another, then you should have the patience to listen to him talk as well, don't you think? Ashton, would you be able to prove that vampires other than Camilla were involved in the incident?"
"Your highness, I think we should sort some things out first-" Michelle tried to calm everyone down, but before she could do so, Ashton stopped her.
"Of course, your highness, I can do so easily," Ashton replied to Alucard's question with a smile before putting his hand into his inventory.
As soon as he did that, Griffin and the vampires jumped into action mode, drawing their weapons out to rip the young man to pieces, thinking Ashton was about to attack Alucard. However, the latter stopped them from doing anything.
"Wait a bit," Alucard said as he noticed Ashton pull out a sack from his inventory.
"Here's the proof. I'm sure if you search hard enough, you'll find out the people these heads belonged to." Ashton calmly stated before dumping the heads of the mercenaries hired by Camilla to kill the rest of the students.