Blood Assimilation

"Regardless of whether you have found it or not, I want you to think about it for yourself before deciding what to do."

Cardinal Juke was unconvinced and elaborated: "First, you can tell me right now and your reputation and career would be kept as it is. Second, I want you to go back to the Meistic Forest and find that hideout of the Vampire Queen no matter the cost. I want you to inform me about it within a week. And this time, I wouldn't just take your word for it, so do not bother to lie about your findings."

Upon hearing the declaration of Cardinal Juke, Holy Knight Randy scowled deeply and bluntly asked: "And what if I still couldn't find it?"

Cardinal Juke merely replied with a cruel expression: "Then I will have no choice but to expose your secret to the Church and to the public. You will be stripped of your title as an honorable Holy Knight and excommunicated from the Church of Light. Your prominent Grant Family will be shamed, and your legacy will be forever tarnished."

"..."

'Such a savage beast of a human is the Cardinal of the Church of Light?!'

Holy Knight Randy thought silently to himself in disbelief.

Then, he put on a stressful expression and reluctantly responded: "…I understand, Your Eminence. I will do my best to find the hideout as soon as possible and relay it back to you."

With that statement, Holy Knight Randy turned around and left the Grand Hall of the Church. Meanwhile, he thought of a reprisal plan to employ against Cardinal Juke, an unreasonable man with unquestionable authority in the Church of Light.

Furthermore, if he were to allow him to remain in his position during his stay, he would undoubtedly disrupt his infiltration. He had to find a way to protect his identity, including his reputation. The easiest method was to get rid of Cardinal Juke while he still had the chance.

Although Zolat Grant deserved every bit of Cardinal Juke's manipulation, he was not Zolat Grant. Zolat Grant died at Randy's hands a long time ago. Therefore, there was no need for him to suffer the consequences.

After making a considerable distance away from the Church, Holy Knight Randy turned to his subordinates and instructed: "The two of you. I have an important task for you."

"What are your orders, Captain?"

Barian and Zante unconsciously perked up their ears and listened attentively.

Holy Knight Randy paused for a bit and then continued: "I want the two of you to go back to the Grant Household where I live, inform the steward about the blackmail against me by Cardinal Juke, but remember to be discreet. Do not include unnecessary details or else I will kill the two of you myself. Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Captain!"

The two of them solemnly nodded in understanding of the implication of Holy Knight Randy's words.

"Very good."

Holy Knight Randy nodded approvingly and said: "After you find the steward, tell him to contact the Pope through my family in the Royal Capital. Tell him to notify the Pope that I have something of great importance to relay to him urgently. Moreover, he should include a hint that suggests that the Cardinal couldn't be trusted with the information I have on hand, do you understand?"

"Understood, Captain!"

"If you understand, then get to work. I will mislead the Cardinal by trying to leave Imperial City. In the meantime, the two of you will handle the task I assigned. After you're done, meet up with me outside Imperial City. As for the rest, we will discuss that later."

The duo of Holy Knights felt curious and tentatively asked: "Captain, did you perhaps find the hideout of the Vampire Queen?"

"I did."

Holy Knight Randy admitted nonchalantly, shocking Barian and Zante. They curiously wanted to know why he didn't just inform Cardinal Juke about it, even though he had the chance. 

Holy Knight Randy frowned when he noticed that they remained rooted in the same spot and had shocked expressions on their faces.

With an angry expression, Holy Knight Randy chided: "What's wrong with the two of you? Why are you still standing there? Did you not hear the urgency in my voice? If you don't get out of my sight right now to complete your task I'd..."

"S-Sorry, Captain. We'll get to it right away!"

Barian and Zante noticed that their Captain's aura was accumulating and immediately scurried away at their top speed.

Meanwhile, on their way, they all had the exact same thought.

'Something is different about the captain, but what is it? He's still the same arrogant and irreconcilable captain we know, but… Since when did the Captain become shrewd to scheme against that old schemer, Cardinal Juke?'

After pondering about the change in their Captain's behavior for a while, they eventually decided not to dwell on it. They increased their pace as they headed in the direction of Aristocratic Street, where all the rich and branches of aristocratic families resided in Imperial City.

After they left, Holy Knight Randy turned around and walked away. As he walked, he recollected his exchange with Brawler Randy and felt reassured about the matter with the Crown Prince. Thus, he headed toward the city gate, preparing to leave Imperial City as promised.

…

At the same time.

Brawler Randy and Gutz just came out of the weapon shop after purchasing an expensive gauntlet crafted to handle his level of strength, which was equivalent to a Level 65 strength on average, even though he was only Level 55 by the standard of Acruxia's system. The reason for the discrepancy had to do with the Challenger's system not factoring in his foundational strength before leveling.

Standing on the side, while leaning against the wall of the weapon shop, Gutz observed the excited look on Brawler Randy's face as he inspected the gauntlets they had purchased with a pondering expression.

Previously, he had wanted to inquire about Brawler Randy's relationship with the notorious Grant Family's heir, Zolat Grant. However, Brawler Randy did not appear to want to talk about it. Therefore, he had held back his curiosity until now.

From his experience and untold accounts about Zolat Grant, he was a self-centered, self-entitled, and self-indulgent man who believed that he was deserving of all his fortunes and that the god of light had chosen him to be the next apostle.

Gutz had never liked Zolat's pompous behavior whenever he interacted with Dungeon Hunters such as him. As for the various rumors he heard about him, which might or might not be credible, they only contributed to proving his dislike for him wasn't misguided. 

Zolat had always viewed Dungeon Hunters, who remained as Hunters for reputation, as uncivilized dogs. He stated that Dungeon Hunters were people who couldn't afford to uphold any responsibility or properly serve their country wholeheartedly.

Instead, he believed Dungeon Hunters only sought riches and fame through hunting in Dungeons. As a result of his reasoning, he viewed Dungeon Hunters with disdain whenever he met them. Likewise, Dungeon Hunters hated him to the core for looking down on their dedication to their career path.

Gutz didn't want to believe that the same person who held contempt for Dungeon Hunters would suddenly approach Brawler Randy, who was also a Dungeon Hunter, with a smile on his face, as though they were close friends.

Thus, he wanted to ask Brawler Randy whether or not he was caught up in some shady entanglement with Zolat.

If it turned out that wasn't the case, then he would just be overthinking their relationship. Regardless, he needed to confirm his concerns first.

At this time, Brawler Randy who felt Gutz's undisguised gaze on him, smiled helplessly and said: "You know, I can tell you're staring intently at me, right? What are you curious about? About that knight we met before?"

"…"

Gutz did not respond and only continued to stare at Brawler Randy for a few moments before nodding his head.

"Alright."

Brawler Randy nodded and explained: "If you really want to know so badly, I can tell you. But I don't want to go into the details. I can only tell you that I did that knight a big favor by helping him reunite with his subordinates whom he had been separated from. That was all that happened."

"Is that so?"

Gutz felt that Brawler Randy was still hiding something, but he still let out a sigh of relief and said: "I understand. But you know, I've been meaning to ask you this since your return, but what happened to you?"

"What do you mean?"

Brawler Randy raised his eyebrows in surprise at his strange question.

Gutz gathered his thoughts, emphasized, and doubtfully said: "What I meant to say was that… I mean, it's not like I hate your current energetic demeanor, but it just feels strange when a few days ago, you barely said a word to me when I spoke to you, you know."

"Ah, so that's what you meant."

Brawler Randy realized the reason for his doubtful question and could only shake his head before muttering: "I guess that was how 'he' came across to you guys, huh?"

Gutz couldn't understand his words and asked: "What did you say?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

Brawler Randy waved his hand and said: "To be honest with you… The reason why I acted the way I did was because I wasn't familiar with you guys yet."

"Is that really the case?"

Gutz was still skeptical and wanted confirmation.

Brawler Randy firmly nodded in confirmation: "Yes."

"..."

Gutz remained silent for a brief moment before relenting, saying: "I will take your word for it if you say so."

With that settled, Brawler Randy suddenly remembered something and said to Gutz: "You know, I think we might have to postpone my check-in to tomorrow instead of today. I have a troublesome meeting that I have to attend today, after all."