“Huh, where’s the rest?” Ludwig muttered under his breath, his brow furrowing in frustration as he flipped through the worn pages of the journal. The entries were sparse, with only a handful of cryptic notes scattered across the years, some dating back more than a century after the incident. The more he read, the more his confusion grew, though he managed to piece together a few fragments of information.
“He wasn’t a mage until later… and how come he’s a vampire? I mean, his whole family looked normal from what you could read… was he bitten by a vampire later?” Ludwig asked, his voice tinged with curiosity and a hint of disbelief.
“Bitten?” Thomas’s spirit form manifested in front of ludwig. His size was no bigger than a palm. His tone laced with skepticism as he tilted his head slightly, his glowing eyes narrowing in thought.
“Yeah, bitten so he became a vampire, I mean,” Ludwig clarified, gesturing vaguely with his hands as if trying to physically shape the idea. “Isn’t that how it usually works? also how did you do this?”
“Ah, I think it’s because your class changed. I’m more able to present myself outside the lantern, I can’t do much though.” Thomas said as he pushed both palms forward as if trying to cast magic but nothing came out.
Thomas flew up to land on Ludwig’s shoulder “As for your second question… I’m not sure of what you’re talking about,” Thomas replied, his voice carrying a note of mild exasperation. “Master Van Dijk is a True Vampire… not some common bloodsucker.”
“What’s the difference?” Ludwig pressed, leaning forward slightly on the notes, his curiosity now fully piqued.
“True vampires aren’t created via blood transfusion,” Thomas explained, his tone taking on a lecturing quality. “That’s lesser vampires, and they’re usually short-lived creatures. They can’t handle the light of the sun, and they’re not human-like. They’re monstrosities that walk on four legs, more beast than man.”
“That’s a different picture from what I had in mind,” Ludwig admitted, his voice trailing off as he processed the information. “But that doesn’t explain why he’s a True Vampire. Shouldn’t he have… magic? Power? I mean, he acted like a normal human being in his journal.”
Ludwig flipped more pages as if to verify if he didn’t miss anything.
“Probably he didn’t know he was a True Vampire?” Thomas suggested, though his tone made it clear he wasn’t entirely convinced of his own theory.
“Now that’s a bit absurd…” Ludwig muttered, shaking his head as he leaned back against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.
“I don’t know, man. Maybe he only awakened later,” Thomas offered with a shrug, his glowing form flickering slightly as if to emphasize his uncertainty.
Ludwig sighed, running a hand through his hair as he tried to make sense of the fragmented information. The truth behind his master’s origin remained elusive, and all he had were vague glimpses into a past that seemed to raise more questions than answers.
“I should probably ask him personally when I meet him again,” Ludwig said finally, pushing himself off the wall and standing up straight. His voice carried a note of determination, though it was tempered by the lingering frustration of not having all the pieces of the puzzle.
“Where to now?” Thomas asked, his tone casual but with an undercurrent of curiosity.
“I need to check the mansion,” Ludwig replied, his gaze sweeping across the dilapidated room. “Maybe there are more clues left here, though I doubt anything would be intact after so many years…”
“Do you think that creature mentioned in the book is still here?” Thomas asked, his voice dropping slightly as if wary of being overheard. “I wouldn’t be walking around the mansion carelessly if something like that is still alive.” He added as he flew up to face Ludwig.
“No, I don’t think it’s here,” Ludwig said firmly, though his eyes betrayed a flicker of unease.
“And your reason?” Thomas pressed, his glowing form shifting slightly as if to mirror Ludwig’s unease.
“Because we’ve already met it before,” Ludwig replied, his voice steady but tinged with a grim certainty. “Back at Rima, that man who came out from the alchemist’s shop. It was the same person who made the Sheikh seek the fake immortality. It’s definitely the same person.”
“The werewolf?” Thomas asked, his tone sharpening as the pieces began to fall into place.
“Yeah,” Ludwig confirmed, nodding slowly. “I can now understand master’s feelings, and the way he reacted that day. Do you remember the corpses and bones at the entrance of the mansion?”
“Yes,” Thomas replied, his voice low and somber.
“Those were probably the bodies of Van Dijk’s family,” Ludwig said, his tone heavy with the weight of the revelation. “They were all killed by the blind man. The blind man was personally invited by master Van Dijk to his home, and the blind man ended up devouring and killing off his entire family. A gesture of goodwill ended up ruining master’s life and personality. From the cordial, fun, and family man, to the Black Tower master who would scorn and despise feebleness. Almost emotionless and outright barbarically cruel at times. Van Dijk is a changed man, and I can’t blame him.”
‘I mean who else wouldn’t be traumatized if that happened to them… to invite a monster into your own home… the mere thought of that is terrifying.’
Ludwig shrugged, his shoulders heavy with the burden of understanding. He then began moving through the mansion, his footsteps echoing softly in the empty halls as he checked room after room. Thomas followed close and kept an eye behind Ludwig in case anything dared sneak up on them.
After breaking about a dozen or so doors and planks, all he could find were broken-down rooms without any usable furniture. The once-grand mansion was now a hollow shell of its former self, filled with the remnants of a life long gone.
Old paintings hung on the walls, their surfaces nothing but dust on top of crusty and cracked oil that once depicted portraits of what looked like Van Dijk’s brothers and sisters. The images were barely recognizable, their features blurred and distorted by the passage of time.
In the largest room of them all, Ludwig found a broken wooden desk that had more dust on it than wood, along with rundown shelves of books that seemed too old to be usable or readable. This room was situated at the central position of the mansion, and it had a massive window behind the desk that overlooked the village beyond. The view was even more haunting than the house itself. The occasional howl and bestial growls were all that accompanied the cloudless moon in the sky.
There was a portrait of a middle-aged man that almost felt too real. The appearance of that man had a striking resemblance to Van Dijk, save for the long hair that reached his back and the gruffer, more wrinkled face adorned with a full silver beard. The painting, unlike anything else in the room, seemed to be the only thing that was untouched and unharmed by time.
Ludwig approached the painting cautiously, his eyes narrowing as a spark of magical energy streaked past it.
“Seems like this one was preserved using magic,” Ludwig said, his voice tinged with awe as he reached out and placed his hand on the painting.
The moment he did so, however, he was assaulted by a powerful surge of mana.
-10hp!
“Ouch!” Ludwig yelped, jerking his hand away as if burned. He shook his hand, wincing at the lingering sting.
Suddenly, a mana circle manifested on top of the painting, its intricate patterns glowing dangerously, a sudden feeling of terror washed over Ludwig before the whole thing began to sputter and glow less and less as it crumbled away, unable to fully manifest itself.
“What was that?” Ludwig asked his voice tight with confusion.
“That was… killing magic,” Thomas replied, his tone grim. “I think it was meant to kill anyone who touched the painting without… well, having the proper means.”
“Password protected…” Ludwig muttered, his lips curling into a faint smirk despite the pain.
“Something like that, but I guess that magic too was affected by time otherwise you’d have become fried bones by now,” Thomas agreed.
“Why would someone do that?” Ludwig asked, his voice tinged with frustration as he stepped closer to the painting again. This time, the moment he touched it, it clicked softly before opening up, revealing an opening behind it.
“That’s pretty interesting, don’t you think?” Ludwig said, his voice filled with a mix of curiosity and triumph as he peered behind the painting.
There were several old ledgers, books, and envelopes that seemed to have barely survived the passage of time. Ludwig reached for one of them, only for its cover to crumble at his touch. Several of the books were in an irrecoverable condition, but a few were rather pristine. One of them was a leather scroll that Ludwig carefully unrolled.
Many of the words were eroded by time, but the text was still legible enough to be read.
“This… I see,” Ludwig said, his voice low as he read through the content of the scroll.
“What’s that?” Thomas asked, his glowing form hovering closer as if trying to read over Ludwig’s shoulder.
“It’s an order,” Ludwig replied, his eyes scanning the faded text. “The person meant to receive it was Celine Bastos, Van Dijk’s older sister. Seems like she was doing… well, purges, I guess.”
He continued to read only for his expression to grow darker and more confused.
“Vampire hunters? And a cult?” Ludwig frowned, his brow furrowing as he continued reading the letter.
Just as he finished, a notification window popped up in front of him.
***
[Quest Update! The Bastos March!]
You have obtained a clue on a possible suspect in the fall of the House Bastos. A cult of vampire hunters had been harboring ill intentions toward the Bastos Family. The last known location of their base is in the southern islands of Lamar, the Dawn Islands.
Obtain more clues from the base of the Dawn Islands.
***
“I guess these vampire hunters must have had something to do with the Bastos Family,” Thomas said, his voice thoughtful. “This would also confirm that the Bastos Family was indeed a vampire family.”
“You think that Van Dijk was living his life without him ever knowing that he was a vampire?” Ludwig asked, his tone skeptical.
“I think so too,” Thomas replied. “From the journal, he was the son of a normal human woman, and they probably thought that he didn’t inherit True Blood.”
“That explains stuff a bit then,” Ludwig sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly as he began looking for more clues inside the small safe. However, nothing there seemed to have remained intact, as all was turned to dust and torn paper.
Ludwig placed the painting back, closing it carefully before continuing his investigation of the place. Finding nothing important through the castle, he was about to give up.
“Seems like this place has nothing else to offer,” Ludwig said, his voice tinged with disappointment.
“Not quite right,” Thomas said, his tone suddenly sharp.
“What do you mean?” Ludwig asked, turning to face the glowing figure.
“Where’s the basement?” Thomas asked again, his voice carrying a note of urgency.
Thinking for a bit, Ludwig realized that Thomas was right. For a mansion this big, they’d usually have a basement, and from the dealings that the family had, the orders of investigation and ‘purge’ were more on the military side. A basement or dungeon to keep either prisoners or even… food, the human kind, was more probable than not. But through the rooms he searched, he had yet to find a single way to access the lower floors.
“With so much time passing by, even if you find the building plans of the mansion, they’ll probably be rotten out… but there is a way,” Thomas said, his voice dropping to a near whisper.
“The Gray Rat dungeon…” Ludwig replied ominously, his eyes narrowing as the pieces fell into place.
“Exactly,” Thomas confirmed. “It looks like it leads down. Perhaps it may lead to the mansion’s basement.”
“I guess we’ll go dungeon hunting then…”