Chapter 439: What has been lostcannot be recovered so easily
Chapter 439: What has been lostcannot be recovered so easily
"You got it?"
"Huh...?"
"I said I wouldn't forgive you, and neither would Ophis. Control yourself, Old Man." Victor gave a light warning to Vlad not to lose control.
"H-Huh…?"
"…why are you looking at me like you've seen a ghost?"
"Hmm..." Vlad didn't know what to say and just fell silent, looking extremely confused.
"Is he getting senile?" Natashia asked as she relaxed a little more but still had her guard up.
"I doubt it, vampires don't suffer from symptoms of old age... But since he's so old, maybe?" Agnes responded, but unlike Natashia, she was still fully prepared to react if something happened.
"...." Scathach just stood watching Vlad, she was one of the people who knew the old man the most, and she knew he wouldn't lose his composure that easily.
Victor narrowed his eyes when he saw Vlad like this but ignored it when he felt Ophis holding his arms.
"Father, sisters..."
Victor looks at Lilith and Elizabeth.
'Tsk, Tsk, this man really is a bad father.' Victor once again reaffirmed his determination not to be his equal.
"Morgana."
"...?" Morgana looked at Victor and only saw the man pointing at a location.
Following the direction of his finger, Morgana saw the state of her daughters.
"...." Morgana's eyes narrowed visibly in annoyance, then walking towards her daughters, Morgana slapped them both.
Slap, Slap.
"..." Victor opened his mouth in shock, he hadn't expected this.
"Ugh." They both put their hands on their cheeks at the same time.
"M-Mother?" Lilith looked confused at her mother.
"What was this!?" Elizabeth practically screamed.
"Pull yourself together girls, how can you be paralyzed by just this?"
"Just that..." Lilith and Elizabeth were speechless when they heard their mother's words.
"They are two monsters! How can you not feel anything after seeing this?"
"..." Lilith nodded in agreement with her sister.
"Get used to it, you're the daughter of an ancient demon general and the king of vampires, it shouldn't even affect you."
"... You're exaggerating..." The two sisters didn't remember that their mother was so irrational. What happened to her?
"Oyy, I'm a cute monster, don't compare me to that bag of bones." Victor held up his middle finger at Elizabeth.
"..." Ophis and Nero seeing their father's gesture, did the same to Elizabeth.
Veins popped in Elizabeth and Lilith's heads:
"Don't corrupt my little sister!" The two spoke at the same time.
'Shit...'
"Hmm, Nero, Ophis, that's an ugly gesture. Please don't imitate your father."
"Hmm?" Ophis just tilted her head in confusion.
"...why not?" Nero asked with a slight smile.
'This brat is doing this on purpose!' Victor knows that Nero is quite intelligent for her age and just likes to be pampered, which is understandable since she has never had emotional affection before.
"Just don't imitate me." He spoke definitively.
"Fine~"
"Mmm."
"My King, are you okay?" Alexios asked as he approached his king, who was watching all this with a strange look.
"Alexios."
"Yes?"
"Tell me what happened a few moments ago."
"???" Question marks appeared around Alexios, but like a faithful servant, he replied:
"You are having a dispute with Count Alucard, and when you stopped that dispute out of respect for your daughter, Count Alucard spoke the words the master had just heard."
"..." Vlad narrowed his eyes.
Vlad knew his subordinate would never lie to him, and if Alexios didn't report anything about Victor's strange appearance, that meant he was the only one to experience it.
'Was that an illusion?' He returned his gaze to Victor.
'... Wrong, it seemed to be too real for just a mere illusion, that inexplicable feeling... It can't be something of a mere illusion'. Focusing attention on his body, his suspicions proved correct.
'My soul has been damaged...' A new level of wariness towards Victor has formed. Attacking a progenitor's soul is not something anyone can do.
Looking at Victor playing around with his daughters and talking to Natashia and Agnes, he realized that the man didn't know what he did or what happened.
'He could be lying... Adonis was an expert at lying...' That was a possibility, but Vlad knows that Victor would never lie about his daughter.
"Ugh."
'Just what is this boy?' Vlad asked this question from the bottom of his heart. He was extremely confused right now, so many possibilities, so many unanswered questions. Ever since Victor showed up, he felt that the knowledge he had acquired in years of being a progenitor had become useless.
He was very irregular.
Step, Step.
Approaching footsteps were heard, and then the door opened.
Jeanne, along with Adam appeared!
"...." Vlad opened his eyes slightly when he saw Jeanne's entrance, her confident steps, her gaze completely reminding her of the 'Saint' he had rescued that day.
And that image made his heart flutter slightly, he tried to say something, but he realized something.
Her gaze the moment she entered the room wasn't for him. It was for Victor...
And when the woman saw that man, her eyes gleamed slightly, as she smiled even wider, and then walked towards him.
Jeanne passed by Vlad and Alexios and didn't even greet them both. It was as if the vampire king and his subordinates didn't exist in the room.
And that did even more emotional damage to Vlad than being confronted by Morgana.
At least the Succubus was looking at him but with Jeanne?
Vlad didn't even exist.
The tense atmosphere when Jeanne arrived turned into an awkward one as Jeanne walked past the vampire king as if his existence was irrelevant.
...Women are cruel...
"Alucard, do you know my son...?"
"Umu?" Victor looks at Adam and then says:
"I've only met him twice, once when I met Vlad for the first time and the other time when I saw him at Natashia and Niklaus' games." Victor answered honestly.
"You never had a chance to talk to him, right?"
"Indeed." Victor chuckled lightly, pat his daughters on the head, and then stood up.
"...." Adam just swallowed hard when he saw that the man was tall, much taller than he was, and the pressure he exuded just standing was very different from seeing him from afar.
It was as if he was being stared at by a giant.
'No wonder he was recognized by my father... He's completely different...' not even his older brothers gave him that pressure.
Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he turned to the side and saw his mother's face.
He nodded his head, took a deep breath, and spoke in a cordial tone like a noble:
"My name is Adam Tepes. I am my father's fourth male child and a 518-year-old adult vampire." He raised his hand to Victor.
Victor smiled slightly:
"Victor Alucard, the fifth count of Vampires, and a 23-year-old vampire."
Victor held Adam's hand.
"...." Adam just looked shocked at Victor.
"Speaking of which, it has really only been 7 months since he became a vampire?" Natashia commented.
"Surprising, isn't it?" Agnes spoke in shock.
"Well, he wouldn't be called an irregularity for nothing, and he's my disciple." She huffed proudly.
"You should say he's your husband too. Tsk, Tsk. Missed your chance, idiot."
"...." Veins popped in Scathach's head, and she looked at Natashia, who started whistling to the side as if she hadn't said anything.
'This bitch is getting too bold, he deserves some beatings.' Scathach began to plan how she was going to torture-... Cough, train Natashia.
"...I've heard about it, but this is really shocking." Morgan spoke.
"What? Isn't it normal for him to be strong?"
'After all, he was recognized by my older brother.' Jeanne thought.
"Idiot, of course not, look at your son, he is 500 years older than Alucard, is he stronger than Alucard?"
"Of course not." Jeanne spoke.
"...Oof." Adam felt several arrows going through his chest when he heard what his mother said.
He wanted her to at least say something in his defense, but his mother was brutal.
'Wait... Wasn't she kinder before? What's up?'
"Hahaha, don't think too much Adam."
"Hmm?"
Victor squeezes Adam's hand tighter.
'Ugh... How much strength...'
"It took me two years to get as strong as I am now, and I never stopped training."
"…Huh?" Several confused sounds appeared around.
"Two years?"
"Ohh... He was stuck on Earth for a year and six months." Scathach spoke, having completely forgotten about that.
"Ohhh."
"Still, it's only been two years! Two years!!" Important things must be said twice, Morgana looked at Victor like he's a freak.
Something the man was used to.
"If you want to train, you are always welcome to contact me." Victor casually commented to Adam.
"..." Adam's eyes widened again.
He thought, 'If I train with this man, maybe I can find out his secret? The secret to how he got insanely strong in just 2 years.'
"Just remember something before you make your decision."
"...What?"
Victor chuckled lightly and let go of Adam's hand:
"I am the disciple of Scathach, and as my master, of course I share some of her... tendencies."
"......" Adam's face distorted visibly, and soon she was reminded of the training he and the royal guard had undergone in the past.
Just remembering the screams of the royal guards and her own screams, just remembering Scathach's mad laughter, a feeling of terror rippled through her entire body.
'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, HELL NO! I won't suffer this again!' He was in a state of total denial.
When he was going to deny Victor's proposal, he suddenly heard:
"Ohh, that's a good idea."
'Mother!?' He looked at his mother in shock.
"If my son trains with you, he might get stronger, and since he's just reached adulthood, he's had a boost and must be having trouble controlling his strength."
"N-No, Mother, I'm fine, I know how to control my strength-" He tried to gently deny his mother's proposal.
"He will accept."
... Unfortunately, he had no decision on the matter.
The power of the mother is strong!
"..." Adam just looked at the ceiling with a dark look of defeat, regretting it a lot now.
The attitude of denying his mother's wishes?
It never crossed his mind, since his mother was always very kind to him and never asked Adam for anything. She just wanted him to grow up healthy, and this is the first time in his entire life that Jeanne has ordered anything from him.
"...." Victor's smile grew:
"Don't worry, the first stage is denial, but soon you get used to it, hahahaha~" Victor chuckled lightly.
"...He really caught your bad traits, Scathach." Agnes spoke.
"I know, right? Isn't that great?" Scathach laughed with a small smile on her face.
'That's not what she meant!'
Several people thought at once.
Jeanne looked at Morgana with a significant look, Morgana soon opened her eyes slightly, understanding Jeanne's message, and she said:
"That's a great idea, Lilith and Elizabeth will train too."
"…Ehh?" Lilith and Elizabeth, who were sneaking out of the room, were suddenly caught off guard.
"Honestly, they're pretty weak right now, Elizabeth, I don't really blame her, since she's just a baby."
"But Lilith..."
"Ugh."
"You are a vampire who can already be considered an older vampire... Why are you so weak?"
"...I'm not weak! I'm normal! You who are a freak!" Lilith felt her pride being hit.
"Don't yell at me, little girl!"
"I am not..."
"It's decided, she will train with Alucard too."
"…Ugh." She felt like crying now.
Victor chuckled lightly when he saw this interaction, he could clearly understand Morgana and Jeanne's intention, they were trying to bring their children away from Vlad with the excuse of training.
They wanted to slowly drive the vampire king's children away from him.
[Women are cruel...] The voice of the self-proclaimed being, his other 'me', was heard.
[He's just reaping what he sowed.] Victor spoke in disdain, he didn't feel sorry for Vlad.
[In the end, he will die alone...]
[I don't think he will, unlike a human, Vlad is a vampire, all he has in the world is time, he might as well make another family later.]
"...." Victor glanced casually at Vlad, and saw the man leaving with Alexios.
[What a surprise, he didn't say anything this time.]
[Indeed, I wonder what happened.]
Victor thought that such a blatant attempt to get his children away from the castle would make Vlad say something, but it seems he wasn't interested in saying it.
[Does he only care about Ophis?]
Victor patted Ophis' head while ignoring the noise of the girls talking.
[I don't know, he probably cares about his kids, but since he doesn't know any other way to talk to his older kids, he doesn't even try anymore.]
[They're already too old, huh...]
[Yes, if Vlad starts acting weird, his older kids who grew up with his kingly personality will just think it's weird.]
[Ophis being the youngest wouldn't notice that, huh.]
[Of course... By both human and vampire standards, Ophis is just a child, a baby.]
[Poor bastard.] The being laughed.
[Only when you lose something do you really understand how important that something was to you... This saying fits perfectly in this situation.]
[Indeed.]
.......