https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-156-Cardinal-Lanchi-Seems-to-be-Playing-with-a-Very-New-Seal-Art/12584096/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-158-Lanchi-s-First-Step-into-the-Church-of-Rebirth/12584101/
Chapter 157: Principal Lanchi Cares About the Students' Well-being
Chapter 157: Principal Lanchi Cares About the Students' Well-being
In the chapel of the basement level of Lichten Castle, Lanchi gave a vivid and engaging handicraft lesson on "Mummy Making Processes That Even Three-Year-Olds Can Understand."
After instructing the clergy to properly seal away the blood drawn from the count, Lanchi proceeded to assign tasks to the group.
First, the three merchants were tasked with crafting a coffin for the mummy, which they could do in the castle's fourth-floor iron foundry.
The clergy were responsible for optimizing the count.
Lanchi and his team would plan and prepare the activities and catering for tomorrow.
Everyone would need to pull an all-nighter tonight, and once the work was done, they could all enjoy the rest of the holiday cheerfully.
Although everyone felt a bit tired after such a fulfilling day, the thought of having four more days to play and relax rejuvenated their spirits.
"Blood... give my blood back to me..."
The voice of Count Palocas was hoarse and weak, like a skeleton addicted to some vice.
"It really shows how harmful staying up all night can be, causing him so much pain. Count Palocas has a habit of pulling all-nighters. To correct his bad habit, we'll have to stay up with him tonight as well. As they say, 'It harms others and oneself,'" Lanchi sighed, looking at the trembling corpse of Count Palocas on the ground.
Huberian wanted to say something but hesitated.
She felt that Count Palocas' pain wasn't entirely due to the lack of sleep.
"Mr. Lanchi, since vampires have immortality, they won't die even if they stay up indefinitely. So, in the future, when we encounter vampires who refuse to adjust their sleep schedules, can we first make them go without sleep for ten days or half a month to let them experience the importance of a healthy sleep schedule?"
The young master of the merchant guild immediately applied the lesson to a new situation and asked Lanchi a question.
"Very astute observation," Lanchi nodded in approval.
As the saying goes, "Virtue has no constant teacher, but a good teacher is one who teaches by example." It seemed that the young master had grasped the essence of leading by example.
"...”
Huberian looked at the two of them, one eager to teach and the other eager to learn.
She felt like they were losing another sane person.
The young master had been slacking off all afternoon, barely saying a word, and Huberian had thought he was the one least influenced by Lanchi. But now, with just a few words, it seemed he had caught the infection.
...
Outside the window, the world remained shrouded in deep darkness. The castle's courtyard and the distant forest were hidden in the shadows, their outlines illuminated only by the moonlight.
On the second floor of Lichten Castle, in bedroom number 202, where the resurrected believers were held, an unusual silence prevailed.
The air was heavy with the smell of rust and blood. The luxurious decorations, the floor, and the walls were all splattered with blood—red, brown, and black—each color a testament to the pain endured at different times.
In the center of the room, a petite girl lay unconscious in a chair, her body bound tightly by iron locks, chains, and shackles, leaving her unable to escape.
Her clothes were torn as if mauled by a wild beast, and her shoulders were in tatters. The once-pristine white robe of a cleric was now almost completely dyed a deep red.
The source of the bloodstains was none other than the countless wounds that covered her body, each one cutting deep into her flesh, bearing the memories of her ordeal. Her skin was as pale as if eroded by wind and snow in the depths of winter, and the festering wound on her thigh resembled a sickly red line that threatened to spill blood at any moment.
In the middle of the night, a patch of cloud drifted across the moon, allowing a faint beam of moonlight to shine into the bedroom, illuminating the girl's face.
The captured Resurrected Church priestess kept her eyes tightly shut, as if even in her dreams, she endured indescribable agony and torment.
Suddenly, faint sounds drifted up from the floor below—the soft clinking of chains, the creaking of wooden stair railings, and faint voices carrying up from a distance.
These subtle noises acted like a key, slowly unlocking the doors of her consciousness.
"..."
Her eyelids began to twitch slightly, gradually lifting the veil of unconsciousness as her awareness slowly surfaced from the darkness, becoming clearer by the moment.
She recalled finding herself in a shadow world called the "Sinister Cathedral Banquet", tasked with betraying and killing the challengers as a vampire minion, inflicting the most brutal psychological and mental torture on her fellow challengers...
And then...
And then...
She didn't want to think any further.
Like waking from a nightmare, she abruptly snapped her heavy eyelids open, and even the faint moonlight shining into her pupils felt piercingly bright.
"..."
As her consciousness fully returned, every detail of the room came into sharp focus. She could feel the cold chains binding her and the loss of her freedom, hear the soft rustling of the wind, and sense the excruciating pain throughout her body.
Her once bright blue eyes were now dull and lifeless, reflecting only profound exhaustion.
The students of the Ichthys College were unimaginable beasts, capable of committing any atrocity.
The priestess tried to speak, but it felt like her lungs had been slashed by a sharp sword. Her breathing was heavy and labored, like the sound of wind blowing over gravel, producing a raspy, grating noise. The trail of her agony drifted from her body, permeating the air with a pungent, bloody scent.
"Damn... you..."
Even though her voice was weak and muffled from her gagged mouth, it was filled with endless hatred, permeating the dim room.
Bathed in the pale moonlight, the girl's face resembled a stone statue, stiff and lifeless.
Suddenly, the approaching footsteps outside grew louder, shattering the silence of the room like wind chimes carried on the wind from a distance.
They were the footsteps of a victor, unhurried and calm, as if relishing the anticipation of the final prey, exuding an air of composure.
Undoubtedly, the Vampire Count had finally arrived.
Hearing the sounds outside the door, the priestess surprisingly curled up the corners of her mouth and looked up, laughing. Her laughter resembled a blooming flower of madness, piercing and hollow.
She understood that her end was near, but this suffering and humiliation would also come to a close.
Even though she still felt immense fear toward those three clergy members, she now knew that they, the ones who had tormented her for so long, were dead.
Including the most despicable of them all, Lanchi Willford.
She felt a surge of catharsis!
She slowly raised her drooping head, fixing her gaze on the door, the very door through which the Vampire Count would soon step.
Strangely, she no longer felt any sense of terror toward the count.
Click.
In that final moment when the lock turned with a metallic twist, she felt no fear, only a sense of liberation. Accompanying her laughter, tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes, bitter yet relieved.
But the next second.
Lanchi opened the door, holding the interrogation transcript and looking at her with a puzzled expression.
"Miss, is there something amusing you'd like to share with me?"
(End of Chapter)
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