Free and Unfettered 149 Gone!

This was because there was a clear hierarchy in Vampire rankings, whereby the more attractive a Vampire was, the higher they were up the food chain. Instinctively, they tried to avoid angering those who were higher up the proverbial food chain, thereby limiting their exposure to danger.

Humans, on the other hand, followed no such rules, nor did they have such instincts ingrained within them.

Which was why, when Nocturne said, "Should I take care of that human?"

Nine shook her head. "Leave them. They are of no consequence."

Nocturne nodded. He too could feel that the human held no sense of malicious thoughts and instead just seemed to be following them in a daze. Inwardly, he grumbled about how potent Nine's appearance was. Even with the earring he made for her to keep her presence in check, she could still attract flies like this!

Ignoring the human for now, the two Vampires sped up, quickly leaving plain sight.

Behind them, Emiel looked around in a daze, wondering if what he saw was just a figment of his imagination. He shook his head violently. There was no way that he, a self-proclaimed beauty appreciator, would ever get something like this wrong.

Inwardly, determination burned deep within him. Even if he had to trade his life for it, he would find that Vampire again!

Nine and Nocturne stopped in front of the famed Vampire King's castle, looking up at it.

Instead of the sight that they might have expected from the famous aesthetic-lovers, Vampire capital, Morhil, the castle looked relatively plain in comparison.

There were no traps, no wards, no guards. There was nothing of such manner contained within the rather plain-looking castle, which caught them slightly off guard. Then, Nine thought about it, and somewhat understood.

This was the Night Tide capital, where the Vampire King himself lived. In essence, there was no one who would even mount a slight threat towards the Vampire King. With the Vampire's famous pride and arrogance in their abilities and themselves, this was a very natural occurrence.

She had noticed that many Vampire towns did not employ a defence system of any sorts, a sure reference to the instinctual superiority that the Vampires believed they held in their race.

Nine and Nocturne exchanged a glance. Nocturne shrugged slightly. Well, it was the Vampire King's loss if he didn't want to erect any of such defences and was no skin off their back.

In fact, should they thank him for being so lax in his security?

In another burst of speed, the husband and wife duo entered the sturdy castle, landing inside. Casually and without any intention of hiding themselves, the two flared their magic, spreading it throughout the entire castle.

This way, the Vampire King would come to them instead of them having to hunt for him instead. With the Vampire's traits, there was no way that he would allow such a slight upon himself to go unpunished.

A minute ticked by and Nine frowned. The King should have approached them within 10 seconds, with how famous his temper was, but he had yet to appear.

This was the first sign that something was wrong.

Another sign that blared out warnings to her was that there was not a single soul in the entire castle itself.

By now, both Nine and Nocturne were frowning. Even with all the chaos that Mephisto was causing outside in Morhil city, from the information that she had gathered through her network, the Vampire King would not personally go out to act.

This was the reason why Nine and Nocturne had entered the castle so carelessly. However, since he hasn't appeared at all since their blatant disrespect and discourtesy, then he wasn't in the city.

Nine smelled a conspiracy. It looked like they were a step behind, something which rankled her. This was something that had carried on since her days back on Earth, where she had been the head of the best information network globally.

Unfortunately, her network here had not yet reached the stages in which she had brought her network to during her previous life. This was in part due to the lack of subordinates, as well as the vast land that needed to be covered. If she had to compare it, this planet was actually larger by Earth by roughly two times.

This meant that she had only seen a small part of the planet that she now inhabited. It would take a long time, as well as tremendous effort to bring it up to her previous standards.

However, that would happen in the future, and was of currently no help to her. Unfortunately, this was critical information that they needed, but was unable to obtain.

"He's not here. Let's go."

Nocturne nodded. "The rest should be safe here, so leave them here to search for any clues. Even if they don't draw any attention to themselves, by now they should be strong enough to hold their ground."

Nine agreed with her wife. "Alright. Let's go to the last place where Misha remembers from her previous memories. Though its rather spotty at best, we can still try and look for clues. Chances are, whatever traces that have been left behind have been erased, but it isn't so easy hiding a giant Elf settlement even with the use of magic."

"That's on the Night Tide continent as well, isn't it?" Nocturne mused. "I seem to remember passing through one of those forests earlier on, but we didn't stay long."

Nine nodded. "It's near the place where we found Mephisto, so we should take another look at the place she showed us. Even though Mephisto's minions are there keeping an eye on it, I still feel like there should be something that we missed earlier."

Nine held out her hand for Nocturne to take, which he did, interlocking their fingers.

"Wait," Nocturne said just as Nine was about to teleport them. "I want to teleport."

Nine looked at her wife, surprised, but acquiesced to his demands easily. "Alright."

This time, it was Nocturne who looked at her, surprised. "So easily? What if I accidentally kill us when we teleport?"

Nine smiled gently. "Then, till death do us part, right?"

Nocturne instantly flushed, closing his mouth. Everything Nine said to him felt like they were flirting! He didn't have that intention this time!

Without another word, Nocturne teleported the both of them easily, causing him to breathe out a sigh of relief.

"I knew you wouldn't kill us," Nine flirted lightly, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

She walked forward towards the little alcove near the scenic water, leaving behind a flustered Nocturne, who lightly slapped his cheeks. Why was it that Nine never failed to leave him feeling flustered and out of his depth?!

By the time Nocturne re-joined Nine inside the alcove, Nine was already back into working mode, her face serious. Nocturne too, lost his fluster, looking at the various parts of the cave.

Chapter end