Chapter 5: The Baroness

　　Evelyn was in a coma, but her breathing was steady, and Edward tried the pulse in her hand, which was also still beating normally.

　　Although he was a doctor in his previous life, his department was a laboratory, and he was only in the theoretical stage of first aid.

　　Besides, it was still a toss-up whether Bluestar's knowledge of first aid would be useful in this world.

　　After making sure the huntress had no new traumas, Edward picked her up in a secure position and walked briskly to the front yard.

　　Meeting a couple of squires he knew on the way, Edward told them to hurry up and find Chief Hector, then carried Evelyn to her room himself.

　　Soon, Chief Steward Hite also arrived in Evelyn's room.

　　"Getting hit by an exorcism and then falling into a coma?"

　　After hearing Edward explain the situation, the chief steward was also incredulous.

　　"Yes."

　　"It's considered a spell wound, we'll have to go to the church and get a priest back." The Chief Steward made a snap decision and sent the squire on a run to the Church of Constantine.

　　In the meantime, all Edward could do was to keep Evelyn's breathing open by laying her flat on her back and tilting her head to the side.

　　After about an hour, the two priests, guided by their attendants, came into the guild.

　　One of them, Edward still recognized, was the same Mediterranean who had appeared at the penal colony.

　　But since he had changed into his nobleman's outfit by now, Mediterranean didn't recognize Edward.

　　"It must be a demon that would be knocked unconscious by an exorcism! This woman...witch must have used witchcraft to summon demons! To burn her to death!"

　　Mediterranean rambled as soon as he entered.

　　"You can't draw such arbitrary conclusions, since this one is a vampire hunter, it's possible that he was cursed or possessed by a vampire during the battle."

　　Another young priest next to him said.

　　This one was obviously much more sensible than Mediterranean, and he had been observing Evely's condition since he entered the room.

　　"Who cast the exorcism on her? For what kind of reason?"

　　"It's me."

　　Edward stepped forward and explained the situation to the two priests.

　　"What? Joking with God-given power? I see, it's divine punishment!" The Mediterranean Sea began to stagger again.

　　"No, no, a loving God would not send divine punishment for that." The young priest said, "But this behavior is truly inappropriate."

　　"Yes, we were reckless." Although Edward was an atheist, since he had come to the otherworld of swords and magic, he naturally had to show a minimum of respect for the gods of this world.

　　He quickly avoided the subject, though, bringing up the dark figure that had fled screaming.

　　As the name of the exorcism suggests, that scene was very much like some kind of evil being banished.

　　"That would be the evil filth that possessed this sister, but..."

　　The young priest stood up and looked around.

　　As a vampire hunter, Ivory's room had all sorts of apparatuses for exorcism and a huge cross above her bed.

　　The priest went on to express his misgivings, "To be able to remain possessed under such circumstances without being seen or purified, such evil filth must have a very powerful strength, how could it be expelled by a single move of exorcism?"

　　"Could it be because Lord Kayne has powerful magical powers?" Chief Hector said jitterily, remembering vividly the oversized fireworks Edward had set off.

　　"Nonsense! You're disrespecting the Divine Power!" Mediterranean said with anger.

　　"Yes, magic cannot make exorcism more powerful, and the only way to increase the power of holy magic is to strengthen one's heart of faith." The young priest also explained.

　　These clerics believed that only strong faith - that is, spiritual power - could increase the power of holy magic.

　　Seeing that his words had caused the priest's displeasure, Chief Hector shrugged his shoulders and did not speak.

　　But he knew very well that strong magic power could also enhance the power of holy spells, which was recognized among vampire hunters.

　　"However, it is impossible to figure out the exact reason for this sister's coma, so could you perform another exorcism for me to see?" The young priest said to Edward.

　　"Here?" Edward asked.

　　"Yes, please cast on this." The young priest pulled out a crystal ball from his coat pocket, "This holy artifact identifies the properties of magic."

　　"Okay."

　　Edward stretched out his finger to the crystal ball and recited the three runes [God] [Gathering] [Light] in his mind, and the ball of light slowly flew out and hit the crystal ball.

　　In an instant, white light blazed, and it was like a flashbang had been thrown into Evelyn's room.

　　Edward and Hector immediately covered their eyes with their hands, while Mediterranean exclaimed "My eyes! My eye!" He fell to the ground.

　　The young priest was the only one who stood frozen, looking at the crystal ball that emitted a brilliant bright light.

　　"What a .... What a ...."

　　The young priest shed tears.

　　He murmured a prayer and fell to his knees in front of the cross in front of Evely's bed and recited it reverently.

　　Then he jumped up excitedly and grabbed Edward's hand, "This pure and powerful Holy Power! Son of God! You are a child blessed by God! Please, you must join the Church!"

　　He seems to be trying very hard to look at Edward, but his eyes are a little lax, and he looked cool not covering his eyes earlier, with the consequence that he's a little blind now.

　　Edward was a little confused as to how he was suddenly in the good graces of the Godfather.

　　"This, can you please rescue Evely first?"

　　"The doubts are all cleared, with such pure power, no matter how powerful the evil filth is, it will be expelled, and the reason for this sister's unconsciousness is clear: when her soul was attached to the evil filth, she was hit by an excessive amount of God's power, which resulted in a strong shock to her soul, and she will be able to recover from it if she uses healing and nourishing type of holy magic to cast it slowly."

　　"Oh, but we don't do healing magic, please ...."

　　"Okay, well, allow me to demonstrate." The priest held out his hand, recited an incantation, and cast [Healing Hands] on Evelie.

　　The soft, pure light slowly fed into the huntress's bare forehead, and after the priest continued to cast the spell for a few minutes, Evelie awoke slightly dazed.

　　"I... It's... What's going on?"

　　She tried to sit up, but a headache hit her.

　　"Father, you used... on me... Used any spells?" The huntress stared carefully at the young priest, showing skepticism and caution without being rude.

　　"Healing Hands. Sister, have you been in a suspected possession situation in recent days?"

　　"Possession .... Possessed?" Evelie held her forehead in thought, she had been more lucid in recent days, "No memory of it, but... Hiss, my legs are killing me."

　　A painful tickling sensation came from the wound on her leg, along with the headache caused by the soul shock, causing her to show a pained expression.

　　"It's...? A ruptured wound?"

　　Edward notices the blood oozing from the bandage on Evelyn's leg.

　　The huntress followed his gaze to her leg, and as she fought through the pain she reached out and ripped off the bandage.

　　Only to see that underneath the bandage, around the sword wound that had already begun to heal, black and red blood was seeping outward, and it was as if that blood was alive, fusing and writhing on its own.

　　"Tsk, shit, it's... Blood manipulation." Evelie let out a low curse, cringing at her oversight.

　　When the young priest saw this, he then turned his hand towards Evely's wound and sent out the divine light of [Healing Hands].

　　The writhing black blood began to dissipate under the soft glow.

　　"Why is all this blood moving?" Edward asked suddenly.

　　The writhing blood, he noticed, was much like the blood he had shed himself that day.

　　"Blood manipulation is the power of the bloodline of a high-ranking vampire, being able to control their blood at will." Chief Hector said, "Evely, what kind of vampire was the one you fought with that day?"

　　"It's a... Very powerful female vampire. I thought I killed her."

　　Ivory recalled the situation during the fight, the female vampire's sword skills were sharp and she was being beaten left and right, but after stabbing herself in the leg, the female vampire suddenly showed a big break, and Ivory took the opportunity to stab her in the heart.

　　I didn't realize that the female vampire had possessed herself through blood manipulation.

　　"This vampire... Banished?" Evelie looked at the wound and knew that the black blood oozing out was what happened when a vampire was banished.

　　"Yes."

　　"Thank you, Father."

　　The young priest, however, shook his head, "It was not I who expelled the evil filth, it was this one."

　　He pointed at Edward.

　　"Huh? Thank you." Evelie looked over at Edward, showing a hint of petulance.

　　"You're welcome." Edward, however, kept staring at her wound, recalling the writhing black blood.

　　His blood had also appeared like this, and then associating it with his body's perverse ability to heal itself, a vague thought formed in his mind.

　　A high-ranking vampire himself?

　　If that's the case, wouldn't hugging the Vampire Hunter Guild's thighs right now be a self-inflicted wound ....

　　However, when I entered, the grandmother made it clear that I had a "pure human soul".

　　Edward pursed his lips in a slightly helpless, bitter smile, then shook his head.

　　That's when a new thought suddenly flashed, did ....

　　When the priest had finished casting the spell, he said with a solemn face, "Father, do you think it's possible that I'm possessed by a vampire?"

　　The connection to waking up in the middle of a vampire's coven was a strong possibility.

　　And it's the only reason that explains the visions in his own body.

　　The young priest looked at Edward in consternation, then smiled and said, "No it won't."

　　"Huh?"

　　"The fact that you just cast a powerful exorcism is proof of that."

　　This was said in a way that left Edward confused.

　　"Why?"

　　"When a god sends down a gift, the power of the god acts on the recipient itself first, and if you are possessed, casting an exorcism will banish the evil filth from your body first."

　　"But Evely cast an exorcism before too ...."

　　"It may be because, this sister's heart of faith is not enough for her exorcism to cause harm to the evil filth that possesses her."

　　The bluntness of the words sent a wave of shame through Evelyn.

　　Edward looked at the huntswoman, whose face was flushed red and white, and was tempted to reassure her that "people have different physiques." ....

　　But at that moment the young priest drew a long breath and said, "Now that the matter is settled, it is time for me to take my leave."

　　At this point Archbishop Haight then promptly handed over a bag of gold coins, "Thank you, Father, this is the Guild's pleasure donation to the Church."

　　"God will remember the piety of your guild." The young priest took the gold coins and then picked up the Mediterranean priest who was still on the ground screaming, "My eyes, my eyes!" The Mediterranean priest, who was still on the ground screaming "My eye, my eye!", said, "Father Meditrun, we should go."

　　Seeing that they were both about to walk out, Edward called out to the young priest, "By the way, Father, I don't know your name yet."

　　The young priest looked back and said, "Suez, my name is Suez Sutton. This is Fr. Maditrun."

　　Edward nodded, "Thank you, Father Suez."

　　Suez and the Mediterranean. Ah, good names.

　　If there's no boat jam.

　　"If you would like to join the church, you are always welcome." Suez said to Edward.

　　"Uh, okay. I'll give it serious consideration." Your son did his best to hide away the perfunctory tone in his voice.

　　After the two priests had left, Chief Hector said quietly, "To be able to possess Evelyn undetected and lurk in the guild for so many days, that vampire is at least baronial."

　　"Yes, what do they want from such a powerful vampire who would possess me without sacrificing their flesh?" Evely echoed.

　　Chief Hector shook his head, his eyes going to Edward.

　　Things are mostly related to this powerful guest.

　　Was it a good thing or a bad thing that he let this one stay?

　　"It's time to strengthen the guild's defensive boundaries, at least to the point where they can handle baron level vampires." The Chief Steward said.

　　However, he didn't realize that the enemy he had to deal with wasn't baronial.

　　At this moment, in a slightly understated townhouse in the upper part of Constantine, a large, ornate coffin opens with a thud, and the owner of the coffin, the vampire countess Margaret Anita Vance, awakens with a look of horror on her face. -The owner of the coffin, the vampire Countess Margaret Anita Vance, woke up with a look of horror on her face.

　　The tall countess, dressed in a thin yet flamboyant silk dress, sat in her coffin, her shoulders shaking slightly as a single tear slid down her delicate face.

　　"Lord Kayne" .... So cruel! Do you know how I feel about you, but you... But you..."

　　Margaret sobbed, only fear and sorrow remaining on her beautiful face, which had been full of seductive power.

　　It was a state of mind that seemed to take her back a hundred years.

　　It was a night with a blood moon, and she, along with several of Lord Kayne's most loyal dependents, were cut off from their blood resonance by Lord Kayne.

　　At that moment she felt, as she does now, painfully frightened and confused, like an abandoned child.

　　It wasn't until much later that he realized that Lord Kayne didn't want to involve himself in that great upheaval and cut off the resonance.

　　And because of the great upheaval, the name of that one became a taboo for the blood race, and the person himself sealed himself and fell into a deep sleep.

　　Now, when Margaret hears that Lord Kayne has awakened, she immediately leaves everything behind and comes to Constantine.

　　Although she doesn't know why Kayne-sama is pretending to be a human, she has bent over backwards to possess a domestic animal in order to be able to serve him at all times.

　　I didn't expect Lord Kayne to banish her with a straight shot of holy magic.

　　"Lord Kayne! Please tell me what I did wrong?"

　　That day, the countess, who was over four hundred years old, cried like a child.