Chapter 64: Did You Kill Them?
"I’ll be back soon! I need to check something!"
That was all Viva said before she vanished into the distance, and August narrowed his eyes slightly before he decided to overlook Viva’s actions. Viva wasn’t even meant to be here in the first place, so it was fine to allow her to do what she wanted.
"All officers spread out and search the area! People don’t just vanish into thin air for no reason. Try to find any clues that will tell us where they went! Go!"
August barked at his soldiers angrily, and the soldiers all saluted as they quickly spread out to search the valley for any signs of the vampires.
Meanwhile, Viva was riding through the city very quickly as she made her way towards the library! When Viva heard that people were hiding in the Aquinas valley, she had been surprised just like everyone else, but she didn’t think it was anything serious! But after seeing the empty campsite and hearing that an army had vanished, Viva became certain that this had something to do with the vampires that arrived in the library!
’This has to be connected. Percy told me that the pendant is an anchor that allows people to remain in different times, and taking the pendant off will send them back to their original time. Did someone take off their pendant?’
Many thoughts ran through Viva’s mind as she swerved through the city streets, but she wasn’t able to conclude any of those thoughts since she didn’t understand enough about Time magic! If Viva wanted to know the truth, then she would have to ask Percival himself! Viva made her way towards the Verati Academy, and the guards standing in front of the massive gates leading into the academy quickly made way when they saw the badge that showed she was a city guard!
Viva headed straight for the library, and it didn’t even take three minutes before she was jumping off her horse and heading straight inside!
SLAM!
"Percival!"
Viva shouted loudly as she slammed the door open, but Viva suddenly stopped in her tracks and stared in shock as an unbelievable scene played out in front of her. Lana was walking across the main hall of the library while whistling a calm tune, and behind Lana were two dead bodies that were being pulled along by their legs!
’Huh?’
Viva couldn’t say anything for at least five seconds! She just stood there and stared like a deer in headlights! The bodies that Lana was dragging along the floor had been beheaded, and their heads were dangling from Lana’s belt like the trophies great warriors would bring back after their battles! Viva noticed that the heads belonged to vampires, and she felt her entire body run cold as she put her hand on her sword and stepped forward!
"Lana! What did you do!?"
Lana turned to Viva when she heard her name, and she smiled and waved her tail at Viva without a care in the world!
"Hey, Viva! I thought you went home already!"
Viva pointed her hand at the bodies without bothering to answer Lana’s greeting!
"What are you doing with those bodies!? Did you kill them?"
Lana raised a curious brow as she looked down at the heads dangling from her waist, and Lana smiled mischievously as she turned an imposing glare towards Viva and began to drag the bodies towards her!
Viva raised a hand towards Lana!
"Stop right there!"
"Or what? Hehehehe~"
Viva took multiple steps back in fear as her hand began to grip her sword tighter! Viva knew that she didn’t stand a chance against Lana in a fight, but Viva also knew that Lana shouldn’t be the sort of person to do something like this!? Why would Lana kill two people!?
"Lana, just turn yourself in. If you did it for a good reason, then I can help you get out of it."
Via tried to reason with Lana, but Lana just cackled!
"Lana does not need to turn herself in! You are the only one who has seen Lana, so if Lana gets rid of you, then Lana doesn’t need to worry!"
Viva made a strange noise at the back of her throat, like a cat hissing and trying to speak at the same time, and Viva would have turned and run away if Rita hadn’t appeared behind Lana at that exact moment! Rita grabbed Lana by the head, and Lana’s entire body shivered as an imposing aura settled on her! Viva saw Rita’s face spread into a dangerous smile as Rita spoke.
"Lana, what are you doing scaring the kitty? Did you forget what I ordered you to do?"
"N-No, Madam Rita. Lana was just playing with Officer Viva. Hehehe~"
Lana tried to laugh the situation off, but Rita’s hand tightened, and Lana yelled!
"Owowowow~! Lana’s sorry~!"
Rita let out a soft sigh and shook her head at Lana. Rita and Percy had gotten the intruder alert from the vampires immediately after they entered the library, but Percy hadn’t bothered going to confront the vampires because he knew that there were creatures protecting every single room in the library, so the vampires would never get out of here with anything. And besides, Percy already knew that the medallion they were looking for was in bed with him and Rita.
So when they eventually came out of the bedroom and saw the two dead bodies in his research lab, Rita had simply told Lana to go feed them to the basilisks downstairs as their dinner!
Rita leaned down and spoke to Lana.
"You will take those bodies to Martha and Henry this instant without any more detours, do you understand?"
Lana nodded very quickly, and once Rita released her, Lana quickly dashed back away and headed for the storage room with the two bodies! Viva was still breathing heavily as she watched Rita and Lana, and for a long moment, Viva couldn’t help but wonder what in the world was going on here? That interaction between Rita and Lana just now told Viva that Rita also knew about the dead bodies, and Lana was taking the bodies to the storage room so that Martha and Henry could eat them!
’Are they trying to hide the evidence?’
"Are you coming in or not?"
Rita’s cold voice flowed towards Viva, and Viva realized that she had stepped out of the library while backpedaling from Lana. Viva swallowed before she nodded hesitantly, and Rita turned and glided into the library while leaving Viva to follow behind her. Viva quickly entered and spoke to Rita.
"Rita! What happened here? Those dead bodies, they’re vampire soldiers, aren’t they?"
Rita turned around smoothly, and she raised a delicate brow when she saw the hard look on the shorter woman’s face.
"Yes, they are."
Rita answered calmly, and Viva asked.
"Who killed them? Was it you?"
Rita spoke while gliding towards the staircase.
"No, it wasn’t me. It was our security golem, Roland. They tried to sneak into Percival’s research lab downstairs, and they were killed as intruders."
Viva suddenly felt an intense relief pass through her body when she heard this. Even though Viva was a city guard, she couldn’t deny that she had developed a strange bond towards the people of this library, and she really didn’t want a situation where she had to go against them for something as serious as murder! If it was only a golem that killed the vampires for breaking in, then that was a lot more reasonable! Viva stepped forward, and she spoke quickly before Rita could reach the top of the stairs.
"Do you know anything about the vampire army that vanished from the Aquinas Valley?"
Rita’s face suddenly turned serious, and the aura around her body became more dangerous as she asked.
"An army?"