Gospel of Blood

Chapter 203: Charlotte's Counterattack

"Viscount, I’m giving you three months. Within three months, all nobles in the county must undergo inspection. Any noble who refuses will be considered as having voluntarily renounced their title."

"Here is the list of specific items that need to be inspected and the register of accusations against each family. Take it back and review it carefully."

Charlotte pulled out a pre-prepared set of inspection documents from the drawer and had the maid hand them to Viscount Leon-Castell.

The Viscount was already subdued by the pressure of the Majesty magic augmented by blood divine power. Yet, when he saw the content to be inspected, he couldn’t help but widen his eyes in shock.

"Countess! This... this might be..."

"Hmm? What? Is it difficult?"

Charlotte gave him a faint glance.

The old Viscount instinctively lowered his head. After a long silence, contemplating the accusations against the various noble families alongside the inspection contents, he sighed.

"Your Grace, I accept the order. However... the bloodborne is extremely adept at hiding their identity. Even with your mandate, it will be challenging to uncover all of them..."

"Furthermore, these inspections nearly uncover the very foundations of each family. Even if the bloodborne behind the scenes lost their power to resist, if the nobles unite against this, it might still lead to serious repercussions, despite the leverage you hold over them."

Charlotte smiled slightly and said.

"You need not worry about identifying the bloodborne members. Since I’m entrusting this task to you, I’ll provide you with specialized personnel to verify their identities. Your responsibility is simply to ensure all nobles submit to the inspection."

"Viscount, as the external affairs manager of the County, I believe no one is more familiar with the situation of each noble family than you..."

"As for whether the nobles will oppose..."

Charlotte chuckled dismissively.

"If they truly unite, let them. I will declare all resisting nobles as rebels in the name of the Countess of Castell. Their titles will be revoked, and I will call upon loyal nobles to help suppress the rebellion. Those who distinguish themselves in this endeavor will have a chance to earn these revoked titles."

The Viscount was momentarily stunned, unsure how to respond.

Charlotte continued.

"Of course, this task is not easy, so I’ll assign you some professional assistance capable of dealing with nobles who intend to rebel."

The Viscount’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"Professional assistance? To deal with rebellious nobles? Are you deploying the County’s guard?"

Charlotte smiled.

"Not necessarily. The County’s guard has its own tasks. If the nobles unite, even the guard cannot swiftly subdue them. The personnel I’m assigning are more specialized."

"More... specialized personnel?"

The Viscount’s eyelid twitched, seemingly connecting some dots.

Charlotte didn’t elaborate further. She leaned forward, gazing intently at the Viscount and said meaningfully.

"One more thing..."

"I know you are a devout follower of the Holy Court. However, due to the special circumstances in the County, refrain from promoting the idea that I’m here to spread the Holy Court’s faith or that I’m a Saintess of the Holy Court."

Charlotte emphasized the words "devout" and "promote."

Feeling as though he had been thoroughly seen through, the Viscount quickly lowered his head.

"That’s all I have to say. Any questions?"

Charlotte adjusted her posture, resting her chin on her hand with a smile.

The Viscount swallowed hard and sighed.

"No, Your Grace."

Seeing his dejected demeanor, Charlotte smiled and said.

"Viscount, don’t feel too pressured."

"There is an old saying in the ancient Eastern kingdom: 'A new monarch brings new officials.'"

"Although I am not a 'monarch,' I am the ruler of Castell. Complete this task, and the Leon-Castell family will undoubtedly be the greatest contributors."

"And I... will not treat contributors unfairly."

Upon hearing this, the Viscount couldn’t help but look up, meeting her deep blue eyes.

After taking a deep breath, he bowed respectfully and said.

"I understand, Your Grace."

After taking on the task of inspecting the nobles, Viscount Leon-Castell left with a heavy heart.

As soon as he left, the study window opened from the outside, and the plump body of the black cat Nice squeezed in.

Charlotte glanced at him, frowning.

"Why don't you ever use the front door?"

"Heh, I didn’t want to interrupt you while you were meeting with the vassal, so I came through the window out of habit."

Nice expertly rolled onto the desk, grabbed a snack, and savored it.

Charlotte decided not to expose the lazy cat’s reluctance to climb the stairs and got straight to the point.

"Have you finished interrogating Madoc?"

"Of course! When Nice gets involved, it's always swift!"

"Oh? Judging by your tone, it didn’t take long?"

"Hehe, not at all! If it were someone else, it might have been different, but with Madoc and his forbidden magic tattoos, I have a thousand ways to make him talk!"

Seeing Nice's smug expression, Charlotte recalled the texts on the divine ritual counter and felt a sudden urge to ask.

"Nice, do you know the legendary mage Nicholas?"

"Huh? Nicholas? Who's that? I don’t know him! Never heard of him!"

Nice quickly shook his head like a rattle.

Charlotte was too familiar with this reflexive denial. Whenever he was hiding something, he would always react this way.

She stared deeply at him and suddenly smiled.

"Speaking of which, I’ve never seen you pray to the God of Contracts. Aren’t you a devout follower?"

"Ah... well, Your Grace, I do pray privately every day... Praise the Contract!"

Nice solemnly drew the symbol of the God of Contract Mithra in the air, sincerely praying.

The gesture didn’t look very practiced.

Charlotte silently watched, not speaking.

Under her intense gaze, Nice nervously averted his eyes.

He coughed twice, and a register appeared in his paw with a flash of light.

"Your Grace, here is the list Madoc provided. It contains the nobles and officials in the direct domain who were infiltrated by the Nez family."

As it spoke, its expression became peculiar.

"I must say... it's impressive your direct domain has lasted this long. After reviewing the list, it’s practically a sieve."

Charlotte: ...

Although knowing he was trying to change the subject, she had to admit he succeeded.

She didn’t continue probing Nice's secrets and instead took the register to review, her eyelid twitching.

"This many?"

"Fortunately, there are no bloodbornes. Most of those influenced are court nobles and city hall officials. Given that the direct domain is the central hub for the Holy Court in the north, even if the priests were incompetent, the Nez family probably didn’t dare to be too audacious..."

"So, I should be grateful to the Holy Court?"

Charlotte couldn’t help but retort.

After a moment's thought, she nodded in agreement.

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"In every sense, I suppose I should indeed be grateful to the Great Lord."

"Praise be the Holy!"

Charlotte also drew a cross symbol on her chest, her movements far more fluid than Nice's.

After finishing speaking, she handed the list back to Nice and praised:

"Well done! Now that we have the list, go ahead and arrest these people. No one on this list is to be spared, and all their properties are to be confiscated! The expansion plan for Northport needs a lot of funds, so let's start with these confiscated assets."

"Lady Charlotte, there are quite a few people on this list. Are you sure you want to take action?"

"Of course, we have to take action. I am already planning to act against the nobles, so why would I leave out the direct domains? This is our foundation."

Charlotte replied without hesitation.

Nice seemed quite pleased with the word "our," so much so that his tail was held even higher.

However, he was still somewhat puzzled.

"Lady Charlotte, I understand you want to quickly control the county, but aren't you worried about causing chaos in the county with such drastic measures? I remember you mentioned before that you wanted to proceed cautiously."

Charlotte smiled and said.

"That was before. Back then, I didn't know the extent of the Nez family's infiltration into the county, so I had to be cautious. But now..."

Her eyes flashed as she continued.

"The Nez family's infiltration into the county is indeed severe, but perhaps for efficiency or balance, they haven't consolidated the infiltrated noble forces..."

"This can be seen from the nobles' mutual denunciations. Even if the nobles are infiltrated, their forces are scattered and independent."

"Perhaps this worked well when Count Lachlan was alive, but now that he's dead, the Nez family's control has undoubtedly weakened significantly. Re-establishing control over the infiltrated forces won't be easy, because... underground work is inherently difficult."

"Therefore, I must seize this opportunity."

She stroked her chin thoughtfully and added.

"Speaking of which, it was unexpected that the Bloodborne Duke would kill Count Lachlan so decisively. A Bloodborne Count is no minor character. This swift action makes me believe they might have had a personal vendetta..."

"The bloodline is a strong bond for bloodbornes. Such actions are surprising. It suggests either deeper secrets within the Nez family or a real grudge between the Duke and Count Lachlan..."

"I suspect the Nez family has its own factions, and they might not be as united as we imagined."

Nice nodded.

"I understand now. But why did you assign this task to Viscount Leon-Castell? Do you really think they are loyal?"

Charlotte took a sip of her sweet milk and said slowly.

"I know they cannot be completely loyal. In fact, I don't think Viscount Leon-Castell is as devout a holy believer as he appears. Otherwise, he wouldn't have ignored the church's decline in Castell."

"In truth, I believe Leon-Castell is more like a fence-sitter with his own little schemes. He might not openly betray me, but he's probably been colluding with the Nez family in secret..."

"But that's no longer important. With Count Lachlan dead, the Nez family's Duke must be uncertain about my backing. There are no secrets that cannot be leaked. Once the nobles learn of the Bloodborne Count's demise, they will be filled with doubt."

"In such a situation, fence-sitters will choose the side that benefits them the most!"

"Moreover, the Leon-Castell family is one of the weakest among the three viscount families. They have influence but lack strength, so I'm not worried about them growing too powerful during the noble inspections..."

Nice had a sudden realization.

"I see, by having them conduct the inspections, they will be pitted against the other nobles. Even as fence-sitters, once you deal with the Nez family's infiltration, they will have no choice but to follow you."

Charlotte nodded.

"Exactly."

"You are truly... wise."

Nice couldn't help but say.

"Speaking of which, I also have something to ask you."

Charlotte said, changing the topic and looking at the black cat.

"Nice, you must know more than just Contract Magic, right?"

Nice was taken aback and began to play dumb.

"Uh? What are you talking about? I..."

"Do you know Holy Magic?"

Charlotte asked, staring at him.

"I..."

Nice opened his mouth.

"Do you?"

Charlotte pressed, not breaking her gaze.

Under her increasingly intense gaze, Nice swallowed and finally confessed.

"Well, maybe a little."

"What about Detect Evil?"

"Uh... I know that too."

"Good!"

Charlotte nodded and said.

"Since you know a little, I'll give you another task. When the inspection starts, you'll be an assistant. With your keen senses and Detect Evil Holy Magic, no vampire should escape your notice."

"An assistant for the noble inspections?"

Nice's eyes lit up, and his amber pupils seemed to sparkle with the shape of a golden tower.

He straightened up, gave a human-like bow, and said excitedly.

"Nice will complete the task!"

"Alright, once you're done, go report to Viscount Leon-Castell. Remember, you're an assistant but also a supervisor. Call my name if necessary."

"Understood!"

After receiving the task, Nice left.

Charlotte pondered for a moment and then called her maid, Sherry.

"Sherry, bring me some official stationery for noble correspondence..."

Sherry quickly brought the stationery and ink. Charlotte picked up a quill, dipped it in ink, and after a moment of thought, began to write.

However, after awkwardly writing a single word, she stopped.

This was quite embarrassing.

Although she had inherited most of her predecessor's memories, Charlotte hadn't quite inherited her writing skills. Or rather, even her predecessor had focused more on etiquette, not these skills.

After some thought, Charlotte looked at Sherry.

"Shirley, have you learned to write?"

Sherry nodded.

"I have."

"Good, I'll dictate, and you write."

Charlotte handed the stationery to Sherry.

Sherry took the paper respectfully, and Charlotte, after a moment of contemplation, began to dictate.

"To the Honorable Viscount Remisio..."

"I have returned to the territory for over a week now, and Castell's situation is more complicated than I imagined. The Remisio family has always been a friend to the Castell family. As the Lord of Castell, I have a matter I wish to collaborate with you on..."

"Would you be interested in accepting employment to earn a large sum of extra commission income while guarding the Castell silver mine?"

"..."