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Chapter 231: (5/31): Unspoken Goodbyes

“I’m sorry, that was rude of me,” Fleur said, lowering her head.

They were sitting in a circle around a rug. There were a few couches that Camilla commandeered for herself and Kagriss, while Lucienne took up another. The four kids split the last remaining couch and the rug amongst themselves, and in the end, no one ended up on the floor. The twins nestled in with Lucienne while Fleur and Anne sat on the last couch.

After giving Fleur one more playful glare, Camilla decided to “forgive” her. “Just don’t say that last time. Even back then I was taller than you, okay?”

“But how did you get so tall?” Fleur asked. “I really want to know!”

It was unsurprising that Fleur was so desperate, because even among the four children, she was the shortest of them all. Much taller than Fleur and the same height as each other were the twins, and finally, there was Anne. Although Fleur seemed to have entered a slight growth spurt and shot up a little since the last time they met, she was still by far the shortest.

Camilla gave her a smug smile. “I’m afraid it’s not something you can imitate, Fleur. I got taller when I evolved, but please keep in mind that I was never short! I was just recovering my former height!”

Just because Camilla accepted her new identity as a vampire and an undead didn’t mean she was content with her height, especially when she had been so tall before. She’s made good progress, but the ultimate goal is still far away.

Now, she’ll never reach it.

Camilla thought that she might feel bad about that, but to her surprise, being reminded of her impending death was no longer as upsetting. Perhaps she had grown numb to it…

Fleur looked disappointed for a moment, it disappeared just as fast.

“Camilla, did you come back to help us?” she asked. “There’s an undead army right outside the gates, and it’s gigantic. Did you hear what happened to our home?”

Camilla sighed. “Moltrost was destroyed. But I felt that Justin broke his oath to me about keeping things secret way before the destruction actually happened, so I knew that you were already out. Was it hard, coming this far from home?”

“…yes. It was hard…” Fleur said. She looked down at the ground, kicking her feet as she thought back to the journey. Sensing her sullen mood, Anne leaned closer and put her arms around her comfortingly, as if to protect. “It took so long, and all along the way there were things hunting us— normal undead, those stupid chimeras that once ambushed us when we were traveling with you, and even the Church!”

At the mention of the chimeras, Camilla and Kagriss exchanged glances, and they glanced at Anne who pointedly ignored them. On one hand, several things could be read from Fleur’s words, like accusation. But on the other hand, judging from her body language, Fleur didn’t seem to suspect anything.

Those chimeras were monsters that Kagriss made from bones she found in the forest and they were strong, but flawed. Something that Kagriss could come up with was obviously not exclusive to her, but it was still surprising that the undead deployed something so flawed.

“Umm… compared to the ones you faced before, how were the ones that hunted you? Stronger? Weaker?” Kagriss asked, speaking for the first time since coming. In front of Fleur, she returned to the image of the quiet, cool big sister, and that meant she had to keep silent most of the time.

“Compare?” Fleur scrunched up her eyebrows in thought. “Compare…” she repeated. “I don’t remember that much, but it seems to be about the same? Anne, do you remember?”

Unable to conjure up her memories, she turned to Anne for help, who shrugged. “They seem to be physically weaker, with less mana, but they were a lot nimbler and faster. It’s almost as if they were made specifically for chasing,” she said, thinking back to when they faced the chimera undeads. “However, once they caught up, they were pretty worthless in fights.”

“Is that so?” Camilla let out a breath that she had been holding for herself as well as Kagriss who had an image to maintain. Obviously she couldn’t say it out loud with Fleur still here, but it was a relief that it seemed those undead hadn’t perfect the art of making a chimera yet.

The old weaknesses still existed.

“I guess it wouldn’t be very hard to beat them off with Justin and Arvel helping you, right?” she said. “By the way, where’s Arvel? Is he with Justin on the wall?”

It was as if someone threw a giant blanket over the room as the air grew heavier. In an instant, the four children and Lucienne stopped breathing, leaving just Camilla and Kagriss confused about the sudden change in atmosphere.

“…? What’s wrong?” she asked, tilting her head.

Silence greeted her, and Fleur looked down at her feet that had been bouncing casually just a moment before. Now they dangled limply off the edge of the couch. Anne refused to meet her eyes.

“…Hello? Anyone…?” Camilla trailed off as dread creeped up on her, grabbing her heart. She did not understand why everyone was being so quiet all of a sudden. She did not understand… or perhaps she didn’t want to understand. One possibility that she had rejected before she even truly considered it pushed against the barrier at the edge of her mind, finally breaking through when Fleur’s shoulders shuddered. “Don’t tell me… did Arvel die?”

Lucienne nodded in silence, and Camilla felt like someone punched her in the stomach, knocking all the air out of her and leaving her gasping, stunned. 

Arvel… dead.

It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be. Yet, it was the truth that Arvel was really gone. Fleur wouldn’t go so far for a joke.

“When…” she managed to squeeze out after a minute. She looked up at Fleur. “When did he die?”

Fleur’s shoulders shuddered again as the sobs she had been holding back shook off their restraints despite Anne’s efforts. Camilla’s questions only made the shudders words and a whine came out from Fleur’s tiny, hunched form.

Anne’s hands balled into little fists. “Don’t ask Fleur anymore. I’ll tell you.” She straightened. As someone who wasn’t close to Arvel, she managed to keep her composure. “It was the night before we escaped that Father Arvel died. As far as we can piece together, he found some evidence that he needed to confirm, but before he could get back to Justin, he was caught.”

She described in detail what had happened the morning after, from the meeting that was called and that Justin attended. She described the clues that Justin pieced together, and how he finally realized that the bishop and Demuur had been lying.

And finally, how Justin revealed everything to them and how they escaped from Moltrost.

When she finally finished, Fleur had stopped sobbing and was sitting there in silence with her eyes red, but clear.

Fleur had gotten strong, Camilla thought to herself. That, and time heals most wounds. It’s been a few months since Arvel’s death, and as long as Fleur confronted reality without shrinking back, she would have recovered. This time, she cried because it had been a long time.

“Still, to think that it happened so long ago,” Camilla muttered. And she’d thought that Arvel managed to escape with Justin. Arvel had been her friend for so long, and even if they drifted apart due to their new differences, she had been so sure that they’d be able to come back together once everything was over.

She never would’ve thought that before they’d even have a chance to, that Arvel would pass away first.

“I guess I’ll be following in your steps soon, old friend,” she murmured to herself. “That death was worth it, was it? Or was it not?”

For all of Arvel’s efforts in learning the truth and uncovering the traitor behind Moltrost, it was all for naught in the end. Moltrost still fell, and the undead broke out of Amaranthine Point, and all the other desecrated zones. For all intents and purposes, Arvel had failed utterly in protecting his home, and his death had been pointless in the end.

But on the other hand, there were a few survivors that would’ve died in Moltrost had he not sacrificed himself. Fleur managed to escape thanks to his warning, and perhaps Arvel would find that a good enough consolation prize to take with him to the Gods… no, to the grave. There were no Gods, at least none that she knew of now.

“Where does the soul go after death?” she asked out loud all of a sudden. 

The others looked at her, startled. “The Gods,” Fleur said, her voice slightly raspy from her sobbing. “Right?”

Camilla shook her head. “It’s not… but I can’t tell you the reason now. I guess in the end it doesn’t really matter, because in the end, I will avenge Arvel’s death.” She clenched her fist as if gripped a sword, already feeling the resistance that she would encounter as she slashed through her enemies before finally ending the undead once and for all. “I swear!”

Lucienne looked surprised at the savageness in her voice, but then she nodded. “I understand. Although I didn’t know him that well, everything I’ve heard about him spoke volumes about his accomplishments and greatness.” 

Although what Lucienne said sounded like lip service, the respect in her voice left no doubts as to her sincerity.

“With your newfound powers, I’m sure that you’ll be able to do it,” Lucienne added. “I’m sure that your confidence is well placed.”

Camilla wanted to laugh at Lucienne’s words. Her confidence didn’t stem from the power gained after her evolution, far from it. It was from her unique ability to destroy the undead in one fell swoop, thanks to a certain vampire letting her know.

For a moment, she considered letting them in on the little secret, but when considering the possible side effects of knowing too much, including but not limited to headaches, she decided against it. Besides, she did not want them to blame Victoria and one day seek Victoria out for revenge.

Victoria was just too powerful.

In the end, all she did was nod her head at Lucienne. “Thank you…”

“No, it’s nothing. Thank you for bringing me here, by the way. I feel like being here is allowing me to grow faster than before. Don’t laugh, but I think one day I might even catch up to you.” Lucienne blushed at that, and Camilla smiled at the claim.

“Having a dream is always great, even if it will be forever beyond your reach,” she teased.

Lucienne blushed even harder, and just as she was about to launch a rebuttal, the sound of a hung bell descended over the city. Her face changed, the mirth disappearing and replaced with a grim frown in an instant. She jumped to her feet.

“What’s wrong?” Camilla asked.

“Nothing.” Lucienne shook her head. “But that bell means that something about the battle’s changed and that we should get ready to move out. The details will be given on the site, and that unfortunately means that it’s time for me to go.”

In a flash, Fleur dropped off the couch and tried to run over to Lucienne, only to be pulled back by the collar. 

“Let go of me, Anne! I want to fight too! I’m strong enough to help!”

There was a fire in Fleur’s eyes and Camilla realized why Fleur had been so desperate. The reason was simple— it was for Arvel’s sake. Fleur wished to avenge Arvel in her own way, which was by killing undead, even if it wasn’t the undead that caused Arvel’s death.

But that was the wrong way to go about it. It was hypocritical coming from her, but Camilla didn’t think that someone so young should be so concerned with vengeance. 

Waving Lucienne off after making eye contact, Camilla stepped between Lucienne and Fleur, putting an armored hand on Fleur’s back. The metallic edges poked into Fleur’s scalp, causing the girl to wince and look up at Camilla.

“… Camilla…” she said pleadingly.

Camilla shook her head. “You can’t go. Do you think Arvel would want you to go? What if you died?” 

Fleur looked away, but the tension on her collar disappeared. She fell back into Anne’s arms, her strength drained.

Sighing, Camilla called away her armor, leaving behind her underclothes. Fleur blushed at that, but then she gasped when Camilla pulled her into a hug. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll do it for you. I’ll do it in your place, so you just sit tight and think about a future with no undead.”

Although she couldn’t see Fleur’s face, she could tell that Fleur was nodding and that her bare shoulders were getting wet. This… would probably be the last time she held Fleur, the girl she watched grow up.

She didn’t want to let go, but eventually she did anyway, turning away and not looking at Fleur. Her armor returned with a mist of red magic and she walked out of the house without hesitation.

A pair of vampires stood right outside.

“Ready?” one of them asked.

Camilla nodded. “Let’s get it over with.”