Chapter 106: Massacre at the Opera House
Perv Asshat kneeled before a mirror. The mirror reflected not his visage but the visage of his direct superior, Mordred the Knight Beyond Men, who's communicating with him from another location using the mirror. Even since the incident with Alucard, he has lost much of Mordred's trust and Mordred became more easily irritable as well. But Perv remains the best pawn he had and he had to stick with him for now.
"So, Schaumann, the First Child you sent to investigate the murders in the Opera Houses, have been eliminated you say." Remarked Mordred in a cold tone.
"Y-Yes, Sir Mordred. M-My apologies."
"And you still couldn't find out more about this 'Owl' since then?"
"U-Unfortunately so, Sir Mordred. At first I thought it was done by Count Rajta's faction… but the reveal of the Owl's identity and Schaumann's defeat lead me to believe this is done by Shadow Garden."
"Hmph. I expect you to deal with this 'Owl' menace eventually, for if you leave them be, they will slowly weaken your hold over the kingdom. And you know what happens should it comes to that, don't you?" Threatened Mordred with a glare that chills Perv to the bones.
"Y-Yes, Sir Mordred! Rest assured that I will deal with the Owl as soon as I can!"
"Good. Don't fail me."
"I won't!"
"By the way, how's Project Clara going?" Mordred narrowed his eyes as he asked this particular question.
"I-it's going well. Soon we will be ready to deploy her as bait!"
"Good good. Make sure she is ready. You must also retrieve the Ring of Succession from the puppet king discretely. Once all the pieces fall in place, you may yet secure your place in the Rounds."
"Y-Yes, sir!" Mordred cut off the communications after hearing Perv's confirmation.
"Really, Sir Mordred. You expect me to deal with an assassin that can kill a First Child without giving me reinforcements? Damn you… Looks like I must ask Lord Necromancer for another favour. I hope Lord Necromancer is more generous than him." Perv murmured his honest thoughts when Mordred's visage is not longer reflected in the mirror.
Maintaining the puppet king's image as a warmongering king is fun but tiresome. I'm so busy here in Oriana that I almost have no time to return to my base in Everick to continue some of my experiments. As usual, so many things to do, so little time.
Now I sat in a room reserved for me, the Necromancer, in Oriana Castle, reading the newspaper. 6 people were murdered so far. The murders were blamed on a masked assassin that the people called 'The Owl.'
"The Owl, huh. How interesting. To think there is another serial killer in town. Are they my admirer, like the ones on Earth?" I remarked amusedly as I see the artist interpretation of the Owl's appearance based on the description given by the eyewitness. Black hooded cloak, like the ones worn by Shadow Garden and Reaper Squad members, and a white owl-like mask. Not a bad concept for one who lurks in the night.
"I wonder if I can meet that person with my busy schedules. What do you think, my Black Knight?" I asked a question towards the Black Knight, who is standing behind me like a good bodyguard. He is wearing an all black armor with horns adorning his dragon themed helmet which conceals his face and spikes coming out of his pauldrons.
"Hmph. Don't treat me like a servant, you monster. I am a king!" Replied the disobedient servant. He is disobedient but only in thoughts and words. In action he obeys me perfectly, for now.
"You WERE a king. But not anymore. Your kingdom is long gone and your legacy barely survived to this day. I wonder how many people actually remember your true name. Heh heh heh." I remarked with a chuckle, which got a rise out of him.
"Silence! I am and always will be a king! Once I break free from your infernal spell, I shall destroy you and rebuild my kingdom! And then I shall reign supreme for all eternity!" He shouted angrily, which amuses me.
This Black Knight was an ancient king whose kingdom is all but destroyed. He is one of my successful attempts at creating an undead servant with a soul. I used his old bones which I robbed from his grave to summon his soul, binding it with his bones. And so underneath that armor is nothing but a skeleton. But despite possessing no flesh, my necromancy binds his bones with strong magic circuits to make sure that his physical prowess and magic power would be as close as it once was when he was alive. With his soul controlling his body without relying on AI, he should be much more autonomous and useful than my past undead servants. His loyalty is the only problem on that front but I can work that out in time.
He is currently the strongest undead minion I have and thus naturally I had him replace Mundane Mann as the third seat of the Seven Wraiths. He cannot be an assassin type warrior like Mundane Mann did though. He's a warrior through and through.
I want to send him into action soon but I need him to make sure he is in my control first, that's why I summoned him here and keep him close by. My soul binding spell isn't perfect yet after all, especially for such a powerful subject. He'll have his chance once the war starts.
Back to the topic of the Owl. They… or perhaps I should say she, is most likely a Shadow Garden member. Who else would have interest in eliminating corrupt nobles who are members of Perv faction and known allies of the Cult? Count Rajta may be aiming to do the same but even Count Fondant, who is a member of Count Rajta's faction, was killed by the Owl.
Unless this Owl character is an unknown factor like John Smith, I shall think of her as a Shadow Garden member. I need to make some time to search for this person.
*Knock Knock Knock*
A knock on the door.
"My lord. Duke Perv has arrived and is requesting an audience." Said a male voice from the other side of the door.
"Send him in." I said, prompting the door to be opened and allowing Hentai Asshat to come in.
"Lord Necromancer. My apologies for arriving at such short notice but I need your help." Hentai Asshat said while bowing his head respectfully. If only a certain Black Knight would learn from his example.
"State your intentions." I replied.
"I need help dealing with the Owl. I suspect this killer to be a member of Shadow Garden and my people aren't strong enough to deal with them, especially after they killed Schaumann."
Heh heh heh. I suppose now I have a reason to meet this Owl then.
"Very well then. Let us discuss the payment."
"Y-Yes… Lord Necromancer." Hentai Asshat replied nervously at the subject of payment. Don't worry. I won't ask for much. Just your allegiance to me.
I walked through the streets of Aria City, a town close enough to the Capital, to investigate my next target. I am wearing a civilian disguise which consists of glasses and a baggy hoodie in order to hide my identity.
I'm being stalked… but not by enemies. I vaguely recognize the presences currently following me. I count 3 people, the usual number of a Shadow Garden squad. So I'm being watched. They still don't trust me after all. I must immediately prove myself worthy of their cause…
"Ughh…" Ah. I got dizzy and almost fell over. This is bad. I was constantly on the move that I haven't slept properly for few days now and I lost some focus. But I have no time to rest. I need to eliminate the next target, Countess Stevia, immediately.
Countess Stevia… I vaguely remember her as just another noble of Oriana that didn't really stand out… though to be fair no Oriana aristocrats stand out to me back when I was young and naïve. Like any other noble of Oriana, she enjoyed fine arts and music and frequently attends Opera Houses like this one. I never thought that she's affiliated with something sinister like the Cult and that I had to eliminate her. Is it easy killing people you know? Perhaps it is when you know their true faces. The kingdom is in ruins and on the brink of civil war and yet they behave as if nothing is wrong. They didn't even make any attempts to fix anything and just taxed the people even more in order to finance their privileged lives… And they dare call themselves nobles of Oriana…!? Such thoughts filled me with rage.
I rented an inn in order to take a much needed break and wait for the night to come before I can don the mask of the Owl once again. Naturally the presences following me are still nearby, constantly watching me.
When it gets dark, I wore the slime cloak and the white mask and left the inn through the window. Three presences following me but I ignored them in order to focus on the task at hand. I jumped through rooftop after rooftop with such haste that the three people tailing me struggled to keep up. I still ignored them and eventually arrived first in the Opera House where I know Countess Stevia will be attending according to the schedule written on the dossier I received from Lady Beta.
Tonight, a songstress named Christine is performing. I sneaked into the Opera House from the windows after making sure no one's around and started walking silently towards the great hall where the show is being performed. I managed to sneak into the highest balcony in the Opera House's great hall undetected due to the Opera House having less audience than usual. Normally every seat, be it on the floor or on the balcony, is filled but due to my recent killings of nobles, it seems that they are more reluctant to leave their houses.
From the highest balcony, I scanned through the audience to search for my target, ignoring the show that in any other circumstances would've captivated me. But…
I've been assigned with my new team members, 669 and 670, to tail 666, who happens to be the princess of this land. Mentions of her reminds me of my conversation with my deceased friend, 625, who died along with 624 at the hands of the vampire king Alucard.
My talk with a member of the Named Numbers, whose current name is Chi, managed to ease my pain and my guilt. Mentions of 559, who's a former leader of the Templars and used to be the direct enemy of Shadow Garden and even engaged the Seven Shades in combat, who's now working hard instead of being overwhelmed by guilt, also helped me get back on my feet. If they, who are actual pawns of the Cult, can still work with Shadow Garden, then I should be able to as well in order to redeem my father's sins.
Due to being the longest member of Shadow Garden on my team, I've been assigned as the team leader. I just hope I can lead them well and not get them killed like I did my old team.
Everything went well until 666 left the inn she's staying at, upon which she would run at high speed, jumping from rooftop to rooftop as if being chased by time. She's so fast that me and my teammates can't keep up and soon we lost her. But we know she's heading towards the Opera House so I led my team there.
We arrived at a scene of massacre… so many people dead on the floor, filled with slash wounds and agonized faces. Some were outright mutilated and bisected. The great hall is filled with the smell of blood... which further reminds me of the vampire king who killed my friends… No… Keep it together, Millia… The three of us struggled not to puke at the horrible sight.
People who aren't dead already ran away screaming as they left the Opera House and thus there's not a living soul in the Opera House besides us three. 666 is nowhere to be found. Did she went on a rampage and killed all these people? It might be understandable considering her position as princess to hate these nobles who lived privileged lives while the lower class suffered. But… isn't this a bit too extreme?
"669. 670. Search for the whereabouts of our target around the building but be careful. Do not engage even if you've found her! Just report to me once you've found her! And make haste before the guards arrive!" I ordered.
""Yes, 626!"" Confirmed both of them as they left me on the Opera House's stage. I inspected the corpses, hoping to find a clue as to why this happened.
Author's Note:
The murder mystery continues! And Millia, aka 626, returns after having therapy. What happened at the Opera House? Find out at the next episode of the Necromancer in Shadow!
Cj The Depressed One: Can we have more about Claude, or can you make him more powerful?
I mean he is always losing to Shadow, and it's becoming frustrating to see Shadow Garden becoming so much powerful. The only reason I'm reading this novel is to see how Shadow Garden will be destroyed. sOoO...
Answer: Soon.
Bolvar57: Si, referencia. Es un muy famoso grito de batalla: ¡Waaghh!.
Answer: I see.
Guest: Does Claude have assassin's on his side since I haven't read about that kind of thing.
Answer: The Reaper Squad can be assassins, zombie Mundane Mann also used to do assassin type works though I forgot to mention it.
Guest: When Anime0CC0Manga mentioned a role reversal it got me thinking, what if there was a hero and villian team up against a greater threat scenario. Imagine the look on Alpha's face when she sees her beloved Shadow working together with her greatest nightmare.
Answer: It's on my bucket list too, though I still have no concrete plans at the moment.
A-Yellow-Liz: Ooh, so someone was murdering the nobles but it wasn't rose? I'm thinking it might be sherry. Claude has a skull mask and I doubt it's yukime's style to be a serial killer. Sherry probably got crueler after being taken in by claude.
Answer: You'll see who it is soon.
Knolleg: Hmm now what happened to warrant such a reaction by beta?
Did it have Something to do with the location of the murder?
Claude's sister being the new jack the ripper and killing nobles in pervs faction did it elicit a response from the cult?
Answer: You will see.
TheVirtualPug: I agree. Down with Iris! Claurry OTP
Answer: Claude x Sherry OTP!
TheAbyssWatcher: This is going to be Phantom of the Opera arc, isn't it?
Answer: Finally.