Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 424 Staying Young
This aligns well with Ethan's understanding of the Silver Empire.

After receiving a large sum of money, the unknown black market intelligence dealer could indeed leave Gear City without worry, go to a place where no one knew him, and live a wealthy life in his later years. Just as he was about to "retire," his students of many years finally brought him a large fortune.

Solan's ability to successfully bypass all the Empire's outposts and safely reach the capital was most likely due to the Bloodthorn family giving him the green light all the way.

However, it's not worth the great nobles of the capital making such a fuss over a mere little girl who is unknown to any rebel.

"It must be that brave young man."

"I'm eating this hard bread with relish," said the man on the other side.

In her eyes, the Demon King and the Hero were no different from naive fools who had just left their village and never seen the world; they were the kind of people who would help the other party count the money even after being sold out.

Bi'an quickly understood why the Bloodthorn family would bypass the Imperial Army and entrust the man in the black cloak to ask her for help—they wanted to claim all the credit for capturing the hero alive.

Since the hero appeared in Gear City, all sorts of rumors have emerged among the people. Outside the capital, more and more people have begun to suspect the relationship between the hero and Lance, the leader of the resistance army, as well as the reason for his appearance at this time. Coupled with the death of the great summoner Hetia, conspiracy theories are rampant in the outer cities of the empire.

Perhaps only a city like the capital, located right under the noses of the royal family and the imperial army, can maintain its peaceful existence.

At this point, following the usual practice of the Silver Empire, they urgently needed heroes to attend public events, raise their arms to the crowd, and shout, "Everything will be alright."

Once Solan does this, all the rumors will fall apart, and the people of the Empire will once again choose to believe unconditionally.

Because the other side discovered that most people in this country were ostriches. As long as they buried their heads in the ground and engaged in some self-brainwashing, they would still believe the empire was still salvageable the next day, and their lives would get better and better.

"Logically speaking, I shouldn't interfere in other countries' internal affairs."

After finishing the hard bread, Bi'an licked his fingers and carefully licked the sauce off his lips.

Lately, she has been repeating this sentence to herself almost every day.

Even those arrogant and domineering nobles in the capital, as long as they don't offend her, she will choose to turn a blind eye. After all, her identity is sensitive. She is the Knight Commander of the Empire and a Knight of the Round Table of the Netheril Holy Temple. Every action she takes will be interpreted by many people, and in the eyes of most people, she represents the Empire's stance on certain issues.

Her relationship with Ivy was no secret in the Empire.

In the eyes of some, Ivy Margaret and her friends have formed a power community that far exceeds Julius's. Backed by the royal family and closely associated with the Imperial Knights, she is now even on good terms with the leaders of the Academy and the Astrological Guild. Critics have pointed out more than once that this is a rather dangerous sign.

For this reason, the other side has become much more restrained in its behavior.

Furthermore, as the empire entered a period of peaceful development, she felt increasingly that she had smoothed out her claws and teeth, and on many occasions she played the role of a mascot.

"But, Moriko."

She turned her head to look at Ethan, "After staying in this godforsaken place for so long, I'm starting to turn into an ostrich."

“If Solan falls into the hands of the royal family, they will definitely try to use brainwashing or some other magic to force him to speak out to the public,” Ethan analyzed. “If his will is strong enough to refuse to cooperate, they will kill him and then announce to everyone that the news of the ‘return of the hero’ is a rumor.”

Perhaps to prove the truth of the denial, those who claimed to have seen Solan in Gear City will also be purged.

"But with you here, I feel at ease."

Ethan stood up. "I'm leaving the Bloodthorn family's hidden secrets to you. I'll treat you to dinner later."

"I'm tired of the high-end restaurants in the capital. I heard that Lin Dong's cooking skills have improved by leaps and bounds recently. What do you mean?"

"Let's split up. You stay here, I'll go and persuade her."

"make a deal!"

While the two were talking, Solan and Qina also began to split up and take action.

They thought today might be their lucky day. Just as they were worrying about how to infiltrate the Bloodthorn family, they happened to discover that the Bloodthorn family was recruiting servants. The guards and the maids in the manor were short-handed, and they passed the steward's test very smoothly.

Solan believed his disguise had worked wonders, preventing the captain of the guards in charge of the assessment from recognizing him, while Qina was taken to a separate building by the head maid for some training.

With its vast estate and a maze of confusing paths, Solan decided to make good use of the daylight hours, which would allow him to openly patrol the estate.

After entering the manor, Bi'an followed the head maid. She trailed them to the villa and observed the Bloodthorn family's pre-employment training. Having witnessed the behavior of the nobles in the capital, she expected to encounter some unsightly scenes. However, the way Qina took a deep breath before entering and her determined gaze showed that she was prepared as well.

But the training process was strange.

The head maid brought some tools that she had never seen before, including syringes, blood containers, and some spellcasting materials.

She had Qina sit at the table and extend her left arm, then tied the blood collection device to her forearm and inserted the needle into Qina's vein. The blood collection process lasted about ten seconds. After completing these steps, the head maid skillfully withdrew the syringe and took out a clean maid outfit that had been prepared for Qina.

What kind of quirk is this?
She lingered outside the villa for a moment, brainstorming. The only thing she could think of was dark creatures like vampires, which were among the most common dark creatures on the empire's borders. Along with werewolves and witches, they were known as the Dark Trio, and more than 70% of the cases encountered by demon hunters were related to these three.

Is it...

Is the Bloody Duke actually a vampire?
In reality, as the Imperial Knight Commander, Bi'an didn't have much experience dealing with vampires. All her knowledge of vampires came from hearsay and the occasional popular science books she found in the Imperial Capital Library.

Despite their domineering attitude towards ordinary people, these three Dark Heroes would have vanished long ago if they were to encounter the Imperial Knights.

The more Bi'an thought about it, the more likely it seemed. She had heard that the higher the status of a vampire, the higher their requirements for blood sources. Those high-ranking vampires were like gourmets among humans. When they were no longer troubled by hunger, they began to seek blood sources from superhumans, nobles, and the like.

Bi'an followed the head maid all the way until she entered a room that looked like an alchemy laboratory.

The pile of firewood was lit, and the green liquid of unknown origin in the crucible quickly began to bubble and churn. The head maid poured the blood she had just collected into the crucible, and the bubbling liquid reacted immediately, with a pale pink smoke rising from the crucible. The head maid carefully collected the vapor into a conical container and put the cap on.

These actions resemble the tricks of a witch or alchemist.

Bi'an, who has always been very proactive, suspected that the Blood Duke was a high-ranking vampire, so she began to verify it.

The books she had read indicated that vampires were a troublesome group of creatures. They preferred darkness and feared sunlight. Although some high-ranking vampires had overcome the harmful effects of sunlight, their bodies would still instinctively produce certain reactions.

Perfect timing, Mir-Bloodthorn is at the manor today.

He was in his study, flipping through a thick parchment book. The study was dimly lit, with only a crystal lamp on the table for illumination. Perhaps due to the lack of light, Mir-Bloodthorn's skin was pale. So far, all of this matched the description of vampires in the book.

After observing from outside the window for a while, Bi'an took out her makeshift "vampire identification helper".

A mirror. She secretly adjusted the mirror, allowing the sunlight to filter through the window and gradually refract into the study.

At first, it was the back of his hand, then little by little upwards, until the refracted sunlight shone into Mir-Bloodthorn's eyes. At that moment, the gloomy duke finally reacted more violently. He raised his head, gave the other side a gloomy look, then got up and walked slowly to the window.

Hey, buddy!

The other side's enthusiastic greeting caught Mil-Bloodthorn off guard, suppressing all the harsh words he had been brewing along the way.

This was the first person in his life who dared to climb onto the window and shine sunlight into his eyes.

"It was the man in the black cloak who asked me to come and help. Nice to meet you, this is a gift for you."

Mir-Bloodthorn frowned as he took the mirror, and the Other Shore moved aside accordingly.

This was a selection position for Imperial Knight Commanders, and the fresh sunlight instantly shone on Mir-Bloodthorn's face.

"what?"

The other side stared wide-eyed.

Mir-Bloodthorn's skin showed no signs of ulceration; all his discomfort must have stemmed from sunlight shining into his eyes.

The identification failed, and it turned out to be a misunderstanding.

"I hope you have a good appetite and are in great health! You go ahead and do your work, I won't bother you any longer."

Bi'an offered his blessings for the day, then gracefully leaped from the third floor, landing right in the midst of the manor guards who had rushed to the scene. The guards' faces turned green; they had no idea when Bi'an had infiltrated the manor and climbed to the third floor of the library.

Facing the guards who gripped their muskets and looked on warily, Bi'an paused, then snapped, "How are you maintaining security? You didn't even know someone had infiltrated! Who's in charge here? Step forward, it's time for some changes!"

……

It was another day of celebration in full swing, and night quietly fell amidst the merriment.

After dinner, several servants respectfully entered the room where Ethan and Winter were staying. They brought an invitation from the Queen, as did the Third Princess.

It's clear that the Third Princess's recent transformation has won the Queen's favor, and as a result, her relationship with Winter has also become closer.
"Bath?"

Ethan, being a man, was not on the Queen's invitation list.

Although the maids spoke very elegantly, full of royal elegance, a simple translation would be that the Queen was in a good mood today and, on a whim, invited the Third Princess and Winter to take a bath together.

This touched on a blind spot for Ethan: "Does the royal family still have a tradition of bathing together?"

"It exists in some places."

Winter explained, "For example, according to historical records, Henry III's wife was fond of bathing. To satisfy the queen's hobby, Henry III specially built a palace for her in the royal palace as her bathroom... What? You want to go too?"

"No? How could that be? Of course not."

After Ethan processed the idea in his mind, it became easier to understand the invitation as a friendly invitation between classmates to go to the bathroom together during break.

It is indeed a way to show friendship.

Winter seemed to be thinking about something, and said, "If you're interested, I can teach you tonight. Fill the bathtub with warm water in an hour and wait for me to come back."

……

Winter guessed that perhaps the Queen of the Silver Empire, like Henry III's wife, was also a person who loved bathing culture. There was also a bathhouse in the palace built specifically for Queen Elizabeth. After learning of the order for Queen Elizabeth to come to the bathhouse tonight, the servants in the palace were busy preparing.

The third princess arrived at the entrance of the bathhouse at the same time as her, where Queen Elizabeth's personal maid was already waiting.

The next step is simply the normal process of showering and changing clothes.

As winter approached, the guests, wrapped in the loose yukatas prepared by their servants, walked toward the bathhouse, which was already filled with mist.

The hot water in the bathhouse has been replaced, and the temperature has risen considerably.

In the foggy environment, visibility became severely obstructed.

Besides the moisture, the air was filled with the fragrance of roses, as well as some faint, barely perceptible scents.

It smells like blood.

Sensing the sudden halt in the winter's footsteps, the figure in the mist spoke, "What's wrong?"

The third princess had already immersed her body in the warm water along the edge of the bath.

"This is a rare opportunity; it's the secret to eternal youth."

Queen Elizabeth smiled and said, "They all say you are a very formidable witch, and it seems the rumors are true. You must have already noticed—the secret of this water?"

Winter did not reply.

She had indeed heard of "folk remedies" in some places.

Injecting the blood of virgin girls into the bathhouse would keep the bathers forever young.

This is the secret Queen Elizabeth mentioned, and perhaps it's why she looks about the same age as the third princess.

"Why don't you come down and try it?"

Queen Elizabeth extended the invitation again, which was the reason she had specially invited Winter today. "Don't misunderstand, I have no ill intentions towards your identity. On the contrary, I respect people like you who are knowledgeable... I look forward to seeing if you can share more secrets with me."

"of course."

A smile appeared on Winter's face as well. "I also know many secrets that can keep you looking young forever."

(End of this chapter)