Chapter 67: Chapter 61: The Affair is Over

"Survive?" Baron said coldly. "Why should I believe you? Just because you’re about to die? Is a dying man’s word automatically sincere?"

The Wizard said, "I swear on the Wizard Law. If Baron Constantine agrees to my condition, I will turn myself in to the police as a Blood Biter!"

"One last question. You really didn’t kill Anthony?"

The Wizard understood the Dragon Knight’s intention and sighed.

"I only know it might have been an order from the Dragon Eater Association. I’m not a member, just a collaborator. They provide the materials for my blood rituals, and in return, I just need to provide them with the identity of a Blood Biter."

’So I was just a pawn in their scheme, is that it?’

Baron said, "Then, as we agreed, tell me what you know about the Dragon Eater Association."

Lankao looked at Baron without a word. Understanding, Baron said, "I accept your condition."

The Wizard nodded. "The head of the Dragon Eater Association is named Martin. He’s Spanish."

Baron and Jack nodded. A long silence followed.

...

After a moment of silence, Jack asked, "That’s it?"

"That’s it," the Wizard said.

Baron: "..."

’He suddenly had so many things to complain about, he didn’t know where to start.’

In the end, however, he honored their agreement. Just as the Wizard requested, he took him and Eleanor’s comatose family back to the villa on Westin Street to witness the ascension of their Soul Spirits.

In reality, he wanted to haul Lankao straight to the police station and had asked Jack if he could.

Jack had whispered that while these Wizards were all sons of bitches, their oaths sworn on the Law were frighteningly effective. He told Baron, ’It’s your call, man.’

Baron didn’t want to take any chances, so he chose to comply.

...

「Inside an old van on Westin Street.」

The Wizard looked at the still-sleeping girl and her elderly family members. His face showed not only grief but also a hint of relief.

He told Baron it was time.

Baron and Jack froze for a moment. Baron stepped forward to check the breathing of the girl and the others. There was none. Their skin had also turned cold.

As if they had been dead for a long time.

"What about their spirits?" Jack said.

"Normally in this kind of situation, shouldn’t there be some—"

"They’ve dissipated," the Wizard said. "The blood magic sustaining their false souls is gone, so they naturally vanished with it. Just as Teacher Bagins said, once the soul dissipates, the spirit vanishes with it. There’s no such thing as ascending to the Spirit Realm..."

He was expressionless as he said this, like a mere spectator at a funeral.

Baron and Jack exchanged a look. They hadn’t felt anything that could be called a spirit.

Still, Baron and Jack did as they had promised. They escorted the Wizard back to the passenger seat of the van, put on gloves, and moved the three bodies—along with Lady Eleanor—into the villa’s bedroom.

Then they opened the window—the one from Baron’s contract with Carmen—which faced the van, ensuring Lankao, in the passenger seat, could see Lady Eleanor and her family.

This was all done to avoid exposing Baron and Jack, and also as a precaution in case the Wizard had hidden other traps in the villa, waiting to lure them in.

Fortunately, it was pouring rain, so there were no pedestrians on the street.

While moving the bodies, Baron couldn’t help but ask Jack why he even had black plastic bags like these.

In his experience, bags like that usually showed up in gory movies, used by killers to pack up body parts.

Jack sighed. "The UK economy is in a real slump. Besides being a containment specialist for Westminster Cathedral, on the Outer Side I also moonlight as a ’cleaner’ for a certain organization of assassins—cleaning up their messes."

Baron was taken aback.

But Jack just grinned and said, "You didn’t actually believe me, did you?"

Baron fell silent.

Given the impression—and persona—Jack had built up so far, Baron felt that if Jack had told him his last name was Donald, that he was a real estate mogul in the United States, and that he planned to run for president... Baron would have believed him.

That was the power of a reputation.

As he went downstairs, Baron saw the dahlias on the table again. Uncared for, they had long since withered and no longer looked as menacing as they had when he first saw them.

’So was that man-eating flower from before Carmen’s Magic?’

Baron mused on this as he and Jack returned to the van. They waited with the Wizard, watching time pass, until they saw Lady Eleanor through the window, wailing. Her cries and the patter of rain shattered the silence of the desolate street.

After a moment of silence, the Wizard, with trembling hands held in a pose reminiscent of Jesus, made the sign of the cross. "Let’s go."

The van started up. Baron and Jack followed their plan: after using Forbidden Magic on the Wizard, Jack gave him a thorough beating, then they dumped him at the entrance to the police station and sped off.

As they were leaving, a bruised and swollen Lankao suddenly called out to Baron.

"Tell Teacher Bagins our direction wasn’t wrong. The ’Twin’ experiment is the right path. It’s not us who are wrong—it’s the world!"

But Baron replied coolly, "Tell that to the people who died because of you, you damn soul-parasite."

Lankao froze.

...

On the way, Baron asked Jack why he had done that.

He was referring to the beating he’d given Lankao. It hadn’t been part of the original plan; Jack had insisted on it.

Jack coolly lit a cigarette, leaning against the window. He said in a low voice, "To help you investigate this guy, I read all the recent news articles about families ruined and lives lost because of Blood Biters. After reading them, aside from thinking how hard Blood Biters are to catch, I didn’t really feel much. I just figured, they’re dead, and it doesn’t stop me from getting to work on time."

Baron grunted in acknowledgment, but Jack continued, "But just now, looking at that Wizard’s face... looking at him grieving for his family... I couldn’t help but think of all those photos in the news, of the victims’ families, crying their eyes out..."