Westminster Bank

Chapter 254: Chapter 160: Black Mandala

In the staff dormitories of Beowulf Manor, Gallio Decker, who was fast asleep in Room 506, was startled awake by a series of violent knocks on his door.

Grumbling groggily, he got out of bed to open the door. But when he saw the Chief Steward, his head wrapped in bandages and flanked by a large group of men, his sleepiness vanished in an instant. The hand he had raised to wipe the drool from the corner of his mouth immediately dropped into a bow.

"Chief Steward, sir... What brings you here?"

The Chief Steward shoved him aside and stormed into the room with his men, pointing at the other, empty bunk. "Where is he?"

He had taken note of Baron’s employee number during the day. Figuring that Baron would be fired soon anyway, he decided to bring a large posse for a midnight raid, even though his own injury hadn’t fully healed.

Still dazed and confused about what was going on, Decker shook his head. "I don’t know."

It was only then that he noticed Schumacher wasn’t in his bed.

’The Chief Steward seems furious,’ he thought. ’Did that guy do something to piss him off?’

He glanced at the other attendants crowding the hallway, craning their necks to watch the commotion. Realizing this was his chance to make an impression, Decker quickly said, "I’ll help you find him, Chief Steward, sir."

’The Chief Steward usually stays in the front courtyards; he rarely comes back here. I have to seize this golden opportunity.’

’If I can just get on the Chief Steward’s good side, then besides the Law Enforcers, who in Beowulf Manor would dare to push me around?’

"A Bloodless?" the Chief Steward asked nonchalantly, pulling open his pocket.

"An Old Race," Decker replied, perceptively stuffing more than half of his base salary into the Chief Steward’s pocket.

The colleagues watching from the doorway gasped in amazement. It looked like Decker from 506 was about to have a meteoric rise in the Servant Realm.

...

At that very moment, in the women’s staff dormitories, Wanda watched from her window as the Chief Steward led a large group of men to go looking for trouble.

Burning with anxiety, she put on her Maid’s uniform, dug out the pocket money she had saved up over the years for buying clothes after she eventually quit, and rushed out the door amidst her roommate’s confused calls.

Baron was right. Wanda was a kind, but foolish, person.

In an apocalypse, someone like her, with her overwhelming empathy and sense of guilt, would be unflatteringly called a "Holy Mother."

And while most people detest a Holy Mother, when danger comes knocking on their own door, they suddenly find that having one around is actually quite nice.

Besides, Wanda’s reasons weren’t just based on guilt. The truth was... she felt that in some ways, Baron really reminded her of her younger brother.

......

「Beowulf Manor, East Wing. The Conference Hall.」

Inside the hall, candlelight flickered. Three Elders from the Old Blood Clans sat facing one another, separated by a long oak table.

They were Elder Pence of the Hestia Clan, Lancelot Family Head Cosso Lancelot, and the Beowulf Family’s own Elder and temporary Patriarch, Lidton Beowulf.

Lidton was the older brother of the current Patriarch, Andes Beowulf. After his younger brother’s disappearance, the Elders had appointed him temporary Patriarch, as the Beowulf Family needed a strong hand at the helm.

He was a Bronze Rank Silver Demon Hunter who had been narrowly defeated in the Dragon Hunting Ceremony by his younger brother, Andes Beowulf, who had come from behind to snatch the victory. As a result, Lidton had lost the Patriarch’s seat that had been well within his grasp.

Now, more than a decade later, he finally had the position, but the price had been his own brother.

This was a meeting that would not be recorded.

Aside from the matter of the Dragon Knight, Baron Constantin, who had vanished on Inner Ben Mountain, the main topic of discussion was the Dragon Witch Carmen, who had once again escaped their encirclement.

Not far behind the three men, young scions from each of their clans stood in attendance in the corners of the room. To be chosen to observe a meeting that could decide the fate of major events in the entire Inner Side meant that, in the eyes of their elders, they had already been designated as future leaders or their right-hand confidants.

In any case, their families had placed great hopes upon them.

Jose Beowulf was among them.

"Baron Constantin, last time we failed to notice the Taboo Item on him, and he escaped from Ben Mountain. If we find him again, I’ll make sure that despicable Bloodless learns what a Contract Knight is."

The one who spoke was Roy Hestia, second son of the Hestia family and Knight Commander of the Griffin Knight Order, his face grim.

He was still brooding over the events of that day.

Jose sighed. "Baron Constantin... To think that he and my sister, Isabella, were once good childhood friends. I never imagined that the lauded heir of the once-unstoppable Constantine Clan would turn out to be a Bloodless, unable to even use his Spiritual Sense... How ironic."

’Isabella...’ Roy’s heart skipped a beat. He suddenly recalled the woman whose fierce spirit was like the sharp edge of a scimitar.

He and his older brother, Jill, had both been quite taken with her, but he always thought his own chances were slim.

In terms of talent and ability, he was no match for his older brother, Jill, on whom the family had placed their highest hopes, even considering him the next Silver Lion Wilder.

At the time, Isabella was in the Inner Side and had already been promoted to the Bronze Tier at the age of twenty. It was widely believed that at this rate, she had a strong chance of becoming the youngest ever to reach the Silver Tier.

If she managed to advance to Silver Tier before the Dragon Hunting Ceremony, she would not only achieve that milestone but would also become the first-ever female Patriarch in the history of the Beowulf Family.

Even when it came to a high-status marriage alliance for the Hestia Clan, such as the one with the Lancelot Family, only his brother, Jill Hestia, was considered a worthy enough match in terms of status.

But now, with his brother’s early engagement to someone from the Lancelot Family, and with the Dragon Hunting Ceremony being moved up—which meant Isabella would likely no longer be able to contend for the Beowulf Patriarch’s seat—Roy felt his chance might have finally come.

Jose took in Roy’s entire expression, and the corner of his mouth curled into a slight smirk. He spoke again.

"Speaking of which," Jose continued, "that Miss Freya... wasn’t it a bit cruel of her to just go and unilaterally announce at the London Tower that she was breaking her engagement with the Constantine Clan, all because her fiancé turned out to be a Bloodless?"