Chapter 26: The Truth About Arlette

“BOOM!!”

With a thunderous roar, the massive bookshelf suddenly crashed to the floor.

Clouds of dust were kicked up, swirling through the air.

“Sigh…”

Arlet let out a soft sigh.

Even though he had explained things clearly, the accident had happened anyway.

At that moment, the culprit, Vivian, stood beside the fallen bookshelf with a panicked and innocent expression. She stared at Arlet, blinking her large eyes.

“T-That…”

“Little Knight, I really didn’t do it on purpose…”

“It’s all this Keycap’s fault! It suddenly lunged at me, and I just tried to dodge, so it ended up like this…”

As she spoke, she pouted and pointed at “Ms. Wendigo” nearby.

The true culprit, however, sat on the floor as if nothing had happened, arrogantly licking its paws.

“Alright, alright. I saw everything just now; I can’t blame you.”

Arlet shrugged helplessly.

“Since it’s already happened, there’s no point in saying more useless words.”

“Quick, help me. Let’s get everything organized and put back.”

“The Lady almost never enters the study, and she isn’t familiar with how things are placed. Even if we just put them back, she probably won’t be able to tell.”

“Is… Is that so? That’s good then.”

Hearing Arlet say this, the tension on Vivian’s face eased significantly.

In the next moment, Arlet exerted his strength and hauled the giant bookshelf back upright.

Immediately after, Vivian began working with Arlet, the two of them dividing the labor to gather the books and file folders scattered on the floor.

Arlet primarily handled the books and notebooks.

Vivian, on the other hand, was responsible for the records and documents.

An entire bookshelf’s worth of items had spread out across the floor like a small mountain.

Arlet did an immense amount of odd jobs on a daily basis, so his movements were more than just a little bit more agile than Vivian’s.

As they cleaned, Ms. Wendigo sat to the side yawning, quietly observing them.

“Cough, cough… There’s so much dust, it’s filthy.”

“Back when I was still staying here, I would clean this place regularly.”

“Afterward, I went out adventuring with the Lady, so no one looked after it. A bit of dust is normal.”

Compared to Vivian, Arlet seemed completely unfazed by the dirty dust, his hands methodically organizing the books.

“Hmph, damn it…”

Even though she was ten thousand times unwilling, Vivian did not stop her movements.

After all, no matter how one looked at it, she was the direct cause of this.

Putting things back where they belonged was only right.

After just another three minutes, Arlet had already categorized all the books and placed them back on the shelves.

“Alright, I’m finished on my end.”

“So fast?! Are you kidding me!”

Arlet had no reaction to Vivian’s astonishment.

He simply clapped his hands and turned toward the door of the study.

“Keep it up. I’m going to the cellar to get some Blood Wine.”

“If you aren’t finished by the time I get back, I’ll help you.”

With that, he turned on the spot and walked away without looking back.

“Hey! Little Knight!!”

Even though Vivian let out an indignant shout, she couldn’t stop Arlet’s heartless footsteps.

“Tch, what a jerk!”

Her cheeks puffed out slightly as she suppressed her frustration and continued tidying the documents.

Suddenly, a scattered folder caught her attention.

This file had originally been tightly sealed inside a paper archives bag, and it looked quite old.

Perhaps because no one had looked after it for a long time, the stitching at the top had completely fallen apart, which was why the documents inside had spilled out.

Originally, Vivian intended to ignore the contents and just stuff them back into the bag.

But after unintentionally glancing at a portion of the contents, Vivian froze on the spot.

“What is this…”

” ‘Sacrificial and Strengthening Ritual Experimental Records’…?”

Vivian’s brow gradually furrowed.

The reputation of the Blood Race on the Yunlan Continent had only shifted toward the positive in the last few decades.

Over the past centuries, they were notorious across the continent for their characteristic of feeding on blood and their obsession with sinister experiments.

Yet, the date on the experimental record in Vivian’s hand was unexpectedly recent. It was only ten years away from the present day.

Regarding this experimental record, which looked quite abnormal at a glance, Vivian felt a surge of suspicion.

She looked around to confirm Arlet was no longer nearby, then immediately began flipping through the documents in her hand.

However, the very first line after she opened it struck Vivian’s heart like a bolt of lightning.

“Subject…”

“Arlet Russell?!”

While she wasn’t sure if the Little Knight had that surname, the name “Arlet” wasn’t considered common across the entire Yunlan Continent.

And these experimental records just happened to be kept within Melo’s manor. This immediately allowed Vivian to further confirm her suspicion.

She carefully scanned the “Experiment Personnel” column but did not see Melo’s name among them.

“Experimental Objective: To test whether the effects of this ritual can influence a member of the Human race.”

“Experimental Process…”

“Prior to the start of the experiment, use the blood of Beastkin, Reptiles, Fish, and Dragonkin mixed with silver powder to construct an array centered on the village as a whole…”

“Once the array is drawn and activated, dispatch experimental personnel into the village. Aside from the Subject, the villagers, totaling two hundred and six people…”

“All put to death?!”

There were no details or embellishments.

A cruel and inhuman massacre was summarized on the paper with those few, simple words.

“Consistent with the predicted results, the souls of the deceased were temporarily bound within the array.”

“The Subject suffered high mental stimulation and fainted on the spot.”

“Following further magical conduction, the two hundred and six souls were sacrificed by the array to strengthen the Subject.”

“The strengthening results are not obvious. After discussion, it was decided to induce the Subject to the territory of Melo, daughter of experimental personnel Lawrence.”

“Consistent with the predicted results, Melo, under circumstances where she was unaware of the truth, took the Subject in as a guard. Currently, the Subject’s state is trending toward stability, awaiting further observation.”

The date on the final page of this experimental record was exactly one year after the start of the experiment.

On this page, there was only one short sentence.

“The Subject has yet to show the expected changes. This experiment is declared a failure.”

“The original experimental site ‘Kelako Village’ has now been converted into a production facility. Materials related to the experiment have been incinerated.”

When she saw the words “Kelako Village,” it felt as if something had suddenly exploded in Vivian’s head.

“Kelako Village… isn’t that…”

Her pupils constricted sharply.

In an instant, countless childhood memories rushed back like a tide, flooding her mind.

First came the pack of wolves and the tree hollow, then the sea of fire and the ruins.

Finally, there was the silhouette of a young boy’s back.

Those distant memories all turned into silhouettes at this moment, replaying in Vivian’s mind.

Her throat moved slightly, and her eyes looked over the words “Kelako Village” again and again, repeatedly confirming that she hadn’t remembered the name incorrectly.

“Could it be that the Little Knight is…”

“No, I can’t reach a conclusion yet.”

Vivian, the witch who usually seemed cynical and playful, showed a different side of herself at this moment.

Her chest rose and fell violently, and she felt as if she were about to be swallowed by her emotions.

“A-Anyway, this thing absolutely cannot be seen by the Little Knight’s own eyes!”

She hurriedly released space magic and hid the file away.

Even if this file had nothing to do with Vivian’s own memories, the truth within was far too cruel for Arlet.

Unlike Fluff.

Vivian knew Arlet’s past in much more detail.

In the past, he had personally told her.

His hometown was destroyed by war, and his relatives and friends died because of it.

But now, the truth had surfaced.

The one who destroyed Arlet’s hometown was no one else.

It was the Blood Race.

In fact, one of the participants was even a direct relative of Melo, whom he served.

Arlet had spent ten whole years of his life serving Melo just to repay her “kindness for saving his life.”

In other words, not only was Arlet’s hometown slaughtered by others.

He had personally become the servant of the culprit’s relative, living a bitter life where he wasn’t valued.

And he himself viewed all of this as a blessing, nearly dying several times because of his own simple loyalty.

“I… I have to find a way to take you away.”

“Whether you are him or not, I won’t let you stay by that Melo’s side any longer!”

“…I need to calm down first. My emotions are a bit… over the top right now.”

Vivian took several deep breaths; she realized her state was a bit too agitated and tried to suppress it.

But just then, a series of heavy footsteps crossed the hallway and arrived at the study door.

“I’m back. How’s the cleaning coming along…”

Arlet had just retrieved the Blood Wine and returned to the study entrance, intending to ask if she needed help.

But in the next moment, he froze.

“Hey, Vivian, why are you…”

“Crying?”

It was only when Arlet pointed it out that Vivian suddenly realized.

Without her knowing when it started, her face was already covered in tear stains.