NOVEL NEXT Chapter 98
Trapped in his own quiet office, Count Harker, who had been dozing off, suddenly felt a sense of impending threat and jumped to his feet.
Harker hurriedly took out a silver cross from his pocket and gripped it tightly. The atmosphere turned dark and eerie. As he trembled and scanned his surroundings, he suddenly whipped around to the window, peering outside.
It was a bright sunny day. Outside the window, nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the territory—nothing at all. Just as the Count began to doubt whether he was perhaps suffering from a nervous condition, he turned back to his office, only to be greeted by the very entity he feared most.
“Greetings, Arthur Harker.”
A pale face. A protruding forehead, a hooked nose, and serpent-like eyes. Count Harker recognized that face immediately. He muttered as he thrust the crucifix toward the vampire lord before him.
“Dracula.”
“Harker, is it? That name carries a certain significance for me. But you already know that story.”
Dracula spoke in a nonchalant tone, as if meeting an old friend. Harker, maintaining his tension, continued to hold the silver cross up defiantly toward the relaxed vampire lord leaning back in his office chair.
Dracula’s face twisted into a displeased expression at the soft glow of the silver cross.
“Would you mind putting that down? It’s blinding, and I can’t speak properly.”
“I’m holding it up to make you uncomfortable, Dracula.”
“Well, you have indeed succeeded in that. But tell me, what does that little cross mean? It can’t kill me, and you certainly don’t have enough power to kill me at this moment either. I merely came to chat. No need to get so worked up.”
“Is attacking my carriage and raiding Baron Harriet’s Territory part of your idea of a friendly chat?”
“Actually, I did come to discuss that matter.”
Dracula stepped closer to the window, leaning his head out. Harker shivered as Dracula passed by him, but the powerful vampire lord seemed not to care much.
The warm sunlight poured over Dracula’s face, but he merely frowned slightly without showing much discomfort.
However, sunlight is poison to vampires. Dracula slammed the window shut and drew the curtains. Harker, still alert, inquired.
“You came to discuss that?”
“The Moriarty Machine. It should be stored in that castle, right? I can’t find anything else despite searching high and low. I want it. I promise—I’m not looking to harm you or conquer the world with it. Such silly dreams were abandoned long ago. I’m just… curious.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, vampire.”
Harker responded without a hint of agitation. Dracula turned back toward the chair, letting out a deep sigh.
“Is that your stance? Well, I expected as much. But hear me out, and you might think differently.”
Instead of answering, Harker placed his hand on the curtains and pulled them wide open, allowing sunlight to flood through the window once more. Dracula grimaced at Harker’s timid attack but didn’t bother to go through the trouble of shutting the curtains.
“The Demon King has shown interest in the reverse engineering of that device. It seems he already has the schematics. It appears he’s missing a decisive key element, but honestly, I can’t understand why a Demon King, who already has the world in his grasp, would need such a foolish machine.”
“I’ve said it before, I haven’t the slightest clue what you mean.”
“Why not, Professor? Surely you know better than I do.”
Dracula covered his face with his black robe. Confident that sunlight was indeed displeasing Dracula, Harker pulled the window open even wider to let in more light.
Dracula shrugged.
“Then it wouldn’t be too comfortable for you either.”
“Stop spouting nonsense. If you don’t leave quietly, I’ll call my soldiers. During the day, I could easily have you restrained with my military strength.”
“That would likely not happen. But yes, I really don’t want to fight your army, Count Harker. After all, fighting in the daylight is burdensome. There are all sorts of annoyances in that regard… How’s your daughter doing?”
“Stay out of my daughter’s affairs.”
“I can’t help but be concerned. I’ve already crossed paths with her once. She’s quite a fine specimen, isn’t she? One could surely guess whose daughter she is.”
Harker clenched his fists at Dracula’s provoking words. Realizing that the conversation had strayed from its main topic, he looked up sharply.
“Regardless, my demands are this: Convince that Baron to evacuate all the residents from that territory right away. And hand that castle over to me. I truly want to resolve this matter peacefully. The Demon King’s intentions no longer concern me. I simply want that device.”
“I’ll never hand over Baron Harriet’s Territory to you, demon. That’s a promise between me and my friend.”
“That friend of yours—could it be Walter Hellhound, the one you recently befriended?”
Dracula smiled sinisterly, his fangs glistening beneath his lips, making Harker shudder.
“Or perhaps it’s the old friend, Sherlock Holmes?”
“Whomever it is, it has nothing to do with you.”
“Ah, I miss Holmes. There are hardly any left who call him by that name besides you and me. Just as there are hardly any left to call me Dracula. That name carries weight. Frankly, it brought me a bit of joy when I was called that again. It reminds me of the good old days! Back before I ruled as a terror in Europe, as a warrior of my people facing off against invaders.”
“Regardless of your past, you’re the invader now.”
“The gist is that almost no one calls me Dracula anymore, just as almost no one calls you by your original name, Abraham Van Helsing.”
“Nobody remembers it.”
“I cannot be sure. A man from a hundred years in the future knew my name. What proof do you have that I wouldn’t know yours?”
“I have no memory of having done anything grand enough to become famous in the Far East a hundred years from now.”
“You’ve defeated me once, Professor. You can take a bit more pride in that. Despite eventually falling victim to me here, the story of your victory will likely be all anyone remembers back in our homeland.”
Having delivered what he came for, Dracula turned his back on Count Harker. Harker’s arms trembled, yet he still refused to lower the crucifix from his line of sight. Dracula placed a hand on the doorknob, then looked back one last time.
“Don’t try to summon your army to catch me, Arthur Harker. For now, neither I nor my subordinates will interfere with your movements.”
“Why would you do that? How could I trust anything you say?”
“Don’t forget, Count. Did I not ask a favor of you? Convince that barely competent Grand Mage to vacate the castle. For my request to be fulfilled, you two will have to get in touch, and if I get in the way, that would be a problem. You may choose whether to believe me or not, but seriously consider it. This matter is of little concern to the Demon King.”
“What makes you think it’s not related to the Demon King?”
“I already told you to decide for yourself. But to be frank, I am indeed acting under the will of the Demon King in my infiltration of the south. The rest, however, is solely of my own accord. That Baron is filled with so much hostility he has no intention of listening to me. So please explain it to him yourself, Professor. Wouldn’t it be great for folks from the same area to get along?”
“Don’t forget that my hostility is no less than his, vampire.”
“Is that so? But you can’t just hate a vampire without any reason.”
With those words, Dracula opened the door and silently stepped outside.
It was just past lunchtime, meaning it was still the time before the servants finished their shifts. Harker, who had been frozen for a moment, hurriedly opened the door and rushed out, but he came to a halt upon receiving bewildered looks from the cleaning servants.
There were no traces of Dracula leaving the hall. The servants showed no signs of having seen someone leave through that door.
“What’s wrong, Count? You look rather pale.”
One of the maidservants asked with concern. Count Harker, struggling to regain his composure, put the crucifix necklace back into his pocket.
“Oh, it’s nothing. Just suddenly remembered something I almost forgot. Please continue with your work. I need to go upstairs to retrieve some documents.”
“Yes, Count. But please, do take care of your health.”
“Thank you for your advice. I’ll be sure to heed it.”
Having quickly regained his composure, Count Harker nodded and ascended the stairs to keep his word.
As he crossed the second-floor corridor, he discovered a pigeon waiting with a response to his letter on the terrace. By the messenger’s attached collar, it was clearly the pigeon he had sent to Jeongjae.
Already positively inclined toward the Southern Alliance proposal, Harker felt a sense of urgency from the recent encounter. He hastily untied the letter from the pigeon’s leg and read it.
‘You may proceed as you wish, but be cautious.’ A short response. Harker chuckled at Jeongjae’s characteristic reply and nodded.
“Be careful indeed. Of course, caution is a necessity.”
Placing the note in his pocket, Harker hurried down the stairs. It seemed unlikely that Dracula would strike right away; he doubted the vampire was foolish enough to tell blatant lies like that.
However, when Dracula would choose to change his mind was anyone’s guess. Count Harker contemplated visiting Jeongjae before the vampire freely modified their agreement.
Reaching the first floor, Harker called for the butler.
“Butler. Gather my soldiers at once. I think about two hundred should suffice.”
“Two hundred soldiers?”
The butler, with a white beard nearly as pale as Harker’s, looked at him with a questioning expression as if asking, ‘Are we going to war?’ Harker nodded in affirmation.
“Just a protective force. I need to visit a neighboring territory for a bit.”
“You’re not planning to invade, are you?”
“Of course not. You know very well that wars between lords are prohibited by law. But please, do hurry. There’s a place I must go urgently.”
“Yes, as you command, my Count.”
The butler bowed and promptly made his way to the soldiers’ barracks. There might not be any attacks, but it was wise to prepare troops capable of addressing even a minor assault.