Chapter 2292: Mrs. Jude

Chapter 2292: Chapter 2292: Mrs. Jude

Tifa took Shard to the guest room of the estate to meet Miss Swift. The train from Midshire Fort, which had traveled a long way, only arrived at the station at eleven last night. Miss Swift and other followers of Granny Cassandra spent the night at Belindel Estate, which had many guest rooms.

When Shard pushed open the door and walked in, a young girl with flaxen hair was writing a letter to Granny Cassandra.

Seeing Shard, she put down her pen and seemed to want to give Shard a hug, but seeing Tifa there, she held back a little. So, the understanding black-haired Miss Maid smiled, nodded to her, and temporarily left the room, closing the door behind her.

Moon Bay City, as a famous Big City on the Old Continent, hosts the largest branch of the Cassandra Auction House. However, Miss Swift and the others don’t stay at the auction house; instead, they, along with Tifa and the Maid Squad, will be staying here.

The Witch Council has arranged for the local Grand Witch, Bella Belindel, to be the chief commander of the Moon Bay events, making the Belindel Estate as the base require more manpower.

The Northern Maid Squad is now assigned to assist local maids in reinforcing the estate, while Miss Swift’s group’s mission is to help the witches interpret the documents and materials of the Seven Great Families, which is not a simple task.

As for Shard wanting to attend the high-end auction at the Cassandra Auction House with friends today, the flaxen-haired girl told him to go directly:

"The badge and business card Granny gave you previously allow you free access to all branches of the auction house. Oh, I’ll write you another letter to take with you, so the local auction house won’t treat you poorly."

She quickly wrote the letter and handed it to Shard, but when she passed the letter to him, she held onto it, unwilling to let go. She pursed her lips and looked up at him until Shard belatedly knew what was happening and kissed her lightly on the cheek, at which point she smiled and let go of the letter.

After leaving their teacher, the young Witch Apprentices all developed little minds of their own. In this regard, this generation of apprentice girls has more... ancient spirit than the previous generation of Grand Witches.

The auction starts at ten in the morning, so not wanting to miss the time, Shard quickly went to Spider Alley to meet Mr. Benhart, and then they hurried to the Cassandra Auction House located in the north of the city.

The small auction Mrs. Jude wants to attend is not one that just anyone can join; the auction held on the top floor of the auction house is only open to specially invited personnel. Even in the "City of Wealth," Moon Bay, those invited are considered the most prestigious and wealthy people.

However, with Granny Cassandra’s badge and business card, plus the letter written by Miss Swift, Shard can indeed treat the auction house as his own home. The Witch Followers stationed at the local auction house, upon hearing of Shard’s arrival, hurried out to welcome him personally.

Miss Swift won’t come by to check the accounts until tomorrow, so the auction house staff is quite tense. They naturally offer the highest level of support for Shard’s request to participate in the small auction.

This auction is nominally a "Charity Auction," with the proceeds going towards renovating the roads connecting Moon Bay City’s northern countryside. Mrs. Jude loves participating in such events and is generous each time, partially contributing to her good reputation locally.

The number of participants in this auction is not large, and the small hall used for the auction corresponds in size. Before the official start of the auction, all auction items are displayed around the small hall, and the attendees hold glasses and admire them.

Shard and Mr. Benhart specially dressed in formal attire, each holding a glass of champagne, standing before an abstract painting titled "Girl and the Blue Sky" offering their comments.

Of course, neither of them could actually appreciate this style of oil painting.

Mrs. Jude had already arrived, but was surrounded by three Noble Ladies chatting, so they did not immediately approach her.

Pretending to be professionals by discussing the painting’s lines, colors, and contrast of light and shade, they were actually quietly observing Mrs. Jude’s every move. Waiting until the Noble Ladies left together giggling, and Mrs. Jude showed intentions of talking to the middle-aged man dressed as an artist, Shard and Mr. Benhart went over first.

"Mrs. Jude, good morning."

"Oh, good morning, gentlemen."

The Vampire Kind Noble Lady curiously looked them over:

"May I ask what the matter is?"

Shard glanced at Mr. Benhart, who nodded and handed out his business card. Mrs. Jude looked slightly surprised upon examining it but courteously said:

"Viscount, good morning, so you are indeed a distant relative from Velindale.

Forgive me for not meeting you immediately; I do not wish to have connections with family from Velindale. I had some disagreements with them in my youth."

She spoke politely but actually meant declining to discuss anything with Mr. Benhart.

However, since Mr. Benhart had already found a way to appear before her, as he extended his hand, Mrs. Jude naturally extended her hand with white lace gloves for a light handshake.

Shard then saw Mr. Benhart, per their agreed-upon signal beforehand, cross his left hand’s index and middle fingers, indicating that the Noble Lady before him was not the one providing human blood for the Dragon Feast Cult.

Two of the five suspects have been eliminated, leaving three who need to be contacted at tonight’s banquet.

However, the auction trip is far from over. Even if Mrs. Jude is not involved with the cult, she might still know something else. Therefore, Mr. Benhart is still there, speaking:

"Mrs. Jude, some things are not something you can avoid just by not wanting to get involved. Please listen to me, this time..."

"Gentlemen, the first round of auction is about to begin, can this wait until later?"

The noble lady said with a smile, so Shard and the others had no choice but to find a place to sit down first.

During the first round of the auction, Mrs. Jude bought two items, one was the abstract oil painting from earlier, and the other was an old mantel clock, which was a purely handmade piece, a treasure not only as an antique but also as an art piece.

However, Shard and Mr. Benhart didn’t buy anything. Mr. Benhart seemed a bit restless during the interval after the first round ended. Seeing that Mrs. Jude used the excuse to go to the washroom and slipped away from the two of them, Mr. Benhart then quietly told Shard in the empty hallway:

"She’s consumed human blood, and it was just this morning."

He held a pocket watch in his hand, but inside the face was a blurred abstract pattern of red and blue, which was even harder to understand than the previous painting.

This was also a Divine Item sent by the Velindale Vampire Sect to support Mr. Benhart, specifically used to detect if the Vampire Kind had consumed human blood. The accuracy is quite high, there is no doubt about its error.

"So, the news we heard from Captain Rudolf last night and the subsequent speculations are most likely correct? Her adoption of orphans and establishing an orphanage really has issues?"

Shard asked, and Mr. Benhart nodded heavily:

"Yes... I will handle this matter. She’s broken the rules, and if discovered by the Church, it will implicate all the same clan."

At just this moment, hurried footsteps approached. The auction house maid came quickly, whispering to Shard:

"Mr. Watson, Mrs. Jude is going downstairs with the maid, they plan to leave through the back door of the auction house."

The entrance to the Cassandra Auction House is not only the front door, some guests with sensitive identities prefer to enter and exit through concealed side or back doors.

Outside the back door of the auction house is an alley, but because the alley’s front and back are occupied by the auction house itself and its warehouse, the alley plot also belongs to the auction house, and there are rarely any pedestrians here on regular days.

At this moment, a carriage was parked in that alley. After the maid opened the car door, Mrs. Jude, who was in a hurry, immediately got inside and instructed the coachman to set off at once.

However, the wheels had just started to turn when they stopped again. The coachman’s voice came from the front of the carriage:

"Madam, someone is blocking the way ahead, but you see..."

The noble lady poked her head out the window and saw Mr. Benhart standing in the middle of the alley. Her mouth twitched slightly, and she closed the car window heavily. She took a deep breath with her eyes closed, then said to the maid beside her:

"You get out of the carriage now, go and tell Viscount Benhart that I am not feeling well right now. Once I’m feeling better, I will invite him over. He is a relative of ours in Velindale, you don’t need to be afraid of him."

"Yes, Madam."

The maid got off the carriage, and, using her body as cover, a small crimson bat flew out of the carriage at the same time.

It flew almost skimming the ground to avoid being noticed. It hadn’t flown far before it saw the handsome young man who had appeared alongside Mr. Benhart earlier, standing in front of her waiting.

The bat did not retreat but instead accelerated towards Shard, and ten meters before him, it burst into dozens of bats flying in different directions.

Mrs. Jude’s true form was hidden among those bats, still flying close to the ground, trying to circumnavigate from Shard’s right side. But she didn’t expect Shard to ignore the illusionary bats entirely, as a bright yellow longsword appeared in his hand, thrust directly into the soil beside him. If the bat hadn’t been flying fast enough, it might have collided with the sword.

The bat changed direction and flew backward and finally reverted to Mrs. Jude’s humanoid form.

As she landed, her nostrils flared as she looked at the expressionless Shard like a beast, then her full cheeks rapidly dried up as if dehydrating, reverting to the original fearsome appearance of the Vampire Kind, and then she transformed into a mass of crimson blood mist to pounce on Shard.

Although her own level wasn’t high, the proficient use of her racial talent showed that her Vampire Kind lineage was indeed noble.