Chapter 2346: The Heart of a Horse

Because Margaret was sitting in the highest seat of the VIP section, no one saw her waving, except for the maid beside her and a few noble ladies. Shard actually wanted to respond to Margaret, but since conditions didn’t allow, he eventually just nodded.

Everyone then mounted their horses and prepared themselves, while the announcer in the paddock loudly declared the upcoming event:

“Please welcome the ‘Jet-Black Executioner’, the ‘Despicable Foreigner’, the ‘Arrogant Baron’, and the undefeated legend of Silver Stables — ‘Lucky Red Date Coconut’!”

The nicknames for the three were definitely given intentionally by the Marquis, and he even made the Viscount a Baron. But from the fact that Marquis Mosen also has a nickname, it’s clear that this is not the first time he’s transformed into a horse and participated in horse racing.

The peculiarity of this person exceeded Shard’s expectations.

The four horses carrying four people officially entered the track, and the crowd on horseback lowered their bodies. Amidst the shouts and cheers from the audience in the stands, they bolted from the starting line as soon as they caught the sound of the starting gun.

Compared to Mr. Albert, who works all year round in the morgue, Shard and Mr. Benhart were obviously more skilled at riding. But even superior technique couldn’t make up for the shortcomings in horse quality, so even if that vampire servant did nothing, the chestnut horse still leapt ahead of the others.

The clattering of hooves was incessant. At the first turn of the circular track, Marquis Mosen already had an overwhelming advantage over the three.

The race consisted of two laps, so time and opportunity were fleeting. Almost shoulder to shoulder, Shard and Mr. Benhart glanced at each other. The latter discreetly uttered a prayer using ventriloquism.

The Holy Emblem in his pocket immediately glowed faintly, but the Desecration Element was quite imperceptible. Therefore, at the next bend, the chestnut horse ahead suddenly slowed down for unknown reasons, and the two riders behind swiftly caught up. However, once back on the straight track, the chestnut horse again displayed superior speed.

Because they absolutely couldn’t let the audience see, not only Mr. Benhart, but even Shard’s ‘Psychic Shockwave’ and Duke Mosen’s ‘Slow Spell’ were performed very discreetly.

The effects of these basic Arcane Techniques and Sorcery influenced each other, leaving none of the three with a decisive advantage in the subsequent race. Instead, Mr. Albert, who was trailing last the entire time, wasn’t left too far behind since he wasn’t affected by the three’s secret ‘Incantation War’.

But the two laps really weren’t much distance, and the three in front pursued each other neck and neck, ultimately maintaining Shard and Marquis Mosen at the front, while Mr. Benhart lagged slightly but could catch up at any moment as they sprinted into the final acceleration straightaway.

The surrounding cheers almost drowned out the sound of hooves, and using a secret technique that stimulated his mount’s blood circulation, Mr. Benhart directly caught up, his suddenly accelerated horse charging to nearly the same position as Marquis Mosen.

Already visible ahead was the raised finish line, but Mr. Benhart ultimately did not surge into first. Because, in the middle of its run, the chestnut horse turned its head and glanced at him and his horse, and by just exchanging looks with the black horse Mr. Benhart was riding, the horse became so frightened it stumbled directly to the ground.

Continuing forward, Shard heard the cries of that horse and Mr. Benhart’s complaints as he rolled to the ground. He glanced backward, but he wasn’t actually looking at Mr. Benhart, instead looking toward Mr. Albert from not far behind.

“The plan is for Mr. Benhart and me to engage the Marquis, and if necessary, even ‘go down together’, allowing Mr. Albert to win the final victory.”

The ‘Despicable Foreigner’ repeated the plan in his mind but didn’t secretly use ‘Psychic Shockwave’ again. Instead, at the last moment, he used ‘Puppetry’ to completely control his mount.

No one noticed that the look in the white horse’s eyes suddenly became hollow. The horse then accelerated fiercely, as if to break through its limits, running side by side with Marquis Mosen.

The audience around the paddock cheered once more, while Marquis Mosen, in the form of the chestnut horse, turned his head again to attempt using ‘Fear Spell’. But at the moment it turned its head, Shard, who originally had both hands on the reins, naturally directed his hand downward:

“Psychic Shockwave!”

The white horse Shard rode and the chestnut horse that Marquis Mosen had become both stuttered almost simultaneously, but neither horse fell in the end. However, their deceleration finally allowed Mr. Albert at the back to catch up, and the white horse and Marquis Mosen, once recovered, accelerated again at the same time.

The finish line was right in front of them, and the three of them crossed it almost simultaneously, which excited the watching audience even more:

“Who exactly won?”

After crossing the finish line, both Shard and Mr. Albert continued riding forward for a while before finally stopping their mounts. The two of them were about to turn around to see what result the judges had come to when they saw the chestnut horse slowly take two steps forward before suddenly veering and collapsing onto the track.

“Oh!”

“What’s going on?”

Mr. Benhart, who was last to cross the finish line, hurriedly jumped off his horse to ask. Shard immediately shook his head;

“I didn’t hit it hard just now… No, that’s not it! Its heartbeat is wrong! Heart attack! Move aside, I’m a veterinarian — no, I mean he’s a veterinarian.”

Shard grabbed Mr. Albert’s hand, rushing through the gathering crowd. The coroner hesitated for a moment before loudly declaring:

“Please step aside, gentlemen, I’m a veterinarian. Step back a bit, I’ll save him!”

(Mia is running…)

The distant noise still seemed to be the cheers from the racetrack, while the pain in the chest was driving him a bit crazy.

When the chestnut horse opened its eyes, it found itself back in the familiar stable.

It didn’t get up immediately, but was enveloped in a mass of crimson light. Within that light, the humanoid form of Marquis Mosen reappeared. He unbuttoned his coat and shirt, looked down at his chest with obvious stitching marks, then glanced at the bloodstains on the ground and various surgical tools on the small cart that hadn’t been pushed away yet. Finally, he raised his head, glaring wide-eyed at the three people standing around him, Shard included:

“How long have I been unconscious? What happened? What’s going on?”

“You had a heart attack.”

With arms crossed over his chest, Mr. Benhart said, and Marquis Mosen, clutching his still aching chest, continued to stare wide-eyed:

“Armand Bernhardt, do you want to listen to what you just said? Us? Heart attack?”

Vampire Kind are not prone to heart attacks, which is another racial advantage.

“It was indeed a heart attack.”

Shard said with a serious expression:

“I have arcane techniques related to the heart. Marquis, you should recall what happened at the end of the horse racing. The stabbing pain in your heart wasn’t caused by any of us. You yourself are an Advanced Vampire; try to recall the feeling at that moment.”

So, the face of this middle-aged man with a fashionable mustache turned ugly, while Mr. Albert, still wearing a robe stained with blood, spoke:

“If Mr. Watson hadn’t used his arcane technique to save you at the time, you would probably have been the first Gawder Vampire Kind to die in the form of a horse. However, his arcane technique couldn’t be maintained for long, so I performed surgery on you.”

The coroner had a very professional demeanor, and Marquis Mosen’s pupils slightly contracted:

“Surgery? Wait, what did you do to me?”

“As long as you’re not dead, even if you fall into a coma, you can’t automatically revert to your original form; that’s the basic principle of the Transformation Spell.”

Shard said:

“So we could only operate on a horse. Although there are professional veterinarians at this stable, you remained a Vampire Kind after transforming, and we worried about the veterinarians coming into contact with your blood, so only Mr. Albert could do it. You’re fortunate, this coroner… I mean, he’s very professional; he’s skilled at dissecting all sorts of things… Ahem, in short, the bad news is, your original heart was completely dead.”

“But fortunately, at that time, you were in the form of a horse.”

Mr. Benhart showed a strange expression:

“Replacement hearts for humanoid Vampire Kind are hard to come by, but it’s very easy to find a horse’s heart, given that there’s no shortage of them here.”

“Wait a minute.”

Marquis Mosen then covered his forehead, unable to accept the sudden influx of information right after waking up:

“Are you saying, in order to save me, you put a horse’s heart in me?”

“Don’t worry.”

Mr. Benhart kindly reassured:

“Our bloodline is very powerful; once that horse’s heart entered your body, it was automatically assimilated by our bloodline. So, there’s no need to worry about any weakening of your bodily functions. You just need time to adapt to this new heart.”

“Incidentally.”

Shard didn’t give him time to think and continued introducing:

“Mr. Albert said that heart suits your body perfectly, as if it was made for you. We’re pretty sure this bizarre heart condition is related to that letter, but your luck helped you overcome this deadly threat. Speaking of which, good thing we arrived a bit early; otherwise, you might have destroyed that heart yourself.”

The Marquis was stunned, then asked incredulously:

“Destroyed it myself? Where exactly did that heart come from?”

Mr. Benhart, still with arms crossed, blinked:

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s the heart of that horse you were dealing with when we arrived.”

Marquis Mosen took a sharp breath, looking as though he was about to faint. He held his head and looked at the three of them again; Shard had a serious expression, Mr. Albert kept his mouth shut without speaking, while Mr. Benhart wore a smile:

“So, you’re saying you put the heart of my lunch into my body? Is this a joke from Fate… Wait, you three are looking at me, don’t avoid eye contact, you’re not joking with me, are you?”