Gospel of Blood

Chapter 35: 35- The Plague of the Fire Demon and the Spread of Rumors

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"The Fire Demon... the Disaster?"

Charlotte's heart moved.

She tried to recall it carefully, but couldn't remember anything.

The memories Charlotte inherited after traveling through time were not very complete, especially when she was a child. The memories from ten years ago were like a dividing line.

There is nothing we can do about it. Humans are not machines. Memories will gradually fade away with the passage of time. Only some relatively deep impressions will be retained for experiences that happened too long ago.

This was how it was in the previous life. As he grew older, his memories of childhood became increasingly faded. By the time Charlotte was about to start a family and build a career, all he had left of his childhood were the old willow tree in his grandmother's yard and the warm quilt that his mother had dried in the sun and smelled of.

It’s almost the same after traveling through time.

In the memories that Charlotte inherited, the only impressions of her childhood were fragmentary experiences of following her mother and father to the Duke's Palace to visit Aunt Catherine.

Apart from that, I just ran and laughed in the woods with my childhood playmates.

Um

playmate

At a certain moment, new fragments of memory flashed through Charlotte's mind.

It seemed to be a memory buried deep in the original body, but it gradually emerged before her eyes as she recalled it in depth.

She seemed to see a familiar forest, a beautiful garden and a handsome manor, and young Charlotte running happily in the sunshine with two pretty girls, playing hide-and-seek happily together.

But the next second, the beautiful manor turned into a sea of fire.

She heard someone crying, someone screaming, someone shouting...

She seemed to see the entire sky turn red, and saw her father and mother touch Charlotte's little head, gently telling her to hide and not run around, and then draw out their staffs, join hands, and rush towards the red tall figure in the distance with a determined look...

Um

Are you crying

Suddenly, Charlotte found that there was a blur in front of her eyes.

Those were not her tears.

That's Charlotte's.

That was the natural instinctive reaction of this fragile body when the painful memories that she didn't want to recall resurfaced...

"It seems you have remembered it."

"Think about it, after going through such a painful experience, how could you really forget it even if you tried to?"

Looking at the tearful girl, Quasimodo sighed softly.

Charlotte: …

No, I didn't think about it, this is just the natural reaction of this body!

She really wanted to say that.

Fortunately, Quasimodo seemed to have recalled some memories and soon began to talk to himself:

"Ten years ago, the court mage of the Principality of Bolde, Count Broglie, invited nobles of all ranks to attend the coming-of-age ceremony of his twin daughters. My former master, who was a good friend and colleague, was also among them."

"The former master, Madame, and you, as a friend of Countess Broglie, are all present."

"However, what no one expected was that the coming-of-age ceremony was just a cover..."

"The real purpose of Count Broglie is to communicate with the Blood Demon Grand Duke and use his daughter's body as a container to summon the most terrifying dark scroll under the Blood Demon Grand Duke - the Fire Demon Valarroka!"

"He wants to break through to Legend. He wants to gain the power of the devil!"

"He succeeded... The incarnation of the legendary devil descended upon the world, bringing endless disasters. Almost all the nobles who participated in the coming-of-age ceremony died, including yours..."

Quasimodo's voice was a little choked. He looked at the girl sadly and said nothing more.

Charlotte knew that he wanted to talk about his original body's parents.

Perhaps it was because she inherited the memories of her original body, for some unknown reason, a sense of sadness welled up in her heart.

Charlotte quickly suppressed this sadness.

The past is the past. If the original person had any regrets, then as the successor, she is willing to smooth them over for the other party.

But what needs to be resolved now are the present and future matters.

Count Broglie…

This name sounds familiar, as if I've heard it somewhere before.

Charlotte frowned slightly.

She quickly remembered that this was the name of the owner of the abandoned manor where she was kidnapped last night.

But besides that, she always felt like she had seen this surname somewhere before after traveling through time...

But I couldn't remember it for a while.

"But...what does this have to do with yesterday's assassin?"

The girl suppressed her doubts and continued to ask.

"This involves the secrets of the past. Although the Duke's Mansion has been blocking the news in order to reduce the adverse impact, there are still many people who know the inside story, including me."

Quasimodo sighed and continued:

"The summoning of the Balrog by Count Broglie was done through a ritual called 'Pure Sacrifice'."

"It is an evil sacrifice that requires the blood of underage virgins."

"For this purpose, he secretly abducted or kidnapped a large number of underage girls in the principality over the past few years. It is said that there are more than a thousand of them, including some daughters of nobles... Some girls are even only four or five years old."

"brute!"

Charlotte said coldly.

Quasimodo sighed:

"Who says it's not... And this also includes the daughter of the assassin from last night."

"He is not an ordinary assassin. He was once a fallen nobleman without any awakened power. His three daughters... were also kidnapped and eventually died in an evil sacrifice."

"His entire family was exterminated by Count Broglie more than a decade ago when he was trying to track down his daughter. He was the only one who survived because he happened to be out."

Charlotte listened to Lost Lake:

"But what does this have to do with him coming to me for revenge? Even if he wanted revenge, he should have gone to Count Broglie, right?"

Quasimodo shook his head.

"The Broglie family was exterminated on the night of the Balrog disaster."

"It's his own fault. The entire family, hundreds of people, all died at the hands of the summoned Flame Demon incarnation, including the Earl himself and his daughter."

"As for why the assassin came to kill you..."

Quasimodo paused, smiled bitterly and said:

"Because you are the only survivor of the disaster, and the only survivor among all the girls who were sacrificed..."

"After the disaster, there has been a rumor in the city of Boulder that Count and Countess Castel, who are the chief and deputy chiefs of the Boulder Mage Corps, are actually in league with Count Broglie."

"They performed the evil sacrifice together, and that is why you survived."

"Ridiculous! They are heroes fighting against the incarnation of the Balrog!"

Charlotte frowned as she recalled some broken images that appeared in her mind.

"Yeah, but so what?"

Quasimodo sighed:

“Rumors are the easiest to spread and the easiest to be believed. When everyone is spreading the same rumor, then in people’s minds, the lie becomes the truth.”

"Human nature is evil... The Castel family is rich enough to rival a country and is high up in the world. For the public, what could be more exciting than watching the degeneration of a noble family and accusing a noble family of evil?"

"In fact, if it weren't for Madam Catherine's repeated refutations of the rumors, and if it weren't for the Duke's strong support and advocacy for the Castel family, the rumors would have even continued to circulate until now!"

Quasimodo was very angry.

After hearing his words, Charlotte's heart moved:

"So... what happened in the manor a few days ago has caused this suppressed rumor to resurface?"

"That's right, and it's getting worse..."

Quasimodo sighed:

"Although the nobles all know that the truth is not as it seems, the general public does not know it, and neither does the assassin last night who is no longer a noble."

"He still believed that the Castel family and the Broglie family were in cahoots, and the resurgence of rumors completely ignited his anger."

"A pathetic father who went crazy after losing his daughter and his family."

This is how Charlotte characterized the other party.

After saying that, she rubbed her temples again and sighed:

"So... the rumors are spreading again because someone is secretly spreading them, right?"

Quasimodo bowed:

"I think so."

As he spoke, he gritted his teeth and said:

"This is a conspiracy against you!"

"The succession to the title requires the blessing of the church. If the rumors continue to spread, coupled with what the old lady... that person did, the Castel family is likely to be labeled by the Inquisition as colluding with the Blood Demon Cult!"

"Once that happens, your right to inherit the territory and title will be greatly weakened, or even directly revoked!"

Charlotte was silent.

After finishing the last sip of milk in the goblet, she hummed softly:

"So... the nobles of the principality are also happy to see this rumor spread, and they have been fanning the flames behind the scenes, right?"

Quasimodo sighed:

"That's true... Once your inheritance rights are weakened, the Castel family will have to marry other nobles in order to keep their titles and territories, so as to strengthen their inheritance rights and find allies..."

"And this is the greatest opportunity for those nobles who have ambitions for our family."

Charlotte sneered after hearing this:

"Haha, I know this. You want to marry me, and then let me get caught accidentally in the future, right? You think I'm Mary of Burgundy!"

Quasimodo didn't quite understand:

"Mary of Burgundy?"

"Nothing, just an unlucky duchess who owned a large and rich territory but lost it to someone else."

Charlotte shook her head.

Quasimodo touched his head and thought for a long time, but he couldn't remember where the Duchess of Burgundy was, but he understood the general meaning of what his master wanted to express.

To put it bluntly, it is another way of destroying the entire family.

"So... if I, the only heir, die now, who will inherit the title and territory of the Castel family?"

Charlotte asked suddenly as she motioned for Nice to fill her glass with milk.

Quasimodo hesitated for a moment, and did not answer directly, but swallowed his saliva and said:

"The Castel family is a branch of the Bold family..."