Chapter 269:

Words : 1625 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

“The turbulent waves of fate always wash over heroes especially heavily. How can you be timid if you want to lead them to do truly great things?” Seeing Murphy’s hesitation about using the adorable little players to test spirit techniques, Tris immediately rolled her eyes and emphasized: “Some of their traits are perfectly tailored for exploring the truths of spirit energy, little Murphy. You can’t constrain how your warriors live their lives, that’s what you said yourself.” “But you’re already using them as test subjects. I can’t even imagine what you’ll dare to make them do in the future.” Murphy grumbled a little. He glanced at the scroll of return in his hand, which was full of questionable points. In the end, he didn’t give it back to Tris, but put it into his spirit bag. Then he said to Tris: “They probably won’t refuse this kind of consumable item. And this time, I need at least 200!” “Hmm, that’s more like it.” Tris nodded with satisfaction. Her work here was done, so she nodded goodbye to the administrative staff and returned to the Blood Vulture Halls under the escort of the crazy Bonnie. Maxim still needed to discuss the defense arrangements in the city with Guildmaster Natalie and Lady Lainnia. Count Andrei also joined in. Murphy didn’t disturb them. He returned to the administrative building in the outer city district with Miriam and Professor Malcolm. On the way, he reconnected to Revnor’s perspective to observe the movements of the gnoll vanguards. A few minutes later, he withdrew his vision and said to the somewhat worried Crimson Regent Miriam: “Those chaotic vanguards will reach the vicinity of Morland Village in 6 hours at most. The Witch Hunters are retreating to the Crimson Citadel, and our subjects who migrated to the collective farms are also retreating to our city. Once they all enter the Crimson Citadel, the population here will exceed 10,000 for the first time. Therefore, you need to coordinate the order of the residents well, Miriam. Treat this ‘gnoll siege’ as a drill before the Black Disaster arrives. You can let them hide in the relatively safe sewers. If you need it, the Blood Vulture Halls will also open as a temporary shelter. Also, I need you to punish those administrative staff who ‘went rogue’ last night! Although they did indeed contribute to the fight against the Wolfsbane Clan, I don’t want this kind of ‘insubordination’ to become a bad tradition in Transia.” “You have to look at it from another angle, Murphy. Doesn’t this prove that the people have already accepted your rule and the order you’ve brought, my lord?” Miriam said in a drawn-out voice: “They volunteered to join the battle. You should have seen Grayman and his foremen making impassioned speeches in front of me. As far as I know, such proactive requests for battle have been rare in Transia over the past 400 years. I will punish those administrative officials who went rogue by sending them to organize the outpost construction in the collective farms, but I think we can promote this incident from another perspective. For example, the bravery of the Transian people is reflected in the fact that even our civil officials are not afraid to fight to the death with invading enemies. Trust me, Lord Murphy. Our people will like this kind of propaganda. Having a group of fearless civil officials will make them proud and see it as something worth boasting about. Oh, by the way, one more thing. Knight Shovan has returned. His arms smuggling operation was very successful. Just this morning, he escorted a batch of old supplies from the Goldflower Kingdom border guards back to the city. Not only are there enough soldier firearms and ammunition, but he also brought back 8 cannons for us! I’m not an expert on these things. But I can tell that they should be small-caliber field guns, well-maintained. Perhaps our soldiers should start learning to use this technological marvel now.” “Very good. Even our Transian chefs are so martially inclined.” Murphy said quietly: “Give Shovan and his brother-in-law more funds. After the gnoll disaster is over, I need them to go to the Cato and East Prussia regions again, to bring back more similar items for me. By the way, tell those old soldier scoundrels there that if they want to make a living with their fighting skills, I’d be happy to hire them.” “If I may say so, my lord,” Professor Malcolm reminded at this point: “I’ve traveled to many places, but no matter where, old soldier scoundrels are not trustworthy fellows. It’s hard for them to serve the purpose you want.” “It doesn’t matter. Once they come here, some things will be out of their control,” Murphy waved his hand casually, revealing a smile, and said: “We are vampires. We have many ‘traditional’ old methods to cure their bad habits, and I only need some professionals who know how to operate cannons. After all, we Transians don’t like these fire-spitting things. In the face of the Black Disaster, I can’t refuse these advanced weapons. I must make good use of halfling technology to arm my subjects and my soldiers. But learning also needs a process. If you two have no doubts about the tasks you will be taking on next, then let’s all take action. The next 3 days will determine the future direction of this land. Tris whispered in his ear: “Do you need more courage, little Murphy? Open your heart, let me hear what you’re thinking now.” “You’ll get angry.” “I won’t, trust me. I’ve decided to play your goddess of victory, and I won’t just get started and leave you here. Come on.” “Alright.” Murphy removed the protection from his mind, exposing his inner voice to Tris. The Blood Vulture Grand Duchess allowed Murphy to embrace her, making it convenient for her to rest her head on Murphy’s chest. She listened to those voices coming from his heart, those scattered thoughts jumping on Murphy’s mind. The good news was that the lord wasn’t under as much pressure as she had imagined. The bad news was that the part of Murphy’s imagination about her was indeed embarrassing. “Too indecent!” Tris glared at Murphy, and the lord shrugged. He had said earlier that Tris would definitely get angry, so he was about to give a small explanation. But in the next moment, this 450-year-old vampire lady in his arms flipped over and straddled Murphy’s legs. She looked down at him from above. Murphy was a bit startled. Then he saw Tris flip her long hair, grip his face with both hands to lift up that handsome face, and lean down to kiss those lips so proactively for the first time. This sudden passion startled the vampire. But this wasn’t a bad thing for him. Tris said she wanted to play the goddess of victory for a while, and Murphy finally understood what Tris meant. Emmmm. It seems he really needs some “courage” now. And greedily craving for more, as always, the clever Tris always knows clearly how to encourage the young man at home. The count’s hands also became less gentlemanly under this vague “encouragement”, like a bold adventurer crossing snowy mountains, walking across plains, and advancing towards the legendary forest along the dim path. Such exploration was obviously not allowed in the past. But this time it seemed the goddess of victory made a small exception for him, able to caress that smooth porcelain-like skin when not stopped. This was the first time Murphy knew that vampires could also tremble and breathe heavily from such caresses. “Stop!” 5 minutes later, Tris pressed down Murphy’s hand that had an overly strong desire to explore. She straightened up and tidied her disheveled clothes, looking down at him again, saying: “Greedy little devil! Are you willing to go get that victory you must have for your grand duchess now?” “I feel like you’re some legendary succubus, tempting me to do something dangerous, but it’s not like we can’t negotiate. If this is a trade about courage, If you’re willing to give me a little more...” Murphy shrugged. His handsome face once again wore that mischievous smile that only appeared when he was alone with Tris. He held Tris’s waist and rather flippantly and boldly flicked the collar of her top, making the black garment open before his eyes. Then he lightly kissed the exquisite collarbone that was like a work of art. But he didn’t continue further. The force transmitted from Tris’s fingers tightly gripping his wrist indicated that she was clearly not ready yet. Murphy seemed to have regained his gentlemanly demeanor. He said softly: “I will conquer the whole world for you, my Tris.” “Huh, men.” Tris pursed her lips, but she didn’t push him away. She just opened her arms and gently hugged his head, saying softly: “I’ll stay in the Crimson Citadel waiting for your triumphant return. As you said, we still have an eternal life to understand each other and enjoy that companionship and embrace. I know deep down that you won’t stop here, let alone be defeated by a bunch of stupid barbaric gnolls. I know that Transia is just your starting point. And I will accompany you to the very end. Murphy, I swear, I will accompany you.” “So, you finally admit that you’ve fallen for me too, cowardly witch?” “Hmm, it’s just like for now. To win the witch’s love, you might need to work a bit harder, little Murphy.”

Chapter 269:

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