Chapter 168: A Secret

The witch of greed relented and raised her hands to signal her surrender, all while keeping a small smile on her face. I returned her smile, and the moment she dropped her hands, I recalled my shadow hounds back into my shadow and told Yuki to stand down.

“She’s the witch of greed. I don’t think it’s a good idea to trust her,” Yuki said, glaring at the witch who stuck out her tongue in a mocking gesture.

“It’s fine. I have something she wants. Don’t I?” I asked, turning to the witch of greed.

“Yes, you have my mana crystals,” she answered elegantly.

“No, there is something else. You haven’t paid much attention to the mana crystals since you’ve been here.” I then turned to Ember. “Ember, what does she really want from me?”

I asked, knowing Ember couldn’t lie, or else she would die due to her contract. The witch of Greed glared at Ember as if trying to intimidate her to keep her mouth shut, but Ember couldn’t comply to such an order.

“I don’t know exactly what the witch of Greed wants from you, but the two of you share mutual interests. That is why I advised you to go with her,” Ember replied.

“Mutual interests?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ember’s eyes quickly darted to the witch as if she was afraid her head would leave her body at any moment. She was sweating profusely as she was trapped between a rock and a hard place.

“I uh…” she paused and took a deep breath, knowing she couldn’t lie. “Both of you have a strong dislike for vampires.”

Interesting…

“Is that so?”

“Tsk! It’s not smart to speak out here so openly. That’s why I offered to take you somewhere else,” the witch snapped.

“Your offer was to kidnap me against my own will,” I reminded her, to which she only folded her arms and snorted. “Very well then. You’re right. Let’s go somewhere else,” I agreed.

The witch didn’t waste a second and forced a smile.

“I know the perfect place.”

…

A few moments later, we arrived at a mansion right at the edge of the city. The mansion itself seemed vintage. It was exactly how I imagined a witch’s mansion would look like. The top of it was pointed as if you could skewer someone on the roof.

A row of butlers lined up for us as we stepped into the mansion. They all bowed their heads in servitude as we walked past. Strangely, I noticed that all her servants were muscular men.

“Why are all your servants muscle heads?” Yuki asked with a frown on her face.

The witch flashed an amused smile before answering.

“I like eye candies,” the witch answered simply.

“Pff! I just think you like attention,” Yuki mumbled, seeing how her servants were gawking at her with lewd gazes.

“That too,” the witch of greed hummed, her hips swaying as she walked, and every jerk seemed to drive her servants wild.

Personally, I found it strange. The witch was an attractive woman, yes, but not to the extent they were acting. It was as if they were bewitched. It was terrifying in a way. Seeing how a witch could have this much power over someone’s mind.

This just reminded me that I have to be careful around her. I didn’t want to end up like those pathetic drooling men. Not long after, we reached her study. The further we went into her mansion, the more disturbing her servants got. Some of them had features similar to that of a dog. I saw shackles and collars around their necks and arms, but they weren’t bound.

Yuki giggled softly when she saw them.

“So I’m not the only one with disturbing kinks. Good to know, maybe we can trade secrets.”

“Those aren’t mine,” the witch quickly said. “They belong to someone else.”

Yuki looked at her suspiciously but didn’t push the matter any further; instead, she moved on to something else.

“Did you make them yourself? I don’t know any creatures in Purgatory that have floppy dog ears, a wet nose, and a long tongue. You must’ve used some magic to alter their appearance.”

“Were they human before?” I asked. “I smell human at least.”

The witch sighed in exhaustion.

“As I said, they aren’t mine. Stop asking about them,” she held the bridge of her nose and shook her head. She then whispered something under her breath, something only I could hear due to my sensitive hearing. “This is so embarrassing… Curse you Aphrodite.”

Soon we got to the witch’s study, and with a small vein popping out of her head, she took a seat and beckoned us to take a seat. We took a seat in front of the witch while she sat in front of her desk.

“So, about what we were discussing,” she began.

“Yes, tell me, why do you hate vampires?” I finished.

Her smile twitched.

“I don’t hate vampires, I just think that this city is better run by us witches,” she answered arrogantly.

“Now I understand why they call you the witch of Greed.”

I was beginning to form an idea about the reason why she wanted to speak with me.

“This is about Allucard, isn’t it?” I asked.

After what Kaguya told me that Allucard had the potential to rule over the city in the future and what this witch just said about believing that witches should be the ones ruling the city. Putting things together, it made sense that this witch would want to get rid of such a threat.

And since everything was set for me to go up against Allucard, she was basically trying to use me to get rid of the thorn in her side.

“Yes, whatever you’re thinking is correct. Ember once told me you were smart for a wolf. Watching you now, I could tell she was correct. I wish for you to kill Allucard.”

“Oh, does that mean you plan to fight beside me. You know how formidable he is,” I said, to which the witch sighed.

“You know I can’t do that. If the vampires even find out that there is a conspiracy against them, then it could lead to war between vampires and witches. This war would be as bad as the great war that took place all those many centuries ago. But if an outsider was to get rid of him, thiings would be different.”

“So you don’t plan to help?”

“I do actually. I have information that would be critical for you defeating Allucard.”

The witch signaled for me to approach her with just a wave of her finger. I decided to indulge her and leaned in close so I could hear what this big secret was.

At first I thought it would be nothing, but as the witch whispered into my ears, I felt as if everything I thought I knew shattered. My whole perspective on the situation changed in an instant.

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