37 Lasombra’s Affair (1)

Chapter 37: Lasombra's Affair (1)

Before the whole fiasco of the Vampire Hunt over the precious prize game that was the Blood Prince of the Lasombra Clan, in another part of the Graz where Jeanne lived, she continued on the preparations for her dinner with Carl since she was the one to invite him.

Once again after long years she was feeling the thrill of being a young maiden, acting all fluttery and bubbly like a highschool girl meeting her crush. 

Jeanne was trying her best to impress Carl with her cooking, still uncertain if a Vampire would even digest the food humans eat, but her previous diners nights with him at the restaurants convinced her deep down that there wasn't much of a difference in the biology of a Vampire compared to a human.

He didn't act uncomfortable while eating 'normal' food and could enjoy a good talk, and for sure a great mystery remained for her regarding his age. From her dates with him, she discovered that he was privy to many discussion topics, and even entertained some of her topics such as Books of diverse genres. 

To her just the thought that Carl had this hobby of reading, even though it was from time to time as he mentioned, was enough to send her tails on fire, and widen her crush on him.

Was she too charmed by this mysterious man? For sure. Did she do anything to change that? No. The thrill of the chase for Jeanne was worth everything, and this feeling increased day by day when she couldn't see Carl as she wanted.

She wasn't angry that Carl would reject her hints of spending more time together, and initially in a moment of clarity, she thought that he was only interested in her because of her blood. 

However, akin to a psychic reading minds, he caught onto her doubt and made sure to clear out some confusions by mentioning that if he was only interested in her blood, he wouldn't be entertaining the idea of going on a night date.

If he wanted blood, he wouldn't have wasted time to accommodate her feelings, take her needs in consideration and simply attacked her and drew out her blood before vanishing under the cover of the night, leaving her feeble, vulnerable and alone. And to rub salt in the wound, no one would even bother to believe her since Vampires are the stuff that would put her into a psych ward for being schizophrenic.

From those talks with Carl she reached the conclusion that she shouldn't mess around with his boundaries, and that he was giving off the vibe of a 'great man'. He cared enough for her to spend time with her, and they were only on the 'dating' stage, and she shouldn't get ahead of herself.

Yet, as a woman, Jeanne wanted to have Carl all for herself, to monopolize all of his attention and love for her. The thought that he would spend time with other women beside her, played a bit with her mind, but with a reluctant sigh, she got along with her day. He wasn't cheating or anything, nor did he specify he was seeing other women.

Such that for her dinner plans she went the extra-mile to impress her lover, wearing a smile on her gorgeous face as she cooked with 'Heart' just like her mother taught her.

What she was missing out was that she had outsider guests staring at her smiling face, wearing slight awkward expressions especially after she began swinging a bit her waist like an enamored young girl. The perplexing thing was that the ones spying on her were two young nuns which didn't fit with the setting of the night.

Everything going around Graz was already bizarre to say the least, just looking at the blonde lady the two nuns couldn't help but scratch their heads, since the behavior Jeanne was giving wasn't off a mindless puppet enthralled by a Vampire to be his feeding point.

"I'm starting to doubt that this lady is connected with a Vampire. I mean… look at her." remarked the long blue-haired nun in her stoic tone having a bit of a challenge in comprehending the situation.

"She looks like one of my Junior-High colleagues who is dating her boyfriend. Acting all in love." 

"You have legit reasons to suspect that she is connected to the target we saw being suspicious and couldn't find even though we tried so much. I believe that what you've seen at the Coffee Shop isn't false, Irina. Protestants tend to exaggerate on what they believe, but I'll let it pass."

"Ohh come on, as if you Catholics aren't exaggerating all the time? Want me to tell you again about how wrong the Inquisition was? Also, there are high chances that it was done under the possession of an Ultimate Devil, Astaroth."

"It's all in the past, the Vatican has reformed a lot in the current years."

"It's because you guys have lost the power and privileges granted to you by the State."

Xenovia frowned a bit as she stared at Irina as she was giving her a history lesson about the past crimes of the Vatican, and she did fire back with her own arguments since Irina as an Anglican/Protestant was under the thumb and mercy of the whims of a Monarch.

They went along back and forth like cats fighting over territory, and only the annoying meows and hissings were missing and a cat fight, lucky for the neighborhood, Xenovia wanted to show that she was far more mature than Irina, and brushed off the subject, reminding her of their mission.

"OK, I got it, you Protestants are all petty and all. Tell your problems to His Holiness or Her Majesty the Queen, not me. For now, let's focus on our target. I think the Vampire would be arriving anytime soon, so remove your traces of holy power from Mimic."

"... Urgh, you're really annoying, have you heard that. Ahh, right I also told you since meeting."

"Sush. I can feel a new presence. The newcomer put on a subspace barrier sealing off this region of the town."

"Don't sush me! Wait… This is way too sketchy. If that lady is expecting her lover, why would the Vampire bother with a subspace barrier? That's wasteful."

The two girls finally had a sharp awakening and took their mission seriously when out of nowhere two individuals appeared before Jeanne's doorsteps. Breathing out in relief, of course, inwardly, that they suppressed any signs of their presence, they watched with doubtful eyes.

Xenovia who knew a bit of information about the Vampire Clans in the zones of Conflict such as Germany, Austria and Romania from her Instructor/Guardian who was also akin to a Mother-figure, couldn't help but take notice of the crest those two men wearing leather jackets were displaying proudly.

The crest was displaying a crimson crown with clear darkness shadows flaring up, but what set her cogwheels turning was at the heart of the Crown, where the Cross of Saint Peter was displayed as a mockery to the Lord's Sacrifices, since the beings using it on their imagery were devilish by nature.

What was once a noble symbol of humbleness of Saint Peter, was claimed by the demonic as a sign of their Dark Lord, Satan.

From their appearances while in the open, Xenovia could tell they were Vampires. Their red, emotionless eyes were quite explicit and telling for the young Exorcist. 

'The more we search, the deeper we succumb into the Abyss. Why are those proud royalist bastards stepping out in the Human World? Grisselda told me that they aren't interested in the Human World, and have plenty of humans serving themselves on their platter to satisfy their desires.'

'Lasombra… This one will be tricky, since the Aura they are displaying is akin to a A-tier threat.'

Xenovia could sense their repulsing aura as they stared at Jeanne's front door, their aura reeking of their demonic essence. Irina sensed this danger and got a bit nervous from a distance, only to get a slight pat from her, to reassure her that she was there for her.

'No way this nice lady is connected to Lasombra. Or, are they after the one we also search?'

She tried to connect the dots, figuring the reasons for the powerful Vampires arrival, and while her mind was going overdrive, she saw one of the Vampires, a blonde man with an otherworldly appearance knock on the door, still with an expressionless face the entire time.

'Should I attack now? If they harm her I wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight. No. Let's wait a bit before acting. I will get some information that is worth waiting for. They wouldn't want to kill her since they want to get to the same target as us.'

With the knocking done, Irina saw Jeanne stop whatever she was doing in the kitchen, quickly rush over to a mirror to check her appearance, then from there she lost track of what she was doing, but Xenovia saw her open the door, freezing in place under the dark presence of the two mysterious visitors.

Jeanne, who expected Carl to arrive anytime, sprinted with a beaming smile, opened and thankfully didn't let her emotions run wild and jump into his embrace, especially now that she saw who checked on her. 

She froze in place, and goosebumps spread all over her body from the eerie presence those individuals were giving off. She looked at them, and even thought they had handsome appearances, just their presence and passive aura sent her into dread.

"..."

As someone slashed her with a bucket of cold water, she backtrack into her house, holding tight on her door, and attempted the Civil Route, maybe they got the wrong address? 

Seeing how they only looked at her, their crimson eyes reminding her of Carl, but unlike his charming, warm eyes that were like an inferno, she was watched by their murky gazes like some lowly reject not worth their attention and even breathing the same air.

"... How can I help you, gentlemen? I think you've mistaken the address." Jeanne waited for a few seconds for the men to respond, and with the idea that her message was sent across, she decided to close the door.

She stopped when the blonde man who was a step ahead finally looked at her, it was in that moment where her spine felt a chill like never before.

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A/N: Thanks for the feedback on the previous 'poll', I'm glad in a way that my vision for MC's character and future is agreeable. Now, on another 'Poll' which debates an important subject.

I've been debating this internally for a bit, and I guess is better to hear opinions. Since the novel is a Multi-Cross, and the worlds included have different type of grading threats, certain confusions might occur and I'll probably lose some readers along the way. 

This is why, I want to make it clear. I'll most certainty do the grading of threats is such fashion, and you tell me if you like it or no [Yes]/[No]. It will be simple, for Non-Devils, the grading system would be the Japanese-style (E-SSS/EX) which the following late tiers would be translated into DxD grading system as follows: E-D = Low-Class Devils | C-B = Mid-Class Devils | A-S = High-Class Devils | SS-SSS = Ultimate-Class Devils | EX = Super Devils/God-tier 

[Yes]

[No]