Chapter 29: Stirring Up the Stirring

　　In the blink of an eye, it was already time for Baldwin to be made a duke.

　　The entire castle, along with the upper town, has been slightly repaired and replaced with brightly colored flags.

　　All of Constantine's high rollers had gathered in the castle.

　　Most of these people, however, had made bad memories here not too long ago.

　　Nowadays they put on holy oil, hide their fangs, and put a charismatic fake smile on their faces ....

　　It's kinda like a cute and charming villain character.

　　Edward, in order to secretly electrolyze the holy water during the ceremony, now changed into a squire's outfit, and his long black hair, which he usually kept loose, was tied up in a small low ponytail.

　　The outfit made the nobleman look so tender that he could pinch water.

　　However, it also made Countess Margaret, who had hardly healed from her wounds and had come to observe the ceremony, faint with excitement just by looking at her beloved Lord Kayne from afar.

　　She was then taken home by Lynn to continue her recuperation.

　　And Lei Lei, who stayed behind to watch the ceremony, was very shocked.

　　He had already discerned the identities of the nobles present through their scents.

　　"I can't believe Lord Kayne acted so quickly and already has Constantine in his pocket." Lei Lei exclaimed.

　　As far as he's concerned, these newborn vampires, including the new lord who's about to be knighted, are Lord Kayne's dependents.

　　This gave him a twinge of anxiety: he had been gifted with the power of Lord Kayne's bloodline, yet he had accomplished nothing and had not established an inch of success.

　　However, the Teenage Bloods quickly found an opportunity to take credit.

　　As the Archbishop and the others arrived at the ceremony venue with their ornate crosses, the vampire nobles in attendance were visibly beginning to feel ill.

　　A lady near the front row couldn't even contain herself and cried out in pain.

　　Fortunately, the lady quickly realized her faux pas, and through clenched teeth quipped, "Ah, Bishop, I have sinned, redeem me!" Blindsided.

　　It also made Ray-Ray realize that these newborn vampires were far too resistant to crosses.

　　He then silently opened one of his bloodline abilities - [Fallen God Boundary].

　　The entire castle was shrouded in a knot, which greatly diminished the power of the cross and strengthened the Blood's resistance to the holy attributes.

　　"This way Kayne-sama will surely notice and raise his opinion of me." Ray-Ray thought complacently.

　　However Lord Kayne knew nothing of this, he was at the moment holding the container with the holy water in a serious manner, inserting both thumbs into the holy water and starting the electrolysis.

　　There was no let-up in this; if he messed things up, the holy water dripping on Baldwin's forehead would burn the new lord and expose the fact that he was a vampire.

　　At that point not only Baldwin, but the whole of Constantine would face extinction.

　　Soon the ceremony proceeded to the baptism, and the Archbishop signaled him to bring the holy water.

　　"May the gods protect you, Baldwin, and ask you to guard this land with your loyalty and bravery as Duke of Constantine."

　　The Archbishop said a few prayers, and then with a finger as short as a carrot, he dipped a few drops of Edward's tampered "holy water" and sprinkled it on Baldwin's forehead.

　　It was a good thing the stale water hadn't cauterized Baldwin or melted the holy oils that protected the vampire.

　　Baldwin allowed the drops to trickle down his forehead, then courteously thanked the Archbishop.

　　The next session, was the Pledge of Allegiance.

　　As Edward breathes a sigh of relief, thinking he's over the hump, something changes.

　　Several clergymen rushed onto the ceremonial grounds without authorization and yelled:

　　"Heretic! You have no right to inherit the title!"

　　"On behalf of the Church, we are about to execute a heretical inquisition against you!"

　　They are of the Judgment House of Heresy.

　　The appearance of these people had taken the Archbishop by surprise, but the Heresy Inquisition was a special organization independent of the Church, and even the Archbishop had no right to interfere with their actions.

　　"What's going on?"

　　"Archbishop, please let me handle this."

　　The one who said this was followed into the meeting by the guys from the Heretic's Inquisition, a tall, skinny priest who was poised, but whose hairline had started to get touchy-feely.

　　"President Baldwin, Brother Kayne, I apologize for interfering with your ceremony, but please do accept my inquiry."

　　"Father Suez? Why are you hanging out with these people?" Edward asked in surprise.

　　The visitor was none other than Father Suez, who had helped the Guild of Stigmata's Skin.

　　Before the rightful lord could speak, the clerics behind him shouted, "How dare a mere squire come out to speak?"

　　Suez also laughed, "Yes, Brother Kayne is considered a powerful vampire hunter, why are you pretending to be a squire here?"

　　Edward grunted, "His Excellency Baldwin has worked so hard for the Guild for so many years that he has no suitable retainers under his command, so I'm just holding up the fort on a temporary basis. Could it be that Father Suez is also here to prop up the facade because the Heresy Inquisition is depleted of talent?"

　　"Ah, it was actually due to the murder of an Inquisitor some time ago. I have now been reassigned to the Inquisition of Heresy as an Inquisitor and am no longer a priest." Suez said.

　　"Really, what a shame."

　　In fact, going from ordinary priest to inquisitor is clearly a high rise, but Edward laments it.

　　Instead of showing annoyance, Suez turned to Baldwin, "President Baldwin, we have gotten strange information that you are a vampire."

　　The Archbishop stepped forward to speak at this time, "My Lord Inquisitor, this is nonsense, I have just baptized Monsignor Baldwin with holy water ...."

　　Suez said, "Really? It's true that no vampire can resist holy water, but if ...."

　　Edward stepped forward and interrupted him, saying, "May I ask the Inquisitor where you heard this slanderous statement?"

　　"Well..." Suez unconsciously glanced at the crowd next to him, then said, "The source is not too convenient to disclose, but I can assure God that the source is absolutely reliable and trustworthy."

　　Edward had caught that unnatural little gesture from Suez and guessed that a vampire had tipped him off.

　　He looked out into the crowd as well, taking silent note of a small nobleman who looked too nervous to look directly at him.

　　"While I don't want to doubt Father Suez... No, the Inquisitor's character, but you are, after all, a common man who can be deceived."

　　"You are right, but with Duke Edmund's bizarre death and President Baldwin so eager to take office, we, as God's Messengers, have to be cautious." Suez said, "We at the Inquisition will not arrest people indiscriminately without asking questions, but still, we would like to ask President Baldwin to prove his innocence here."

　　"You all don't believe in God-given holy water, what more do you want us to do to prove ourselves?"

　　"Just ask Chairman Baldwin to stand there." Suez then looked at Edward, "Then please, Brother Kayne, shoot a harmless [Demon Breaker Arrow] that is harmless to humans at the President."