The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 796

Chapter 795
Count Leipzig: I Have a Bold Idea
March 23rd.
It wasn’t until past nine in the morning that Alistair slowly opened her eyes.
“…My head still feels a bit dizzy.”
She stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment, then contentedly closed her eyes and snuggled back into Isabel’s blanket.
This wasn’t Star Antinomy, nor the dangerous and chaotic Leipzig. This was Avalon, Glass Island, the Silver and Tin Hall… This was Isabel’s bedroom.
This was an absolutely safe… home.
“Don’t give up on my dream, continue sleeping…”
Alistair mumbled, curling into a ball with warm drowsiness.
Between sleep and wakefulness, she felt someone quietly lift the edge of the blanket and sneakily slip in, then silently embrace her slender waist.
Alistair didn’t react at all; instead, she hugged the arm back.
“Heh~”
Isabel’s voice, like a whisper, sounded in Alistair’s ear, accompanied by a warm breath and the tickle of falling hair. “How did you know it was me?”
“…If it weren’t you, your guards would have beaten me up, wouldn’t they?”
Alistair turned, wrapping her arms around Isabel and nestling into her embrace, murmuring in a low voice.
Of course, there was another reason—she could smell Isabel’s scent.
Thanks to the keen sense of smell of a Child of the Moon. Alistair had smelled her scent as soon as Isabel had tiptoed closer.
Isabel stroked Alistair’s head in her arms with affection, saying softly, “Rest more if you’re tired.”
In Isabel’s memory, Eivass had basically never taken a proper rest for any length of time. Even when things seemed quiet, he was always diligently studying or handling state affairs. Ever since Isabel had known Eivass, he had never taken a single day off.
Even now, as Eivass entered a true slumber, he was still protecting the Eternal Holy Kingdom in another way. And now, he had taken on another guise, entering even busier and more dangerous work…
In any case, Isabel had already asked—Alistair had plenty of time. A few days were enough for her to make a round trip.
Being able to empty her mind and not think about anything, to rest properly like this… could be considered an extremely rare opportunity.
For this reason, Isabel had pushed all the major and minor matters of the past two days onto Mycroft Hermes. All so she could spend more time with Alistair.
She gently patted Alistair’s back, humming the lullaby she had sung in a dream when they first met.
Back then, Eivass had still been struggling against the drowsiness brought on by her lullaby… but now, Alistair had no need to resist.
She had already fallen into a peaceful and deep slumber.
At this very moment.
Far away in Star Antinomy, the City of Knowledge, Leipzig.
Count Leipzig, however, had been forced awake before sunrise.
It wasn’t because of any work that needed to be done… but because someone who brought work had forced him to deal with it.
In the swimming pool of the Leipzig manor, Pomanach casually walked out, an arm around a young girl. Water droplets fell to the ground as he moved, and he merely shook his head like a dog, flicking the water droplets from his hair.
He picked up a glass of ice-cold, sweetened lemon brandy from the male servant who had been holding the tray and serving him, taking a sip.
The first generation Red Phase chuckled and said leisurely, “Still haven’t found Beyad?
“—On your turf, and you can’t find a single person in a few hours. You disappoint me, Fain.”
Pomanach rarely spoke Count Leipzig’s name, slowly pouring the dregs of his drink onto Count Leipzig’s hair.
Leipzig was quite particular about his hairstyle, usually glaring at anyone who dared to touch it. But at this moment, he didn’t dare to move, letting the sticky, sweetened liquor trickle down his hair and neck, onto his expensive formal attire.
He didn’t dare to wipe away the liquor; for a moment, he was even somewhat dazed.
Fain… he hadn’t heard that name in a long time.
After the former Fain Heinrich was favored by the Queen, people respectfully called him Prince Heinrich; and after he was ordered to build the City of Knowledge, Leipzig, as his fief, people even more respectfully called him Count Leipzig. Now, his friends usually just called him “Leipzig” or “Heinrich.”
By now, perhaps not many people remembered his name.
…What did his father’s sudden calling of his name mean? Did it express displeasure? Or intimacy? Or was it a form of control… or a warning? Was he indicating that he was still a child in front of him, or was he somewhat dissatisfied with my control over the situation in Leipzig…
Count Leipzig thought rapidly, but still couldn’t discern Pomanach’s intentions. He could only respectfully say, “At least we know that Madam Beyad has been staying with Prince Xiardo recently…”
“She likes that type? Then give her to her.”
Pomanach said casually, “I’ll remove little Xiardo from Valentine’s listing when I return. She can take him directly if she wants.”
“Yes, we’ve also learned that she took a monster to the Spirit Tower…”
“…A monster?”
Pomanach raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. “A Shadow Demon?”
Count Leipzig shook his head. “No, a monster with flesh and blood. It looked… a bit like a young dragon.”
“Perhaps it’s her pet,”
Pomanach said dismissively, smiling. “It could be her lover or child, or a lover and child. Who knows.”
Hearing this information, he looked at Count Leipzig again and nodded with slight satisfaction. “Not bad, you haven’t disappointed me too much yet.”
“It’s all thanks to you…”
Before Count Leipzig could finish his flattering words, he was interrupted.
“—But it’s not enough.”
Pomanach casually handed the now empty wine glass to Count Leipzig and lightly patted his hand. “Don’t keep me waiting too long… When will you find Beyad? Give me a precise time.”
“If things go smoothly…”
“I don’t want to hear ‘if’ kind of perfunctory talk.”
Pomanach’s gaze was deep. “I want to see her before nightfall tonight. Don’t you have clues? Then go find her.”
Count Leipzig replied, “Yes…”
“Oh, right. Remember to be polite, and don’t cause me trouble.”
“…Yes.”
Count Leipzig was silent for a moment, then lowered his head and agreed.
The blonde, red-eyed youth emphasized, his eyes full of weariness. It was his annoyance at his “children” constantly bringing him all sorts of enemies—although Pomanach had extreme mood swings, was decadent and depraved, he didn’t actually have many enemies himself.
Pomanach was, after all, a believer of the Banquet Master, adhering to the principle that “all who come and go are guests.”
His attitude towards guests was much better than towards his own children. Instead of threats and coercion, he was more inclined to take people out to play, making friends through endless fun. Conversely, after getting familiar with him, his attitude would gradually turn for the worse, and he would reveal his irascibility and capriciousness.
It was his children—the Children of the Moon he had converted—who behaved much more wildly and flamboyantly than he did. They never feared trouble; after all, they could always get their butts spanked by Pomanach when they returned. Pomanach would always clean up their messes after he had vented his anger.
The most famous among them was “Succubus” Emma.
However, in the past twenty-odd years… Count Leipzig had clearly sensed that Pomanach was becoming increasingly irritable and volatile. In the past, he would merely smile at his children’s foolishness, even laughing heartily, but now his outbursts of anger were becoming more frequent…
His desires were also not as strong as before; he seemed to need to vent his desires every moment. Back then, he was more fond of holding banquets, drinking blood or wine with his friends. Every day, listening to music, watching performances, gossiping and digging up dirt on someone day in and day out, critiquing the foolishness and failures of the King and other factions, his carnal desires accounted for less than a tenth.
The few biological children he had left in these years were evidence of this.
—It seemed to be a kind of anxiety.
Or perhaps the aging of his spirit.
When Count Leipzig chatted with his friends in the Spirit Tower, he had also learned… the longevity of the Path of Love did not mean immortality. It was a “very strong life force,” but the spirit did not belong to the long-lived.
The lives of the Children of the Moon, compared to the truly long-lived and thus extremely slow-paced elves, were closer to humans. This was proof.
And this also meant that the Children of the Moon had another kind of “lifespan.” That was their spiritual lifespan—even the Children of the Moon were material beings of multiple paths. As long as they were material beings, they would lose control due to their paths overflowing. Therefore, the Children of the Moon would also become more extreme with age. It’s just that the Children of the Moon themselves didn’t have a “true heart” to begin with, so there was no “losing their true heart.”
—It was clear that Pomanach’s sanity was reaching its limit.
If he couldn’t step onto the Path of the Perfect Being and ascend to the Sixth Tier… by the time his Path of Love completely mutated and began to cover his Transcendent Path, he probably wouldn’t be able to ascend anymore.
However, perhaps there was another way…
A tremendously transcendent thought suddenly popped into Count Leipzig’s mind.
The moment that thought formed, he felt his Transcendent Path, which hadn’t moved for years, begin to activate at a visible speed.
“Father… I suddenly have an idea…”
He hesitated, stammering—because the idea was too presumptuous.
Pomanach glanced at him.
Originally, he would have become furious and started scolding or even beating the other person for such hesitant, cowardly, and nonsensical behavior.
But seeing the clearly visible purple halo in Count Leipzig’s pupils, Pomanach took the towel handed to him by the girl beside him with interest. He merely draped it over his shoulder, then crossed his arms and patiently waited for Count Leipzig to organize his words.
Because the girl beside Pomanach was also an insider—her father was a participant in the Ouroboros Ring, and had even almost become a sacrifice. Therefore, Count Leipzig didn’t need to be reserved:
“—Father, the [Ouroboros Ring] ritual obtained from the 《Ouroboros Chronicle》 stone slab does not actually restrict its use to Transcendent Paths.”
“Mmm, I know.”
“The Rose Cross summons Transcendent beings of the Fifth Tier from all over the world, gathering them… intending to use the Ouroboros Ring ritual to steal the power of the Fallen Heavenly Envoy. To achieve this goal, they need more Transcendent beings to draw enough power in the ritual…”
Count Leipzig spoke slowly, with some hesitation. “Then can we, the Children of the Moon… also use the [Ouroboros Ring]?”
(End of Chapter)