Dark Fairy Tale: Tyrant, Conquered Cinderella at the Beginning

Chapter 26 Swamp Witch

The bats dispersed into the forest, each searching for prey. The one that had drunk its fill of blood flew directly toward the swamp where the witch lived. Meanwhile, several other bats, after scattering, silently headed toward the castle.

…

As dawn broke, the light of morning dispelled the mist within the castle. After washing up, Richard walked around the castle, preparing to start his plans for the new day. At that moment, a system notification suddenly sounded:

[Warning! Warning!] [Your castle was attacked last night. Five knight attendants are in a weakened state. Please check on them!]

Richard frowned upon hearing this alert.

“Someone! Bring Hedun, Das… and the other three to see me!”

A quarter of an hour later, five knight attendants appeared before Richard, their steps unsteady, faces pale, looking utterly exhausted.

“Did you all encounter an attack last night?” Richard asked.

The group looked at each other, realizing that they indeed felt unwell, but an attack…

“Sir, there was no attack last night. If there had been an attack, wouldn’t we already be dead?”

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“There was no attack, but I don’t know why; I slept very deeply last night, and when I woke up, my body felt unusually weak.”

“…”

They all denied being attacked.

“Who was on watch last night?” Richard turned to the knight attendant Charles, who was standing guard nearby.

Charles, who had been chosen as the militia captain, replied, “It was Zhulei and Ibel’s team.”

“Call them over!” Richard’s face darkened, his tone displeased.

“Yes, sir!” Charles saluted and quickly went to relay the order.

The five attendants present looked bewildered. Seeing Richard’s seriousness, they wondered if something really did happen last night. But they hadn’t felt anything! If they were indeed attacked, the fact that they were still alive was incredibly fortunate.

They worried about whether anyone had been killed. They didn’t want to see any of their comrades suffer. After all, they all left the duke’s territory together with Richard. Before becoming Richard’s knight attendants, they had undergone group training in the duke’s domain, so they could be considered classmates.

Their bonds might not be deep, but at least they had the camaraderie of classmates, and no one wished to see anyone die inexplicably.

Their minds were still foggy.

What kind of attack could cause such weakness without them noticing a thing?

Then, one of them suddenly remembered that he seemed to have had a nightmare. He dreamed that while practicing his breathing technique before bed, he felt a sharp pain in his neck, and then he couldn’t recall anything else.

Was that not just a dream?

And now that he thought about it, when he woke up in the morning, he found himself lying on the ground. He had thought he fell off the bed in his sleep, but now it seemed…

He quickly spoke up, “Sir, I remember now. Last night, I felt like something bit my neck, and then I passed out. When I woke up this morning, I found myself lying on the ground.”

Richard glanced at him, then looked at the others. “And what about the rest of you? Do you remember anything?”

The other four, upon hearing this, instinctively touched their necks. They discovered that they too had a small bump on their necks, slightly swollen, as if bitten by an insect.

If it were only one person, it wouldn’t be so suspicious, but since they all had the same mark in the same place, it was hard not to connect this with their weakened state.

“Sir, we also seem to have been bitten, but I was already asleep last night and didn’t feel anything.”

“Neither did I.”

The others shook their heads.

It made sense—after all, the first person was attacked by the initial bat, which happened early in the evening while he was still practicing. The others were attacked by the bats that returned later, after they had all gone to bed, so they didn’t notice anything.

Richard’s expression remained unchanged. He had already guessed the cause. Their symptoms clearly indicated a severe loss of vitality, similar to how one might feel after a fierce battle.

Coupled with the bite marks on their necks, it seemed evident that they had been drained of blood.

If vampires had attacked, they would likely be dead by now. Given the small size of the bite marks, it seemed more plausible that they were attacked by vampire bats.

At that moment, Charles returned with the night guards.

“Did you notice anything unusual last night?” Richard asked.

Charles had not informed them of the weakened state of their comrades, so the two night guards looked bewildered, shaking their heads with nervous expressions, fearing they might have been negligent.

Sure enough.

Richard said, “There were blood-sucking bats in the castle last night, and these five were attacked. How did you, the night watch, fail to notice anything?”

The two guards turned pale and immediately knelt on the ground. “We are guilty, sir. Please punish us!”

They dared not make excuses and could only admit their fault.

Richard didn’t go easy on them and said directly, “According to the regulations, you are each to receive ten lashes.”

The two guards shuddered and bowed their heads in acceptance. “Yes, my lord!”

They were terrified, knowing that the lashes they would receive weren’t mere horsewhips but scorpion whips with fine barbs that tore off bits of flesh with each strike. Though the wounds weren’t deep, they were excruciatingly painful.

Fortunately, the lashes were treated with medicine that caused pain but ensured quick healing without infection. It was said that this medicine was personally developed by the lord.

“And the five of you—once Shentu has recovered, you will each receive ten lashes as well!”

The five knights had initially felt a sense of schadenfreude, thinking that the night guards’ carelessness had caused their predicament. But before they could fully enjoy their moment, they realized they too were in trouble.

“Yes!” They responded, faces gloomy.

“Humph! As knight attendants, you lack even basic vigilance. You’d better learn from this!” Richard reprimanded.

The five straightened up and respectfully replied, “Understood, sir!”

Richard dismissed them with a wave, then frowned.

Punishing them was one thing, but the more pressing issue was the swamp witch.

He hadn’t expected her to act now, which meant she needed to be dealt with as a priority. Once the militia was ready, Richard planned to personally lead a team to eliminate the swamp witch, using her as a training opportunity for his troops.

She would make an excellent whetstone!

A cold smile appeared on Richard’s face.