The Ancient Literature bookstore, located at 17 Birchwood Avenue in Constantine, was Edward and Evelyn's next target.
Birchwood Street was a bustling commercial street, and because it was close to the upper city, the scenery here was a completely different picture from the shabby scene at the entrance of Constantine City. The street was clean and tidy, the houses along the roadside were all stone-built, and some of the more luxurious storefronts even used glass windows.
However, because of the vampire's ransacking some time ago, Constantine was in a state of panic, and there were a lot less pedestrians on the streets, and Birchwood Street looked a lot colder these days.
The front of the bookstore "Ancient Literature" is small and even a bit inconspicuous compared to the signboards of the neighboring stores, but once you enter, you will find that there is something else inside.
"This world... Ahem, isn't the literacy rate of the civilians in the Eastern Continent not high, so why is there still such a large bookstore?" Edward asked in disbelief as he looked at the rows and rows of tall bookshelves as well as the collection of books that filled the shelves.
"Because this is the only bookstore in Constantine Province."
Evelie casually pulled a book off the shelf and flipped through two pages before suddenly blushing and shoving the book back on the shelf in a bit of a panic.
Edward glanced at the title of the book, The Mentally Depleted Lizardman Squire.
It just so happened that there was one on his side of the bookshelf, so he quickly flipped through the pages with a feigned carelessness, only to see that it read:
"Squire! Come and race me to see whose spear is stronger and brighter!"
"Master, how can I compare myself to you with a feeble spear in my hand?"
....
So it's Brother Xuan De, or the glass model. Disrespectful, disrespectful.
He closed the book bashfully and put it back on the shelf.
What a touching novel of combat, The Gale, the Dark Moon, the Treasure and the Mirror, The Dervish Leitglass, Plame in a Golden Bottle, and so on beside them, all books of the same kind.
Edward naturally skipped this area and then picked out a few books documenting history and customs.
Then, at the far end of the store, he found the shelf where the spellbooks were displayed.
Most of the books here are hand-copied, and most of the thick covers are sealed with fire varnish, not to be viewed freely.
Edward picked out a few books of elemental magic, and as he reached his hand toward a book of Necromancy, Evely, who was passing by, spoke up and warned, "This one is forbidden."
Necromancy was a forbidden spell, that Edward knew, but this made him even more interested in the book.
At this time a pale voice came out from behind the bookshelves, "This bookstore does not sell forbidden books."
An old man who was less than Edward's belly button in height turned from behind a bookshelf.
"Ah, the store manager." Ivory recognized the man as the dwarven shopkeeper of the bookstore.
"Here, let me see which book it is? Oh, Necromancy, ah, it's a book that recounts the principles of necromancy and defense countermeasures, there's no specific necromancy spells in it, so it's not a banned book."
The store manager squinted at the cover and handed it back to Edward, then he noticed a couple of books Edward was holding in his arms.
"The books the young man reads are very deep ah, in fact, you can buy them one by one, don't be greedy and chew too much ah."
This comment endeared Edward to the store manager, who, instead of fooling people into buying more books, put himself in the shoes of the customer, who obviously loved books.
"Personally, I tend to buy my favorite books all at once."
"Well, you're kind of like me in that respect; if I didn't have that problem, I probably wouldn't even have this bookstore." The store manager laughed a little and stopped interfering with Edward's choices.
When Edward had finished picking out the books and was ready to pay, the door to the bookstore was suddenly kicked open and a group of men dressed in clergy robes, but tough and vicious as bandits, burst in.
"We are from the Heretic Inquisition and have come for a routine inspection! Irrelevant people get out!"
There were only two customers in the store at the moment, Edward and Evelyn, and unrelated people naturally meant the two of them.
Edward was a little offended by their cocky attitude, but before he could react, the store manager winked at him and whispered, "Go ahead and take these books and come back later to check out."
The store manager's eyes were a bit strange, Edward suddenly thought of the "forbidden books" that Evelyn had just mentioned.
He comprehended the store manager's meaning and left with his head down, clutching his book.
The few menacing clergymen manning the door didn't stop him, and he made it out of the store without incident.
Yet Evely was stopped.
"Wait a minute, you look like a witch to me in that outfit!" A clergyman said as he stared wistfully at Evelyn's chest.
"What do you want? I'm not a witch!" Evely, who was very calm in the face of vampires, was a bit panicked at the moment.
"You don't get to say if you're a witch or not, take her!"
"Right! The anti-magic stub on me is reacting, she's the witch!"
"Take them back and interrogate them properly!"
A few people tried to step forward to pull Evelyn, when suddenly a chorus of voices came from behind them, "Stop!"
These ever domineering clergymen wanted to see what kind of person dared to resist, but when they looked back they saw that a short silver sword was already on the Heretic Inquisitor's neck.
Edward sneered, "Evely, these guys look a bit like vampires to me, why don't we try a few cuts on their necks with our silver swords first?"
It's called a trick to do the same thing to the other guy.
The body of the inquisitor who was racked was shaking slightly, not daring to utter a single breath.
A few clergymen colored and screamed.
"Let go of the Inquisitor-sama! Are you tired of living?!"
"Dare to obstruct our capture of the witch! Burn you to death!"
"Bind him to the stake!"
"The stake? This young master has come down from the stake with all his whiskers!" Edward held his sword in his right hand at the Inquisitor's neck, condensed runes in his mind, and offered up a ball of fire in his left hand.
"Witchcraft! He's a witch... No, a male witch!"
"Witchcraft? This is elemental magic in its most orthodox form!"
Edward deliberately rubbed the fireball so large that the flames scorched off the Inquisitor's beard and eyebrows.
"Watch this!"
When he was about to lose control of the fireball, he suddenly pointed his finger to the sky, and the huge fireball flew up into the air, transforming into a grand daytime firework.
Huh? It seems to hit something? And the sound of a woman screaming? Mostly an illusion. How can there be someone in the sky.
By this time Evely had broken away from the crowd and ran behind Edward.
She said quietly, "That . . kayne, although the church has now tacitly recognized the existence of elemental magicians, in jurisprudence, elemental magic is still heretical ...."
Edward froze.
He originally just wanted to declare his strength and warn these godly men, but he didn't realize that he was handing the other side a knife.
"Heresy! This man really is a heretic!"
"Burn him!"
The clergy had gathered around with vigor.
"Back off! Don't you guys care about this guy's life?"
Edward put his silver short sword close to the Inquisitor's neck, when there was a back row a cleric smashed a book over, Edward sidestepped and dodged the concealed weapon, but just because of this action, his right hand brought a little bit, making the short sword cut a small slit on the Inquisitor's neck.
What happened next took everyone by surprise.
The area around the slight wound on the Inquisitor's neck began to turn pale and black, and the poison of silver quickly spread throughout his body before the Inquisitor rolled his eyes and collapsed to the ground, dying outright.
"This... This guy is really a vampire?!"
Not far away, inside the uptown townhouse, Lei Lei suddenly stopped what she was doing and tilted her head, "Ah, sister, one of the eyes I planted in the church died..."
His sister's forehead stretched into a "well", she clenched her fists, and gave her brother, who could not read the language, a sharp shudder: "So what if he's dead! Move the master to his room!"
"Oh." The teenager beamed with an aggravated expression as he carefully carried the unconscious countess and headed for the second floor.
"It's all your fault for talking nonsense about meeting that lord, the master flew out in a flurry of excitement, it's only been a few days since this injury healed!" Linlin was still chortling.
Lei Lei had a helpless look on his face, thinking, "Can you blame me for that too?
He carried the Countess up to the second floor and carefully placed her in the tub, leaving her sister to do the rest.
Before leaving, Lei Lei looked at the charred face of his master's pathetic appearance, and couldn't help but slander a sentence in his heart, "What a hard hand!"
And the object of the bellyaching is at this moment confronting a group of godly men.
There were already a few people on the opposite side with swords in their hands, but no one dared to rush up.
That is, this group of godly men are usually domineering and accustomed to it, but anyone who is a little bit reasonable would have known better by now.
The crowd of civilians had grown so large that they couldn't see the vampire's body in the center of the crowd and only pointed at it from the outer circle.
No one noticed that a group of knights were escorting a wagon that slowly arrived on Birchwood Street.
Because it was blocked by the crowd, the carriage stopped. A nobleman wearing very exaggeratedly ornate clothing and a moustache poked his head out of it and asked in a shrill voice, "What's going on? Is someone going to attack Lone?"
One of the knights in front of them looked back and said, "It doesn't look like an attack, please return to the carriage while I go scout around."
He rolled over and dismounted, then pushed his way through the crowd.
After a while, the knight returned and reported to the carriage, "My lord, someone killed a vampire on the street, but that vampire..."
Before he could finish, the Lord-Lord was already alarmed, and he shrank into the carriage, shouting, "Vampires? Quickly call Baldwin over! You lot surround the carriage to protect Lone!"
The knight was helpless as he reported once more, "Lord Lord, the vampire has been grilled, please don't panic."
"I don't care! Get Baldwin over here to protect Lone!"
At that moment a horse came from the rear, and on it came down a very stout man, but without knight's armor.
"Brother, I'm here."
Only then did the lord poke his head out of the wagon again and look at his stout brother with a reassuring expression, but then raised his eyebrows and said, "Baldwin yo, come over here right now to protect Lone in this situation!"
"Yes."
"You guys, arrest the ones blocking the road!"
That's when Baldwin snapped, "Brother, since there are vampires, allow me to go ahead and explore."
The lord was alarmed, "Don't go! Who will protect Lone if you go?"
"Brother, there are enough of the Knights to protect you, I will go and return."
Baldwin then turned away, while the laird gave a strange cry and ducked into the carriage.
The big man pushed his way through the crowd and walked over to Evelyn's side and asked, "What's going on?"
Evelie looked back, saw Baldwin, and immediately called out, "Master Baldwin? You have returned?"
Baldwin nodded, then crouched down to examine the vampire's body.
"And this is?" Edward asked.
"This is our Guildmaster!" Evelie whispered, then crouched down and quickly reported to Baldwin what had happened.
Edward was a bit confused, so this is the "Stigmata's Skin" president that he hadn't seen above.
Because Baldwin was a certified Master Vampire Hunter, the members of the guild would usually call him "Master Baldwin" or "Master" instead of "Guildmaster".
"Ah, hello Master." Edward added a slightly awkwardly belated greeting.
Baldwin nodded, then stood up and faced the clerics with an air of authority and asked, "Are you trying to harbor this vampire?"
One of the clergymen in the lead cried out viciously, "Slander! This is slander! What a thing you are!"
He was then pulled back by his companion next to him, who knew Baldwin.
"I am Duke Constantine's brother, the Guildmaster of the Skin of the Stigmata, Knight Baldwin Felipe Boly."
The Guildmaster gave his name, and the clergyman visibly wimped out.
Then the Guildmaster pinched open the vampire corpse's jaw, revealing the white fangs inside.
"So, you guys still don't believe this guy is a vampire? Or are you guys actually vampires too?"
The clerics were speechless for a moment, and one was still unconvinced, pointing at Edward, "This man uses elemental magic and is a heretic!"
The rest of the clerics then reacted and said, "Yes! He is a heretic!" "Burn him!"
Baldwin grunted and said, "The vampire hunters of this guild are allowed to learn and use elemental magic, this is recognized by the Lords as well as the Church, what else do you have to say?"
Now the magi were completely out of ideas, leaving behind a few lines, "Heretics will be punished by heaven!" "Beware the wrath of God!" And so on, they took the vampire's body and slipped away.
Seeing that the matter was settled, Baldwin turned to Edward, "You're Kayne, aren't you? I heard you played a big part in the battle a while back?"
"Uh, probably just better luck."
Baldwin laughed brightly, "Hahaha, good, that's all we need in the guild is a lucky man."
He patted Edward on the shoulder and continued, "You guys go back to the guild, I'll go back after I escort the Duke back to the castle."
When he finished, he returned to the Duke's carriage and gave a brief report of what had happened.
The crowd had dispersed, and the carriage drove slowly on, with a nod from Baldwin to the duo as they passed Edward and the others.
When the carriage disappeared around the corner, Evelyn finally breathed a long sigh of relief.
She said rather self-condemningly, "I'm to blame for this."
Edward laughed, "Yeah, well, it's your fault - you're so good looking."