[Beginner Water Magic: Ice Mirror]
Outside the main hall of the castle, Hel exhausted the last traces of his water-aspected mana.
Seven shimmering ice mirrors materialized both inside and outside the fortress.
Using light refraction, they redirected the morning sunlight into the castle interior.
"Graaahhhh—"
"Kehehehehe—"
Moments after Hel completed his spell, ghastly howls and eerie screeches echoed from within—
as though demons from the depths of hell were wailing in agony.
No one knew how much time passed.
When the castle finally fell silent, Hel's ice mirrors shattered into glittering frost.
"Oh, thank the Lord of Light! Count Heim, you're safe!"
"May the Lord of Light bless you."
"Thank you for your concern, Father Gerhard," Hel said, dusting off his clothes and feigning relief.
"Thanks to the Lord's protection, we narrowly escaped death this time.
However, as you can see, we've been battling those monsters all night. My men are completely exhausted."
"T-this…"
Father Gerhard stiffened, misinterpreting Hel's tone as a plea for help—something he was absolutely unwilling to give.
"I'd like to ask the Father," Hel continued smoothly, "to send someone to cast Detect Evil, just to make sure there are no blood thralls left inside the castle."
"Blood… thralls?"
"Yes," Hel nodded gravely. "The intruder was a severely wounded vampire.
It attacked the castle guards and turned them into blood thralls.
Fortunately, thanks to Sir Arwin's bravery—and a few magical relics passed down by my ancestors—we managed to hold out until the barrier broke, letting the sunlight in to finish them off."
"T-then that vampire…"
"Should be dead," Hel replied calmly. "It was gravely injured before the attack.
Then hit by a high-tier magic scroll. When the gate burst open, I used Ice Mirror to focus sunlight directly on it.
If it's still alive after all that, then I suppose logic no longer applies."
"Thank the heavens," Gerhard sighed with exaggerated relief.
"In that case, the Church can indeed help you inspect the area for any lingering danger.
However…" He rubbed his hands together, adopting a sorrowful tone. "Our donations have been rather scarce lately. We barely have funds left to provide black bread for our poor faithful…"
Hel resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"No problem. The manor will allocate a donation to the Church. My steward will handle the details with you."
"Ah, you are most generous, Lord Heim. Vivian~!"
At his call, a young nun stepped forward from behind him—
a girl with golden hair, dressed in the Church's standard black-and-white attire.
She gave both Hel and Gerhard a polite bow before striding fearlessly into the castle.
Her calm demeanor stood in sharp contrast to the trembling Father Gerhard, who refused to take even a step closer.
Not long after, Vivian completed her Detect Evil spell and collected a small sample of ash from the hall—
the remains of the slain vampire, Rose.
This ash was a required part of the Church's post-incident investigation protocol.
Aside from that, the elemental crystals and most of the remaining vampire ash were left untouched—those were considered spoils of war and could be exchanged for merit points with the duchy.
Hel, of course, was well aware of this rule.
That's why he had carefully infused the vampire ash with death energy calibrated to the strength of a mere Tier 3 entity,
and disguised the embedded elemental core as a basic Tier 1 crystal.
Once the Church finished their inspection and evidence collection, they left in haste.
Father Gerhard muttered something about "urgent Church business" and fled the scene as fast as his short legs would carry him—
though Hel suspected it was pure cowardice.
After the Church delegation was gone, Hel turned to deal with another matter—Sir Layman.
As the commander of the garrison and head of security for Heim Castle,
Layman bore the primary responsibility for the disaster that had killed 128 people inside the fortress while his troops failed to respond.
However, the castle garrison was composed of soldiers directly assigned by Duke Mandrake himself—
twenty knights and two hundred soldiers, all loyal to Layman, the Duke's trusted retainer.
Hel could easily slaughter them all, but that would be far too conspicuous—
like waving a flag in front of the Holy Tribunal screaming:
"Come on, investigate me if you dare!"
So, for now, Layman had to live.
But letting him live also meant he would be difficult to control.
Hel frowned at the glowing word hovering above Layman's head:
[Loyal Servant of Duke Mandrake].
It seemed it was time to show some real technical skill.
"Sir Layman," Hel said calmly, "you wouldn't want the Duke to learn that your negligence allowed a vampire to infiltrate the castle, would you?"
At those words, Layman instinctively gripped the hilt of his sword—
but seeing Arwin and Lily silently flank him on either side,
he hesitated, then sighed heavily and relaxed his hand.
Even if he could defeat both of them—and he doubted that very much—
drawing his blade against the local lord would be far worse for his career than the vampire incident itself.
"What do you want?" Layman asked, exasperated.
He knew full well that the Duke intended to have Hel quietly poisoned,
so the Heim territory could be reclaimed by the Mandrake family.
But those were private dealings—known only to the Duke's most trusted men.
Officially, Hel was still the Duke's son.
Even though he now bore the Heim name, other nobles still regarded him as part of the Mandrake bloodline.
"Sir Layman," Hel said with a faint smile, "surely you haven't forgotten that I am the Duke's son."
"Of course not, Lord Heim," Layman sneered. "But remember—your name is Heim now, not Mandrake."
He curled his lip slightly, clearly irritated by the young lord's tone, though he hid it behind a façade of obedience.
His words, however, carried a clear subtext:
I, Layman, serve only the Duke Mandrake and his house—not yours.
Even if you are his son, you don't command me.