Chapter 221

"Soaking in a hot spring after all the trouble is wrapped up... now this is what life is about!"

That night, in the indoor hot spring of the luxury cabin, Rowan lounged in the water with a blissful grin, eyes half-closed, his back resting against the edge.

Whenever he opened his mouth, Camula, his vampire maid, who stood beside him, would promptly bring the glass of juice she was holding up to his lips.

But compared to Rowan's contented state, Camula wore a thoroughly sour, unwilling expression, her face as dark as a thundercloud.

Ever since the incident during the day, when Rowan had told her the "painful" truth that the power of the Sacred Beasts could never revive her clan, that devious little brat had not brought it up even once!

It left Camula simmering with silent irritation. She wanted nothing more than to sink her fangs into a certain someone and not let go.

She was still waiting for Rowan to raise the subject himself. He would tell her that if she followed him, there was a chance he could help revive her clan someday! Then she would reluctantly nod and agree!

After all, getting a noble lady like her, the last descendant of the vampire clan, to resign herself to being a maid was a privilege that not even Chairman Kagemaru, the mastermind behind the dark forces of the Seven Stars, had been qualified for!

And yet, from the moment they returned at dusk, through dinner, all the way to now, that scheming brat had done nothing but sit around drinking after-dinner tea and chatting idly with that girl, Alexis Rhodes, and then come to soak in the bath, where he had been ever since...

Camula glared at him without blinking, hoping the weight of her stare would make him squirm and finally remember.

But Rowan kept the same blissful, half-lidded look, leaning against the edge as if he hadn't noticed her gaze at all...

The only proof that he hadn't dozed off in the water was the way he opened his mouth every so often, signaling Camula to bring the juice and straw to his lips.

In truth, he was looking over his system panel, tallying up the spoils of this battle.

[Name: Rowan] [Skills: Spirit Vision, Superior Still Water Clarity, Mark of the Crimson Dragon — Dragon's Head / Dragon's Heart / Dragon's Tail / Dragon's Claw (the Crimson Dragon's true sight, which sees through the true nature of a target's good and evil)] [Decks Owned: Dark Magician OTK Deck, Lava Golem Deck, Shadow HERO Deck, Slash Draw Deck, Amazoness / Melodious Deck, Timelord Deck, Relinquished Deck] [Emotion Points: 11000]

That's right, a full eleven thousand Emotion Points!

Rowan remembered it clearly. Before his duel with old man Kagemaru, after he had redeemed the Relinquished Deck, he'd had 4500 points left. Now the total had climbed to 11000.

Clearly, the Shadow Duel against old Kagemaru and the Sacred Beasts had handed him a staggering 6500 Emotion Points all by itself.

"As expected, bosses drop the best loot and the most cash," Rowan sighed inwardly.

Even the duel with Jaden Yuki, that hot-blooded idiot and Chosen One of this world, had paid out over two thousand points less than this fight against Kagemaru and the Sacred Beasts.

It was a shame, though. Rowan would have loved a taste of life as a filthy rich tycoon, but the exchange options in the system shop wouldn't refresh until tomorrow at the earliest...

And besides the all-important Emotion Points, old man Kagemaru had indeed dropped a piece of "gear" this time. That Shadow Charm ring!

Unfortunately, a Shadow Charm built to pair with the Sacred Beasts and absorb power didn't seem all that useful to Rowan. Only the old man sealed inside it, with his standing as Chairman of Duel Academy, might be worth putting to use. For example, by shaking him down for another payday!

With that thought, Rowan pulled his eyes away from the system panel and opened them fully. A soft "Oh?" escaped him as he finally noticed Camula, who was still glaring at him so hard that her eyes had gone dry and bloodshot...

Rowan looked at her red-veined eyes in silence for a while, then asked, "Uh... do vampires get worked up and bloodshot too?"

Camula nearly fell flat on the floor beside the spring.

In the end, she simply couldn't hold out any longer. Swallowing her pride, her face black as thunder, she brought it up herself.

"Brat. What you told me earlier today, that the power of the Sacred Beasts can't revive my clan... that's the truth, isn't it?"

"It's true."

Hearing that word from her again, Rowan's eyelid twitched. He nodded, his own face darkening.

It seemed this vampire maid still had a long road ahead of her before she could call herself a proper maid. Rowan the Benevolent would simply have to teach her a little more! Tomorrow at noon, he would take her out to enjoy the sunshine!

"Ah..." A bead of cold sweat rolled down Camula's face. She realized she had slipped into that forbidden word out of habit again! That devious brat was surely adding another entry to his grudge list!

Still, for the sake of the real matter, reviving her clan, she had no choice but to steel herself and press on.

"Then I'll ask you directly. As someone who bears a god's mark, is it possible that you'll be able to revive my clan someday?" Camula fixed him with a grave stare.

"That, I can't say for sure," Rowan said, shaking his head.

After all, he had no idea when he would finish redeeming every Mark of the Crimson Dragon. Nor could he be completely certain whether the power of the Crimson Dragon, the Feathered Serpent God, could reach the Underworld the way the Egyptian God Cards could, and bring a few souls of the vampire clan back from there. Though the odds were good that it could.

But with the "bitter blood feud" of that earlier "brat" still fresh in his mind, Rowan resolved to keep dangling the bait in front of her a little longer.