The light faded, and dusk began to hold its grip on the foggy sky.

Had the Hollow Slayers been in perfect condition, they would have long reached their destination before the darkness, but, they decided to light a fire and set up camp while they recovered their strength and rested their wounds.

The mist seemed to have lessened, but still, the tense atmosphere had yet to pass.

Around the fire they all sat, watching it crackle in silence, basking in its heat.

One such person was the poisoned Alucard, coughing every few seconds to break through the silence.

"Roselow…" his mind spun.

The previous conversation he had with Vernon was still vivid in his mind. Had it not been cut short by Vernon's sudden collapse from exhaustion, he would have pressed further to ask questions.

These questions continued gnawing on his brain, and he could not resist but ask, despite the fact that Vernon had yet to even wake.

"Roselow…" He mumbled again, this time, Lisvern picking up his words.

"Did you say something?"

"Yes," Alucard nodded. "Vernon said that his name was Vernon Roselow. That's his last name right?"

"Yeah, it is…" He smiled. "I'm surprised he even told you that. He usually never tells anyone his full name!" He laughed.

"I see… So, he doesn't want people to find out he's a noble right?"

"Yeah, that's part of it." He nodded.

"I see, that explains a lot of things… But, that doesn't explain how you all got together, and why Vernon is even here. I thought nobles were arrogant and boastful."

"Yeah, most of them are! But Vernon is different! He's pretty much the reason we're all alive!" He chuckled.

"Lisvern…" Adam gave him a nudge, and he promptly covered his mouth.

"Oops! Maybe I've spoken too much!"

But that was when an unexpected sound broke in.

"It's fine! You can tell him!"

"Vernon!?" Lisvern blurted, looking at his still-laying ally. "Since when were you awake!?"

"How do you expect me to sleep when you're screaming right next to me?"

"Hah… My bad…" He rubbed the back of his head.

"Anyways…" Vernon continued. "I've already told him my last name, so telling him this is no big deal. Besides, it's better to pass our time while we recover doing something that isn't just looking at fire…"

"Well, since you're okay with it, I'll start all the way from the beginning…"

"Okay..." Alucard nodded, moving his aching body to fix his posture.

"For as long as I could remember, I was an orphan… I did not even know how my parents looked like… That sentiment was also shared by Adam and Taylor, who were the only family I ever knew…"

"We lived on a rural farm, taking care of animals and growing crops in harsh conditions for hours on end, all for a bowl of dry oats and a cup of water… Our new parents were more like slave owners than anything else, and that's exactly how we were all treated. We were beaten, overworked til we could no longer stand,"

"But, despite the awful treatment, we all had each other, and that was all that mattered…"

"Until one day… When I turned ten… I killed both my foster parents with my own two hands…"

"You killed them?" Alucard's eyes twinkled under his mask.

"Yeah, but don't worry, if I was in that situation, I'd do it again…" His eyes dove deeper, getting lost in the flames of the campfire.

"One day, we found out that our household was running thin on money, and our owners wanted to sell one of us, and that person was the weakest of us three, Taylor."

"I still remember it vividly… The day where I woke up in that filthy stack of hay to witness my own sibling crying and screaming for their lives, getting yelled at and dragged out by their hair, and Adam whipped to the ground trying to help…"

"Something inside me snapped, and I couldn't take it anymore… So… I grabbed the nearest pitchfork, and while Adam had them distracted by biting their legs… I snuck up and shoved the spikes through both their eyes."

"But it wasn't over..."

"They fell on the ground and weren't dead with one attack. So I stood over their body and stabbed them… again… and again… and again… and again… even when they no longer moved I still continued… It was only when Adam got a hold of me did I finally stop stabbing their lifeless corpse…"

"We were children, all scared, we all cried… The death of a human was something we never witnessed. At the moment we didn't know what to feel. But, looking back at things now so many years in the future, we were definitely happy to still have each other, and maybe even happy to have gotten our revenge."

"We knew we did something wrong, and that staying in the barn would get us caught. So, we hid the bodies, took all the food we could, and left."

"For months, we lived like rats on the street, stealing food, jewelry, and living under benches. But to us, it was all fine… We were okay with anything that didn't separate us."

"That's what brings us to one day, where our bond was once again threatened…"

♦️ ♦️ ♦️ ♦️ ♦️

"HA HA HA!! I've finally caught you, you little runt! Think you can steal my bread from me again bastards!!" A man chortled like a pig.

His stomach protruded long past his waist, a stained apron hiding his hairy chest. His mismatched teeth out grinning with a glance exuding pure hatred past his filthy brown beard.

In his right hand, he held a large, bloodied butcher knife, and in his left, he held a small child who dangled by his left leg.

"Go! Take the food and get outta here! I'll get rid of him and follow you guys!" Lisvern yelled, waving upside down.

"No! We won't leave you!" Taylor cried, shivering and shaking their head. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS BREAD IF IT MEANS THAT YOU DIE FOR IT!!" They dropped the loaf on the filthy, mud-soaked ground and ran with a closed fist at the gigantic brute.

Witnessing such a sight, the man could not help but laugh out loud in amusement. "Idiot! Have a death wish? Should have ran away while you had the chance!" With an even wider grin, he lifted his boots and kicked as hard as he could, expecting to see the fragile child fly like a ball.

But instead, his leg met something much harder instead.

*crack*

"Hey, Taylor? You okay?"Adam panted, standing on his feet for a few seconds before dropping on the ground in front of Taylor.

"ADAM!!" Taylor cried, breaking down and shuddering at the sight of the barely breathing Adam's bruised, broken arms he had used as a shield.

"Oh, still alive! I even infused that with a little Ki arts! That boy saved you didn't he? Well, now it's your turn! Bon appetite!" His enjoyment seemed to only increase.

His jaws fell wide open as he lifted his legs, winding another kick.

"STOP IT!!" Lisvern shrieked, trying his best to break loose of the man's hold, struggling with desperate, bloodshot eyes… The same eyes he bore when killing his foster parents, but, no amount of effort could save him from this predicament. He felt his heart nearly explode out of his chest. In the moment, he felt the entire world shut down around him. Now more than ever, he understood how lucky he was to have even lived as long as he did... His voice was not powerful enough to command anything…

But that was when another voice emerged, one that carried far more power than he could ever dream of.

"Stop that! What do you think you're doing to my servants!"

"HUH!? WHO SAID THAT!!" The man stopped his kick and looked around to see nothing, only when he lowered his head did he notice what voice dared talk to him.

"Runt! Who do you think you are!? Do you also want a dea—"

"You dare address the young master in such a way!?" A sudden voice intervened, wearing a set of golden armour that shined through the filthy streets,  his presence so drowning that the large man's legs immediately failed, and he found himself slouched on the cold, muddy ground, dropping the kid along with the knife in his arms.

"The man you're speaking to is none other than the son of the lord of these lands, Vernon Roselow!"

"Roselow!?" His face turned pale, and his bladder nearly failed him.

Immediately, he prostrated his head, no regard for the puddle of filthy mud dunked in his head.

"This must be a misunderstanding! These thieves were trying to steal from me and—"

"No! They weren't! They're my servants that I had ordered to fetch me a loaf of bread for my travels! Not only did you fail to recognize that, but you had also severely injured one of them!"

"I— I'm sorry! Please have mercy! If I knew what I—"

"Enough of your ramblings! Your words sicken me, pig! I'll set you free for now… So, out of my sight before I change my mind."

"U—Understood!" He strenuously nodded, crawling away on all fours like a pig fleeing from a wolf.

"Now that that's taken care off…" Vernon wiped his hands clean with a white cloth before turning his attention on the three kids, all in one place, where their friend with the broken arms fell.

"That kid will soon die if his wounds aren't tended to…" Slowly, Vernon approached them.

And as he came closer, he was met face to face with the wild, filthy sight of Lisvern's crying visage.

"Stay away from us! You're the son of the Duke! Why help us!" He cried.

"I have my reasons…" Vernon goaned.

"That doesn't matter now Lisvern!" Taylor wept, looking down from the struggling Adam to Vernon's face overlooking them.

"Can you save them!?"

"Taylor! But can we really trust hi—"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER!! DOES IT LOOK LIKE WE HAVE A CHOICE!?" Taylor's tears streamed like a waterfall. "Mr Vernon Roselow… Can you please save Adam…"

"..."

"Yes, I can. But, only under one condition…"

"W—what is it…" Lisvern bit his bloodied lips.

"That you three become my servants from today onwards, and forever more..."

♦️ ♦️ ♦️ ♦️ ♦️