Chapter 88: Chapter 88 Lohart's out of luck.
Dracula and Tesla, two vampires, emerged from the dark moon and appeared before a seemingly simple yet meticulously repaired wooden cabin.
Not far from the cabin was a lush lettuce field, half of the lettuce had been harvested, but the remaining lettuce was still vibrant and thriving under the moonlight.
Seeing the familiar lettuce, Tesla was deeply moved.
It was these lettuces that had sustained him through an entire week of desperate hunger! It was also thanks to these lettuces that he had managed to drag his weakened body from Serbia all the way to Romania, ultimately delivering crucial information back to Dracula's castle.
"Robert!"
Tesla couldn't control his emotions and stumbled toward the modest wooden cabin, calling out loudly.
"Robert, are you there? I've come to visit you!"
His calls echoed, but no one answered. Tesla's expression shifted from confusion to increasing sadness and despair.
Just as he was about to force open the door to check on his old friend, the cabin window suddenly opened.
"Who's there, making such a racket in the middle of the night?" Robert's elderly face appeared at the window, looking disgruntled. "It's quite odd. Even though I've secluded myself in such a remote place, there are still people here disturbing the peace!"
Tesla's emotional expression froze.
As a vampire, it was entirely normal for him to be active at night, so he had subconsciously assumed that Robert's sleeping hours would be during the day, thinking he would not be resting at this time...
Robert, lacking the exceptional night vision of vampires, peered out for a long while but failed to see the dark-clad Dracula and Tesla.
Seeing no response, Robert muttered a curse and promptly slammed the wooden window shut.
"Well, it seems Robert doesn't remember you, but at least we can see he's quite confident," Dracula patted Tesla on the shoulder to comfort him. "Clearly, the amnesia curse's side effects haven't manifested in him, so you needn't worry about your friend's safety."
Tesla, listening to Dracula's comforting words, nodded with a wry smile.
Yet, he found it hard to believe that a friend who had weathered hardships with him could so recklessly forget him.
Undeterred, Tesla approached the window outside Robert's room and gently tapped on the frame.
"Robert, it's me, Tesla," Tesla said softly, "I've come to visit you. Could you come out and talk with me for a while?"
After a moment, the window was swung open.
"Was that you shouting outside just now?" Robert, shirtless and clearly displeased, looked at Tesla from the window. "Why on earth would I be out here talking to you in the middle of the night instead of sleeping? Who do you think you are?"
"You don't recognize me? I'm your old friend, Tesla, from the same boat journey!" Tesla said urgently.
Robert stared at him in silence, his eyes shifting as if trying to recall something.
Tesla's face lit up with hope, thinking Robert was remembering his vampire friend.
However, the next moment, Robert spoke without mercy:
"I don't know how you found out my name or discovered my secluded location. But I must tell you something—young man, don't always look for shortcuts and neglect hard work. I haven't been the head Auror of the Serbian Ministry of Magic for a long time, so it's useless to try and curry favor with me!"
"Let me give you some advice—work hard and spend a few more years honing your skills at the grassroots level. When your time comes, it will come naturally! Think of me back then, starting as an ordinary Auror trainee and working my way up to become an Auror squad captain, which took over thirty years. Did I ever complain? No!"
"You need to have my spirit of hard work and dedication, and only then will the Auror Office's director notice you from the crowd! Then you'll have a chance to shine, and with your long-term experience at the grassroots level, becoming an Auror squad captain like me will definitely not be a dream!"
Tesla listened to Robert's passionate and earnest advice, unable to stop a twitch at the corner of his eye.
And Dracula, standing off to the side, was leaning against a tree on a distant hillside, thoroughly enjoying the unexpected entertainment. He hadn't anticipated that coming to visit a friend in the wilderness in the middle of the night would turn into such a great amusement!
It was a pleasant surprise!
Meanwhile, Robert inside the cabin continued his lengthy speech. He mistook the young-looking Tesla for a trainee Auror eager to climb the ranks, believing that Tesla had come to this remote place specifically to seek a connection with the former Auror captain, hoping to use his influence to rise quickly.
"Young man, I won't hold it against you for disturbing my rest tonight. But remember what I've told you! Only through hardship can you rise to greatness!"
With that, shirtless Robert solemnly patted Tesla's shoulder and then slammed the cabin window shut.
The air fell silent.
Tesla looked at the closed window, thinking about Robert's earnest words, feeling a mix of emotions.
Yet deep down, he was quite disheartened. He knew that this friend who had once saved his life and shared adventures on the Danube River had truly forgotten him.
Dracula walked over slowly, observing Tesla's conflicted expression with a sigh.
"Tesla, what are your plans now?" he asked.
Seeing Dracula approaching, Tesla silently turned away to wipe away a tear from the corner of his eye, trying to calm his complex emotions.
"I apologize for the inconvenience, Lord Dracula," he said softly. "I wonder if you have any leads on the villain who erased Robert's memory. I swear to take revenge and seek justice!"
"Well... I have more than just leads," Dracula replied with a slight smile. "In fact, I've already found the wizard who erased Robert's memory. It was from him that I learned about Robert, who dared to befriend a vampire."
"Also, you needn't worry about finding him I've already captured the wizard..."
Dracula's words suddenly faltered as he recalled a crucial issue—
In the evening, he had received an urgent signal from Selina and had been quite anxious. He had completely overlooked Lothar, who had been with him, and left the Danube River for Romania's Bran Castle...
Which meant that the amnesiac Lothar had likely been left abandoned on the Danube River's shore!
...
Under the starry night sky, the Danube River appeared fragmented and delicate.
Countless starlights were shattered in the river's ripples, and a gentle breeze created layers of ripples, with a few leaves floating on the water's surface, adding a touch of trivial imperfection to the bright star points.
By this beautiful river lay a dirty, disheveled man wearing only a pair of shorts.
His face and hair were covered with dried, hard, yellowish dirt, and his entire body was covered in a dusty color, as if he had rolled in the dirty ground multiple times.
Nevertheless, if one looked closely, they might still recognize his distinctive facial features and golden hair coated with wax.
When Dracula and Tesla arrived at the Danube River's shore, this was the scene they saw—
Lothar lay on the ground, filthy, occasionally groaning in pain. However, since Dracula had forgotten to lift the silencing spell on him, his lips were still stuck together, making it impossible for him to cry out and adding to the sense of misery.
"Lord Dracula, I'm too dull to understand why you brought me here to find such a destitute wanderer," Tesla said hesitantly, unable to hold back his curiosity.
Even Dracula, despite his keen eyes, took a while to recognize this was Lothar and was now unsure how to start.
"Hmm..." he said with frustration. "Although I don't know how to explain it to you, this wanderer you're referring to is actually the wizard who erased Robert's memory..."
Seeing Lothar's disheveled state, not only Tesla but Dracula was also in a state of bewilderment.
He couldn't understand how Lothar could have ended up in such a pitiful state in just a few short hours...
"Ah?" Hearing Dracula's explanation, Tesla couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. "So Robert's memory was erased by such a wretched guy?"
The thought of Robert being affected by such a pitiable wanderer made Tesla feel uncomfortable.
At this moment, Lothar, reacting to Tesla's exclamation, raised his head and saw Dracula approaching.
"Uh-uh mm-mmm! Mmm-mm——"
His lips were stuck together, so he could only shout with his mouth closed, standing up with tears and snot streaming down, rushing toward Dracula.
Dracula, feeling disgusted, extended his hand to keep Lothar a foot away, and then lifted the silencing spell from his mouth.
"Mmm-mm... Wah——" Lothar finally opened his mouth and began to cry.
His sobs were heart-wrenching, deeply moving, and soul-piercing, making anyone who saw or heard it feel deeply saddened...
"Alright, alright, tell me what happened tonight. How did you end up like this?" Seeing his intense sorrow, Dracula softened his tone, speaking as if comforting a child.
After crying for a while, Lothar, through his sobs and trembling, recounted what had happened earlier.
"Where did you go earlier, and why did you leave me alone?!" He let tears and snot flow into his mouth as he loudly complained. "Not long after you left, I felt extremely hungry. But I didn't dare to go far, afraid you wouldn't find me when you returned. So I only dared to search for something to eat nearby..."
Lothar, being a renowned writer