So many questions began to fill his head, to the point that he even felt himself starting to get a headache, something which he hadn't experienced ever since he stepped into the Qi Refining stage.
Almost as if on reflex however, once this happened, his eyes immediately regained their focus and he calmed himself down.
Being emotionally out of control was rare for him, but he disliked the feeling very much every time it happened.
Since this was the case, he came up with a countermeasure for himself. Whenever he found himself in such a state, he disciplined his mind to immediately clear itself so that he could regain his focus.
He was now a Vampire.
Whether he liked it or not didn't matter, this was his new reality. Gaston didn't know why or how it had happened, but it did explain how he had managed to survive after getting split up up from his crew members.
Maybe he hadn't survived, but had gotten captured by these magic creatures, who then led him to their leader, which turned out to be a Vampire and that's how he both survived and became one.
Or maybe he had gotten saved by a passing Vampire, which after turning him into one, left for some unknown reason.
A lot of things could have happened, there was really no way he could be sure of anything until he regained his memory.
Which, he hoped would return to him as soon as possible, given how important the information was to him.
What he had to do now however, was not to stay here and try to figure things out, but to run, and get away from this place as fast as humanly possible.
... Or vampirically possible, given that he was no longer human.
Forcing himself to ignore the deliciously appetizing smell of blood, Gaston found himself capable of actively retracting his fangs, making them look like his normal human teeth as long as he willed it.
The process was strange. It was as if he had grown a muscle that was connected to his teeth, giving him precise control over them.
Thankfully, he had his back turned to the little girl whilst this was transpiring, which meant that she hadn't seen his face during the ordeal, or his fangs for that matter.
'The little lamb's luck showcases itself once more.' A curious smile appeared on Gaston's face at the thought. The situation piqued his interest.
'Or maybe It's my luck shining through this time. After all, I don't have to personally tear apart my own Golden Ticket to the village in order to get rid of a witness.'
The thought of having to resort to such means didn't affect him much.
Nearly three decades of war would do that to you. As a leader that has led an army into foreign lands, he has done much worse things than the mere silencing of a child.
If anything, Gaston was more glad at the fact that he wouldn't have to alter what he had in mind for the near future. The little girl's life itself didn't mean much to him.
Retracting his fangs and forming a gentle-looking smile on his face, he turned around to face the little girl. Looking at her hazel eyes, he noticed that her broken state had all but disappeared, now replaced by a look of fear.
The little girl remained crouched, but she had both of her hands raised to cover her mouth, as if she would be safe as long as she didn't make a sound.
She tried to suppress the horrific feeling of fear she felt after witnessing what she just saw, staring at Gaston as if he were a demon in human flesh.
As something closer to a politician than a general during his last little period in the Poisoned Continent, even if his memory of it was blurry, he was still able to clearly see through the child's thoughts.
Not that one needed to be an expert in reading people in order to see what was hidden in plain sight.
Her fear of him could give him quite a lot of trouble if he wanted to get closer to her, but that wasn't his intention. Given what she represented, and where her value came from, Gaston intended to use her fear to his benefit, rather than help her through it.
He kept his eyes firmly locked onto hers, whilst giving her as reassuring of a smile as he could manage.
What he failed to take into account, was that it was impossible to reassure someone with a smile when it had blood on it. As he calmly walked towards her, he only saw her grow more frantic by the moment.
Before she could do anything stupid, like scream and possibly bring other magic creatures to the scene, Gaston decided that the time was right and sent her a mental transmission.
"Little one, your mother's killer is no more. She has been avenged."
Slowing down a little whilst still keeping his eyes locked onto hers, he pointed down to the corpse and continued.
"You need to be strong now. With your help, I will carry your mother's body back to where she was born. Only then can she rest, and find the peace that she deserves."
Reaching her, he raised his left hand to pat the girl on the head, forgetting that his entire arm was covered in blood before it was already too late. Despite his "little mistake," as he saw it, he didn't stop.
His gaze suddenly turned colder, staring at her with a completely unfeeling look in his eyes. "But this can only be done with your help, little one. If you can't find the strength, I will leave you and your mother here."
The girl instinctively tried to lower her head when she saw the warmth in his eyes disappear, but Gaston's left hand quickly reached out, covering her neck in Blue Ape blood and forcibly lifted her chin back up.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you. Don't you know that it's quite rude to look away when someone's speaking to you?
"Tell me, what's your name?"
Already scared of him, the girl was nearly petrified by his touch, to the point where the blood that stained her neck had gone completely unnoticed.
But maybe she was even more scared of not giving him an answer. She quietly whispered under her breath, "My nam-...name is Erni... Erni Hoover."