- 3rd Pov -
In another castle, smaller than Verren's, though gilded with more gold, valuable minerals and gemstones than possibly even the Royal palace in the capital, Lord Dreyfus sits on his gaudy throne with his silver hair neatly tied back in a ponytail that reaches down to the middle of his back, a black coat with gold trimmings listlessly flowing behind and beneath him as he sits upon his throne. He gently swirls the red substance in his glass before taking a sip, his golden eyes gleaming with malice and superiority.
As the tall Royal is about to taste of his drink once more, the gilded doors at the end of the large throne room open to reveal a man with crimson red eyes and raven black hair. His clothing, displaced, showing the current situation was quite serious if the usually tidy vampire was in such a state.
[Dreyfus] "What is it, Juren?"
The Vampire standing at attention bows in respect before taking in a deep breath and finally speaking.
[Juren] "My Lord, it appears that Seyird returned to Volmiir Castle."
The lord's attention now falls directly upon his only thrall as a piercing gaze appears on his face.
[Dreyfus] "Did he gain anything from his visit to Solben?"
[Juren] "No, my lord. However...it would seem they know of the spy in their midst."
[Dreyfus] "and why do you say that?"
[Juren] "The last report received from the spy. Apparently, Seyird has been seen around the Castle suspiciously more than usual. He does not show that he is searching, and merely tells others he is 'Making sure everything is up to standards' when he is asked. Our spy wishes to return as soon as possible, for fear of their own life."
[Dreyfus] "That would only raise suspicions. No...we need to get them out of there, however we need to do it in a way that doesn't bring attention to me."
A glint of mischief shows in the servants' eyes as he raises his head to look at his lord.
[Juren] "If I may, my lord, why not have him killed?"
[Dreyfus] "What?"
[Juren] "Allow me to explain. Have one of your consorts, preferably from a lesser species, contact him. Then, have some of the human captives kill them both. Disguised as bandits that crossed the border and with that family's history with humans, they would never believe that a Royal such as yourself would be involved."
[Dreyfus] "Hmm..."
The Royal Vampire strokes his chin in thought, pondering the plan presented to him.
[Dreyfus] "Verren might be fooled but that servant of his, Seyird, is quite the intelligent one. I doubt you could fool him like that."
A conniving yet unnoticed smile appears on the servants' face before quickly returning to the subservient expression of a trained servant.
[Juren] "So we send a hunter to commit a few murders, make it look like the spy is getting desperate."
[Dreyfus] "And when he's caught?"
[Juren] "He will be supplied with a small amount of holy water to drink in such a situation."
[Dreyfus] "...No lose ends."
Juren bows politely before attempting to leave the room.
[Dreyfus] "And Juren, I'd say we need to move up the timeframe for the wedding."
[Juren] "Of course, My lord."
While Dreyfus goes back to swirling the red liquid in his glass, Juren leaves the room, closing the door behind him before letting his smile fade, being replaced by a look of disapproval and disgust.
[Juren] "Trying to wed the daughter of the former Demon King...Incompetent fool."
- Kai POV -
Lying on top of the scratchy hay bed, with my back turned to the sack of money I placed on the floor, I waited patiently for someone to take the bait. Luckily, my patience was quickly rewarded as a relatively small man dressed in a cloak that covers most of his body and face, revealing only his lilac eyes which ignore my supposedly sleeping presence and concentrate only on the large sack nearby.
The man takes a few steps towards the sack of coins, ignoring the creaking noise of the floorboards as he walks. The man is obviously a novice. In fact, he's most likely one of the men who were talking about stealing from me in the first place. His theft, followed by his cursory movement towards the door, would be enough to wake even the heaviest sleeper.
After the figure has exited the building, I stand, placing my mask over my face once more before moving to leave myself. In preparation for my task in tailing the thief, I make sure my quiet steps leave no echo as I move through the shoddy hall.
Once I'm outside, with the enhanced senses of a Royal Vampire, I seem to be able to track the thief. The smell of his unclean body, the sound of his footsteps on the cold, stone ground, strangely though, I seem to be picking up something else coming from the same person. A faint line of red mist floating in the air in one direction. This scent...blood. I'm able to track people through the scent of their blood? I wonder if this is what the vampire that caught me originally did. I did have Elven blood on me at the time.
Regardless, I follow the trails that the amateur thief leaves, leading me across the paths, through alleyways, even through some of the destroyed buildings. At one point, I came across the place that I left those two kids, though they seem to have moved on. That was the first time in this world that I've done anything for anyone else without expecting or trying to get anything in return so I hope it doesn't come back to bite me in the ass.
After leaving those thoughts behind, I continue following the little thief, eventually discovering the location where the "blood trail" as I'm calling it, stops. Rather, it seems to be going straight down, into the ground beneath me.
[Kai] "Tunnels?"
There must be a way to open the passage. For what seems like a few minutes I scan the area with my enhanced eyesight, carefully looking over every little detail. Unfortunately, I've been unable to find anything. Impressive. To be able to keep the switches' location from a vampire with royal blood...unless...could the switch be on the other side? A one way passage, or someone stands as the doorman on the other side, opening it when business presents itself. In that case...
I reach into my cloak, opening a storage gate out of sight and pulling out another sack of gold coins. No sooner than the clinking of the coins rattling against each other could be heard, the ground opened up underneath me. I had to take a step back to avoid falling and now, peering in, a set of stairs lead into a dark passageway.
[???] "You waitin' for an invitation?"
A female voice calls out from the shadows. With my eyes adjusted to the level of darkness in the passage, I can make out the figure of a woman with two, thin, sharp horns, pitch black skin with purple patterns running across what seems to be her entire body, ending slightly above her red eyes. Her gear appears to be nothing more than simple leather armour though her face shows experience. It's likely that she's not always on door duty.
[Kai] "My apologies. You're the first demon I've seen of your kind."
[Woman] "My Kind? Hmph, That's none of your business."
[Kai] "Fair enough. I was only curious. Here, take this as compensation."
I toss her the sack of coins which noticeably surprises her as her face shows a shocked expression and barely manages to catch the sack of gold. When she peers into the bag cautiously, her eyes seem to widen further, almost blushing out of her head at the amount, which should be around 100 gold coins, and proceeds to look towards me and the bag a few times before I motion that it's fine to take it.
[Woman] "I'm not giving this back."
Ignoring the woman's lustful eyes, not directed towards me, rather, towards the gold now in her possession, I could feel a chill run down my spine from the strange sight before making my way down the dark passage. The passageway itself doesn't catch my attention. It's simple stonework that serves its purpose. What does intrigue me is the mechanism behind that door back there. I didn't see any kind of switch or button to be pressed so perhaps it's actually magical in origin?
Anyway, after walking for a while, I finally come across another door. Wooden design with a metal crossbar and dark vines hanging from the ceiling above it while the moss from the stone walls has managed to make its way to the door itself, slightly saturating and rotting the wood. Opening the door, I'm greeted by the figures of the 30 or so people I detected yesterday, staring at me with dangerous expressions on their faces. Ignoring the strange glares I'm receiving, I take a quick glance around the guild hall. It's large for an underground facility, being comprised of two floors, one being a well furnished tavern with large stone pillars keeping the ceiling from collapsing, quite a few wooden tables where the patrons are seated and a counter at the back with a few receptionists standing at attention. The second story on the other hand, seems to be a wooden balcony with fancy balustrades that keep me from seeing any further.
Focusing my attention back towards the blood trail I followed here, it's guiding me towards the cloaked figure that took my money, who seems to be hiding under the counter at the back. Making my way towards the counter, I'm greeted by one of the receptionists. A young looking girl with blue hair, a pair of cat ears on her head and two blue cat tails that are black at the tips, her eyes are a steely grey and her clothing resembles that of a maid, though anyone with half a brain could see that her eyes are barely holding back her killing intent.
[Girl] "Do you have business with the guild?"
A false, delightful smile appears on her face as she speaks.
[Kai] "I do. But first..."
I direct my gaze in the direction of the cowering man behind the counter.
[Girl] "You two seem to have some history?"
Feigning innocence, the girl gives me a tilted-head-smile before directing her attention to the cowering man.
[Kai] "He stole some money. Obviously it was with the intention of handing it off to you people for some reason or another."
[Girl] "I'm sorry, but any funds or payment we receive is non-refundable."
The receptionist and I stare into each other's eyes for a moment before I break the silence with a shrug.
[Kai] "Fine. Then, I have two requests for the guild."
[Girl] "Oh? Then please fill out this form and when someone accepts it, we will let you know."
She hands me a small piece of parchment that seems to be in the form of a crude contract, asking for the clients' name, the nature of the request, any extra information and, of course, the specifications of the rewards offered upon completion.
[Kai] "Actually, The requests I have are for you."
I can see her brows furrow with curiosity and caution as her left hand moves silently towards a sheathed dagger at her side. In response, I reach into my cloak, once again opening a storage gate, and pull out yet another sack of gold. The girl's eyes widen at the clinking, not too dissimilar to the woman at the door, as I place the sack down on the counter, cracking it slightly.
[Kai] "The request is the death of the man you're hiding behind the counter. The reward is everything inside this sack."
The cowering man lets out a small "eek!" As he tries to make a run for the exit. The result, is the sound of a dagger flying over the counter and past my unmoving face, followed by the sight of the man falling over, face first, with a dagger wedged in the back of his throat as gargling noises indicate his last, choking moments.
A small smirk appears on my face, hidden by my mask. If you try to take from me, I don't care who you are or what your situation is, you won't make it past the day. The only exception to that perhaps, is children, maybe it's because of my former nieces. They were the only ones that ever seemed to enjoy my company in my old family...enough about that.
Returning my attention to the receptionist girl, I pulled out another sack of gold which now managed to gather the attention of every degenerate in the room.
[Girl] "What might the next request be?"
She licks her lips as her eyes seemed to have softened slightly, though still showing her murderous capabilities.
[Kai] "I need information."
Her eyebrow raises in what I can only assume is curiosity.
[Girl] "We can do that. What kind of information are you looking to find?"
[Kai] "Someone came here and requested an attack on someone important to me. I'd like to know who it was."
Silence. Not a single peep from anyone, until an uproarious laughter resounded through the guild hall.
[Girl] "I'm terribly sorry. Under no circumstances are we allowed to reveal the identities of our clientele."
[Kai] "Is that so?"
I pull out another bag of gold, shocking everyone in the room, likely wondering where exactly I'm keeping all of this gold on my admittedly smaller frame.
[Girl] "T-that...no. I cannot tell you anything."
[Kai] "Hm. A shame then. Very well, I'll take my leave."
I go to remove the sacks of gold from the counter, however a dagger stabs into the wooden counter near my hand, preventing me from reaching out any further. Hmph, alright then. Turning around, I leave the guild hall, being let out into the open air once more by the cheerful demon woman at the front door.
After a slow stroll, and using
[Kai] "