"M-My Lord! W-W-Why are you-"
"I was returning from my diplomatic mission when a little Mink told me something about Herzt heading somewhere he wasn't supposed to." Vladimir said as he wiped his blade across his traveller's cloak.
The Mink girl had done it!
"What of this Lady Rat?" Vladimir pointed to Sofya with his blade.
"She is a Friend!" I frantically said as I moved over to shield Sofya.
"Hmm… What say you, Lady?"
"M-My name is Sofya, Lord, Lady Sofya Malei. I beg you, allow me to serve my savior Ash in all functions!" Sofya groveled on the ground instantly.
Vladimir raised his eyebrow and held his blade steady. "Kiss my blade, Lady Sofya Malei, and I shall grant you such a wish."
I let Sofya past on her knees, carefully bracing the sword steady with both hands around its edges. She placed her lips against the flat of the blade that had cut her second husband down and kissed it.
"Good," Vladimir stated, "That's enough formalities for the moment, we have a castle to exit."
"Lord," I started, "We can't leave yet. There are papers, research papers that I believe Inks should look over. You know where the room is, Sofya?"
"I know the way to the library." She confirmed.
"T-They were researching a new weapon, a weapon from my time."
"What kind of weapon?"
"Some of the Rats…" I almost choked on the absurdity of it all, "Some of the Rats can explode."
"Some Rats… explode?" Vladimir said as he raised an eyebrow.
"We came across one of them. We were far enough away from the blast that it didn't harm us, but it triggers on death, so if we really had been in any kind of melee… I doubt even knight armor could stop that kind of damage…"
"Do you have any leads?"
"The Apothecary," Sofya spoke up, "Afs said the Apothecary stitched him up. It has to be there. Follow me!"
Vladimir cleared the way, cleaving through Rat after Rat with immeasurable ease. Sofya and I followed close behind, stepping over Guard corpses left and right as we made our way first to the library.
The paper-stuffed bags were still where I'd left them, with thankfully little blood splattered over the contents.
Then, it was off to the Apothecary, which led down into the Dungeon I'd been locked up in.
For one second I looked at the cell I'd been locked in, and never looked at it again.
"There!" Sofya called out, and Vladimir put his foot against the door to the Apothecarium. The door slammed open and the Guards rushed Vladimir. Vladimir whistled and, from out of one dark corner of the Apothecarium came a Dire Wolf the size of a horse.
"COULD YOU LOT BE QUIET! THERE'S AN OPERATION GOING ON RIGHT-"
The Doctor Rat who had just lost his temper looked out at the carnage, and King Vladimir ruffling his Wolf's fur for a job well done.
Sofya and I were just able to see the Doctor slam the iron door behind him.
"I believe I know where to look next." Vladimir said as he walked into and phased through the iron door. We heard roars that turned to screams as we approached and, when we opened it, Vladimir had the only survivor left at the tip of his sword.
"What are you doing here?" Vladimir asked with unphased clarity to the diminutive Doctor whose life work had just been cleaved through.
"M-Making him explosive!" He stammered out, his leather gloved hands pointing at the drunk and drugged Rat on the table with his guts half-spilled out.
"Is he explosive?" Vladimir asked.
"N-N-No. Not yet-"
"Oh, good."
Vladimir cut the drugged Rat's head off.
The Doctor Rat squealed as he backed into the corner of the room.
This room was… an operating theater. A Medieval one at that, but there were definitely modern refurbishments to it, including a long line of labelled pottery in both Rodiens and… Katakana.
Ikari had an explicit hand in this.
"O-O-Over there!" The Rat stammered to a stack of papers. "L-Lord Ikri's instructions that we follow to the letter every time! Imprint some Woad Runes on the skin, establish a line to the gut, and when they die they explode! IS THAT ENOUGH! PLEASE SPARE ME! PLEASE SPARE ME OH LORD!"
"Keep quiet and still." Vladimir said before beckoning me over. "We'll take what we can, anything small enough of value. Otherwise, pile everything else up and set it to burn."
"Yes sir. W-What should we do about this Rat?"
"This is a Dungeon, no? Put him in chains."
On further study the Operating Room was impressive. While most of the ingredients were common herbs, there were several pots and vials of extracted medicines like Ethanol, Salicylic Acid and Morphine. Ikari must've really been into medical history, probably something he tried to learn in college to get ahead.
And then I saw it, a letter from the Five Lords.
To the illustrious Quasyn, Ikari Tenma,
The Five Lords have accepted your offer. Should both of your suggested weapons prove their worth, a vast network of funds, draft power and ingredients will be provided to increase production.
It is a shame that Igrin's interests were not aligned with ours. The Dragons are dangerous and a fight with them will be brutal, but it is in this time when we can add an additional front to their future war with the Dark Elves that we have a chance to determine our own future. Igrin will face the consequences, and his dabblings in necromancy will be used towards this end. We will also use this opportunity to clean our ranks of known Necromancers who prove… unsupportive.
It is imperative at this time, however, for your Necromantic experiments to go to ground. These experiments are vital to the Empire's survival and Szetvan's priests are hurriedly attempting to devise a theological loophole for this potentially valuable weapon.
That is why we wish you to officially change sides. Conquer your own castle for yourself, and the experiments may continue in a place far from our own kinds' prying eyes. You will be provided ample support to do this, but it must be swift, total and quiet.
None of your kind must know of any of this weapon before it is ready.
"The Rat Priests are trying to find a loophole to legitimize all this." I said.
"W-What?" Sofya said, blinking out of shock as she rushed over to read the letter.
"This letter says a 'Szetvan' has his priests on it."
"That's Lord Szetvan! O-Of the Central Plains! T-This letter is proof that all of this goes all the way up! A-And the fact that they're using Necromancy to hide Necromancy… that's dirty… that is so incredibly dirty…"
"If we send that letter to the Dragons, we won't just push them back off our land." Vladimir said, "We'll shatter their entire empire."
Vladimir smiled a bastard's smile. "I like that idea."
King Vladimir still had to clear the way, carving through swathes of Guard Rats while I handled the rearguard with a scavenged sword, defending Sofya as she clutched a leather sack stuffed with all the research papers we had found.
One exhausting hour later, we had finally cleared the portcullis. Civilians fled from us as fast as their legs could carry them.
When I arrived here at the start of winter, the snow had been stained black by the charcoal remains of the old town. Now it was a snow-topped nest of makeshift shelters, populated with glaring, terrified eyes that gossiped and swore amongst themselves. Here, too, there were Rat bodies.
"I know the way," Vladimir said with confidence, "Stay close."
Sofya and I tagged close as we weaved between all manner of objects that littered the snow-mulched earth.
No one put up a relevant fight.
The only thing they could do was curse.
"Of course that prostitute would be a traitor…" One denizen spat, instantly scurrying into the gloom as soon as the glint of my sword caught their eye.
"This is why you don't deal with Vampires."
"THIRD HAND SLUT!"
"Open your legs for US next time!"
"POWER HUNGRY BITCH!"
Sofya slowed her step, head down, absorbed in those words.
Out of the shadowy squalor, a Male Rat lunged for her.
She yelped.
I cut him down, grabbed Sofya's hand and marched.
We left Bryn as fast as our legs could take us, but my legs could take me no further. Uncounted weeks of coma and abuse were finally coming back to me after the adrenaline of combat and the sugary jolt of vampire energy.
I took one step, wobbled on my feet, and collapsed into the snow.
"Ash!" Sofya cried as she instantly fell to my side, flipping me over so that I wasn't inhaling muddy snow.
Vladimir looked over me very quickly before turning his head towards the Duskcast Woods and whistling towards it, a local birdwhistle.
A hooded figure hastily led a horse towards us out from the Woods.
It was her, the Mink girl.
I smiled, and passed out.