Even the scary-looking General Espren had a conflicted look on his face which alternated between vigilance and pity after noticing the glum appearance of the young boy he had been restraining until now.
King Zander too had recognized that the talk about the young vampire's aunt was causing his emotions to spike and drop.
Therefore, he glanced at his aide, signaling his aide to stop talking any further.
Getting the order from his master, Treegan bowed and chose to remain silent now.
With the assurance that he would not interfere any further, King Zander turned back to the strange youth they had restrained.
"So… Runaway Rein, whose aunt is a witch who likes to use Elkerberries on her enemies… " He began as he turned back to fix his gaze on the young boy.
A subtle and short chuckle escaped his lips when he saw the shy expression Rein had on his face upon hearing the words used to describe him.
However, seeing that he did not object to anything, King Zander chose to continue.
"How long have you been in these parts of the forest?" He carried on with the interrogation from earlier.
Learning a lesson from past experiences, Rein was quick to answer lest he got hurt again.
'No one will hurt you under my watch…' Zander shook his head at how anxious Rein appeared to be.
He had already commanded his General to not hurt the boy but after seeing Rein's vigilance, he did not speak up so as to not interrupt him.
Taking a second to mull over the question, Rein had his answer ready.
"A little over eight days." His answer stunned them all.
The group of ten men were highly skilled and yet they were having a tough time defending themselves from the vicious monsters residing in this forest.
They had to battle against starvation along with the monsters coming their way.
However, here was this young boy who seemed to be all alone in this terrible forest yet appeared to be doing just fine.
They had already noticed the low level of life essence in Rein's body so it could not be that he had fought against those monsters alone and rose victorious against them.
'Maybe the monsters saw that he was so weak that they did not think of being wary of him and let him be?' Treegan wondered if this could explain Rein being unharmed even now.
While they could not say for sure if Rein was harmed or not due to the large robe he wore, they did not notice any abnormalities in his speech or stance which might indicate that he was injured.
Even General Espren who was holding Rein could not find any traces of an injury.
Therefore, they could only assume that he was unharmed.
However, the mystery that still remained was why he was safe even when they were struggling?
Many had come up with various conclusions and the King was also one of them.
'He must be from around this place.' He surmised because this could explain why he was able to survive alone with such low powers and was even helping others out.
The King had already found sizable information about this stranger.
What his name was and why was he here?
How long had he been wandering around?
There were still a few more questions that he wished to ask but before he could do so, a low growl halted him in his path.
Everyone's ears perked up and their bodies were on high alert.
Turning in the direction of the now continuous growl, King Zander blinked his eyes in disdain when he saw the source of the sound.
At the very end of the group stood a knight who was under the tutelage of General Espren.
His head was lowered and his hands covered his stomach which was the source of the low growls.
The other knights had been holding their hunger in but being the youngest here, he had been unable to control himself and his stomach was beginning to protest.
The King's attention had been long diverted from his stomach but was aimed at his head which was lowered.
"Look up." He commanded and in the next second his order had been obeyed.
'Just as I had thought!' He grimaced when he saw the crimson that flickered in the young knight's eyes.
Being King meant that his powers were higher than everyone else present here.
Thus, before the others had even noticed it, he had caught the scent of bloodthirst coming from the young knight.
There were moments in a vampire's life when the thirst for blood would start to break their mind.
Their bodies would yearn for blood and in its absence, they could even go on a rampage until this thirst was quenched.
Bloodthirst could manifest itself when there was a shortage of life essence and the body was sending signals to the brain that urgent intake was needed at all costs.
It did not matter what the source of the blood was as long as it was entering their system.
The other kind of bloodthirst was when someone wished to suck the life out of another, not letting go of a single droplet of blood due to whatever reason.
This was often called Bloodlust as well.
While the first kind, bloodthirst, was a bodily reflex that initiated without them having any control over it.
The second kind, bloodlust, was under their control and they wished death upon another of their race or any other race.
Right now, the young knight was dangerously stuck between the two.
His body was seeking for blood and his mind was reminding him that he had so many people around him who could provide him with what he needed desperately.
"Fight it, boy!" General Espren yelled to help the knight regain control of his senses.
The knight shook his head after hearing his teacher's words but the thirst was beginning to overpower his mind.
His eyes furiously flickered between his original color and crimson.
'We need to stop him before he does something stupid.' King Zander grit his teeth after coming to this conclusion.
There were only two ways to deal with a vampire who had lost his mind due to his thirst.
The first was to feed him with the blood that he so desperately desires and the last was an option that the King did not wish to choose.
'It is either kill or get killed.' He recalled the lesson he had learned as a child.
Once the knight lost his rationality due to his bloodthirst, he would stop at no cost, even try to attack them to drink their blood.
To avoid such a scenario, they would either have to manage to find a blood source at the earliest or…
'Be ready to subdue him if he attacks.'
'Master, let him drain that child.'
Two voices echoed in two minds at the same time, making them stare at each other at what they had heard.