"Yawn....." Asver did the night round shift for the fourth time this week. He felt like he could doze off any minute, but he has to stay awake. He slapped himself and reminded. "For the safety of the people, for the safety of the people, for the safety of the people---AHHHH!!!"
He yelped when he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.
"Asver, can I talk with you for a moment?" Sangfroid asked him.
"Oh, Chief! It's just you. Sorry, I was getting a little dazed and sleepy but now I'm fully awake. " Asver calmed down his jumpy heart. "What is it, Chief?"
"I need to ask for advice." Sangfroid looked around uneasily. Everyone in this area was in their tents and sleeping, and horses were tied into trees resting as well. "I don't think it's good if anyone else found out."
"Sure, I'm good at advice!" Asver said.
Sangfroid nodded and spilled his anxieties to him. There was difficulty on his part, but it did not show on his face and Asver didn't notice, listening intently. He waited for his fellow Huntsman's response, and Asver said:
"Er, I'm not good at giving advice to that kind of situation. Negotiations and making peace with everyone isn't really my thing."
"Oh." Sangfroid said, a little disappointed.
"If it's anything else like troublesome people and everyday problems like the rain dripping on your houses or being lazy to feed the horses all the time, I'm your guy. In fact, I've been making some prototypes to make life easier in these woods. And when it comes to troublesome people, I just suggest to punch them in the face, haha." Asver chuckled. "But you seem to have a different type of problem. I'm sorry, Chief, I wish I could help but I can't. From the sound of it, I honestly can't stand the Vampire Lord, I don't know how you can put up with him."
"Do you.... want to kill him?"
"Uh, I don't want that kind of responsibility to be the great 'vampire slayer'." Asver scratched his head. "But see this.... I'm the type of guy who's 'If you mess with me, I mess with you'. Sure, maybe that guy can change if he becomes human again or gain even an ounce of emotion. But if he kills someone I care about..... I don't think I could be a merciful saint anymore."
Sangfroid's face darkened at this.
"And I think the other guys are like this too. The Noble Huntsmen is our family, and we stick out for each other." Asver meekly added. "I think you should tell them the fact about Vladstin not dying from your arrow. It really lessens the chances of convincing him---"
"No." Sangfroid responded firmly. "Thank you for your time, Asver, but please don't share this with anyone else."
Sangfroid doesn't want them to lose even more hope, the people had lost enough from despair and suffering.
"Ok, I promise!" Asver nodded. Sangfroid decided to let this matter be, and go to sleep. He trusted Asver would keep his mouth shut.
But he soon learned the hard way how wrong he was on trusting Asver when it comes to secrets.
--------------
During the morning hunt, Rothfir shot a boar to the heart.
"Good job, brother!" Asver clapped. "It just took one shot for you, that's so cool!"
Rothfir rode his horse towards his large catch, and went down to retrieve his arrow. "I just got lucky."
"I wonder if vampire boars would also die through the heart." Asver said mindlessly, amazed at his comrade's kill.
Rothfir plucked the arrow with a 'thwack!". "All vampires die from a shot through the heart, even vampire lords."
"But Sangfroid said that Vladstin doesn't---" Asver quickly covered his mouth. "Shit, I almost spilled his secret!"
"What secret?" Rothfir narrowed his eyes. "Sangfroid entrusted you of all people? Everyone knows you couldn't keep to yourself the confessions that you overheard within a few seconds. You're not good at keeping other people's secrets, even a parrot is more trustworthy than you."
"Hey, there are some secrets that I can keep to my grave. Mostly my own, but that's not the point!" Asver gripped the ends of his hair. "Oh, what do I do now!? It was an accident! Stupid mouth!"
He smacked his mouth many times, until Rothfir stopped him with a laugh. "Alright, enough stressing over things that are already done. Might as well just tell me then apologize to Sangfroid afterwards."
"Do you think he will kill me?" Asver asked.
"Sangfroid is the type of guy who values his secrecy a little too much, but he's the closest we have to a saint besides the Bishop. You'll be fine." Rothfir assured him.
Asver looked around, then whispered to Rothfir a long time. Rothfir stayed quiet and didn't react until he's finished.
"So? What do you think?"
Rothfir's expression became grave. "I think it's time for the Huntsmen to have a meeting again. All of us."
----------
Sangfroid watched Leron and Vladstin in the Looking Glass as the sun started to set. He noticed that there was a cloth wrapped around the Prince's forehead, but he didn't get the chance to ask Vladstin about it after their last encounter that got a little heated. Vladstin was now unwrapping the bandage.
"It's only been two days but it feels much better now." Leron touched his scar.
"That's because you're healing faster than an average human." Vladstin said with no expression. "You're half-vampire now, that's why."
"H-How long will it take before I turn?" Leron stuttered nervously.
"About 2-3 months if I don't bite you again." Vladstin answered.
Sangfroid felt like cold water was splashed to his face. It's not just Vladstin that needs to be turned to human. Prince Leron was also infected by vampirism. This made his head feel like it's going to cave in on itself. Everything just gets worse and worse.
"You won't do that, would you?" Leron asked. "Bite me again, I mean. R-Right?"
" I don't know the purpose of my existence anymore." Vladstin answered, face unchanging. "It's easy to go on a rampage and kill everyone, but because of that momentary spark, I want to postpone it as much as I could."
"Then..... don't hurt anyone anymore. Let's find a way to bring back your emotions, your true self." Leron held his hand. "This isn't you, Vladstin. I know you. You wouldn't hurt anyone innocent no matter how much anger you have."
".... I guess we'll only see IF I did manage to gain my emotions." Vladstin shook his hand away. "By the way, you're making Sangfroid jealous."
"H-Huh? I don't know what you mean...." Leron pretended to be confused.
"Nothing." Vladstin managed to stare directly at the shard of the Looking Glass, smirking. "Look up, Hunter."
Sangfroid looked up and saw Elenore holding another piece of paper.
It was the sixth line of the parchment, saying: 'It was Casserome who struck him in the head with a stone, and passed that stone in my hands, framing me who was merely 10 years old with a heinous crime.'
"Interesting, right?" Vladstin asked him through the Looking Glass. "Turns out your king has been a murderer from such a young age. And he thought his child quite well."
Leron bit his lip. "I'm sorry---"
"Like I said, I don't need any apology. I heard them a million times now." Vladstin waved him off with lazy eyes. He focused on staring directly at Sangfroid's shard. "There are too many murderers in Ilvedia for me to trust any of your citizens. So an alliance would be a stupid decision for me, isn't it?"
"Whatever foolish plans you are thinking, give it up to avoid disappointing yourself."
Right on time, the power of the glass shard has run out. It turned into a regular reflective mirror again.
Sangfroid gripped it so hard on the palm of his hand for him to bleed. Then, he put it back in his pocket. He heard wolves howling along with Elenore's loud croaks, and the fetching of goods must have been over.
A hand tapped Sangfroid's shoulder.
"Chief, you are being called by Rothfir to a Huntsmen's meeting." Sacherin said, with a scared Asver behind him.
Sangfroid immediately guessed what is going on and his heart felt heavy. "I told you not to tell anyone, didn't I?"
"It was an accident, Chief..." Asver looked down.
Sangfroid sighed and meet with the members that separated from the other survivors to discuss things in a round circle of logs. In the middle is a large bonfire. Normal people might mistake it as an average campfire session, but the severity and graveness are palpable in the air.
"Chief." The Noble Huntsmen made an official bow and greeted Sangfroid as he came.
"Mn." Sangfroid nodded.
"You must know why a meeting must be done, Chief." Rothfir said respectfully, but slightly firmly than before. "All the members have been briefed before you arrived. We will now be asking you for clarifications, Chief."
The whole circle waited, until someone raised his hand. "This isn't a question, but rather a suggestion. If the plan to turn Vladstin doesn't work out, why don't we have a countermeasure for it?"
Another one agreed. "Yes. If we cannot convince the vampire lord, then all our traveling to his Palace would be in vain."
"Do you not have other plans, Chief? Please consider that the fate of the whole Ilvedia is left in our care. If it's only us Huntsmen, we will handle constant travel and hardships in these woods. But it's not just us, there's also the people---"
"I know." Sangfroid said.
There's no need for him to extrapolate further to prove that he is aware of the circumstances of the people. The Noble Huntsmen believe him that he knows and cares about the welfare of the survivors.
"If it's not a shot of a holy weapon to the heart, then how can vampire lords be annihilated? Was the Book of Xendros wrong? Or are we missing something?"
"That, I don't know."
Again, they never doubted if the Chief was telling the truth. Even the Chief doesn't know.
"Sigh.... If only we know how to kill him as well as we know how to turn him into a human, I would feel much safer." A Huntsman with long red hair said. "I cannot forget the war that happened back in Ilvedia. It still haunts my dream every night. Vampires are not supposed to have that much power before. They now have an invincible puppet master that could not be restrained or defeated. What if it's all futile in the end, and he will surely take all our lives---"
"It will be alright, sister." Asver comforted her. They have very identical features. "Don't be too pessimistic, the Chief knows what he's doing."
"He does, but how well will he be able to do it?" One of them couldn't help but remark cynically.
"Hey, don't disrespect the Chief!" Asver yelled at him.
"I don't think he's being disrespectful, Asver." Rothfir intervened. "We just wanted to remind the Chief that we're all part of this organization, that he shouldn't handle things alone. Especially if it's becoming difficult for him."
Rothfir gave a solemn look to Sangfroid. "I am one of the eldest, but I have accepted for a long time that Sangfroid is more rightful to the title of the Chief Huntsman. Father choose him for a reason. Know that we trust you, Sangfroid, but do not forget that we are also as equally responsible as you."
Sangfroid felt a slight pain like a thorn was stuck on his throat. He doesn't want to ruin the Noble Huntsmen's trust, nor the people to suffer longer, but he couldn't give Vladstin up that easily. That's why he couldn't tell them, knowing that they suggest he should....
"I see, I get now where you all are coming from." Asver nodded. "Well, I believe that if Chief did find a way to permanently kill Sangfroid, or any clue at all, he would tell us. Right, Chief?"
All eyes were on him. Sangfroid remembered the Bishop's prophecy and the possible interpretation.
'Blood is the essence of life. Therefore, they could be considered the same. When life leaves through the "crevice", it may mean that it passes through the boundary of the Human Realm, and the Beyond. The cold that replaces it in the body would be death.'
'Fitting, isn't it? He placed the methods he used to kill these monsters right beside the dead monsters themselves. All their weaknesses and powers, how they were made and how they were vanquished, written beside them like an epitaph.'
Sangfroid does know a clue, and that is they must search for the vampire lords' graves. But if they use it to kill Vladstin, then he must not share it. "Yes. If I know something, I would tell you from now on."
This is the first time Sangfroid lied.
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