"Monsters?" Gladys shook her head. "They may not be human anymore, but I wouldn't call them monsters. We can still talk and reason with them, after all. In addition, this isn't a deal; we are using them. We'll give them what they want for now, but once we gain control of the kingdom, they're being sent back underground."
"I still don't think this is a good idea. Maybe we should reconsider," Sigurd suggested.
"Maybe we should…"
"Will their help even be useful?"
"We need to step it up to truly weaken the royal forces."
"If this works, it's all but guaranteed we become the new rulers."
A few nobles nodded in agreement with Sigurd's sentiment, but most were either still on the fence or believed it was the best option. Other nobles began to voice additional doubts and arguments, leading the room to become noisy and somewhat chaotic.
"Silence!" Gladys shouted, bringing order to the meeting. She turned to Sigurd and answered his original question. "So far, all we have done is imprison knights and other forces loyal to the crown while cementing distrust. Now that the people no longer have such strong trust in the royal family, we need something much bigger. We need a disaster. Sure, some will die, but we can use the momentum it creates to overthrow them without much hassle. This was inevitable."
Her logic was sound; such a disaster would create the instability they needed to implement the changes they wanted. It served as the final push for some of the indecisive nobles and even switched those who were originally against the plan.
Seeing the majority of them were in agreement, Sigurd could only frown and sit back down. Even if Gladys was right and it was needed as the final push for their cause, he fundamentally disagreed with the methods employed. Victor, who stood behind him, also disagreed, as such a disaster would bring untold amounts of death. He couldn't believe they were seriously considering it.
'Are people's lives just a number for them?' Victor thought to himself.
With Sigurd back in his seat, Gladys looked at the robed mage who stood by the door and beckoned him over.
"Then let's begin. Teleport them here."
The mage nodded and began chanting the intermediate level space spell, [Spatial Tunnel]. It was a spell specialized for long range teleportation but could only be done after preparing a focus point at both ends of the spatial tunnel. Without having a focus point, the mana cost would be astronomically higher.
A purplish blue portal formed, and soon a beautiful woman with long black hair stepped out. She looked like any other human except for one feature: her extremely pale skin. Under the gaze of the nobles and the many guards ready to attack at a moment's notice, she stepped forward without any fear.
"Wow, so many people were waiting for little ol' me. You're gonna make me blush."
Gladys didn't entertain her antics.
"Carmilla. You already know the terms; why did your mistress demand we meet you in person?"
Carmilla's eyes glowed slightly red in response. Out of nowhere, all the nobles and guards felt their minds become slightly cloudy. Feelings of adoration and devotion that they had never had before for the woman began to wriggle into their minds and hearts. Before such feelings could take root, the owl shaped pin glowed, and suddenly their minds became clear.
Gladys, waking from her short stupor, shouted, "What is the meaning of this?!"
Sigurd, within the crowd, sighed in relief.
'I'm glad the defenses prepared against the Black Tongue work against vampire manipulations as well.'
The owl pins were originally meant to be a precaution for Sol's father, Roman, who was also known as the Black Tongue. These owl pins were made through much trial and error. They were strong enough to completely resist most mental manipulations and had some resistance to law type mental skills.
The guards unsheathed their weapons, ready to attack immediately but waited for orders from their nobles.
Carmilla shrugged and stayed still, not giving them any more reason to pull the trigger. "The Mistress wanted me to give you all a quick test. We usually deal with idiots who underestimate us because we live in hiding. Good to see you're not like them, well, most of you at least."
She then turned her eyes to a B-Rank guard who stood behind a noble. His face flushed red, and the moment her eyes fell upon him, he was unable to resist. He jumped over the table and got on his knees.
"I love you! Please marry—no, let me serve you forever! Please accept me as your faithful thrall! I will do anything for you, my love!"
The poor B-Ranker didn't wear the protective owl pin, confidently thinking he could resist the effects he was warned about as he had two high level skills that helped resist similar mental effects. Though he was indeed able to resist for a moment, his resistance shattered when her enchanting red eyes concentrated on him.
"What do you think you're doing! Get back here!" The guard's noble was shocked at his sudden actions.
Carmilla smiled, revealing two sharp fangs, and beckoned him to come over. The guard was ecstatic, but just as he was about to take the first step toward his new owner, a hot red flame with a golden sheen came suddenly from the side. The fire came so quickly that the charmed guard was unable to react in time. The guard was enveloped by the powerful flames, which burned him alive in a fraction of a second.
The nobles and guards turned to the source of the flames and saw Victor lowering his outstretched hand.
"Goddamn vampires."
The nobles and fellow guards gave Victor an appreciative look. He had done them all a favor by ending the guard's life. Everyone knew nothing else could be done as it was impossible to save someone once they had been turned into a vampire's thrall. Victor ignored their looks and continued to glare at the vampire.
The nobles knew of Victor's personality and assumed he was about to retaliate against Carmilla's actions in anger. The nobles and guards prepared to act if he did, but were surprised when they saw him quietly take a step back.
The nobles hadn't assumed incorrectly. Victor wanted to do more than just save the enthralled guard, but after the debacle at the knight tournament, he had realized he needed to work on himself to prevent such a thing from happening again. He knew anger and rage were powerful tools but not something to be consumed by. That was why he had spent the last two months practicing and tempering himself until he comprehended a new law technique that channels his intense emotions in a more positive direction.
With Victor stepping back, the tense nobles and guards relaxed a bit, while the target of their animosity, Carmilla, held the same wry grin. While they were willing to fight it out with this A-Rank vampire, its law technique was hard to counter even with the owl pins. They had no doubt they would win, but she would definitely take many down with her.
Gladys regained her composure and asked, "Can I assume she accepts?"
Carmilla nodded, "The mistress accepts, but we want a different city. We want Kerman."
Gladys raised an eyebrow at the mention of that city. It was situated near the border of three other nations and was one of the most popular routes for merchants to enter and exit the kingdom. Needless to say, it was a very lucrative city, but as far as she knew, vampires didn't care much for wealth, so she didn't know why they wanted that one in particular.
'We still have other border cities, so losing Kerman isn't that important. They can also defend the border against the orcs, saving us a lot of soldiers and resources dedicated to that front… We might not even need to banish them once we're done.'
The rebellious noble faction had yet to hear of the deal Sol made with Orna, so she was completely unaware that there weren't any more orc invasions happening for at least ten years. Missing this critical information, she believed Kerman's value as a city was going to drop as more orc attacks occurred and decided it was more than acceptable.
Gladys agreed to the change. "Sure, you can have Kerman."
"What?!" A chubby man sprang up in surprise. He was Haslen, the lord of Kerman. He was shocked that Gladys handed his city to vampires so easily.
Gladys reassured him. "Calm down, Haslen. You can have Revland and Urtecstal in return. Once they take over Kerman, those two cities will become the new trade route into our kingdom."
Hearing the names of the two cities that were his current economic rivals, he quickly went from anger to excitement.
"If that's the case, then by all means, you can have Kerman."
Carmilla looked at the greedy noble who easily gave away his home for profit and spoke, "Then we have an agreement. I'll let the mistress know."
The vampire turned around and let out a small chuckle as she walked into the portal, which closed behind her.