— We want to sell them, there are no knights among us, and such armor is unnecessary for us, but we are not accustomed to refusing money. We are also willing to sell some of the warhorses, but not all.
— Well, if that's the case, I would gladly buy both armor and warhorses and weapons from you.
— If we agree on the price, Lord Baron.
The anger that had accumulated during the dispute unexpectedly burst out at the most inappropriate moment. Just after uttering the phrase, Alexander realized that he had essentially insulted the baron by likening him to a merchant, which among nobles was considered lowly. He needed to rectify the situation urgently.
— I believe that you, as a truly noble person, would not stoop to naming a low price, and we would not need to haggle.
"Oh, excellent save. What's wrong with me? I keep offending the baron."
And then Alexander felt the impact of magic. Something incomprehensible pressed upon his mind and... stoked the smoldering embers of anger there.
"They're influencing me!"
Sergey, standing nearby and watching his commander with a bewildered look, stepped forward abruptly:
— Alexander meant that you, as a nobleman, would not allow your steward to deceive us, Your Grace.
The justification was mediocre, but the insult was not direct; it was heavily veiled. The baron remained silent throughout the scene, maintaining a stern expression. However, his advisor quickly left the room as soon as Sergey finished his sentence and bowed.
— Allow us to proceed to your steward and conclude a deal with him for the sale of armor and warhorses, Lord Baron?
— Yes, go ahead. I won't keep you any longer.
The vampires bowed, synchronized their turn, and left the hall.
— What's wrong with you, talking nonsense?
— Someone is invading my mind and deliberately making me angry!
— What?
— They're influencing me, Sergey! Mentally! The baron is our enemy and needs to be replaced.
— Are you hearing yourself? Already planning to replace the local baron? Have you gone mad?
— Anger is pressing on my brain, — Alexander said apologetically, smiling guiltily, but continued, — But it's not for nothing. If they were influencing me on the baron's orders, he needs to be replaced. Why do we need such a master?
— His son strongly dislikes him, but we shouldn't discuss this in the baron's castle, idiot!
— There's no one here! Have you stopped working your nose?
— Yes, I can feel perfectly well that there are no people nearby, but if they're influencing you, they could also read your thoughts.
— No! The influence is very subtle, and if it weren't for this strong anger, so uncharacteristic of me, I wouldn't have noticed anything, but now I simply realized that I'm saying the wrong things and all my feelings are heightened. I realized that it's external. And it just stokes my anger, inflaming it.
— So maybe the baron is our enemy. His son seems like a decent guy.
— Yes. You sell the armor to the local quartermaster, and I'll try to find him at the tavern where he often goes. And don't overprice it. Let the baron buy the armor not as expensively as it costs. He probably instigated all this interference in my mind and the argument about the payment he supposedly didn't receive. There's something fishy about this. The baron used to be loyal to us, cautious, but loyal! And now such hostile behavior.
Alexander shook his head and set off to find the heir, leaving Sergey to handle the business matters. But he didn't have to gain new experience or stage a coup. The baron's advisor, Ek'Savoyardi, quietly called Sergey aside and apologized for his brother's behavior.
— Please don't be offended for the sake of the Almighty, His Grace is a good man, but when it comes to money, he loses his head a bit. I apologize for how this turned out; I hope this minor misunderstanding won't affect our good relations.
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