"The lice problem is solved. Is there enough food to feed him?"
"Yes, madam."
"Alright then, rest. In the morning, bring him to the dining hall, I'll wait. During the day, find him sleeping arrangements and everything else he needs."
Stefania bowed. The woman responsible for everyone in the village went about her business, no longer thinking about her new ward.
Soon, the man emerged from the bath, modestly covering his nudity with his hands. He was completely bald, not a single hair on his body. Even his eyebrows were absent. Vampires had solved the problem with lice and bedbugs in a drastic manner. They had made exceptions only for the two girls at one time. The other prisoners received no such mercy. After all, the vampires themselves had no problems with local insects. Mosquitoes didn't even bite them!
Stefania handed him clothes which he quickly wrapped himself in.
"Let's go. I'll feed you."
Receiving a bowl of meat porridge, the young man pushed it away and asked if the girls had made a mistake.
"Is this your porridge?"
"But it has meat."
No one laughed at him. Meat was present in the local peasants' diet only on very special occasions. They had earned the nickname "herbivores" from the nobles for a reason. The lack of sufficient food forced them to extreme measures, and herbs were a staple in the peasants' diet from the north to the south. Even Sofia, the daughter of the headman, started to eat well only under the care of the vampires.
"Shut up and eat. He doesn't like porridge with meat!"
It was clear that Stefania was joking rather than getting angry, but the prisoner stopped arguing and hungrily attacked the food.
Preparations for the campaign proceeded according to plan, but only among the vampires. When the duke was informed that his generous offer had been accepted and he would receive the required squad, possibly even slightly larger forces, he was delighted.
However, it turned out that apart from successfully recruiting a squad of fighters from the forest village, nothing else had been done. Baron Savoyardi had to take the reins of governance into his own hands to try to fit within the duke's set limits. The problem of bandits was completely forgotten. Neither the duke nor the baron spared even a minute for it. Any knight who dared to mention it was sent away.
Meanwhile, the vampires assembled the densest tents, magically fortified them, and made vast cloaks with hoods resembling tent-cloaks. This satisfied them. They planned to procure food along the way, and despite their best efforts, they couldn't bring blood with them.
There still wasn't a way to preserve it, and they could only slightly extend the time before it began to clot and decompose into its constituent components. Regular provisions were also taken to divert the attention of the people.
The biggest headache came from assembling the squad. First, all the girls were excluded from it. This alone caused wild protests. For two days, all the men remembered their past sins. When the female half of the vampires finally calmed down, quarrels broke out among the males. Many wanted to go on the dangerous campaign.
Besides the dangers and difficulties, there would be plenty of food there! But removing too many men from the village was impossible. The locals might want to test its strength, especially considering that no defenses had started to be built around it, and according to the locals, it was defenseless!
Choosing twenty "paladins" and ten "mages," Alexander added himself and Leonid to the squad. After thinking it over, five more people were selected for the role of "mages." Such forces were presented to the duke a week before departure, except for the unclaimed valuables. In total, the squad included more than two thousand people.
Half of them were porters. In addition to them and the vampire squad, there was also a squad of mercenaries, "Roger's Daredevils" — a hundred thugs with two mages and a paladin, fifty mercenaries led by a paladin, already hired by Baron Savoyardi as his contribution to the common cause, five hundred of the duke's retinue, and three hundred knights from other barons whom young Kas dedicated to his plan and involved in its implementation. The approach of another squad of five mages and ten paladins was expected, elite mercenaries who were expensive but usually paid off.
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