"Sounds wonderful indeed, however, rules must be made" I say calmly
I and Marie walk side by side at a normal pace in a pine forest filled with high trees, illuminated by the moonlight which shall soon disappear alongside the arrival of the sun. Our steps emit grass noises to complement the sounds of crickets and owls around the forest.
"I agree, a genius mind is not needed to see that human numbers alongside our unusual weaknesses would most likely result in our deaths" Marie says casually
Right, there is the matter of blood too. We need humans, without them we would starve and if they are too aware of our presence it would not take long until they start grouping themselves in order to hunt us down. Against humans with sunlight at their side, it would be impossible for us to fight in an open field. Marie also understands that growing without control may cause our extinction regardless of victory or defeat. After all, too much of us means less blood.
My main wish is to safely establish my race as lord Lucifer intends, after this, I can rest, live, and die without regrets. Marie with her knowledge shall be useful in this regard or so I hope, she is proving to be quite ambitious but definitely not boring.
Marie proceeds with a light polite giggle.
"For now, I do not see any need for harsh restraints we just need to be careful not to alert those so-called hunters thou spoke about" Marie says casually
I agree and soon we proceed to sprint again toward Letusa. My senses can feel time running short, the sun should soon come out.
...
Seems like we are finally here, Letusa hmm... looks somewhat similar to my old village. Well, im guessing poor people do not have a choice in terms of design.
We stand a few meters from the village entrance, the small settlement possesses no walls or fences only a wooden structure with a square shape serving as an entrance alongside a sign probably reading as Letusa. The poor village is surrounded by trees and has dirt roads, the only source of water around is a river miles away from here which is common in small settlements.
If the plan is building wealth here then it is going to take a long while however as Marie said, being the first is important. As of right now, no lord or lady sees this place as a viable investment, so we come first and transform Letusa, a task we can easily accomplish with our peculiar advantages.
We made our way inside walking calmly by Letusa dirt roads. As expected there is no one awake to greet us, thankfully, because otherwise, my appearance would most likely cause a commotion. All over we see small farmhouses made of wood and straw, and some small plantations too. Nothing compared to Toulouse's giant fields on the outside of the town.
Following the main road, we quickly arrive at what looks like the center, a place seemingly used as a shopping district by the inhabitants. It is a crossroad and in the middle, there is a round space with a few deactivated sales stalls.
Marie leads me through the road at the right and we soon reach a rather unusual house, it is somewhat bigger compared to the others here, the entrance has a little staircase leading to a porch, and last but not least a forge at the right side of the house on the porch.
Marie's acquaintance is obviously a blacksmith, strange, smithing is a valuable art in high demand so why settle for living in this small village when they could make a better living in a proper town?
Marie cleaned her throat with a cough to call my attention politely, she stared at me with worry. I could catch what she was trying to say almost immediately.
"Tch" I click my tongue
My eyes roll in annoyance as I arrange my long hair to fit inside my surcoat hood to hide my skin, hair, and eyes from view, which is disgusting because this thing is horribly dirty.
Humans are such ugh! One day I shall personally take care of this maudit prejudice. Just because im a little whiter I have to hide, nonsense! Other than having different features my body is the exact same as any other human being but these maudit lunatics insist on being foolish. Bunch of faire le pitre.
After that, we proceed to climb the stairs to the porch. The door is in the front of the stairs and right after climbing, I stand a step behind Marie looking down to hide my face while she knocks calmly on the door.
*Knock Knock*
... Nothing.
Of course, sleeping.
Marie knocks repeatedly until we finally hear the sound of angry steps coming from inside the house, approaching the door.
The door slowly opens alongside a creak.
Finally, a man opens the door holding a lantern in his hand and a stare of annoyance on his face. He has average size and a lean muscular body, light-tanned skin, brown eyes, and mid-length blonde hair. His hands are different compared to the rest of his body, it is more developed and full of calluses probably from working the forge so much. He is wearing a dark yellow sleeveless belted tunic and brown breaches.
Marie speaks politely with a smile on her face while slightly bowing her head respectfully.
"Greetings, Gaius"
The man stares in silence at Marie for some time.
"Go fuck thyself Marie" Gaius responds bluntly
What?
Gaius tries to close the door in our faces but Marie's hand pressing against the door stops him, even so, he proceeds to try to close it with no success, Marie is far stronger than he is after all. She stands with a calm expression looking at him smiling politely.
"Gaius, please, put the past behind" Marie says nonchalantly
Gaius after hearing this looks at her with a stare of disgust and clicks his tongue.
"Past behind my ass, thou abandoned me to fucking die"
What is even happening here?
I stand behind Marie with an expression of confusion, contemplating while the man named Gaius throws some hash offenses at her in the form of angered whispers so it does not cause a commotion. What is more disturbing is Marie who takes everything with a smile and keeps trying to convince him to help us.
This is going nowhere, the sun shall come out soon and I certainly would not appreciate being roofless when it happens.
I tap Marie's shoulder to call her attention resulting in a sudden silence between her and the angry man. She stops arguing for a moment and looks behind to answer me. I stand with my head down while speaking.
"Let me speak with him for a moment" I whisper
Marie seems skeptical but still moves away to the side giving me space to speak with Gaius, who appears a little confused but his confusion is very little compared to his annoyance. As soon as Marie moves away Gaius tries to shut the door but another hand stops him, my hand.
Instantly, my demeanor changes completely, an upset expression appears on my hidden face, my posture, the gestures of my hands while speaking, everything changes. Marie perceives these changes resulting in a surprised expression.
"Sir please I beg thou, find the kindness in thy heart to help two ladies in need" I plead, judging by my voice trembling, anyone would imagine that im about to cry
Gaius freezes for a moment and stops trying to close the door. He seems rather confused by his own feelings, which means he is strong mentally and can perceive that something is wrong however this does not mean I failed.
"Thou can enter however she stays outside" Says Gaius, doubting his own words while speaking with a confused expression
Sigh... by Lucifer, what did she do to this man that is so unforgivable?
Well, I tried to be polite.
I swiftly grab Gaius' mouth, slowly pushing him to step back while we enter his house. He tries to fight back punching me countless times but to his despair, these punches are not even enough to make my head move. In a desperate attempt, he tries to hit me with his lantern which could be somewhat hurtful for me, so I grab it with my free hand.
Marie shut his door while I held the man making him unable to scream.
"Obey and it would be my pleasure to grant thou rewards, however, if thou refuse..." I say aggressively
My right hand who is grabbing his mouth at the moment begins to slowly grow its claws and I proceed to apply pressure enough to hurt but not to pierce all the thin layers of the fearful man's skin, leaving only petty small holes imperceptible to the eye dripping blood on both of his cheeks.
Gaius, trembles in my grasp unable to scream with my preying red eyes staring closely while the only source of illumination is a feeble flame inside a lantern, enough for him to see my smile accompanied by deadly fangs. Meanwhile, Marie roams around Gaius' house arranging chairs for us to sit, she appears rather sure of the man's character, enough to know that he is going to give in for sure.
While Gaius' heart beats in fear of death and despair spread through his being like a strong poison, he accepts my 'proposal' by shaking his head however there is still a detail I must warn him.
Without freeing Gaius from my grasp, I slowly get closer to his left ear.
"Betray is not something I take kindly, so, do, not, try" I whisper coldly
I suddenly let go of his head resulting in Gaius almost falling on his butt however Marie thought this could happen and had already put a chair behind the man which he lands on successfully, he struggles to breathe a little but seems to be holding himself together.
I turn around staring with disappointment at Marie who is sitting in a chair with a nonchalant expression.
"What? He is my acquaintance, not my friend"
By Lucifer, what a difficult woman. The nerve to ask for help from a man who despises thou is something else.
After a light sigh escapes my mouth, I put the lantern I picked from him on the ground closer to my chair while sitting down. Gaius sits in front of us, his heart beating loudly and his eyes slightly trembling while I and Marie sit in front of him side by side with the small flame coming from the lit lantern barely illuminating our figures.
"Thou were always a monster Marie, but this..." Gaius fearfully speaks in a low voice while staring at me
Marie gives him a malicious side smile while putting her right hand forward slowly showcasing her deadly claws to the perplexed man. As he stares at Marie's hands in silence, a lonely drop of cold sweat begins to fall from Gaius' forehead.
"Lovely isn't she? And bestow gifts like no other" Marie says sarcastically
I pull my hood down as there is no need for it anymore and we proceed to discuss our intentions here with Gaius. He seems smart enough to be what I would call ' a daylight agent ' he is still scared of us but appears convinced of the benefits. Corrupting him with promises of lands and gold was more than sufficient for him to do as we command, of course, a hint of fear too. A little disappointing actually, I was expecting someone more reliable. My curiosity is pushing me to ask why he hates Marie so much but I prefer not to intrude rudely, perhaps another time.
By the end of our short chat, Gaius led us through his dark house holding his lantern until we arrived at his basement. The whole place is actually rather clean, the ground is made from stone and he uses the space to store smithcraft, various kinds of materials, and food. All this in multiple sacks, crates, and barrels scattered around the place.
Compared to sleeping in the wilds this is a luxury. Hopefully, our coffins shall be ready soon, sleeping on the floor wearing these dirty clothes... oh wait, is that a barrel with water?
Marie sits on the ground leaning against some crates while I walk to the barrel. My action puzzles slightly Marie, who looks at me raising her eyebrows a little. Getting to the barrel, I swiftly open it creating an echo of wood being broken in the basement.
So my senses were indeed correct, what a blessing. Now, this horrible clothing needs to be discarded immediately. Look at these, ugh... im going to make that bald Simon pay the appropriate price for destroying my clothes. Humph, what my sister would say if she saw me like this? I look like a whore with my bare back open to the world to see! Disgraceful.
I begin to slowly take off my dirty clothes, taking good care to make sure to not dirt myself even more. Starting with my surcoat which is a complete mess of blood and dirt, my tunic comes right after, I gently take the belt out from my waist, remove the tunic, and proceed to throw it on the ground revealing my naked upper body.
Someone seems strangely interested in staring at me...
"what is it?" I say casually while removing my purses that are attached to my thighs
"Just appreciating the view, and wondering if thou would fancy some, company" She says flirtatiously
Her sudden request made me flinch and freeze in place, slowly turning my head toward her with confused eyes furrowing my eyebrows.
What the? This is... unexpected to say the least. Is she truly courting me? She said something about having a husband before, didn't she?
"Come on chère, do not be so naive. Most women from high society tend to fuck a maid or two from time to time, as I like to say, women for sex and men for money" She says nonchalantly
A reddish color begins to appear on my pale cheeks and a sudden feeling of heat spreads through my body. The air itself changes abruptly in the basement, becoming filled with tension but not the exact kind of tension im used to feeling.
Marie lustfully stares at my palish upper body dirty with blood, waiting for an answer. There is some type of predatory meaning behind her eyes however it is not the predatory stare of a hunter, it is something different, similar to how Anna looked at me but still different, there is no love in Marie's eyes.
Saying this is not tempting would be a lie... ever since my encounter with that swamp whore, my occasional sessions of 'touching' myself became more frequent than I would like to admit. I want to experience it... but this is so shameful, the thought of doing this with someone I barely even know feels disgraceful. Yes, this is horrible and im not going to succumb to a person who is just after my body!
"I- I prefer not to" I say hesitantly stumbling upon my words a little
With just a few words, the tension in the room completely vanishes leaving no trace to be found. Ashamed and now, aware of this side of Marie, I quickly take out my clothes jumping inside the barrel to hide my body from her view and calm down my mind. The barrel that is filled with water overflows resulting in sounds of splashes across the dark basement. It is extremely uncomfortable both inside and outside but at least I can wash properly.
"Suit thyself then, however, I too would like to bath before laying down to sleep" Marie says casually
...
Soon after my bath ended I was already completely tired and laid down to sleep naked on the flat stone floor, not exactly comfortable but compared to sleeping in caves this is a complete improvement. Marie too did the same without a problem.
When the sun sets on the horizon, we rise alongside the glorious moon replacing the harmful rays of light with a gentle darkness and a sky full of stars.
My eyes open slowly and I get up stretching my body while looking around. My eyes drift to Marie who is in deep slumber a few meters away from me, I lose myself in her naked curves for a moment but quickly snap back in a hint of panic when I perceive her eyes opening slowly.
Hopefully, Gaius already arranged our clothes, temptation may get the best of me if this continues. Im quite thirsty too, maybe I should go out to hunt a human around here, Gaius alone would be insufficiently to sate both me and Marie without dying.
*Knock Knock* Someone knocks on the basement hatchway
Oh, thinking about him, it seems he took the message of just coming when nightfall seriously.
"We are quite naked here Gaius, leave our clothes there please" I raise my voice slightly to make sure he understands
"mmhm" Gaius murmurs in agreement
I quickly make my way there feeling a little ashamed, on my arrival I suspiciously open the door to make sure there is no one around. Two simple linen dresses alongside leather belts are resting on the floor nicely arranged. Without a second thought, I took one for myself and dressed myself on the staircase after closing the hatchway.
A sigh of relief escapes my mouth as im finally dressed again. As im already here I take the other dress delivering it to Marie shortly after.
I chose a red wine linen dress with a subtle and elegant cleavage opening, the skirt is long enough to cover all my legs slightly reaching the ground and the leather belt tied slightly above my waist elegantly emphasizes my curves. Marie wears mostly the same dress but with a grayish color.
Oh my, I just found my color!
A blissful smile appears on my face as I begin to spin playing with my skirt.
Been a long while since I felt so well-dressed and this color, magnifique! Bloodstains would be much less visible too. My night is good already, no forests, no hunting for animal blood, only the delightful smell of human blood roaming all over Letusa.
Marie let out a light-hearted giggle while looking at me playing with my skirt and proceeded to speak lightly.
"Im starving, fancy some drinks?"
I stop by the staircase leading to Gaius' house with a smile looking back at her.
"I feel the same, shall we?"
...
Prowling in the shadows of Letusa I easily find wasted and drunk men all over, drinking the life away after a tiring day of working the fields unaware of what is lurking in the darkness, waiting to feed. A little bit of charm on a lonely drunk man was enough to make him follow me with a dumb smile into the forest. As always, I had to restrain myself from drinking him dry, if people began to disappear around would call the local's unwanted attention quickly.
Ugh... the stench coming out of this fool's mouth while I drink his blood is ruining my appetite.
Shortly after drinking the man, I left him on the ground wasted and proceeded to go back to Gaius' house using unnatural speed and roofs to go unseen in the dark roads of Letusa. Arriving at his house, I take the back door to enter without risk of being seen.
Inside, Gaius and Marie are sitting facing each other across a wooden table while the fire coming from a lonely lantern placed on the table poorly illuminates their figures. It seems like they are discussing plans and after Marie perceives my arrival, she politely asks me to join them which I accept taking my sit at the head of the table.
"As I said before, what we need the most right now is gold, enough to buy Letusa from its currently incompetent lord and establish an official house here in Letusa.
That is when Gaius, a blacksmith comes in, however, my contacts with merchants are in Orleans which is completely corrupted by Laurent" Marie explains with a hint of anger when speaking about Orleans
Hmm... A pity but this lord appears to live in Paris otherwise I could try something. A place to sell weapons... who would need weapons? people who are fighting of course... wait!
A silly smile appears on my face as I realize something wonderful. I let out a giggle calling Marie and Gaius' attention to me.
"I happen to know the exact man" I say cheerfully
Both Marie and Gaius seem curious and confused so I elaborate further.
"The current Duke of Toulouse is a close friend and my first kin, Visigothic raids are common there, im sure he would gladly buy equipment"
Marie's eyes slightly widen in surprise for a moment before speaking.
"Oh, this is going to be extremely useful, we could even try setting trading routes in the future" Says Marie with a hint of excitement
I should send a letter to Toulouse as soon as possible, Sophia must be worried about me too. Finding a courier around here should not be too hard however letters should take a long time to reach Toulouse.
Gaius proceeded casually.
"Now, I would need fine materials to craft first, my current supplier is a local whose acquaintance owns an iron mine however these few days have been hard, from what I heard a raubritter seems to be making it difficult for the materials to reach Letusa"
"Raubritter? What is this?" I ask curiously
Marie proceeds to explain.
"A raubritter is a lord who abuses his positions to make people pay high taxes to pass by their lands, in more extreme cases even robbing shipments. Basically, raubritters are legal bandits"
Humans, always inventing ways of fighting themselves. And why is the one who owns these lands doing nothing? Now we need to deal with this imbecile raubritter by ourselves.
"The raubritter land is not far from here, lives in a big manor. By horse, it takes less than one night" Says Gaius casually
Visiting this person should not be a problem but ugh... definitely a hassle, if only I had a way to ride a horse. Running all the way there barefoot or in some men's boots that most likely would not fit me, ruining my dress too. Im tired of traveling but what can I do? We have no one to send, well, at least not someone as experienced as me.
Marie smiles maliciously while looking at my upset self and proceeds to speak.
"There is an interesting fact about raubritters Carmilla" Marie says mischievously
I turn to her furrowing my eyebrows to express my curiosity.
"No one cares if they suddenly disappear nor do they care about what happens to his land, after all, raubritters are bound to irritate a variety of people"
Which means...
A little malicious smile begins to appear on my face as I realize alongside a little childish giggle that escapes my mouth.
If I conquer his manor then his wealth, fields, subordinates, everything! Would be mine and as a neighborhood, we could easily unite both lands when we acquire Letusa. It is definitely exciting, however, this 'lord' must be fairly poor if he is around stealing shipments like a mere bandit. And his land must be not all that expressive because he has only a manor, Letusa is poor but at least it is a settlement capable of generating a considerable amount of wealth by taxes and crops.
Still... I finally would have my own manor, a big step toward my comfort. I could trap some thralls to keep me fed, pay soldiers to guard my lands, subordinates to tend the field, having my own roof, now that would be wonderful. Well, it would take some time before it turns into a proper manor but im satisfied with just having a house. It feels rude to abuse Gaius' hospitality forever and sleeping in basements brings me some painful memories, some of which I would like to forget.
"There are some minor politics that need to be done to officially claim his dominion however, no one would care if thou took care of the place not officially before sending the word to the palace" Marie says casually
I enthusiastically agree with the idea of dominating our neighbor lord. Marie is going to investigate Letusa for today, talk with a few merchants, and visit the nearby tavern while I exterminate a pest in order to create a safer route for shipments coming to Letusa.
...
Without changing clothes or any preparations of any kind, I set off holding my skirt while sprinting across the forest to make sure my newly acquired dress stayed clean. Unfortunately, I had to use my boots from before which were poorly washed but at least fit me. It does not take long for me to reach the border of the so-called raubritter, anyone could easily tell by the squad of humans who apparently placed a tree trunk to block the road while they awaited to collect taxes from the unaware travelers. They have some horses tied to a nearby tree and seem to be enjoying a casual chat.
Im in the forest looking at them from afar leaning against a tree nonchalantly.
Killing them all would be a waste, im expecting to use them but they do not seem like the type to give me a choice and I can not let them run away either. Hmmm... all this thinking is giving me a thirst. Let me see how they react to my presence first then I see what I do.