Before the rest of the pack gathers here, I have plenty of time to poke around this cave. I'm not afraid for myself. There are shikigami birds with seals over the door, and as soon as the beasts come, the shikigami will hunt them down. I have not forgotten the girl — she is covered with seals of recovery, purification, restoration of mind and spirit, you just have to wait. So I walked boldly through the door of the inner rooms.
At first glance, everything looked normal, but I only felt more strongly what I had felt from the street. Behind the next door was the kitchen, next to it a pantry for food, another door to the toilet, and then — a heavy door to the owners' personal rooms.
I was too lazy to look for keys, so I stamped the key and the door opened. And here I saw what I expected. The worst thing is that the corridors are painted with a light color, the doors are very ordinary, and when you open them, you don't expect to see a cutting room.
A couple of large cold rooms, two meters high and the same width, a tool cabinet with lots of iron for cutting meat, sinks and tubs, and of course cutting tables... covered with the blood of the sentients. It looked like another victim had arrived during the day and the beasts hadn't cleaned up the place yet.
I wanted to pull the handle of the refrigerator, but it was as if a heavy piece of ice fell from my chest into my stomach, and a chill ran through my body. No, I don't want to look at it. I'm just scared. I can feel the painful death here, and I don't want to look at what's left of the victims. But, man, I can't just walk away.
So I need some equipment for the ritual, because it's hard to breathe here and it's hard to breathe and it's hard on the soul. I found a ficus tree in one of the corners. I filled a stainless steel bowl with soil, took out incense sticks from the store, put them in the soil and lit them.
And then — half an hour of prayers for the repose of souls and purification from evil. By the end, it was easier to breathe here, but there was still frost on the skin from the realization of what had been done here. Seals on the refrigerators, and a simple ritual circle in the middle of the room — then I activate it, and everything here will burn down to melted walls. I walk out into the hallway.
There are four more doors, which turn out to be another toilet, a large dining room-kitchen, a barracks, and the leader's personal room. I did some digging in the last one. The first thing that shocked me were the various amulets and talismans, as well as a large totem pole, clearly North American, and all the magical items.
The jewelry that was found was completely free of traces of previous owners, magically speaking, that is, not cursed, and there were no imprints of emotions, of life energy. Money, both paper and metal, even some platinum plates of two hundred and fifty grams were found.
There were many drugs, hidden and preserved by magic, but there were also some herbs, packed in leather pouches and placed in a wooden box. Something told me that they had their own shaman, otherwise why would they have magic herbs?
I decided to take the valuables and herbs and burn the rest, especially since the totem pole had been cut off from the spiritual plan by some ritual. I drew a ritual circle in each room, and when I got back to the bar, I sealed the door and activated the "Searing" circles. And the bar was already crowded, plus seventeen creatures. A lot, good thing I'd prepared two dozen shikigami with seals.
How do I recognize a shaman? A wave of the hand and the voice of the leader returns.
— Who is your shaman? Or have you been working with someone else?
— When I'm free, I'll feed you soup from your own feet! — growled the leader. — You have no idea who you've betrayed!
— So you enlighten me. — I turn away and look at the newcomers. — Or are you shy? You seem like such a big boy, throwing yourself at girls... ....
That's a good catch! There's not a single human here, it's all dark creatures. There's even a Chinese vampire, a valuable catch. Even more valuable if you know that Chinese vampires are different from European and American vampires in almost everything, right down to the fact that they have more than just blood magic. If you cut them up right, almost every part of their body is good for something and worth a VERY high price.
Oh, he's watching me with his eyes! He must have realized that I recognized the skinny Thai as a Chinese bloodsucker. No, this one is definitely for "dismantling"! I pull it aside, seal it with a complex of seals, and hide it in a special storage area for animals that looks like another gold ring.
That's done, next. Under the roaring stream of curses, threats and other things, the shaman was found. He turned out to be an elderly Jamaican, almost turned into a lich, which made me not even feel human in him. But his heart was beating and his blood was flowing. When he saw that I had identified the voodoo wizard, the leader was visibly relieved, for that asshole had almost broken the second seal I'd given to all newcomers.
I won't deal with the sorcerer myself — I just don't want to get dirty — but I'll sell it to a ritual merchant. The heart of a dark sorcerer and his blood are very good for "evil" rituals, and a living villain is good for ritual sacrifice in many areas of magic, from casting curses and diseases to removing the soul to strengthen the ancestral altar of the dark clan.
The second good trophy went to the vault. And here specifically with beasts I still pondered under a cup of good coffee, after which I took the food store of the bar — good alcohol, tea, coffee — in a wide range and quality, which is amazing. Well, the choice is made....