"Boss, we found her, but.." The man who had reported before once again appeared before the chubby man."But what?"
"She... she is with some n.o.bles most probably. They wore expensive clothes and had a good bearing. I think she is already a slave for someone else." The man explained.
"The n.o.bles, you say? How many people? Any guards?"
"She was with two other girls and a man, in his twenties. There were no guards, or at least we couldn"t see any."
The chubby man started to frown, thinking about what he should do. He had already called for a few strong men to catch the half-elf. With the n.o.bles at her side, the things might be different.
"Hmm, let"s do this. Watch them for now, if there are no guards, we"ll find a chance to take her when she is separated for the rest. If not, we"ll drop the operation."
"Yes, boss!" The man saluted and walked out of the room. Only the chubby man was left there, his frown still on his face. "I already called for help. Even if there are n.o.bles, I can"t stop the hunt now. Guess I"ll have to make some preparations and learn more about them. I hope there won"t be any big trouble waiting for us. Those n.o.bles are really problematic." He murmured to himself.
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Erin"s group finally came back to the inn, they all entered Erin"s room. Lyse was a bit confused about what was going on, but she still followed. Her hearing wasn"t as good as the others and she didn"t hear the conversations on the street.
"Anna, what happened last night?" Richard asked in a deep tone, only to see Erin rolling her eyes at him. "Anna, don"t be nervous, just tell us what happened. I won"t punish you even if you made a mistake." Erin tried to comfort her.
"I...I went out to hunt...for food, but forgot to dispose of the body." Anna said in a whisper, a bit ashamed of herself that she had made such a blunder and uneasy about what would happen to her for that mistake.
Lyse"s eyes widened. Did she hear that right? Going for hunting and disposing of the body? She knew Erin and the others were not humans, but she wasn"t sure what race they were. So they had to kill someone to be able to eat? She remembered in the forest the half cooked meat with some blood still on it. The first time she saw it, she was sure they weren"t humans. No human could eat that. With Anna"s answer, Lyse was sure now that they were from the demon race.
Richard was just about to say something, but he felt Erin"s gaze on him and he looked back. What he saw made him stiffen for a moment and he gulped his words. Erin"s eyes were warning him. He sighed and decided to let Anna off the hook this time, or else he would be at odds with Erin again.
Erin was warning Richard with her eyes, but at the same time, she started worrying about what Richard had told her last night. Most probably an investigation would start and the humans would try to find them out. If they stayed here, they might be in danger. What should be done now?
"Anna, for now, there won"t be any punishment. What is done is done. We should first think about what to do next. Richard, can you tell us what you think? After all, you are our leader."
Erin expressed her opinion calmly, but she knew that she couldn"t make the decision there. At the same time, Anna was her subordinate. She had to ensure that Anna was given a chance to redeem herself.
Richard frowned and started thinking about future plans. He had brought Erin there for training and it was too early to go back. The risk would be bigger, but he could protect Erin, so that wasn"t a problem. As he was about to answer, he heard a cough. It was Lyse, looking pale and waving her hands around, not sure about what to do.
"I-I, can I ask, in the end, what race are you from?" Lyse finally managed to say what was on her mind. She wasn"t scared to learn about them since she could see that they had no ill intentions against her. But it was still hard for her to express herself. Her stuttering came from the fact that she didn"t talk much in the first place and most of her interactions in the past with others were bad experiences of torturing, bullying, and other stuff.
The room fell silent. Erin looked at others and took a deep breath.
"We are vampires."
Lyse"s body stiffened for a few seconds. Vampires! One of the most powerful demon races! Although they were almost extinct, she knew how dangerous they could be; even more so after realizing that she was spared from turning into breakfast for one of them. She was just a half-elf, surely they wouldn"t hesitate to drink her blood.
She remembered their first interaction and the bath afterward. If they wanted, they could have killed her there, but they didn"t. That showed they had no bad intentions towards her. Though they might be demons, she didn"t mind. After all, they were nice to her and helped her out. The only person who helped her before was her late teacher, who taught her magic. Alas! He was dead now.
"I-I see, vampires! I never e-expected to be f-friendly with vampires and t-to be banished by elves and t-tortured by humans. The v-vampires are really kind." Lyse blushed a little as she said that, though it was quite awkward to think of something good to say to them. It was really a strange situation for both parties.
A few seconds later, the whole room burst out laughing. If it wasn"t for Erin"s kind nature, Lyse wouldn"t be with them now, but that really made them look like a kind race. Anna especially laughed to the point that tears started falling from her eyes, her hands on her stomach. She just thought if it was in the past, their Lord wouldn"t be kind to anyone. But look at him now, trying to restrain himself all the time only to please Erin! That really was a scene she couldn"t imagine in the past.
"Alright, that"s enough laughing. We"ll stay in the city and continue with the training. If it gets dangerous, I"ll use my powers." Richard finally managed to cut in. With his words, the room fell silent for one more time. Everyone looked at him and nodded.
"Tonight I"ll teach Erin hypnosis. Anna, you will come with us. It will be helpful for you too, and Lyse?" Anna nodded her head at Richard"s words and Richard looked at Lyse.
"I-I"ll s-stay in the inn." Lyse waved her hand, not wanting to go out for a second time.
"Alright then, you can stay here. Now everyone can go to their own rooms. We"ll start hunting when night comes." Richard finally concluded.
Anna and Lyse left the room and went to their own room. Now everyone would have to wait for the night to come and the hunting would begin again. Only Lyse would stay in the inn. She did not need to drink blood and kill people, though she didn"t say it out loud. It was enough for her to get something to eat from the inn and rest for the night.