The Most Evil Kind.

Knowing all this, Alexander had prepared his response in advance. All the vampires had been briefed separately, and even after the battle, Konstantin managed everything in the village. The knight, after showing his face to the locals, retreated into the shadows and did not intervene further.

"Militia of the free village of Lesnoye, Your Grace. My company remained at the castle; I was present in the battle only as an observer."

"Thank you!"

And it was sincere; with just a few words, a huge burden was lifted off the Baron's shoulders.

"Has His Excellency not arrived yet?"

As far as I know, he has not even reached his own castle yet.

There was nothing more to talk about except perhaps the weather and the pesky goblins. However, even such casual chatter was quickly exhausted, and the Baron, without waiting for all traces of the night attack to be eradicated, rode back to the city. The vampire, however, had to stay in Peski until the end, under the bright local sun sparkling in the sky.

Concealed in the shadows, wearing a hood and a broad-brimmed hat, he looked peculiar, but the locals paid no attention to their savior, monotonously dragging the dead bodies of the night guests to the bonfire. Alexander stood almost blind and listened to what the peasants were saying. Why almost blind?

Unfortunately, this problem couldn't be solved. Vampires who could see perfectly in complete darkness became completely blind in the light, as they once did in their previous lives in darkness. Back then, they saw the dark nothingness, but now everything was bright and light. No amount of focusing helped their vision. Their eyes hurt.

Sometimes the reflections of Demur, reflected from shiny surfaces, hit their faces and burned, but fortunately no one saw this, and all burns were quickly healed by their bodies. Despite all the suffering, with his face repeatedly burnt and his eyes sore, Alexander played his role until the end and left Peski closer to evening, when it became clear that the villagers, aside from a sense of gratitude, had no other questions and did not find the night battle strange.

"Tonight, Pleshin was attacked too!" he immediately reported upon returning home.

Oleg and Leonid, who were waiting for his return, simply exchanged glances. They were little interested in this, as all their concerns were focused on Peski.

"No questions asked?"

"No, everything's fine, you can sleep until sunset."

"We have just an hour left."

"Even five minutes would do, it's all yours! Can't have too much sleep!"

Everyone was about to disperse when Konstantin entered the house.

"I heard Pleshin was attacked?"

"Yes."

"And they repelled them, of course?"

"Of course."

"So why aren't we heading anywhere?"

Three pairs of puzzled eyes were his answer.

"There's so much delicious stuff there, and we're here. We can fly there in five minutes!"

"You want to intercept goblins returning to their caves?"

"Well, of course!" the triumvir grinned and cheerfully looked at his friends, as if asking why they were asking silly questions.

When this idea was voiced to the vampire leadership half an hour later, only Olga opposed it.

"No way. Enough of these nightly wanderings in the forest. My construction schedule is already off track because of today! And you want to spend two more nights hunting? Enough of fighting! We'll be left with nothing!"

But no one listened to her. Blood or construction? There's no need to choose even. This time, there were far more people left in the village. All the constables stayed, along with Oleg. The guards remained. The blood collectors stayed.

Olga stood firm! True, children were taken for the first time. Despite all of Leonid's objections, the Triumvirate allowed the children, who had always been protected and left in camp until that night, to go. This time, Alexander stood next to Stephanie, who escorted the departing vampires.

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