— I will continue the investigation, and if I find new evidence, I will make sure to pass it on to the Radiant Church.
— Are you absolutely sure of your conclusions?
Rudolf had to confirm the accuracy of his statements once again that day. Without delaying the man any further, the priests departed; it was unwise to put his best informant at risk by staying with him too long, and a brief conversation had never harmed anyone.
After the Demura's servants had left, Rudolf looked with disgust at the window near which their conversation had taken place. Light fell on his boots, and the man involuntarily flinched.
It turned out that becoming a vampire didn't necessarily require drinking the blood of another vampire. It was enough to interrogate them, and if one couldn't endure the prisoner's foolishness, one might resort to violence. This had happened during the night when the magistrate had been interrogating a captured herbivore, obtaining meager bits of information.
When he came home, the man had fallen into agony, evidently because the vampire's blood that had splashed onto his face during the conversation had seeped through his skin. A couple of maidservants who had been drained dry and many years of self-control required for practicing magic had completed the transformation.
The ghoul controlled himself well, suppressing both thirst and aggression. Realizing what he had become, the man's first decision was to finish all investigations concerning vampires. The head of intelligence had already leaned towards the idea that vampires were created by Zlat, and having become one of them, he had no doubt that this result of the inquiry would satisfy everyone. Adjusting some data in the documents, he issued the final conclusion of the investigation. The dead archmage was a perfect scapegoat.
The magistrate took out an elegant silver flask and poured its contents into his mouth. The blood of his beloved dog revived the ghoul. Carefully, trying not to let the silver touch his skin, he returned the flask to his cloak. Since his soul was now in darkness, why not engage in dark deeds? There were countless plans, and all that remained was to remove all the spies from the capital.
***
Once again, everything came down to the dreadful organization. Vampires had already become accustomed to the fact that this was perfectly normal for the locals. Bringing soldiers into the city and not arranging any provisions? Why would they need any, when there's none in the city? It's not customary in this world to command armies of a hundred thousand. In fact, such armies simply did not exist.
A couple of thousand armed men would always find something to eat. The trouble was that the barony of Savoyardi produced only a limited amount of food, enough only to meet the demand existing in the city. All the excess had been cleared out during preparations for the campaign over the pass. The city simply couldn't supply food for another army.
Of course, one could wait a little, as the harvest was just beginning, and in about a month, streams of provisions from other parts of the kingdom would flow into Savoyardi, directed to Zaloon. But people wanted to eat right now, not in a month.
The threat of hunger had descended upon the leaders completely unexpectedly. Even the baron, who was a genius administrator compared to all the other locals, could not have predicted that at the moment the new harvest began, there would be a catastrophic shortage of food.
Meanwhile, Gennady was rubbing his hands with satisfaction. In the spring, he had purchased food for the prisoners. However, he had slightly miscalculated and bought twice as much as needed. The mistake was natural; the calculations were based on the dietary norms of modern people, but they were not accustomed to such good nutrition.
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