Carlos left after I said I would consider his request, I could understand why he chose my group, but I was surprised by a lot of things today.
One of the things that surprised me the most was discovering that Carlos had realized many of the secrets of my group and mine.
Another thing that surprised me was that Carlos seems to understand how I think, he's already come all this way knowing I would refuse his request, something I was doing before Layla stepped in and convinced me to consider his request a bit.
"I still think we should forget about Carlos' request, I don't think it's safe with our current strength, even if I evolve the others won't evolve too, so it's risky." (I)
"The master worries too much, if everyone fights together we'll be able to win, Diana certainly has thought of ways to fight Basilisk." (Layla)
"How do you know that?" (I)
"The last time we were at the Adventurers' Guild I saw Diana talking to some adventurers asking about how to fight Basilisk." (Layla)
"Why was she doing this even after I told her she didn't want to face Basilisk?" (I)
"I don't know, ask her tomorrow." (Layla)
"Speaking of which, what are the plans for tomorrow?" (Layla)
"Before I think about it I have to talk to everyone in the morning, I'll just face Basilisk and think about accepting Carlos' request if everyone agrees." (I)
"I think everyone will accept it, thanks to our always facing strong enemies that we are rapidly rising to our levels." (Layla)
I chatted with Layla for a while after Carlos left, after that we went to bed and set a magic alarm clock to wake me up tomorrow morning.
After that I went to sleep thinking about the things Carlos said, he didn't seem to care about my race or that of others, from what he said and from what I studied in the books, there are Adventurers' Guilds all over the world, for what Carlos said it seems that there is even a Vampire who is master of a Guild somewhere, there may even be Guilds in the Realms that the Demonic race lives, I think I was restricting my way of thinking a lot by assuming that everyone would hate me or just try to kill me for being a Vampire.
Even though Carlos doesn't care about these things I don't know what the others think so I'll keep being careful but I'll try to keep my mind more open too.
Before going to sleep I get two books that I asked Kira and Nira to get for me a few days ago, I want to read them before I evolve as they have some information I need.
After a few hours I had finished reading the two books that weren't too thick, so I went to sleep.
zzzzzz...
Zzzzz...
zzzz...
----------
The next day I bring everyone together for a meeting to discuss what we should do, of course, the meeting was after everyone eats something prepared by Caryna and Freya.
I started the meeting by telling everyone what happened yesterday and about my conversation with Carlos, most of them were surprised that Carlos noticed so many things except Diana, Irius, Ivan, and Sophia.
It seems they already expected Carlos to notice something sooner or later because he is a Grade S adventurer, Diana said she already thought he knew and was sure he wouldn't mind, the biggest problem would be dealing with Mari later since she doesn't like lies, but she said there would be no problems and she will take care of it.
Diana had already told me a few times that I didn't need to try to deceive Mari and Carlos, but I didn't listen to her, I preferred to err on the side of caution.
After talking about what I talked about with Carlos I waited to hear everyone's opinions, it seems like I do they understand why Carlos asked this for us.
So I told everyone what Layla said yesterday, Diana admitted that she was looking for ways to face Basilisk in the last few days, she also said that she thought we have a chance of winning, she said that with some preparation we won't have any problems facing Basilisk.
I asked what preparations she is talking about and she said that all we need was a high-grade long-term antidote potion, she also said that we will need a petrification resistance potion, with these two potions we have a 50% chance of winning now, but if I evolve and face Basilisk head-on while they support me the chance of winning could be over 75%.
Unfortunately, Lyra is still not able to create the potion we need at her current level, that's because Basilisk is a Grade S monster and stronger than a normal Basilisk for being the boss of the Dungeon, it must be a Variant or Unique monster.
After talking to everyone and giving a large sum of money to Nira, Lyra, and Ivan to go buy the potions I told the others to prepare because we are going to the Dungeon today, I wanted to kill enough monsters to be able to evolve today.
----------
I came back from Dungeon tired like everyone else, but I was happy knowing that today I would evolve again, I told everyone about it and they congratulated me, I was happy.
Nira, Lyra, and Ivan were already at the mansion when we got back, it seems they got the potions with the money I gave them, I told everyone we were going to face Basilisk without tomorrow the next day as I'll need to get used to the changes that my body will surely suffer after evolution, I have to have full control over my body and power, otherwise, it will be dangerous to me and others during battle.
Everyone was in agreement and Diana said that tomorrow we would have a meeting to discuss strategies to fight Basilisk, everyone agrees with her, so we went to shower in shifts and then eat something before going to bed early to rest.
I went to meditate before bed to integrate my new level before going to sleep, I had already changed jobs on the way home, so after that, I lie on my bed next to Layla who is already sleeping, and let myself be led by my tiredness and drowsiness.
zzzzzz...
Zzzzz...
zzzz...
Ding! Ding!
<[ "EVOLUTION REQUIREMENTS FULFILLED" ]>
----------
Elsaris Pov:
I was at one of our bases now with the most capable Vampires and servants of the Black Market, I was about to wrap up this meeting.
But before that, I sent all the servants and Vampires away to have a meeting with just the Black Market executives who are just below me in the hierarchy who are trusted.
An urgent matter has happened and I have to let them know so I don't get in trouble because of someone doing something wrong.
I look at the three who remain in the room seriously and think about what I have to say.
"(Why is all this happening right after I take the lead here!?)" (I)
"I have something urgent to announce, but you must not divulge it to any third parties." (I)
"Yes, Lady Elsaris." (all)
"A person from the neutral faction was sent here, I had Jay escort that person here, they should arrive tomorrow." (I)
"..." (all)
At my words everyone was shocked, but I can understand them as this has never happened before, but after they finally understand my words I can see the panic on their faces.
"Why did the neutral faction suddenly send someone like this?" (executive A)
"Have they found out about the monster wave? Who told them? Do we have a traitor?" (executive B)
"Maybe they've come to investigate our performance, so if we stay calm and no idiots do anything to cause trouble then we should be fine, shouldn't we?" (executive C)
They don't even wait for me to finish talking and are already making their own guesses about the matter, for Vampires who have been alive for over 800 years are very impatient.
"Stop panicking you idiots!" (I)
"I informed the neutral faction about everything that happened during the monster wave, this was part of our agreement with them, but I only informed it two weeks ago." (I)
"From the distance and arrival time, this person should already be on their way before they receive my information about the monster wave." (I)
"Do you mean to say that the reason this person was sent here has nothing to do with the wave of monsters?" (executive C)
"That's not possible, nothing out of the ordinary happened other than that, what other reason would they have to send someone?" (executive A)
"(Whenever something they didn't plan happens they panic, these idiots have become too soft.)" (I)
"(Just as I imagined, only Jay is someone really trustworthy in this place, I did well to send him to escort that person to Valen City.)" (I)
I look at these three idiots with disappointment.
"You are needlessly panicking, we'll know what the neutral faction wants soon, so prepare for your arrival and make sure nothing happens in town for the next few days, I don't want any more unforeseen events." (I)
The three idiots look at me and nod, calming down a bit.
"Yes, Lady Elsaris." (all)
"Now you can go make your preparations." (I)
With my words the three go out discussing preparations and what they should do to ensure that information about this person from the neutral faction doesn't spill over to outside ears, at least that they understand without me saying, maybe they still have some brains. in their heads.
Sigh
"(But I don't know who was sent here or why?)" (I)
"(What else happened in town before the monster wave, I don't think I sent any information before that.)" (I)
I try to think but nothing comes to mind, I'm pretty sure I haven't sent any information to the neutral faction before the monster wave events.
"(Wait... will that...)" (i)
It was at that moment that something came to mind, the only strange thing that happened in the city besides the wave of monsters was those Vampires that walk in the daylight.
I received their first information from a servant who has an eye on the slave market, after that I also received some information about their activities in the auction that took place, it was Jay who told me about them.
I wanted to look for more information from them, but I was in doubt if it was worth spying on them, if they found out I could make them my enemies needlessly and without gaining anything from it, for the little information I received to know that they were not part of the Demonic faction and not even the Human faction I'm a part of, so I left them alone for a while to watch them a little longer before doing something.
I ended up forgetting about them after the mess the monster wave caused, but I didn't inform the neutral faction about him, so I'm not sure he's the cause of this person coming.
Not knowing what's happening in my territory is frustrating, all I can do is wait and see what happens from now on.