Chapter 101: Prelude



Once morning came, Ingrid left for the academy alongside Desmond. Unlike her, he was still consistent and blended his two lives quite perfectly, as expected of a model student. He would have been recognized more, if there wasn't such disparity within the academy based on background. Even though on the surface the academy was said to show no favoritism, that wasn't the case when it came down to it.

Aldritch managed to find the place the girl was trying to tell his about, the Fire Fly Fairies.

Just as expected, it was along the major red-light district. Since dropping her off in front would bring too much attention, he took her to behind and dropped her in an open spot where would easily be found. It looked like the door workers would follow, so he was certain it would all go well... unless the girl was just unlucky and that door happened to be one that had been abandoned.

Well, she'd wake up eventually even then.

Aldritch still returned early, around the time everywhere was still getting bright. He asked for a bath to be drawn for him so he could wash himself, after all, he did carry the dirtied girl. Being able to bath everyday unlike the commoners was really a blessing.

'Anytime I think about it, this world is so strange in many aspects. This should very well be the industrial era where the air is supposed to be filled with coal and white collar jobs are blooming, yet it isn't...' No matter how he looked at it, was strange.

There were trains but no guns, there were soldiers and mercenaries, gadgets powered through special gems instead of electricity... it really was different and familiar all at the same time. Even soap was a rare commodity for the commoners.

It was difficult to tell if this world was moving in the right direction or not. It felt like it was progressing in a similar fashion to earth until the advent of mana in the world. Even scientists had become so focused on this ethereal energy that medicine was still in its rudimentary era... How a single variable can change things.

Aldritch strode to his room to take off the clothes so he could have someone wash them later. On his way, he ran into Lada who was also heading to his room coincidentally.

Looking at Aldritch, she quickly spotted the stains on his white shirt, bringing a worried expression on her face, "master! Your shirt, what happened?" Surely, there was no way her master was playing in the mud, the only logical cause for it in her mind was an attack.

"Calm down, I wasn't attacked. I just happened to sa-" as Aldritch explain briefly the cause of the stain, his voice trailed off in Lada's ears as he became even more quieter the more he spoke.

...

Once his bath was done, Aldritch dressed properly and went to sleep.

Since their operations were going to be sped up now, he planned to make even more Blooded Vampires that are able to turn others, so that his job across the board will be more effective. Previously he would want to engage in some of the activities, but he no longer had the luxury. As the leader, he wasn't supposed to be so engaged in the 'frontlines' without observing all other processes.

In as much as he craved fighting experience and all, he needed to go about it logically too, not just based off his heart, but his brain.

The following night, everyone was up and ready, their plan would continue unimpeded. Discover exclusive tales on m,v l'e-novelhall.net

The current phase of the plan involved turning the various witches into vampires. Aldritch was more than aware what kind of forces he commanded, he had no fear they would be successful in accomplishing their assignments, so he left it to them.

In the meantime, since he stayed back from said operations, Aldritch went through all the vampires under his command, trying to pick the most suitable to evolve into Blooded vampires.

'Combat abilities and such should come first, loyalty should be enough as is, unless the person has some kind of grudge.'

This wasn't an organization per se, so there were no files or documents holding the information of every single person. The only way Aldritch could enquire about the people was either ask someone with such knowledge, or ask the people themselves.

Seeing as it would be faster, Aldritch chose the latter.

'Let's get to work.'