“So you want some reinforcements to accompany you back to your human city and help you solve your undead problem, correct?” Victoria asked, leaning back in her seat.

“Yes. Right now, just my strength is not enough. I won’t be enough even with Kagriss and Elyss, so in order to accomplish what I need, I need greater strength in the form of outside help.”

Although Victoria already knew all this and anyone with a brain could guess, Camilla repeated the reasoning. When speaking to someone in a higher position, some formalities would feel wrong to leave out.

She had not planned to ask anything of Victoria at first. After all, it wouldn’t be fair for an exam proctor to help an examinee with a problem. However, she didn’t care anymore. There wasn’t enough time for her to stay in Celrantis and recruit warriors to help her. That could take months, or even years, to find enough people willing to go all the way into human territory for a mission. Even if she didn’t bank on cashing in favors and friendship and decided to post a commission to the Hunter’s Guild, she still had to have enough money.

A force powerful enough to demolish the undead at Amaranthine Point while fending off the local Church and Orders would be A-rank at least. On top of the reward money for an A-rank commission, she would need to provide for the teleportation fee for the entire force to avoid having to make a month-long journey back to the border.

The sum of the expenditure from such an undertaking would go up to the millions of bloodstones. That much she understood after spending a month traveling from city to city and interacting with the Hunter’s Guild. She had been naïve coming here, and now that she was here, she had no choice but to rely on Victoria.

Victoria waited to see if she was going to say any more, but when there were no more words to follow, the implication…the unspoken plea became clear.  She fell silent, narrowing her eyes. “You wish for me to aid you in procuring reinforcements?”

“Yes.”

“You do realize that this is still your test to see if you are worthy of joining our ranks, right? You even chose this yourself, so there is no reason that you shouldn’t be able to complete this on your own, unless you are willing to admit that you are unworthy.” Victoria crossed her arms, eyes growing colder.

Naturally, Camilla knew that, but compared to a problem that might threaten an entire city and the whole region around it where she grew up, perhaps even spiraling out from there, simple failure of an examination that she could redo later paled in comparison.

“Mother,” she said, playing the emotional card. “You said that if I wished for your help, I would have to pay a price, right? If I were to ask this of you, what price would you have me pay?”

At that mention of price, Victoria’s eyes flashed, and Camilla felt a chill down her spine. However, she didn’t try to take back her words.

“You… you would go this far?” Victoria asked. “For humans?”

Camilla found herself nodding. “I would,” she said quietly.

After all, it wasn’t just her home, but the home of Arvel and Fleur, and Anne. Even if Arvel can escape a disaster with Fleur and Anne, he can't save everyone.

Victoria shook her head. “I see that you haven’t completely given up your loyalty and allegiance to the humans.”

“That was the point of this mission, is it not? To sever my ties by doing one last thing for them, to repay the favor of being my cradle, of raising me into who I am now.”

“Foolish.”

Sitting beside Camilla, Kagriss twitched, pursing her lips at the word. However, reading the situation, she decided to not interrupt. If she cuts in now, she might make the situation worse.

Even after being called foolish, Camilla didn’t get angry. She neither accepted the insult nor did she deny it. In the end, Victoria was half right, as her desire to help wasn’t out of loyalty but because someone still precious to her remained there and called it home.

“Camilla… I’ll ask you one more time. Do you truly intend to ask me to help you? Is it really worth paying a price for? A price that you do not even know the magnitude of.”

Camilla nodded. “It is a lot to ask, and naturally I’m aware that such a request doesn’t come cheap. But there’s one thing that you got wrong. I’m not going to blindly accept whatever price you ask of me. We’re still in the middle of negotiations, after all.”

“Do you really think you have room to negotiate or refuse? Don’t forget that you’re the one that wants something from me. If you refuse, then I lose nothing.”

“No… there’s something you want from me as well,” Camilla said with certainty. “You couldn’t have forgotten, right?” She undid the magic that concealed her true hair color, revealing the gold that remained beneath the mask of white. “This hair of mine. You want me for something.”

For once, Victoria looked stunned. She had not been expected to be refuted, especially with a reason like that. And it was because of something that she had said so long ago too. At the time, she had been feeling playful so she revealed a little of her plans, but who would’ve thought that Camilla would still remember her words so clearly when she had merely mentioned them as a passing, teasing comment. An undead’s memory shouldn’t be underestimated.

However, she quickly recovered, composing herself. “You’re not wrong. Very well. I’ll help you. But in return, you must do two things for me.”

“Which two things?” Camilla asked, unwilling to step into such an obvious trap. Especially one that she just exposed. She felt her intelligence being insulted.

“…the first is to participate in a joint commission from the guild. If you participate, Ismelda will go with you back to human lands to help you with whatever you wish.”

Camilla sat up straighter, looking across the table at the vampire lord in question. Ismelda had been silently reading a book this whole time, and after nodding at her when Camilla first sat down at the table, Camilla hadn’t paid any attention to her.

Ismelda looked bored, but feeling her gaze, Ismelda stared back, her mouth pressed together in reluctant acceptance. It didn’t seem like she agreed with Victoria’s arrangement, but accepted them nonetheless.

Although Camilla didn’t want to force someone into her service since someone unwilling was always less useful than someone willing, she hadn’t forgotten how strong Ismelda was. The vampire lord wiped out an entire platoon of elite templars by herself when she first descended onto the battlefield, only being defeated by a concerted effort led by Camilla herself.

It was without a question that Ismelda would be able to take on a lord-class undead by herself. Camilla wouldn’t refuse the help of someone with that kind of power.

Belatedly realizing that her appraising gaze was rude, Camilla gave her a quick nod and turned back toward Victoria who was waiting for her answer.

“I’m okay with participating in a commission; it’s not like it’s anything new for me, but I don’t think Ismelda alone is enough to help me.” When Ismelda bristled, Camilla rushed to elaborate. “I’m not saying you’re weak, but I fear the scale of the issue is bigger than any one person can handle.”

Ismelda snorted and looked away, retracting her hostility.

“Don’t worry. Ismelda is just a bonus. Since I agreed to help you, I will naturally fulfil my end of the bargain. Perhaps you don’t know this, but I’m the head of the guild here,” Victoria said with a proud look on her face. “My position affords me some powers. Even if I don’t use them explicitly, my words still carry a lot of weight. You probably don’t need an explanation about what an introduction or request from me will do for you?”

After weighing the benefits, Camilla nodded. “That should be enough. I don’t care how you do it, as long as you manage it. Now, about the second thing you wish to obtain from me… while I’m satisfied with what I’m receiving, what is the price?”

Victoria covered her mouth, hiding her expression behind her hand, acting all secretive. When Camilla furrowed her brows, trying to figure out what she was up to, she waved her hand dismissively. “It’s not that important. You’ll know.”

“Wait, I haven’t accepted,” Camilla said. “You haven’t told me what the second thing is.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s fine if you don’t accept it now, or even refuse it when the time comes. I’ll help you either way.” Seeing the confusion on Camilla’s face, Victoria laughed, but there was something hidden beneath that mirth that Camilla couldn’t quite catch. She continued on, tapping the table gleefully, but when she opened her mouth, she stopped and looked away. The tapping stopped.

“…” Camilla tilted her head, reaching next to her for Kagriss’s hand again. In confusing times like this, she needed an anchor to keep her rooted in reality, lest she be swept away by a sudden new change. Even Ismelda was speechless, and the troll vampire shrugged when they made eye contact.

When Victoria finally recovered, she drained her glass of blood and stood up. “I’m feeling…unwell. As long as you help me with the first, I’ll get you the help you need. When you have your decision, tell Ismelda your answer…”

With a face even paler than normal, Victoria got up and walked out of the huge dining hall. Everyone’s gaze followed her until the door closed with a quiet clack.

Ismelda looked conflicted. Despite still appearing focused on her book, her eyes constantly darted to the side toward the door, worried, as if she were unsure if she should follow after Victoria. However, she was to stay with Camilla until she received an answer, so she couldn’t go and see how Victoria was doing.

The page of the book that she was on crinkled under the pressure of her fingers.

With one last look at Camilla to see how they were doing, Ismelda took a deep breath and buried her head in the novel, seemingly shutting out the world around her, leaving the hall devoid of liveliness outside of Camilla, Kagriss, and Elyss. Not that Elyss was contributing much to the action.

After a moment of silence, Camilla finally couldn’t wait anymore. She pulled Kagriss over, placed her hand between her mouth and Ismelda, and whispered her concerns to her lover. “Kagriss, Kagriss, is it just me or does something seem off about Victoria?”

“I think so too,” she said without hesitation. “The way she’s looking at you is really strange. Like she really wants something from you, yet she’s not saying anything.”

Relief washed over Camilla. “I knew I wasn’t going insane!”

“I don’t blame you for not being sure,” Kagriss said. “I almost didn’t notice since the gaze wasn’t directed at me. However, I managed because I’m used to observing people.”

“So what do you think was wrong with her just now?”

While everything prior to Victoria’s departure could be attributed to her desperation for Camilla’s help, that last moment of strangeness didn’t match up with anything. That expression was not something Camilla ever expected to see on someone as composed as her mother.

Kagriss shook her head with a low growl. “I’m not sure either. I didn’t see it that clearly before she decided to leave. But…if you don’t mind just guesses, I have some.”

“Guesses? It’s better than nothing, I guess. Go for it.” Although Camilla was a bit disappointed that the ever-reliable Kagriss actually failed to read someone, she didn’t blame her at all since they were up against someone with at least a few centuries more experience than they did.

How old was Victoria anyway?

Kagriss didn’t look happy about having to announce her guesses, but with nothing else to go on, she could only force down any of her misgivings. “I think…that she’s feeling sad…or…guilty about something.”

Guilty? What does Victoria have to feel guilty about? And for her to show that expression at such a time too. Camilla’s mind spun as she began recalling what Victoria had been saying, but she came up with nothing except that perhaps the guilt had something to do with the joint commission, or that mysterious second request.

Thinking about that second request, Camilla’s heart began to pound, as if she were alive once more.