All this talk about food and seeing the two eat made me hungry as well. Not that I'd call a distraction from all the newly piled up problems unwelcome.

I still need to avoid wasting blood packs if I want to make more extended dungeon dives, so... back to the slums, I guess.

I leave while Maria brings the two children to bed. I leave the babysitting to her for now. Elly takes a nap in my head, didn't know spirits and/or AIs need that. And Justo, uhh, housesits itself.

It is the middle of the night, so outside the slums, there's just the night guard around. They don't notice me, thanks to [Stealth]. I may now be the official owner of the fortress, but I don't need to cause more trouble than necessary.

In the slums, most are still outside since they lack a home to return to.

I sneak around a bit more to find a lone victim to avoid drawing more attention when I take a drink.

During my search for food, I notice a person I know but haven't seen in a while.

Did his level even increase in the past few weeks? Was he just lazying around? Well, Erwin said something about them working for a master, so maybe he wasted most of his time on that. It might be worth to keep watch on him a bit in case he is on a mission for that ominous master right now.

I follow him for a while without getting noticed, but nothing special comes out of it. He eventually finds a victim to drink blood from.

"Having a snack, Niles?"

I was a bit too late, Niles has already bitten the homeless man.

"Yes, and I don't like getting disturbed when having a midnight feast."

"Hmm... I can understand that."

"Now, 'lord' Jared", he says in a mocking tone, "I'm very lucky for meeting you here. I wanted to search you out anyway."

"Oh, and what did you want from me?"

"It is pretty simple, really. I'm your senior, you should listen to ME, not I to you. So hand over the position of lord of this ruin!"

"Are you sure about that?"

I ram my claws into his stomach.

Yikes, the damage increase from [Vampire Hierarchy] really pulls its weight already.

"Hurgh..."

"Care to rephrase that, 'old man'?"

"W-what... what are you?"

"Gotcha, the hard way it is."

I hit him again with my claws and wrestle him to the ground.

I bring my claws close to his throat.

"Now, you better tell me what I want to know or you'll find out what having negative HP feels like!"

"Grrr... fine, I'll talk."

"Who do you work for?"

"W, what are you talking about?"

"Don't bother playing dumb, your buddy Erwin tried to recruit me to work for the same 'boss' but he made a mathematical blunder before he could tell me any details."

"That blabbermouth..."

"So?"

"...that 'boss' is our creator, a vampire noble ruling over Bloodhausen."

*sigh* That idiot has the same naming sense as Elly. Or there are non-zero odds that Elly is just that master, can't ever be sure with this messed-up world.

"And where is that?"

"No idea."

"You are so useless... is there any reason why that master couldn't just get over here and claim the fortress himself? If he already owns a fortress, he should have the 'Fortress Lord' title which would allow him easy conquest."

"I've really no idea what you're talking about."

"That is not enough for me. Do you really not know anything?"

"No, I swear I know nothing, so just let me go, ok?!"

"Hmm... yeah, sure, I'll let you go - to hell. Bye."

Niles' body turns to ash just like Erwin did, and just like him leaves behind a dog tag.

Well, I gained a minor lead and removed one enemy agent. Not bad for a meeting of pure chance.

Though I find it hard to believe that their 'master' really owns a fortress. Otherwise, he could've just taken over this fortress by himself with no opposition just through the power of the 'Fortress Lord' title alone.

And if this... Bloodhausen is too far away for him to travel here, because vampire, then how did those two idiots get here?

Also, I should have asked if there are more of them there are. Shit, too late now.

With Niles now gone, there's now only the remains of Niles' last dinner in front of me. From experience, I know that I wouldn't gain any nutrition from a corpse, like that person. Thanks, Ted. Not that I'd want someone's leftovers, I want fresh food.

I look around some more for a victim. Soon I find one, holding a bottle and obviously drunk. He clearly needs to take a nap and sleep it off, so I'll help him with that.

I pass on the non-existent offer for some alcohol and take a drink from the drunkard. Tastes like the cheapest wine imaginable.

Does the remaining alcohol in his bloodstream work on me?

I'm feeling a bit drunk already, so I guess, it does affect me. That's certainly one way to enjoy some alcohol when you can no longer taste the regular stuff. Though that would require a lot of convincing a volunteer if I ever want to enjoy a party properly.

...or maybe not that much. I didn't even drink that much spiked blood and can barely walk straight anymore, seems like I'm a lightweight this time around. Bah!

I walk, or rather, weave home. Weave? Do I look like some kind of cobbler to me? I'm just drunk, not a basket worker!

I bet that Bloodhausen fang-face whatever doesn't take me seriously either. Let me tell you, pal, my underwater basket weaving skill has never been equaled! Surpassed often, but never equaled!

Also, let it be known that I don't tolerate competition! You may... sit over there in your cozy hell-hole... but don't get too used to it! Soon the world shall be mine!

...

Damn headache... you stupid wall, I had the right of way!

...

Heh, cute kitty, wanna play? ...damn, she's asleep... what good is a pet that just sleeps whenever it wants? ...oh, right, I told her to go to bed... nevermind...

...

...

When did I get into my bed? The last thing I remember is biting a drunk guy...

Uh, why is it morning now? And why do I feel like I have a hangover?

This takes me back to my last two years of high school... we did that way too often.

...

Maria enters my room.

"My lord, are you awake?"

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep if I wanted to."

"You looked out of it earlier when I checked."

"Ah, so I passed out from the alcohol... so, what is it you wanted, Maria?"

"Just making sure you're not too late, you still need to invite Geoffrey and Marca to the meeting later today."

"Yeah, right. Thanks for reminding me. Can I leave the two kids in your care? Oh, and please prepare some food for our guests. The two kids should help you with that."

I hand her some more of the food items I have left.

"Sure, I'll see to it."

I rise from my comfy bed and make my way over to the training hall.

Maybe I should invite Lucia as well? She already knows that I'm a 'Lost One', might as well tell her the rest as well. Since she's educated in church matters, she might have insights on some topics the rest of us are lacking.

...no, she's better off staying away from me. Until I have a way to negate the effect from her [Undead Bait] she would just be in unnecessary danger in my presence.

It might be worth risking it later when I have a more solid idea of what I'd like to ask her - or I can just let someone else ask her in my stead. There's no point to throw her life away for nothing.

I would... miss her...

While I was lost in thought I reached the training room. Geoffrey and Marca are already present, I quickly tell them to come over to my mansion at noon and then leave towards the gate to cast a single rain spell and the censored wave. With Maria out, I don't have the MP for a second rain.

Nothing of note happens, so I go back home, until...

I feel targeted, half of that list is detrimental for us, the rest reads like a joke.

Fuck you, Graham, just fuck you.

So much for having Elly generate arrows... we need a real ammo factory after all.

...carry the infinite...

So cold status is now just like a critical hit for delayed double damage? I guess with that I can at least scratch a class with [Ailment Boost] from my wishlist.

On the flipside, bleeding, cold, poison and the like are no longer a death sentence for us, so we might lose a few people less every so often.

---

POV: Elly

snore