Am I making a meaningful difference in this city? Am I achieving anything with these corrupted nobles and their money, or would I better serve these people by leaving the walls and manually hunting the beasts that hunt them?

Standing upon the walls of the city and gazing outward to the east, I watch as another clutch of commoners flee, chased by a small green creature that almost imitates the shape of a human child. One of the group stumbles and falls as the others leave her behind.

The green child charges her, its makeshift club lifted to strike, a serpent of shadow fed by the girl’s fears wraps around the child’s arm easily pulling the club to the side and missing her. The girl wastes no time in scrambling away and rushing to join the others.

Stepping from the wall, I approach the child still struggling with my shadows. It is pitifully weak, and if the people here had actually tried to fight, they’d have easily found victory.

“Almost human,” I remark, walking around the green creature that has been stripped of any dignity. The creature cowers as it slowly notices me, raising its club to defend against me, but I pull its arm back to its side. It’s a ‘she’ though I could hardly tell at a glance, it’s difficult to tell how much intelligence there is in her, there is simply too much fear.

“What has he done to you?” I ask her resting a hand on her shoulder. She’s been stripped of any dignity, unclothed, and driven to violence by circumstances not her own. Aldramodore could easily use me in the same way.

The girl growls at me, baring her sharp teeth.

“Now, now,” I say, tapping a finger against her nose. It’s enough to suddenly quiet her. “You will behave better than this.”

Slavery, as an ideal, has always been for criminals and creatures that cannot safely conduct themselves to social standards. It is a means of allowing them a means of participating in society and enjoying the luxuries of society while managing the threat that they pose to others.

“Child-”

“She’s not,” Ollie says, slithering beside me spreading a warm air about herself as she moves. An uncommon magic, most would use fire itself. “A kid, I mean.”

“No?”

“She’s an adult goblin,” she explains, her tail raising to poke at the creature’s side. “Terrible things only live for about ten years, stupid and mean.”

“Is that so?” I ask, considering the creature before me. “Then I will take her in, with my assistance, she could make herself something more.”

I pry the club from her hand and toss it aside. The goblin’s eyes shimmer with tears as fear overcomes her.

“Come,” I order her, tugging her along with a chain made of terror realized and the body of shadow. She quickly picks up on my desire and obeys, following and only occasionally tugging at the chains to see if she can escape.

“Gwen,” I startle the new vampire, who stands up straight and quickly rushes to my side.

“What do you want, mistress?” She asks, bowing her head to me. Ever since being raised, she’s treated me with the utmost respect, even though I have not asked it of her. She misunderstands our relationship, but explanations would not help her.

I must live and act as a proper master and raise her as a proper slave, it is the only way that she’ll ever grow.

“What do you think of the city before us?” I ask, meeting the eyes of another goblin that hides in a nearby home. Where are they all coming from? How were so many smuggled into this city?

Should I dig into it? Or would challenging Aldramodore in that way only hurt me further?

“I…” Gwen hides her expression as she panics, searching for an answer that would satisfy me. Too frightened to allow the silence to drag, she finally finds her voice.

“The city… is not productive in its current state,” she says. “No merchants are coming here, no one to tax.”

“Correct, but there is more here,” I say, turning to look at her. She’s terrified, and no doubt scarred by what I’ve done to her. “What is the purpose of a city? Greater than that, what is the purpose of civilisation? Is it all simply gold coins and taxes?”

“Power,” she answers quickly and easily. “A city produces gold, knights, and trade. They can produce luxury goods that you won’t find elsewhere.”

“Again, you are not wrong,” I admit, nodding to her though my words only inspire fear. The goblin stops and tries to flee, tripping over her own feet as the chains pull her closer, I step over her as she cowers on the ground, a puddle forming under her.

I kneel beside her, ignoring it all and taking her hand in mine. It is small, and her fingernails are something nearer to claws, but she doesn’t harm me.

I stand and pull her up to her feet.

Releasing her hand, I pull my cloak from my shoulders and wave it over her to give her some of the dignity that she’s lost. I should have done this sooner, I’m not yet the person that I intend to become. The goblin, Lin for now until I can learn her true name, toys with the cloth between her fingers, looking between it and me before I move along tugging her after me.

“A pack of wolven, using their necromantic magics to control their undead brethren, are stronger together. Yet, I do not think that they live as packs simply for the sake of power. They are family, Gwen. They care for one another, and would not feel comfortable leaving one of their pack to starve and die.

“People form a civilisation so that we can serve one another, and help one another more efficiently,” I explain. “As a noble, as a leader, it is natural for the commoners, peasants, surfs, and slaves to serve me because it is my role to serve them. It is what a kingdom is. It is what civilisation is.”

I stand over the corpse of an old man, clutching at a young boy, trying to save him, but failing.

“This city does not reflect those values, the people have been betrayed and thus our kingdom is already dead.”

Gwen nods along, though from her expression it does not seem that she believes it. That is fine. In fact, I could still be wrong in my current beliefs. I am not as wise as I wish to be, and there are still many things that I do not know, so if she disagrees then let her try to convince me.

Returning home, and slaying the monsters that cross our path, I find my resolve deepening. I cannot likely stop Aldramodore today, and there is nothing that I can achieve through investigating what he is doing, but that is no reason to live in ignorance.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“To have the supplies readied as quickly as you’re wanting and delivering them in these violent conditions… we’d be seeing expenses from guards, and-”

“I already have a connection with a group of vigilantes capable of helping you defend our cargo from the various threats that you’ll encounter. I would also trust them to represent my interests in this task, what’s more, I’m in talks with a company of mercenaries to further support our efforts.”

“I understand, but I’m sure that you’ll understand that-”

“Such risks that I’m asking of you must be matched with equal rewards?” I smirk with him, raising my teacup. It’s properly spiced with fresh blood and it is the only reason that I can withstand this dreary meeting, most other merchants make these deals more interesting but this man is simply unpleasant company.

“Exactly,” the man replies, nodding happily as his fat smile widens. “I would not have come here if I hadn’t been made aware of your intentions. There has not been a proper construction effort outside of the duchies in a long time. The closest we’ve had is the building of Dusk in the lands beyond the mountains, but it’s so distant that most merchants won’t mess with it.

“If you build a reliable road…”

“You wish for a piece of it,” I say with confidence. “There is room enough for you, and some funding can certainly be invested in assisting reliable merchants so that they can set up quickly in these new towns. Now, the proposed locations are here, here, and here.”

I point to them on the map. Unfortunately, all plans have been made with old maps and information, but desperate as we are to move today, there is no time to wait for the scouts to return with more accurate information.

“Towns are nice, but I’m sure that there are plans to make more than a few small towns, no?” he asks, his eyes sparkling as he imagines, like so many others, the birth of a new duchy with a city at its centre. A useful rumour, but not one that I can take credit for. It is merely the hopes and dreams of the noble class to be a part of something so massive.

“A city is something that grows from success, plans and hopeful intentions can only set out the foundation,” I explain slowly. “There are, in fact, at least four nobles with plans to build their own cities, but I expect most, if not all, to fail. You are a merchant, so tell me where do you wish to invest your own money?”

The man chuckles, pointing at the town second away from the mountain ranges. Nodding to his request, I mark him down in my files. Construction teams are being gathered for each town and they need to know whose request is important, and whose is not. Prioritising certain merchants in construction is not too difficult.

“I’ll have to secure seeds,” he hums thoughtfully to himself. “Something that grows well in those lands, resh wheat perhaps?”

The rest of the meeting is largely an exchange of platitudes, but my earlier frustrations with the man fade away as he grows excited. A balding old man bouncing in his seat like an eager child waiting for his presents is quite the pleasantly amusing scene. It’s almost cute. There is an honesty to him that I can only see now that negotiations are ended.

“Mister Steel, I’ll remember your name,” I say, seeing him to his carriage. “I do hope that I hear your name again in the future, let us both work on building our reputation before we cross paths again.”

“May this contract lead us both to fortune, Countess Greystone,” he says eagerly nodding to me.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“A young countess dares to meet with a man like me?” His skin is thoroughly discoloured by scars, burns, and a few thin æther veins that no normal person would notice. He’s at perhaps 500. “Semi said you were a different sort, but I don’t see it.”

“Hmm?” I hum thoughtfully as I sit across from him. “She told me that you were not like the other criminals littering the streets with bodies. It seems that difference isn’t in terms of wisdom, most would address me more carefully, especially in my own home.”

“Hah, most people would be smart enough to flee the city after getting an invitation like this,” he admits. “I was stupid enough to come, so what are you going to do about it? Are you going to have me hanged for insulting you?”

“You’re here as my guest, I wouldn’t dare do any such thing. You’re free to leave whenever you please, or you can listen to my offer,” I wave at the door.

He shrugs and makes for the exit.

“Come back when you realize that you can’t do anything alone,” I say, and he pauses and raises a brow at me.

“What would you do for us?” He asks. “Your sort is the reason this city has become like this. Do you want to shower me with gold to make me serve you? To make me betray my family?”

“I’ve been told that you want to protect the innocent people of this city. Those who haven’t already left, that is,” I set down my teacup and stand to face him properly. “Our goals are the same, and we could achieve more by working together.”

“Really?” He snorts a laugh. “Your knights are out here killing us. Stealing from us. They’re hunting us like animals and leaving the monsters to take the city streets. You want to help? No, you just want to use us.”

“Knights?” I ask, stepping closer and pressing a hand on the door. “Whose knights? Are they strays, or has someone given them orders?”

He flinches as I flash my vampiric gaze at him, recovering quickly before meeting my gaze and licking his lips.

“You… why do you want to know?”

I smile and wave him to a seat, he glances over at Lin who stands over to the side of the room watching us while maintaining her posture. The maid clothes suit her rather well, but I can see that she’s been tearing at her dress with her claws in places.

“Tell me, Mr Gale, how do you think we should deal with the knights that are troubling you and yours?”

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

“We really must do something about these bandits,” Pansy says, shaking her head as she cradles the warm teacup in her hands. “I’ve sent father’s knights out to deal with them, but they just keep escaping. There are hardly any merchants at all willing to brave our fine city with how the brigands are holding them up.”

The other young nobles nod along in agreement, some quite passionately at that.

“I asked papa for some new jewels for the coming ball, but the servants couldn’t find any merchants it’s terrible,” A young man from the Silvermane family sits up. “The commoners have all fled, as well. These thugs have even set monsters loose in the streets, it’s terrible. We really must do something to crush them.”

“You’d make for a fine Duchess,” The Silvermane child says, smiling at her suggestively.

“Words are but words,” Pansy replies. “Each of the first Dukes was granted their title for their actions in building a city fine enough to be deserving of such respect. This is but a chance to prove myself before we head out to start building.

“I only wish to prove that I can deal with these issues. Let us work together,” Pansy says, looking at each person in turn. “We should gather our knights and sweep this city clean.”

“Yes, let’s,” I agree, raising my tea to my lips. Untainted by blood, it’s sour and bitter in the worst of ways, but gazing upon the young noble mistress and her company, I can’t resist licking my lips.