Those were hours of intense anxiety for me. I could hardly relax, let alone sleep, while Alexius and Kardenon wandered outside, facing the possibility of encountering who knows what. Even when I laid down on the bed I had prepared, the best I could do was stare at the ceiling while endlessly worrying about the two of them. Time went on and on, so slowly, ever so slowly. It must have been as dawn approached that I finally heard a knock on the door. Alexius' voice followed the knock.

“We've arrived. Helena, if you're awake, put on some clothes and come upstairs to the local lord's office, we are going to report to him the results of our little adventure.”

Oh good, he didn't say Kardenon got killed, so the two of them are probably alright. That's good. That allowed me to relax and as I now realize how tired I am, I almost fall asleep. I can't do that! I need to know what happened, so I forcefully drag myself out of the bed and put on some clothes.

When I arrive at Lord Ravenscall's office, the first thing I see is the young woman we had talked to hours ago. What was she doing there? When I asked Alexius about it, he merely said that I would understand once he told the entire story. I also realized Kardenon wasn't present, as I once again started feeling anxious, Alexius told me Kardenon had simply exerted himself too much and was now sleeping, that's a relief. So we waited until Lord Ravenscall arrived.

“So you have something important to report to me, do you? I suppose that means that you know what kind of catastrophe has befallen this town. Go ahead, tell me.”

Alexius bowed respectfully.

“Of course, Lord Ravenscall, this is what happened...”

Then, he told the story of how he and Kardenon discovered that this town was being besieged by a pair of Vampires, extremely ancient and extremely powerful monsters. They are capable of controlling people, such as this woman who they brought with them. When the lord asked how they could have possibly brought her along if she was being controlled by these Vampires, Alexius responded by talking about how they ended up fighting against the Vampires and almost fatally wounding one of them, while the other fled to preserve the life of their partner. By the end, Lord Ravenscall let out a heavy sigh and put a hand in his face.

“How could this happen... Such incompetence... Or perhaps the problem this time was actually hyper competence. To think that you would end up resolving this so quickly...”

To our surprise, he did not seem at all happy that the problem had been already dealt with. Why? Is he stupid? Is he trying to devalue Alexius' efforts or something to have an excuse not to owe a favor?

“You don't seem all that happy that we have already taken care of your problem, why?”

Lord Ravenscall clicked his tongue, like someone who did not feel like dealing with someone clearly intellectually inferior.

“Tch. You're still too green. I see. First of all, tell me, what exactly did I ask of you?”

Alexius almost immediately responded.

“You asked us to find out what was the reason for the disappearances in the town.”

Lord Ravenscall gestured at that, nodding.

“Exactly! That's all that I asked of you! Find out what is going on, I did not say, get rid of what is causing these disappearances. Do you understand my frustration now?”

Not really, and it seemed like neither did Alexius.

“I understand what you mean, but in this case, should you really begrudge a scout who, when asked to find information on the enemy army, ends up finding a way to destroy that army?”

Lord Ravenscall sighed again.

“Usually, yes, such overachievement would be welcome, however, as you know very well, I am in a delicate position right now, and it would serve me well to have some very good bargaining chips. Do you understand what I mean?”

I finally realized. How could he? That was an absurd thing to even consider! Unable to hold back, I speak in place of Alexius, who seem too shocked to speak.

“You intended to essentially hold this town hostage for negotiation purposes? How... That's low. I can barely believe someone such as you could be considered a noble!”

Despite my clear display of contempt, he merely grinned at me. What a disgusting man.

“That's easy for you to say, little girl, you're not the one tethering on the brink of disaster. To ensure, even a little prosperity for my family, I would sacrifice every single one of those bastards who can barely give me the respect I am owed for being this land's lord!”

This time it was Alexius' turn to speak as I was speechless at his words.

“I will act as if I did not listen to these words, Lord Ravenscall, they are not fitting for one in a station such as yours. As for usage of the situation for negotiations... I have not told the people of this town about this. Nobody knows, surely someone as skilled as you can easily bluff your way through a negotiation by claiming the Vampires have been found but not eliminated yet. Especially since this woman here seems to listen to any order any person gives her. Surely you could pull of a good farce out of her?”

Listening to that, Lord Ravenscall seemed satisfied.

“So you haven't told anyone else yet. Good, it seems you aren't that green then. Fine, I can take care of this myself. Could I just ask for the three of you to stay another week? It would help immensely.”

Alexius gave his back fake smile as a response.

“Please, spare me from taking part in your planned farce. Surely, it wouldn't be difficult for you to hire someone else to play as monster exterminator? We have a journey to continue.”

I expected Lord Ravenscall to insist, but it seems he realized he couldn't get Alexius to reconsider this.

“Fine, go ahead, leave tomorrow if you will. I can take care of this myself from now on. I owe your uncle a pretty big favor now.”

I'd have loved to rebuke lord Ravenscall more for taking advantage of such a situation for his own gain, but I didn't feel like sticking up for the people of Ravensguard. I was mostly happy that we were leaving that wretched town.