Patrol

I think it's only a matter of time until Zaori finds out that Carmilla has been abducting Daemons from her kingdom to feed us— No, I mean, "them". If what Algron said was true about her, then we should just wait until she does something. It's gonna be an easy feat for her given that Carmilla is only half her level. The thing I don't understand is that Algron insisted that we should do it ourselves and not wait for her to do something. Things would just be plain and simple if he listens to me.

During my time here, we do rituals and stuff. That includes conjuring a spell that needs a lot of us as we pray to a statue of the said King Constantine, the holder of one of the Divine Trinity Frame. I guess he held the Daemonic one. The statue's eyes glow violet as we pray.

Now, I'm thinking of an opportunity to meet Nisha without getting caught. We need her help.

I'm drained from all of that praying. This happens every time. The faces of others tell the same. All we have to care about now is waiting for the next feast to replenish our energy. But I, well, don't want to go at it again. I fear I might sink deeper into that horrible "diet" if I'm not careful. As a solution, I eat as a Daemon inside my coffin. I have enough food stacked up to last another three months if I conserve them well.

Right now, I'm eating gargoyle warts. I grew to love it although I was picky at first. Well, this is better than eating someone. Once I'm done, I transform into Lazarus and take a peek. Alright, everyone is asleep. They're gonna be like that for a whole month. Now is the time for me to find Nisha.

About a week ago, I quietly took a guard as a Frame. I caught him doing something "explicit" to a Daemon corpse outside the castle. Now that I have his entire life's memory, I understand why. He has been a virgin for a thousand years. Such a sad existence. Well, finding a female Atasaia to reproduce with is hard. They don't want to because food is scarce.

Anyway, thanks to this guy's memory, I now know the castle's entire layout. Going to Carmilla's door is easy but I know I'm not supposed to. We each have our own places to patrol and mine's outside. I decide to just pass by without catching any attention.

"Where are you going?" asks one of the two guards near Carmilla's door.

"To the infirmary," I answer.

"Broke your rod again, did ya?" They laugh and I laugh too.

This guard's "rod" always had to be healed because of how violently he does it with stiff and dirty corpses. Of all the guard Frames I could grab, why does he have to be the one?

Hmm. . . how do I get inside? I'm out of ideas. I think this is as far as I can go. Well, I need to have a better disguise than this. Everyone will suspect me because they know each other's patrol. Now, who would be—

A big guy appears around the corner. I know I just have to salute because this is the marshal of the castle! My God, he's huge! More huge than Algron! His armor is heavy, his chest and shoulders are huge, he's so bald that his violet veins are showing, and he has a huge set of protruding fangs. He looks like an orc!

I step aside as I salute but he stops walking in front of me.

*Gulp*

"Where do you think you're going?" he asks with a surprisingly normal voice. I expected it to be deeper.

"To the infirmary, sir."

"Why?"

"I got injured. A whalerus got too comfortable near the path to the Queen's sightseeing spot so I fought it off but it threw me and my backbone cracked."

A whalerus is a real creature in this world. It is a combination of a whale and a walrus. Very huge, they say. And the sightseeing spot, well, is part of my patrol duty.

He scoffs before leaving, his hands behind his back.

*Phew*

That was close.

I made it to the infirmary but I wound myself right on the side of my body so I could really have a reason. Here, there are women Atasaias healing the sick. All of the beds are occupied. They're the soldiers who were behind the capture of the Daemons. It looks sad, at the same time, deserved.

The healers are struggling to do their jobs because their healing spells are meant for vampires, not for Atasaias.

As I sit on a chair, a healer removes my armor. She looks weak, thin, and sickly. I'm worried that she could collapse anytime soon. But she does her job healing my small wound. It takes her an hour before collapsing and kneels on the ground, breathing slowly but deeply. I couldn't just leave her as this Frame would do.

"Are you okay?" I ask as I help her up. She's so light yet she cannot carry her weight.

"I'm fine," she says in a broken voice. "Thank you."

Her attempt to smile looks more like a frown. Well, I don't blame her. Living like this for hundreds of years would take a toll on your ability to smile. You could almost forget how to. She helps me wear my armor again but I do it fast and not allowing her to do more effort. She'll need it for the next patient she's going to handle. Finally, she leaves me.

Damn, this is sad. I'm knowledgeable enough about their suffering. At first, I thought all of the people here are monsters. But they're just people trying to survive.

At the door, I'm stunned.

Nisha is entering the infirmary with a cut lip.