Chapter 64

Alexander nodded.

At the camp, they were met by Konstantin, who "delighted" them with new information.

"I took care of our treasury," he announced right away. "So here you go!"

The tossed coin smoothly landed in Alexander's hand. He looked at it and twirled it in his fingers.

"Well, what's this about..." His speech was cut off mid-word. The coin in his hand was warming up, not excessively, but quite noticeably.

"Yeah," Konstantin cheerfully confirmed. "That's it, silver. It warms up in our hands. If you hold it for a while, it gets to about fifty degrees."

"Why was this discovered only now? The silver coins were in the first shipment."

"We were wearing gloves or only touched them for a second or two."

Alexander passed the hot coin to Eugene. He also turned it over in his hands.

"Sergey!" he called out loudly.

"He's not in the camp."

"Then let him know when you see him, tell him to gather all the wood in the area, from different species, and most importantly — let him find aspen if it's here. If silver affects our skin upon contact, then maybe aspen..."

He didn't need to negotiate — both Konstantin and Alexander understood him perfectly.

"And then we need to check all the main legends about vampires from our world... What's up, Konstantin?" Changing the subject, he looked at his paler companion.

"We just threw the bodies of the killed in the forest, and some of them were bitten there..."

"Quickly check!"

Fortunately, all the bodies were still there, no large predators had reached them yet, and the small ones hadn't had time to feast on them thoroughly. There were no signs of anyone coming back to life or about to. With a relieved sigh, the vampires decided to be more cautious in the future. Therefore, the bodies were chopped into pieces. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Sergey, who returned a little later, quickly checked all the types of wood he found. Fortunately, none of them harmed the vampires in any way. But unfortunately, nothing resembling aspen was found.

The evening was met in the circle of leadership. They decided not to discuss the baron's strange behavior for now; there was too little information. Instead, they talked about choosing a settlement site and how quickly sturdy buildings needed to be constructed there since winter was approaching.

Olga took on the organization of the construction, which was unanimously approved. At the same meeting, it was decided that they now needed reconnaissance. Sergei was appointed as its head. Everything related to magic and science was decided to be entrusted to Maria.

Firstly, she was one of the first magicians among them, and secondly, she was a trusted and reliable comrade. Her first task was to find out what legends about vampires were true and what were not. Secondly, Semen demanded to find ways to store blood for a long time.

As it turned out, if blood stood still, it began to break down into its components. They were also nutritious for vampires, but for some reason, they were not absorbed through the skin and tasted unpleasant. Therefore, for now, the only way to store blood was to keep it in living creatures, letting it run merrily through their veins.

Leonid demanded at least five officers for himself but was refused. Nobody was going to fight yet, and hiring laborers for show was wrong. He was reassured and promised that once he provided more convincing arguments than just "need," he would receive what he asked for voluntarily or forcibly.

Then they began preparations for the delegation's trip to the city to meet with the baron. Along with Alexander, Eugene and Sergey were supposed to go. The three of them were fitted with sturdy and high-quality suits from the knights' wardrobes; the count's wardrobe was left untouched. They armed everyone with swords from the same knights.

In the morning, as soon as it became clear that the day would be cloudy, the authorized delegation saddled their horses and set off. Honestly, they would have been faster on their own, but they simply wouldn't have been understood. And why create reasons for unnecessary questions?

On the way — to the castle was about 11 kilometers, or a little over 15 local leagues. But that was from the place where they were "officially" accommodated. Cutting through the forest, however, the friends found themselves closer to their destination. And after just an hour and a half of traveling on a very good road, they emerged from the forest and saw the walls of the city of Savoyardi league away.

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