Chapter 76

"Due to the ford located there, the castle occupied a strategic position, as the river could be crossed in only two places—through this ford and over the bridge laid there, and through the bridge in the city of Savoyardi. The source of the river was high in the mountains and inaccessible.

Understanding with the residents of both neighboring villages has not yet been achieved. They treated the strange strangers very cautiously. Although Sergey, who had attended a wedding in Peski, claimed it was just ordinary peasant caution towards everything new. And in this matter, he could be trusted.

The wedding ended with a good brawl in which he bruised the sides of the local lads. Naturally, he managed to scratch the village elder and uncover some of his secrets that the elder wanted to keep hidden from the Baron. Although these secrets interested the vampires little, what became important knowledge was the conversation between the elder and the Baron, in which the directive was given to help strangers if they asked.

The strangers did not hesitate to ask. Naturally, the request was completely insignificant to the locals, and they gladly fulfilled it, even with some profit for themselves. What could vampires ask of people? Something trivial—mediation.

One evening, Alexander visited the elder's house and mentioned that he had an excess of carts. The carts were good. Sturdy. Reinforced with both iron and magic. Specially prepared by the city army for a heavy march through the mountain passes. And they weren't empty either. A couple of carts were loaded with food supplies. "They're surplus to us, so we need to sell them. We're new here; we'll be deceived, or at least they'll try not to give us a fair price. But you're experienced, you know everything. Help us get rid of this stuff at a fair price!"

The elder gladly agreed. And when he saw the carts, he nearly licked them. And immediately executed a worthy deal. Three carts from the village carriers who dealt with sand delivery, he sold in Torfyanoy, where they were eagerly bought—solid carts they were. The money received from this sale he gave to the vampires, and for the village, he left three personally selected ones from those intended for sale. Thus, updating the "vehicle fleet" and not paying a copper for it. The rest was sold profitably in Savoyardi. Of course, he had to argue with the elder of Torfyanoy, who complained to the Baron, but these were life's trifles.

Alexander, of course, knew about his neighbor's machinations, but it didn't affect the vampires' prosperity, so he turned a blind eye. The covered wagons were decided to be left in the ownership of the village for now; who knows what might unfold in the future. So, the fabric from the wagons was removed and stored, and they themselves were put into preservation next to the stables.

It was decided to build residential houses as two-story structures, completely without windows. Initially, they wanted to at least cut small ones and cover them with shutters, but eventually settled on the idea of a facade. Each residential house adjoined an economic building, with a large roof over the entrance. Real windows were only made in the main building, and there they were covered with two shutters, inside and out.

As initially planned, a real underground city was supposed to be built underground. Olga's grandiose plans could have made subway builders jealous. However, the chief architect and foreman in one person had to slightly reduce their ambitions in terms of deadlines. Although the excavation of granite blocks posed no problem for vampires who possessed magic, none of them had experience in underground work, so they decided to finish the above-ground part of the settlement first.

Passionate battles unfolded around the placement of people around houses that had not yet been built. Two-thirds of those who found themselves in the new world were alone. And if there were no questions about married couples—each family received a separate house—singles found themselves in a much less privileged position.

Besides the natural selection of "good" neighbors for themselves, there were also Olga's plans to accommodate everyone in huge barracks, with almost fifty vampires in each. For a while, Olga became an enemy to most of the village population and had to back down, promising one house per four. Only members of the Triumvirate were to receive individual houses.

Mit cautiously made his way through the forest. The village was already close, and caution was warranted. An experienced hunter and tracker sent by the Baron to monitor the free settlers, he knew better than most how the quiet and calm forest could become treacherously dangerous in an instant. And if, as Mr. Baron said, these newcomers were mages, then it was better to be as quiet as a mouse."

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