Chapter 181

The city greeted the returning party with its usual silence. Too many caravans came and went here, and too many of them did not return. Of course, losing more than half of the party was unusual, but the journey was not on a regular route. Everyone was irritated by the failure, or more precisely, the incomplete success of the venture. Only the vampire was annoyed by the weather.

As soon as they descended from the mountains and reached the main road, the weather turned uncomfortably clear. The vampires had to push the carts with their cargo and constantly be on guard to avoid the sunlight hitting their exposed skin. The locals paid no attention to the people wrapped in immense cloaks and hoods.

The regular members of the expedition were happy to return alive and were glad for the rays of Demur filtering through the branches. A mug of beer and a warm girl would have made life much more enjoyable. But they had to push those damned carts; too many workers had stayed behind at the pass.

Duke Cass did not hide his disappointment. He had expected a different amount of loot, and most importantly, His Majesty had anticipated a different amount of loot. The irony of fate was that during the battle at the Cursed Bridge, the vampires had reached the convoy first and plundered it, taking away many priceless artifacts.

Not finding them among the spoils after the battle but knowing from the prisoners about their existence, both the duke and the king assumed that the artifacts had stayed at the pass. Naturally, they were very eager to obtain what had long been quietly stored in the peaceful underground vault of the village of Forest.

— Your Grace, the losses suffered by the party are so great that any loot is already a miracle, — Baron Savoyardi, who was not involved in the small conspiracy to convince the duke of the success of the campaign but understood goblins better than others and knew what to expect from them, said. — And I've been informed that among the spoils there is a dozen "Fire Meteors"; just those alone will replace an archmage and even give him an advantage. His Majesty will be pleased. It is a stroke of luck to obtain such a treasure!

— That's right, Baron, but I was also counting on two "Celestial Shields," and they are not here!

Alexander, who was present during the conversation, only smirked to himself. In reality, things were going better than he had anticipated. During the return journey, the hottest heads had cooled down. By the time of their arrival, no one expressed outrage over the interruption of the campaign halfway.

The most overconfident sentiments had been completely dissipated by time, and the only idea that reached the duke was that this was the maximum that could be achieved with the current forces. The young ruler might be as dissatisfied as he wanted with the results, but all the expedition members were united in their opinion. Of course, upon returning to Cass, the duke would hear plenty of criticism regarding the campaign, and the manager would try to tarnish the reputation of the only competitor, but that would be later, and it could be countered.

— I expect all of you tomorrow for lunch, and today, rest, gentlemen.

Home, sweet home. The village greeted Alexander with silence. How could it be otherwise, with several hours still before sunset and the vampires comfortably asleep in their beds? No one seemed interested in converting coffins for this purpose. All the residents preferred to have comfortable, soft beds, usually double-sized.

First things first, the knight headed to the bathhouse without removing his armor. Magic is one thing, but nothing can replace water and steam. It was in the bathhouse that he found all his campaign comrades. Although they had arrived earlier, no one seemed eager to leave the bathhouse. Soaking in the steam room after a couple of weeks on the road was incredibly pleasant.

— So? After a hearty campaign, back to the meager local food?

The vampires burst out laughing. Everything was noted correctly, but each one was happy to return to this village, which they had long considered their home. The triumvirate spent the rest of the time before sunset in the bathhouse. After sunset, he had to report to the Council.

It cannot be said that the outcome of the campaign pleased the vampires. Everyone had expected much more, but reality… heartless reality, as always, brought the dreamers back to earth.

— Just make sure you don't forget to talk to the duke about the barony tomorrow, — Konstantin sighed, — Otherwise, the modest ones die poor.

— Of course, I'll talk to him. How are things here?

— Everything's quiet. The mayor came to see his daughter; he was satisfied, and she said nothing to him. Well, and there are problems with Stephanie.

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