Chapter 4

— What ritual? — the guest stared at him in confusion.

— We only have one ritual right now, Zhenya (Eugene)!

— Oh, you mean the bloodletting ritual! — The triumvir realized what was being referred to, — But we did that at the beginning of summer!

— I read something here, — the knight waved the papers in the air, — and it needs to be done.

— Well, if it's necessary, we'll do it, — the man didn't argue, — Yulia said you wanted to see me.

— And where's Kostya (Konstantin)? You were inspecting the prisoners together.

— He got delayed at the training ground. He should be here soon.

— As a favor, go fetch him. This is an important discussion.

Yevgeny nodded compliantly and disappeared through the door. Alexander bent over the papers again, re-reading and making notes. The topic was important, though the proposal was far from ideal. The arriving comrades found him in this state. Konstantin, lounging in a chair, started the conversation first.

— I want to ask, what kind of torture did you approve?

— What torture?

— Maria is feeding everyone! It tastes awful!

The office owner chuckled.

— Drink it with blood, — he suggested, — It's actually an experiment.

— How quickly will vampires die from bad food?

— When the time comes, Maria will report all the results. But right now, I'd like to discuss something really important.

The triumvirs pretended to listen attentively.

— We're soon expecting guests from the Sprouts. The miners are considering relocating and are planning to send scouts to us. Or rather, they intend to send them.

— Is the information accurate? — Eugene reacted first.

— Straight from Sergey. It doesn't get more precise.

Konstantin shyly closed his eyes when both vampires glared at him. Everyone present understood perfectly well the results of whose adventure had led to these events.

— I propose we declare a state of emergency and clear the surrounding forests of all valuable resources, — Alexander continued.

— It's a big job. We'll have to halt construction and shift vampires from other locations as well, — Eugene assessed the scope of work.

— And do you realize that this won't help at all? We'll just put everything we gather up for sale, and the miners' scouts will be unnecessary, — Kostya (Konstantin) finally changed his position and sat normally.

— So what should we do?

— You know, Sasha (Alexander), when you invited us, I thought we'd discuss our future, not the problems of the miners in the Sprouts.

Eugene stood up.

— For this minor discussion, you shouldn't have bothered finding us. I propose we announce the ritual... we need to come up with a name for it, — the distracted vampire snorted, — and tomorrow we'll hold a Council meeting with the agenda of how we move forward. You handle the Sprouts; consider yourself to have a carte blanche.

— Maybe we should discuss all this now? And hear others' opinions at the Council?

— Speak plainly. You want to sway us to your side, but which side are you trying to tell us about now? Right? — Konstantin looked at Alexander with interest.

— Right, — Alexander did not deny the obvious.

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