Vulture

The night breeze gently blows the leaves and grass as I walk toward the forest edge which leads to the dirt road currently being blocked by a few guards. The pleasant breeze does not fail to blow my dress skirt, creating delicate waves on it.

Charming them is most likely impossible, after all, they have orders and if they have orders, they are being paid. Hmm, I could simply avoid them... however, I would like to speed up the process a little by getting some information on the exact location of this manor. And, a nice drink would not hurt at all, well, at least not me.

My eminent approach strikes terror on the horses who are first to notice my presence. Terrorized, the horses begin to shake desperately trying to free themselves from the ropes binding them to a tree. The sudden anxiety coming from the horses attracts the attention of the guards who are sitting around a campfire chatting carelessly and they soon rise to see what is happening with apprehensive expressions and weapons in hand.

They look around to be met by an unusual sight. Me, standing in front of the tree trunk staring at them like a predator eyeing his prey. Deafening neighs coming from the horses fill the scene like a melody of despair, rendering the weak-minded guards unable to think as they stare at my figure across the dead tree.

The bunch made sure to refuse any attempt at diplomacy one could have. They are too scared, and the horses never stop. On and on again, they scream monster, insulting me, pointing their sharp sticks faking bravery but I can see it, smell, taste it. Anxiety flows among them like a waterfall shaking the calm waters of a river.

My patience runs thin and by the end, some of them beg, some try to run, and others kneel pleading for mercy. I smash, break, and throw. When I finally stop, most are lying dead with corpses devoid of blood. Only one guard last, almost pissing his own pants on the ground, crying and sobbing.

...

"Please! Please! Let m-" the guard pleads for his life while I drag him by the hand

"Shhh! No begging, I just said earlier" I interrupt the man with an annoyed tone

I walk the road again while easily dragging my lone survivor on the dirt road like a sack after leaving a hideous scene behind. Blood gently drips from my chin but other than that I managed to save myself from another bath or needing another dress. For some reason, random giggles keep escaping my mouth and im feeling strangely good.

"Pfft, stop sobbing there, by Lucifer's sake, be a man" I say with a mocking tone

I give him a free floor ride and he is crying, such an ungrateful man. Thou do not even need to walk just sit down and be dragged in silence. Bah! Some people these days are too sensitive, I merely drank his companions in front of him and le coquin is balling his eyes off like a baby!

A laugh escapes my mouth as the man reduces his crying and sobbing.

Now, he said something about a tree pointing the way to a plain field a short walk to the side of the road where my new home awaits my arrival. I can not wait! Hahahaha im feeling dizzy but somehow this feels good. Light, everything seems so weightless for some reason... oh Lord.

The realization makes my expression change to surprise.

"Je suis ivre hahahaha! I can get drunk!" I happily state

The guard being dragged around is too frightened to react properly to my cheerfulness. What kind of reaction is this? hmph, some people just do not care about other's happiness. He is unharmed much more than what his friends earned, so why he is so scared? It is ruining my mood, damn ungrateful scoundrel.

After a short walk full of insults and mockery toward the boring scoundrel, I see a marked tree on the left side of the road.

"Rude rascal, tour over get up, and lead the way" I say authoritatively

He desperately does as ordered leading me toward the manor with fearful steps while I walk uncomfortably close to his back. To my amusement, I occasionally caress his back gently with my fingertip while we walk, and he always lets out a faint pathetic shriek every time without fail.

Soon enough I finally arrived at my destination and I could not have been more disappointed with what im seeing.

If this can be called a manor then my life is a complete lie, there is barely any plantation here! And this house is somewhat bigger than a normal commoner one but still nothing impressive, it is laughable. If it weren't for the second floor, im afraid I would think that this is an ordinary house and pass by without checking.

A little giggle escapes my mouth while my helper turns around to face me with a pathetic expression expecting to be released after showing me the way. I pointed toward the sky with a cheerful smile and proceeded to shed his hope of freedom into pieces.

"Inside we go!"

Worse than I expected, yes, however, a roof is a roof, and I seem to have all the time in the world to turn this place into a comfortable home.

The guard averted his eyes for a moment and I could sense the meaning behind it. I proceeded to wrap my right arm around his neck before he could react. He is somewhat bigger than me so his back bends a little to the side as I force him to match my height.

I approach my face close to his with a silly smile while my hand firmly grabs his jaw preventing him from averting his eyes from my red gaze. He begins to convulse in a feeble attempt to free himself.

"No, no mon petit, stay.... shh! shh! shh! yes yes... calm, veeery calm. Congratulations, thou are now my first employee, now let us go inside" I whisper before freeing him from my grasp

His face turns pale while he recomposes himself from my sudden grab and he is probably thinking that his life is over but his survival instincts still push him to do as I say. He continues to walk in front of me leading the way.

Soon, we reach the door, a rusty old wooden door with an iron handle to knock. After knocking and waiting for a bit, a woman appears holding a lamp and wearing typical maidservant clothes, she has fair skin and dark hair. She appears highly confused by my appearance and the seeming obedience of the guard standing on my side.

"Greetings, I seek the lord of this manor, pfft" I say politely but a little giggle escapes my mouth at the end

The maidservant quickly replies.

"Apologies but lord Leyke is dining with his family and after that, he should go to bed, im afraid thou shall need to come back tomorrow preferably during the day" She says with a tone of passive aggressiveness 

Still with a silly smile on my face, I tap my newly acquired guard on the shoulder. He looks at me and I make a throat slice sign, as a guard who does shakedowns on the roads, he obviously knows what it means.

With no hesitations whatsoever, he turns to the woman and punches her face knocking her out cold. I giggle as the maid falls behind like a doll.

Ouch... this guy really does anything to survive hm? Well, expecting honor from a bandit would be stupid of me. But I must admit, the rascal is strong, she fell like a sack of dirt after one straight punch, fantastique.

"Good job soldier, now march inside!" I yell cheerfully laughing

He enters the house and I follow shortly after avoiding stepping on the poor maidservant completely wasted on the doorstep. We make our way into the hallway, the place seems overall clean enough, the wood is a little darker than normal so I take it as some kind of fancy wood, very old too, each step makes the wood creak.

For a lord's house, lacks fanciness. There are just a few tables holding lamps or plants in the hallway. Well, to be fair if he needs to sort out banditry then it is clear that he is fairly poor compared to the average lord.

Does not take long for us to arrive at our destination, a double door leading to the dining room stands in front of us. A few details are carved on the door as well as another iron handle. My newly acquired guard does his job and opens it for me, opening the way and bowing respectfully as I pass by him.

This feeling is certainly not bad hehe, the rascal knows how to please me. Now, let's see, woman, man probably the said raubritter, young man, little boy, and little girl. A beautiful family indeed, oh they look lovable all sitting by the table staring at me in extreme confusion.

The dining room looks normal, with a big wooden table in the middle. The man sits in the head directly opposed to the woman and the children sit side by side, across them is the young man. They all wear clean clothes unfit for commoners but not exactly fancy.

"Greetings family, my name is Carmilla, and this manor is under my command now" I state nonchalantly while slowly walking by the side of the table

I was passing by a chair belonging to the young man when he dared to unsheath the sword he was carrying getting up furiously enough to knock down his own chair behind, right after he lunged at me like an angry horse.

I evade with a gentle step to the side and proceed to grab his hand applying pressure enough for him to drop the sword on the floor. Right after, the young man who looks roughly my age is on his knee with the palm of my hand on the top of his head forcing him to stay still. Everyone in the room let out faint screams while covering their mouths in shock and horror, the lord tried to lash out at me in rage but soon I put him back in his place with a light squeeze on his son's head making him scream in pain.

"Bernadette! Take the kids and run, thou are after my life only monster, my family has nothing to do with this" Says the raubritter desperate

The woman takes both the boy's and girl's hands running away with them desperately going for another double door on the left side of the dining room. With a look and a gesture of my hands, I send my guard to block their way, which he does perfectly while pointing his sword at the woman's head.

Im seriously beginning to take a liking to this rascal hahaha, he has no honor, im sure if I ordered him to kill both children he would do it in a heartbeat. Hmph, amusing how the very same person was begging for mercy on his knee not long ago. Now, where are we?

"I came to purge a raubritter from this land and claim this manor as my own! Step forward and face execution! As for the rest of thou family, they shall live however not in this house" I say impersonating a nobleman sarcastically

I let go of the young man's head and bow to pick up his sword from the floor, slowly walking with it toward the lord who stands on the table's head too with trembling eyes and legs, he is sweating cold and reality is taking a long time to sink for him.

I violently grab his arm with my left hand dragging him and kicking his leg to make him fall to his knee. On his knee, he stares one last time at his family with empty watery eyes while I prepare his own son's sword putting it high in the air. The cries for mercy coming from the rest of his family fill the room, they plead for mercy but pleads are useless against swords.

*Vush*

With a clean cut, his head fell to the ground alongside a poll of blood. His children are spared of the gruesome sight by their mother who covers both of their eyes with her bare hands, the young man however watches unfold as his father's head rolls over the floor too powerless to change his outcome.

Ugh! What was I thinking?! This is a complete waste of blood... let me see to it at once.

I walk with a silly smile toward the table catching an empty goblet, his missing head serves as a great fountain which I use to fill the goblet. Each and every person trembles in the room as the blood enters my throat.

"Where are the maids? I need someone to clean up this mess. Oh, and the cute family can finish their meal and do whatever, however, pack and go at sunrise" I say casually before taking another sip of blood from my goblet

Too frightened to answer, the wife simply agrees with a shake of his head before leaving the room with her children and the young man follows shortly after. 

Im drinking too much... my head is starting to feel slightly heavy. My senses and ability to think are beginning to be damaged, I should stop... but mhmm blood is so wonderful. No No! I need to calm down, what am I thinking? Drinking too much unnecessarily makes me horribly stupid and being dumb is dangerous. This is my last drink for the night for sure, wasting would be bad.

The first to speak is my guard who after witnessing the slaughter earlier is now less affected, his voice is trembling but he manages to hold himself.

"My l- My lady, there is only one maidservant and... hmm, there are too four more guards camping on the north road"

A proud smile forms on my face as I hear the man calling me a lady.

I might become too used to being called that, feels terrific. Maybe even more than it should because im completely drunk. So I have as subjects five guards and a maid... currently lying on the floor at the entrance. Hmm? wait.

"If there is only one maidservant and previously eight guards then who tends the field?" I say with a hint of confusion

...

I walk apprehensively leaving the house and proceeding to go around the house, if what my guard said is correct, then it should have a door leading to a cellar behind here. Does not take long for me to find a wooden cellar door, after opening I head down the stairs.

Ugh... the smell down here is simply awful, I could hardly believe what he said but now im sure it is true, I can sense there are people down here, and for them to live in these conditions.

With each step, the pungent rotten smell grows more unbearable than it already is. Soon, I reach a room, completely dark possessing a cage with a few of the ones who got captured by the raubritter. Robbing and demanding stupid high fees apparently was not enough, they had to take a few of what my guard called, the weaker ones, who no one would care if disappeared to serve as slaves to do the hard work without expecting proper payment.

Disgusting... my mood is completely ruined. Most humans are all like this, they ask for mercy when they never cared to give any but in the end, right there when a human being is about to die, he probably remembers these very moments. sigh... Who am I to judge? It is nature. The weak can be easily exploited by the strong, a truth that surpasses all logic and race. Maybe this is why it feels so natural for me to kill people, im too strong. However, I would never lower myself to the point of keeping slaves, those who are useful should receive appropriate care and most importantly be paid appropriately for their hard work.

So unlike the family upstairs, I gave them a choice, leave now achieving freedom, or work under me as proper employees receiving what they deserve. Some who had nowhere to return gladly accepted others left to try their luck on the road beneath the cold veil of night. Of course, I gave what I offered, nothing more, nothing less. If they chose to freeze to death outside it is not my problem.

For the few who chose to stay, I offered them my hospitality by letting them use an 'available room'. Why kids would need a whole room for themselves? just sleep with thy mother or brother. The room was big enough for all six of them to sleep, of course after a proper bath too. I would be dammed to let them stain my house with that horrible smell. This is just a temporary solution, I expect to see someone arrange houses around the manor soon.

After dealing with the slave situation, I had to wake up the slumberous maid. She sure was... well, eager to make herself useful to me, im guessing she is scared of getting another straight punch. I explained to her that nothing changed in her job, she was going to get paid as normal. I must admit, she is quite experienced in cleaning blood and corpses... Judging by her previous lord character I assume this is not her first time cleaning it.

I take the time to ask some names after concluding my search around, the lone survivor's name is Fyn, he works as a mercenary and was hired by Leyke to work as a guard here alongside all the others. The maid's name is Laudine, a young woman who used to live in Letusa but got hired as a maid here.

Examining the house further, I stumble upon what seems to be an office, previously used by the late raubritter. The room is small, has no windows, has a wooden desk, and a bookshelf carrying a few books. After careful examination, I see no failure in any wall or roof. Seems safe enough to be called my chamber.

In the treasury room, I found something that brought me greater joy, a coffin. Apparently, nobles tend to keep one around just in case, needless to say, the headless lord is going to be buried in the dirt because this is my bed now. Found some gold too, im not sure if it is a lot but I do not think it is. Weapons and pieces of armor are here to be found too, mostly loot coming from banditry.

I sent Fyn to warn the others of the new change in management, of course after telling him the consequences of trying to escape from me. Hopefully, he hears my warning, it would be a shame to kill him. I do not care if they choose to leave but they still have a contract with the lord of this manor, it turns out it is me now.

After a quick introduction, they learn better than to cross me, and I assemble two of them to send the word of my success to Gaius at Letusa. They should be going by horse after sunrise, for today I let them rest.

I named Fyn the captain of the guards, and Laudine the headmaid. She should teach a few of the former captives how to clean properly starting tomorrow morning. The captives are going to be paid with food and shelter for the time being as gold would be useless to people in their situation. Thank Lucifer, because if I had to pay everyone here right now, the gold in the treasury room would be gone in a matter of days.

As for the remanence of the family who lived here, they should leave tomorrow morning after arranging whatever they need to reach any destination they see fit. In the deepest and darkest corners of my mind, I want to kill them just to make sure but im above this, I do kill without any remorse but this is what makes it frightening. If I go down the path of a butcher im not sure how I would come back. Once I lose my humanity it would be the same as dying.

In the second-floor hallway, lost in thoughts, I watch from a window in the dark as some guards put shovels to work beneath the moon, digging a hole while the headless lord lies by their side, waiting to be buried.

Seems like im back to normal, apparently this 'drunkness' does not last long. Im not sure if the same can be said to normal drunkness. Now, there is some time until sunrise, if I had a hobby now would be the time, unfortunately, I found none. What do I even like to do anyway? I like feeling beautiful and clean, thats a start. Perhaps I should invest some time into taking better care of my appearance, getting a haircut would be nice, my hair is a mess after that swing on my back. Strangely, hair is the only thing that keeps growing and does not regenerate on my body, im not sure why. My hair is almost big enough to hit the ground, it is slightly unsettling and with how white it is, any slight dirt can be seen from afar.

Seems like they are almost done. I should get going now to my chambers, there is a bookshelf there with a few books, and my coffin was already transported there too. No idea how im supposed to read a book but maybe given time I could pick up on the meaning of some words. I know what 'river' means and a few other common words. Perhaps it is enough to try and learn the others with a little bit of luck and context.

By tomorrow, Marie shall hear about what happened here and it should be just a matter of time until Gaius receives his shipment now that the road is free from the raubritter. In the meantime, I should search for a merchant to sell my crops to, taxes aren't going to pay themselves after all. The tax collector should pass by any time soon and it is probably better if I have his gold.

For now, im going to stay here, someone needs to take care of this place after all. Marie should stay at Letusa for the time being, we need various ways of earning gold and this manor should provide some. In any case, we can still support each other from afar.

I arrive at my chamber, and after going inside I lock the door with the key. The room is completely dark, no human could ever expect to see a palm in front of them here. My coffin lies open on the ground in the middle of the room, wood-made and quite simplistic but it shall do. In the future, I should search for a perfect coffin, lined with pillows and a nice design. Mhmm, I can not wait to sleep on one of those.

I gently pass my fingers on the shelf, stopping at a random book and taking it out. I carry the book to my coffin, lying down to read. After some time, I naturally fall asleep with the brown book on my chest.

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

In the living room, im sitting in an armchair while the moonlight reaches me by the open window on my left. I wear a common black linen dress, which I found among belongings the late lord's wife left behind. By my side, stands a small wooden table holding a goblet filled with blood or for the ones who remain ignorant about my true nature, simply wine.

Everything seems to be going well, the captives are working properly by now. Some as butlers or maids others tending the fields, other than that things are mostly the same, they still have to sleep in available rooms around the manor. Guards patrol the roads to make sure no one is having trouble passing by, soon the word of the raubritter death should reach most places resulting in more traffic around here.

As for myself, in between bathtubs and cozy slumbers, I found comfort however im still somewhat bored, not much I can do around here after all. For now, im just waiting for the envoy Marie mentioned. She sent a courier to Soissons with a message of my 'heroic acts', with this the court should send an envoy to confirm the truth.

For the time being, My crops should be sold to Letusa as it was already foreseen in a contract signed by the previous lord. I just need to tend my field correctly while expanding it and I should be good after some time.

Ah... if only I had more ways to speed up this dull process.

I gently reach for my goblet while looking at the moon. I drink a small part elegantly and after staring aimlessly at the blood inside the goblet, a sudden realization comes to mind.

Wait, if all I need is gold then it should be fairly easy to brute-force my way. Firstly, I need to reunite artisans, normally someone would need gold to do this, however, I have something that no amount of gold could ever buy. My own blood, they shall come like vultures smelling the sweet taste of power and immortality.

A subtle smug appears on my face while I bring the goblet to another sip.

Vulture... lovely name.