Standing at the corner of an alley on a crisp morning, Lee Dam was waiting for someone.
Waiting for a little bastard from the Yudam family, what was his name... Carter Yudam.
Truly an unpleasant name, vampires have no talent for naming, as genuinely horrid as the skin beneath their beautiful façade.
"He should have been here already," the half-human girl sitting on the flowerbed beside him frowned and said, "He’s already late." She looked at the pocket watch in her hand, clearly unhappy.
"Dear Miss Linz, you can’t expect a long-lived species who can live for hundreds of years to understand punctuality. When they say they’ll sleep for a while, it might just be years in the blink of an eye," he said.
"That’s why I never hoped for us to collaborate with these vampires from the start. We have enough power to make the great summoning happen without them," the half-human girl said before suddenly furrowing her brow, looking towards the corner of the alley: "Who’s there?"
"Just a passerby," the young man who poked his head out said with a smile.
In Lee’s eyes, he was a beauty with red lips and white teeth, with beautiful, shoulder-length hair, and a cynical smile: "Hello, I’m Carter. There was a bit of trouble on the road; I think I was being followed."
"Oh my God, don’t tell me you brought them here," the half-human girl frowned. To her eyes, he was a monster with large ears, a bald head, big eyes, and a mouth full of sharp, protruding teeth.
The young man shrugged his shoulders: "How could I? I’m not as useless as some short-lived species. If the operation in Carterburg had been completed, our family wouldn’t have to do something so dangerous in this city," he said, then crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall.
"Is everything ready?" the half-human girl asked.
"Of course, one hundred portions of children’s blood essence. You bastards really deserve to go to hell," the vampire said, tossing over the bag he carried on his back.
Lee fumbled to catch the bag, opened it, and verified the test tubes wrapped in waste paper: "There’s no mistake, I can smell the blood. It’s the purest essence of blood, a fine offering."
The half-human girl pursed her lips, casting a sideways glance at the young man: "I’ve never known vampires like you had any right to talk about us."
"Of course. We vampires just hunt to survive, while you lunatics and madmen sacrifice too much livestock for what you call ’greatness.’ It goes against the teachings of the Goddess of Harvest’s Church’s sustainable development philosophy," the vampire snorted: "But there’s no use talking about this with you; your minds are preoccupied with your so-called greatness."
"Shut your filthy mouth. Considering your parents are Viscounts, I won’t bother with you. Take your contract payment and get out of here," the half-human girl said, grabbing a bag next to her and tossing it at the vampire.
The young man caught the bag, then was pushed back a couple of steps by its weight: "Wow, I can feel the heft. Seeing as you’re the client, I’ll be on my way."
Watching the vampire leave and listening as his footsteps faded, the half-human girl hopped down from the flowerbed: "Let’s go."
"Did we really pay him?" Lee, carrying the bag, asked as he followed his supervisor.
"Yes, we could kill him effortlessly, but don’t forget his family. His parents are vampire Viscounts. At such a critical moment, less trouble is better than more," she lectured her subordinate, stepping out onto the street. She paused, and Lee almost bumped into her.
"What’s wrong, are the Church of Justice patrolmen nearby?!" Lee’s greatest fear was those hounds of the God of Justice, whose noses were even more sensitive than dogs. If they discovered him and her, there would be serious trouble.
"No, I saw that worthless runt from Father’s Love, what’s his name, Casaman, right? Unable to even secure a position as Bishop, that’s all his life will amount to," the half-human girl frowned: "But what’s he doing here?"
"What about it? Father’s Love, that kind of insignificant organization even a great being wouldn’t pay attention to, isn’t worth worrying over," Lee said, puzzled.
"No, Father’s Love usually doesn’t show up here. This is too close to the Church’s district. He’s so useless he hasn’t even been granted Spell Formation; how could he risk coming here?" As she spoke, the half-human girl saw the man in black approach an old man.
"Who is he?" The half-human girl didn’t recognize the old man, but he didn’t look like someone from their line of work.
"Who is he?" Lee asked, curious.
"Give me the bag," the half-human girl reached out and hurriedly placed the bag into her superior’s hands.
With the bag slung over her shoulder, the half-human girl turned to her subordinate: "Take two people and follow him. Once they split up, grab the old man and find out exactly who he is."
"Why not grab that Casaman too and question him?" Lee asked, bending over.
"Do you want to tell the entire continent our Master of Wisdom is cannibalizing its own?" The half-human girl looked at her subordinate as if he was an idiot.
"If we kill them all, who would know?" Lee asked.
"Which is easier, controlling an old man, or controlling an old man plus a grown man? Curiosity is fine, but there’s a limit. Grab the old man, get the information, then finish him off. That’s the safest bet," the half-human girl sighed, exasperated with her trainee’s lack of understanding: "Lee, one day you will leave me to become a Priest who can stand on his own two feet. Take a look at him; he might be a bit of a waste, but working with you, I have a lot of confidence in you."