Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

CHAPTER 346: A Complicated Situation

I remained on guard in case it was a ploy while I studied the vampire. If it were not for her pointy teeth, which she did not try to hide, she would have passed for a human with pale skin. Her short hair was a deep red, matching her eyes. It was nothing too unusual for a human with magic.

Had she been a human? Probably, I could not see anything indicating another heritage. Actually, she almost looked like a human version, slightly taller and less muscular, of Skadi. Her maid outfit was the traditional black with a white apron, although it was stained with some blood.

"She is the vampire we are looking for." Hatsumi stated.

"Interesting." Gronir said, while inspecting the undead with glowing green eyes.

"Stand here and do not move." Irene commanded, while pointing at a spot next to the wall. The vampire complied.

"Hatsumi and Kaito, keep a close eye on her. I want a brief look inside this new room. Non-undead stay away from the vampire and be ready for another attack." Irene stated.

Vampires could be really dangerous if they got close to you, because of their bite. Having my undead watch her denied the vampire her advantage. Of course, I had no idea if a vampire could do something to another vampire. Hatsumi did have blood. Kaito, on the other hand, had neither blood, nor a neck.

Irene checked the new room and I peeked inside as well. It seemed to be a rather small chamber with a few dead bodies. I could see some markings on the floor, did they perform some sort of ritual?

"Gronir, what do you make of this?" Irene asked.

Gronir entered the room and both of them had a conversation I could not hear. Then they returned and faced the vampire.

"What happened?" Irene asked.

"I do not remember everything. I awoke hungry. I had a presence in my mind, it wanted to control me, to dominate me and I fought back. It was agony, it was painful and my body reacted. Then I tasted blood and it made me strong. Once I regained control I was being attacked and I defended myself." She explained.

Gronir nodded. "Sounds about right."

"You killed all of them?" Irene asked.

The vampire shook her head. "No. The one I drank from at first, he was dazed. He did not fight me, he actually obeyed me in the end. His name was Leo. I killed the others, since they wanted to kill me. I took their blood to heal. I did not know what to do next so I hid. I told Leo to not draw any attention."

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"What about Ilestria?" Helena wondered.

"The zealots? I do not know much about them." The vampire said. "I am… I am sorry, my memory is not great. I do not remember anything before awakening here. I found some notes when I searched the house and Leo was able to tell me a few things. The zealots were tracking some purchases of the mages here. I think they called themselves a Brotherhood."

"What does that mean?" Tim asked.

"The Brotherhood are some fanatics who want to remove all restrictions when it comes to necromancy. I am not terribly surprised they are involved." Gronir said. "It seems like they had a secret ritual room and a connection to sewers to smuggle in goods."

I scratched my head. "What is the point of having two secret doors? Why didn't they just connect their secret room to the sewers?"

"My guess would be that the ritual room can be locked from outside. It might also serve as a cell. They wanted a different route for people to come and go and bring in supplies." Gronir replied.

"So Leo was working with the Brotherhood?" Helena asked.

"Was he?" Gronir asked the vampire.

"I do not know, I am sorry. I could ask him." She offered.

"That would sadly be rather problematic since he is under your control. Actually, that in itself is problematic. Technically we should kill you." Irene stated.

"Please, I want to live!" She begged.

"Killing her seems wrong." Cassie said and Skadi nodded.

"Is it actually living if you are dead? Or are we unliving?" Garm wondered.

"So Leo tried to create a vampire with some help from the Brotherhood and got dominated by it." I stated.

Gronir stroked his beard while thinking.

"Why a ritual? Did you use a ritual to create Hatsumi?" Tom asked.

"Are we going to learn necromancy rituals?" Tim asked.

"Rituals, especially those involving death magic, are often powered by killing people." Gronir warned. "As for why they used a ritual, because making a vampire is hard." He stared at me.

"I do have the best Mistress." Hatsumi said, with a smile.

"You are a vampire too!" The new vampire said, staring at Hatsumi's fangs.

Irene gave the new vampire a sharp look, which made her flinch and stop talking. I kind of felt bad for her. Surely there was a way out of this? It seemed to me that the Brotherhood and Leo were at fault here.

"What if she just breaks her link and serves under my control? Or that of another necromancer." I proposed.

"Hypothetically, if Leo conspired with the Brotherhood to create a tier three, he would be in a lot of trouble. So would be the vampire, mind you. Of course, that is not the only possibility here." Gronir stated.

"Really?" Helena asked and she did have a point. It seemed rather obvious.

"Well, Leo could have been an unwilling participant in a ritual that went wrong. As a sacrifice, perhaps. The vampire could have saved him by slaughtering the Brotherhood and found herself with a link she did not want. She then sent Leo to get help, while she hid from Ilestria's agents, who were tracking the Brotherhood. In this case Leo would be fine, legally, and the vampire could be allowed to serve. Assuming Leo confirms the story and pledges to not seek the destruction of the vampire." Gronir explained.

"You can't give her to Leo!" I protested.

"Oh, I did not mean she had to serve Leo. But for her to exist he would need to not demand her destruction because she took control of him." Gronir explained. "Also, everyone here would have to agree to the story as well."

"I don't want her to die." Tom said.

Tim nodded.

"Leo is going to get away with this." Helena groaned. "But I don't want her to be destroyed either." She added.

"The Brotherhood ties are concerning, I want Leo to cooperate with any investigation into them." Irene stated. "Those Ilestrians are concerning too. They have way too many operatives inside our country."

Gronir shrugged. "I am sure they will deny any connection to the group and claim they simply acted on their beliefs without any official backing, as usual."

The new vampire looked hopeful while she listened to our conversation. It would be a shame if Leo got away with his crimes but considering his father he might have avoided a lot of the consequences anyway. And I was willing to let Leo get away if it could save the vampire.