"Whatever do you mean by that?" I find myself replying, as I look at the man. "Who was with me, where?"

  As I reply to this, I can feel a shiver form in my spine. Even as I feel it, I crush this fear of mine. Anthony is a predator. Even the slightest fear will just make the man more emboldened to act.

  "Who was with you during this little raid of yours?" The man replies, a sharp edge to his voice.

  As the man speaks, I can feel the intense bloodlust that he emits. The man is going to attack me if I do not answer this. I can feel the pressure of his bloodlust like a heaviness in my head. I wonder just how badly the man's ego was hurt for him to be so pissed off.

  The thing is that the man would have asked this question only if he were suspicious of our little alliance. With the way that he has been putting the pressure on me, it is clear that the man doubts something.

  Well, I don't know how to answer this question. I can't answer this question honestly. After all, I can't answer the man that I was with the Sentinels and the Searchers. The man will put two and two together once he learns that. He might do so in this meeting itself or within a couple of days, but he will put it together. Then the man is going to be a true nightmare to manage.

  At the same time, I can't lie about this. Anthony is not a fool. He will catch my lies the moment that I utter them. Any lie will just work to confirm his worst suspicions. (Which will be much worse than the reality of our situation.)

  I can't keep quiet about this as well. He will understand the truth from my silence as well. Well, being silent would be more deadly because I would have no idea of what the man is thinking then. Just as I am thinking what to say.

  "Why exactly are you wasting our time like this, Anthony. We have come here to discuss important topics." John growls at Anthony. "Why do you waste time questioning the man who actually managed to get some results. Where were you when the man was out there killing vampires?"

  Even as John begins to speak, the man looks at me. There is a warning in his eyes. The man wants me to shut up. I do exactly that as the two men stare at each other.

  "Well, you of all people do not get to speak about that." Anthony growls back. "We had at least engaged the enemy. What were you doing during the time we were fighting the vampires? We might have defeated the vampires if your Sentinels were there to reinforce us."

  Anthony looks at John with murder in his eyes. Both of them are just inches away from taking out their weapons. The only thing that stops them is our location. After all, how are they going to explain it if they were to cross swords here? The Navoks are plenty suspicious as it is.

  "Well, we were at the casino. You would have known this if you had let the last meeting happen properly. If the vampires were interested in the Navok family, the casino is a good place to look for them." John replies. "Anyway, Searcher Amelia was there with me. Do you think she would have come if she felt like we were wasting time?"

  "Well, why were you not there to support us, legioner?" Anthony speaks. "We had even requested you to come and support us. (The man grimaces at this statement.) Where were you bastards?"

  "Well, I have been quite forthcoming with my plan to visit the casino from the start. It was you who had the hare-brained idea to follow Enrique Navok." John growls back, anger becoming clear in his voice. "If you did want to follow the man, why did you not request the Searchers to do it for you. They are clearly better than you at stealth. You wanted to follow the man on your own, and you paid the price for it."

  Once John says his piece, we all settle into an uncomfortable silence. Anthony looks like he wants to say something, but is not sure whether he should. I wonder what I should say right now. I need to get the discussion back on track. The only issue is that my speaking right now might just inflame things beyond repair.

  "Well, you have not answered my question yet." Anthony suddenly speaks, turning in my direction. "Who was there with you when you went to strike the vampire's base?"

  As the man asks this question, I look at his face. As I do so, I realise that I will need to answer the man now. The man has been humiliated enough. If I were to push him anymore, he would draw that sword on me.

  "Well, I had the Searchers and the Sentinels with me on this attack." I reply carefully. Even as I speak, I can feel my heart beating faster. "They accompanied me since my mission had begun at the bazaar."

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  As I say this, I study the man very carefully. (If I could have gotten away with it, I would have enhanced my senses as well.) I look at the man for any sign that he is about to explode. I expect him to suddenly start screaming. I expect him to suddenly swing his sword. At the moment, the man is doing none of that. He is just sitting there like a statue.

  He is just sitting there as if he is waiting for one of us to speak. Don't get me wrong, the man is still angry. The man still has a look of pure venom directed at all of us, but he remains quiet. His hand grasps his sword with such force that his arm grows pale. His sword doesn't move an inch from his scabbard, though. With how much tighter his grip is getting, I think the man has begun to figure out our secret alliance.

  The man feels like a spring that has been pressed too tightly. Any second now, the man will let loose and attack all of us. Thankfully, I had the sense to keep my sword next to me.

  If the man were to make any sudden moves, my sword would be ready. A fight now would be the worst idea out there. Still, this steely calmness of his terrifies me more than any of his angry outbursts.

  "Well, wouldn't it be wise to focus on the issue at hand. We need to hunt the vampires now." Alfred speaks suddenly, shattering the tense silence formed in this room. "After all, you all are forgetting that our enemy already has plans in place to attack us. Is now the time to be fighting against each other?"

  The man's voice is enough to cause Anthony to turn his head. Alfred has never spoken out like this when the mood in the room has become this heated.

  "How is the situation in the Gentle Sword?" I speak. "I have heard your reports, but they still don't paint a full image."

  It is a bit risky for me to speak right now. After all, my voice could be the trigger to set off Anthony. Well, I guess that is fine since Alfred managed to bring up something that I wanted to speak of anyway.

  "Well, it is nice to see that at least one of you has been reading my reports." Alfred replies, with a bit of irritation in his voice. "I had assumed that nobody was reading our reports."

  This causes the other three faction leaders to look at the man nervously. Well, the look in their eyes is not nervousness, I realise. It is embarrassment. They have not actually been reading those reports.

  Well, I had every single report that I got sent to everyone. The three factions were so busy in their politics that not a single one of them had read them. If they did, they would not be so willing to ignore the vampires.

  "Well, there have been a slew of suspicious ships parked at the shipyard." Alfred replies. "Most of these ships claim that they belong to merchants, but they are mercenaries. I have tasked the searchers to look into these folks."

  "We think that these ships are somehow related to the vampires." The searcher replies. "These merchants are legitimate. Now is not the season for these ships to be out there. They should be in storage right now. Only a fool would try to go out in the death wave."

  "Each of the folks in those ships has seen combat." Anthony replies. "It feels like the enemy is gathering forces to attack us."

  "We can't interfere with these ships now. After all, attacking them without thought is going to lead to direct conflict with the Navoks. Right now, that is something that we have to avoid." The lady speaks. "The shipyard is the territory of the Navoks. Any attack there is going to get the Navoks involved."

  "Well, we are not doing anything to them. There are already three such ships near our ship. Each of them has about a dozen people there." Alfred replies. "I am not sure if the Navoks will be enough to intimidate them. We will hold against anything that they throw at us, but we can't do that forever."

  "My Sentinels will come to reinforce you then." John speaks. "With our added strength, we will be able to hold against anything."

  As he says this, John looks at me pointedly. I realise that I have been quietly observing the entire thing. Before I get interrupted again.

  "Well, that brings us back to my earlier point. We will need to negotiate with Esmerelda." I speak. "Now negotiating with a vampire is about as bad as negotiating with a demon. So we need to decide on how to do it."

  "We are willing to assist you." The searcher replies. "We have many records on the vampires and how they behave. They might be useful."

  "Well, I need you to study the sword as well.", I speak. "You have one of the most extensive records on runes on the continent. Maybe you might be able to figure out the magic on this sword."

  As I say this, I can see the searcher's eyes narrow at me.

  "I don't see how the magic of the sword will be helpful to the negotiations." The searcher replies.

  "Well, the vampire was willing to betray its superiors just to get her hands on the sword." I reply. "A vampire artifact is precious, but how the lady is reacting to this makes me suspicious. There is something more about the sword."

  "We have no problem doing so, but it will take us time." The lady replies. "When do you think the vampire will be at the tavern?"

  "I have no idea if I am honest." I reply. "For now, I guess that I will have to just wait for her at the inn. Anyway, I am sure that you want somebody to keep an eye on Enrique."

  "There is a pretty decent chance that this is a trap." Alfred replies. "How much do you trust this vampire?"

  "Well, we don't have any other option right now other than to spring this trap." I reply. "Anyway, if we were to manage these negotiations well, we would know the enemy's location. That is a prize that we can't ignore."

  "What you propose is too risky." Anthony suddenly speaks. "I am against these negotiations. You claim that I fell into the vampire's trap. Are you not doing the same thing? The vampire is lying. It is just going to betray us."

  Even as the man says this, I can see that his words do not have any effect on the others.

  "Well, that is a risk that we will have to take." I reply. "Shall we continue about how to negotiate with the vampire?"