Early the next morning, when Lorevil woke up.
The young girl was wearing clean, beige-colored home clothes, her dark hair falling beside her cheeks. Her cute little face showed a hint of obvious exhaustion as she lay slumped by the bedside.
‘Just how late did Noxia stay up last night before falling asleep?’
A soft feeling welled up in Lorevil’s heart.
Noxia rubbed her eyes and woke up.
She had originally planned to stay awake all night until dawn, but ended up watching Lorevil fall asleep.
Lorevil got up. “Noxia, I’ve pretty much recovered. I need to go to the Thorn stronghold today to handle some matters.”
“Then I’ll go with you.”
Noxia reverted to her usual gentle self.
“But…” Lorevil hesitated for a moment, then ruffled her hair.
“I won’t disturb your work. I’ll just stay by your side and watch you.”
But Noxia’s attitude was firm.
Lorevil took out the communication blood crystal and sent a message to Ira. “Come to the manor today. Pick up me and Noxia on the way.”
Ira’s reply came quickly. “Understood, Lady Lorevil.”
Half an hour later, Ira appeared at the door right on time.
Lorevil and Noxia had already been waiting at the entrance for a while.
They arrived at the Thorn stronghold.
“Lady Lorevil, following your instructions, we have identified the people who attacked you.”
“Who are they?”
Lorevil leaned back in her chair, while Noxia sat beside her, listening.
“It was the leader of the Blacktooth Gang. They held a grudge because Thorn took over their intelligence channels. This was a deliberate act of revenge.”
“The Blacktooth Gang leader? How did they get our information?”
“That was due to a veteran member of Thorn defecting to another family. They leaked the transfer route and the approximate location of the stronghold.”
“We have already cooperated with the Holy Blood City guards to capture both the Blacktooth Gang leader and the traitor. They are currently imprisoned in the Holy Blood City military prison, awaiting your judgment.”
Ira didn’t waste words, handing over a dossier with a portrait of the Blacktooth Gang leader attached.
The portrait depicted a strikingly beautiful woman with a fierce look, along with the so-called witness testimonies.
Lorevil flipped through the dossier. The chain of evidence was complete, and the witness testimonies matched.
They were not good people.
After yesterday, the bloodline energy within her had mostly recovered.
Since the perpetrators had been caught and no substantial harm had been done, she didn’t dwell on it further.
However, the fact that even a small-time Blacktooth Gang leader could locate Thorn’s stronghold made Lorevil uneasy. It seemed they should change the location of their headquarters.
“Then deal with them according to Holy Blood City’s regulations. There’s no need to specifically inform me of the outcome.”
Lorevil closed the dossier and spoke calmly.
She was now more concerned with improving her strength and accompanying Noxia as she grew.
As for the revenge of those minor factions, with Ira here, it could naturally be handled properly.
This attack had indeed served as a warning for Lorevil. If her strength wasn’t sufficient, she shouldn’t go to remote places alone.
Catherine had also mentioned before that the forces behind the trap set for her at Rose Manor were more than one. After all this time, Lorevil hadn’t paid it much mind.
Could it be related to this incident?
Lorevil frowned, her mind racing.
Lorevil checked Noxia’s Corruption Gauge. It had already dropped to below ten percent.
It seemed bringing Noxia along this time was the right decision. Hearing Ira’s report about the handling of the matter helped stabilize Noxia’s emotions.
“By the way, Master.”
Ira hesitated for a moment but still spoke up. “That vampire who managed the warehouse before is at this stronghold.”
“Would you like to…”
“It’s her?”
Without Ira’s reminder, Lorevil had almost forgotten about this matter.
“Then have her come in.”
A sense of curiosity rose in Lorevil.
“Yes, Master.” Ira accepted the order and left.
After a while, a small figure timidly appeared at the door.
It was a little girl who looked no more than twelve or thirteen, with messy silver twin-tails, the curls slightly spiraled.
Her bangs fell over her full forehead, and her round, purple eyes were very lively.
She wore a loose-fitting black outfit, the first version of Thorn’s uniform, indicating she was a veteran.
What Lorevil found strange was that this little girl also had a bulging small pouch tied to her waist.
This was the former Thorn resource manager, Linore.
“Master. You’re back.”
Upon seeing Lorevil, the little girl took something out of her pouch and kept chewing.
Her cheeks were puffed up like a little hamster storing food.
Lorevil took out her file and looked at it. Linore’s bloodline trait was Devour. She had an innately enormous appetite and was perpetually in a state of hunger.
Because even walking consumed her bloodline energy, she almost always needed something like blood crystals in her mouth to replenish energy.
She was considered a special anomaly.
Linore stood at the door. Seeing her master silent and sensing the third-tier pressure emanating from her, she fidgeted nervously, clutching the hem of her clothes, not daring to move.
“Come here, Linore.”
Lorevil was friendly to all veterans, trying her best to appear gentle.
Linore breathed a sigh of relief, carefully lifted one foot, retreated, then tried again.
She hadn’t taken two steps before her foot caught on the edge of a step.
Thud!
With a dull sound, right in Lorevil’s line of sight, Linore fell solidly to the ground.
After rolling a few times, her forehead knocked against the leg of Lorevil’s desk.
“Oww.”
The impact made the little girl’s eyes water with pain, and the blood crystal she was biting fell to the ground.
“Are you… alright?”
Lorevil quickly got up and walked over to check, reaching out to help her up.
But she saw the little girl nimbly get up on her own, rubbing her reddened forehead, and said softly.
“I-I’m fine, thank you, Master.”
“Finding that batch of leftover supplies and the intelligence ledger was all thanks to you. You’ve worked hard, Linore.” Seeing the red mark forming on her temple, Lorevil couldn’t help but chuckle. She then picked up the dark red blood crystal that had rolled near her foot.
Linore didn’t mind it being dirty. She took the blood crystal from Lorevil’s hand, put it in her mouth, and licked it. Hearing the praise, her cheeks flushed slightly, and her eyes brightened a bit.
Seeing this, Lorevil began to stroke Linore’s twin-tails.
The first sensation upon touching them was resilience.
It wasn’t the softness of hair strands, but more like a ball of tangled thread, yet it felt uniquely comfortable to the touch.
Linore enjoyed it for a while, hemming and hawing for a long time before finally gathering the courage to look up at Lorevil and whisper.
“Master, th-those were all my…”
“Hmm? What were all yours?”
Lorevil raised a puzzled eyebrow, not understanding her meaning, and asked.
Ira, witnessing this scene from the side, began to explain. “Master, it’s like this.”
“What she means is, that batch of supplies were originally what she had diligently guarded over the years, secretly hidden in a concealed warehouse, undiscovered by other vampires.”
“So how did you convince her back then to hand over those supplies as startup capital?” Lorevil suddenly understood and turned to look at Ira.
“Actually, it wasn’t much. I just… told her the truth, and then promised to let her eat her fill once.” Ira scratched her head somewhat awkwardly and continued explaining.
“Let her eat her fill?”
Hearing this, Lorevil was first stunned, then looked at Linore.
Seeing her still constantly chewing on the blood crystal like it was gum, looking like she hadn’t eaten enough, Lorevil couldn’t help but find it amusing.
“That’s simple enough. Just let her eat.”
“Lady Lorevil, you might not know.” Ira added helplessly. “Linore’s appetite is enormous, even astonishing.”
“The amount a regular vampire eats in one meal isn’t enough to fill the gaps between her teeth. We tried once before, spent a considerable amount of blood crystals, and still didn’t truly satisfy her hunger.”
Lorevil still didn’t quite believe it.
This little girl in front of her looked so petite and delicate. How much could she possibly eat?
Unless she saw it with her own eyes.
Ira also knew Lorevil probably still wouldn’t believe it, so she said, “Master, you’ll understand if you try.”
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