“Don’t talk so much, just bring me my stuff, Old Tom.”
Vivian didn’t bother with pleasantries, snapping at the old man without giving him any face.
In a chaotic place like Black Rat Street, shopkeepers like Old Tom were rarely good people. Since Vivian believed her fists were bigger than his, she saw no reason to be polite. Otherwise, people might mistake her for a weak, easily bullied little girl.
“Fine… do you want it hot or cold?”
“Ideally, the surface should be chilled enough to form a layer of skin, but the inside should have the warm texture of being freshly drawn.”
Vivian gave a faint smile, making a request that bordered on being deliberately provocative.
Old Tom remained silent as he pulled the shutter down.
Cluck, cluck, cluck!
High-pitched chicken squawks and the sound of flapping wings erupted from inside the shop. The screams of the poultry gradually faded, and the wooden door creaked open.
Old Tom walked out carrying a wooden bowl, which he placed in front of Vivian. He then unhooked a small pitcher from his waist and held it high.
Orange-yellow honey poured from the spout, forming a crystalline arc in the air that shimmered with tiny glints under the sunlight. He took out a wooden spoon and stirred the honey in thoroughly.
Finally, Old Tom extended a withered palm and conjured a ball of blue light. As his hand brushed over the wooden bowl, the surface of the fresh blood instantly solidified.
“Tallinn honey special chicken blood. Enjoy.”
After speaking, Old Tom swept up the coins on the table and turned to leave.
Vivian delicately lifted the wooden bowl, mimicking the mannerisms of the nobility as she took an elegant sip of the blood.
If one ignored the tattered burlap hanging above her head, the unbalanced chair beneath her rear, and the filthy environment surrounding her, one might think she was sitting in a vampire’s castle, drinking fresh plasma served by a servant.
‘Hmm… the taste isn’t bad. Though the vitality is lacking compared to Nolan’s.’
However, the unique sweetness of the added honey and the texture provided by the freezing magic compensated for that regret. Vivian suddenly tilted the wooden bowl back and drained the contents into her stomach.
As she set the bowl down, she licked the corners of her mouth, still craving more.
‘Maybe I should get some honey for Nolan to eat. Perhaps that would make his blood even more delicious…’
She squinted her eyes and leaned back against the chair, enjoying life. Slacking off during work hours was truly refreshing! She planned to take a nap here to pass the time while the midday sun was at its strongest.
Two hours later.
“Nn-ah~”
Vivian stretched comfortably and sat up from the chair.
Time to get to work!
Should she start by interrogating Old Tom, or should she wander the streets to earn some quick cash? Vivian was a lazy soul, and the first principle of a lazy person was the principle of proximity.
She would interrogate Old Tom first.
“Hey, Old Tom, let me ask you something.”
Vivian took out a glittering gold coin and pressed it vertically onto the tabletop with her finger.
The shutter on the wall opened again, revealing a pair of cloudy, whitish eyes.
“I don’t sell intelligence here. You’d be better off checking the nearest pleasure house; they probably know more than I do,” Old Tom said in a low, raspy voice.
“No, you’re the only one who would know about this, and I don’t trust the others anyway.”
The corners of Vivian’s mouth curled into a smile as her slender middle finger flicked the gold coin. A crisp humming sound rang out. It wasn’t loud, but it echoed clearly in Old Tom’s ears.
“Not interested…” he replied flatly, making a move to pull the shutter down.
“Then how about these!”
Vivian raised her voice and dumped all the gold coins from her pouch onto the table.
Clink, clank.
The gold coins collided with one another, emitting an enticing sound. Old Tom’s neck suddenly craned forward, and his cloudy eyes rolled up to reveal bright red pupils underneath.
“I didn’t expect you to find yourself a sugar daddy after only a few days.”
“Cut the crap!”
Old Tom hesitated for a moment before speaking tentatively. “What do you want to ask?”
Although he knew that Vivian using gold coins to tempt him was likely in bad faith, the greed in his heart was like a gnawing worm, devouring his caution in an instant. Vivian might be trying to play him, but Old Tom was no pushover.
When the time came, it wasn’t certain who would be the one getting eaten…
“A vampire with a massive appetite has arrived in the city. You know about this, don’t you?”
Since Nolan wasn’t by her side, Vivian’s brain had miraculously returned to her skull. To put it simply, she had suddenly become quite clever. If a criminal vampire had been hiding in Ma’en City for a long time, Old Tom would definitely know something.
She might not know the underground dealings, but Old Tom was definitely the one who sold the most blood products on the surface of Ma’en City.
Upon hearing this, Old Tom’s pupils contracted, but he quickly regained his composure.
“Never heard of it.”
Withdrawing his greedy gaze from the gold coins, he turned his head and closed the shutter. He acted as though he wanted absolutely nothing to do with the matter.
However, Vivian had already achieved her goal.
She had first used the gold coins to grab Old Tom’s attention and then used her words to reveal specific information to provoke him, all to test his reaction.
The current result was that Old Tom definitely knew something!
So, what should Vivian’s next step be?
The answer was, of course, to start the fight immediately!
Please, this was Black Rat Street. This was a place where people were murdered in the streets and no one cared. Vivian intended to follow the local customs.
Boom!
Vivian lunged forward, her fist punching straight through the wall of the wooden shack! Then, her small hand reached through and grabbed Old Tom by the throat on the other side.
“Get out here!”
She yanked with all her might, pulling him out like a radish. She dragged Old Tom right through the wall, leaving a massive hole behind.
“Heh… khhh…”
Rapid, gasping breaths like a leaking bellows escaped Old Tom’s throat. His chest heaved violently, but his windpipe was clamped shut so tightly that not a single breath of air could get in. His withered hands clawed fruitlessly at that small, fair hand, but he couldn’t budge it even a fraction of an inch.
His face and the large fleshy growth hanging off it quickly turned a deep red. His frantic gasps grew weak, and his struggles turned feeble.
Only when his eyes began to roll back did Vivian finally let go.
“I didn’t want to take things this far. Why didn’t you just give me the answer earlier?”
She wore a hypocritical smile, speaking as if she had been forced into this. In reality, she had been itching to teach this old man a lesson for a long time.
To obtain enough blood, this old wretch had forced innocent people to sell their blood on more than one occasion. If it hadn’t been for the fact that she occasionally needed human blood to replenish her mana, she would have trashed his shop long ago.
‘Hmph~ Now that I’m a proud domesticated vampire with Nolan as a stable blood source, I don’t need this place anymore.’
Vivian looked down at Old Tom on the ground and thought exactly that.
“Wheeze… hiss, you…”
Old Tom curled into a ball, gasping greedily for the air he had been deprived of.