Siderius dropped Xonder’s body to ground, letting it soak in mud and horseshit on the street. His head fell to the side lifelessly.
Xarles shuddered. He couldn’t believe in his own eyes.
"Siderius! Why?!" The Bailiff approached the dead man and held his hand. It was cold as ice. "Xonder helped many people in our town. Many of us would have died without him!"
Siderius chuckled. "Of course he has to do that. If you all die, there will be no one left for him to feed."
Siderius grabbed Xonder’s head and pulled his mouth open, revealing two elongated pointy teeth.
"That?!" Xarles widened his eyes.
"Vampire’s teeth. It contains an anesthetic that will make you lose consciousness. Wondering why those people didn’t know that they were bitten?
It’s because of these teeth."
Xarles clenched his fist tight. His heart told him that Xonder wasn’t that kind of man. But the truth was upon him. He couldn’t refute it.
"Xonder... All these years. How could you?"
The crowd surrounded the corpse. Most of them whispered amongst themselves. So pierced their contempt through their gaze at Xonder. All of them were relieved.
The nightmare that haunted Pannitha had finally co to an end.
"Bring him to the morgue." Xarles commanded a few townsn to carry Xonder away.
Priest Xeros turned to Siderius. "Would he... Return?"
"You an if Xonder is going to co back to life? So higher vampires do have this ability. But Xonder isn’t one of them.
I am curious though. He was able to walk through sunlight for so reason.
Bailiff Xarles, you wouldn’t mind for to examine the body later do you?"
Xarles shook his head. "Not at all. I would rather have you checking him from head to toe."
Siderius nodded.
"Co. I will give you your reward. I have the coins but the letter of safe passage and property deed will need a few days. I need ti to reestablish a connection to a grove."
"Why? Can’t you just reach out to them?"
"I am not the actual leader of this town, Lord Nyx. Only a high lord can bear that responsibility. But since there is no high lord left in Pannitha, I have to be the Bailiff.
Paperwork will not be easy."
"I see. If that’s the case, Rea and I are more than happy to stay in the town for a few more days."
"You and Rea can continue staying in the church, Lord Nyx." Priest Xeros said.
The matter was then settled. Siderius went to Xarles’s house to take his fifty silver, accumulating his total wealth to 28 Gold Coins, 103 Silver Coins, and 87 Bronze Coins.
50 silver didn’t seem that much in his personal savings anymore. But wealth is wealth. No matter how small it is.
Xarles sent a group of n to Xonder’s house to find any useful dication. Since he was the only healer in town, his items were valuable. They needed to stock up dicinal herbs while looking for a new one to take his place.
In the afternoon, Siderius went into the morgue to check on the body.
Vampire’s teeth were valuable. They could be used to produce a special oil to coat on weapons. The oil wouldn’t be as effective as the power of a vampire but would still be very useful in a battle. Especially for those with a weaker mind.
Vampire’s Dominion is the Soul. All vampires sourced their power from the soul and used their power to affect the Soul. This was why they could survive purely on blood alone.
Biologically speaking, Blood wasn’t enough to keep a living being alive for long. They needed different nutritions. When a vampire drinks blood, it literally sucks out the life force of one’s soul to feed on its own.
The teeth of a vampire affected the target’s soul. It was a very rare and valuable venom that ordinary beasts couldn’t have.
Siderius plucked out Xonder’s two fangs.
He then moved the knife to Xonder’s eyes, intending on extracting the eyeballs.
The second valuable organ of a vampire was its eyes. Inside them lay the power of hypnosis. A pair of biological Mystic Eyes, different from the magical Mystic Eyes of the witches.
Siderius froze when he opened up Xonder’s eyeballs.
"These aren’t the eyes of a vampire... These are..."
Siderius’ eyes widened. He dashed out of the door and went to Xarles’s house.
He didn’t knock but simply barged inside.
"Lord Nyx... What are you..."
"The townsn you sent to Xonder’s house! Have they returned?!"
Xarles blinked a few tis and looked out. The townsn had been gone since noon. It was already dusk. The sun was starting to set.
"Those boys must have ssed around or sothing. They haven’t returned yet."
"Tch."
"Is there sothing wrong?"
"Xonder isn’t the vampire. There is soone else."
"What do you an?"
"Gather all the villagers to the church and stay inside. No matter what you hear or see, do not let anyone in, understand?"
"Huh?" Xarles stared in a daze. He still didn’t understand what was going on.
Siderius grabbed his arms and lifted him up. "Vampires cannot enter a ho without invitation. So gather everyone in the church, block the door, and do not let anyone in!"
Siderius slapped Xarles out of his confusion.
"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
Xarles nodded repeatedly.
"I will go to Xonder’s house right now. You do not have much ti. Get going!"
Siderius dashed out of the door and disappeared down the street.
Xarles gasped. He stumbled to his feet and rushed out as well.
"People! People! We need to go now!"
In the far West, the sun slowly dove under the hills. The last few beams of sunlight disappeared one by one, returning the ground to its cold, deathly darkness.
Siderius pulled Red out of the stable and rode to Xonder’s house. Lycan sat on the back, hissed lowly to the threat that was coming.
Rea followed Xarles and helped him gather the townsfolk.
"How can there be two vampires in a town?" Xarles commanded the people to the church. He couldn’t help but bite his lips and said.
Priest Xeros’ brow furrowed. "Two... Xonder had a family once."
"Co on, people! Get going!" Xarles shouted.
Priest Xeros and Rea guided the people into the church. They all moved to the praying hall, the largest room in the building.
In Xonder’s house, a small figure lay upon one of the townsn that was sent here by Xarles.
The lifeless body was covered in its own blood. The figure munched on its severed hand, sucking all the warm blood inside.
The figure stared out the window, seeing the last sunlight disappear from under the hills.
She smiled. Her teeth were covered in crimson red blood.
"Daddy! It’s ti to wake up!"
Xonder’s eyes snapped open. His broken neck adjusted itself and he breathed once more.
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