The Fallen Vampire

Chapter 196: Poaching

"You need to go and find him!"

"Trust me, Ja'Zaki. My daughter and her husband have a fair bit on their hands as of now. They'll come when they are ready."

"That's not going to cut it now, Ayame! Just tell me their location, I'll go and get them myself!"

"I can think of very few things that are more stupid for you to try than that." The werewolf queen sighed. "Just be a little patient. Give me seven days and I'm sure he'll be ready to sit down by then."

"…Fine. Seven days exactly."

Ayame finally closed the scroll she'd been using to communicate with the ornery dark elf from long distance.

Honestly, she knew better than anyone that her son-in-law was a difficult pill to swallow, but she did wish that he didn't make things so difficult for her at this time.

'Anyway, at least this will give me an excuse to visit and possibly get those hermits out of their she-'

*Bang!*

"Hi, mom!"

Ayame's surprise showed clearly on her face when her daughter burst through the doors of her throne room with her husband and the bewitching Lucia in tow.

At the sight of her handsome son in law, Ayame practically forgot all about her conversation with Ja'Zaki that occurred just seconds ago.

But who could blame her?!

Taira had ditched his usual cult leader robes and donned a simple deep blue gi with the jacket hanging open.

She could see everything, and yet not enough at the same time.

'Every day I regret not formulating a better relationship with this man when he was still young and innocent… perhaps I'd have an easier time now if I had.' She sighed internally.

Shaking off her thoughts of grooming, she tried to regain some kind of normalcy.

"Well, well… What lovely sights have you brought me today, my daughter?"

She waited for Taira to greet her with a cold comment or a look of unbridled disinterest.

However, she was pleasantly surprised to see that she received neither of those things.

"Greetings." Was all he had to say.

"…"

Ayame turned to her daughter and pointed at Taira.

"Why's handsome in such a good mood?"

Keran rolled her eyes. "He's not."

"He's just making an effort to communicate with you in the hopes that we'll stay longer and run out of time to go see my parents." Lucia answered.

"Ah… Well, it's not how I'd imagined being used by you, but-"

"I regret participating in this already.." Taira sighed.

Ayame decided to hold back her flirting for a bit before Taira really decided to commit seppuku right in the middle of her throne room.

"So, what brings you three here? Is this some sort of 'visit to the in laws' day? I'm seriously amazed you have the time for that given your new occupation."

Ayame had already been told that the family wanted to keep the existence of their sect a secret for now.

And surprisingly, she was being very tight-lipped about the whole thing.

Hopefully Aja was too, or Taira would have to find himself a new best friend.

Because his would be dead.

"Actually, mother dearest, that's why we're here." Keran replied. We've come to poach workers from you!"

"Eh?"

-

The kitchen is an area where Keran spent a lot of her years in her childhood.

She had quite the impish little tendency to sneak in here and poke her fingers in the cakes or run off with a spare rib.

And her fond memories here made it the first place that Keran thought of to find a cook for the cult.

Among everyone she had come to know over the years, she had a for-sure favorite within this kitchen.

"Brenda!"

"Eh? If it isn't the castle's darling little princess!"

Keran hugged an old harpy woman with a head full of rusty red feathers.

Keran was more than a foot taller than the old woman and much more filled out, so she had to squeeze her lightly to avoid crushing her.

"Oh? Where are my manners..?"

The harpy released Keran and bowed to the three individuals trailing behind her.

"It is always a pleasure to be graced with your presence, my queen." She bowed.

Ayame had followed the trio of young lovers to the kitchen to see what they meant by 'poaching'.

This was probably her first time ever setting foot in here since the castle had been built… she had never laid eye on the very place where all of her meals came from and ate blindly.

"Ah, Brenda, I wanted to make you an offer!" Keran said as she took her hands.

"Oh? I'm not in the catering business though, princess."

"N-Not that! I was wondering if you would be interested in leaving this place and coming to work for my family in the mountains."

Brenda smiled at Keran pitifully.

"It's very kind to think of me for this, princess, but I'm afraid that me and those cold temperatures just don't mix.

Besides, I have been in your mother the queen's service for hundreds of years now. I cannot simply turn my back on her after all she has given me."

Keran deflated while Ayame seemed to stick out her chest with pride.

It was nice to know you had good, loyal help.

"But don't look so down, princess. I've never left you hanging before and I wouldn't start now. I've somebody perfect for the job if you're interested?"

"Sure! Our family could really use the help."

Brenda turned around and yelled into the back of the kitchen.

"Hey! New girl! Front and center!"

A woman came running from the back of the kitchen.

When Taira first laid eyes on the mystery woman, he knew something about her was odd.

He'd never seen a siren living on land before. They usually stay close to big bodies of water that see frequent visitors.

Their diet makes that sort of thing essential.

"You called for me, Ms. Brenda?" The woman asked. Her voice was as cool as ocean water.

"The princess here is looking for someone to work in her new family estate. I thought you might be interested."

The woman's face lit up and it seemed that the harpy's intuition was correct.

"Brenda says you're new?" Keran raised a brow. "Would you mind telling me your name?"

The siren's cerulean blue eyes sparkled as she bowed.

"It is an honor to meet you, Princess. You may call me Yem."

- 1 Hour Later…

*Bang! Crash!*

Two pitiful wails escaped the throats of not one, but two men as they came flying through an upstairs window and out onto the street.

They rolled to a stop at Taira's feet, and he saw their stupidity as an opportunity.

"…These men are injured. We should take them to get treatment and-"

Lucia: "Don't even try it, babe. We're still going in."

"Tch.."

"Don't 'tch' me! Things won't be like last time, I promise!"

"Don't you mean the last four times..?" Keran chuckled.

"Not helping!"

"Kyaa!"

Lucia smacked Keran on the butt hard enough to leave a handprint and draw a fair amount of attention from the streets as well.

Luckily, in this part of town it was always quite easy for funny noises like that to get drowned out by ruckus.

"Hey! Somebody check on those idiots and tell me who won in the pool!"

"My money is on the ox!"

"Settle down boys, settle down…"

Suddenly, a woman pushed open the front doors to the building and slithered out into the street.

Once she saw the group of lovers waiting in front of her workplace, her face instantly lit up.

She was a lamia who bore a striking resemblance to the old Lucia.

Creamy white skin with faint twinges of pink, oceanic green scales like those on a particular kind of serpent.

Her eyes were bright and amber colored behind her simple silver-rimmed glasses.

She had long black hair that was done in a much more professional bun instead of the freely long style Lucia used to wear.

Cultivation made Lucia look like she was in her late twenties or early thirties despite being seventy years old.

But this woman who was over 150 looked like her older sister.

"Hey, Ma! We came to visit!" Lucia beamed. "Is dad aroun-"

"DIEEEE!!!!!"

*BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!*

A loud collision rang out in the street, as a large man leapt out of the fourth floor of the building with his axe overhead.

He aimed right for the top of Taira's head between his ears.

The foxkin caught the attack with only two fingers and a hand resting behind his back.

"So you're still alive… disappointing." He sighed.

Lucia: "Babe!"

"I mean… Hi."