Chapter 39 - Levels

　　After Lenka became an official vampire hunter, it took a week before she participated in her first vampire extermination.

　　The target is an estate far outside Constantine, where a band of wild vampires attacked, killed the owner and turtled up.

　　Lenka was awakened in the early hours of the morning, and after breakfast with the hunters, marched to the outskirts of the estate.

　　At dawn, with the first rays of sunlight, the hunters launched their raid.

　　However, Lenka wasn't really involved, she just sang the whole time.

　　Then Kayne blasted open the manor's gate with [Explosive Inflammatory Bomb], and the hunters strengthened by the elf song were like mad dogs .... Nope... Like fierce tigers, they rushed into the manor.

　　The vampires who were just about to lie down and sleep in their coffins were quickly brought under control, the few leaders who killed the lord of the manor were executed on the spot with silver swords, and the remaining vampire follower's who were not guilty of anything major were escorted to the concentration camp that was under construction.

　　Here they are shackled with concealed silver needles and engaged in labor under guardianship.

　　The concentration camps were primed and the hunters had set up a rigid hierarchy for the vampires.

　　The lowest level is naturally the POW vampires who have been captured and brought over, who have to do heavy labor and whose blood supply is maintained at a minimum standard.

　　And the second tier were the original noble vampires who had completed their job handovers in Constantine and were then forcibly relocated here.

　　They were able to keep their property, but also needed to labor here in exchange for a supply of blood.

　　Under this class, they have the autonomy to choose their own guardian and have one defense if the guardian is unanimous in executing them.

　　If they later made outstanding contributions to the camp, they could be promoted another grade.

　　A vampire of the third level is unguarded, but is still required to work and wear a yoke.

　　If a third level vampire gets any more credit, they can be promoted to the fourth level, which allows them to be equipped with weapons and to concur with the hunters in battle. They can enjoy the same power as human nobles and an unlimited supply of blood.

　　Further up there is the fifth level of vampire, with the privilege of not needing to wear shackles, and currently there is only one President Baldwin in this class.

　　Of course, so far, there were only a handful of Level 1 and Level 2 vampires in the camp.

　　At first the hunters felt burdened, especially with the wild vampires that had been captured, and there were sure to be those who were not afraid to die with intent to rebel.

　　But to the hunters' surprise, a small number of secondary vampires have consciously taken on the job of monitoring the primary vampires in order to get credit for their promotion and will also help the humans to squeeze the primary vampires together.

　　And the first-class vampires are unusually obedient in order to get out of this oppressed position, as they also have the hope of rising to a higher level and gaining a measure of security and freedom if they are obedient and work hard.

　　After delivering the newly captured vampires to the camp, Edward stood with the hunters on the outside wall of the camp, which was nearing completion, and watched as order prevailed inside.

　　His heart couldn't help but sigh: it was true that the easiest way to govern organic intelligent lifeforms was to make them implode.

　　He may have forgotten, though, that he was the one who initially proposed this hierarchy.

　　"That, vampires are considered monsters, right?" Renka, who had become the guild's new group favorite, asked.

　　"Well, sort of." Evely, who was standing next to her and had lost her status as the group's favorite, replied.

　　After a few exchanges, Ivory grew to like the simple-minded Lenka, who was willing to stay with Ivory because there were so few women in the guild.

　　"To think of enslaving monsters to do your work, you humans are truly a terrible race."

　　"Kayne came up with all this. Don't look at him all mild-mannered, he's got some ideas like the devil."

　　The conversation between the two girls caused Edward to interject, "Why am I a devil again? And don't you elves also make servile forest spirits?"

　　"Forest spirits are natural elemental creatures, not monsters."

　　"According to you, vampires are still cursed humans."

　　The three men who were fighting didn't notice a bat hanging silently upside down in the shadows of the wall at their feet.

　　----------

　　At their estate outside Fort Transylvania, the members of the Society of the Seal are holding a new secret meeting.

　　Duke Madias had just read a very long report to the members on the recent movements of the evil Second True Vampire Ancestor in Constantine.

　　"Ridiculous! Letting domestic animals run the Bloods? The Second True Vampire Ancestor must have lost his mind!" A member angrily exclaimed.

　　"Don't get excited, that one is currently only collecting some wild Bloods, they are actually indistinguishable from domestic animals."

　　"But that doesn't change the fact that this whole thing is beyond ridiculous! Even wild Bloods are blessed by Your Excellency and are far more noble than domestic animals!"

　　"Yes, back when the Second True Vampire Ancestor hadn't yet betrayed, the law to allow livestock to participate in the deliberations of government was already being pushed, yet in the end, the livestock that ate their way through the great upheaval sided with the foreign enemy."

　　"This incident also proves the stupidity of the Second True Vampire Ancestor in disguise."

　　"Ahem!"

　　Duke Mathias coughed twice to stop these companions who were talking more and more.

　　"Even if that one made a lot of foolish decisions during the great upheaval, he is the one who single-handedly expanded the empire's territory to its peak, so please keep in mind that this is a very scary enemy that should not be taken lightly."

　　The members were immediately doused with cold water.

　　The Duke was right, the Second True Vampire Ancestor was unrivaled at his peak, in terms of personal combat prowess, military savvy, and political maneuvering.

　　After a moment of silence, one of the members said, "According to me, we must send out an army to wipe out the Second True Vampire Ancestor before he gets up a head of steam, and by the way, we can also recover the old capital ...."

　　"Our current borders are separated from the old capital by a myriad of small countries, will these small countries let us pass?"

　　"These small countries are all weak, and it's not impossible to conquer them all the way there."

　　"It's bound to be a protracted war if we conquer all the way, can the logistics keep up? Can the domestic animals in the country provide enough blood medicine now?"

　　"You can make war with war, conquer a small country, then impose armaments and blood slaves ...."

　　As the two argued, the other man spoke up:

　　"Did you guys ever think of a question before all this bickering?"

　　"What?"

　　"In the current empire, is there any army whose combat power can top that of the Bloodtooth Forbidden Guard at its peak?"

　　The Bloodtooth Praetorian Guard is the strongest army in the old Jouy Night Empire, and belongs directly to Empress Lilith.

　　And this most powerful of armies was supposedly destroyed by Kayne with a single nuclear strike of magic.

　　"The claim that the Second True Vampire Ancestor wiped out the army with a single blow is mostly just a rumor. After all, none of the Bloodtooth Forbidden Guards have any Bloods surviving right now."

　　"Doesn't the fact that there are no survivors side by side corroborate the veracity of destroying an army in one blow?"