Our escape from the casino was pretty uneventful, if I am honest. I had expected things to get really bad, really quickly. Compared to my expectations, what we actually got could be considered to be really tame.

  A couple of navok guards stumbled on us. Emilia got rid of them in a few moments. Nobody came looking for us yet, though.

  The others didn't even need to get involved. That is a good thing, because right now John and me are helping Lauren walk. This is the only way that we will be getting anywhere quickly. Without us to help her up, our speed will decrease quite a bit. If we fought, that is what would happen.

  I would say that it took us about twenty minutes to get out of the casino. Right now, we are taking a small break at the gate of the casino. John believes that we risk it with how quickly we made it out of the place.

  We had expected to be bombarded by the Navok any second. Compared to our expectations, we were barely attacked. Instead of comforting me, though, this causes a chill to run down my spine. Right now, we are supposed to be in the Navok family's home base.

  The only reason that we had such an easy time getting out of this place is that the Navoks have begun to regroup. Once you know what to look for, there are clear signs that this is happening. For one thing, we did not meet any of the rebels while coming out.

  That means that either they are all dead or they have managed to escape the place. Either way, there are no rebels here to act as bait for the Navoks.

  Then there is the fact that the streets here are completely empty. Right now, the casino looks like a scene out of a horror story. The only reason that the locals would be escaping this place is if the Navoks are doing something big. Big enough that people are worried about friendly fire.

  Even as I am speaking, they must be gathering up somewhere in the casino. Once they finish regrouping with each other, it means that they will finally be free to chase after us.

  If that happens, we do not have a lot of time. We could try and hide in the city, but we will eventually be caught. This is the Navok family's base. There is no way that we will be able to hide from a focused search.

  They could have already started looking around for us. The only way that we are getting out of this is if we manage to get to our ship and take off. The problem is that the ship is going to be the first place that they go to. It won't take them long to reach the ship and make sure that it won't take off once they remember about the ship.

  Granted, we did leave the mayfires to protect the ship, but it still is not too much of a comfort for me. They could hold against the Navoks for a bit, but they are certainly not going to be doing this for long. Destroying the ship is going to be pretty easy if the battlefield is the ship.

  Things have really derailed too much. We had planned to leave now, by the way. To quietly escape the town while the navoks are still regrouping. While they are busy trying to find us in the town.

  Now that this has failed, we will have to see how things will go. Now this leaves things completely up to luck. If the Navoks are not fast enough in their regrouping, we can still complete our allies' work and escape. If they are fast enough, they will attack our ship, which is our only way out of this place.

  All of this is not helping me with my anxiety. Every moment that we spend here, I feel like a legion of the Navok soldiers is going to appear and attack us.

  John has begun to recover his mana. That means that the man will be able to fight if things get dicey. He won't be able to show his usual strength, though.

  Well, John has gestured for us to get ready to leave. Right now, John is the only person who knows where exactly we are supposed to be going. After all, this part of the plan was completely made by these guys. If he didn't know, nobody would.

  Well, I guess that I can finally speak about our plan. Well, I don't know if I should speak about it. After all, I don't have a concrete idea of what the exact plan is. All I know are the broad strokes of the plan.

  You see, we knew that getting information from the vampires would be an impossible task. Killing them usually tends to be simpler than trying to get anything out of them. Even the scholars and their torture would not have yielded us much. (I would suggest nobody mention this to the scholars, though. They tend to be very sensitive about this.)

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  That is why we have been focusing on getting what we need through negotiation. We certainly would not have been able to negotiate with any of the vampires that had possessed this body. After all, losing this body wouldn't even cause them any loss. They would have just laughed at us as we tortured them to their death.

  The mere grunts would be useless because we need the astral coordinates of the location. Then the searchers would be able to decode it and tell me where I am supposed to take the ship.

  Thus, we needed a vampire that we knew we could negotiate with. One that would be able to understand and present astral coordinates. One that had already betrayed its fellows for a mere artifact.

  That is right, our plan from the start has been to negotiate with Lady Esmerelda. (Which is usually just blackmail with vampires.) That is where we are going right now. You see, the lady seems to have been trying to escape the servants' quarters. The searchers have somehow detained her, making sure that she is not able to escape the place.

  I don't know how they have done so. The searchers have been very careful that I don't know anything about these plans of theirs. It was because I was the one who was making a demonic contract with the vampire.

  The lady would have asked something that would have ensured her safety. In that situation, leaving the task to the others would have given me the most decent chance of survival. Even then, this was a gamble. I was expecting to take a bath in hellfire.

  We are going to the place where the lady has been detained. The group attacking the servants' quarter has already made its way here.

  That means we don't need to worry about the lady accidentally being killed (or killing herself). It is going to take us about half an hour to get to this place. If we are interrupted in the middle, it could take us much longer as well.

  During that period, I am going to shut down the log. After all, we could be attacked any second now. It would be very stupid to distract myself with a log now. Anyway, I have recorded all that I needed to.

  (After about forty minutes.)

  I have to say that it was a pretty weird experience to walk the streets of this town today. There is barely anybody out on the streets. It feels like I am walking in a ghost town.

  The few people that we see are even quicker at disappearing than us. I don't think that anybody wants to be seen with a stranger right now. That would be the quickest way for a man to get himself killed today.

  After all, the casino has been attacked. That means that the Navok family is going to go on a slaughter. I am sure that they are not going to care if innocents are going to get involved.

  Anyway, we have reached our target. It is a small warehouse quite close to the warehouse where I originally met the lady.

  Well, looking at the place, I can tell that the vampire was pretty wise in picking this place as a hideout. This place is going to be pretty easy to defend. For one thing, there is only one way in and out of the place. There is no way to sneak into the place without destroying the walls.

  There are also no openings (no windows or doors or anything) in this place, which might allow a person to sneak into the place.

  The most important thing is that this place is pretty easy to ignore. The place looks almost ordinary compared to the other buildings here. The only reason that people would be interested in this place would be the fact that we are here.

  Even as I have been recording here, we have been entering into the place. With Lauren as she is, travelling has been a slow process.

  We are entering the place as carefully as we can. After all, it would be quite sad if we were ambushed at the last step of our journey.

  Even as we enter the place, it becomes clear that there was no need for us to be careful. The aegis are all spread around the gate, protecting the place from any attack.

  Their leader is oddly missing, though. Even as I think this thought, I see the man. He is presently in a small group at the other end of the building.

  Well, I helped the sentinels place Lauren in a comfortable corner of the building. As John and Emilia join the aegis in their vigil, I join Anthony and the people with him.

  Right now, Anthony, Eric and the searchers are crowding around a chair. Bound to the chair, we have the lady Esmerelda.

  "My lady Esmerelda, I greet you." I speak to her. "I guess that we could have met in better conditions."

  "Well, you are not a fool to think that this will be enough to intimidate me, mutt." The lady replies.

  "Well, searcher Amelia. I have to ask you. How did you even capture the lady?" I ask the searcher, as I look at the binding with which they have captured the lady. "I have been curious about that since we made this plan."

  "Well, these ropes are holy binding, young master." Searcher Amelia replies. "Specifically, the binding of the midnight huntress. There is no way that the vampire will be getting out of it."

  "How did you even get something like that here?" I ask. "If I remember correctly, that is supposed to be a pretty high-level blessing. There is no way that the churches here could do something like that."

  "We had brought it with us, young master." The lady replies. "We knew that we were dealing with vampires. We thought it would be prudent to have something like that ready."

  "Who do you expect to intimidate, human?" The vampire suddenly sneers at the searcher. Fuck, I had forgotten that she was here. "I won't be helping you."

  "Well, my lady, I am sure that you want to live." I reply. "If you don't give us what we need, we are all going to die. Right now, there is an entire army that must have already begun to look for us."

  "Why should I worry about the Navok's?" The lady replies. "They are chasing after you. If anything, I can be considered to be your victim."

  "Well, we have completely poked the ego of the Navok family. Right now, they are seeing red." I reply to this. "Do you know the locals of this town have already begun to hide. Even they know that the fury of the Navok family is going to be merciless. It is in all of our best interests to complete this negotiation as quickly as possible."