There was genuine relief on the faces of those gathered. The soldiers, seeing this, also sighed freely.
- Why were we divided, Your Excellency? - Lucy Levron, although she joined the general mood, wanted to clarify everything to the end.
- I need workers in the village and I will buy some of you out if the royal representative allows it," the knight stated simply, seeing no reason to hide their future from the women.
At this point the conflict was over and Alexander left the courtyard quietly. Although a ransom from a convict usually did not bode well for people. After all, the new master was responsible for them before the crown, and for the escape of prisoners from private mines or plantations, were strictly asked and there were very large fines. The conditions of confinement were therefore much more severe than at the king's penal servitude.
It was cheaper for the owner to kill an unruly convict than to pay the fine for his escape. Despite this, no one protested. Whether it was the rain that had started to fall or the threat of imminent death that had disappeared, the prisoners calmly accepted the news of their future fate and began to carry out all the instructions of the warders.
As they left the meeting place, the knight ordered the centurion to prepare a double portion for dinner. It would help to erase the unpleasant residue from the morning events and to gain strength before the coming road.
The priest was already waiting for the vampire in the manager's office. Yesterday, when the archmage had left, the old man tried to talk to the guest who stayed for the night, but seeing the complete ignoring of the knight, he abandoned his attempts. As it turned out, not for good. Apparently, the man was in a hurry, so he came into the office without asking and in the absence of his master.
- I hear you, fair one.
- Child! Do you honor the light of Demur?
- Get to the point, Lighty. I don't have much time.
- Hereti...
The "air fist" sent the churchman into a short and very short flight to the wall. Alexander himself calmly approached the priest who was groaning on the floor and jerked him to his feet, tasting the blood that flooded the man's face after the spell hit him.
Oops! I'm sorry! The old man did not intend to attack his interlocutor or sway rights, but only wanted to find out the knight's views on life and the tenets of the Church. The old man was let down by his irrepressible desire to express himself in "high language" and he didn't want to call the vampire a "heretic" at all, but was only going to start his phrase with this word.
"You have to listen to the end and then beat him!"
After bringing the priest to his senses and healing him with magic, the vampire stared at the churchman with interest. He seemed to have recovered from the experience, but he was in no hurry to start talking again.
- I apologize, Father. I overreacted. I've been nervous since morning, and here you are with questions.
- Of course, son of light. I forgive you. But you have a very peculiar way of speaking to Demur's servants.
Despite his rank, the old priest was neither a fanatic nor a man shackled by ecclesiastical rules. With a lively mind and natural curiosity, he did not fit into the structure of the Light Church, and despite his age, he was a spiritual counselor in such a remote and unpleasant place. But it was here that he found what he had been looking for so long! A worthy interlocutor! And it was about him that the priest wanted to talk to the knight.
For the last thirty years, a troll had worked at the mine. Because of its weakness, the creature did not demand much, and was willing to work for grain, not for meat, as his relatives. The old priest found a common language with him. The non-human was not only a good listener, but also a very astute critic, finding inaccuracies in the man's stories or asking very valid and interesting questions.
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