After entering one of the stores, Sylas began asking some questions about how the city's businesses worked. He said that he had come on his master's orders to find good places where he could buy certain products, and while he talked with the seller, Corvina remained right behind him, observing everything around her with an expression of clear disdain.
'Everything they sell here is weird.'
On the shelves were parts of monster bodies, corpses of other races, and even human body parts. That store existed mainly to satisfy the vampires' appetites, using different types of blood to create combinations that could result in better flavors or properties before putting them up for sale. Customers could choose between trying one of these combinations or simply taking a single type of blood.
After asking a few more questions, Enrico left the store. Even so, before leaving for good, he pretended to be interested in some products, carefully examining them to maintain the appearance of someone who had actually come to the city on business. He could not act as if he were merely looking for information, especially because he was certain that he was being watched.
"Master, this place is quite dirty, considering how it looks from the outside."
"They are 'noble' beings when it comes to cleanliness, but they are quite barbaric when it comes to collecting blood."
The two continued walking through the streets and passed by some stores that sold weapons made of blood.
Sylas repeated the same procedure, asking questions about the products and carefully observing the sellers' answers before moving on. He needed to act this way because, although the vampires were not particularly careful due to the confidence they had within their own dimension, any foreigner was usually watched for at least one day.
'I can only start acting tomorrow. So, today I'll try to get as much information as possible. Maybe something has changed, even though I don't think there will be any difference in this dimension.'
Until that moment, Enrico had mainly altered events related to Sanos and Tsuyokuni. Because of that, he believed that this dimension would remain practically the same as in the original story, at least for now.
Even so, he could not completely trust that. A small change was enough for an important event to take a completely different direction.
"Yumeha, did you do what I asked?"
"Yes, master."
Corvina discreetly handed a bag of money to Sylas, who hid it under his clothes. The coins used by the vampires were different from ordinary coins. They had a reddish color, and the more intense that color was, the greater their value, because it meant that there was a larger amount of blood concentrated in them.
Enrico had obtained that money thanks to Yumeha. While he distracted the sellers and the person following them, she used Hitodama to steal small amounts of money without being noticed. They had not taken much from each place, precisely to avoid raising suspicion.
'We went through ten stores in total and got twenty-seven coins. We only stole the minimum from five of them so we wouldn't attract attention... With this, we can spend the night here and buy some ingredients for me to prepare food.'
He would mainly look for wild boar or at least garlic that he could use to make normal food.
After continuing to walk for some time, Enrico approached an old house just as a vampire was about to enter. He took the opportunity to ask some questions about the city, trying to discover as much as possible about the surroundings and, especially, the important places.
The vampire answered without showing any suspicion, and Sylas said goodbye after obtaining the information he wanted.
'Nothing different so far.'
Enrico already knew many things about this city. But besides going after information he might not know, he wanted to confirm whether anything had changed.
Enrico moved away and began mentally organizing everything he had discovered. On the left, near the castle, was the guards' barracks, where a large part of them remained for most of the time.
On the right was the Blood Festival, where the vampires gathered to consume blood while celebrating the return of the blood hunters, who were responsible for bringing humans as food.
Among all types of blood, human blood was considered the tastiest and also one of the best for increasing the vampires' strength. That was precisely why those festivals were so popular.
"Where are we going, master?"
"To the right, of course. We're vampires, and I'm hungry now."
Corvina then noticed the head of a shadow nearby. Someone was too close and was probably trying to listen to the conversation between the two. She placed one of her hands over her stomach and made a gesture confirming that she also wanted to "eat" before they rested.
Inside the mask, her eyes were becoming increasingly dark.
'How disgusting.'
The two headed toward the festival. When they arrived, Corvina saw several humans tied to stakes suspended in the air. Blood flowed from their bodies and was collected by tubes that spread throughout the area, carrying everything toward the center of the square.
There was an organized line in front of several beautiful-looking stalls, decorated with red ornaments that contrasted grotesquely with what was happening.
Sylas joined the line and calmly waited until it was his turn. When he finally reached the counter, he asked for two full cups of Type D blood.
Just like the vampires themselves, blood also had classifications, ranging from Type D to S. In the original story, that villain had managed to obtain the best existing type, S blood.
'If we were to give my blood a classification, it wouldn't even be much above this level.'
Enrico had already realized how superior his blood was to the others when he used the magical paper. Comparing the two was practically ridiculous. If his blood could receive a classification, it would probably be something like SSSS, a classification that did not even exist.
"Here you are, sir. That's three medium blood coins."
"Here..."
Sylas handed over the coins and received the two cups. Without hesitation, he raised his mask slightly to expose only his mouth and immediately drank. The taste of iron spread through his mouth, accompanied by other sensations that made it even more unpleasant.
Corvina wanted to avoid the drink, after all, it was still human blood. However, she knew that she needed to eliminate any suspicion that might exist about them. Because of that, she asked for her own cup and quickly drank it. As soon as she finished, she had to control the urge to vomit.
'How can master look so natural?'
Sylas put his mask back on and made an expression of displeasure, perfectly maintaining the role he had assumed.
"This blood is worse than I expected. I prefer the blood from my homeland."
"Looks like we have a high-class servant here."
A comment coming from a nearby table caught the attention of the two. Corvina noticed Sylas's gaze change slightly and immediately understood that he was taking the role seriously. It was not merely a superficial act. Even at that moment, he remained completely focused on making sure they did not discover his true identity.
'I still have a lot to learn from my master...'
"Corvina, let's go. It's time to rest."
"Yes, master."
After leaving the festival, the two rented a simple place to spend that night.
The shadow that had been following them continued accompanying them for some time, but eventually stopped when it apparently lost interest. As soon as they entered the room and closed the door, Enrico removed his mask and pointed toward the bathroom, where there was a shower.
"Even if it's bad, it's better to vomit. We're not like vampires. We can get sick if we drink the blood of someone who is sick."
Enrico was the first to enter the bathroom. Yumeha realized that it really would be dangerous to keep that blood inside her body and ran there shortly afterward, remembering once again the horrible taste she had just experienced.
"Master, I want to kill these vampires."
"Me too. When we're finished, I'll ask Angela to purify our bodies."
"I appreciate it."
The two remained silent for a few moments while the sound of the water filled the bathroom. That had only been the first night in Reverse Sanos, but Enrico had already obtained enough information to begin preparing the next step of his plan.