After a few minutes Damien Found himself at the gate of the manor he descended the guarding legionnaires saluted him :'welcome back lord' he nodded and went it his target is a room widely known int the town as throne room their he found kikyou waiting for him accompagned by a messanger who seems to have just arrived from Stonehenge as for was he came here it will be known soon.
He went to the throne took his sit then Damien :'good day to you lady kikyou'.
They both answered:'good day to you lord'.
Damien :' first let's start with news do you bring us from Stonehenge today I hope it's good news'.
Then the messanger started talking:' forgive my lord for coming here without notice but butler Crowley send me here to dilevr an urgent message the first one is that while they were digging in the mountains looking for mineral vines apparently they stumbled upon an entrance to an old ruin many of them died due to activating some defensive mechanisms left by the owners so sir Crowley ordered that part of the mountain off limit for the time being he put a lead on the news and he got the tribe of goblins to move some of their tribesmen led by the shaman to act as guard and also to camouflage any activities down the line in the future lord also the head of your guard is holding training sessions near that place to offer support of needed so he urge to settle things here fast to comeback to decide on how to deal with it lord'.
Damien and kikyou were very much surprised 🙀 after hearing the news a ruin was significant matter it could be either a blessing or a curse depending on how they deal with it and what kind of ruins are they some are left by those great heros of the precedent era or the leftover of some destroyed civilization or race or the worst one was left by some twisted high grade knight or wizard who had walked the evil path and this ruin is just a trap made by him or her.
So as Crowley said he needs to think carefully on how to deal with either explore it this monopolising the gains from the ruin or sell to other organisations but all what will excavate from their will have nothing to do with home beside of it turned up to be one of those that keep producing ressources he would have invited a wolf to his house 🏠 so he said:' thank you for making the trip here as for how to deal with it first let's finish up the business here then we will return to Stonehenge then what it's the seconde message ?'.
The messenger said:'the seconde message is that their is a rumour that among the hyena tribe in the desert 🏜️ a seconde grade hyena berserk was born and that he is uniting the tribe their '.
This news was far more dangerous the the ruins because as long as created a secure area around it it can be contained for a long time but the birth of a seconde grade hyena who is uniting the tribes that is far more troubling news for his ruleif the records of the previous rulers of this part every time the tribe united they will target the Tuscany barrony to plundere and pillage as for what to do he probably has a few months before that seconde grade stabilise his new realm and start uniting the scattered tribe to attack him.
Then he said:' you may take you leave tell Crowley to do as he see fit and I will comeback as fat as possible '.
He bowed and said:' yes lord'.
Then he turned to kikyou:' do you have any suggestions on how to wrappe things up here fast?'.
Kikyou took sometime before she started talking as she was still thinking about the ruins and the potential it represented for her lord then she said:'as you remember my lord the day we met I was being hunted by a groupe of ruffians they belonged to a merchant clan who live here and their mane products is slave trading me and my brother are the children of the previous lord but when Dylan came here he joined hands with an in-law to take contrôle of the family and it's assets then they used me to blackmail my brother to doing their biddings but after I escaped he refused to comply and they imprisoned him and they tortured him from what I could gather he is on the brink on death like I was my lord and if you could...'.
She didn't continue but Damien new what she wanted to say turn him like her a first generation vampire 🦇 she probably could have turned him but maybe her love for him she didn't want to control him which showed that even after becoming a dark creature she still kept her human side as for converting him will be beneficial to him their is no doubt about it he will have a vampire living here who in turn will start a subordinate vampire clan or more precisely will turn the existing clan into a vampire one but he needed more than one pawn in order to keep everyone on check without micromanaging everything.
Then he sai:' I will grant your wish i will turn your brother but you have to tell me is like you a priest or did fallow another path or is he an ordinary man?'.
A big smile could be seen on her face containing pride when she said:' my brother has followed the path of a samurai in our family usually either you become a miko or priest but the path he followed is very rare only the ancestor has walked it before its the equivalent of the knight in this land in the east island 🏝️ where my clan migrated from they have samurai instead of knight '.
After hearing what kikyou Damien started liking the idea of having his own samurai vampire 🦇 this something new and he probably will get a powerful loyal follower at same time so he said:' we will do as you say but I also want to take control of another merchant family to balance ⚖️ things here your brother will be in the light and they will be hiding in the dark acting as my hidden dagger 🗡️ to acte when need be so after meeting the merchant in the evening try to see if I can use any of them '.
Kikyou happy from what she heard she said:' yes lord I will find you the right clan'.
With this meeting has ended and they both went to the dining room to have their lunch and like usual with a glass 🍷 of blood.
After each has retreated to his chambre to rest as for Damien he was thinking how to add to his power in the fast way possible and he could only think of two things create more undead to serve him and polish and refine his blood to the peak of grade one then attempt a breakthrough if possible so after finishing things here when he comeback to Stonehenge he will turn Victor the knight to a vampire 🦇 and he will hunt for some powerful spirit animals in the forest to feast upon them then try to digest his gains and attempt an advancements oh he shouldn't forget the ruins maybe he should try to visit it before the showdown with the hyena.
Few hours later Damien was in throne room accompanied by kikyou the time aggred upon for the meeting has long passed but no merchant has shown himself or sent an apology letter clearly showing the merchant attitude towards him this he called a guard to call for knight Carl and Bruce to discuss what action they should take.
Few minutes later Carl and Bruce came the bowed to him and sat down then Damien started talking:' as you can see from the empty room those low life didn't show up first I want to you present the report that I asked about earlier if any merchant clan member was present at the speech second any suggestions on whom to use as an example and finaly we will talk about who to station here after pacifying the town'.
First to speak was Bruce:' sorry my lord for the late arrival of the report it took some time to gather information but the important things are fallow first all the merchant no-one has came expect two people one is a member of a merchant family named Jack is well-known as a decent merchant and the other is the butler of a nonnative merchant who contrôle most of the slave market in the town and I just received a letter from them to you lord'.
He handed the letter to Damien who opened and started reading then he passed it to Carl who after reading asked :' do you think what they said lord is true'.
Damien :' I see no reason for them to lie but first let's tell the others what's in it basically the merchant has bet on the wrong horse 🐎 and now they want to pressure me in order to give them some benefits so they can recoup their losses I want to hear everyone opinions about it'.
First to speak was lady kikyou:' in my opinion my lord you should make an example of one the merchant family who has a bad reputation then throw a bone 🦴 for the others to chew on'.
Bruce interject:'what lady kikyou said is the best way to deal with these jackals by doing this way we will gain the support of the populace put some fear in the others and also show that you are also benevolent but can't blackmailed'.
Carl also nodded agreeing with them.
But Damien said:' we will do as you say I want you look for a family that deal in shark loans say they overcharged their clients and used underhanded tactics to keep them always in debt to them I want you to raid them tonight and seize all their assets is that clear also arrange a meeting with this Jack fellow I want to talk with him but secretly Is that okay and start preparation for leaving towards Stonehenge in three or four days '.
Carl and Bruce answered:' yes lord' and left to take care of their respective jobs and only Damien and kikyou where left and he said to her :' let's go meet your brother '.