Chapter 112 - Vampires

Not long later, as I was still in thought about my sister, I heard a knock before the door being opened. I held back an expletive as I wanted some time to think before he entered; instead of any respect, the person sat across me with enthusiasm.

"Hello, Younger sister," I heard my brother's voice. I stifled a sigh from its birth to the outside world and turned my attention to him.

"Hello, Anthony, You are early," I replied flatly.

"Well, I noticed our sister leaving, so I assumed you were waiting for me." He replied with a confident smile.

My eyelid twitched, and I responded, "Okay," and I got up. I exited the room leaving my brother flabbergasted inside. I had no important doc.u.ments in there, and I turned to Yuri, who had a frown, "Did he annoy you?" I asked.

"He refused to see reason and entered as he wished," Yuri responded, and I followed up, "Alexia still recovering?"

Yuri's frown turned to a smile, "Yes, you focused her a little too hard, although she insists on covering the afternoon." She continued, but I pointed down the hallway taking the conversation elsewhere while I heard the door open behind us. I put up an air barrier, knowing he couldn't pass it until we went up a staircase. "Is he going to be a problem?" Yuri asked as we went out of sight.

"Shouldn't be if he can get his head out of his a.s.s. That is the problem, though. He seems to be entitled, thinking he can do whatever he wants. That isn't true, and I can't have him around thinking he can negotiate. If he does, then things will go south if he tries to promise something I cannot fulfill. Now is the best time to put him in place." I told Yuri without holding back.

"Should you be saying this all to me?" Yuri asked.

"Doesn't matter who I tell it to. With the way my brother is being, it wouldn't take a wizard to find out that there are problems between us. No, it is better to make it common knowledge." I told her and others as we walked down the passageways could hear us. None of the corridors of the embassy were b.a.r.e.

"Tell my brother he can meet me tonight. I need him to realize I am his boss, not the other way around. You can tell him that too. We can reattempt this as many times as he feels the need to disrespect me. Now, I believe there are Vampires to meet today." I said, changing the subject.

"Yes, Today you will be meeting with the Patriarch Goldblood and Matriarch Silverfang. They are looking forward to the meeting." Yuri told me; Her smile was bright.

"Good, Are they here already, or should I go to the bas.e.m.e.nt to organize?" I asked Yuri.

"They are here; Everyone has learned that you can be early or late depending on the direction of the wind," Yuri replied.

I winced as it was an apt description of my availability. It was one of the reasons why I had to let my brother and sister come. I was trying to fit too many appointments into not enough hours in the day. My mind centered quickly, though, and I nodded. "It is bad that I have that description but understandable. As long as I have the reputation of being there at some point, then I can deal with it. I will show the Vampires more favor and show up early." I said.

Yuri chuckled, knowing that the only reason I ever show up early was that something finished earlier than expected. "Good thing I have been leading you to them the entire time," Yuri replied as she stopped at another meeting room. I gave her a wry smile.

I then entered the room; inside, I saw two Pale people. The race that feeds on other races; The Vampires; They're an interesting race that followed a rigid hierarchy. These two were very high up, only under what they called Originals. Still, they were very insular and tended not to allow their information to leak to others.

We had information on most of the lower rings. First, starting from the bottom were what they call the Ghouls. They were what they considered failure children. They were used as the front lines in conflict, and they could come from any level of the hierarchy. Even Originals can fall into becoming a Ghoul; fighting up from that was something that rarely happened. Ghouls were considered criminals or did something legally dubious.

The next level on the ring were their kids. Although the vampires had a low birth rate, even lower than the Elves with a longer life than the elves, which was rare among species. They treated their kids like they hadn't proven their worth. If they didn't do good enough, many kids ended up becoming ghouls lowering themselves to what they considered riffraff.

If they fought hard enough, they could become what they allow to be call Vampires. This was what they considered those worthy enough of the name. Although not all were educated, Vampires were one of the Species that insisted on it for every one of the statuses above Vampire. Many Vampires were educated if they wanted to reach any social status higher.

Then was the Elite Vampires. They were stronger, and here they had to have some profession or strength that allowed them to be there. If I were a vampire, I would at least be on this social level with my alchemy alone. Although I would be higher based on my strength. Elite Vampires made up what was now considered the higher social status and were actively incentivized to have children.

After Elite came The ferocious; although they were around the same rank as the Elite, they were the uneducated brethren that earned their place with strength. This position was considered their shame and was both lower and higher than Elites and normal Vampires. It was an interesting position that demanded respect through power alone and was rarely seen.

Above the Ferocius and the Elites became the Masters. These were educated, highly sought-after professional masters or equal strength for social status. But they had to be educated to reach this point. They were a very diverse number of skills in this group, but they were also not what most considered masters out in the world. Our nation's Alchemy master was considered a higher social position than Masters in the Vampire world. It was a weird contrast.

Above the Masters were the Matriarchs and Patriarchs. They were have done something or reached a point in achievement to reach this point and were the main executors of the will of the Vampire people. They held top positions and made the world go around for them. It was very difficult and complicated to understand the true range of power this social class had because its hands were everywhere.

Then it was the Originals. This was an odd title that I think was initially meant only for the Father and mother of the species. It seemed to originate from there at least and has been handed down to those with a degree of power akin to the A-rank. That was about all our nation knew about them, and we took precautions towards them.

All of this information filtered into my head as I encountered some higher-level Vampires for the first time. I sat down across from them, and the Male Vampire looked Classy, and his pale skin was dressed in a classy black suit. I would add a top hat, and he would look even posher. It also seemed to suit his general demeanor; I couldn't picture him with anything else on. It just suited him that well.

On the other hand, the Woman was in a red dress that cut down her legs, making me think of stereo-type vampires in my previous incarnation. I didn't watch that many movies, though, and couldn't point out anyone that perfectly spoke of her elegance. The room was silent as I finished sitting.

"Matriarch Silverfang, Patriarch Goldblood, It is very nice to meet you for the first time," I said respectfully. The two seemed to move with my words finally.

"Ambassador Chelsea," Goldblood began, "It is truly wonderful to see someone as young as you as accomplished as yourself. You do both your family and nation Honor with your position." He greeted.

"Yes, Ambassador Chelsea, we have seen some of your proposals and are delighted to see them from a nation such as yours. The Bunny-kin are most fortunate to have you be the Heir to the Silvermoon Tower. The depth of your knowledge is shocking for one so young as yourself. Our offspring should take you as an example to tighten themselves." Silverfang greeted.

These were both High compliments from Vampires, and I bowed my head to a respectful level without lowering myself to them. I was the Ambassador of my Nation, and I couldn't bow to anyone unless the nation had me apologizing for something dire. "I thank you both for the high praises. They are tales I shall tell my many children to seek out in their futures." My speech was redundant but useful for diplomatic reasons.

With the greetings out of the way, I could finally speak after they acknowledge my thanks. "Ah, What a better Ambassador. Your last couple has been remarkably horrible at showing the proper thanks and respect people of our standing deserve." Silverfang said turning to the Patracrch.

This earned my attention very quickly, "Oh, I beg my pardon, Matriarch Silverfang, But with the recent changes we have made, I ask for more information on that. I was under the impression our races were close until recently; then you lessened contact and only talk through the Succubi." I explained, "This is something I have been investigating with the resources I have available, which have been reduced to less than what they should be." I told them an important piece of information, hoping to receive more in return.

Silverfang smiled, seeing my action as did Goldblood. "See, I told you that eventually, they would send someone who understood the give and take relationship." Silverfang said to Goldblood.

"Yes, Yes, you did. I will not disagree they had to send someone eventually that understood the nuances of Diplomacy. I still do not understand what happened with the last two." Goldblood replied to her, shaking his head at an almost microscopic level that I barely caught.

"Sorry, Ambassador Chelsea, it seems you remain in the dark about our past dealings with the previous Ambassadors. This is interesting as I thought that your nation was supposed to take meticulous notes with your better enchantment knowledge." Silverfang dug a little deeper, and I decided to sate her curiosity.

"Silverfang, I will tell you the truth. Let us say that the Previous Ambassador who was taking a 'vacation' here in the Demon lands will be heading home soon. Our council has some very pointed questions to ask about his previous dealings here in the Demon lands. I will not speak more on the matter." I told her, and both their elegant eyebrows shot up.

"That is interesting; Fine, I will let you know that our previous dealing was better through the Succubi; they tend to want the same things our race wants as well. That wasn't to say we were as closed off as we were due to dislike of your people as the people you sent to represent you. Your previous Ambassador even praised a Ghoul that was previously a Patriarch, saying our nation made a mistake punishing him."

This raised my eyebrows, and I leaned back, "Please tell me more about this. I am very interested in what he has done to earn your ire," I told her.

"Well, this particular Ghoul was found to be supplying funds and resources to a particular Pirate gang that was off our coasts. Although they stayed away from the Demon lands, they regularly attack other nation's merchant sh.i.p.s with luxury goods. He made a handsome profit selling them at a reduced cost to those with the right connections." Silverfang explained, and my memory went to the first meeting with the succubi.

They had no solid evidence but a lot of circ.u.mstantial that he was dealing with Pirates. Still, something did not add up, and I felt like I was missing something important. Ambassador Ralph didn't seem stupid to me. He was arrogant and did what he wanted but not stupid. This was what was wrong to me. The words escaped me, "Well, that was incredibly stupid of him," I said.

This silenced the Matriach, and I quickly apologized, "Sorry, Matriach Silverfang, I interrupted, and that is my mistake. I was thinking about why he would do this. There is nothing to gain from it, and would only seek your race's anger towards him praising a useless Ghoul. This is something only the most incompetent people without any education would do. Hell, Even someone not educated would understand not to praise a recently demoted person. That means there is another reason he did it." I explained my reasoning.

Silverfang and Goldblood seemed more in thought after I said that, "That is true; your nation also would not send idiots to be in charge. That means that there must be an underlying reason for the transgression. This matter might need deeper insight into it." Silverfang replied after a couple of moments.

"Matriarch Silverfang and Patriarch Goldblood, I would like to talk to you again soon in more detail about some things. Would this be acceptable if I take more of your time in the coming weeks so we may discuss more topics on a variety of different subjects moving forward? I would love for our nations and species to regain the closeness we had before." I took an opportunity to see their new stance.

"This is troubling; although I am not sure we can become as close as we were before, but someone might have planned this break in relations. We shall talk more in detail later this week. I shall talk to your assistant Yuri about a meeting soon." Silverfang replied, and Goldblood nodded.

"My counterpart Silverfang is correct; We will take a look at the surrounding circ.u.mstances around what caused the split to see if nefarious actions were taken place. Now, we shall part and learn what we can for our next meeting." Goldblood said, and they both stood up in unison.

"May the blood you drink may always be your enemies," I said as they exited.

"May the blood of your enemies fill the lake of your power," They replied together.

After that, they left without another word to me. I watched them go, and I realized something was more was going on. I needed to talk to the ex-Ambassador. I realized that if I wanted to talk to him before he left, I would have to go now. I stood up and left out the door seeing Yuri come up to me with a smile.

"The Vampire reps seem much happier than when they first came," Yuri commented, and I turned to her.

"I need to talk to the ex-Ambassador before Florine takes him to the docks. I need you to either delay or cancel my next appointment. To whom is it?" I asked her.

"You can't cancel," She began, "It is the Queen of the Illusion tower. They are expecting you, and you don't want to snub the Queen."

I stopped, and I turned to her, "Already? I thought I would have a couple of more days before Se Mon and the Queen would be here." I said.

"Yeah, the Queen has started to hear rumors among the people of her council. She is very interested in you. Therefore I cannot allow you to put off this meeting. In fact, I would arrive early If I could order you.' Yuri said, and I couldn't help but nod. The negotiations with the Illusion tower took my attention much more, and I realized that I might have time if I cancel my last appointment now.

I smiled and turned to Yuri, "Tell Florine that I will need to see the ex-Ambassador for an important debrief before he is shipped home to 'safety;' then cancel with my brother, and I will meet him tomorrow. I am not even sure how long this meeting will be, but I think you understand what I am saying." I finished, and Yuri nodded.

"Your Succubi Meetings are never short, and I will make sure to notify the cleaning team," Yuri said something surprising as she walked away.

"We have a clean-up crew?!" I exclaimed, surprised.

"It was Alexia, and I was doing it before; in the last week, we hired a crew to do it for us," Yuri announced and turned a corner out of sight.

My mind seemed to be caught on that, though, "But we have Mana!" I announced, and Yuri came back from just the corner.

"Then use it!" She clapped back, "The third room on the fifth level. The succubi are waiting." Then Yuri left me suprised.