After the afternoon tea ended, everyone else left, leaving only Batman and Schiller seated at the table. Batman looked silently at the leftover dishes on the table.
"I don't want to say 'I told you so,' but if you think finding no abnormalities after mixing holy water into the food means you can rest easy, then I won't spend any more effort on your personal safety."
"What did you say to Barbara?" Batman asked, looking at Schiller. "And why did you provoke Tim into picking fights with Barbara and Dick?"
"I thought you heard."
"I just didn't understand."
Schiller seemed somewhat surprised by his bluntness, but he still lightly tapped the side of his teacup with a finger and said, "I'm using a simpler security method."
He dipped his finger in the tea and began writing on the tabletop.
"Assume the vampires are naturally on the same side. We divide everyone currently here into two factions and make them hostile toward each other. If we stand with one side..."
"Then there is a fifty percent chance our side has no vampires, and a fifty percent chance all the vampires are on our side."
Batman furrowed his brow slightly. He seemed to have guessed something.
"If there are no vampires on our side, then the vampires have to deal with half the Bat-family and us. If all the vampires are on our side, then to gain our trust, and to deal with the other half of the Bat-family, the vampires will at least temporarily stand with us."
"It's a matter of influence," Batman said. "Once they turn against one another, both sides will have to win us over, whether they're vampires or not."
"Precisely," Schiller said. "Since the vampire hasn't immediately resorted to violence, it means he still needs to remain