Vampires

"Have you had breakfast yet?"

About a street away from the house, Sebas and Shaya sat on chairs placed outside a restaurant, two chairs with one table.

A delicate glass vase was placed on the table, and the flowers in it looked freshly picked, emitting a pleasant fragrance.

This was a crossroads on a main street, and at the corner, there was a relatively large open space where tables and chairs could be placed.

It was called a restaurant, but in reality, it wasn't very large. It could only accommodate a kitchen, and there wasn't enough space for many tables and chairs inside. That's why the tables and chairs were placed outside.

The kitchen was open-concept, so even sitting outside, one could see the chefs in their uniforms skewering sausages and baking them on the grill placed to the side.

This was quite novel in this era, and perhaps because of this, business was quite good.

"It's okay even if you've eaten, you must try the sausages here, the kind the boss grills himself," Sebas said enthusiastically.

A waiter with a smile on his face walked over, handing Shaya and Sebas a menu each.

"Please take a look, and let me know what you'd like."

Sebas was clearly experienced. He didn't even take the menu, but said directly, "I'll have set A."

"Okay, would you like a drink?" the waiter asked.

Sebas thought for a moment, "I'll have a cup of black tea."

The waiter wrote on his notepad, then looked at Shaya.

"The same as him," Shaya said.

"Okay, since they are freshly grilled, please wait for ten minutes."

The waiter bowed slightly and then walked towards a table to the side.

"Which one are you taking?" Shaya asked curiously.

A faint smile appeared on Sebas's lips. "What do you think?"

Shaya looked around. "At least I don't see anyone around here with a deathly pallor on their face."

"They haven't arrived yet."

Sebas said, looking towards the end of the main street. Shaya followed his gaze.

There, a group of people in uniform were emerging from a clothing store. Unlike the secret police uniforms, which were dark blue, almost black, and very somber, this group wore dark green. Although it resembled military uniforms, they didn't wear hats. The middle-aged man leading them was a bit portly but had a fair complexion. People in the surrounding shops seemed to revere this group, not daring to look directly at them, only glancing with the corner of their eyes.

Soon, they arrived at the entrance of the breakfast shop and scanned the surroundings with a scrutinizing gaze.

At the same time, a man in his thirties wearing a chef's uniform walked out with a smile and a bow from inside the kitchen.

"Director Rick, why... why have you come in person?"

The man in the chef's uniform was the owner of the shop, Hart Valentine.

"Don't be nervous, I'm just here to take a look."

The portly man called Rick had a very kind smile, like a very approachable official.

"This commercial street is very important to the mayor, and as the director of the Commercial Management Bureau of the Empress District, I naturally have to take responsibility."

"Yes, yes, you're absolutely right," Hart replied with a fawning smile.

Rick seemed satisfied with this attitude and continued to ask kindly, "How has business been lately?"

"Thanks to you, it's been okay," Hart said.

Rick nodded, but then, a person in uniform walked over and said, "Boss, the slop bucket cannot be placed outside the door, understand?"

Rick narrowed his eyes slightly.

Hart was also taken aback, then stammered nervously, "I'll take care of it immediately, immediately!"

"According to the latest street management penalty law, the fine is two pounds of silver," the uniformed person said.

"What? Two pounds of silver!?" Hart looked at Rick anxiously. "Director, I was just placing it here temporarily, there's no room in the kitchen. If you weren't coming, I would have disposed of it immediately!"

Rick seemed troubled. He hesitated for a moment, then sighed.

"Hart, these are the rules. Rules are made to be followed. If I waive it for you this time, what about others? It wouldn't be fair, you understand?"

Hart's expression was a little unpleasant, but even so, he forced a smile and said, "Yes, I understand."

The waiter who had just served them walked over to pour black tea for Shaya and Sebas, but clearly, his mind was not on this.

He was watching the people not far away.

Shaya could clearly hear his grumbling, filled with resentment.

"A bunch of vampires."

"What's your name?"

The sudden voice from the side startled the waiter, who instinctively raised his hand. The spout of the teapot knocked over a teacup, spilling tea all over the table, but fortunately, it didn't splash onto Shaya.

The waiter nervously pulled a cloth from his person and began wiping the water stains on the table.

"I'm so sorry, sir, I didn't mean to."

As he spoke, he righted the teacup and refilled it.

"It's fine," Shaya reassured him. "You still haven't answered my question."

The waiter snapped back to attention. "You can just call me Heike."

Shaya nodded. He looked at the uniformed individuals not far away and asked curiously, "You just called them Vampires?"

Heike's eyes widened slightly, and he began to look flustered.

"Sir, I, I..."

"Don't worry, I won't say anything," Shaya chuckled. "I'm just a bit curious, do these people come here often?"

Heike was silent for a moment, then he sighed.

"It would be fine if they just came often, but every time they come, they find some excuse to make us pay."

It seemed Shaya's gentle demeanor had temporarily lowered his guard, and he began to pour out his troubles to the two of them.

"We just paid the public order fee the day before yesterday, and yesterday they made us pay the urban appearance fee. These tables have been placed outside for many years, and just recently they suddenly demanded we pay for occupying public land.

Do you know how much they fined me just now? Two pounds of silver! That's two weeks' wages for me."

Shaya nodded. "That is indeed too much."

Heike sighed. "We can only wait slowly now. In another two years, the current mayor will retire, and perhaps things will change. If that doesn't work out, we'll have to move."

"Will Director Rick also step down when the mayor retires?" Shaya asked, picking up a cup of black tea.

"You don't know," Heike said, lowering his voice. "The current mayor is his uncle. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to be so arrogant.

There was a clothing store owner nearby who refused to pay fines. Last year, his men directly smashed the store and confiscated all the clothes."

He turned his head and looked around, confirming that the group had left before continuing.

"That owner had been trying to report it to His Majesty the Emperor, guarding the palace gates every day. But just a few months ago, his entire family of three died in their home. They said it was carbon monoxide poisoning from using charcoal for heating.

But everyone here knows that it definitely has something to do with Rick.

He's done more than just that over the years; he's responsible for several deaths, and many young girls have been ruined by him.

I heard that many people wrote anonymous举报信 (reports) to the palace, but they were all suppressed by his uncle."

Shaya nodded. He wasn't surprised by this. Human society was, after all, a society built on connections.

He wasn't surprised that such officials would appear. Even the cleanest room, if not meticulously inspected, could hide dirt in unseen places.

What surprised him was that this was happening in the Imperial Capital.

In the words of the ancients, this was the area directly under the Son of Heaven.

If they couldn't even see the dirt right under their noses, it was hard to imagine what the rest of the places would be like.

The extent of this empire's corruption might be beyond his imagination.

These matters were temporarily unrelated to Shaya, but if the future war truly reached a point where he had to decide Destiny, his observations would determine the ultimate direction of this nation's fate.

Shaya remained silent, simply lifting his teacup, blowing away the rising steam, and taking a sip of black tea.

The waiter seemed to want to say more, but the shop owner called out to Heike, asking him to clean the slop bucket.

Heike responded and walked towards Hart. He whispered something to the owner, then left carrying the slop bucket.

The owner glanced at Shaya's table before walking into the shop. A few minutes later, he returned with two plates filled with food and placed them on Shaya's table.

The plates likely contained the "A" set meal they had ordered, featuring sausages, fried eggs, and grilled mushrooms drizzled with sauce.

Most enticing were the sausages: large and plump, their casings glistening in the morning light, emitting an alluring aroma.

"I've already heard what happened from our waiter. I apologize, sir. He's quite young and easily distracted. I will discipline him later."

"No need," Shaya said with a smile. "It didn't affect me, after all."

"Thank you very much for your magnanimity," Hart bowed. Then, he looked doubtfully at the empty seat opposite Shaya. "I thought you had a friend with you?"

"Oh, he had some work matters to attend to," Shaya replied.