"Those who dared secretly support resistance forces hidden in the mountains, forests, cities, and villages were tortured."
"That was the only way things improved. We also allowed families whose members should have been sold into slavery to send their men into the army instead, as compensation."
"Those policies were what finally dealt with the resistance."
"Only then were we able to enjoy several months of peace."
"We were also able to raise an army of five hundred thousand for General Mikhail to fight Lothair, and we still have hundreds of thousands of troops. We could even mobilize several million soldiers if we wanted."
"Just now, did any of you notice that the guerrillas were even more ferocious in Lothair's territory?"
At that, Storey had practically spelled out the point.
Only then did the others catch on.
Of course, only a few were late to realize it. Most hadn't picked up on what Storey was getting at.
But the key people had already understood.
Mikhail turned to the others and said, "Looks like we'll have to be more saintly than they are, huh?"
Storey nodded, then spoke more emphatically. "Yes. We can't be as brutal as the vampires in the books. This isn't the old days."
"If this were an era when people had little armor and carried only shoddy Cold Weapons, like in the legends, then it might be possible for a few vampires to establish dozens of tiny nations, each with a population of a million or more."
"But that's not the case now."
"These days, you can go to any major city and find enough food to last ten years, tens of thousands of weapons, and all kinds of armor."
"And Heat Weapons, too. Unless you're as powerful as Sword King Oscar or Mikhail..."
"Or at least a