The two guards ahead had already entered the castle. First came a long corridor, brightly lit throughout.
Quite a few human maids walked back and forth, most of them beautiful and dressed in maid uniforms.
They were exceedingly respectful, repeatedly bowing whenever they saw the guards.
Clearly, they occupied the lowest rung of the castle's hierarchy.
The two guards carried the blood and walked straight ahead, soon arriving before a refrigerated storage room. Many vampires stood guard around it, making it obvious that this was an important area.
"How was today's haul?" a guarding vampire asked.
"Not bad."
"I really envy your job. Standing guard here all day is boring as hell!"
the guarding vampire said.
"Haha, then you'd better perform well and earn Lord Ian's favor."
The guard smiled, looking rather proud.
Then, with a click, the heavy door of the cold storage room opened, and a great deal of icy white vapor billowed out through the gap.
The two guards carried the blood inside.
The interior was spacious, lined with metal shelves covered in glass jars filled with crimson blood.
Under the bright lights, the entire cold storage room glowed with an eerie red sheen.
The two vampires stared at the jars of blood like farmers entering a granary, their faces filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest.
"This is great. Too bad... half of it has to be sent into the city."
"Quit talking nonsense. What the higher-ups do isn't our concern."
The other vampire spoke as he stepped forward and placed the blood jars onto the metal shelves.
"Let's go!"
After putting everything away, they turned to leave.
But at that moment, something strange happened.
The blood jars they had just placed there suddenly vanished into thin air in the blink of an eye.
"Huh?"