- How'd you hunt?
- Killed two thieves.
Ever since her family had been slaughtered by bandits right before her eyes, the girl had a special feeling for this category of people and hunted with undisguised pleasure just for representatives of this ancient profession.
- Everything okay?
- Yes. No witnesses. The corpses dragged into the ditches to the rats.
- Good girl.
- What do we do now?
- Just like we planned, sweetheart. This town is just what we need. I'm just lucky I met you along the way.
The girl smiled happily and laid her head on the man's shoulder and fell asleep.
A day later, the couple became the owners of a small farmstead, on which the slaughterhouse was organized. Beggarly neighborhoods were good, but it was not worth it to refuse the free blood of animals for meat. In time, Valentine planned to become Nayru's chief meat king. He had no shortage of money.
***
The appearance of the convict women in the military camp caused a number of natural problems, fortunately predicted in advance. A dozen maids from the archmage's and duke's entourages, who had hitherto diluted the purely male company, could not cause any trouble. If only because they rarely left the tents of their masters, and when they did, they had impressive guards. A few hundred women, who had no rights, were a different category. The fighters, hungry for female affection, went to great lengths to gain the attention of the convicts, or even to try to get some privacy with them.
The march from the mine to the siege camp went smoothly. Even the exhausted and completely unprepared prisoners were able to make it all the way without any trouble. Of course, this was due to the short distance they had to cover, not to Alexander's or the centurion's good organizational skills.
As soon as the vampire, at the head of the female column, was near the Elurian camp, he was "pleased" with the order from the archmage. It turned out that while he had been away for a couple of days, the senior officers had been thinking about how to minimize contacts between soldiers and convicts. And they thought of nothing better than to entrust the care of the girls into the hands of Knight Blood, who had great authority in the army, an impressive detachment under his command and a camp on the outskirts. Apparently the latter played the most important role in the choice of the one in charge.
Having heard this instruction, prudently transmitted through the messenger, Alexander only grimaced and silently began to carry it out. He immediately ordered to erect fortifications around the perimeter and organized round-the-clock guarding of the fenced place where the convicts lived. And after a couple of days, the mercenaries, from brave guards, turned into caricatured nannies, almost every minute driving away hapless cavaliers from their wards. So far, everything was peaceful and the conflicts did not go further than loud words, and there was no particular anger among the unsuccessful suitors.
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