After hearing Leonid's many "tender" words about the troll and the convict women, Alexander himself began to doubt the correctness of his decision, which had been taken without the Triumvirate's approval. But it was too late to retreat and one of the gendarmes went to Castle Blood. The messenger was to inform the other vampires about the changes that awaited their lives in the near future. There was no way Alexander himself could compose another, equally important message.
Baron Savoyardi needed not only to be informed of his plans, as Duke Kass could do, but also to give some advice. And it was the advice that did not go well. Having initially decided that he knew best how to do things, the vampire could not formulate his thoughts into short and clear theses. And it was necessary to put it all delicately enough so that the advice did not look like an admonition of the elder to the younger. Having thrown away the quill, Alexander left the tent, it was necessary to cool his head, and it would be good to inspect the camp in anticipation of the coming night.
It turned out that several people were waiting for his appearance from the tent, and as soon as the vampire appeared outside, they rushed to him from different parts of the camp. Alexander could swear that he could physically feel these people coming towards him, but he couldn't explain how he had identified those who were waiting for him.
He had to stand and wait until they all approached to make sure that the mercenaries who had attracted his attention from afar were really waiting for him. A couple minutes later, all three of them were standing in front of their employer. The deputy squad leader, the water mage, and the paladin.
Without puzzling over what could have made such different mercenaries wait for him, Alexander asked directly about the purpose of the trio. It turned out that each had come with a different problem. The deputy commander simply begged to be relieved of his duty of guarding the convicts, the paladin asked to be a vassal, and the mage came to warn about the coming problem. The vampire invited the mage into the tent and ordered him to bring some herbal brew.
The problem was indeed an important one. A week of night frosts had not passed without a trace for the army. And if the unit subordinated to the knight was still very well thanks to a large number of mages, the rest of the army was almost universally sick. So far it was limited to common colds, but the moment when more serious diseases were to appear was not far away. Naturally, the mage was not interested in the whole army, but he was worried about his squad, even if it was temporary, with all his soul. So he risked distracting his employer.
Scratching the back of his head, the vampire decided not to complicate the situation and instructed the mercenary to gather a few more mages under his wing and organize a sanitary-medical brigade, whose duties would include magical treatment of the sick in the squad and among the convicts. Naturally, all this would be paid for additionally.
Noticing the glint in the mage's eyes when the vampire mentioned women prisoners, Alexander didn't pay attention to it. The order about the inadmissibility of intercourse with temporary wards had been communicated to everyone in the very first hour, as well as the penalties for violating it. The knight was determined to keep his promise of severe punishment, no matter who was caught first.
Having finished talking to the mage and giving him all the necessary instructions, Alexander decided to continue his rounds, which he had not had time to begin. But his attention was not needed anywhere else. The mercenaries lived a normal life, and only the smoky bathhouse was something unusual for them in such campaigns.
The convicts did not make any special demands, but simply wrapped themselves in blankets and their pitiful rags, huddled around the fires and tried not to attract the attention of the guards. The guards, in their turn, frowned at the next grief-stricken lovers. Even the troll, who had been sitting in the forest in a shelter specially built for him, did not grumble or whimper, though when asked directly he frankly admitted that he was very cold.
I've got more interesting stuff on patreon
patreon.com/Chill76