The First Vampire

The night deepened, and the silver moon hung high in the sky.

The battle at Wind Roar Fortress had already ended. The money-grubbing Tusk Mercenary Group ultimately gained neither wealth nor life.

After quietly transforming a few surviving troll samurais into blood slaves, Colin climbed to the top of the lookout tower.

In the howling cold wind, Charles was holding onto the railing, looking northwards.

“What are you looking at?” Colin stepped forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with Charles.

“Viscount Angler,” Charles slightly bowed towards Colin, then smiled and said, “I was looking at the Troll Royal City.”

“Just call me Colin,” Colin playfully waved his hand, “But, can we really see the Troll Royal City from here?”

“Haha, of course not. But, for the past year, I’ve been looking north from here almost every day. Even if I can’t see the Troll Royal City, I can feel its presence.” Charles clenched his fists, his eyes blazing like roaring flames.

“Have you ever been to the Troll Royal City?”

“Yes. I sneaked in once with a caravan, but this time, we’re going to charge in!”

Colin laughed, “I hope that Troll Royal City is as easy to capture as this Wind Roar Fortress.”

“It shouldn’t be too hard. After all, most of the Troll Army has already headed south. Even the Troll Royal City probably isn’t guarded by the elite regular army.”

Colin turned to look at Charles’s profile, suddenly frowning and said, “But, Charles, don’t you think our journey here has been a little too smooth?”

Charles looked surprised, “Too smooth? Colin, what are you worried about?”

“Do you think this might be a trap set up by the Trolls?”

“A trap?” Charles laughed, “Colin, aren’t you being a bit paranoid? The last of the Troll’s hundred-thousand-strong army has already headed south, it’s bound to be empty within, how could it be a trap?”

Colin grabbed a handful of snow from the railing, rolling it into two balls, one big and one small.

“Charles, what if the southern army of trolls is just a ragtag bunch, while the last batch of elite troops is placed in the Troll Royal City, what would happen then?”

“N-no ?it couldn’t be ” Charles stared at the constantly changing positions of the snowballs in Colin’s hand, he stuttered.

“You know?” Colin’s smile was teasing, “Not long ago, I played a similar trick in Silver Moon City, and those foolish Easterners were fooled.”

“Really?” Charles also laughed, “I heard about your defeat of the Pegasus Army in Silver Moon City, but I don’t know how you did it?”

“Quite simple. I made the Easterners believe that the Dark Cavalry was hiding outside the city. But when the Easterners sent troops to search for the Dark Cavalry outside the city, they only found a group of Half-Elf rookies, while the real Dark Cavalry charged out of Silver Moon City!” Colin swapped the positions of the two snowballs in his hands, “Just that simple.”

Charles suddenly seemed to have realized something, and said admiringly, “That is indeed a brilliant strategy!”

Colin focused his gaze on Charles’s eyes, as if trying to find something in them.

“Charles, don’t you think the trolls might be trying to play a similar trick on us?”

“This ?it’s impossible, isn’t it?” Charles looked surprised, “How would the Trolls know that we would take the opportunity to raid the Troll Royal City?”

“What if ” Colin’s gaze was becoming scrutinizing, “Someone betrayed us?”

“Betrayed?” Charles’ face was filled with genuine horror, “Colin, have you discovered something? Have we been found out?”

“No, I’m guessing.”

“Phew – you scared me.” Charles tapped his chest and took a deep breath.

Then, he spoke in a sincere and candid tone, “Colin, your worry is not unfounded. Let’s do this, when we get to Troll Royal City, we’ll make a tentative attack. If the resistance inside the city is too strong, we can retreat.”

“That makes sense.” Colin tossed the two snowballs, the thudding of them hitting the ground followed after a slight delay.

“I was just patrolling around Wind Roar Fortress. I have to say, this fortress is indeed built very sturdily. If it weren’t for Knight Brad undermining the city wall, and the defenders being those foolish mercenaries, it’s likely we would have had to pay a hefty price to capture this place.”

Charles puffed out his chest and proudly said: “Colin, to be honest, it was I who asked Knight Brad to undermine the city. It was all to capture this fortress more smoothly.”

Colin wasn’t interested in Charles taking credit but continued: “So, such a sturdy fortress. If it’s reoccupied by the southward Troll Army after we leave, then, we’ll be left with nowhere to retreat, right?”

Charles was stunned as if he had been struck by Colin’s statement. It took him quite a while to recover, then he shook his head, “Colin, isn’t your worry a bit of a wild imagination? The Troll Army has gone north, why would they suddenly turn back?”

Colin didn’t answer this question, but instead smiled and said, “Charles, do you know? I hate two kinds of people the most.”

“Which two?” Charles asked, perplexed.

“Those who deceive me, and those who I can’t deceive.”

Charles was speechless. This was the first time he’d met someone who made such a blatant “double standard” seem so natural.

Colin grinned at Charles, and then continued: “If I were a troll, I would deliberately put on a show of a large-scale southern advancement, luring the elite cavalry of Ice Rock City to raid the Troll Royal City.

But in reality, the southern-going army is just a group of newly-recruited soldiers or even militiamen and mercenary groups – a disorganized mob. The Troll Empire’s final elite force is set in the Troll Royal City.

When the Northern Riders get beaten at the Troll Royal City and want to retreat, they find that Wind Roar Fortress has been reoccupied by the returning southern-going army.

In this way, heh, wouldn’t that be like cornering a dog in a dead-end street?”

Charles blinked, then nodded, then shook his head, “Colin, your analysis is somewhat reasonable, but the trolls couldn’t have calculated that we would definitely raid the Troll Royal City before we had even set out, could they?”

“Right.” Colin leaned against the railing, staring into Charles’s eyes. “Unless, from the beginning, this was a trap, a trap meant to annihilate the Dark Cavalry. And you, you are responsible for leading the Dark Cavalry into the trap!”

“What? Colin? How can you think that?” Charles’s face was full of shock and grievance, then, he put on a confrontational pose,

“Colin, don’t forget what kind of bloody feud I have with the trolls. Every day, I dream of seizing the Troll Royal City, burning it to the ground! How could I possibly help them?”

Colin watched Charles’ performance with amusement, as if he were back at the banquet in Ice Rock City a year ago, when this Emmy-winning actor almost deceived all the nobles of the North Territory.

“Do you know when you were exposed?”