Reincarnated into a New World As a Vampire

After waiting for about thirty minutes, Ingrid was back with the new clothes. After changing into them, Aldritch found them to be quite aesthetically pleasing, it suited his taste quite alright.

"This is just alright, it\'s the quality and type of dress you would find on a well to do commoner." Ingrid said.

"Couldn\'t you find anything better?"

"Well, even though you searched all around until morning, I doubt you\'d find any better quality around these parts." She responded.

"I see. It\'s alright then, I like the fit anyway."

"You still need to attend the academy, don\'t you?" Aldritch asked, not expecting any answer, since the response was obvious. "You should suspend doing so for this week, I\'ll find a way to make it possible by next week, or maybe even before then."

Thinking of it, she would need to be at least at the rank of a Blooded Vampire to be able to completely resist the effects of the sun. At that level, it won\'t burn as much, and she can easily walk around with only mild discomfort.

\'I could easily kill all these commoners and use their blood to advance…\' he thought of it briefly before abandoning the idea. He didn\'t have the strength for that yet.

"Ingrid, you\'re coming with me to go explore around a little." Aldritch said. Ingrid didn\'t ask any questions or appear surprised, since she expected something like that.

They left her house and started walking with a normal pace while Ingrid explained different things about the environment in the outer wall. Quickly, Aldritch heard her speak on something he had been wanting to hear.

"So slavery is normal here?"

"Uhm, yes it is. There are only a couple places where you can get slaves though, that are approved. Even then, there are still people that operate undercover, offering even weirder services from what I hear."

"I see. So even though the slaves are that way, they still have some rights."

"Yes, for example, indiscriminate killing is punishable by law, even though the punishment is not nearly harsh enough for what would be considered murder. Even then, the authorities rarely look into these cases concerning slaves."

"SO only these "people" can sell slaves?" Aldritch was curious.

"Not really, anyone who has a slave can sell them. The laws concerning slaves is very sparse and weak, even with everything, they can be seen just as much as a normal commodity with little value." She explained.

"I see. If so, then why don\'t we visit one of these slave houses?" Aldritch suggested. Ingrid had some suspicions, and her head went through different reasons why Aldritch would want to buy a slave. She quickly thought of what happened earlier with Lina and all the stories she had shared with her, her mind quickly wondering elsewhere.

Before it went too off the rails, she stopped herself and focused on other things.

"The closest one is still quite far away, we\'d have to board a coach or take the train."

"Let\'s do so then." They ended up walking for quite a bit before reaching the closest train station where they boarded the train and headed in the direction of the closest slave house.

It took around thirty minutes because the train wasn\'t moving as fast, but once they arrived at their destination, both of them made their way towards the slave house. The time would have been around 9:00pm at the time, so it wasn\'t that late yet.

Once they came before the place, Aldritch observed that there was a medium sized signboard with the outline of a single chain tied to a cuff, drawn in white ink.

"This is it." Ingrid said to Aldritch as they approached and went closer.

"Dear sir, welcome to our market. You wouldn\'t come here without knowing our services. Please, tell me what kind of slave you are looking for, or perhaps, do you wish to sell one?" The man said, glancing over at Ingrid who immediately took offence.

"She\'s part of my family, not a slave." Aldritch said. Unknown to him, a bit of bloodlust seeped from him into the surrounding, causing the man to back off instinctively as his expression became lightly grave.

"I-I-I\'m very sorry, I never thought of it before I spoke, please, forgive me…" The man said, fear evident in his tone.

"Don\'t be scared, it was just a little mistake."

\'Who\'s this guy, really?! A noble who came here undercover? I have to inform the chairman as soon as possible…\'

Ingrid on the other hand looked at Aldritch with a certain expression on her face, she never expected him to react in such a way for her sake, it really moved her now cold heart a bit.

\'Damn, did I just release bloodlust? I never even knew I could do that… I should learn to control it, could serve as a very good weapon in future.\' He thought to himself after consulting the system and realizing what had just happened for the man who seemed refined to jump back in fear like that.

\'That aside, I have to be careful here, I don\'t want to do too much.\' Aldritch thought to himself.

"Come this way please, I\'ll bring you inside." The man said as he led the way. He was dressed in formal attire, a suite of pretty good quality, at least, one that a proper merchant would wear. He himself was built average in body and had a refined look to him, as though he shouldn\'t be there doing the job of a receptionist at a slave market.

"This is the reception room, please, wait a bit while I get someone to serve you." He said before turning to leave.

"Wait…" Aldritch stopped him. \'He\'s acting suspicious.\'

\'What\'s the problem? Did he figure out I was going to inform the chairman? Did I mess up? Is that bad?\' The man thought to himself.

"What is your name?" Aldritch asked, his demeanor calm and worriless.

"Um, my name is Alvin Klein, b-but, you can just refer to me as Alvin." He answered sincerely.

"Alvin, why don\'t you take a seat, let\'s talk. You see, I don\'t really have time for tea and the likes."

"O-oh, I see…" He said before taking the seat opposite Aldritch and Ingrid. \'Don\'t these nobles like being treated personally by the head of the markets? Why\'s he making it difficult for me?\' He couldn\'t help but think about his earlier misconduct, feeling that it was the reason for the treatment he was getting. Suddenly, he felt tense. \'Calm down, calm down… be professional.\'

"What is the quality of the cheapest slaves you have here?" Aldritch asked.

"Well, they\'re fairly healthy and can perform the usual house chores and minor labour, maybe with some time they\'d be able to engage in more strenuous work." He explained.

"I see, how many of these such slaves can I get with…" Aldritch checked his pouch to see the coins left in there and brought out all the gold coins he had, 5, "these?"

Alvin looked greedily at the coins on the table between them briefly, before bringing his eyes back to Aldritch. He casted a curious look at Ingrid and then at Aldritch. "Um, for five gold coins, that would be more than 500 slaves…"

"Fantastic. Can you arrange them for me? Of course, you\'ll cover the transport." Aldritch said, unbothered, not sharing the same concern as Alvin.

"At the moment, we don\'t have that many. If you agree for this to be arranged for another day…"

"No, give me all you have and subtract the money from the 5 gold coins."

"O-ok, if that is what you wish."

After Alvin left, a girl dressed in maid attire came in with tea and served Aldritch and Ingrid. Aldritch would normally be sceptic of eating and drinking outside, a trait he got from his previous lifetimes, but now there was close to no poison that could harm him as a vampire, unless it was made specifically for that purpose. Seeing as vampires weren\'t known in this world, he was safe.

"Please, enjoy the tea. If you need anything, please call for me, I\'ll be standing right outside." The maid said before exiting the room.

"Um, if I may ask, why exactly do you need so many slaves?" Ingrid asked. She was as surprised as Alvin when Aldritch asked for that many slaves without even batting an eye or change in tone.

"Not here, the walls have ears, you know?" Aldritch said.

Ingrid didn\'t understand right away, but it didn\'t take long before she got the meaning behind what Aldritch just said.

The only reason she could think of that he would do such a thing was for feeding, but even that didn\'t make much sense.

\'I guess I\'ll find out soon enough.\'