Hailuot was completely dumbfounded.
You're a dignified City Lord, can you not act so love-struck!
You should be furious. You should rush outside, point at the sky, and curse the Soul Eater. You should send someone to kick the Soul Eater's detestable younger brother out of Scorched Earth City.
Now you want to raise the price to buy me off.
I have principles!
Dorothea composed herself and cleared her mind before saying to Hailuot: "I hope to communicate further with Laem. Since you've proven your value as a middleman, I should give you the status you deserve."
I now formally hire you as the Special Affairs Advisor of the Scorched Earth City Vampire Guard, with a status equal to Company Commander. Ownership of these five Third-Rank Vampire Guards will be transferred to you, and I'll also gift you one of my Personal Guards."
As she spoke, Dorothea snapped her fingers. More than a dozen figures emerged from hidden spots throughout the hall.
They were all beautiful female vampires. Their streamlined Armor showed off their fine figures, but their auras proved they were no ornaments. They had the strength to protect Dorothea at close range.
Hailuot asked Dorothea on the high seat: "Can I pick one from among them?"
"Yes!" Dorothea's answer was very clear: "Your strength is too weak, and you're extremely important to my upcoming plans, so you must be given priority protection. Pick one you like, and whoever you choose... will belong to you!"
Using the honeypot scheme without any concealment at all.
But for my mother's sake, I will not waver!
Still... shouldn't I ask my father's opinion first?
Hailuot felt he was still young and might not be able to handle this, so he decided to listen to his father's advice.
He didn't know if his father had killed the Thousand-Legged Earth Dragon yet.
He sent a private message: "Father, Dorothea wants to give me one of her Personal Guards."
The Soul Eater's reply came very quickly: "You must have misheard! How could that miser bear to give you one of her Personal Guards, it must be a Vampire Guard instead. The Vampire Guards are strong, all of them are excellent mercenaries at least level 50 or above, and many among them are Hero Units, you've struck it rich!"
In his heart, Hailuot said to Dorothea: See that? Calling you a miser wasn't something I made up.
Hailuot replied: "It's not Vampire Guards, it's Personal Guards! Dorothea has already called them all out, and right now they're standing in a row in front of me waiting for me to choose."
"You—what exactly did you do to make that miser willing to give you her precious Personal Guards? I've followed her for so long, and I've never even seen them!"
Like she'd ever let you see them!
Hailuot looked over the Personal Guards again... Vampires were already an exceptionally handsome race, and these Personal Guards represented the pinnacle of vampire beauty.
In response to his father's astonishment, Hailuot replied: "Dorothea wants to build some mutual trust with Laem, so she probably wants to buy me off."
"This... is way too generous!"
Hailuot asked: "Father, should I accept? Or not?"
"Why wouldn't you? Accept it!" the Soul Eater's answer was extremely resolute: "All of Dorothea's Personal Guards were personally selected and trained by her, each one a top-tier Hero with a high Command Requirement. I don't know if Dorothea drank expired blood today or something, but for her to actually give you one of her Personal Guards, whatever you do, don't refuse — today, we're going to make her bleed."
Oh mother! This was father telling me to accept, so it's not my fault.
Hailuot asked again: "How do I choose? I can't tell which one is stronger."
The Soul Eater was also at a loss. He finally replied: "I've never seen Dorothea's Personal Guards, so I don't know how to choose. But the Heroes World has a rule: a powerful Hero isn't necessarily good-looking, but a good-looking Hero is always powerful. Pick whichever one catches your eye. You won't lose out, no matter which of Dorothea's Personal Guards you choose."
Wow! It dropped, a huge drop, there's an orange Equipment piece in there.
Son, today we father and son both scored big!"
Hailuot found himself happy too... wasn't the Equipment his father swapped out going to be his anyway.
Now it was time to choose a Hero.
There were eighteen Personal Guards standing before him in total, each beautiful in her own distinct way. But there was only one — the sixth from the left — that Hailuot couldn't help but glance at again from the very start, and the longer he looked, the more pleasing she seemed.
Generally speaking, vampires tended to carry an aloof, cold temperament, and their pale skin, lacking any hint of blood color, gave off a sense of "keep your distance."
Yet this vampire had a pair of lively eyes. Her red pupils held none of the usual indifference toward Death; instead, they brimmed with warmth. That youthful energy suited young men's tastes, drawing Hailuot's attention.
Looking closer... she had layered, gradient-red hair that reached her shoulders. Her silver Half-Plate Armor covered only her chest. Beneath it, she wore a black, form-fitting elastic bodysuit cinched at the waist. A belt crossed her body diagonally, with a steel Side Sword fastened to it.
Her skirt Armor was sparse as well, with more than a dozen Throwing Knives tucked at her hips and behind her.
Her legs were pale and straight, and the metal boots on her feet had bat-wing decorations on the outer sides.
Hailuot stood in front of the vampire he'd set his eye on and asked: "What's your name?"
The vampire bowed and answered: "Reporting to the Bonecrusher Advisor, my name is Bulaishini."
Hailuot said to Dorothea on the high seat: "I choose her, Bulaishini."
Dorothea hadn't expected Hailuot's eye to be so sharp, and said with some reluctance: "If you understood vampires, you'd be able to tell that Bulaishini is just a newly-born vampire, she's still very inexperienced, and I'm afraid she won't be able to handle the job of protecting you."
Hailuot saw it differently: a vampire recruited into Dorothea's Personal Guard so soon after her birth had to be a hidden gem.
"She's the one." Hailuot stood by his choice. "A newly born vampire might not be strong, but she'll certainly be easy to train."
Since Hailuot insisted, Dorothea had no choice but to honor her promise. After all, "you can't catch a wolf without sacrificing your cub."
Dorothea snapped her fingers. The Personal Guards moved swiftly and vanished from the hall.
Only Bulaishini remained standing in place.
Dorothea said to Bulaishini: "From now on, Bonecrusher will be your Master."
Bulaishini bowed to Dorothea: "As you command, Marquis."
Then Bulaishini bowed to Hailuot: "Master, your safety is my responsibility from now on."
【Attention, your Command Value is insufficient!】
【Insufficient Command Value will increase the chance of Mercenary（Hero） betrayal. Please raise your Command Value as soon as possible】
Even Heroes could betray him!
Startled, Hailuot checked his Command Value.
Hailuot's Mercenaries were the Butler Skeleton Mage Kote, five Third-Rank Vampire Guards, and Bulaishini.
Kote had a Command Requirement of 220. However, because he came from the Olden Cemetery, the Old Dominator's special effect let him occupy zero Command.
Because ownership of the five Third-Rank Vampire Guards had transferred to him, they also occupied Command points. Each required 150 Command points, for a total of 750. The Old Dominator reduced Undead Units' Command Requirement by eighty percent, so the five Third-Rank Vampire Guards occupied only 150 Command points.
Now, his own Command Value...
Each level gained increased every base attribute by 5 points and granted 20 Free Attribute Points.
At level ten, his Command Value reached 165—just enough to take in the five Third-Rank Vampire Guards.
Next, he looked at Bulaishini's Command Requirement.
Hailuot was startled. He rubbed his eyes and looked again...
That's right, 1235 Command Requirement.
That wasn't a typo, was it?