I have never sat in an office like this before. I have to admit that it is a pretty weird experience. It is the office of the head of servants assigned to the fire altar. That is why it is nothing fancy. There is only a table in here, with a couple of chairs to sit in. I am in one of those chairs and Trevor is in one of these chairs.

  Now I am not normally one for offices like this, but Alfred insisted that I make use of this. The soldiers here expect certain standards from their lords it seems. They barely accept my commands as it is. What the man had said did seem logical, but he must also be something else to benefit him. No person helps another for free like this.

  Well, I am not one to complain about stuff like this. It is not like it matters too much at the end of the day. I don't want to get involved in the politics now. Especially with how the vampires are behaving.

  I have had three reports of the vampires appearing already. Once it was in the servant's tunnel and twice at the main tunnel. The reports that they have given to me are disturbing, to put it mildly.

  The reports are of enemies sneaking into the paths. They ran away in the instance that they met up with the soldiers patrolling there. There is no way that a vampire would be this careless. They certainly would not need to run away like that. They also are not the type to be this aggressive.

  Enemy movement in both of these tunnels. They should not be entering into action this quickly. Vampires are plotters by their nature. There is something I am missing here.

  I am sure that the hidden tunnel is the safest at this moment. I have my troop stationed there. They should be able to manage anything that the vampires can throw. At least enough to warn us.

  Anyway, we are sure that the vampires still don't know about the hidden tunnel. At least not yet.

  "What do you think could be the case, Trevor?", I ask the man. "What do you think they are doing? Are they trying to scout us or are they trying to intimidate us?"

  "I think that they are tending towards intimidation.", Trevor speaks. "It is a bit too early for them to try scouting us. After all, it has been barely a day since the attack force left."

  "Still, I can't see what they would gain by intimidating us.", I reply. "It just tips me off that they are here."

  "Well, you legioners might be unflappable.", the man speaks. "I am sure that the story of the invaders popping up in the tunnels has already begun to spread. It will harm the morale. The vampires tend to do stuff like this before they come to negotiate. It is a show of force for them."

  "What do you think that I should do here then.", I ask. "I guess that I should attend these negotiations. I have a little trap planned anyway. The negotiations would be the best time to ambush them."

  "Well, you are the commander here for a reason.", the man replies. "You have more military experience than I have. Any plan I give will be worse than yours."

  "Yet you have an idea. I can almost see you burst from not telling me.", I reply. No way that the man is off the hook here. "You are supposed to be guiding me here."

  "Well, I would suggest that you hunker down and prepare for a fight. Intimidation or scouting, you do either of these only when you mean to attack.", the man speaks. "You can't do that without knowing what the enemy is capable of pulling off here. Well, the negotiation would be the best time to infiltrate the enemy camp."

  "Well, I have an idea what I can do about that.", I reply, wondering if I should share my plans with the man. Not that I don't trust the man. He is just not a part of the plan. Telling too many people is the quickest way to leak a plan.

  "Leave me for now.", I command Trevor. "Make sure that Jacob and Andrew are stationed at the hidden tunnel. Warn them clearly that engaging the enemy is not the goal here. I should be informed the minute that anything goes wrong there."

  The main issue is that I can't discount the fact that this could be scouts scoping out our response. How we will react. Whether we will react. (Even to see if they can bait us.). Regardless of what it is, the solution right now is to not act. The more that I act the more that the enemy will be learning about us.

  The problem right now is the lady Amelia. I can convince Alfred to listen to me, but Lady Amelia is of the belief I shouldn't be leading this group. She believes that we should have already begun attacking our enemies. If she had her way we would be fighting the minute that they showed their faces. She has been making her opinions known to her underlings from the minute that the patriarch has left.

  (After about an hour.)

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Right now in the office, we have Alfred and Amelia standing in front of me. Alfred has barely spoken anything, while Amelia has been the exact opposite.

  "Captain Antonio, could you focus when I am talking.", Amelia snaps at me.

  I realized that I had gotten distracted while talking to the lady. I should be more careful while recording. Well, the lady was already pissed off. Now she is going to be a pain to handle.

  "My lady, I have been hearing your opinion for a while now.", I speak, trying to keep the irritation from my voice. "I have to make sure that the fire altar is protected. Right now attacking the enemy will only lead to an increased risk of the altar being destroyed. Right now the plan is to be defensive."

  "you have yet to act on the enemies on the doorstep. Acting defensively means we fight the enemy that has already entered into our base.", she speaks. The lady is making no effort to keep her irritation away from her face. "They are already at our doors and yet you just sit here waiting for them to sneak into our bases. Should we fight them tomorrow when they slit our throats while we are sleeping?"

  "As I have been trying to explain to you. I have been keeping a strict watch over the enemy. That won't happen.", I speak. "We will be ready when they come to attack us. We won't be attacking them a minute before that though."

  "The enemy is being so forward with us because of this.", she almost screams at me. "they are already scouting us out. Will you wait till they know every defense here? Till they know every trap that we have prepared against them. We should be striking them now. Strike them with such a force that they can't mount an attack on us."

  "I agree with you but we cannot engage the enemy at this moment. Not without knowing what makes them this confident.", I reply. "Our goal is to buy time for the patriarch. As for them scouting us. They can try and study the traps all they want. They won't get anything from that. The traps that your mages have set here are good enough for that and I have modified them to be more hidden, as well."

  "We cannot just keep waiting for our enemies here.", she speaks, her arms tensing up. if I don't defuse the situation the lady will hit me.

  "For today, we wait. I do plan to strike against them, but you can't blindly attack vampires.", I speak, my voice as soothing as possible. "We are the hunters. We can't move from our position until the prey falls into the trap. I will inform you the minute that I need you to attack them."

  I look at the lady, looking for any trace that my words might have calmed her down a bit.

  She doesn't speak for a few moments, though her rage has yet to leave her eyes. Without saying anything she leaves my office. She bangs the door with such force that the door is still quivering.

  "Do you share Lady Amelia's opinion then.", I ask the man who is sitting next to me still.

  "No, Antonio. I do think that we should be more active. What my cousin proposes though would be a bit impatient.", he replies.

  "Yet you come here to support her.", I point out.

  "Well, Amelia is a blind bull. She will rip through you if get her angry.", he speaks. "And getting her angry is not something that you want here. She is not completely wrong also. These are tricky enemies that we fight. Being passive like this could be dangerous."

  "Well, how is she on the battlefield.", I ask. "Can she handle following commands in a combat scenario?"

  "I think so. She just likes to keep moving.", he replies. "Waiting for the enemy to strike first is something that she struggles with."

  "Well, then I might as well tell you my plan of action.", I speak. "The vampires would be coming for a negotiation. I am sure of that. I am going to need you and Amelia to be ready to infiltrate the vampire camp when that happens."

  "How are you even sure that they will be coming for this "negotiation."", he asks. "They could just as easily attack us right now. They have already begun to scout us as well."

  "Vampires love the sound of their voice, Alfred.", I speak. "They consider using brute force to be an inelegant process. They will be coming to attack us soon enough, but they will come to negotiate before that."

  "Fine, it is a risky thing that you ask.", he speaks. "These vampires are not easy enemies to fight."

  "That is why I am only sending four people. You, Amelia and my soldiers.", I reply. "The people that I am confident would be able to survive if it came to fighting in their base."

  "What are we to do? We are not subtle enough to try and assassinate the enemy. Unless your soldiers happen to be experts in disguise.", he replies.

  "Well, your goal is to study them.", I speak. "I just need you to scout into the enemy territory."

  "That still doesn't explain what we are to do.", he speaks. "We have a reasonable enough idea about our enemy's strength and who their experts are. It would be dangerous to enter into their territory just to confirm what we already know."

  "You don't understand one thing. The vampires are a cowardly race.", I speak, kind of getting irritated now. "They are not the type to be this forward. Something is boosting their confidence. I need you to find that something. Whatever you do, you are not looking for a fight. That is why I need you to tell me honestly, can she listen to commands on the battlefield."

  "She can, if she feels that what is being done is reasonable." He replies.

  "And can you convince her that what we are doing is reasonable?", I reply, not quite able to hide my irritation anymore.

  "If I am convinced about it.", he replies. "The patriarch put you in that position because of that sword of yours. That you have hunted plenty of these creatures and are something of an expert at it."

  "And", I snap.

  "I find the stories they tell of you to be exaggerated.", he replies, his voice gaining an edge to it. "you say that they will come to negotiate. Somehow I can't bring myself to believe it."

  "What do I need to do to convince you.", I reply, calming myself down. Now is not the time for emotion.

  "Nothing you tell me will assure me. You say that the creatures will come to negotiate.", he speaks. "I say that they are sharpening their swords to strike. If they come to negotiate, I will listen to your command and infiltrate their base."

  "And if they attack us before that?", I find myself asking.

  "Well, I have heard a lot about the young wolf of the formation corps. I have especially heard about how he is supposed to be a genius at fighting.", he speaks. "You will have to be on the frontline fighting the damn creatures. If you can't prove your knowledge of these creatures, at least prove your strength."