Bailiff Xarles knelt inside his house and prayed. He prayed to the Tree of Woe to protect him from harm. He prayed to the Mother Goddesses to keep the monster away from his house.

He was needed. For the town. And for Eldoria. He shouldn't be killed.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Xarles' entire body jerked back in fear.

"Bailiff Xarles! It is me, priest Xeros."

Xarles calmed down. He went to the door and took a peek through the small peephole.

"Priest Xeros. Why are you here? You should have stayed inside the church! The Night Creature can come at any time!"

"I have urgent matters, Bailiff!"

Xeros stepped back and revealed two people behind him. One man and one woman. The man had long white hair with a unique iron mask on his face. The woman had long blonde hair.

"This is Lord Nyx and his companion, Rea. They would like to discuss with you about the creature of the night."

"What is even there to discuss?! Tell them to get away from this town while they still can!"

"Bailiff..." Xeros wanted to say something but Siderius already pulled him back.

"I am high lord Nyx. I came here seeking shelter but was informed by kind priest Xeros here that you're having a problem with some kind of monster.

I will kill the monster for you with the right price." Siderius said.

"High Lord?!" Bailiff quickly opened the door. "Did the Royal Court send you? Or is it the Grove?"

"No one sent me. As I said, I am simply here for shelter. I didn't know anything about the monster."

Xarles' happy expression immediately froze. "The last high lord was killed by the creature. Do you know that?"

"I know. And I am still willing to face the creature. For a price.

We must discuss my reward first. And then I will see if you can buy my help."

Xarles pouted his lips. "We don't have much coins left."

Siderius smiled. "You don't need to worry, Bailiff. I won't take the reward before giving you the monster's head. But I need to know you can pay the price."

Xarles rubbed his chin in deep thought. If that was really the case, there wasn't any harm to trust Siderius for once.

"Please come in. We can discuss further inside my house."

Siderius nodded. He, Rea and Xeros entered the Bailiff's humble home. His home was small and old, very different from the grand manor that Germort once had. They held the same titles but their situations were very different from each other.

Xarles looked around in the street, making sure nothing was around before shutting the door.

He lit up a candle and put it on the table.

"Please sit down, Lord..."

"You can call me Nyx."

"Right. Apology for forgetting, my lord. My memory isn't very good these days."

"All is well, Bailiff. We can talk business now."

Xarles nodded. "I agree. What do you want for slaying this monster, Lord Nyx?"

"Well first. We can discuss the simplest reward. Coins. How much can you pay me for the monster's head?"

"We don't have much to offer but we do have a reserve. No collector dared to come into our town for years now so we saved quite a lot of silver coins.

We can pay you fifty silver coins for the monster's head. Does that suffice?"

"Fifty silvers... I think I need to know more about the monster to decide. But guessing from the fact that a witch was killed, fifty silver coins are still too low.

I need at least one hundred silver coins."

"One hundred..." Charles' mouth twitched. "That is a lot."

"Not that much if you really want to kill the horror that has been haunting this town." Siderius smiled. "You can also give me a permanent property in Pannitha or a right."

"A right?"

"Right for travel and food. Five people should be fine. The right states a contract that the people of Pannitha must house me or any of my representatives up to five people if we ever cross Pannitha again."

"Ah... You mean an agreement of safe passage. We can arrange that.

How about this? I can give you fifty silver coins. Both a plot of land in Pannitha and the right of safe passage for five people. But the plot of land won't be big."

"That is enough for me."

"Great. When can you start?"

"Right now. I need to see the victims of the monster. Or their bodies if you still have them."

Xarles looked over to Xeros. "Can you assist them to the morgue, priest Xeros?"

Xeros took a deep breath and clasped his hand together. He mumbled a prayer before answering.

"I can. I will act as a guide for them in Pannitha. All I ask is you must take care of the church in the event of my death. The Mother Trees and Goddesses must see our faith."

"I will, priest Xeros."

The priest turned toward Siderius. "Whenever you're ready, Lord Nyx."

Siderius nodded. "Let's go."

"Should I stay behind, Lord Nyx?" Rea said.

Siderius smiled. The girl was very sensible. She was scared she would hinder Siderius.

"The safest place in this town is to be with me. Stay close to me, Rea."

"Yes, my lord."

With that agreement of reward, Siderius, Rea and the priest Xeros exited Bailiff Xarles' house. They continued on the lonely road to the morgue.

"Please excuse Bailiff's behavior. He is a good man, it's just... Everything has been bad lately." Priest Xeros said.

"You mean his cowardice behavior?" Rea couldn't help but smirk.

"Rea!" Siderius glanced at her.

"My apologies, my lord!" Rea lowered her head.

They acted that way for priest Xeros' to see but they were both in it together. Siderius actually wanted to point out Xarles' behavior as well but Rea asked that first to preserve his 'lordship' image. She was truthfully a very sensible servant.

"It's alright, Lord Nyx." Xeros smiled bitterly. "Rea isn't wrong. I guess after seeing so many of your people die, Xarles changed. But wouldn't everyone?"

"You are very understanding, Priest Xeros."

The three entered the morgue. Immediately, the disgusting smell of decomposition went into their nose. Rea was the very first to feel a deep twist in her stomach. Xeros also hated it but he got used to it.

Siderius' mask completely blocked the smell.

They approached one of the corpses. Siderius flipped the blanket over to see the victim underneath.

He was a young man when he's alive. But his skin collapsed into his bones like tight clothing. His skin had a dark gray color, not the paleness of the dead.

"When did he die?"

"Two days ago, my lord." Xeros said.

"Hmmm. I know what kind of creature you are dealing with."

Siderius pushed the head over, revealing the neck with two small holes on it.

"This is the work of a vampire."

Suddenly, the corpse sat up and attacked Siderius.

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