Chapter 1241 - An InvestigationThree men were seen walking through a busy street. There were market stalls set up selling trinkets, food, ability books and more. Crystals were placed in lamps giving off a nice orange glow on the items and pathway, and the reflection of red could be seen in the people's eyes. Currently, the group of three men who worked under Paul were on this very street. They didn't just work for Paul as a Vampire knight, but previously when he was the head general as well. The place they were in at the moment was the pool area, away from the tenth castle inner area. For them, it was a place they didn't venture into often. The tenth family mostly sent on separate hunts on the planet itself, hunting for crystals. Either through the forest and the vast land or through some of the portals the tenth family owned. It was interesting to find out that the vampires knew of planets that existed out of those in Earth's solar system and the beast's planets solar system. Due to their high-tech, they also didn't need so many different portals linked to each planet and instead could input codes that would take them to such worlds. The vampires were just as interested in using beast crystals as humans, but it was more so to advance their technology and power their equipment, rather than for the use of beast equipment in a war. Still, the pool area was avoided in the tenth family because of the disconnect it currently had with the other families. After Quinn had defeated the second leader and stopped the rebellion from Cindy, he had been hailed a hero. There were many that had requested to join, but most of them had been turned away. Quinn wanted to treat those that were loyal to the tenth family, who were with them despite the mistreatment and being considered weak. Some vampires thought that if they were to join the tenth family, it would be an easy promotion to the inner circle. Since they had failed to be promoted in their own circles for so long. After realising this wouldn't work, they bore a grudge. At the same time, the general public didn't like the fact that the tenth area was more reinforced than the rest of the castles. The walls were better, and there were those strange towers that packed quite the punch. It was something the other families just didn't have, causing them to feel jealous. These were the reasons why the tenth family, if they could avoid it, decided to stay out of the pooling area. The three that were there today, one of them had been appointed as captain of the vampire group under Paul called Ashley. He was one of the first ones to be turned, and the two with him were Ben and Ghost. While travelling, they were carefully looking around the area, sticking close together. "I thought it was a good idea to take off our armour. That makes us stick out like a sore thumb, but it looks like the others are still looking at us." Ben commented while not backing down as he locked eyes with another family member. The armour he was talking about was the special set that would be rewarded to those in the tenth family. The system that had initially been implemented by Timmy. Now that the tenth family was back up and running again, Timmy had decided to start up again, but it stood out since the armour was quite distinctive. "You have to remember, there aren't a lot of vampires here in the first place. They probably see the same faces every day and have done so for years. Just remember why we are here." Ashley said, looking down. He held a tablet with a list of names, and some of the names had green circles by the side. Eventually, they had taken a turn down an alleyway, away from the main busy street. Now they were in a block of strange-looking houses. In the pooling area, the vampires lived stacking on top of each other like apartments, but three stories was the limit. So they didn't have huge tall skyscrapers like human cities. Taking the stairs at the side of the building, they climbed up to the top floor and gave a few knocks. "Careful, you remember the last one came out attacking us on the spot." Ghost said. After a few knocks, it seemed like there was no answer. "Victormen Ten, are you there!" Ashley shouted and gave a few more knocks. After no such answer, Ashley gave the nod towards ben. With a firm push, the door snapped open. It was only a wooden door after all. In the pooling area, they never exactly expected to have intruders. Perhaps there would be arguments from other vampires, but they allowed for vampires to mostly deal with that themselves. If a vampire died fighting, well that vampire just wasn't strong enough and shouldn't have started a fight in the first place. The three of them searched the room carefully to see if there were signs of anything. The room was quite small. It was similar to a studio apartment, with a bed tv, and the kitchen area all in one place, only the bathroom was separate. It was then that they spotted that a corner of the table was snapped. It perhaps wasn't a big deal, but it seemed strange since it had broken off and there were a few splinters on the ground. It should have been cleaned by now. "Are you sure you told him to stay in his house around this time?" Ashely asked. "Of course, I know how important this is. I'm not going to make that type of mistake." Ghost replied. Ben then let out a sigh.𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮 "I can't believe it. The vampires are having people taken away from them, and they don't even notice it. I mean, I know we wouldn't have noticed if we weren't doing this as well, but with so few people, you think they would keep better track." "Apparently, it's because the vampires live in the polling area. If their lives are lost, other vampires just see this as an opportunity to have children. To try and create stronger vampires for the future. With the cap of vampires per family and their long lifespan, it would take a long time before they were allowed any children. I guess their solution is to not really care about the lives of those in the pooling area." Ashley updated the tablet, and now there was a big X by one of their names. It wasn't the only name with an X either, as Ashley went back a few days searching through the names. People who were from the tenth family and in the polling area were going missing. There were no signs of confrontation. No sign of criminal activity either. They would just vanish, and later it would be reported as a death. Of course, the one who had ordered this investigation was none other than Paul. He had been advised by Kazz to not look into things, but he felt like if they were to look the other way, or not find out who was the one behind it all, then there was a good chance that the situation would just get worse. Soon they would think they could step other all of the tenth family. "Well, we know that they are taking people from the tenth area, that's for sure. The question is, we don't know where they went. Judging by the table, I think this one might have been quite recent. We could ask the people who live in the area, but we all know how that has gone so far." Ashley suggested. Ghost grabbed his arm, a wound that had long healed, but they knew how much hostility there was towards the tenth family. It was strange because they had believed the situation had gotten better, but it was almost as if somehow it had gotten worse. Before any of the others, Ashley heard footsteps coming from outside. The sound of the vampires in the street could be heard from all of them, so it wasn't too out of the ordinary, but Ashley could tell that the footsteps were constant and coming at a fast rate. "Someone's coming!" Ashley shouted, and soon all three of them drew their weapons. Ashley a standard sword, while Ben and Ghost had pulled something that resembled a pitchfork, but they were far more deadly than pitchforks. Soon a blur could be seen entering the room, and Ashley struck in its place. He couldn't quite see the figure or who it was but just had to guess. However, his sword managed to amount to nothing as it was being gripped tightly. "A weapon made from the blood fairy, I guess the tenth family still hasn't gotten rid of these. Although you do have privileges, the others don't. For finding such a weapon on a family member, the verdict would usually be death, all apart from the tenth family that is." The voice said. Now that the target was no longer moving, Ashley could see who it was that he had struck at. He wore a full set of black armour, his upper body gigantic and wide and on his head a black specially designed Helmet covering his face. "Muka, the ninth leader…" Ashley said in disbelief. "It looks like the tenth family has already caught on to something strange happening in the settlement. I thought without Quinn, Edward and that Blind swordsman that you would have been slow on the uptake. Or too afraid to act, I guess the tenth family are a little different. Let me be straight with you, tell your Vampire knight that I want to help with his little investigation." Muka explained.