"I'm here to talk to you about something that can affect our relationship with the Undead Region. I have received some information that the Vampire King is coming to our Demon Realm. I need to know about him, so I can come up with a strategy to deal with him," Ryder told High Duke Oris.
"He's coming here? Why?" High Duke Oris asked with a frown on his face.
"I have a friend who is in the Undead Region. He is my spy there. He gave me this information. Apparently, one of the Vampire King's close men has gone missing, and he found the Demon Blood there. I believe that someone intentionally left the Demon Blood there to create this misunderstanding. It should be the people of the Death Domain that want to win the support from the Undead Region," Ryder replied as he shook his head.
"According to my information, the Vampire King will come here tomorrow. I want to know more about him so I can talk to him more effectively," Ryder told the High Duke.
"This is a serious matter. How trustworthy are your sources?" High Duke Oris asked Ryder.
"As trustworthy as me," Ryder replied in short.
"I need to inform the other High Dukes. They should know about this as well," The High Duke said, shaking his head.
"I agree. They need to know about it, but not now. Let's keep this matter between us now," Ryder responded as he stopped High Duke Oris.
"I don't want to waste too much time in discussion. First, I need my answers. After you clarify some things, you can tell them. We need to utilize the time we have. It's not about the battle as the battle is an easy matter, but the biggest problem would be the Undead Region that had stayed neutral. We can't push them closer to the Death Domain," he added.
"Alright. We can come up with the plan ourselves. I believe that we should be honest and tell him that we didn't do this. Even he shouldn't be so stupid not to see this ploy," High Duke Oris said.
Ryder shook his head.
"That idea is what I thought as well, but we can't leave the small possibility behind that he might not be ready to believe us. That's why I want to know what you know about him. What's the weakness of the Vampire King?" Ryder asked the High Duke.
"His weakness? I haven't fought him before, so I don't know his weakness, but I heard that the Vampires hate loud noises. It might be effective on the Vampire King as well. I personally believe that if it comes to that point, we should just fight him. Using any method that will affect him would spoil the relationship enough already," High Duke Oris said.
"I don't want the weakness to defeat him. I need it to improve the relationship," Ryder said as he smiled lightly.
"Using his weakness to improve our relationship?" High Duke Oris asked with a frown on his face.
"I want to be the hero that saves the damsel in distress. Just imagine a situation when the Vampire King is in danger, and the Prince of the Demon Realm helps him. He would be thankful to us, and he would be more willing to listen to us. We might also be able to win the favor of the Undead Region," Ryder explained.
High Duke Oris started stroking his beard hair as he thought about it.
"Interesting. That idea might work if it's executed successfully. I like your thinking," High Duke Oris let out as he nodded his head.
"Of Course. This is what we need. The only problem is the execution. I need something that will genuinely trouble the Vampire King. The High Noise thing is useful, but how to execute this?" Ryder muttered as he frowned.
"Do we have something that can make a loud noise that might hurt the Vampires?" Ryder asked the High Duke.
"Yeah, I think we have something like that. Every year, we have a celebration, and the citizens of the kingdom use the Frikers to celebrate. We can use that," High Duke Oris told Ryder.
"What's Frikers?" Ryder inquired.
High Duke Oris waved his hand, and a flute-like object appeared before him. He gave the red flute-like item to Ryder.
"This is a friker," He said to Ryder.
Ryder looked at the flute-like thing and brought it closer to his mouth as he blew inside it.
*Screech*
A loud screeching sound came out of the flute that was so loud that it filled up the whole palace and woke up most of the people that were still sleeping. Even Felina had woken up. She stepped out of her room and asked the maids what that sound was.
The maid told her that she didn't know, but it sounded like it came from the Great Hall.
She told the maid to follow her as she started walking towards the Great Hall.
Ryder looked at the flute and nodded his head.
"If loud sounds hurt them, then this should be effective. I like this. The Vampire King would be here by the afternoon. We need to be ready by then," Ryder said as he gave the flute back.
Ryder knew the time when the Vampire King entered the great hall. Using that time, he guessed the time when the Vampire King entered the Kingdom, but he didn't know the direction he would be coming from.
The only way to catch the Vampire King outside the High Duke's palace was when he was near the palace.
Ryder deducted a few minutes from the exact time and told the High Duke the time when the citizens needed to blow up the flute-like thing at once. He also told him that they couldn't tell the citizens what was actually happening. He told the High Duke to use the excuse that this was the wish of the Prince that everyone plays Friker at the same time to celebrate High Duke Oris' birthday. That way, he could act innocent after saving the Vampire King.
Since he couldn't lie, he needed to have someone else talk to him at that time; he also decided who that person would be.
The timing and the execution was the most important thing. Since he didn't know anything about the direction and about the Vampire King's weaknesses, he was treating it like a test to get knowledge for the next try. Still, he was trying to give it his all, hoping that he would succeed in the first try.
In the next hour, he and High Duke Oris talked more about the plan before they finalized it.
"Yeah, that should be perfect. We'll go with that. You can go tell the other High Dukes now," Ryder said to the High Duke before he stood up and left the Great Hall.
He noticed Felina standing outside. She was probably listening to them. He smiled at her as he left.
Miku and Dale followed after Ryder as they left the palace of High Duke Oris.
Ryder flew back to his Palace and went to his great hall.
He sat on the throne as he looked at Dale and Miku, who was standing before him.
"Dale, go and bring everyone who came with me to the Undead Region," Ryder told Dale in a grim tone.
"Yes, your Highness," Dale nodded his head before he left to bring his teammates.
"Your Highness, Is the Vampire King really going to attack us? Did you actually kill his people there?" Miku asked Ryder. She had already guessed most of the things from what Ryder told the High Duke. She already knew that Ryder went to the Death Domain with Rale and the others. After that point, it was easy to guess. It was what he said before High Duke Oris.
"Don't ask the question you don't need the answers to," Ryder replied as he shook his head.
"Also, you can't come with me tomorrow. You need to stay behind. Get another maid to accompany me tomorrow," Ryder told her.
"D-did I do something wrong?" Miku asked with a concerned look on her face as she clenched the corners of her dress.
"You did nothing wrong. It's just that I can't bring anyone who knows about my secrets. The Vampire King has a skill that can force you to tell all secrets about me. It won't work on me because of my Crown, but it can easily work on you. It would be problematic if you started spilling everything before the Vampire King and the other High Dukes. Just for one day, you need to stay away from me in the palace," Ryder told her.
"I understand. I'll arrange for the best maid to follow you," Miku said, but there was a disappointment which was evident on her face.
Dale returned with the guards as well. Ryder told the guards the same thing that they needed to stay in the palace in their rooms all day tomorrow. He also told them to arrange for a different set of guards for him for one day.
The whole night, Ryder prepared for the day.
