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Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

Giselle frowned at the news that the towns’ defensive perimeter had been breached. How had these humans survived at all, even with what appeared to be a survival expert of sorts in the form of Julene? Unless events had been engineered for the arrival of the vampires. She couldn’t discount that thought, especially with how little they still knew about this future that they had been thrust into.

She acknowledged the blacksmith girl’s words with a nod. “Perhaps I can help with that in the future,” she replied, her offer still standing from earlier. Giselle was not lacking for skill in this discipline, even at the height of the Ophediel era, and a lack of materials would easily be remedied once she had a stable source of blood to draw from.

“Vegetables? I suppose I don’t mind salad from time to time, but perhaps later. I’m more interested in this undead problem, though. This is a separate issue from the beasts?” If they were from the river, it was unlikely to be directly from the city. Was the village being plagued by two separate threats?

Once Akyasha leaned in with more information, she kept on a poker face, but she remained curious what the gorebat had found together with the other two vampire lords. The cleric had beaten her to the chase in asking questions, so she nodded at Luna before adding her own. “Indeed. I would like to deal with the threat in the forest sooner rather than later. Though, I am curious. Are there other settlements in the area, or is it just your village, Julene?”

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

When Polina heard that the mistress of the Maison was returning, like the rest of the maids, that had gotten her attention. Unlike the other maids, though, she had her own special reasons for being especially attentive around matters of the Lady Fiore. After all, her loan to the Maison was not just a gift from her own Lady, but also as a means for the princess to have eyes and ears in the mysterious organization, given the rumors that continued to swirl around the controversial scion. Polina was not fond of this sort of business, but she would not begrudge her mistress for this type of business.

Polina had yet to make much on that front, aside from the spattering of combat –a few days ago aside—and maid training. It mildly rankled the Farisian maid that, as a fully-fledged servant, that she had been subjected to probationary training, but the additional combat experience mostly made up for the tedium of being slotted into a more junior position.

Now, the rumors of the Maison getting a demon maid were quite juicy, and it was all but confirmed as true. That was worthy information to look into, especially when it came to Mistress Fiore’s reasons for signing the creature on. A good starting point into her mentality, Polina supposed, before she internally groaned. This would be a pain.

Well, nothing else to do now but to look good and wait for the Lady to return.

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

Giselle decided to ignore Akyasha’s shenanigans, even if she disapproved. She simply followed the cleric silently, but not before collecting Julene’s sword. She gave the weapon an eye. She supposed it was a good weapon for this new age, but of course, the princess of creation could do better. The purity and composition of even base metal in this era left things to be desired. To Giselle, though, remedying deficiencies in something as mundane as the mix of iron and carbon and removing impurities even her state was child’s play.

With the time she had, she made sure to ask the girl a few questions about the village and surrounding region, even if speaking to her while she was in a princess carry was… awkward.

By the time the trio arrived at the blacksmith girl’s house, she had made some quality improvements to the blade, for only a modest expenditure of blood.

While Giselle didn’t quite whistle –that would be inappropriate of someone of her standing, even if she spent centuries cultivating a reputation of being the friendliest vampire lord—she was somewhat impressed by the home that the girl lived in, if only in relation to the rest of the homes she saw in the village and in this age. It had the marks of a girl who knew what she was doing with engineering, though it was obvious that she never been to a true school… then again, what sort of architectural or engineering institution would still be extant in this time?

Despite that, it was clearly built with defense in mind. That was something that she could respect.

“It’s clear that you’ve put a lot of thought into home defense,” she admired. “If we continue to work together, I wouldn’t mind sharing some of my own ideas and techniques. It is something of a specialty of mine.” Indeed, a few firing slits here and there, and perhaps installation of some shaped charges in strategically placed positions like doors and hallways would make it all but impenetrable to the threats that the three of them had faced earlier.

If they were to ever make this village a temporary base of operations, then the village’s defenses would need some proper refurbishment, too.

When Akyasha put the girl down, Giselle handed her sword back. “It got a little dinged up during the battle, so I fixed it for you,” she said modestly, before noticing Luna approach.

“Ah, Luna. How fares it inside the village?” She frowned as the songstress relayed her information. The news of a breach and further mysteries was surprising and unfortunate news… but informative. “I see. I trust they have the situation in hand now. As for what’s in the forest… I suspected something similar. I’m not foolhardy enough to investigate without sufficient force in hand. I would like to have a look sooner than later, however.” She gave a look towards her fellow vampires.

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

When Polina returned to her cabin, she quickly stripped off and took a warm, but quick shower. She needed those quick few moments of relaxation, especially after a fight like that. Well, she didn’t need it, but it felt entirely inappropriate to enter the kitchen feeling grimy and covered with demon gore, even if she had done her level best to avoid being overly splattered with guts on account of protecting Akantha at the time. She took those few minutes to also reflect on her first high-intensity battle since being in the employ of the Violet Garden. Considering the scale of the demon attack, she idly wondered of its political repercussions and what her other mistress would think of it all. That was out of her pay grade, though, at least for now.

Once she was done, she tossed her soiled uniform into the laundry and fetched a fresh change of clothes before she appeared in the galley where Leoniya was prepping her Stroganoff with some other maids.

Making sure her frilled maid’s headdress was properly presentable when she entered, she nodded at Leoniya’s greeting. “Of course not,” she denied. Polina had promised to help earlier, after all. “Where do you need my help? I’m looking forward to a proper meal, too. It’s Detty’s loss.”

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

Giselle had been perfectly sincere, so she felt a flicker of irritation at being dismissed so. Instead, she retorted, “Rather bold of you to call someone that just introduced themselves as a princess a vagrant.” Unlike the other comment, she didn’t take offense at that and found it amusing. The white-haired vampire shrugged at her offer, but didn’t decline. They had other things to do beforehand, anyway, such as check in on the others.

“That’s not true,” she said, disagreeing with Julene’s comment. “The existence of your village itself is proof of civilization, no matter how small. As long communities still exist, then the seeds of a new civilization exist. It just needs to be nurtured and allowed to thrive.” It was obvious, though, that this land as it is lacked the luxury of being left alone. Not anymore, though. Was that not one of the reasons that Giselle and the other lords were brought back?

She ignored Akyasha’s conversation about gods with the blacksmith, until the cheeky maid suddenly scooped up the human woman into a bridal carry. She was also fairly sure that the girl, as the strong independent type was not going to appreciate that. Giselle gave the ‘fake nun’ an unamused look. “I’m sure she can stand on her own. If you’re done playing games, we should check in on the village and the others first,” she pointed out. “I doubt this attack is fully over. From my investigation of the beasts’ corpses, it appears there is a…” she briefly glanced at Julene, “a greater, likely hostile foe in that forest that is sustaining them.”

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Polina give the little Akantha a nod of encouragement. “Go on. Viatrix will take care of you,” she said, giving her and the pink-haired maid a wave as they departed, leaving her with Lucrecia, Kat and Leoniya, who walked up and patted her back. Losing the rest of Lyssa’s team was indeed a shame. She didn’t know them very well, Polina was a recent ‘transfer’ after all, but there were only so many maids.

“I’ll join you in the kitchen once I’ve freshened up,” she acknowledged positively, just as Bernadette reappeared from the bowels of the airship. Then, Lucrecia had to bow out from the injury she had received earlier.

“Have that checked,” she agreed.

It would be a shame, though, if she missed Leoniya’s signature Stroganoff. Polina had perked up at the mention of it. “I am looking forward to it,” she nodded, overruling Bernadette in approving of the dish. She left the poor maid to her fate. She was more than willing to help her prepare the meal as a way to wind down from the high intensity fight in the city, but she would join them in galley a little bit later. A shower was in order after that fight, and she needed to repack all of her weapons into their proper folds.

But she would be helping with making that Stroganoff.

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

Giselle pushed away the gorebat that was using her cheek as a rubbing post, sending the human girl an unamused and equally unimpressed stare. “A very strange way of offering your thanks,” she spoke evenly. “Are you even in any state to use that thing?” She was almost tempted to straight up confiscate the weapon from the injured girl before she ended up injuring herself in a misguided attempt to threaten her and Akyasha, but thought better of it.

Even if she had something else up her sleeve, Giselle didn’t feel overly threatened. What she did feel annoyed about was that she knew nearly nothing about this village or this girl, and couldn’t plan accordingly. Giselle intended to straight up reveal her nature; it was not her style for subterfuge that was flat out lying, and that sort of frank admission always went a long way towards trust.

But she didn’t know how much farther the reputation of her kind had fallen in the millennia since, or what the village’s views on the matters were. Considering that evidence was increasingly looking like another vampire was still existent in some form and terrorizing the human settlement, that decision was starting to look questionable.

After sparing a glance towards the vampire cleric, she decided to take her reply in a slightly different direction. Despite the girl’s… minor insolence, she was tempted to make her hers. She had the skill and the spunk that she favored in her former maid corps. She hoped the fanatic would not ruin it.

“Very well,” she announced, with all the confidence of her standing, and speaking as if what she was implicitly given by her title, “I am Giselle de Farry, sovereign princess of the Principality of Farry. A very long-lived princess that appears to have the misfortune to outlive it and its people after a rather prolonged and involuntary slumber.” She affected a chagrined look at this. As far she knew, this was fact, and it continued to chasten her every waking moment that she had ultimately failed to protect those under her charge. “I cannot speak for the rest of my companions, but as for my personal intentions in these lands, it is my intention to investigate the state of civilization and then to properly to rebuild it.” She flashed the blacksmith girl an almost cheeky grin, turning on a bit of charm but speaking earnestly. “If you think my cause a worthy one and can cast your suspicions aside, I would welcome more allies to the cause.”

A reward was implied, but left unsaid. What reward could be more fitting for a girl that wanted to survive than the ultimate gift a vampire lord could give?

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

“That should mean I get a free pass with the number of sweets I’ve been feeding you,” Polina idly commented, her lips curling slightly upwards before giving a more appreciative look for her intervention earlier. “Thanks for that.”

Turning back to the young girl, she nodded at her response, although she still didn’t quite know how to care for the unexpected guest for the moment. She could play bodyguard very well, but Polina had never taken care of children or interacted with them very much, even in her childhood. War had a habit of interfering with such things. “Very well, Akantha… let’s get you a good meal and some proper rest for you.”

Turning, they nearly ran into the maids’ resident nurse. She’d made a very timely appearance, though it would seem that Akantha’s well-deserved rest and recuperation would be slightly delayed. “She needs rest and a proper meal and time to process what has happened today, but otherwise she appears unharmed,” Polina explained. “But giving her a checkup would be a good idea either way. What do you think, Lucrecia?”

Bible of Ichor: Septet for the Dead

Giselle de Farry

Undead Princess, de Farry

---

As mundane as the combined rescue attempts of two vampire lords were, it was not a surprise that the human rescue attempt was a success, even if it was a very close thing. The moment Julene crossed the makeshift threshold, Giselle tossed her crowbar aside, dematerializing back into a mist of blood before she grabbed her outstretched arm and pulled her away from the burning building before it could collapse on top of them all.

Once they’d cleared the danger zone and were out in a proper open space, she paused and reached out a hand to help the singed blacksmith girl stand. She looked superficially fine except for some scrapes, but she knew that any human that had breathed in that much smoke would likely be winded for days afterwards or internally injured. She wouldn’t fault her if she couldn’t stand, but if the village had a healer, she would recommend her to see them. Still, she had been impressed. Had she used explosives to help take down that wall? It explained the fire, but she was surprised that knowledge of the complex chemical formulae for such things persisted to this day. Even if it did, it would still be rare for somebody to grasp making such things well. She gave Julene a thoughtful expression for a moment before speaking.

“You’re very welcome,” Giselle responded, despite the human having addressed those words to the cleric rather than herself. “If you can walk, we should head back towards the village proper. I believe we have taken care of all the creatures we’ve encountered thus far, so we should check in on the others.”

The Maids Guide to Demon Hunting

Polina Laye

Farisian Maid

---

Quite frankly, Polina thought going in and shooting every demon she saw was a viable and effective strategy, and it clearly was already demonstrated to work perfectly! She wasn’t going to go ahead and intentionally dig her grave further –she’d already intentionally done that, after all—but why bother when she would be saved by bribery any moment now? Ah, there it was. Polina quickly noted that she would have to have a large selection of sweets ready at a moment’s notice –not that she didn’t already—to bribe Lyssa with to keep her mother away, because the Farisian maid was sure that the older women would likely have more problems with her in the future.

Having stoically met Myrilla’s snarling up until now, she couldn’t help but to derive amusement from her interaction with her daughter even as she kept her outer façade stone-faced. Polina did have to agree with Lyssa, though. She was getting pretty hungry.

“It did,” she nodded, once Lucrecia approached her. “Less time spent being overly cautious meant there was more time to exterminate the threat. The young lady here was saved because of that.”

What Polina didn’t know what to do with, though, was the young girl that was still clinging to the frills of her dress. Considering that she’d just narrowly avoided more than a tongue-lashing from her superior, she didn’t try to reengage the woman. Instead, she turned to the girl, kneeling down and giving her a pat on the head as well. “Would you like some food? You must be hungry after all this while.”