Before long, Anna and the others also took their seats at the dining table. After hurriedly eating a few bites, Loren began reading the newspaper.
The newspaper was filled with reports of vampires being attacked. This ti, however, the attackers weren't Monster Hunters, but ordinary people.
"This shouldn't be happening..."
Previously, the newspaper reported Monster Hunters hunting vampires. That was ant to position vampires from perpetrators into victims, condemning them from a moral high ground, which was actually beneficial for the vampires.
But now, having vampires killed by ordinary people would instead reduce the fear of vampires in people's hearts, giving more people the courage to take action against vampires.
The animal that kills the most lions each year is the wild buffalo, the lion's prey. Yet reports always focus on lions hunting buffalo, never on buffalo killing lions.
Similarly, incidents of brave resistance against bullies, even to the point of killing the bullies, are not uncommon. Such cases are never reported, precisely because they fear others might imitate them.
This is detrintal to stability. So, as long as those vampires have a functioning brain, they would never allow reports of ordinary people killing vampires to appear in the newspaper. It would only encourage more people to consider imitation.
"Has Aisaco already taken control of the newspaper office?"
The power of discourse is a crucial thing. The loudest voice isn't necessarily the one suffering the most, but it's certainly the one that garners the most sympathy.
So people die without anyone ever noticing, while so perpetrators can be whitewashed into victims.
One or two deaths don't matter, but with so many vampires being killed by ordinary people in a short ti, the vampire higher-ups would definitely guess this is all related to Aisaco.
The Vampire Viscount whom Gwen replaced ca in handy again today. Loren needed Gwen to disguise herself as a vampire and infiltrate their ranks to gather information.
"Seraphina, how is your magical aptitude?"
During the al, Loren suddenly thought of Seraphina. She wasn't a Witch, and mingling among them held so danger. Loren wanted her to have so ability to protect herself.
"Not good. I can't learn magic."
Hearing this, Loren could only abandon the idea of teaching Seraphina magic.
Loren did have simplified thods, but they required a certain level of innate talent. While they could significantly reduce the difficulty of magic, there was a limit. They couldn't make soone with zero magical aptitude learn magic.
If he wanted to make Seraphina stronger, he would have to use other thods.
"I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you. Although I cannot fight, I will work harder in other areas."
Seraphina tried her best to maintain her smile as she apologized to Loren.
"Why do you sound so manipulative?"
Mirrorheart bluntly retorted without any reservation. Seraphina didn't argue back, nor did she even glance at Mirrorheart.
"It doesn't matter. I have plenty of ways to help you get stronger."
Loren thought for a mont. The fastest way to strengthen an ordinary person was through a god's blessing, but that was too dangerous.
The Orthodox Gods wouldn't grant blessings so casually. To gain power quickly, one could only turn to the Outer Gods or evil deities, but the risk factor was too high.
Seraphina didn't have the Observer's blessing. Outer God corruption would be fatal to her, so that path could also be ruled out.
Another thod was to utilize Anomalies. Like the Outer Gods, Anomalies also carried a high risk factor, and their effects were bizarre and unpredictable. Encountering an Anomaly that was easy to control was extrely difficult.
So, only a few paths remained, such as force-feeding magical potions.
"Seraphina, after we return, I'll brew a magical potion for you. It might be able to improve your aptitude."
Loren thought of the seventh-grade Spirit-Wisdom Enlightennt magical potion. This thing might be able to improve Seraphina's aptitude.
Before, Loren would have worried about insufficient materials, but now it was different. Just the money Loren stole from the vampires was enough for him to splurge for a while. He could buy whatever he needed directly from the Falling Star rchant Guild, skipping the most complicated step of searching for materials.
When Loren played gas before, he often ran all over the map for a few materials. The Falling Star rchant Guild could handle this step, though their fees were high. Only Loren dared to use the Guild like this; even those Nobles couldn't.
They had to consider whether the spending was worth it, and those irresponsible playboys didn't have the authority to command that much money.
Unlike Loren, who did whatever he wanted. Even if the money he snatched from the vampires ran out, the profits from Sunscreen were another considerable inco, allowing him to splurge again for a while.
Loren had used very little of the money given by the King of Bardo for a long ti. His ability to earn money even surpassed his ability to spend it.
"Thank you..."
Seraphina suddenly began to hesitate. After a mont of silence, she continued:
"If you need combat strength, there are better thods. There's no need to specifically improve my strength. With my aptitude, I'm afraid I would just waste your magical potion..."
Even now, Seraphina was still considering Loren's perspective.
"You're different..."
Loren didn't know how to respond to Seraphina and couldn't be bothered to say anything overly sentintal. He just uttered a few simple words.
"Thank you."
Seraphina resud her usual smile, but this ti her pupils were trembling. Through her eyes, Loren could sense Seraphina's excitent.
She knew this ant Loren had already accepted her as one of his own.
Actually, Mirrorheart and Seraphina were similar in that their true feelings couldn't be discerned from their expressions.
Mirrorheart always wore a cold expression, and Seraphina always maintained a smile. However, Seraphina wasn't as extre as Mirrorheart. Seraphina seed to simply want to show her best side to Loren, while Mirrorheart seed emotionally deficient.
Seraphina often showed other expressions. Sotis her smile seed a bit deliberate, leaving so trace to be seen.
Mirrorheart had followed Loren for over ten years and had rarely shown any other expression, even during monts of extre... turbulence.
"Recently, I 'borrowed' a weapons factory from those vampires. I'm going to research so new weapons. If anything happens, contact through Movila."
In this era without mobile phones, Movila served as a telephone. This function was actually very powerful. With Movila around, Loren would never encounter those clichéd plotlines of just missing each other.
If sothing really happened, Loren could be inford imdiately.
"I'm going too!"
Laila hurriedly followed Loren's steps. She knew Loren was researching firearms for her sake, as firearms didn't offer much of a boost to the other Witches.
"Alright, you coming is perfect. You can give feedback on the spot."
Loren had a very simple concept for the new weapon: pack it with a lethal amount of gunpowder. Volu wasn't an issue, as it could be stuffed into Scarlett's Life Thief space anyway.
Furthermore, Loren could also customize a shotgun for Laila. Her guaranteed hit required marking the target in advance, and a shotgun was an excellent choice.
Not pursuing power, but only range, allowing Laila to mark enemies with her Tracking Mark.
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