Chapter Text
Attention all citizens of Trost County!
All citizens are warned to cease harassing the Count's Guard whenever they are out of the Castle. This includes behaviors such as yelling out insult to them as they pass and waving religious icons in their face.
Rumors that the Count's Guard consists entirely of blood drinking monsters are of course untrue and completely ridiculous. These rumors are an insult to the good name of the Count's Guard. Willfully spreading these rumors is slander on the good name of the Count and will be treated as such.
Citizens are also reminded that interfering with the Count's Guard is punishable by either lashings and/or imprisonment depending on the severity of the offense. Assaulting any member of the Guard is punishable by death.
Noble Decree, Sealed by Count Irvin Smith, Wintereve 254
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Count Irvin stood by the window and stared out at the crumbling west watchtower. The castle had held up surprisingly well, but the centuries were starting to take their toll. He was going to have to hire some craftsmen to fix everything.
A small smile crossed his face. He could probably find stone masons and carpenters among the Marian refugees. Most of them had never even heard of Trost before they came here, and would be blissfully unaware of his retainers and his reputation. Even better, many were so desperate, they would take whatever he was willing to offer as payment.
He'd have to warn everyone to leave them alone, but he didn't see that being an issue.
The War in the neighboring Kingdom of Maria has sent a flood of refugees across the borders to his little county of Trost. Many in the city complained bitterly about the refugees and the small tent city they had established outside the walls. For Irvin and his coven however, the refugee camp proved to be a fertile hunting ground, teeming with people who did not know nor trust each other and thus would not notice the disappearances as easily.
A knock at the door broke his reflection. He turned around to face it as it opened up and one of his Elite Guardsmen steeped in.
"Ah, Petra, have you discovered who has been hunting in the refugee camp without our permission?"
Petra nodded. "We have Milord. Mike was able to track down three fledglings who have apparently been the ones preying on the refugees."
Irvin nodded. Fledglings. It figured. Too young to realize they were poaching on another coven's territory. "And did you find out where they came from?"
The unspoken question, "Has someone here been siring fledglings and then abandoning them?"
"They said they were from the Jeager Coven up in Shiganshina," Petra replied. "One of the fledglings even claimed he was Grisha Jeager's son."
Ah yes. That made sense. The sacking of Maria's capital, Shiganshina, had decimated the coven of Grisha Jeager. The surviving members had scattered to the wind, joining up with neighboring covens, or becoming nomads. No doubt these fledglings had found themselves mixed in with the fleeing refugees and had simply followed their food source to wherever it wound up.
It also meant they had just as much right to hunt in the refugee camp as his own coven. Damn.
Irvin crossed his hands behind his back. "I assume you made them an offer to join?"
Petra nodded. "They accepted readily."
"Good, set them up in the east rooms, above the library." He paused. "Did they have any news on what happened to Grisha Jeager?"
Petra shook her head. "Carla Jeager is dead. All three apparently witnessed it. But none of them know what happened to Grisha. He just vanished on everyone. No one has a clue what happened to him."
Irvin nodded. Yet another mystery surrounding the Jeager coven. "Thank you Petra. You're dismissed."
"Milord."
---
Attention all citizens of Trost County!
The bats which live in the castle church are sacred animals. Harming, or attempting to harm them, is punishable by a minimum of twenty lashes. These bats do not pose any danger to the county, and are in fact responsible for the bug-free summers we enjoy here. They do not spread disease, nor do they pose any threat to children or livestock.
Noble Decree, Seal by Count Irvin Smith, Endspring 393
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The castle church had been built three centuries ago by Count Irvin, in order to pacify missionaries who came to Trost to spread their religion. It had promptly sat unused for nearly five decades before naturalist Hanji Zoe had been turned, and promptly moved her entire collection of bats in there.
Levi scowled as he pushed open the church door. There was shit everywhere. Black sludge covered every surface and was nearly half a foot deep in some places. He glanced up at the ceiling. The windows had been boarded up leaving the whole place pitched black, but his vampiric sight allowed him to make out the dark shapes clinging to the rafters and darting through the air.
Bats, millions of them. He had tried to clean the church up, nearly a century of non-stop shoveling, scrubbing, and sterilizing. But, those damn flying rats had just shit it out faster than even he could clean. His solution had been to terrorize one of the younger fledglings into keeping the place shoveled out, stay twenty meters away from the church at all times, and pretend the mess in there didn't exist.
However, sometimes circumstances arose which necessitated that he enter the church, and spend the next two days scrubbing himself and all his clothes clean. That reason was currently standing in the middle of the church, cooing over the small bat in her hand, which was drinking out of a small bowl of cows blood.
"Isn't he adorable," Hanji gushed, holding the bat up to Levi. "Blood drinkers, just like us! Fascinating isn't it?"
"So are mosquitoes and blackflies," Levi snapped. "And I feel no remorse in squashing them. Get that fucking rat out of my face four-eyes!"
"They're not rats," Hanji huffed. However she obligingly removed the bat from his face, and gave her wrist a slight shake. The bat chirped in annoyance, spread its wings, and went to join the other blood drinking bats in dark corners of the side alcoves.
Levi watched it fly off with disinterest. "Irvin wanted me to get you. The Archbishop hasn't been saying what he's supposed to be saying. Been warning the congregation about "Night wandering demons.""
"Why does Irvin want me?" Hanji asked, "Surely the Count's strongest solider is enough to scare a priest into submission."
"He's also been saying that your bats are, and I quote, "Messengers of the devil, and should be exterminated.""
Hanji's face went cold. "Does he still need to be in one piece after we are done with him?"
A grim smile. "Irvin didn't say."
---
Attention all citizens of Trost County!
Sina soldiers have been spotted in the woods along the border with Maria. All citizens are warned to avoid confrontation with any soldiers spotted within the borders of Trost County and instead report instances directly to the Castle.
While we are not yet at war with Sina, the Count is taking measures in case this should change. The militia is actively recruiting, and will accept any able-bodied man and woman who is willing to bear arms and follow orders.
All citizens are also reminded that false alarms and fake attacks are not funny. Those found to be knowingly raising a false alarm will be arrested and imprisoned indefinitely. You can laugh all you want then.
Nobel Decree, Sealed by Count Irvin Smith, Midsummer 516
---
Levi gazed at the clearing silently.
"Fuck Eren Jeager and his fucking friends! Fuck fledglings and their fucking instincts!"
Dismembered limbs littered the grove, strewn about like discarded bones after a feast. Entrails were stung through the trees like macabre garlands. There was at least five dead Sina soldiers here, maybe six or seven. It was hard to tell just how many in the jumbled mess of blood and gore.
He turned to the human soldiers accompanying him. "Right, lets get this fucking mess cleared up. Bury the bodies in a mass grave, burn all insignia, remove any jewelry or seals that could identify them as being Sina. If Sina finds out, the official story is that they were killed by Marian outlaws, and remember; you don't breathe a fucking word of this to anyone. The Count was clear. If word gets out, your blood is going to be the first to flow! Got it?"
There was a rush of hasty nods from the men, and they all grabbed their shovels and headed off to work. All except one man, who stood there and cleared his throat.
"Well?" Levi hissed. His patience was already thin.
"It's just umm... well... is it true that Squire Jeager turned into a giant when he did this, sir?"
Levi lips drew back over his fangs. His eyes narrowed, and red began to bleed into them. The man took a step back in terror. "First," Levi snarled. "Squire Jeager didn't do a fucking thing. This was Marian outlaws. Got it? Second, that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Of course it isn't true. Are we clear?"
"Y-yes!" The man was shaking in his boots.
"Good. Now get your goddamned ass to work!"
The man grabbed his shovel and began digging as if his life depended on it. (It did.)
"Fuck Grisha Jeager," Levi thought. "And fuck his damned experiments!"