Dawn Breaks (TGCF FF)

Sister Maid Xie, Can You Read Us a Bedtime Story?

In the eyes of the people of the 21st century, they only saw the Medieval Era as romantic images of knights in shining armor, royalties and the beauty of warship. But all of those were false images; an illusion evoked by fantasy novels we read today. It has a much more complicated reality, what's more if we mix in a little bit of a haunted fantasy?

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European High Middle Ages, Year 1xxx, Eastbourne.

A man on a nobleman attire went out of his horse carriage and what he saw was the not unfamiliar social diversity of his era. Look to the left and he will saw nobles chattering about politics and wealth. Look to the right and he will saw a group of peasants, commoners and refugees united to play cards and rant about how tough life was for them. While the merchants were busy enough to do their own work. And the royalties, nowhere to be seen amongst this people.

Despite being called as the High Middle Ages --- known for it's active economical development and dynamic culture amongst the three periods of Medieval Era--- the order of social hierarchy was still greatly emphasized. The powerful and wealthy remains powerful and wealthy; the weak and poor remains weak and poor. The people of this era was well aware of their role and strength. Of course, the lower class won't dare to cross the line. As for the upper class, it only depends if one has a good state of mind and on how they see themselves.

That's a cruel fact that we must learn to accept.

Just as the man placed his hat on his head, a piece of newspaper flew by him and he immediately caught it. Written on the newspaper was a scene of an unknown murder. The headline was "Lord Pittsburgh found dead with a bite mark on his neck, Forensics suspect another Vampire case".

The corpse of Lord Pittsburgh was obviously bloodless and pale despite of the photo being black and white. There was a bite mark on his neck and his face had a horrified expression: his eyes were wide and his pupils shrank.

The man clicked his tongue. This was what exactly he was here for.

He simply let go of the piece of paper and it effortlessly sailed the cold wind once more.

A clergy approached him and spoke nervously, "M-my Lord, Sir, a-are you the e-exorcist called by the county palatine?"

The man smiled at him, "Yes, it is I. Sir, you can call me Lord Xie, named Xie Lian. My father is Chinese but we were once refugees in this country but we managed to climb up the ladder." He looked at the clergy's trembling figure and added, "Sir, please relax around me, no need to be so nervous. Uh... and one more thing, I am a hunter specialized for taking down vampires and not an exorcist. An exorcist only kills ghosts and the living dead. My precious vampires are totally different species."

The clergy's tensed back relaxed a bit after hearing Lord Xie's friendly approach. He led him inside the church to meet the county palatine. Lord Xie briefly explained his plans to exterminate the vampire and the two only listened. After that, the clergy assisted him to another carriage and personally went with him.

This was a desolate county with not much glory and name. The further it was to the central county, the less structures there were and the more bumpy the road becomes.

Lord Xie stopped the carriage midway before they left the central county. He said, "Can we stop by a tailor shop? I would like to buy some maid clothes for myself."