Chapter 90: Cost of Action

"Come out, we're here to deal with the Vampire!"

"We mean no harm!"

Van Helsing stepped forward, his gaze sweeping the house ahead as he shouted loudly.

After Van Helsing finished speaking, a middle‑aged man in a faded priest's robe stepped out from behind a Wooden House.

His face was gaunt, eyes sunken, clearly having rested little for days. He removed the cross from his chest and hurled it forcefully onto the ground before the three.

"You all try it one by one!" the priest croaked, his eyes fixed on Van Helsing and the others.

Van Helsing bent down, picked up the cross, and then pointed to the new silver CrossNecklace at his own chest:

"Buddy, your quality isn't as good as mine."

"..........." Only then did the priest notice the cross on his neck glittering in the sunlight; after a moment of silence his shoulders visibly relaxed.

He turned and shouted toward the rear:

"Sheathe your weapons! They truly are here to deal with the Vampire! Everyone, come out!"

With his shout, more than twenty robust villagers emerged one after another from behind houses and beside haystacks.

In their hands they bore all sorts of weapons—swords, farming tools, bows and arrows, and even two men dressed as hunters clutching shotguns.

Most wore expressions of lingering shock.

Presumably their families were holed up at home, and they were responsible for guarding the village.

The priest hurried toward the three, his calloused hand wiping his dirty robe: "Really sorry."

His voice was low and weary: "Two days ago a Vampire disguised itself as a villager and killed our Village Chief."

"That's why we're on edge now. It's wonderful you could come!"

Feiluo behind Van Helsing fixed his gaze.

The Village Chief was the one who had sent him to London; originally the chief and he had investigated the Vampire's trail together, never expecting the chief to be slain.

It's understandable that the remaining villagers are this nervous.

Van Helsing handed the cross back to the priest: "It's fine, luckily we have the extraordinary ones; otherwise you'd really have been hurt."

He looked around, his voice steady and strong: "During daylight there's no need to worry much; Vampires fear sunlight, and unless they're truly powerful they'll choose to move at night."

"But the truly strong ones could kill you with ease."

The priest took the cross, drawing a sign on his chest: "Yes, we know, it's just that too many have died in the village lately, so we're this vigilant."

He inhaled deeply: "I am Theodore Benjamin, an ApprenticePriest of the Holy See, how should I address the three of you?"

"Yabolahan·Fan·Haisen."

"Firo de Leon."

"Yu Lin."

After the three introduced themselves, they followed Benjamin into the village Church.

It was an ordinary Wooden House; inside were only Benjamin, the priest, and two nuns.

One was about fifty, hair graying, slightly thin, yet her eyes were bright and full of vigor.

The other was in the bloom of youth, brownish hair, a rosy, fair face with a few freckles, curiously observing the three who entered, Yu Lin among them.

Especially Yu Lin, the Oriental among them.

Although Chinese have come to the West to make a living, this is still essentially someone else's territory, so Chinese faces are still relatively rare here.

Yu Lin met her gaze, gave a slight nod, then she looked away, muttering to herself how his first impression was better than those Bishops.

Strange.

"Please sit, all three."

After Benjamin had the three sit, the elder nun carried four cups of water over:

"Help yourselves."

"Thank you."

Benjamin softly introduced to the three: "This is Sister Lianne, who came here with me."

"That is Sister Sophie, an abandoned child we adopted fifteen years ago."

"There was originally another priest in the Church, but he too died at the hands of a Vampire recently."

At this point he sighed, his expression turning somewhat sorrowful.

Yu Lin suddenly spoke:

"Did the Holy See not send anyone to resolve this? Or did you not report it to the Holy See?"

When he previously dealt with a Demon incident, he was summoned by people of the Holy See.

Now that a Vampire has appeared, there's no reason the Holy See would ignore it.

Benjamin, hearing this, had his sorrow replaced by anger: "We reported it! But those guys are blinded by profit now, why would they come?"

"They'd rather raid the Eastern nations for a fortune; they won't heed our request!"

"Now, whether it's the National Church, the Catholic Church, or any other church, they've already set a clear price privately; to hire a formal priest or a formal Knight costs at least forty pounds, and you have to hire three at a time!"

"There are priests and Knights who will act for free, but our request letters never reach them!"

Hearing this, Feiluo muttered:

"I'm called by so many, and I only charge fifteen pounds, which works out to five per person; how dare those guys demand one hundred twenty pounds? I'm at least a formal priest‑level combatant........."

Yu Lin squinted slightly, thinking to himself, no wonder Exorcism Offices are booming at a time like this.

Big guys can't afford the Holy See for such matters, so they have to settle for cheaper options, hiring a more affordable Exorcism Office to act.

Feiluo charges fifteen pounds per job; with the Holy See's money, they could hire him eight times.

Moreover, he is a formal priest‑level combatant, but since he doesn't take the Holy See's monthly salary, he isn't considered an exclusive Holy See priest.

Additionally, because priests and Knights receive salaries from the Holy See, in theory they shouldn't charge again, or only take a small fee for requests from their own churches… after all, the faithful already donate plenty of money.

But rules are rules; the Holy See currently doesn't intend to intervene, so there's nothing we can do.

Unless... Yu Lin finds a time to go to the Holy See, demonstrate a Divine Miracle, and standardize the fees.

Hmm, feasible.

Just as Yu Lin was pondering, a sudden shout came from outside:

"Father Benjamin, Father Benjamin!"

"Something's wrong!"

"The Village Chief's corpse has disappeared!"