My Stepmom Is A Vampire & Her Entire Bloodline Wants To Breed Me

Chapter 192: Bjorne Involvement

The two sides faced each other in silence, neither willing to retreat. Tension hung thick in the air, sharp enough that no one dared to speak above a whisper.

"If we don’t take this old man," the soldier at the front finally said, clearly the leader, "how are we supposed to track down that thief?"

Ivan tilted his head slightly, his gaze calm but piercing. "How much coal did he steal? A ton?" he asked evenly.

"If it was only a small bag, does Orchina not have plenty already? Or are your reserves gone?"

His words rippled through the crowd, whispers spreading instantly. The soldiers stiffened, their confidence wavering as murmurs grew louder. The leader clicked his tongue in irritation.

"We still have enough," he snapped, trying to regain control. "But a thief is still a thief. He must be punished."

"Then the old man’s explanation should suffice," Ivan replied without raising his voice. "There is no need to drag him away. Isn’t that correct?"

The murmuring grew stronger, people nodding in agreement. The pressure mounted until the leader’s jaw tightened in frustration. With a sharp motion, he shoved the old man back toward the crying child.

"This isn’t over, Ivan," he warned coldly before turning away.

The soldiers followed, venting their anger by smashing a few stalls as they left, though order returned quickly once they were gone.

The old man bowed repeatedly, thanking Ivan through tears and promising repayment, but Ivan merely smiled and waved it off, asking for nothing in return.

It was then that Ulrich stepped forward, drawing Ivan’s attention, and Andrew and Matthew followed instinctively, still trying to process what they had witnessed.

Ivan’s eyes lit up when he recognized Ulrich. "Ah, my friend," he laughed warmly. "It’s been a long time."

Ulrich leaned in, embracing him carefully and patting his back. "I can’t believe you’ve grown this old," he remarked.

"And you haven’t changed at all," Ivan replied with a grin before glancing behind Ulrich. "Your companions?"

"This is Andrew," Ulrich said, then gently guided Matthew forward. "And this is Matthew. He’s from Leuca."

Ivan studied the young man for a moment before smiling. "Then welcome home, boy. Even if everything is gone, the spirit of this place still remains."

He gestured lightly with one hand. "Let’s talk at my place. Too many ears here."

They followed Ivan deeper into the market, moving away from the crowd until they reached the only tall structure standing apart from the rest.

The building rose three floors high, its construction visibly patched and uneven, repaired hastily over time.

Despite that, its white exterior and half-sphere roof stood out, and the carved walls and ceilings suggested it had once been a historical structure of importance.

"It isn’t much," Ivan said as they entered, "but I hope it’s comfortable. In your letter, you mentioned staying for a while, so I prepared two rooms."

Ulrich smiled warmly as he took hold of the wheelchair handles. "You’re still a perfect host, my friend," he said, pushing Ivan forward as they began reminiscing about the past while Andrew and Matthew followed quietly behind.

They sat in a guest room set aside for visitors, its atmosphere warmer than expected despite the ruined world outside. Staff brought them steaming cups of coffee instead of tea, the aroma filling the space almost immediately.

"We don’t drink tea here," Ivan said casually, as if answering the question Andrew had not voiced.

"I see," Andrew replied with a small nod before looking between the two older men. "So what exactly is your relationship?"

He could guess fragments of it. Perhaps Ulrich had once helped Ivan reclaim power or protect his people.

The men outside moved with discipline, closer to soldiers than civilians. If this was a rebellion, Andrew wondered why Orchina’s army had not crushed it already.

"Ah," Ivan began lightly, "Ulrich helped us a great deal. His sweets kept the children smiling, especially in times like these—"

"Cut the nonsense," Andrew interrupted flatly. "I know this isn’t about candy, and I don’t care about your political structure. We don’t have time to linger."

Ulrich sighed and shook his head. "Young people are always so impatient." He straightened slightly

"We are facing Bjorne. If that is the case, you need to understand how this war truly began."

Andrew’s eyes sharpened. "You think Orchina is being controlled by them?"

"It is very possible," Ulrich replied calmly. "The current president may be nothing more than a puppet. I lack direct proof, unfortunately. I only began taking this war seriously a few years ago, but you already understand my connection with Ivan, which is why I don’t need to explain everything."

Ivan nodded. "Simply put, Ulrich is the reason we are still standing."

"What makes you so certain it’s Bjorn?" Andrew pressed.

"Patterns and strategy," Ulrich said, leaning back against the sofa, fingers tightening around his cane.

"During the peak of our kind’s era, the Chaos Age, Bjorne was the first to violate the non-aggression pact."

"Is that all?" Andrew asked skeptically. "That alone isn’t enough."

"Not alone," Ulrich replied. "I grew more certain when Orchina began pushing toward the western edge of the North. That land holds something significant. It is said the grave of the Progenitor lies there."

Matthew stiffened. "The Progenitor?"

"Yes," Ulrich said gravely. "The body lying there is the origin of vampires. The reason our existence twisted this world into chaos."

The weight of those words settled heavily in the room. Andrew and Matthew exchanged uneasy glances, questions piling up faster than answers.

If Bjorne truly controlled Orchina, a powerful and prosperous nation that had dominated warfare for decades, then confronting them risked igniting something far worse than an isolated conflict.

Andrew’s jaw tightened as the thought took root.

If this was true, could they stop it without triggering another full-scale war? He hoped that would never happen as this problem would be solved without the need to sacrifice lots of people or even vampires.

’We just need to kill Bjorne members.’ He thought to calm himself down.