"I never agreed to your terms. Unfortunately, none of those so-called vampire kings you made deals with are my rivals. You… rest in peace."
With that, Adam shoved Biggs toward the remaining two men.
There was barely time to react. Biggs's eyes widened as copper coins, and in the next instant, his body was pierced by the very allies he had abandoned.
Two daggers still clutched in his hands, he fell slowly, his gaze burning with anger and disbelief. Blood loss came fast; he lost consciousness before a scream could escape.
Adam exhaled softly. "Alright, the opening act is over. Let's get to business."
The remaining two men, along with the slumped Chenno, collapsed with agonized shrieks. Even the already fallen Biggs and another teammate were swiftly neutralized with a precise strike.
A low voice came from outside the door. "Open up! What's going on?"
The soundproofing spell was one-way: the outside heard nothing inside, but they could hear outside noises clearly.
"Two more outside," Silver Bell said, transforming into a bat and slipping out the opposite window. Soon, gentle knocks followed.
"It's me. Open the door."
The door swung open, and Silver Bell dragged the last two by their collars.
"All done. Get up," Adam said to Yu Jia, still on the floor, eyes like copper coins, mouth agape.
"What about the bodies?" Silver Bell asked.
Adam considered. "We could dig a pit in the basement and bury them."
"No!" they both shouted.
Silver Bell had seen blood before, but sleeping in the same room as corpses was different—her skin prickled.
"Then we move them outside, find a place to bury them," Adam suggested.
Yu Jia staggered to a chair, muttering, "So we're smuggling corpses around like merchants trafficking contraband… Imagine a cop asking, 'Hey, what's in those sacks?'"
Adam pulled out the bottle marked Demon Chelman. Black smoke swirled out as he popped the cork, clearing to reveal Chelman, still fussing with tweezers at his eyebrows.
"Decided to finally settle the old debts?" Chelman glared.
"I have a new job for you," Adam said cheerfully.
"Hmph! Settle the old first!"
Adam ignored him, pointing to the corpses. "This time, we move these. Standard procedure—payment on delivery."
Chelman's left eye flicked to the floor; his face twisted. "You want the world's greatest merchant to transport corpses? You're mad!"
Adam leaned back, shrugging. "Your call. But if you don't want me to eventually return the soil, you'd better take this job."
"Forget it! I won't be tricked again!" Chelman bellowed. "This is corpse disposal! If you don't bring them back, I lose payment—and end up with stinking bodies at home! At least soil doesn't rot!"
Adam continued to press. "I'll even settle part of the previous debt first."
"How much?" Chelman squinted.
"Ten gold coins," Adam said. "And you'll release an equal amount of soil, freeing up your space."
"Ten coins? Are you serious? There's five hundred cubic meters—ten coins barely covers half a cube!"
"Think about it. If I give you three jobs a month, that's thirty-six jobs a year. Ten coins each, that's 360 coins. In under twenty-eight years, all debts are cleared—and your space is free."
Adam patted Chelman's shoulder. "Time flies when you're immortal, right?"
After a long calculation, Chelman finally relented. "Twenty coins per job!"
"Done," Adam agreed. "Then thirty coins for these corpses."
"No! Corpses should be pricier—sixty coins!"
"That's way more than a little—it's double!"
"Then fifty-five, take it or leave it!"
"Forty at most!"
After a brief tug-of-war, they settled on forty-five coins. Chelman stomped off, grumbling, leaving the corpses and coins behind.
Silver Bell grinned. "That guy's hilarious."
"Adam got the better end. You'll see when it's your turn," Yu Jia muttered, still uneasy.
"What about Bibbu? Chenno's gone, hard to explain…"
"Make him a vampire, like Yu Jia—a private bastard with nowhere to turn," Silver Bell teased, catching Yu Jia's glare.
"Tell him Chenno wanted to go home. We gave him passage to Corsica. That's plausible; he didn't want the job anyway," Adam said, lifting Bibbu, still unconscious.
"And if he writes back, realizing Chenno never returned?" Yu Jia asked.
"Mail takes a month. And even if Chenno didn't make it back, it's not our problem. Things can happen en route," Adam said.
"Alright." Yu Jia and Silver Bell nodded.
"Let's move Bibbu. Silver Bell, get Chenno's things to the basement, make it look like he left overnight, and tidy the soil. Yu Jia, clean the scene—make it seem Bibbu got drunk, leave some vomit traces. Quick—we have other business."
Adam hoisted Bibbu onto his shoulder.
"We're hunting rats."