A Dragon's Curiosity

With the speech having come to an end, the attending parents and students started to intermingle. As such, Nisha and her step-brother Henry also looked around, seeking to get a better grasp on the new information.

With his furrowed brows, Nisha could easily guess that something was on his mind.

“This is not how it is supposed to play out, right? Changing methods for the way of training must have needed a certain amount of preparation, the academy didn’t just suddenly decide on this.”

She didn’t need to elaborate on the implications of such an action without prior notice in a time of high tension in the higher circles of society. Apparently the Royal Academy chose to make their own stake in the game.

“It’s not too unusual to make adjustments should the situation require it. However, the academy never made a request for further instructors to the kingdom, otherwise father would have known about it as the marshall. He wouldn’t have failed to mention changes of this grandeur. What I’m really curious about is where the academy got all the additional teachers to offer so many lectures.”

As the son of a duke, the young noble naturally understood the finer details and hidden clues like the back of his hand, he basically absorbed them while growing up. Thankfully, no one expected him to move about without an appropriate entourage since he was only occupied by his step-sister currently, who disliked relying on the servants too much, hence no one recognized them yet and they could move about freely.

Within the courtyard holding the opening ceremony, three groups distinctively formed after a short moment of socializing. Although the dragon had a certain assumption about them, she still asked her companion to make sure she didn’t miscalculate anything.

“Why do these three groups consist of members from different countries? Are they of a similar social rank to band together? I think that should be the reason, only the poorest clothed families are from our Leandar kingdom, gathering towards the side.”

Albeit she had already answered her own inquiry, but Henry still obliged her.

“Naturally, the distinction between nobles and commoners is stronger than the aversion towards powers from other nations. Even more so if you consider that houses often also join in marriages across borders. The first group, in front of the teachers, are all minor nobles with their families. Making connections here through their children would go a long way in the future.

On their side are the scholarship students. Hailing from families fallen from grace, mobilizing old connections to secure their admission or prodigies coming from the common folk with high chances to enter the rank of nobility in the future, they still can only feel inferior at the moment and socialize with each other to exchange opportunities.

And lastly, commoners who sent their next generation here in the hope of a miracle, allowing those that did not make the cut for a recommendation or scholarship to leap into the heavens and change the fate of their family. Mainly rich merchants and important characters in their own circle, it’s best not to underestimate them.

Whether you hail from the Terus empire, the twin kingdoms in the south or even barbarians from the great northern desert, whether you are part of the lower or the upper class is far more important here.”

Not holding anything back, he wasn’t afraid to tell the truth, even if many of the nobles would claim it was not like that. As the son of a high ranking noble, sympathizing with the common folk and lower nobles was something very rare in the capital.

“Let’s go and see the new teachers then. I’ll be in their care for the foreseeable future after all.”

Naturally the elf could understand the unspoken words and she didn’t make the mistake to sort him in the same category as other nobles. The best example was herself after all. Without a powerful background, simply based on the words of his deceased grandfather, Henry treated her like a real blood related sister and has made her feel at home ever since she started staying in the capital. By all rights could he have been angry at the prospect of another member vying for his inheritance or disdain her for the common roots she had in his eyes, but he chose to do nothing out of those.

Similarly, Nisha wouldn’t underestimate even the lowest commoner - one of the biggest enemies that even caused her to slightly fear them was one of the most common creatures in the Wilderness. In regard to her own position, the dragon held a slightly unique position. As an adopted household member of a Duke, she could both qualify for the commoner rank as well as a noble, despite that she enrolled with a letter of recommendation, granting her the title of talented youth as well. Chuckling as she realized she shared a bit of everyone’s level, Nisha pulled Henry along without a care for the social circles.

What astonished her nonetheless were the small cliques starting to form which totally disregarded the presence of the teachers and only chatted among themselves.

“Aren’t they here for the enrollment of their children as well?”

More than one of the teachers had to force a smile when faced with being ignored, especially since most of them had a slightly wild look about them, giving her the feeling they’d rather fit in the Dungeon than a place of learning.

“It’s called networking, don’t pretend you don’t do it as well. Emma, who works in the kitchen, recently started pushing back the requests I give her to tend to your meals first, I was her favourite so far. It’s crazy how you change the people in a short time.”

Waiting for the middle aged woman presenting her lecture with a bored tone of voice to finish, he continued as they walked over to the next teacher.

“Bah, I always hated geology. All the rocks just look the same. Anyway, in a way, they only care about their prestige and a bunch of new teachers naturally don’t have the honor to associate with the higher class. Wait a few turns until the teachers have had a chance to shine or distinguish themselves and the parents will basically beg to allow their children to join their lectures.”

Looking for another free spot to continue their tour, Henry basically stated this matter without batting an eye, an extremely natural course of things to him.

“Why would they care about honor when talking with the lecturers? Shouldn’t they look for the best chance to learn something for their family?”

The dragon was unable to understand the thought process behind such an illogical decision, whether her teachers were disheveled or dressed up, she only cared for the best opportunity to increase her knowledge. Even the crude economics teacher she met after admission, she would listen to his lectures as long as they were beneficial and call him with respect.

“I guess it’s hard to understand if you aren’t used to the concept of honor or grew up with it. Let’s see, I told you previously you can challenge anyone for your personal honor, how did you interpret that?”

Instead of explaining straight away, he passed a question back first. Henry was slightly troubled to put something vital to life as a noble in words and needed to sort out his thoughts while he compared their points of view.

“Simple, really. I can do whatever I want as long as I do it under my name. If I do something outrageous, I shouldn’t implicate the Dharnas name. It would reflect poorly on my conduct as an adopted daughter of the house.”

In fact, Nisha welcomed this stance. Due to her good education so far, the elf knew she had a tendency to deal with problems in a slightly unusual, if not shady, manner. Naturally she would not want to implicate anyone back at home if she got caught. They were important to her.

“While it is close, that’s not what I meant. Take a look at the group over there, near the lecturer in the green robe. I remember the man in the middle of the group, he is a small baron. All of the adults around him should be of a lower rank on the social ladder usually as long as he is the center of attention.

However, the man in question is called Baron Wooddall, his wife is from a side branch of the Whitehall family. Naturally, the honor of a Duke household will elevate his position, even a minor count might be among the listeners instead of being the center himself.”

True to Henry’s commentary, the dragon discerned that the quality of clothes for some of the listeners exceeded that of Baron Wooddall.

“He is associated with a Dukedom, naturally this will increase his prestige. Only those with a similar amount of personal fame or coin will attempt to join his social circle in an attempt to foster a relationship. Which is actually a good comparison, you could think of honor as coinage.

A man of his word, admired and held in regard by the community of those around him will slowly pile up honor in the eyes of others. If this man promises to pay later and takes away the goods first, a shop owner will more likely be inclined to agree.

In turn, if the same man continues to break his word, goes back on agreements and conducts himself in a manner frowned upon, his stock of honor will decrease as if there was a hole in his coin pouch.

This is prestige, or personal honor. As far as my input was concerned, I simply meant you can establish yourself however you like. I’m not worried you will soon amass a true treasure hoard if nothing changes.”

By now, the siblings stopped listening to the teachers as well, staying in a corner between the noble faction and the recommended students.

“Now the interesting part is the prestige or honor shared between individuals. As the man I mentioned is from different places, he will be treated differently. If he is a prince, even if he walks out on a merchant without paying, the merchant can ask the kingdom for reimbursement as it stands behind the prince.

On the other hand, if he’s just a wandering adventurer, the merchant will certainly call the guards if someone tries to run off with his goods.

The prince in this example will not have a lot of renown, but the entity behind him makes up for it. Of course, if it happens frequently, not even the king himself could excuse the prince anymore.

In the end, everyone strives to associate with those of higher prestige, while increasing their own renown among their peers. Doing favors for those below their own standing is a way to increase their honor among them. An organization that enjoys a good public image will naturally have more prestige than those that swindle their customers.

I’m repeating this to point out where we misunderstood each other. You can go as wild as you want, naturally you will still be a Dharnas and we will still move in the same social circles. It doesn’t matter. If anyone belittles you after knowing your name, you can come to me and I will show him why our family enjoys a standing as high as all the other aristocratic families.“

Laughing loudly, he pulled her along to another spot in the crowd, actively looking for other teachers they haven’t listened to yet.

Amused and taken in by his good mood, a smile naturally made its way on Nisha’s face as well.

“I guess since we are just a pair of nameless youngsters, the others aren’t bothering with us, it’s below their standing to notice us.”

During their conversation, Nisha and Henry had listened to most of the new teachers by this point.

“Indeed, unless you show exceptional prowess and achieve cultivation beyond your age, none of these esteemed aristocrats will bother to acknowledge your existence. Quickly prove them wrong, will you?”

“Right, no pressure at all.

Anyway, I think I’ve heard enough to pick my classes now. There’s some interesting choices, however as a first turn student there’s also not that much variety.

Let’s go home, I think the event is coming to an end. Starting from tomorrow, I’ll have to come in early every morning as a student.”

Joking along the way back to their home, Nisha reorganized the different topics she had in mind. While learning in an academy had been partly the dying wish of her grandfather, she had found herself well dispositioned to learn new information as well. Languages, mathematics, even history and accounting, it all came easy to her. Attending the academy from now on, she should take to it like a fish in water and reap huge benefits if she properly selected the right courses.

Naturally, at least one of the lectures had to be on the topic of exploration and dungeoneering. How else was she going to bring little Accalia with her into the school?