A Dragon's Curiosity

In her excitement to play with her new companion, Nisha had missed the sound of knocking on the door, leaving Galan no choice but to come in and awaken her with a slight shake.

Sitting up and looking around, the elf wondered what situation could force the otherwise professional butler to seek her immediately instead of reporting to her on the next morning.

“Young mistress, I am terribly sorry to interrupt your rest - an unknown messenger knocked on the gates and delivered a letter to you, which I judged you would want to see it immediately. And on a personal note, the man seems very suspicious to me.”

An uninformed stranger might not notice the hidden severity in this simple statement. Nisha, on the other hand, knew the butler long enough to know how extreme his dislike for the messenger must be if he raised a complaint to her, the young mistress.

“Uncle Galan, it can’t be that bad. I knew I would probably get a letter one of these days, but to say that the bearer is not to be trusted is too harsh, isn’t it?”

After her trip to the [Thieves Guild], the dragon was indeed waiting for a response, most likely the sender must be either Baron Alestar or someone involved with the guild to inform her of their decision.

Drawing back her attention from the [Inner World] and focusing on Galan, Nisha frowned slightly and already expected him to agree. No matter how clumsy a new employee acted or how many dishes he broke, the head butler always decided to give everyone a second chance and instructed them as long as they honestly tried. To judge another household’s servant so severely, it did not sound like the kind old man at all.

“Young mistress, it is not that I can’t oversee this matter, he just appeared as incredibly shady and untrustable in my eyes. Additionally, he was missing an ear, I cannot feel at ease knowing someone like that passed on a message to the miss.”

Even after she spoke out for the bearer, Galan insisted on warning her in a roundabout way and shaking his head in exasperation, a rare sight.

“Was it that bad? And many people have scars from fights with monsters and beasts, missing a limb isn’t that unusual. You should not discriminate against him based only on a disfigurement.”

Nisha failed to recognize the tolerant old butler more and more.

“Young mistress, please be at ease. I would never disregard anyone based on his physical appearance only, the character of a person is much more important than beauty and looks. The reason I spoke out about his ear is really simple. He probably lost it sometime between the point of time where he received the letter and arrived here.

He bled on the letter.”

While being presented with the bloodstained letter in this way, Nisha’s eye twitched from the impact the situation delivered to her. No wonder the butler looked at the messenger as a shady person, he arrived at the mansion late at night, covered in blood and demanding entry. The full report delivery might have gone in an entirely different direction if he stated that first. The elf massaged her temples and accepted the letter, slightly glaring at the old man who played word games with her.

“I see. Please offer some treatment to the bearer of the message then and see to his health. I have received the letter and will retire for the night.”

Ignoring the angry accusation in Nisha’s eyes, Galan bowed and retreated from the room. He wondered who sent the battered and bleeding guy as well, yet he did not overstep the line and questioned her about it. Since he already taught the lesson that he had in mind, Galan excused himself.

“Certainly, the request for a healer has already been sent. Excuse me for the late disturbance, young mistress.”

With that, the butler finally closed the door and went about his way.

Releasing all the tension with a single sigh, the dragon opened the partly scarlet envelope. She had anticipated some sort of response from the [Thieves Guild], now it was time to evaluate the results.

To her surprise, the content went completely against her expectations. Although she had offered plenty of resources and money, Nisha had not anticipated a positive response.

In fact, she had no real experience as a negotiator or dealing with influential personages.

The dragon’s entire strategy based on her experience as the tyrant of the [Dragon’s Den], a top predator ruling over a great expanse of land.

Some beasts accepted other kinds of monsters and beasts living on their territory, and the four dragon siblings fell within this exception. Trading with the nearby [Fairy Forest] and [Harpy Nest], the dragons obviously had to deal with the two rulers of these powers, as well as less savory individuals eyeing either their lands or their lives.

As the leader of her power, Nisha had learned some of the more fundamental laws in regards to negotiation as well as coercion. While they stemmed from the monster and beast society instead of a human source, the baseline more or less stayed the same.

As a matter of fact, the elf was prepared to orchestrate some more meetings with minor leaders from the [Thieves Guild] as well as alter the terms stated in her first offer. Material things did not mean much to her and Nisha did not mind giving some of her possessions away to secure the store for her two sisters and start their business.

Based on the results of the ongoing contact between the guild and herself, Nisha was fairly confident to figure out the most attractive bait to talk someone with real power.

What completely surprised her was the answer to her inquiry resting in her hands, silently dripping some of the fresh blood drenching the paper.

The [Thieves Guild] straightforwardly agreed to a meeting, scheduling it for the following day. Baron Alestar had been assigned as a guide to bring her to the meeting place.

Succeeding on the first try far surpassed her expectations and put the elf in an excellent mood, allowing her to retire to bed and enter her [Inner Space] as a spiritual form, humming a melody.

Sleeping throughout the night while playing with her new companion inside her space, Nisha had not managed to communicate with the elementals yet but increased her familiarity towards them.

Still in a good mood from her unexpected gains made on the previous night, the dragon arrived at the practice area for another day at the academy, neither as early as last time nor too late.

Picking another pole shaped training weapon, she prepared to practice when a group of adults arrived together with Mr. Oak.

“Alright, children, gather around. Let me introduce our guests; they have some important things to say”

As a new teacher, the middle-aged warrior displayed rigorous enthusiasm, eagerly gathering the students around and preparing an opportunity for the guests to fulfill their mission.

“Since we are more or less all here already, let me say a few words first.

All of our esteemed guests hail from schools in the capital, and some even came from far away clans to give you an opportunity. Listen carefully and remember their words as good as you can, maybe you will have a fortuitous encounter because of it in the future.”

During his finishing words, the last remaining students of this course entered the yard, and Lisa, as well as Unico, found Nisha standing in the crowd and joined her, muttering a good morning and yawning deeply.

Glancing at their sleepy faces, the elf returned the greeting, feeling quite happy not to require much sleep and being able to practice in her [Inner Space] while her body slept.

“As your generous teacher already mentioned, my colleagues and I have come to the academy to scout for talent. Personally, I hail from the [Gale Raider Clan], a place dedicated to teachings related to wind and mount rearing. Additionally, we have established a branch school here in the capital and are looking to accept new students. If you feel exceptionally gifted, remember to seek out our school in the common district to test your potential. In case you make the exam, you will have an unlimited future and can even rise through the ranks in our clan.”

The speaker happened to be another middle-aged man, looking quite similar to their teacher. While he spoke, confidence and pride about his origin diffused around his whole body, giving an imposing air and inciting quite a few heated feelings in the hearts of the surrounding students. As they were about to break out in discussion and bombard the man with questions, another guest took a step forward and spoke after coughing two times.

“I won’t bother to try and entice you with minor rewards like that. I will just say a single line.

If you have the talent and a sword related skill, join our [Divine Blade Clan]. You won’t need any fortuitous encounters to reach the peak.”

Compared to the previous speaker, the white-haired old man resembled a sharp sword, ready to strike at any moment. He did not waste any words and returned to the other guests right away, not even bothering to glance at the first speaker.

By now some of the smarter students already realised that between the visitors, some were stronger than others and had the right to look down on others while mocking them. The middle aged man even smiled at the old man and avoided speaking any words of respite.

Seeing such a visible sign of submission, Nisha wondered what status the old man had.

Next was a rather young and lovely woman, who declared herself as a teacher of the [Rose Knight Order] and invited all students to join them. The only requirement she stated was that the order only accepted female disciples.

Shaking her head at the various personages who introduced their origins and made numerous promises for anyone who would join them, she turned to Unico and Lisa.

“What’s so amazing about clans and schools? Aren’t we in the royal academy already? Why does our teacher let them try to steal students?”

Since almost all of the guests had similar offers, Nisha was not too interested in listening to them any longer.

“Haven’t you heard of a clan? They’re pretty well known.”

Lisa appeared fairly bewildered, the suggestion that someone did not know about clans and schools completely foreign to her.

“It's not that unusual to not know about them in the countryside, so Nisha is not knowing is normal.”

Taking a look at his left, the elf with her scarf covering half of her face, and to his right, the blond girl struggling to handle a weapon properly, Unico smiled as he explained.

“A clan and a school have a connection most of the time, and they are both unrelated to academies. Think about it this way: a youth can either attend an academy, take up a trade or become an adventurer before they have the chance to join a school or a clan. This arrangement is also the reason why the academy does not worry about them stealing students.”

Pointing at the current speaker, the young man used him as an example.

“Most clans do not stay in towns, cities or kingdoms. They are a huge organization made up by many strong warriors, magicians and artisans. After claiming a free piece of land for their clan, they usually construct their living areas, crafting stations and so on from scratch, almost like a small town. Over time, they continue to grow and keep recruiting new disciples for themselves to expand.

And when they become big enough, an influential clan can establish a school under their name in the nearby cities and countries.”

Unico’s reasoning did not have a single shred of doubt, based on his expression and confidence he completely believed everything he said.

“Of course sometimes an exceptionally powerful expert starts a school first and passes on his teachings. With a legacy of supreme quality, a school can likewise expand until they reach the status of a clan and pick out a spot to establish themselves afterwards.

Most cultivators want to join a group after they graduate from either an academy or have taken up a trade. While each organization has an area they excel in, they also need artisans, caretakers, gardeners, builders and so on to expand their clan. This demand gives the more average people also an incentive to join, if they can’t stand at the peak of a clan, they can still get excellent opportunities nonetheless.

And the [Royal Academy] actively encourages graduates to join clans as well.”

Seeing the question on the girl’s faces, the young man smirked and explained the reason as well.

“No matter where they end up, a graduate will still hold some sentiments for the academy after joining another power. If the [Royal Academy] has any requests or a crisis befalls them in the future, a graduate can extend a helping hand to resolve issues like that. And it’s not only the geniuses that can end up being useful, but a bad student at the academy may also as well become a major alchemist in a clan in the future.”

Pondering for a moment, Nisha understood the line of reasoning. Instead of focusing on a small part of all students, the academy rather supported all of them with a less intense dedication to individuals to not miss out on any future benefits.

She still had one question though.

“Why aren’t there any clans in a city though?”

Catching that detail surprised Unico. He had not explicitly spoken about it, yet the elf still noticed the issue.

“Would a country or a major noble in a city allow any other influences take root in their domain if they cannot control it?

A town might still be manageable for a clan, and their impact can make it rise to a city, but if they tried to take over an existing power hub, the army would drive them out rather fast.

It’s not worth it to clash with a behemoth like a country if an unclaimed domain can offer natural resources instead.”