A Dragon's Curiosity

As soon as the class ended, Weston stormed out of the room followed by his underlings. Most of them had a miserable expression as well; they originally attached themselves to a noble in the hope of obtaining a better social standing as well as better cultivation resources. However, the current events afflicted them as well. Most of the other students openly laughed at the beaten dogs running away.

Nisha, on the other hand, waited until most of the other youths left before approaching Miss Anet and thanking her again. Of course, the quiet teacher denied being partial towards her and added another one thousand five hundred merit points to her student card - five hundred of them subtracted as a fee.

Having conveyed her meaning and being experienced with politics a little the dragon did not insist on explaining further and graciously accepted her card back.

Checking the total, the elf was rather perplexed and pondered whether or not she should feel rich or not while walking back home. With two bets she now had two thousand and six hundred points total - by including the initial one hundred points each student got.

For a second or third turn student, this amount might not mean much or buy a lot of things, but the newly enrolled first turn generation could sustain close to half a turn worth of blacksmithing lessons without working once as a gopher. The dragon already had a vague sense of value, which now got further thrown off balance.

In the end, Nisha chose to spend the merit points as she wanted, apparently earning them was incredibly easy.

In a good mood from taking down an unsuspecting prey and extracting as much as she could from it, Nisha helped in the kitchen making lunch - to the delight of the servants and the Dharnas family, who all praised her dishes highly - before playing in the garden with Lia. The wolf grew at a rapid speed, maybe thanks due to the contract with the dragon, and had reached half of Nisha’s height already. If it were not for her superhuman strength, she would have had trouble to persist in their play fighting all the way to the end.

When Henry came back from his lessons, he joined the two and brought out his [Guardian Griffon] from the stable. Brushing the proud grey creature, the two step siblings shared stories about their respective days. The elf only included light details concerning her opponent in the magic lessons, but Henry still got a good laugh out of it. Knowing the girl good enough to trust her to handle social issues on her own, he gave her some well-meant advice without going into the depths and congratulated her on the merit point gain. They each took care of their respective companions and practised some music until the sun started to set.

Glancing at the horizon, Nisha put away the harp she had taken a liking to recently and stretched once before calling over the sanden wolf.

“I made an appointment with a prospective business partner regarding a store for Annabelle and Lydia, so I have to go now. I’ll bring Accalia inside and go, tell uncle Galan and Luthais they don’t need to wait for me with dinner.”

Mentioning the meeting with the [Thieves Guild] in an off-hand manner the elf did not intend to divulge the full details to the whole House. It never even crossed her mind to throw in the full weight of her adopted family in the negotiations. To wrest a place for herself and the maid sisters, only her force would suffice; otherwise, the place might be taken away from them in the same manner.

“Oh, you’re going out at this late hour? Make sure you dress warmly then, the days are getting colder recently.”

Likewise, Henry did not worry about her appointment either, well, much at least. As an elf coming from the Wilderness and having lived in the hunting grounds for a long time, he estimated her to be fully capable of defending herself. Coupled with her recent progress in the academy - at least he attributed her soaring strength towards that place - the young man was sure Nisha had the ability to handle everything perfectly.

“I’ll do that then. It shouldn’t take too long but no need to wait for me, I will just ask Gustaf to let me back inside if the gate is already closed.”

Even the unfamiliar name did not throw Henry off, as long as his step sister claimed that was the name of the gate guard, he had one hundred percent certainty it was the truth. Her ability to network and gain the good graces of the guards, servants and even strangers made her the perfect noble in his eyes. More than once he had been tempted to ask their father Luthais to introduce her to an official government position as an apprentice and let her talent fully flourish.

“I’ll tell the others then. Take care.”

As Nisha donned a simple grey cloak and headed off, Henry still played with his [Guardian Griffon]. Since the elf said not to worry, he simply did not.

Nisha greeted the guards as she walked through several gates, first the one closing off the Dharnas compound and then the noble district one. Dusk set each day sooner as winter approached and to see the radiant smile of the beautiful elf brightened their guard duty; therefore most of the guard crews often stopped and made small talk with her despite being forbidden to do so by the rules.

Looking for her appointment, the dragon swept over the plaza before the [Seven Stars Temple]. At first, she had been quite surprised when the message she obtained stated the square as the meeting place. Soon she realised how original the location was. No one associated a location of prayer and sanctity with the [Thieves Guild]. Thanks to her bestial nature, Nisha had no trouble seeing in the dark and soon spotted her contact.

Walking up to the stand and purchasing a skewer with meat, the young woman greeted her acquaintance.

“Good evening, Alestar. How are you doing?”

Nearly dropping his skewer, the old crook jerked to the side.

“Don’t do that! It’s bad for my heart. Well, I knew you were coming, but you still managed to sneak up on me. Are you sure you don’t want to pursue a profession at the guild?”

Grasping his chest to calm down his rapidly beating heart, he offered her a seat beside him.

“You can sit down, for now, there is still time until the meeting. I did not think you would manage to get an invitation though. Not even I have met the big wigs before.”

Nisha’s ears perked up at the mention of the ruling members governing the [Thieves Guild]. Truth to be told, the dragon also did not expect to get a positive response so soon. It also made her a little angry.

All the follow-up offers, incentives and plans to raise trouble for the guild. All wasted now. I need to get something out of them to compensate for that.

“Does the guild not have a leader?”

“It used to, at least in the stories I know. As all things do, there is constant change alongside progress. There used to be a single man leading the whole guild. However, it is told he betrayed the [Thieves Guild] at a critical point and almost wiped out all of the upper leaders. After struggling for several decades, the remaining rogues managed to reclaim some of the previous establishments with one important alteration.

To not have all power and decision-making capability lay with a single individual, the council formed. Each branch has a distinct business; there’s protection money, smuggling, the red lights, and so on. Each head of a department holds the seat of the branch. Hence they are also called Seats often when members of the guild talk with each other. Not many know the real appearance or even the names of the various Seats. They are the actual powers in the guild.”

The old man’s honest explanation quite surprised the elf. Especially before a big negotiation, Alestar voluntarily gave up information instead of throwing her into the cold water and letting her adapt on the spot. Now that she knew what to expect, Nisha certainly had a better chance at succeeding.

“I don’t think that’s a smart thing to do. Why split the power? If you argue and vote on everything, it’s hard to get things done. Even if they don’t know about each other, secrets will not stay hidden if more than one person knows it.”

As the dragon cleaned out the skewer, she tried to imagine a governing system like that for the [Dragon’s Den]. In the truest sense of the word, Nisha had always been a tyrant. Despite having three siblings who coordinated with her plans, the other three never expressed the wish to have an influence on any decisions being made. Besides not oppressing them or taking advantage of the three dragon siblings, Nisha listened to them and openly conversed about future undertakings; yet the final decision always laid with her. As long as she gave the word, no one in the whole sphere of influence dared to express dissent.

Perhaps this truth only accounted for beasts and monsters in the Wilderness. Maybe humans had the ability to work together in unconditional trust and discuss issues without succumbing to uselessness.

Nisha doubted it.

“All sound arguments, however, the arrangement has worked until now. I reckon it will continue to do so in the future. Most likely they have their ways to deal with disagreements; I wouldn’t know. It’s a first for me to appear before them. Guess I should thank you for the opportunity.”

Cleaning off the last meat on his skewer, Alestar rose from his seat and jerked his head towards the open passage serving as the entrance to the kitchen. Flashing a badge for a moment to the owner of the stall the old crook lead the way without being stopped. Nisha quickly followed, intrigued to see what laid beyond the rag acting as a door.

Sweeping once through the kitchen, the dragon acknowledged that calling the building a stall might be a wrong choice of words. Scampering between pots and open fires, two cooks did their best to keep up with the demand for meat and beverages in the front room, barely registering the two intruders as long as their paths did not cross. Alestar likewise paid them no attention and moved towards another suspicious door; this time a dark wooden monstrosity bolted with heavy metal inlays. Rather than poor food stall at the side of the square, the gate appeared as if it would fit a fortress more.

Not bothering to unlock it or acknowledge the workers, Alestar walked through this door as well and headed down the stairs behind it. Descending below the surface level, the passage soon gave Nisha a hint, where exactly they headed. Smelling the waste and feeling the moisture in the air, the stall hid an entrance to the sewer system!

“Careful here, don’t stumble over this step or you will end up in the water.”

Giving the elf trailing behind him a warning, Alestar turned right and walked next to the liquid sewage on a small path.

Ignoring the smell and keeping her questions to herself, for now, Nisha made sure to keep track of his shadowy figure in the lightless tunnels.

After the two had switched paths several times and let another group heading somewhere else pass them twice, they arrived at another heavily reinforced door; which required a set pattern of knocks this time.

The old crook presented the badge when a thin set of eyes observed them from the cracked open gap.

“Open up already. I’m bringing a guest, and we don’t want to be late.”

Apparently, the insignia represented a lot of authority, as the man behind the iron and wood scrambled to let them in while bowing frantically at the same time, which made his task quite difficult.

Not bothering with the guy in the same manner as he ignored the previous groups, Alestar returned from a hurried stride to a graceful sauntering. Turning around to make sure Nisha had entered as well, he beckoned her to his side as the previous narrow path opened into a somewhat gracious hall made entirely out of stone.

“I didn’t scare that guy for no reason. Your appointment is soon. As the council invited you, your proposal for the slums must have either enraged them enough to summon you personally, or they appreciate it. Either way, when we enter the main hall, you will meet them in person and have a chance to discuss the arrangement in person with the guys who hold the final decision. Ignore their appearance and try not to anger anyone for no reason and we should both still be alive in the morning. Any questions?”

To his surprise, the elf quietly nodded. In his experience, she should have at least made a biting remark or complained about the silent treatment so far. Nisha followed his recommendation and closed her eyes to collect her thoughts for a while. Sensing the solemn and severe air radiating from her petite body, the old crook acquiesced her intention and waited for her to adjust her mood.

“Are there many groups like this in the sewers?”

With her attention returning to the present, the dragon asked just one question before indicating the luxurious gate before them.

“Just one. Sometimes the sewers are also called the [Thieves’ Road], only the guild allows their members to use them. Besides from the city guards and the temple entering from time to time from maintenance, of course.”

Providing a swift answer, Alestar opened the last barrier.

The audience had begun.