A Dragon's Curiosity

“How do you assess the potential damage to the city and our guild?”

Carmen had no pity for the foreign sailor. He and his kind had brought this plague to their home, whether they knew it or not.

Eventually, they would pay the price, the same as them.

“It’s hard to say. Priests can cast [Purification], a rather advanced third rank spell to get rid of the contamination in the incubation period.

It’s rather draining, though, and only fourth rank priests and higher have enough mana reserves to repeat the cast.

For the general populace, the spoiled food is the main problem. As long as any infected person is involved with handling the goods, the [Blackroot Plague] can return at any time.

In the worst case, any place with infected patients has to burn all produce and rely on imports.

Even if there is some distant place that’s not harmed by the illness, the long transportation and dire need will drive up the prices immensely.

Think of it like a natural disaster, only on a wider scale. I cannot put a number on the damage yet.”

As one of the oldest Seats, the Alchemist rarely spoke in meetings or kept to short answers when asked about most topics.

Only when his research or interests, any topic related to alchemy, comes into play will his sentences get increasingly longer.

“I understand. The guild will take appropriate measures and seek to limit the loss as much as possible.”

Carmen turned on her iconic high heels and left the secret underground laboratory. She had seen the face of the Alchemist under the hood by accident before, and the old man creeped her out.

He was useful and a powerful asset to the guild as a whole, yet she somewhat feared him anyway.

Staying any longer than necessary drove a cold shiver down her back.

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Back on the ground floor of the [Red Night Palace], Velvet led the elf to a corner of the room and entered an empty cubicle.

Through the half transparent curtains on both sides, privacy was guaranteed for the occupants, while also giving them a broad view on the entire bar and tables in the middle of the room.

“You can order anything on the menu, the kitchen should have already prepared everything, but you might have to wait for a while if you want a roasted meal.”

The elegant hostess passed Nisha a sheet of paper, which had the different options the bar had to offer on it.

Furthermore, a wide array of beverages the dragon had never heard of before waited for her selection.

Nisha came over after having dinner at the Dharnas estate, which would have meant a dampened appetite for most guests.

Thankfully, the dragon planned on snacking on the stack of monster corpses stored away inside her [Inner World] later on anyway.

She carefully read through the menu and soon found several saliva inducing dishes and some questions for her host.

“I’ll take you up on the offer and order something light.

There are some unclear points before I can decide, though.

What exactly is this ‘Triple Delight’ among the dishes?”

A delicate palate and a big belly marked the qualities of a connoisseur of fine dining, and the elf certainly had both to spare.

Seeing a dish named so exaggeratedly, she certainly had to taste it.

Nodding at her question, one often heard from first timers, Velvet quickly explained with her soft voice.

“The ‘Triple Delight’ is a comprehensive meal set, it starts with a shot of citrus liquor, a rare good imported from desert traders, followed by a bowl of creamy beef stew, cooked by a masterful chef and finally, the server or the hostess would be more than happy to deliver the final delight by mouth or hand, depending on the preferences of the customer.”

Only after the hostess finished the standard explanation did she wonder whether or not it was appropriate, when the recipient was a young elven girl.

And as expected, an issue occured right then and there.

“A delight delivered by hand or mouth? That does not sound like a food or drink. Can you explain in more detail?”

Nisha wondered what the final item was exactly, the [Red Night Palace] appeared like one big wonderland to her innocent mind.

Lavish decorations, fine company and tasty treats sounded like a description to paradise.

And from her casual observation of the first floor, the men laughed loudly while the women around them accompanied them in merriment, with no signs of discord anywhere.

It attracted her attention and the elf decided on the spot to visit more in the future and unearth more of the hidden gems in the red light district.

Faced with the bright, yet innocent eyes, Velvet realized that she had misspoken.

As a hostess, introducing the menu items and unofficial offers not written down was part of her job, hence the words slipped out without further consideration of her audience.

Chuckling awkwardly, the elegant woman lost some of her poise.

“Well, it’s less of a dish and more of a service.

You know, men enjoy it usually more and order it more often, since, you know …”

Having no idea how to broach the topic without coming across as rude and spoiling the atmosphere, Velvet did not explicitly go into details and forcefully changed the topic.

By now, most of her fantasies about a young noble elf that had fallen into ruin along her family, who now was going to work at the [Red Night Palace] had gone up in smoke.

At least, those who visited this place had some general knowledge about the decadent acts that happened behind its doors, unlike Nisha.

She still looked as pure as she had right from their meeting and as a guest of the boss, the hostess would rather err on the side of caution.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of transaction are you going to discuss with my boss later?

The regulars that come here are generally not as young as you, so I have a bit of trouble to imagine where your interests intersect with those of Sera Carmen.

Unless you cannot talk about it, then forget I asked.”

Gesturing outside of their secluded corner, the first customers already populated the bars and open table groupings outside.

Middle aged men and a few young workers made up the bulk, with one or two heads of grey hair in between.

As the door guard and a worker, Velvet knew that the early crowd was comprised of workers, shopkeepers and the like from the city.

With a days pay burning in their pockets, they reserved the early evening for their enjoyment in the redlight district.

The true rich merchants still had dinners and socializing taking up their time and groups of adventurers were on the way back from deeper layers of the Dungeon, the big spenders generally appeared as the night progressed.

Of course, this only showed the general trend. Esteemed guests of honor who had the prestige and wealth to enjoy the finest luxuries on the third floor generally had little regard for social customs and might appear at any time.

Nisha always kept an eye on her surroundings, especially with [Spirit Sight], but in her point of view the merriment and genial atmosphere had little connection with the services rendered for money.

All she perceived at the moment was the difference in age, as well as a tendency for more men as customers.

“It’s nothing secret, I guess. There’s a need to procure some goods that I happen to have an interest in, alongside a project I want to put together with a few friends.

To be exact, I made an inquiry towards the Guild and the enterprise, a new Trade House, happened to match the acquisition needs that some of the people in charge have.

I guess now it’s time to work out the details, hence Carmen asked me to come over.”

Nisha revealed quite a few secrets at once, yet her conversation partner was someone who had free access to the office of the Golden Heel, a seat from the Thieves Guild.

Someone who knew where the good drinks were stashed away, too.

As long as it’s nothing too sensitive, revealing a bit of information is fine. Perhaps Velvet knows something about it too, I can learn about the topic of the meeting in advance if my luck is good.

Some of the etiquette lessons and general education for nobles stuck with the dragon, and she finally found an appropriate venue to display her agility on a social stage.

“Wow, a Merchant House. That’s a big ambition, although I guess you came to the right place.

The [Red Night Palace] only sells genuine goods, many imported from far away places.

Just recently, a big caravan came in and we had to renovate the third floor a bit, all of the pools now have authentic white golden sand from the northern deserts, you can’t compare that to our local shores.

I secretly sneaked in during the day, you have no idea how soft the new sand is, it’s incredible!”

Shocked at first, Velvet masked her true thoughts with noncommittal conversation to gather her thoughts.

A deal at the level of the Guild, directly under her boss on top of that, certainly exceeded her own standing.

The daily procurement and logistics did not even make it on the desk of the Golden Heel, Velvet was quite sure that Sera Carmen did not know about the changes to the pools she mentioned in the first place.

When it came to the collective interest of the Thieves Guild, there certainly had to be more than meets the eye.

And it also explained why Nisha, who was clueless about the most obvious euphemisms regarding the redlight district, dined and looked like she watched a good show without a care in the world.

“That sounds incredible, sand from the deepest parts of the desert in the north!

Although, I have only ever played in the river, I’ve only recently moved to the capital, so I haven't been to the beach yet.

As for the Merchant House, it’s the dream of two sisters - my friends - and I’m only helping to establish it.

There’s still a lot to do, the building is not even ready yet and a lot of preparations are still necessary.”

To the wealthy elf, it really was not an extraordinary achievement. The mysterious appearance of goods inside her bedroom followed her from her cave in the [Dragon’s Den] to the Dharnas estate, often creating a small pile of gold, weaponry or exotic goods like spider silk or scented wood.

Establishing a company to earn money was rather slow in comparison.

Wary of accidentally trespassing into a topic that might turn her into a problem in the eyes of her boss, Velvet steered clear of the sensitive secrets regarding the guild and the cooperation between the young girl in front of her.

The good mood inside the [Red Night Palace] continued to grow more cheery and the never ending flow of alcohol at the bar and the tables contributed to no small amount.

Nisha spotted one of the hostesses in a similar secluded alcove at the side taking off her top and laughing cheekily whenever one of the two male customers next to her touched her.

Secretly, she wondered whether the rule that humans always had to wear clothes in public was not as ironclad as she was made to believe in her education, but since the majority of customers kept their clothing on, the dragon did not envy her too much.

She got used to wearing clothes a long time ago, the lively Nisha reassured herself.