A Dragon's Curiosity

Finally reassured that the order they talked about was indeed counted in gold and not in silver, Galan and Luthais accepted that the disturbance this time exceeded their expected scope by a great amount.

Originally, they only had some concern for the young lady of their house, wondering whether she unknowingly fell into bad company.

But a vast amount of grain purchased through a secret channel pointed to another matter entirely.

The kingdom strictly monitored the sale of grain when it eclipsed the amount generally traded in single deals.

For an uprising by an aspiring group of traitors, the three fundamental resources needed to stage an uprising were troops, money and food.

Mercenaries and funds might be disguised as inconspicuous adventurers, guards and their payments, but tracking food sales left a rather noticeable trail to follow.

If the party behind the [Red Night Palace] intermediary had bad intentions, it was their duty as nobles of the kingdom to investigate and report the threat to the officials.

“Nisha, this is important. Please recount everything in detail and leave nothing out.

There is a latent danger that your contact is involved in treasonous dealings, you have to remember everything.”

Even Galan put away his distrustful attitude towards the elf and produced a paper and quill to write the details down.

Nisha had not thought that far and blinked rapidly.

She had known that the [Thieves Guild] operated outside of the kingdom’s law quite often, but the charge of treason was another thing entirely.

Fortunately, not a single part of their cooperation infringed upon a law, nor was there a reason to conceal anything from Luthais.

Starting with her intention to support the merchant house that she planned to set up together with Annabelle and Lydia, then to her visit to the [Red Night Palace] and subsequent agreement to provide grain at cost price.

Luthais kept quiet after the girl finished her recount and ruminated the possible implications of the story.

Galan frowned instead and went through his notes. Neither of the men found a clue to indicate that a group planned a coup or military action, nor the smallest criminal charge anywhere.

It bothered them to no end, and their minds ran in circles trying to figure it out.

“Nisha, do you perhaps know the reason why there is such a demand for grains?

Five thousand gold is no small sum, and there is generally no need to order it all at once either, there is a steady stream of goods coming to the capital every day.

The unusual hints at a greater purpose, which makes the crown uneasy if there is great movement from the shadier establishments in the city.

It would help us very much if you can clear up the confusion.”

Perhaps he had no great hope to obtain an answer, yet Luthais still asked for help from the young girl in front of him.

“Oh, I know of course. It’s because the [Thieves Guild] thinks that there will be a rather large and unfavorable incident, according to them the [Blackroot Plague] might break out.”

In her opinion, an illness was not a disaster that threatened their lives.

Personally, the dragon rarely if ever got sick, her experience related to illnesses came from her late grandfather and Lydia and Annabelle, who did not have access to a priest while the group lived in the Royal Huntinggrounds.

Cooking warm soup and looking over them solved that easily, hence she never understood why the [Thieves Guild] panicked so much.

Contrary to her relaxed answer, Luthais and Galan had a giant change of their expressions when they heard her.

“Are you sure? This is even worse than treason! Are you completely sure about which disease it is?”

The half elf became stern, the threat from a disease affecting the capital fell under his responsibility, and a plague breaking out boded ill for the citizens of Thurgau.

On the other hand, the old servant blanched, his whole face turning white.

He had experienced the last outbreak personally in his youth, and it left a deep mark on his psyche.

Corpses littered the street, the harvest rotted in the fields and the nearby countries had not fared any better, making it difficult to determine where the disease broke out first.

After a great toll, the disease finally subsided under the joint cooperation of several secluded experts and the [Seven Star Church].

Nevertheless, the plague counted among the greatest disasters of the past centuries.

“Galan, head over to the temple right away and employ at least three senior priests for a minimum duration of at least half a turn, preferably one turn.

I will send a missive to court to warn them of the potential threat.

When you come back, we will start preparing the compound to bring the families of the servants and construct temporary dwellings.

Before you go, send someone to act as a messenger.”

Luthais grabbed an empty piece of parchment and drafted an alert notice right away.

Galan, contrary to that, bowed and withdrew a pouch of golden coins from the armored chest at the side.

In the blink of an eye, only Nisha was left alone in the middle of the room.

No one paid attention to the little dragon anymore, she shrugged and left the room as well.

Well, I agree that the sailor infected by the [Blackroot Plague] looked scary with the black vines growing from under his skin, but isn’t this response a tad too exaggerated? I should visit the temple tomorrow and ask Miss Thana about it.

Nisha ascended the stairs and headed for her room. It was an eventful night and there was another day full of lessons at the academy ahead.

The estate fell into silence as several messengers left the grounds, carrying urgent notices drafted by the Duke himself.

One of them passed one of the biggest mansions in the noble district on the way to the palace.

Unbeknownst to everyone, a similar scene happened in the office of the mansion’s owner.

Another Duke worked late in the night, he had three desks spread around him.

The first table contained reports from outside the capital, the second held those from inside Thurgau, and the third collected secret reports from sources that could not be mentioned working for House Silverwood.

Coincidentally, there were also cabinets and reinforced crates filled with valuables and records scattered around next to the walls.

Picking a parchment from the desk with the secret reports, Duke Silverwood studied its content for several breaths of time.

When he was done with it, the man tossed it into the fire.

“Do you have any matter that requires my attention, Lambert?”

Arthur Silverwood was one of the genuine powerhouses that backed their House.

Having lived for several centuries, he was a true veteran, both on the court and on the battlefield.

The Duke did not need to turn around to notice that the latest servant assigned to him entered the study.

Instead of a head butler and rigid structure based on seniority, their rank was decided every moon according to their performance.

It created a competitive environment for the butlers and servants, which helped in some aspects and added some inconveniences where corruption and so on.

Nevertheless, Lambert managed to become one of the youngest servants that got assigned to Duke Arthur Silverwood, which spoke of his talents.

“Ser Duke, there has been another reminder from the Ravenstone house in regards to the request raised by your great-granddaughter Grace.

Kian Ravenstone is closely related to milord as well, his mother married into the Ravenstone house from one of the branch families.

Grace’s mother is livid over the treatment of her daughter and wishes for a solution, and threatened to go to the academy herself with the family guards if there is no timely solution.”

Lambert deposited another parchment on the desk for reports and tasks inside the royal capital and moved back behind the giant chair in a bowing stature.

Arthur Silverwood disdained looking at the paper and pondered for a while.

“Sum up the incident for me, I did not judge it as pressing and important.”

With a flood of tasks and emergencies cropping up each and every day, the Duke did not personally deal with everything or grasp all information in their entirety.

“Of course, milord. Grace Silverwood joined the special class at the Royal Academy, together with her cousin Kian Ravenstone, under the lead of a member from the [Silver Shroud] group.

Another two children got selected, during the second gathering of the aforementioned class, Grace attempted to uphold justice for Kian, who challenged a commoner for leadership.

Unfortunately, that tricky commoner resorted to tricks and beat up the two of them by taking advantage of the rules, the [Eternal Warrior] only stood by and let it happen.

Grace’s mother is not satisfied with that, and mentioned that her daughter cried from the frustration and injustice.

She hopes that the family can support their objective to get a satisfactory response from the academy and get even with that hateful commoner girl.”

Lambert condensed the entire story in a few words, and while the majority did indeed happen, the representation was heavily biased towards their own family instead.

After he finished, the Duke indeed wrinkled his brow and tapped his fingers on the desk while contemplating the matter.

“Lambert, do you know why the Silverwood House is the strongest of the three traditional inheritances?”

Instead of giving a command of how to settle the affair, Arthur Silverwood countered with a question instead.

The kingdom only had three Duke Houses when it was established, Blackburn, Whitehall and Silverwood.

Over the turns, the three families each had periods of time where they got stronger than their competitors, the Sheridan and Dharnas Dukedoms only appeared later in history and did not really have the capital to catch up to their level.

“That girl Grace is not resolved to be born later in her generation and attended the Academy to build her reputation.

Of course, the education there is comparable to the private teachers employed by us, at most a little worse.

Her plans are admirable, no doubt that an elder in her family branch is giving her advice.

But is the Silverwood name so weak that the adults have to come out every time a member of the younger generation is beaten by someone else?”

The duke chuckled at the thought, and Lambert raised his head in wonderment behind him.

He had thought the man would order a small punishment for the commoner at least.

“Being weaker than someone is not a shameful matter. Our House is the same, we’re not stronger than the other two because our core members have higher cultivation than them.

If Grace needs more resources or a private tutor to catch up with a commoner, we have the resources.

Skills, equipment, methods, the best environment for cultivation is provided for free.

Kian Ravenstone is also allowed to partake in them, we don’t lack that little bit of wealth.

When they get stronger than their enemy, these children can avenge themselves, that’s more meaningful than oppressing others with their family name.

Only that way can their character and state of mind grow, and the Silverwood House will stand strong in the next generation as well.”

Arthur Silverwood clapped his hands and tossed the reminder brought by his servant into the burning fireplace.

“I understand, Ser Duke. I will pass down your instructions to Grace and her mother.”

“Ah, before I forget. After you are done with your task, report to the punishment room and ask for a light punishment.”

Before he could leave, Lambert was stunned on the spot. He barely managed to ascend to his position serving under the Duke.

Why was he suddenly punished?

“To solve your doubts, there was no doubt someone who brought the matter of Grace up to you.

Subsequently, you brought it up to me.

Getting influenced by others for their own gain is not a problem, falling for their influence on the other hand is a problem.

You can return to your normal schedule and report back to me after you complete your punishment.”

Arthur Silverwood dismissed the stunned butler, but Lambert understood the problem in a blink.

“I understand, milord. Thank you for the lesson, it will not happen again in the future.

I will take my leave.”