A Dragon’s Curiosity

 

When Nisha had knocked on the door, none of the men inside the villa wanted to open the door.

They were either accompanied by girls they had invited over from taverns outside the district or they helped themselves to the beer from the storage room.

As followers of Alestar, the company of men with questionable origin and a connection to the Thieves Guild followed him to this place after the old man got a noble title and this place, basking in his success as well.

Nary a day passed without the crew not drinking late into the night or spending gold on buying women, making this the most glorious period of time they ever had.

Begrudgingly, one of the goons near the door pushed aside the scarcely dressed girl leaning on him and opened the door.

At first, he did not see anyone in front of him, it took him a moment to realise and look down.

Rubbing his uneven beard, he was surprised to see how young the visitor was and first assumed that the elf came here by mistake.

Holding up the corner of his opened pants, the follower was unsure how to proceed.

Nisha, on the other hand, had seen a similar scene once before when she came to visit Alestar, encountering it again did not give her a shock.

“May I know if Ser Alestar is at home?”

Because the unkempt man failed to follow proper etiquette, the dragon had to speak first and state her purpose.

Normally, a servant in a noble’s mansion would never dare to burden a guest with troublesome matters and do their best to read their thoughts as much as possible to make their stay more pleasant.

The bad smell combined with the lacking manners made Nisha wonder whether she should ask the Dharnas family to introduce some capable butler candidates to the old crook, it did not matter much when she came to visit as she was a business partner, yet other people might take offence with the lack of welcoming and refuse to work with the baron, who did not have much clout as he only obtained his title recently.

Nevertheless, this was not her objective in coming this time and Alestar was the one who had to worry about his choice of servants, so she should not meddle too much.

 

The goon was stunned when he heard that it was not a coincidence that this young thing came to their door and seriously looked at the elf through the haze in his eyes from drinking too much alcohol.

Everyone in the mansion had had some cooperation with Alestar before he got a chance to work on a big project and obtained a noble title.

Very few members in the Thieves Guild ever had the chance to appear in the open like the old man, given the nature of their jobs.

Before bumping into Nisha, Alestar mostly had a hand in the local economy, taking money to solve trouble for other people.

A popular tavern once had looked for him when a new business stole their customers and caused them significant losses.

Within a quarter of a moon, the guards had to come out and seal up the new place as one of the clients found rat meat in his meal and called for an investigation.

Not only had the kitchen had several problems that the guards swiftly exposed such as unappetizing ingredients sourced from shady places, they also found out that the alcohol was severely watered down to save on costs.

The owner of the newly opened place had been swiftly captured and taken to the guard station for intense questioning.

Strangely enough, he had been able to call in several witnesses among his staff to prove he never gave orders to use rat meat or water down his products and provide purchase records for quality ingredients.

Alas, although he had been released in the end without a charge, the reputation of his store plummeted like a meteor and no one dared to eat or drink there anymore.

The old crook had earned a handsome sum from the old tavern owner, who was very satisfied with the arrangements.

Naturally, it was impossible for an old man like Alestar to act on his own and accomplish so many tasks in a short period of time.

As long as anyone needed contact with the Thieves Guild, the old crook was more than happy to act as the liaison and earn a pretty copper for connecting people with those suitable for the job.

Now that his status soared, those that previously worked for him scrambled to secure a place among Alestar’s followers and have a share when he rose even higher.

Of course, the old crook himself knew that there was a mix of good and bad among them and mostly left them to act on their own so he had a chance to observe them and choose who should stay behind in the future.

Due to his nature as a member of the Thieves Guild, it was not suitable to hire servants from a local agency, even if there were capable assistants available.

If any of them reported some of his activities to the guard, it would not take long before he went from sleeping in a noble district mansion to life behind bars, below the guard station.

While his current followers were less than satisfying for a mansion next to the highest social circles in the capital, time was needed to turn them into proper attendants and create a cover that held up to an investigation.

 

Unfortunately, the unkempt man at the door had missed the last visit of the young mistress from the Dharnas estate and his eyes gained a suspicious glint as he looked her up and down.

Because they had a place in the noble district, most of the girls they found in taverns and in familiar alleys were more than happy to come back with them for a few coins and have a party, but the brief life in comfort also made the followers develop some unhealthy ideas.

Seeing that the visitor politely called the old man with Ser and wanted a meeting, the ruffian immediately determined that the elf was no one of exceptional status.

Furthermore, it was no secret that the houses in the area either belonged to families with difficulties or individuals of dubious renown that wanted to connect with the social elites living close by.

By appearing early into the night and looking for a renowned broker from the Thieves Guild, the individual in question most likely was not a clean resident either.

Behind his back, the girl he brought back was already done with her drinks and called out for him to come back and bring some more alcohol with him so they could continue exploring each other’s clothes, yet her looks were way below the little delicate girly in front of him - although she looked a bit too young.

Nevertheless, he already had his imagination run wild and decided to make an attempt; it was hard to estimate the true age of elves anyway due to their difference in growth.

While the grunt thought about a suitable invitation to make her enter the house and test for a possibility to make his move, Nisha similarly studied the man in front of her.

Together with her bad impression from his bad manners, the unkempt appearance and shifty eyes, it was undeniable that he did not fit the surrounding area.

Nevertheless, he also had his qualities to make it as a follower living in the mansion.

Apart from his resourcefulness and quick thinking when it came to carrying out Alestar’s plans and directions, his personal cultivation also stood out.

Due to her [Spirit Sight], Nisha estimated that he had to be around the early third stage when it came to aura, making him a rather powerful warrior among normal people.

Most adults only made it to the second rank without dedicated training and resources to supplement their body.

Furthermore, it became difficult to have any improvements once the vitality of the body passed the peak and started to decline, which was why elderly humans rarely managed to break through anymore.

 

Nisha had a recent breakthrough and had no chance yet to compare her own strength with similarly ranked warriors and magicians.

Even when she had been at the peak of the third rank, it was far greater than that of her peers, so much that it would not have been impossible for the dragon to compete with early fourth ranks.

Every advancement made a greater difference than the previous one, it was not unheard of for the first three levels to have individuals that managed to fight above their ranks.

Once it came to the first and second great divide at the third and sixth rank, the former were not even fit to be mentioned once they were compared to fourth and seventh rank cultivators.

Now seeing a third rank warrior, the elf suddenly realised how fragile humans really were, as long as she stretched out her hand and squeezed lightly, it would be very easy to twist the ruffian’s neck.

The quality of her aura had a change in nature after passing the first great divide, same for her mana.

It was unknown where the girl’s limits were if she exerted herself with full effort and if she could still surpass a rank in a fight.

Towards those beneath her level, however, Nisha was fairly certain that she could finish off as many of them as there were willing to go against her in a fight.

It was not going to be a struggle either, her physique exceeded the limit that those at the third rank and below could endure, making them as powerful as a thin layer of paper in front of her sword.

Perhaps it was time for the dragon to delve deeper into the dungeon and find a suitable opportunity to gain control over her own strength, or there might be an accident when she failed to control her own body and hurt someone by mistake.

 

Although the goon had crooked thoughts and improper ideas, the fundamental instincts of a human were still somewhat strengthened at the third aura rank.

Chilly currents ran down his back and caused his skin to crawl, as if a vicious monster eyed him suddenly and extinguished his train of thought.

In fact, nearly every young boy and girl had dreamed of becoming a hero once they heard the stories passed down by their elders.

Picking up a sword or wielding a staff, forming a party and defeating the evil monster king before returning in glory had been classic themes a long time ago.

Yet most of them were sooner or later confronted with the harsh reality that they were not cut out  to take up the mantle of a hero.

The underling and some of his friends had grouped up to make a living as adventurers and set out for the Wilderness armed with beginner gear and a fool’s conviction.

Before they had even properly fought a monster of their own rank, they encountered a vicious monster far above them, an outlier that appeared in a rather low level area.

If it had not been for the timely rescue from a high ranked party that took up a mission to eradicate the monster sighted in the vicinity, he would not stand in the capital alive currently.

Nevertheless, a souvenir from that meeting accompanied him all the time until now, the  instinctive fear of a human that is about to die.

Due to living in the comfort of cities and civilization for a long time, humans had a hard time accessing their natural instincts, yet sometimes that faint instinct raised its head in a moment of crisis.

Taking a step back, whether it was out of instinct or self preservation, he gave up on his crooked thoughts and treated the visitor with caution.

 

“Boss isn’t here right now! He went out earlier.”

Right now, the henchman only wanted to send the guest away and retreat into the safety of the mansion.

Whether it was the young girl, an unknown threat or a protector in the dark, as long as he sent the threat away, they would no longer pose a danger.

“How unfortunate. Do you perhaps know when he will return? I have business with Ser Alestar.”

Along with a polite smile, Nisha declared her willingness to stay as a guest until the head of the household returned.

Since she came without an appointment, it was the only choice to arrange a meeting between two members of society.

Of course, the elf could also order the old crook to pay a visit himself since her own rank of nobility as the potential heir of a duke put her far above that of a common baron, it would seem rather rude to order a business partner around.

Unknowingly, her aura surged and mana roiled while she imagined taking down the unkempt man in a single move, leaking tiny amounts of fourth rank energy in the surroundings.

The elf needed to work more on the control of her own power, a common problem that followed cultivators when they just broke through to a new rank and had yet to consolidate their power.

Nisha exuded two conflicting personality traits - on one side, she was domineering and handled matters according to her experience as the leader of the [Dragon’s Den] where her position was the highest among everyone; on the other side, she was still young and inexperienced when it came to interpersonal exchanges.

The underling already showed signs of wanting to drive her away, yet she still pressed ahead and offered to enter the building.

Pressured by the conflicting impressions, the unkempt man did not hesitate to give away his boss in exchange for his personal safety.

He directly sold Alestar out.

“The boss said he had to pay for something and later on he would attend a meeting.

You can probably find him in the downtown area, look for the biggest restaurant.“

Acting like he was chased by a malicious ghost, the underling slammed the door shut and hurried back to his spot, directly draining the entire bottle.

The others in the room looked at him weirdly, but ultimately did not care too much and continued to flirt with the gals they brought back.

It was a long time after Nisha helplessly left the closed door that the man‘s instinct stopped screaming in danger and his heart settled down.