Chapter 514

Arianwyn P.O.V.

“So, what did you find out?” Leandra asked as we all gathered together for breakfast.

Unlike the others Leandra’s family didn’t send any retainers that were skilled spies to look out for her, instead trusting in my family as well as Gryndor’s good intentions and the lack of threat Leandra posed to Gryndor to see her through this trip unharmed.

“Besides House Hearthbound, Xavier, Benedict, Harold and Anna there are currently ten young nobles here that would be looking to challenge us. Seven of them are between level seventy five and eighty two and are here for me, Elara and Fealin. The other three were level forty seven to fifty two and will be here to challenge you and Emeris.” I answer. 

“What about from the Empire?” Leandra asks. 

“They have their crown prince’s children coming, but they aren’t at the point to really challenge us unless they are looking for a public loss to give them an excuse to do something else.” I answer. “Besides them they have three nobles around level eighty and one around level fifty. They are all older than us, respectively. We have no need to worry about the Empire, they won’t be attending today.” 

It is understanding, two of those nobles don’t even have access to control their own Mana. While that doesn’t make them weak it does limit the number of Skills they could have focused on so early in life and means it would have taken them longer to level up. 

I hate that even my family’s spies have had problems getting access to information from the Empire. The little we do have on the people heading towards us is outdated information and the only reason we made the connection was because Lexi gave us the names of the people coming. It’s a good thing they have arrived yet and our people will have a chance to look into them as they arrive tomorrow morning.

“My Lord.” The retainer of House Whisperwind interrupts our discussion. 

“Speak freely, what have you found?” He thinks he’s making a good impression by sharing the information with all of us together, the only person that works on it is Emeris. Leandra is too smart to fall for it and both Elara and I know that had he had said ‘Young Master’ it meant the information was best shared in private.

“There is an odd strange phenomenon taking place this morning in the city.” the retainer shares. “All children older than five years old seem to be gathering in odd buildings made of this cement substance. It does seem adequate as a building material though it still falls short compared to the trees we know.” 

“What could they be gathering the children for?” Fealin shows the first hints of fear. It is just like him to go straight to the extremes and fear they are making a move against us and taking the children to safety.

“There’s an easy way to find out.” I quickly take charge before everything falls into chaos. “Aranor, invite our guide in please, we shall ask him.” 

Theron is a large bull beastkin and while not all that powerful he has a lot of potential to grow. Ajax sent the man with us so that we can have a guide and to get the man to take a break from his constant physical training. 

“Good morning, My Lady?” the greeting comes out closer to a question, it is obvious the man isn’t used to addressing nobility. From what I know of him he was a commoner before he joined House Hearthbound years ago and has been training to improve himself ever since. It seems that he hasn’t interacted with other nobles outside of his House and is unsure how to handle it.

“Why are all the children between the ages of six and ten gathering together?” I ask and we all await the answer. 

I can see the relief flood Theron after he hears the question. “They’re going to school.” The man was so happy he knew the answer to the question. Honestly, Silvia might be onto something. When she selected Theron to be our guide even Lexi and Ajax looked unsure but having someone so obviously transparent as a guide might just be the perfect way to show you aren’t hiding anything.

Fealin had tried to get some sensitive information from Theron last night but instead of dancing around to hide the information Theron simply stated that it wasn't information for him to share. Emeris had taken such a direct refusal as the beastkin asking for a bribe, the interaction that followed with Emeris offering higher amounts and Theron refusing over and over still makes me want to laugh.

“What is this school for?” Aranor asks, clearly interested.

“A - Lord Ajax,” Theron stumbles as he has almost called Ajax by his first name, it might be something Ajax doesn’t mind but in this company it would be an insult. “ enjoyed his time at the Academy in Gryndor’s capital. He decided however that it is far too restrictive and decided to attempt a new approach for his duchy.” 

“They are all being taught?” The answer shocked Leandra so much she had almost stood out of her chair. “What are they learning? Is he teaching all of them alchemy? Is that how he wants to spread the use of this cement he has created?” The questions just kept coming .

“They are being taught all sorts of things.” Theron answered. “ Ajax wants to ensure that each of his people has options to choose their calling in life. He is especially ensuring that they all know how to read and write.” 

That sounds too much like a political answer and it doesn’t have the same thought process that I have come to associate with Ajax. Most likely Theron didn’t take the effort to actually learn why Ajax wanted to implement something like this, I’ll have to ask him or Lexi later.

“Why are they all gathering in the new buildings made of cement?” Leandra asked. 

“Those buildings keep in warmth and there is a forge inside.” Theron answers, this time the answer is exactly something that Ajax would do. “A big reason why parents are so willing to send their children there to learn is because they are warm and fed at no expense to them.” 

“Even if nothing else comes of this school idea the productivity of these people will certainly rise.” Leandra points out, but the way she does it makes me think she already suspects some of the motivation behind why Ajax chose to open the schools. 

After finishing breakfast we take a quick exploratory trip through Lessis with Theron acting as our guide. In most respects it looks just like any other human city, the only difference is the cement roads, the new cement houses, the couple of schools and, of course, the arena we will be using later.

We almost lose Leandra as we walk by a construction site and she stops to watch them mix fresh cement before deciding to head back to Ajax’s manor. I feel sorry for Ajax, for the next week or so while we are here he is essentially forced to hold open court at his manor while we and the other nobles that traveled here will be interacting.

“Are you ready?” Elara asks me. 

“I’m actually looking forward to it.” I admit when I think about how I am almost certainly going to end up dueling at least once before we get to even delve the dungeon that’s only a few hours away from here.

It’s been about a year by now since the last time I truly dueled. Since then I delved a lot and trained to master my increased Stats following delving in Deepwood. Thinking back to how exciting my last duel was I can;t help but mirror some of Emeris excitement at being challenged.

“I don’t think I need to mention this but just to be sure.” Aranor gets our attention as we approach House Hearthbound’s manor. “You can use the fact that you are younger to goad someone into a duel but you best make sure you are respectful of our host if you do.” 

Not even Emeris needs any extra explanation on the warning. Ajax is younger than all of us, most likely younger than all the nobles in attendance, being disrespectful to him, or worse his family, after making a point about being younger when challenging someone else to a duel would quickly see you across the arena sands from Gryndor’s newest Duke or humiliated beyond belief.

As Ajax and Lexi prepare to greet us I can’t help but crack a smile as with my increased Perception I barely manage to catch a whisper between them as they wait for us to enter. “Is it bad that I want to get on with this and get to the duels already?” 

Well, then. It would be rude of me to keep my host waiting wouldn’t it? Where is the first challenger looking to take on the elven princess?