When Galan finished introducing the situation to the elf, she had to take a deep breath and consider the implications of this incident.
The five thousand casualties this time were different from a simple loss, even though their sending armies would have no trouble defending the places they came from.
Their leadership, on the other hand, would no doubt be severely short staffed, and many officers’ positions would have to be given to soldiers that did not usually meet the criteria for such promotions.
Furthermore, the resources needed to replace those that had fallen in this show of force would far exceed the financial capacity of the powers behind them, meaning that suitable replacements were not easily fostered either.
Such a blow made it difficult for the different factions to replenish their strength in a short period of time.
“And how many cultivators did we lose in this disaster?”
Despite knowing that the Dharnas house had not been part of the alliances’ planned show of force, Nisha still asked this question.
Galan initially wanted to deny everything, yet he struggled with that conviction and caved in the end.
“You do know that it is sometimes not good to be too smart. It’s true though, we had some spies among the people that made up the five thousand talents. To succeed in infiltrating these noble houses and climb through their ranks, a lot of resources suddenly became ash. Fortunately, only about ten of the deceased officers secretly followed our house, since the difficulty to nurture elites prevents placing too many spies in other houses.”
Hearing his admission, Nisha smiled like a cat that stole a whole pot of sweet milk—her assumption had only been a guess at first. Afterwards, astonishment colored the bulk of the thoughts that went through her head.
Ten soldiers that firmly followed the Dharnas’ lead perishing in this expedition meant that each house had about three of them in their ranks, each independent of the others.
Despite already being of the Duke rank, for a house that has only been established for about a hundred turns, this was an impressive information and infiltration network.
The elf pondered whether Galan also fulfilled the role of a spymaster in addition to his butler job, but she had no evidence to make a final judgement on the vague notion she had.
With the old man’s concession to the prospective heir of their involvement with other factions, the serious talk was coming to a close. Continuing to delve into secrets in the unsecured drawing room—even when it was in the mansion of the Dharnas estate—was an unwise move, as there were surely servants employed by the other Duke houses under their banner as well.
Now, Nisha only wanted to obtain some more information on the [Smiling Devil] before she turned towards another activity to spend the remainder of her day on.
“What do you personally think about the threat that killed the soldiers? Is it a real devil, or a beast that lured the troops into a trap? Or are there other forces from human origins meddling with the affairs in Leandar?”
“It’s a difficult query. Personally, I took it as it is: an irregular danger zone that takes away lives disregarding all security measures and cultivation levels.
“Furthermore, it could be anything from a rare beast that rarely emerges to a disguised division of a powerful organization acting behind the shadows.
“The only thing it cannot be is a real devil. All other options are more desirable.
“For a citizen here in Leandar it’s hard to imagine the terror that a true devil can evoke. Even war has not the same impact on a country like a devil that’s on the loose.
“I personally fought with the Lord your esteemed late grandfather against a minor devil in a special combat space once, with rules in place and no real danger to our physical integrity, which in turn allowed us to fight it with no regard to our safety.
“Still, a newly born devil with hardly half our aura and mana ranks proceeded to tear us limb from limb, using the image from the sin it was born from to suppress us.
“My advice to you would be to run as fast as you can and never look back if you ever run into a real devil; they are a different class from mortal creatures.
“In the future, you might have a chance to witness it for yourself if you continue to temper your fighting prowess, the academy guides some of the more talented individuals towards that special space.”
Galan looked at a place beyond the paneled wooden walls while he was talking and recalled something that the elf could not even imagine.
Nisha respected his experience and took his advice to heart. A creature that had a long track record of appearing and disappearing over the course of history while killing a random number of victims with no restriction to their level of cultivation was a scary thing indeed.
“I will keep your instruction in mind and double my efforts in the academy. What do you suggest regarding the incident this time, though? Should I take action and gather more information to look for retaliation from the other factions in court or foreign forces plotting in the dark? It’s a big ordeal after all: with so many wagons rolling into town even the commoners are going to stir up a giant wildfire of rumors that will spread everywhere in no time.”
The dragon had satisfied the invisible itch inside her mind, the curiosity dying down after catching a glimpse at the true perpetrator behind the episode that shook the capital at the current time. Now, it was time to fish for benefits in troubled waters while everyone else still ran around like headless chickens.
“It is still too early for the younger generation to play a part in episodes on this level, if you do not mind my frank manner of speech, young mistress.
“The marshal and my humble self will be there to hold up the sky when incidents shake the highest level of the capital.
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“Only when the young master or the young mistress inherit the seat belonging to the head of the household will it be time for you to fight it out with the old monsters from the other Duke households.
“If you want to meddle with the younger generation, though, rest assured that none of the seniors will interfere. Whether you use the information at hand to broker it against other intelligence or press them while their weakness is showing from losing a whole lot of talented officers in their forces, it is all fine.
“I do suggest you coordinate your future actions with the young master, though. As long as a report regarding you two does not end up on the desk of the Marshal in his office, I believe you can go as wild as you want to.”
Nisha raised an eyebrow at this rather open and encouraging invitation to cause mischief. Usually, the old butler urged her to act like a lady and focus on furthering her education as a young mistress. Suddenly, everything flipped around and Galan gave them a blank check to commit as much mischievousness as Henry and the elf could think up.
“You know, Galan, this might be a fun event instead of a world-shaking incident. Do you know where Henry is at the moment? When the academy starts again on the Day of Fire, we should be ready, after all. The [Smiling Devil] might not only end up harming the different noble families outside of the capital.”
Right now, she had no concrete idea how the info the old butler gave her could play out into the best scenario to benefit from it, yet there was surely a way for the elf and her step-brother.
“Alas, I have to disappoint the young mistress. Young master Henry followed Lord Luthais to the castle, he should have gotten a task from the master.
“And forgive my intrusion, but less haste makes more speed. Take care of the other tasks you have left for the two free days you have from the academy and then, when everything is taken care of, you can sit together with the young master and make plans for the academy.”
This was the Galan that Nisha remembered. A competent servant that always had a good grasp on all matters that transpired in the Dharnas household.
Thanking the old man for his advice and the detailed report he had given her; the dragon took her contracted beast Accalia out of her room and left for the Dungeon.
During the excursion with the warrior class, there were too many eyes on her to gather monster carcasses into her [Inner World], so the elf and her wolf pet had to make a big excursion during the end of each quarter moon to gather as much meat as they could, or they would starve instead.
A young elf walking through the streets together with a contracted monster did not catch much attention, albeit some of the passersby in the noble district gave the duo pointed glances as if they were dirty. Without much trouble, they soon arrived at the entrance to the Dungeon, where one of the employees checked her member card on the back of her school badge before they were allowed to go in.
Instead of hunting on the periphery of the first and second floor as usual, amassing a large amount of bodies ranging from the early to late first rank, Nisha decided on a whim to descend to the fourth floor right away.
Her cultivation had progressed to the limit of the third rank for both mana and aura, and a single opportunity might allow her to break through the first great divide at any time. As a result, flesh coming from first rank monsters no longer tasted as great as they did before: the thin amount of aura in their bodies hardly satisfied the dragon. Additionally, Accalia gave her a good excuse if anyone questioned her when they saw her on the lower floors of the dungeon.
Hence, an elf and a wolf descended to the fourth floor for the first time after spending a bit of time locating the stairs leading downwards.
Compared to the rooms around the main paths newly mapped out after the Dungeon went through an upheaval, fewer parties and solo adventurers appeared as the duo progressed deeper inside.
This could not be considered unusual though. Only when an adventurer advanced their cultivation did they feel safe enough to challenge opponents of higher ranks. It was very rare for desperate fighters to challenge opponents above their own rank. If it was not a matter of life and death that pressured them outside of the cave system, no one wanted to run to almost certain death with a war cry.
Contrary to that, Nisha almost always fought monsters below her own strength in the Dungeon so far. She only needed enough meat to satisfy her hunger, a struggle where the elf could get hurt at any time if her concentration slipped was not in her interest.
Currently though, the dragon had obtained a new method to fight with the monsters, the [Imperial Swordplay]. Even if she had not practiced it much so far, the styles emphasized more on the concepts rather than rigid stances and strikes. Therefore, more practical fighting experience would still benefit the elf in the end.
On the fourth floor of the Dungeon, monsters ranged from the early to the middle second aura level, with an occasional leader type monster reaching the peak of the second rank.
Compared to that, Nisha was a dragon at the peak of the third aura and mana level, her cultivation ready to break through with the right opportunity any moment now.
Beating a second ranked monster only needed slightly more effort from the dragon than a first ranked one. The elf found that to be quite the shame; with the disparity in species and cultivation, these monsters were hardly her opponents and had minimal effects on her training besides going through the motions.
As Accalia had grown to the second aura level under Nisha’s corrective influence through the contract, however, the water and earth attributed opponents that inhabited these rooms most of the time were great training partners. Especially since the wolf had a dedicated protector standing at the side, taking care of the bulk of the groups until only the right number of monsters faced the contracted beast in combat.
Using this split of labor, the elf and the wolf worked together to face a considerable number of late second rank monsters, enough to feed them for a while and serving as a training session at the same time for the contracted beast.
Due to Nisha’s nourishing energy that filled the contract between them, Accalia matured at an astonishing pace and attained the peak of the second aura rank as well, the experience gained this time putting the finishing touch on the wolf’s cultivation. When she digested all the combat practice, breaking through to the next rank should pose no problem.
Meanwhile, Nisha collected the remains of some [Mud Creepers], which had fallen prey to the duo just now. Looking like shriveled carps with sharks’ teeth, these aggressive monsters preferred to dive into the soft silt and sand that made up the ground in most dungeon chambers and harass all visitors by jumping out from uncomfortable angles and taking the intruders down by wearing them out.
For the dragon with her [Spirit Sight], however, the ambush tactic was fated to be doomed.
Right as she contemplated to finish the excursion and return to the Dharnas estate, the lass noticed a thin chest buried in the far corner of the room. Busy with collecting their spoils, Nisha ordered her wolf to dig it out through a mental command and prepared to return to the surface afterwards.