A Dragon’s Curiosity

“What a vicious finishing move!

Despite already having the upper hand, our newcomer the Hunter proved their brutal ways with a heavy hand.

Let us mourn for the fallen warrior Owen, who had to bear the brunt of their mercilessness.”

Under the bustling discussions among the ranks of the audience, the announcer poured some more dirty water on the Hunter.

It was hard to decide if the contestant had really been vicious like the man said, or offered the prisoner a quick way out by knocking him out cold in one swift move, it was up to debate.

But once someone established an image, it was hard to change, especially for negative traits like vicious or brutal, which could scare potential matches away.

Nisha had already been on her way out of the pit when she was disturbed by the remark, though not for the same reasons as the astute observers among the crowd who started to guess why the announcer held a grudge against a new fighter.

The elf had no idea about the complex social structures between workers and fighters and the benefits of working together or scheming against others to snatch their spoils.

She simply disdained his snarky words and the critical words picking her actions apart.

He did not stand in the field and fight personally, so what right did he have to judge her?

Nisha turned in the direction of the announcer’s booth and wound her arm with the damaged club behind her head, getting ready for a throw.

Since the action was mostly over at this point, not many of the spectators noticed her actions, not to mention the announcer who disdained spending more time on a green whelp like the Hunter.

Once they suffered under the influence of employees like him, they would naturally approach them and give the staff some gifts to mend their relationship and give them face.

It was only when the hooded fighter threw their weapon and it sailed in a great arc towards the upper part of the arena that some guests noticed the unusual happening and gasped in shock.

No one thought a newcomer was audacious enough to attack the stands or the guests.

The weapon was halfway through the arc when it burst into flames, the overbearing load of fire mana erupting suddenly once the elf no longer held the club in her hands and controlled the circulation of energy.

It was hard to say whether the projectile would have ended up hitting the spectator area around the announcer or would have fallen short in the end, but the Hunter’s message was delivered anyway.

No one was allowed to verbally accost her, even if it was an employee from the Arena itself.

Nisha would personally extract the price otherwise.

It was an unusual scene, seeing a winner off with complete silence as the rest of the audience was unsure how to react and the announcer was speechless with rage.

Some of the crew members cleaning up the arena pit, putting aside the leftover weapons, looked like they wanted to say something to the Hunter, but it was not their job to care about anything but the condition of the pit.

Nisha did not care about applause or the feelings of the workers either and returned through the raised gate.

The swift finale and small interlude caught the audience by surprise and no one waited for her yet when the elf returned to the dressing room, where she had already removed the cowl on her head and carried it along.

Because the remaining warriors and magicians inside the preparation room did not spectate the ongoing match and prepared for their own contests instead, no one paid much attention to the girl, who quickly returned her borrowed gear to the place where she borrowed it from, then changed from her leather armor into a more comfortable green dress.

In combination with her blue scarf and petite frame, no one would associate the petite elf with a vicious fellow like the Hunter, which had unexpected benefits once the dragon moved to leave the place.

Unlike the time when she arrived, plenty of people crowded around the desk in front of the preparation room, either outright examining each person who left the preparation area or secretly glancing in the same direction out of the corner of their eyes.

The big difference in popularity made the elf take a second look, then she decided that it did not really matter to her why there was a sudden overflow of people in the area.

Her mood recovered to the peak after the elf managed to shut up the annoying announcer, hence she walked with a skip in her step and the barest hint of a smile.

Just when she was about to leave the area, one of the suspiciously acting humans around approached her and asked her something in a low voice.

“Have you seen a fighter named the Hunter inside?”

Nisha stopped in her tracks and wondered if the man talking to her was asking about her identity in a roundabout way, yet she dropped the notion when she heard his following words.

“Black hood, silent type, he probably has a scary air around him. Have you seen him inside?”

While the question did not sound particularly urgent, his eyes never left the door to the changing rooms, even while he talked.

If the stranger really knew that she was the Hunter, he would not have talked about a ‘him’ or played dumb at a time like this, and as such the elf decided that this sounded like too much trouble.

“Sorry, there’s a lot of people inside, I did not see anyone like you described.”

Technically, the girl was not lying either, she could not see herself without a mirror after all.

He only had himself to blame for asking the wrong questions.

Seeing that he would not get what he wanted, the stranger did not insist further and walked away, back to his spot where he could keep an eye on the people coming and going through the door.

Nisha wondered what this was about exactly, and if all the people around that swarmed here suddenly were looking for the Hunter.

Turning around and asking questions suddenly was the same as admitting that she knew something, though, which was counterproductive to the dragon’s goal of avoiding trouble.

By tossing the matter to the back of her mind, Nisha forcefully cut off a sprouting curiosity and left the Arena for good this time.

The proceeds from the bets and her win in the competition would get added to her account anyway, whether the elf claimed them right now or not, and there was nothing left for her to settle, so the girl planned to return to the Dharnas estate for now.

She did not forget about the attendant, who wanted to become her direct contact, the elf merely wanted to ask her family elders for advice first before deciding and she did not have to give an answer right away either.

That wrapped up all the affairs in the Arena building, which allowed the elf to blend into the crowd and disappear from view like any other visitor on her way out.

Those who still waited around the preparation area and wanted to introduce themselves to the new fourth-ranked fighter, they were bound to return without results.

The journey back to the Dharnas estate was largely uneventful, the guards between the commoner district and the noble district knew the elf by face and waved her through the gate without any hesitation.

Contrary to the lax security outside, the sentries at her family estate ensured that the young mistress followed the rules and waited until one of the priests made a trip over and cast [Purify] and gave their okay until she was allowed inside.

Normally, the elf would not care too much about the difference in treatment or think that there was a problem with the friendly guards who saved her some time earlier, but the stark difference made the dragon think about it more deeply.

Perhaps, she should mention the propensity of the soldiers at the gate to skip the formalities for familiar faces to the Grand Marshal.

There was a reason for the formalities after all.

Nisha waited until the priest finished his spell and a thin veil of comfortable mana settled around her and cleansed possible afflictions, she was allowed to enter the compound.

“Thanks for the hard work.”

Giving the priest and the guards a slight bow for their effort, the girl passed the gate and entered the Dharnas family estate proper.

Halfway to the entrance of the main building, Nisha encountered Henry, who was currently training his two new familiars.

Riding on the [Guardian Griffin], the young man tossed a disk made from sturdy wood into the air, giving it great spin and distance.

Once the disk sailed through the air, the [Cerulean Sky Owl] swooped down and snatched the object out of the air, before it returned to its master and caught up with the running beast.

Settling down on Henry’s shoulder, the owl returned the disk to the youth and took to the air anew, ready to continue the game.

It cooed with displeasure when the youth slowed down and stopped near the figure that suddenly appeared on the lawn.

“Hi, Henry.”

The young miss gave a simple greeting and waved her hand at the approaching trio.

“And a good day to you as well, Nisha.”

As usual, the blonde-haired young man sported an easy smile and lazy confidence, despite currently undergoing a high-intensity activity together with his familiars.

He used the back of his hand to wipe the sweat off his temples and subsequently dismounted his griffin so that he did not have to look down on his family all the time while talking.

Nisha raised her brow while she scanned the youth, thanks to her [Spirit Sight] she was able to tell that Henry’s cultivation advanced another step, currently putting him at the mid-fourth rank as a warrior, with his mana not lagging much behind.

By the time the young man turned around, the elf brought her expression under control and returned a soft smile together with a slight nod towards Henry’s goodwill.

It was rather surprising to see how fast his cultivation rose, considering that he was still beneath the fourth rank not too long ago and how difficult it was to cross the first great divide.

Perhaps the situation would make more sense if the young man was elevated through the contract with his familiars, but the two beasts only recently arrived at the early fourth rank as well, a small level below their master.

“What have you been up to? Anything fun happening recently?”

Henry was in a very good mood recently.

His worries had decreased and he had a new direction when it came to cultivating his mana, which resulted in great results over a short period of time.

The young man did not want to brag about his achievements though, Henry did not think that it was worth bragging about taking the step into knight territory with the resources he enjoyed.

Additionally, a breakthrough of this magnitude would not stay hidden for long either, there was a chance that his father already knew about it.

Instead of being pretentious about it and boasting to everyone who would listen, he might as well put more effort into cultivating and training himself.

“Yeah, I just went out to play, it was pretty fun. Next time, you can come along if you want, they’re all pretty nice over there.”

Nisha was still in a good mood from the previous fight and wanted to share the joy with the blonde warrior.

He would definitely appreciate a good brawl too, maybe they could team up in the arena!

While Henry was not quite sure what the elf was talking about, it was nice to see that she was enjoying herself, not to mention that she invited him to come along as well.

The young man always wanted to get closer to the new addition to the family, there was a degree of separation between Nisha and the rest of the household.

She did not really call them dad or brother and always used a minimum of etiquette when interacting with the employees around the house.

“What about you, Henry? What are you up to?”

Nisha of course saw him doing exercises with his two familiars, but she was not quite sure what exactly they were doing in detail.

“Oh, the stirrups and saddle I ordered arrived earlier, so I wanted to get used to them.

I’m aiming to enter an order of knights as soon as I graduate from the Academy.”

Speaking of his plans, a look of yearning entered Henry’s eyes.

He had long decided on his ideal career path.