Camelia approached Kaname immediately after class, and noted she was alone.
“Hi. Uh... come with me, then.” Camelia said, and led Kaname to one of the quiet cafes near the lecture hall. It was quiet, because it was really expensive, and high nobility like Camelia all had their own rooms.
The waiter seemed fairly surprised to see Kaname, but didn’t say a word. Instead, he just nodded along, as Camelia led Kaname to a private room, aptly named Everfrost Room. A quick glance around revealed there was an Argos Room, a Milfern Room, a Mirrorsong Room, a Storm Room, and a few more.
It was a relatively small private room, all things considered. The room was big enough for eight people, and was very cozy. The room itself is decorated with the private effects of the Everfrost family, paintings of family, paintings of the family home, paintings of the city, a few small statues and a large, silver crest of the Everfrost clan.
Kaname’s eyes were drawn to a painted family portrait that hung on the wall, and she tried her best to remember it. A waiter quickly dropped by and Camelia nodded. “I’d like my usual latte, please, and a small set of cakes and desserts to share. What would you like, Lady Kaga?”
“...Water.”
Camelia nodded. “Water it is.”
They sat around a tea table, with two large antique-looking wing chairs. Kaname sat, and felt a little awkward. She is a ninja, not a noble, so this part of things was... weird. “What do you wish to talk about, Lady Everfrost?”
“It’s about... what we saw the other day. Those things that attacked me. Do you know what they are?”
“Not exactly. They look like rift-monsters.”
Camelia leaned a little closer, and whispered. “They are the creations of the Dark Goddesses.”
Kaname’s face was unchanged, but she briefly wondered whether she should’ve just feigned surprise instead.
“You... don’t look surprised.”
“I...” Kaname internally panicked. “I mean, I don’t exactly know the details. Should I?”
Camelia actually smiled. “Let’s just say... the ancient seal that once held the dark goddesses back is... probably weakening, and their shadows have begun to leak into the world.”
“Oh. That sounds serious. Should the grandmasters know?”
“I suspect they already do, but there’s very little we can do, unless the heroes emerge. The seals were created by the goddesses’ and only those with their power can reseal them.”
“Are you a hero?” Kaname asked.
Camelia laughed like Kaname said a joke. “Please! Me? I’m not even close.”
[Kaname: Master, do they know they are the heroes? Miss Everfrost seems to have no idea that they are the heroes.]
[Ethan: What-? But David Vivan seems to have some inkling that he is the hero. Don’t say anything, maybe it’s not time for them to know. Or their powers are still dormant.]
“I see.” Kaname sipped her glass of water.
“Even with the presence of the seal, a small quantity of their dark powers have begun to leak into our world. Those creatures I defeat, they will only increase in number, even with the presence of the Grandmasters.”
Kaname stared at the lady. “Is that something I should know?”
Camelia smiled sheepishly. “Probably not.” She straightened herself. “I want your help, Lady Kaga. I don’t know who I can ask.”
“For?”
“Until the heroes arrive, it’s everyone for themselves. The dark goddesses’ are already doing something in this world, and... I think it’s clear by now I have very few friends. All I attract seem to be leeches, hoping to latch on to my family’s reputation and resources.”
“Shouldn’t you take it up with the Instructors? They have the power and ability to do so.”
“I will, but... I find it hard to trust these instructors, they... they all have their own agenda, their own history. As strange as it sounds, I think you are the only one that I think I can trust. Kaname Kaga, will you be my friend, and help me? I will offer my assistance in return.”
[Kaname: Master, she wants me to be her friend. Help!]
[Ethan: What in the world are you guys doing? Uh... Say okay!]
[Kaname: I have not received training on how to be a ‘friend’, master! I’m a qualified ninja, not a personal therapist!]
[Ethan: I’ll uh... I’ll cover for you.]
“Uh... okay.” Kaname shrugged. “I will try..”
“Good. That’s all I ask. We can form a team to go for rifts, and we’ll need more strength to face these dark shadows. I’ve been doing Level 1 rifts alone all this while.”
“Uh... I’ve arranged to join another party for a rift tomorrow.”
[Ethan: You can join her for the day after]
“But I will join you the day after.”
“Fantastic!” Camelia smiled. “With you around, we won’t have problems with a level 2 rift!”
***
“You look stressed.” Alia teased the boy. Ethan’s mind has been frustrated with the developments, and he would have to deploy Kaname full time over the next two days. In tasks not entirely his choice.
That wasn’t how he planned things to go, but if Kaname had such a relationship with the two girls, there was really no reason to waste it. It’s just that... “I think I need help on how to handle relationships.”
Ethan turned to face Alia with a look of tremendous worry, and Alia almost turned red.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Alia, how do female friendships work?”
Alia’s eyes almost popped out. “Female friendships?”
“Yes. How do they work?”
“That’s what you’re stressed about?”
“Yes.”
“They’re like normal friendships! Just with girls.” Alia sat. “Why do you want to know?”
“Let’s just say, I actually want to be a writer, and I’m trying to write a female main character having female friends, and, like, how do they work?” Ethan decided to answer, in a way that would be sensible.
“I’ve never quite imagined you to be a writer.” Alia sat next to him. “But I think female friendships are great, if you manage to get a good female friend. But if they are bad, they can also be incredibly toxic. If the friend isn’t genuine, there’s so much trust and dependence and it’s very easy for that to spill into each other’s life.”
Ethan gave Alia a look of worry. “Did you go through something like that? It happened to you?”
Alia’s smile seemed subdued. “Ah, nothing. Old histories. But if you want to know whether an interaction is realistic, let me know! Anyway, let’s hit a rift since we have free time. Is Zaram coming along?”
Zaram shook his head, his summon timer was running short, probably had another two hours left. “I can’t, today.”
“Okay, I guess we’ll just take it easy and challenge some level 1 rifts.”
Ethan nodded. “That sounds like a plan. Those nobles, have they tried to bother you recently?”
“Not yet.” Alia pretended to pray. “I hope they bother someone else.”
Ethan checked on the two nobles, they were preying on two pretty young commoners, who seemed to be entertaining them. For now. “It’s not a good thing that they keep bothering others.”
“I know.” Alia sighed. “But that’s the only way I can get away from them.”
“We should buy your family out if we can.”
“It’ll cost gold.”
“Which we can earn or exchange, with GP. How much would it cost?”
Alia paused, and then nodded “I need to check. No, I’ll check as soon as possible.”
Alia was somber, but Ethan made a note to do so. It probably wasn’t an efficient way of using GP, but he preferred it to letting the nobles have their way with his friend. Even though he was here on a mission, he had grown quite fond of his new friends within these two weeks.
What followed was a streak of level 1 rifts.
Each Level 1 rift took slightly over an hour, mainly the time spent to collect the minerals, and dodging attacks. They wanted to clear the missions without taking hits, and that dragged the fights.
They both managed to clear a max of four rifts that day and earned 20GP each and increased their gold.
“There’s a daily limit of 4 rifts.” The attendant advised, “Do let the others have a shot at the level 1 rifts.”
“Ah man.”
It was nighttime, and then, the law of attraction seemed to apply.
“ALIA! We’ve been looking for you!” It was the two nobles that Alia feared and they looked drunk. “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? WHY ARE YOU WITH THIS TRASH COMMONER?”
Alia immediately backed away.
“STOP RIGHT THERE, OR WE WILL HAVE YOUR PARENTS FIRED!” Rick shouted, and Alia froze. Ethan stepped in.
“What do you want?” Ethan asked, as Ethan stood in front of Alia.
“WE COULD USE SOME COMPANY TONIGHT.” Rick Ennes said as his face was red from alcohol.
“No.” Ethan said.
Alia decided to stand up for herself, “No. I won’t go today.”
“IT’S AN ORDER!”
“No.”
“STUPID COMMONERS! DO YOU THINK YOU CAN REJECT OUR COMMANDS?” Rick’s face turned angry, and he ran ahead. The noble’s core glowed, and Ethan stepped in his path and blocked his punch.
“Sorry, guys. Can’t let you harass her.” He blocked the strike.
“WHO IS THIS PIPSQUEAK? COMMONER TRASH?” He attempted to punch Ethan, but Ethan couldn’t care less and blocked his strike. It hurt, slightly. The noble seemed to have neglected his training as he was still in the 1st realm.
“Alia. Run. You can’t hit them, but I can.”
“Sure?” Alia looked uncertain.
“Run. Wait for me at the medical center.” Alia nodded and ran, and the two nobles attempted to strike with their 1st realm cultivation.
Their punches missed, Ethan dodged their drunken fists. A rare-grade core, poorly used, was still useless. Ethan had no issues dodging them, and dragged the fight as Alia ran until she was a good distance away.
“STOP RUNNING YOU COMMONER TRASH.”
Ethan laughed, amused as if he would listen to their command. “Why would I? I’m good at running and dodging. That’s really my whole style of fighting.”
As they kept punching, the alcohol in their blood circulated even more, and then, Ethan landed a hit on their head, and Rick fell unconscious on the floor. The other boy shouted. “I WILL REPORT YOU TO THE PRINCI-”
Ethan hit the other boy, Aver as well, and in a single hit, he too, lost consciousness, as the cumulative effects of the alcohol and the punch knocked him out.
The Garden, as far as he was aware, didn’t care about fights, as long as there were no permanent injuries. ‘Spars’ were part of the growth.
It was a military school after all. Order is necessary in the situations that require order. Outside of them, the school had the right to take action, but in practice, the rules on bullying were very rarely enforced, and students were thus able to fight, and spar, to the point of very heavy but non-permanent injuries.
It’s only if someone died, or someone suffered serious injuries, that the school would take actual disciplinary action.
All for the sake of growth.
With that done, he dragged the two unconscious boys to the medical center. Alia seemed relieved to see him.
“You didn’t hit them too hard?”
“Nope.” They kinda reminded him of the ogres, again. Big swings, poor accuracy, plenty of weaknesses. “Just a small tap to the head and that’s it.”
“That only works when they are in the first realm.” Alia sighed. “They’ll catch up, with their resources, and with their better cores, we’ll be at a disadvantage.”
“We’ll deal with that later, Alia.” Ethan shrugged off her concerns, now was not the time.
The healers at the medical center sighed. “Another drunken brawl?”
Ethan nodded. “Yup. Tried to attack me so I had to take them out.”
“Got it. They’ll be fine. Nothing a bit of healing ability can’t solve.”
***
“Maybe you’re right. I should save up some GP to buy my parents out.” Alia answered. “I can’t stand them threatening me like this. I’ll send them a letter and confirm how much it costs, but I spoke to some administrative officers while waiting and said contracts of service should cost about... 150GP or so. ”
“Only 150GP?” Ethan was surprised at how cheap that was. “We could do that in what... three days?”
“We’re commoners. Most of us work for noble houses, as regular workers, of course we are cheap. I initially hesitated because 150GP is still a lot of work, but after what they did, I’m sure it’s worth it, since I’ll be free to fight back if those guys harass me again.” Alia answered, her mood improving as she saw the light.
“Yeah. You should. You know what, I’ll chip in and help you out too, and let me get Zaram to help. The faster we can get your parents out of their hands, the earlier I can give them the smacking they so thoroughly deserve.”
“Are you sure? You need a rare core too. And Zaram-”
“Let me handle him, I’m sure he’ll agree. Even if it’s just the two of us, I’ll still do it. I can’t stand them harassing you.”
“Interesting how an opportunity like this Garden can mean so much for us, eh?” Alia smiled.
“Yeah.” Ethan nodded and realised there were huge structural faults in this world’s society. Faults that could easily blow up. “That’s a good point. Imagine how many commoners are oppressed and unable to buy themselves out because they don’t have access to the rifts.”
Ethan mentally calculated. He had 20GP, and Zaram had 35GP left after the Grandmaster’s deduction. He couldn’t touch Kaname’s GP, because Kaname wouldn’t have any reason to help someone like Alia out, and it would only draw the Grandmaster’s scrutiny.
He decided that tomorrow they would clear level 2 rifts, just the three of them. If they could do one level 2 rift a day, that’s 120GP in 2 days, just enough to buy Alia’s family out of their quasi-slavery.
Exchanging GP for gold was easy, the Garden even has the banking facilities to do so, and the necessary legal officers to properly transfer the gold to buy out some commoner’s work-contract. The fact that they could even do so in a few days is a really terrible proof of the huge inequality of incomes and wealth present in this feudal world.
It’s also a terrible reflection on the brazen audacity of the nobility. How they oppressed commoners and claimed the lives of these commoners for what is nothing more than a few day’s wage in their own circles.