Character Information - Who is who?
Because I have created quite a variety of characters, I will now create little cheat sheets before a chapter for the characters who will appear in the chapter, but not for those who haven't. Please open the spoiler if you need some reminders. (Be careful, it can be a spoiler for the chapter!)
Narsiz K. Leonandra (wolf-kin)
* The second child of the current Leonandra household.
* Specialized in administration, economy, etc. (bureaucracy)
* Brother of the MC.
* Golden eyes.
* Golden-blonde fur and hair color.
Alexander K. Leonandra (wolf-kin)
* Transmigrated from the earth and the MC
* The fourth child of the current Leonandra household
* Golden eyes
* Snow-white fur and hair color
Sarah M. Leonandra (wolf-kin)
* The third child of the current Leonandra household
* Sister of the MC
* Green eyes
* Pastel-greenish fur and hair color
Lorient M. Leonandra (Wolf-kin)
* The first child of the current Leonandra household
* A user of the wild-demon energy
* Sister of the MC
* Golden eyes
* Red fur and hair color
Marisia S. Leonandra (Wolf-kin)
* Lady of the Leonandra household
* A user of the wild-demon energy
* Mother of the MC
* Golden eyes
* Crimson red fur and hair color
...
The oldest son of the Leonandra family, Narsiz, walked in long strides through the estate toward Sarah's bedroom. His mood could have been better, as it was directly after the chaotic breakfast.
He tried his best to imagine what he could say to calm his sister down. A sigh escaped him, 'She is so hot-headed.'
Narsiz thought about her personality, and she fits perfectly into the family as all were weirdos. He was one, too, but he decided to ignore that.
Their family liked to marry a lot outside of their noble circle and primarily out of love. It became the norm after his mother took power with his father, who was an outsider and commoner.
He remembered that there were some in his family of older generations who tried to pursue a balance between strict adherence to noble conduct and the current mindset.
Even this was seen as degenerate by other nobles. They couldn't believe that they would not sell off their children for a little political power. This disgusted him deeply.
He was in line with their current mindset of merit-based conduct. Someone with special skills or abilities should be invited to the family and receive their name.
The children, who were real nobles, not only members of a noble household, would be different as they would automatically get the first name from their parents, as the second name, as proof of at least second-generation nobility.
Children of the household members wouldn't receive a second first name as they were not noble by blood. But what to do with the newcomer's families? Most of them were not nobles and, as such, had no education or noticeable skills. So most of the time, they would receive unimportant jobs with decent pay.
Should they show noticeable skills, the Leonandras were ready to help them in that sense through their connections. This was another reason why everyone from the aristocratic circles called them weirdos, from accepting commoners from simple backgrounds to helping their close family.
For nobles, such actions were a waste of time, but for Narsiz's family, it was an easy way to make talents loyal to their household. It cost barely anything and provided an incredible return.
Accepting others into the household was customary, but not to such an extent as they did. Thus, they had to deal with many commoners who were usually uneducated and tried to show their respect in relatively simple ways.
In Narsiz's mind, it was the thought and intent that counted. He couldn't expect simple-minded commoners to follow the rather complex structure of noble-kind.
But the behavior Sarah showed, or other unmannered talents, became even more apparent in their military. The Leonandra's had, in that sense, a rather individualistic atmosphere.
Everyone was so different in this world, caused by the system and differences in the beast-kin race. So, instead of forcing them into some kind of standard, like some other militaries, it was easier to accept most quirks, work with them where they were, and try to implement discipline and loyalty into them.
It was even more so the case of the ones at the apex. The more talented someone was, the more freedom they received since they had incredible worth.
The result was that Narsiz's family, which upheld such ideals, never really disciplined their children to the same degree as other households.
The outcome was Sarah, an incredibly talented little wolf-kin girl but also hot-headed. In his mind, it was sad that she didn't really care about etiquette and could be mistaken for her behavior for a commoner sometimes.
But not her combat abilities, as even her walk and posture significantly differed from a fit commoner. This ended after she opened her mouth, though.
Lorient, his older sister, was the one that came next in his mind on how someone would benefit from a little bit more discipline, and he remembered an event around three years ago.
It was a ball for the children of nobles, which Narsiz and Lorient attended. Even the thought of what happened made him frown. The event was held for the noble youth to build connections, but others had to make fun of her. The next thought made the young wolf-kin boy giggle as he remembered how she became so enraged that she beat a guard of some other child unconscious.
Narsiz also became extremely angry and wanted nothing more than to slit their throats, but he wasn't even close to the strength of Lorient at that point. To prove the point, she almost killed the guard as she bashed him repeatedly with his shield at his head. Luckily, Narsiz became aware rather fast and dragged her out before something worse could happen, 'Fun memories, hehe.'
He was brought out of his memories as he stood before the door to Sarah's room. Narsiz prepared himself mentally and adjusted his attire out of habit, 'I need to change Sarah to be calmer. We already have a berserker in our row, and one is more than enough work for me.'
He knocked and sounded sincere as possible, "Sarah, may I come in?"
She sounded like a harpy with her wings pulled out, "NO, GO AWAY!"
Narsiz frowned and pinched between his eyebrows. It was already getting annoying, and he would instantly use his skills if she was not his sister.
He tried again with a more passive approach, trying to sound more worried, which he was, "Sarah, I'm just here to listen to you."
"I don't wanna talk!" Which also didn't work.
He furrowed his brows and waggled his tail in annoyance. In his mind, he needed to calm down, 'Try and emphasize with her... you can do it, and don't be an asshole.'
While he thought about how his sister felt, he heard a ring, 'Huh?'
He opened his system window and saw a new skill: [Empathy], 'Why though?'
The preferably pen and paper-wielding wolf-kin teen read about this skill in a book once. It helps to feel what the other person feels. The higher the level, the better the understanding of the underlying circumstances of the emotions. Many healers and nurses had this kind of skill.
Narsiz wanted to use it but held back, 'Using skills on my own blood is disgusting.'
He knocked again, and a sharp sound invaded his ears as he reared them back, "WHAT?!"
'It seems like the harpy also has no legs anymore.'
A sigh escaped him. Sarah's circumstances were not the best, so he understood, but he hoped she would lose her hotheadedness in the future and didn't stay like that, "If you give me five minutes, I will leave you alone afterward."
After a short moment, he heard a sad voice, "Come in…."
He entered the wonderfully furnished bedroom with a giant princess bed and a door leading to a walk-in wardrobe. It was blemished by chaos and dust.
Their parents wanted the servants to only sometimes clean their rooms so they could level up some skills which could come in handy later on, so sometimes, the servants just stopped cleaning for a week or more.
For other nobles, having such a skill would disgrace their honor, so they were pretty unique in this sense, too.
As he was inside and closed the door behind him, the first thing he saw was how Sarah sat on the bed, held her plushy, and sobbed. Narsiz's heart broke. He clenched his hands into fists, 'This will be a hard chat.'
He knew exactly how she felt, as he was precisely in the same situation once before, "I have seen father only three times in my whole life."
What he meant was that their father was at home only three times for a longer period of time, so technically, he met him much more often than three times, but she didn't need to know this.
Sarah looked at him with teary eyes, obviously confused. Narsiz looked back at her sadly and continued, "Whatever I say right now, you need to know that Father loves us more than anything else in the world."
He took a handkerchief out of his breast pocket while speaking softly, "What he is doing is exactly what a Tier 3 combatant and lord in our empire need to do."
He came closer to Sarah, kneeled on one knee, and softly wiped her tears away with the handkerchief, "He protects all the people who can't protect themselves nor run away from monsters. Elders too old to move efficiently, children younger than you, or pregnant women."
He gently opened her hand and laid the handkerchief into her hand, "If he stops, the whole east part of Moorgrel will fall into chaos, and in the end, it would harm not only our kin or the distant family but also us."
Sarah looked at the handkerchief and back at her older brother with her big green eyes and quietly said, "Why? I just want to meet him…."
Narsiz shook his head and asked her, obviously knowing the bleak answer, "What would happen when Father stops his campaigns against the monsters, or rather where would the monsters go, and what would they do if he is not there to fight against them?"
Sarah looked down and started to think about the repercussions her brother had pointed out. Being already saddened as she was, her voice almost cracked, "I…."
Narsiz looked deep into her eyes and answered cold-heartedly, "Yes, the monsters will come from the West and the demons from the East."
She stuttered slightly and tried to find someone to blame, "Bu…but what about the count?"
He didn't hold back in his following words, as hate could be heard in every syllable, "In the last 15 years, the dwarves started attacking us repeatedly, kidnapping our people, treating them like pets and slaves…and before asking …."
He clenched his teeth and showed his fangs as unimaginable hate overcame him, "The majesty and count are at war with multiple human and dwarven kingdoms, and while we hold out just fine, that is only due to Father's effort and other's sacrifices of other nobles in their respectable fief to hold up the peace and stability."
Sarah looked at her feet and clenched her hands, clearly visibly angered. He gently raised her chin, "Rather than being angry with Father, hate the monsters who look like humans and dwarves, who started this..." The sudden noise from the system interrupted him for a moment, "Hate the demons from the east, monsters from the west, and make them pay for what they did later on."
Narsiz looked into her eyes and could see that little glint that she understood who their real enemy was. He stood up and softly caressed her head, "Don't forget who did this to us, stole Father away, and most importantly, who put him in danger."
As he turned around and was about to leave, she spoke up hastily, "Narsi, wait! Your handkerchief!"
Looking back, he smiled at her innocence, "It's yours now. It was a present from Father the last time I saw him."
He closed the door and briefly adjusted his collar and blazer as this habit relaxed him a little, 'This was exhausting.'
Narsiz started to walk towards his room but suddenly slapped his forehead so hard the sound reverberated all around the hall, 'Totally forgot… I need to find a servant to clean the mess up in the dining room…damn.'
...
Sometime later
A little beast-kin puppy gradually opened his eyes and started to waggle his tail slowly. He tried to grab to the right or left, wanting to know what time it was, 'Oh right, there was something.'
Alexander woke up for the umpteenth time in this new world, and every time he needed to reorient himself, 'Well, a coffee wouldn't be bad, though.'
This was one of the strangest things for him, as he slept for around sixteen hours daily, but even after waking up, the tiredness just didn't go away entirely. He constantly felt sleepy, which made him wish for a solid coffee, 'I bet the coffee at that cheap café behind my university would actually make my heart explode, hehe.'
The problem didn't end there. Every time Alexander woke up, he had nothing to do, 'I always thought that doing nothing is great, but it is actually pure hell.'
Every time he woke up, he did his eating and cleaning routine, where his mother fed him and the servants cleaned him. Not like he could make himself some sandwiches and take a shower.
He would afterward start his only saving grace against boredom which was leveling up his skills, which also made him tired after every level up. A hellish cycle of the continuity of repetition made him slowly crazy, 'Was this what Chaplin tried to show in his movie? Never mind, it's only temporary.'
This time though, the metaphorical wrench stuck inside the gear. Alexander somehow hit a bottleneck with [Mathematics] at level 25. He even tried to solve quadratic equations in his head, but it would not level up, 'Well, I am stuck.'
A couple of thoughts ran through his mind as it could be that it was the limit of leveling up in an imaginary way or if it had something to do that he was so young, 'Not like there are many infants with the understanding of analysis II and linear algebra around.'
For some reason, this made Alexander's inner gamer itch. He was gaining levels without any pause, which made him, in some way, addicted to the system's constant knowledge increase and solidification.
Every level was a little high which he overlooked since it was the only way to occupy his time, ignoring the servants and family, who played with him, 'Why aren't you increasing?! Damn, it! I need to quickly learn to talk!'
Everything he tried didn't further his cause but made him increasingly tired. It felt similar to a big mistake he made in his youth as he borrowed a game and console from a friend to play at home one week before some important tests just so he could relax. The result was that he almost flunked them as he played more than just a little.
Alexander wanted nothing more than to crack the stupid system and increase his skill, 'I…am…so tired…working on multiple things at once is incredibly mentally taxing, but….'
He dozed away as he was about to try and do an integral of the window frame he saw from his crib.
...
A loud bell woke him up, "Woah!"
He was stunned, 'No fucking way….'
Alexander looked around hastily and saw what could be called a modern class, or at least it looked like the ones in US Highschools, from '90s movies. It was colorful and childish, like an elementary school classroom, 'Did I die and was reborn again?!'
More chaotic thoughts invaded his mind as he couldn't believe what was happening. Soon though, he saw his classmates, or rather what he assumed were representatives of students because of how they looked.
They looked like toys. Some were mannequins, some enormous plush toys, some action figures, 'This is a nightmare.'
He started to observe himself and noticed that it was not his previous self. The hands were the ones of a ten-year-old, the ones of his new identity of Alexander.
How did he know this? The tail and ears were pretty good indicators, 'Ok, this is either this world trying to fuck me over, or this is just a bizarre dream.'
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
More questions arose as he examined himself more and identified that he wore his old school uniform, and it even felt the same. He moved around uncomfortably on his seat, trying to adjust himself, 'Fuck, couldn't this be a dream where I am in underwear? I rather prefer that to this guillotine pants.'
After trying to ignore the uniform that was obviously made by a sadist, he recognized a problem, 'I never had something akin to lucid dreams, and this here is too damn realistic.'
Alexander tried to imagine other things since he once read that lucid dreams were something one could do anything in them, but nothing happened. A giant hip-hop clothes-wearing crocodile didn't burst inside the classroom.
Panic slowly crept up, 'Did I go insane because of the mental exhaustion?!'
His mind went full-blank for a minute before he could pull himself together and start looking around again. This time trying to find a clue where he was or what this was.
The room was decorated with learning material, to put it nicely. The PSE was structured in kinds of cakes. In place of noble gases, for example, were all sorts of typical American pies, which would give one diabetes in their thirties if they were consumed regularly.
He kept exploring the insanity around him and found more things where it looked like the corporations won. The poster where the SI's should be were only seven kinds of chocolate bars: Peanut-Choco, KitDog, Venus, Giant-Cat, Coconut, Andromeda, and Twin-choco, 'Not even brand names, huh.'
A poster hung behind him. He squinted his eyes and tried to read what was written, in English, under the Andromeda section: 'An Andromeda bar, the sweet measurement of comfort in every way, is a 1/300.000.000 of the speed of light in Andromeda's bar length in a second.'
He turned around and faced the blackboard blankly, "I am officially cuckoo."
After some minutes of blanking, he started to think about how he could off himself the quickest way with a sharpened No. 2 pencil, but his plans were interrupted as he heard the voice of a middle-aged woman, "Good morning, dear Students. Today we will have a math quiz!"
Looking where the voice came from, he saw what should be the teacher. He ignored all the murmurs from all sides and couldn't believe what he saw. A doll teacher who looked like a model.
Alexander tried to clean his ears out of habit but remembered that he had wolf ears and stopped poking since it felt much more uncomfortable than with human ones.
After a moment, he returned to the matter at hand, 'Did she just say math quiz?'
After a few seconds, he saw how a math quiz materialized before him, 'Ok, calm down, just write it and see what happens? You are already in hell where sweets companies have taken over the world, not even the brand ones.'
She stood before Alexander with open arms and a big smile. She announced the beginning of the test with a clap, "Ok, you have 30 minutes. Please begin!"
Alexander turned the math quiz around and started it. Algebra with some fractions. It was pretty basic stuff for the fourth or fifth grade.
After thirty minutes and dozens of times of rechecking everything, another clap was heard, and the math quiz was dematerialized, "Ok, good job!"
Suddenly someone or rather something said in a muffled voice to the left of him, "How did it go for you?"
Alexander looked to the left and saw a mighty red hunter sitting and looking at him through his helmet. The now-adolescent puppy lips twitched into a crooked half-smile. He tried to acquire some information, "Don't know, hopefully good… do you know where…."
Before he could finish his sentence, another clap was heard. On the blackboard in front of all the students were the results displayed. Looking at it, he saw that he was in the first place, 'Well, overwhelming others in elementary school knowledge... don't know how I should feel about it.'
Math-quiz results:
1. Alexander K. Leonandra – 100%
2. Itch, a drawing toy – 98,3%
3. Annoying owl – 97,1%
4. Fast dying chick – 96,8%
5. Big grey rectangle– 94,9%
The teacher Doll Model looked at Alexander with pride, while the others looked at him with envy. He could've sworn to even feel killing intent coming from behind. Turning around, he saw something peculiar, 'A goddamn drawing toy wants to end me?!'
The drawing toy shook slightly, and his blank board's face showed an angry emoji. Before Alexander could react, after a blink, he woke up in a panic and cried out loud, "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!"
In reality, what was heard was, "Bawaga hu gah!"
Looking around in panic, he saw the grid of the crib and a sleeping sister with red hair on the rocking chair close to the French window, 'It was just a nightmare, good… but it was too realistic for a dream.'
He rolled around slightly and checked his body, 'I never had a dream this realistic… Wait? Did I hear a ring while I woke up?'
'System'
He instantly opened the system and understood what happened, 'I got it.'
[Mathematics | 26]
He could rationalize now the weird dream and what happened to some extent, but this was too much to digest for him, 'It was like a mushroom trip. Fuck me.'
Alexander stared blankly at the ceiling with the chandelier and tried everything not to panic. For some reason, the notion of getting sucked into a different world while asleep and probably doing a skill test was strongly disturbing to him.
'Ok, as far as I get it, you need to do something like this for every skill at level 25 to pass it if this stays consistent.'
Going by this logic, there was also probably a need to do these tests every 25 levels. In Alexander's mind, there was no way that it was the last test, 'Ok, calm down. Not like you can die, right? FUCK! Can you actually die and then die in real life?!'
He needed to learn the language now more than ever to find more information. It could be a death trap, or it could be normal. He didn't know but wanted to find out as quickly as possible before he got beheaded by a toy.
...
Sometime later
A young wolf-kin girl in a summer dress was going through the corridor to the tearoom and hastened her steps. Sarah's mother was back and sent servants to call her and her siblings to probably inform them about the outcome of the gathering, 'I hope everything is fine!'
While walking, she could only think about what her big brother had said earlier, 'I know he is right. Even Mama talked about the dwarves and humans and what they do, but don't we all look almost the same? Why would they enslave us because we have different ears and tails? It makes no sense to me.'
Even her big sister sometimes talked about how hateful they were and said that she would understand when growing up, 'Why couldn't she just tell me that?! So annoying!'
She was angry but somewhat understood that most things were too complicated for her, but even so, her anger manifested in the stomping she produced while walking.
Sarah arrived before the tearoom in no time. She opened the door carefully and saw that her mother and siblings were already there. There was also personnel like the archivist Noriken and head accountant Salyna.
She moved carefully to one of the free seats. Everyone looked at her, which made her feel incredibly uncomfortable. So she quickly sat down and waited for her mother, the lady, to speak.
While waiting, Sarah looked at her, as she was in her half-plate armor, had one leg over the other, and had an aura like she looked down on the world, full of pride and arrogance, 'A true Knight.'
She had nothing less than adoration for her, as she had been her role model since she could remember. But she also loved how her father was as he was more leger and had the strength to act like he wanted in front of others.
Sarah clenched her fists slightly and tried to sit as gracefully as possible. Obviously trying to imitate the grace of her mother. But even as she was nervous and could barely concentrate on anything, the things her brother said floated inside her head, but before she could become agitated again, the door opened.
Multiple maids and butlers came in and started to serve tea. This instantly changed her thoughts about what was before her since she loved how they looked, 'So pretty!'
Most servants in the Leonandra estate were butterfly-, swan-, or spider-kin.
The butterfly-kin's beautiful faces looked like they were painted on a canvas, while their colorful wings and eyes were like rainbows, bright with beautiful patterns, almost too perfect.
While the swan-kin were also winged, they had beautiful white feathers and clear blue or green eyes instead of the playful colorfulness of butterfly-kin. Their faces were also stunning, radiating elegance only seen on nobles.
On the other hand, the spider-kins were much more cute than beautiful. They all had two eyes like most beast-kin, either red, orange, or purple in color, and multiple other eyes on their forehead, but they were more petite. They were also one of the few sub-races born with thread-making skills.
Almost all of them weren't soldiers or guards. Her mother told her that there were beast-kin much weaker than wolf-kin, so they had a lower chance of becoming knights, soldiers, or guards. Still, they had other exceptional talents, which were much more critical for the day-to-day basis, like cooking, cleaning, sewing, gardening, farming, etc.
Some even awakened a [Divinity Line] resembling magic and learned to use powerful lifestyle [Mystic Skills]. An example would be a butterfly-kin with a specialized [Divinity Line] in gardening.
Narsiz told her how they could control the growth from the prettiest and most exotic flowers all year round for luxury purposes or for rare alchemical potion ingredients. Such beast-kin would be weighed in gold, so much worth would they have.
Lorient also told her that some spider-kin could also create and tailor clothes with tough threads that could be better than plate armor and much lighter than silk.
Sarah saw how her mother waved her hand to dismiss all servants. She caressed Alexander, who was curiously examining everything around him while speaking, "I will make it short since it is getting late."
She looked at everyone before continuing in her stern tone, clearly stressed out by the meeting, "We are getting our aid, but it will be costly."
Everyone sighed in relief while Sarah was shocked, 'What does it mean it will be costly?'
She gulped down and got all her courage together, trying to ask, hoping it was no dumb question, "What does it mean it will be costly?"
Everyone looked at her, a little confused, then they smiled slightly and looked towards the lady, 'What is happening?!'
Marisia nodded towards Salyna, the head accountant, who looked at Sarah with a soft smile, "Young miss, I have done the accounting for our Leonandra family for decades, so while the Mistress said that it would be costly, knowing how much wealth we have, it will be probably not much…."
Salyna and Sarah looked back at Marisia, who smiled softly, "Don't worry, Salyna, it will be doable."
Sarah looked back at Salyna, who frowned and pinched between her eyebrows. Narsiz and Lorient started giggling and holding their hands in front of their mouths.
The head accountant inhaled in and out in exasperation and asked with a more aggravating tone, "My lady, would you please give me a good estimate so I can plan it out?"
Marisia sighed with a smile and pointed towards the table, where stacks of parchments were lying and a teacup on top of it. Lorient used them as a saucer.
Salyna moved towards the stack of papers, took them, and read it. After every page, her eyes became rounder and bigger. In the end, they were like plates.
Sarah waited for some minutes and could see her siblings becoming louder in their giggling, 'Why are they laughing?'
Salyna suddenly focused on the lady and screamed, "ARE YOU MENTAL?!"
Out of the blue, Lorient laughed out loud and mumbled, "That's our Saly."
Marisia frowned as she looked at Lorient but didn't say anything. Salyna already forgot her etiquette and just argued against the lady.
The pastel-green-haired young girl only now understood and started to swing her tail, 'Oh, I get why this is funny!'
The head accountant held the papers before the lady, waving them fiercely while her wings opened fully, "Marisia, you can't be serious about paying this much coin?!"
Marisia shook her head and looked towards Noriken, "Take Alexander and look after him. He already ate, so don't worry."
Noriken nodded, headed towards the lady, took the pup, and went out.
Marisia looked at her mischievous children, who giggled, "You three, go to your rooms. I need to discuss business with Salyna."
From Sarah's point of view, she didn't understand why her mother always took them with her if she discussed something in the first place. Lorient told her once that it was a learning opportunity for them, but only Narsiz could understand what they were talking about, but now, he behaved like Lorient.
She could see how tired he was, with big bags under his eyes, and he couldn't probably concentrate anymore, in her opinion.
All three went out of the room, and as the door closed, a scream could be heard, "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS! DO YOU WANT TO BANKRUPT US FOR SOME SHIT-ASS DEBTORS?!"
Narsiz started laughing hysterically while holding his stomach. Lorient was not much better, as she held against the wall and started to wheeze.
Sarah looked at them and did find the situation funny, too, but not to the degree they did. After giggling and laughing, they looked at her younger sister, who tilted her head in confusion.
Narsiz wiped a tear away, slowly stopping his laughter, clearly marveled by such a scene, "Don't be confused. This scene is scarce and needs to be enjoyed to the fullest!"
Lorient came from the side, smiling all over the place, caressing her head, and sounding like some hyena-kin as she didn't stop her giggling, "Yeah, not everyone has the guts to call mom mental, hehe."
They started walking towards the kitchen for a snack, and Sarah decided to follow them. She overtook them quickly as walking behind them became annoying since their tails waggled too vigorously.
While she ran to the side of Narsiz and tried to ask them curiously, "It is funny, but…."
Before Sarah could end her sentence, Lorient interrupted her cheerily, "Hm, I know what you think, but Mom would rip anyone else a new one if they talked to her like this."
She panicked and raised her voice at her older siblings, "Oh! We need to help her then!"
Narsiz patted her head and said calmly, giggling, "Don't worry, nothing will happen to Salyna. She is an incredibly skilled accountant and an old friend of mother. She would never raise her hand against her, hehe."
Sarah was perplexed, "Why? I understand that because she is a friend, but why an accountant?"
This time Lorient responded, "Hm, you may think that knights or soldiers are the most important, but…."
Sarah interrupted her, remembering clearly all the lessons she forcefully received, to the point she got annoyed, "No! I know how essential others are. I am not stupid! Mama and my teacher told me this a hundred times."
Luckily, they arrived at the kitchen when Sarah stomped her feet and smacked Narsiz's hand away.
Both shook their heads in unison like the monkey-kin who teased Sarah once. This made her even more aggressive, "What now?!"
Lorient ignored her and was already looking for food. She looked to both of her siblings like some homeless raccoon-kin.
Narsiz leaned against the wall, ignoring his older sister's low point, and tried to clarify the situation for Sarah, "Listen, Salyna is not just any accountant. She is a Tier 3 accountant with incredible [Mystical Skills] and high skill levels. She may be weaker than any of us, but hypothetically, should she leave our estate. She could work instantly for the crown."
Sarah couldn't believe what she was hearing! Tier 3? The crown? She understood, but it was hard to believe, "I…I…."
Lorient poked Sarah's cheek teasingly, "If you don't close your mouth, flies will fly in, hehe."
Sarah looked at her big sister angrily, who already had a piece of jerky hanging out of her mouth, and slapped her hand away, "No, they will not!"
Sarah rotated her head back to her big brother and urged him to answer, "Why wouldn't she when just leave?!"
She didn't know why she said that, as she didn't want Salyna to leave, but was interested in why she wouldn't. Many fairy tales and novels she read made her assume that working for the princess and princesses was the ultimate romanticized goal. In her mind, it was insane not to work for royalty.
Narsiz scratched his chin while he thought, "Hm, good question!"
Lorient started mockingly imitating him, "Hm, indeed, a very good one!"
Sarah became angry as they started teasing her. She fletched her teeth and stomped again, almost erupting in anger. Both siblings simultaneously raised their arms in peace while smiling.
Narsiz was the first to apologize and propose to move places, "Ok, ok, sorry for making fun of you, let's have our snack at some place other than the kitchen and talk where we can sit comfortably, alright?"
He obviously ignored his older sister, who probably already had eaten half a pig. Sarah nodded to this, and they went to the art room after getting some food.
On the way there, the children could hear screams between the lady and her head accountant resonating through the whole wing of the main mansion. As they arrived, they sat down, and her older siblings looked at her curiously.
Lorient was the first to ask her earnestly, "Why do you think Salyna isn't leaving our family?"
First, Sarah wondered if they wanted to make fun of her again, but when she saw their serious expressions. She started to seriously think about this question.
Being in deep thought for a good minute, she answered them honestly, "Maybe we pay her a lot?"
Narsiz shook his head while chewing some jerky, "No, try again."
Sarah frowned and had no idea, so she threw out a dumb guess, "We treat her very well?"
Narsiz nodded with a grin this time while some jerky stuck out, "Very good! You are 100% right!"
She was perplexed, "What?! We treat her better than the royalty would treat her?!"
This time Lorient answered, "Yes and no. You see, we are a bit different regarding certain things."
She looked down and probably thought of something, but after a moment, she rocked back up. She looked at Sarah and held one finger up, "For example, when it comes to inheriting some noble title or the crown, everywhere but here and some other similar places, the potential heirs need support from different parties..."
Lorient took a sip of water and continued, "...and being an extremely talented accountant on the level of a finance minister will bring her a lot of prestige but also a ton of pressure. Everyone would want her to be on his or her side, and if not, they would probably assassinate or blackmail her, her husband, or her children."
Lorient looked at Narsiz to continue, as she wanted to keep eating, "This is not all, obviously, but we do everything we can to protect her family. We have done it for generations. Even her ancestors, going back generations, worked for us as accountants."
After Lorient gobbled up half the jerky, she continued, "We have considerably more talented individuals in our estate and under our family name, more than some higher nobles, but this is not here or there."
Sarah looked confused at them, "This didn't really answer my question?"
Narsiz nodded at her, "Right, sorry. The short answer is that we don't care about internal politicking."
Sarah tilted her head to the side, "But, weren't you really mean to Lori for the last year?"
Lorient started to laugh out loud, and Narsiz became flustered and tried to explain himself, "I was just bored!"
She asked, "Well, but why being mean then?"
Both girls stared at Narsiz, who sighed, "I don't know. It feels just a little stale since we have no rivalry."
Lorient agreed, "Hm, you are right, but we are actually too different from having anything close to this."
Narsiz shrugged his shoulders and looked at Sarah, "See? Something like this is our daily life, where we literally don't care about others' prospects. In other noble families, I would have a dagger in my back by midnight."
Lorient corrected him, "You were an asshole, so make it two."
Narsiz and Lorient started to chuckle. Sarah looked at both again and sighed, "But you care for each other, right? What do you mean by don't care?"
Narsiz answered this question as Lorient looked disinterested and tired, "I don't care about her prospects. Let me give you an example with Salyna. Do you know who her grandmother or her husband is?"
Sarah shook her head, so Narsiz continued, "Her husband is a common potter and her grandmother a common tailor..." He suddenly tried to be more energetic as the talk became too serious, "Now the hundred mithril coin question! What would happen if you were under a noble's name as a high-ranking member and fell in love with a lowly commoner?"
Sarah understood it now, "They would..."
She didn't want to end her sentence since it was for her unthinkable, 'Were we so much different from others? How could they discriminate against others just because of whom they love and want to marry?'
Lorient interrupted her thoughts, "You got the rough idea. You wouldn't know it now, but if you go to some noble's parties with many other children later, you will quickly understand two things..."
She held two fingers up, "First, they are a bunch of talentless and arrogant assholes who will always use their name rather than their skills...."
Narsiz nodded so vigorously that it looked like, for Sarah, his head would fall off.
"Second, the adults are the same and will backstab even their own children if it means their favorite child gets that useless title."
Narsiz smiled wildly, "You forgot the third thing, big sister, and the most important reason why they also hate us throughout the empire's many households."
"Oh! You are right!" She turned from Narsiz and looked back at Sarah, holding three fingers up while smiling mischievously.
Her tone was heavier, "Do you know how they called us around hundreds of years ago?"
Sarah shook her head. She was not into history or other things alike. She could barely go through the lessons with her current teacher and was only good at fighting.
Lorient's voice was full of pride, "Noble slaughterer and King decapitator."
Sarah couldn't believe what she had heard, "Why?! I thought we would only kill demons and sometimes monsters!"
Both shook their heads, and Narsiz was the first to correct her, "Yes and no, hundreds of years ago, the corruption was so insanely high from the central nobility that they sold an insane number of beast-kin as slaves to other races, and worse yet, the crown allowed it."
Both girls could suddenly feel killing intent oozing out from Narsiz, and even Lorient shivered a bit while looking at him, "We did what needed to be done. We came together with other nobles who were against it too."
A sadistic smile formed slowly on his face, making Sarah's blood freeze, "We went to the capital and annihilated the bloodlines of all those traitors."
The pressure dimmed a bit, but she could still feel the sinister energy coming from Narsiz, "We slaughtered more than fifty noble families, from pups to elders, so they could not search for vengeance with our progeny. Since these days, certain families, like ours, are feared and hated throughout the empire, but this also shows why we are different and follow certain ideals."
Lorient added something, "We then put the one which led to the bloodbath in charge. At that point, it was the third or fourth son of the crown on the throne."
Sarah looked down, embarrassed as she didn't know such things, "I… understand."
Lorient shook her head, "You don't, but you will when you meet that scum from the Moorgrel nobility, at least."
An eery silence permeated the room. Narsiz tried to go back to the topic they discussed before this, "So, do you understand why I was a childish asshole who didn't wake up with a dagger in his heart and why Salyna won't leave the estate?"
Sarah almost, out of instinct, knew the answer, "Freedom?"
Narsiz nodded, "There is more than just marrying whoever you want, though. Do you have an idea?"
Sarah thought hard, but Lorient interrupted her as she talked to her brother, "Give her a break since it is already late..." She turned toward Sarah, "She hates politics and everything around it like I do, and our family can only do so much of it. Since we give our retainers and servants more autonomy, they can ignore the petty squabble..." She pointed her thumb toward Narsiz, "Like from this guy."
Narsiz stood up, "I already apologized! Can you stop being unbearably annoying?!"
Lorient also stood up, "You did not, and you are annoying!"
While Sarah's siblings were hurling insults at each other, she understood it. If talents were disinterested in power and just wanted wealth with a secure place to live, they wouldn't choose the palace or other nobles striving for more power. Instead, they would prefer a trading company or them though the former provides less protection.
Plus, they could enjoy freedoms in the Leonandra family – like not being obliged to marry other nobles, as they could just choose a lover on their own.
After a while, she stood up and wished good night, though she didn't know if they had heard her since they were fighting with each other.
Sarah scratched her head in annoyance, as today was a very emotional and stressful day. Only sleep was in her mind.