Kedra and Lionel made their way towards a well-cleaned, heavily guarded district near the city's center. The streets were lit up by tall, engraved iron streetlights, and most passersby were dressed in expensive clothing.
Far in the distance, Kedra spotted a small manor with two massive banners bearing the crest of the Deslandes family hanging from the balcony.
The girl looked up at the banners before sighing. "I'm starting to think I didn't really need you to bring me back home, Lionel."
"Indeed, with such conspicuous decorations, I'm sure you would've found your way back eventually; Maria and I tried talking Sir Eliseo's envoys out of hanging such large banners on the property, but they insisted that he wanted your presence to be announced to the rest of the nobility."
Kedra scratched her head. "It's not like they wouldn't have heard of me eventually; I wonder why he's so hellbent on letting people know I'm here."
"You should be careful, my lady; such attention is rarely a good thing, especially for someone in your situation."
She nodded. "I agree, I best keep my head down for now; I just hope that no trouble comes to find me."
They both entered the manor and concluded their long day. In the morning, Kedra woke up early and got ready. She put on the academy uniform and hung a wooden training sword from her hip, then set off accompanied by Naoya.
Just before the two reached the academy's gate, Kedra turned to Naoya. "Maria told you that you would be accompanying me on an outing tonight, right?"
The guard nodded his head. "Indeed, she mentioned something about Lionel's old adventuring party."
Kedra clasped her hands together. "Wonderful! In that case, make sure to wait for me by the gate; then we'll join up with the golden lions."
"Very well, just one thing beforehand, my lady: should I bring you a real weapon tonight? I heard this 'outing' of ours could get violent, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to defend yourself with a training sword."
She thought to herself for a second, then nodded. "Sure, bring me a shortsword before we set off tonight then."
"Yes, my lady." Naoya said with a small bow before turning around and walking back in the direction of the manor.
With a content expression, Kedra turned towards the gate and walked through. 'Things are going well; I look forward to tonight. I just have to get through today without incident.'
Just then, Kedra felt someone shove her from behind, making her take an awkward step forward to catch herself. She quickly turned around and saw a boy that was around the same height as her with well-groomed brown hair and a snarky expression.
Kedra clicked her tongue. 'He seems to be in the same year as me; well, judging by his demeanor and build, he isn't the son of a knight or anything. I better just humor him a bit and move on.'
"What do you want?" She said in an annoyed tone. "I'm busy, so make it quick."
Surprised by Kedra's uncharacteristic reaction, the boy tried to quickly run past her, but a quick kick to his legs made him fall over face first.
Before he could get up, the girl walked over in front of him and knelt down, grabbing a fistful of his hair and pulling his head up to meet her gaze. "So, what do you want?"
The young boy's eyes were full of tears; his expression looked as if he had just been insulted. "You're just a bastard. Do you think you'll get away with this?" He said in between sniffles.
Kedra sighed and shook her head. "Is that what that was about? Really? I can't believe how quickly information spreads around here."
'Well, I'm sure it was the twins' doing. Whatever, it's not like my title is illegitimate; they won't be able to do anything with that information anyway.'
She suddenly got up, letting go of the boy's hair. "Don't bother me with such trivial matters again, or I'll make sure you regret it."
The young noble got up and pointed to Kedra. "How dare you! I challenge you to a duel!"
Kedra looked around; a small group of people had gathered around them due to the commotion they had caused. 'Shit, since when did we get a crowd this big? Well, whatever, this'll be a good chance to scare any more idiots off.'
"I accept, but I don't have time to humor you forever, so let's just finish things here." She said, drawing her training sword and pointing it towards the boy. "If you're so keen on dueling people, you must have your training sword on you, right?"
The noble reached to his back and unsheathed a dulled metal training sword from its scabbard. "Alright, don't blame me if I embarrass you in front of everyone here."
As he finished his phrase, the two heard chuckles from the crowd; when they turned to see the source of the laughter, they saw Vivienne and Selena whispering to each other while glancing at the young noble.
Kedra gave them a smile before turning to face the boy and flourishing her sword. "Ready when you are."
The noble responded by getting into a shaky high guard and nodding. "Alright, let's get started then. I'll expose you for the fraud you are, you—"
Before he could finish his phrase, Kedra bounded forward and drove the tip of her sword into his unguarded stomach; then, following the movement, she lifted her hand and struck his chin with the sword's pommel.
The boy immediately fell to his knees and limply let go of his weapon. As he fell, Kedra sheathed her weapon and looked around at the crowd; the students around her were speechless, with the exception of Vivienne, who was stifling laughter.
Selena turned to her and shook her head. "Come now, Vivienne, that's rude."
"I know, but to think he would lose so pathetically after challenging Kedra." She said in between chuckles. "Truly, I don't know how idiots like him are still in this academy."
"Vivienne!"
"What? I know you agree with me, Selena."
In the meantime, Kedra silently walked away from the scene and entered the wisdom hall, heading towards her first class. 'Looks like Selena and Vivienne became friends quite fast; that's nice. I should look into expanding my circle as well; it couldn't hurt to make more connections.'
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Deep within the heart of the capital, beneath the bustling streets and crowded markets, an expansive network of tunnels and waterways connected to a central area in the city's underground where countless crimes and illegal deeds were plotted and carried out.
In a dingy, run-down bar in this underground, filled to the brim with thugs and mercenaries, a tall, bearded dragonkin with two large black horns sat down at a table; across from him was a nervous man with rat-like features.
The ratkin anxiously looked down at the table while rubbing his hands together. "Listen, Ranrik, I know—"
The dragonkin quickly interrupted him by slamming a hand into the table. "I thought I already told you not to say my name so casually."
"Right, right, you are Ran—ah, ahem, sir. Now, as I was saying, I know you asked us to cover your tracks for you, but those adventurers that are after you are quite competent. We found traces of them here in Astoren, so I sent a small squad to figure out if it really was them."
Ranrik raised a brow. "And?"
"They got completely wiped out, though that was within expectations. What wasn't within expectations is that they've joined up with some people who appear to be their acquaintances."
"That's not too surprising; even they must have a few friends here and there."
"Indeed, the problem is in the nature of their acquaintance."
"Is that right? And who are they then, to concern you so?"
"The person that they met was a certain Kedra Deslandes; she was recently admitted to the royal academy by the patriarch of the Deslandes dukedom. Now, if it was just her, this wouldn't be all too problematic, but that's not all."
The dragonkin had already been caught off guard by the mention of a duke's daughter, as the man in front of him spoke of an additional problem; his brows furrowed.
"It seems the Golden Lions also found an informant; they're due to meet him tonight at the Boarsblood Inn."
Ranrik's lips curled into a sneer. "So, not only have you allowed them to trace me all the way back to Astoren, but now they're getting involved with nobles and information brokers?"
The ratkin cowered and closed his eyes in anticipation of Ranrik's next move, but nothing happened. Instead, when he opened his eyes, he saw Ranrik in deep thought.
"I was going to demand some compensation from you, but I've just had an epiphany. Thus far I've been unable to shake off those bastards, but Astoren is your home ground, isn't it, Skrec? You're going to use that home field advantage of yours to dispose of those adventurers for good, aren't you?"
The ratkin remained silent for a few seconds before clenching his fist and acquiescing. "Of course, sir, you can count on the Anelace company."
"Good, I'll look forward to hearing about your success tonight, and I'm sure you know what'll happen if you fail, right?"
Skrec quietly nodded before disappearing into the tavern's backroom.