During the festival of radiant heir, the pride Inn gave all customers a discount of a gold coin per room for two weeks worth of stay. This was to make accommodations for lesser nobles with smaller and unfruitful lands.
Lord Ross paid for two rooms, he planned to share a room with Damon while Cedric stayed with Blink. The two gold coins he spent was an amount a peasant would never accumulate even if he/she slaves away all their life.
As soon as they checked into their rooms, they began unpacking. While Lord Ross unpacked, Damon strolled around the room, paying attention to the arrays set up within the room.
"Using array magic to boil and provide hot water to customers and also using a heat array to keep the room warm is amazing!" Damon was amazed by the creativity of the person who came up with this.
As the God of Death, he had always prioritized destructive spells, but that didn't mean he didn't appreciate well-thought-out spells that help improve people's lives.
"Your family once lived in this massive city." Damon turned to Lord Ross.
Lord Ross froze and shook his head in agreement. There was a lot about their past he only heard about from his father, this was one of them.
"That's why I insisted on bringing you here. I want it back." Lord Ross said with a pleading gaze.
"I perform magic, not miracles. Gaining everything your family has lost will be a gradual process. Patience." Damon shrugged.
After unpacking, Lord Ross and Damon decided to go downstairs for a quick meal. Upon arriving at the cafeteria, it was filled to the brim with members of different noble families chatting away happily while drinking wine.
Lord Ross and Damon eventually found an empty table. They ordered two bowls of chicken soup with fleshly baked bread, coupled with a cup of ale and milk.
"For a moment I was scared you would order some ale too." Lord Ross joked.
Damon just rolled his eyes and kept paying attention to the discussions going around the room. Soon their food arrived and Damon kept listening while eating.
From regular politics, they dived into festivals and the family with the most potential to win. In the kingdom of Valtheris, there was the house of Ross (Baron Class) represented by Damon Ross, a nobody.
Rumors were already spreading that he was Lord Ross's bastard son with a slave woman. Many vile things that would warrant a furious outburst were said, but Damon remained unaffected by it.
Lord Ross was furious at first, but as soon as he noticed Damon's indifferent expression, he decided to shelve his anger as well.
The next was the House of Marlow (Marquis class) with Serena Marlow as their representative. While it's uncommon to have women as successors, it happens. Serena is said to possess immense foresight, skill, and she was born with a yellow core, just two steps away from the white core.
Every noble threw a compliment her way, while Lord Marlow laughed. He enjoyed the compliments with a proud smile, while Damon chuckled inwardly.
From what he heard, Serena had a bit of talent, but that was not enough to secure a prosperous future. Many factors determined how great a person would be which people were unaware of, and he wasn't planning to share those ideas.
The next was the House of Valen (Count class) with Brandon Valen as their representative. The House of Valen was known for its immense military leadership and involvement. While their family lacked abilities, their skills with every weapon on the battlefield make them stand out and have helped them survive so far.
Then there was the house of Thornwell (viscount class) with Edwin Thornwell as their representative. The Thornwell has nothing to show for it except craftiness. They are cunning and shroud individuals who know what side to back and what side to abandon. Even though they had no value to the empire's strength, they were ranked above the Ross family because of their willingness to play politics well.
Finally, there was the house of Eldridge (Count class) with Thea Eldridge as their representative. This family is known for their in-depth knowledge and mastery of arcane magic and history. The most successful Wardens from this region of the kingdom are from this family.
Once they were done comparing families and concluding that Serena Marlow would come out victorious in this year's event, they shifted to a new topic that got Damon's attention.
"Those damn fox spirits. We almost got robbed by them on our way here. I heard their activities in this city have improved greatly, that's why security is so tight." Lord Thornwell complained.
Loud whispers followed, which made the room noisy. After waiting patiently for a while, another person spoke up.
"I heard the main purpose of this year's event is to find and wipe out all of them hiding in this city. My best bet is the forbidden Palace is their hiding place. " Lord Marlow agreed, and Damon frowned.
Staying next to the threat is only useful if your presence is not noticed. Why would the fox spirits hiding here be active? Are they not afraid of death, or have they gone mad?
"What is the forbidden palace?" Damon asked Lord Ross.
"That's the most famous brothel in the region, filled with the rarest beauties in the kingdom." Lord Ross answered, but he quickly realized he had spoken too quickly and confidently.
Lord Ross's face turned red after he saw Damon's questioning look. His words exposed how much he knew about the place and the possibility he was a customer.
"I just check the place out whenever I'm in town." Lord Ross sheepishly smiled.
Damon could only roll his eyes and said nothing. If he wanted to find out more about the situation, he needed to visit that brothel.
"What a hassle." Damon sighed.