The barracks was unusually full. Knights are making use of their midday break to consume their lunch which they have prepared before their shifts. Inevitably, conversations tend to start between a couple of them. Some talking about their life, wives, bad luck, family, and gossip that once in a while grew popular enough for the whole town to know it. A few still talked about investigating the case of Besley's new reptilian pet, Troy, but it started to die down since two days ago.

It was all busy and such, but started quieting down as another person opened the doors to meet the lead knights. This person is Lord Gracius himself.

"Fulimos, it's good to see you still in great health! How have the days gone by?"

Fulimos grinned, "Other than an increase in monsters that we have to keep out of the town, nothing has been bothering us. How are the people faring these days, my lord."

"Ah, happy as always, they are. Now, I've personally came here for a reason that you might have already known, am I correct?"

"Yes, sir. So far, no one has seen the boy's dragon do or act suspicious." Lord Gracius nodded at his report. "Although, it was rumoured that Troy have been frequently visiting the library every morning."

Lord Gracius gave a questioning look. "And is he causing any trouble?"

"As far as I know, no one has reported the dragon damaging any property in town. But if anyone will know anything about the dragon, it's that overly observant librarian, Damian." Fulimos spat.

Lord Gracius chuckled, "Now there, Fulimos. You might have had quite a rivalry with him when you were young, but you shouldn't bring that into your adulthood or workplace."

Fulimos frowned but smiled shortly after. "I'll try, my lord." Professor Damian was like the class topper and snitch. The one who always asks the teacher about the homework submission, the one who almost always get perfect scores, and the one who always knows what wrongs are done in the school. He was the reason why so many students, including Sir Fulimos, are caught creating trouble.

Lord Gracius chuckled again, "Back to matters, why don't we go and ask the Professor then?"

Fulimos nodded, "I find no reason to reject that." He then faced everyone else. "Listen up! Lord Gracius and I will be inquiring the librarian for a while. If there is any trouble," Fulimos held up the crystal from his pocket. "Don't hesitate to use your communication crystals to call me."

They went when the other knights gave some affirmatives.

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Lord Gracius and his companion arrived at the library. It still wasn't far past noon, so the library was empty as it is lunchtime and no library would allow eating.

They looked at the librarian desk, only to find Besley on it, reading a book.

"Besley, what are you doing there?!" Lord Gracius loudly asked, which Besley then did a long shush. "Don't you dare get smart with me, young man."

Besley giggled, "Professor Damian wanted a break but didn't allow himself to eat in here. So he tasked me with watching the library for the moment. He'll be back in a few minutes."

"Where's Troy?"

Besley then pointed at a window which was barely visible at their angle. The window was open and Troy was sitting on the windowsill in a relaxed position, looking at something on the ground.

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I placed a book about ice magic on the ground outside right under the window so only my head which was outstretched can see and read it. Clever eh?

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Professor Damian gave Lord Gracius a tiny heart attack as the professor came into the library and gasped.

"Lord Gracius! What an honour to see you on this perfectly fine day!" Professor Damian said as he bowed gracefully towards Lord Gracius.

Lord Gracius smiled, "Now, now. You don't need to address me with such manners in private, old friend."

Professor Damian smiled back, "How have you been doing, Gracie?"

"Not that informal! We have company here!" Gracius shouted with a hint of panic.

Professor Damian smirked, "Easily embarrassed as always, I see." By this time, it took a conscious effort for Lord Gracius to not punch him in the face. "Come on! I'm just joking! Life's no fun if you never play with fire. I meant that both literally and figuratively."

Fulimos can't help but chuckle at their childishness. "And here I thought I was the childish one holding grudges." It earnt him a gaze of death from Gracius.

Professor Damian snickered, "You still do?" This of course also earnt him a gaze of death from his childhood hater. He snickered again but then stopped. "So, back to my question, why are you two here?"

"Ummm... Just a question. But let me enlighten you for a moment." Lord Gracius said as he invited him and Fulimos to sit together on one of the library's tables.

For the next couple minutes, Lord Gracius told Professor Damian everything he knew about how Troy was found and how he was the likely cause of a rising frequency in monster fights with the knights and adventurers. Fulimos added a few details now and then.

"Hmm... The more monster parts and energy we send to the capital, the more revenue the town gets. Although this could cause some casualties, it would also attract a lot of adventurers to hunt them down." Professor Damian observed.

Lord Gracius just gave him a questioning look.

Professor Damian sighed, "What I'm saying is, why don't you stop looking at the negative and start to look at the positives that could happen? You could make this case to become potential business and influence."

Fulimos whispered to himself, "God, the over-observant nature of his is starting to get on my nerves."

Professor Damian then turned to him, "Were you saying something?"

"No, no. Just having thoughts," Fulimos said while still getting a look of suspicion from Professor Damian.

Lord Gracius started nodding, "That is quite a point. I'll consider that later on. I came here to focus on the dragon." Damian gave a curious look before Gracius continued. "With how Troy killed a vampiric tiger with some silver and is able to fly in 5 days of age, I wonder if he is really what he is."

"You're wondering about Troy's intelligence, aren't you?" Professor Damian caught on quick.

"Yes, and I heard from Fulimos here that there have been sights of him being here all the time. So I came to ask if anything eventful happened? Any damaged property? Aggressive behaviour? Or something that a lesser dragon wouldn't have done?"

Yes, I think he's been reading books, Professor Damian thought. But he said, "No, I've noticed nothing wrong with him. He just lays around being a lazy reptile. I think the carpets are comfortable for Troy."

"Ahh... That's reassuring. Although we'll keep investigating until we're totally sure there is nothing different about him." Fulimos said as Lord Gracius nodded in agreement.

"Well, good luck to you two then. Please inform me if you find anything!"

Fulimos grinned and Gracius said, "Same to you!" While leaving the library and earning a couple shocked stares from people that saw him treat the librarian like an old friend.

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The moment I heard from Lord Gracius and Fulimos the full story about Troy, of course I can't be any more curious. I decided to keep my observations about him a secret. If he is trying to hide his mysterious intelligence so much, there must be a reason for it. I plan to investigate hi myself.

While I was lost in my thought, I realized Troy has been shuffling down every minute only to come back up, making me curious on what he is looking at. So I decided to go outside as that is the only way to find out without Troy knowing his presence.

So I asked Besley to watch the library for an extra minute or two before going out and walking to the other side of the building. And I saw something I never thought I would find out.

A book...