> Ellie PoV

After recovering a bit from that dinner, we had a long talk between Nano, Kira and me.

Nano doesn’t lie, but he does hide some things.

This case was something rather harmless, but I realized we can’t keep this up.

So in the end it was decided to tell Kira about everything that Nano keeps hidden under our tower in the Eagle Forest.

When we get back there, of course.

There’s too many ears and eyes around this city of Kotero.

Lilly, for example, has orders to keep an eye on Kira at all times.

Even during our talk she was watching us from a nearby building.

She has been around ever since we left Runetap, you know?

But she’s having second thoughts about her mission.

Lilly believes it was a failure on her part that Lara and Sophie got kidnapped.

Even though there’s nothing she could have done.

And even if there was, she’d be violating her orders if she did anything but observe.

But that’s a situation that never happened.

Since she was trailing Kira, there’s no way she could’ve known the kids were in danger.

Yet she still agonizes over something like that.

She’s a good person, but she’s clearly not impartial to us.

When observing a target for an extended period of time, it’s not uncommon to become attached.

However, that can and will compromise her mission.

While her abilities are suited to this sort of work, her personality isn’t.

I should have some words with her before she gets any of us in trouble.

But, bottom line is we can’t risk revealing any of this information to her.

The problem is the people she will have to report it to.

That Bored King especially will get some nasty ideas, I’m sure.

So we formed a simple schedule to expedite our departure from this city.

If all goes well, we’ll be leaving as soon as the dragon dismantling is done in about 3 or 4 more days.

The first thing we’ll be doing tomorrow is look for a place that sells gryphons.

* * *

We follow the directions Bork gave us, looking for a peculiar shop in a rather suspicious alley.

Apparently, since people around here prefer wyverns, gryphon eggs are unpopular and hard to find.

What we are looking for is literally the only shop in the capital that sells them.

But we decided our family needs a guardian that can watch over the girls should the need arise.

Therefore, the more intelligent and loyal gryphons are clearly better than wyverns.

And we’re buying eggs instead of fully-grown adults because it makes them easier to tame.

Otherwise you have to earn an adult gryphon’s loyalty and respect before it will let you ride it.

According to a book we found in the Guild’s library, gryphon chicks are really sensitive to mana.

In order for the eggs to hatch, they need to absorb a certain amount of mana.

The one that supplies this mana imprints themselves on the baby, and will be recognized as the parent after it’s hatched.

Since the egg shell absorbs mana on its own, anyone can hatch one if they keep skin contact with it.

The incubation time varies, but it takes between two and six weeks.

After that, it takes about two months before the gryphon matures enough to be ready to fly, and then two more until it reaches full adulthood.

But if raised with care, it becomes a lifelong companion.

We brought the kids and Kelly along for this trip.

Ever since that kidnapping, we don’t let the girls roam about without one of the adults keeping an eye on them.

That is, one of them that isn’t Nano - his ability is limited without the probes he normally has flying around Runetap.

Also, androids are defenseless against magic attacks.

Kelly and Kira can sense the mana charging while my [Telepathy] can pick out hostile intentions ahead of time.

Nano can do neither of these things.

Ah, that must be the shop in question.

There’s a sign that reads ‘Stan’s Strange Stash’ above an unassuming door with a dusty window.

We enter the shop, the door jingles a small bell when we enter.

There’s a bunch of weird-looking objects in display cases all over the place.

The rat-man shopkeeper appears from below the counter.

“Welcome to my shop, dear customers! My name is Stan, how may I help you today?” (Stan)

My mistake, it’s a human, I got confused for a second there.

The shifty dishonest eyes and unshaven face gave off a strange impression of a rodent.

Also the way he’s rubbing his hands is especially suspicious.

“Good day mister Stan, my name is Kiressara. We were told by Bork Darkhand that we could purchase a gryphon egg here.” (Kira)

“Oh my, now this is a rare treat! I assume Lady Kiressara already has possession of a Flight Badge, yes?” (Stan)

“Of course, it’s right here.” (Kira)

Kira points to the big shield-like badge Kelly’s carrying on her back.

“Very good! And just call me Stan, please. The ‘mister’ part makes me feel old when a beautiful girl like yours-” (Stan)

“Excuse me, mister Stan. We’re busy so cut the small talk.” (Ellie)

“Augh! *Cough* Yes, of course, my apologies.” (Stan)

These merchant people, always with the flood of compliments they don’t mean.

“Then please give me a moment while I go fetch the items in question. Feel free to look around!” (Stan)

He disappears into a back room.

“Okay girls, you can look around but don’t break anything, okay?” (Kira)

The girls are already pressing their faces against the glass display cases around the shop.

But the items themselves are a bit disappointing.

“Aww, I was hoping to see a lot of fun stuff, but these are all things you can find in Runetap…” (Lara)

“Well, this is the capital. Folks around here live pretty uneventful lives so even this much is enough to satisfy their curiosity.” (Kelly)

“Nothing wrong with living peacefully, though.” (Kira)

“Yeah, you really should give it a try sometimes Red.” (Kelly)

“What do you think we’ve been trying to do ever since we found the kids!?” (Kira)

“You mean picking fights with anything that moves?” (Kelly)

“Guh!” (Kira)

“Or running off all the time on jobs, bulldozing everything along the way in a rush?” (Kelly)

“Okay, okay! I get it so stop it!” (Kira)

“Big Sis, look! They have a Scrappy doll!” (Sophie)

Sophie points at a small red cloth doll on a high shelf.

It just looks like a dark-red person, it’s rather plain.

“Sophie don’t be silly! That dirty rag doesn’t look like Scrappy at all!” (Lara)

The two’s conversation attracted Kira’s attention.

“Hmm? Well to be fair I can kind of see the resemblance. I mean it’s short, red and grumpy, isn’t it?” (Kira)

“Come on Red, don’t be like that… Oh this guy has a Mountain Sapphire! Good-sized one, too!” (Kelly)

Kelly points to another glass display case on the wall, the sapphire in question is inside it.

It’s a glowing deep-blue gemstone in a square cut, looks fancy!

Probably used for magic tools rather than jewelry though.

“Thank you for waiting! Here are the eggs in question.” (Stan)

Stan returned from the back room holding two eggs wrapped in a cloth.

They look like chicken eggs, except as big as watermelons and with a stone-like shell.

One’s yellow and the other’s a dull gray.

“Which one would you like?” (Stan)

“Hmm? Hey, isn’t the left one from the Northern Mountains?” (Kelly)

Kelly looks at the gray egg with interest.

“Good eyes, Lady Dwarf! You are correct.” (Kelly)

“Does that matter?” (Kira)

“Sure it does. Gryphons come in several breeds, you see. Well, the northern ones are called Winter Gryphons, the smartest, biggest and toughest of the lot, but hatching and raising them takes a longer time than usual.” (Kelly)

Huh, this information wasn’t in the book we found.

It’s a good thing we brought Kelly along to help us with this.

Dwarves have a special interest in gryphons and Kelly’s no exception.

She hasn’t raised one since it’s outside her budget, but she knows a lot about them.

“As for the yellow one, it’s a common Falcon Gryphon. They’re fast and quick witted. Good for getting around.” (Kelly)

“Very good eyes indeed, Lady Dwarf. These are the only two eggs I have on hand.” (Stan)

“I see. In that case we will be taking them both.” (Kira)

This is the other thing that was decided.

One gryphon will accompany us on trips, the other will watch over the girls.

“But, with only one Flight Badge-” (Stan)

“Ah, that’s not a problem! If it’s about another Flight Badge, we can just kill another Elder Dragon! It’s no big deal, you see.” (Kira)

Kira puts on a wide smile and waves her hand, implying fighting an Elder Dragon is a challenge on the level of buying carrots at the market.

“Guh! Elder Dragon? Another? D-don’t tell me, Lady Kiressara is the infamous [Red Sage]?” (Stan)

“My, did I forget to mention it? The thing is, King Fred had-” (Kira)

Ah, there she goes, Kira is in full on bargaining mode.

With this pattern, we won’t be able to leave until she’s won a significant discount out of Stan.

Well, let’s see if we can find something interesting in this shop in the meantime.

“Hey Mom, what’s this thing?” (Lara)

Lara calls out to me while hovering over a display case in the corner.

I peek over her shoulder at the item that caught her interested.

I see, I always thought there might be things like this around the world, but to think we’d find one here!

This shop is as shady as it looks after all!

Time to deploy counter-intelligence!

“It’s just a mundane wooden tool, there’s no special function or anything.” (Ellie)

“Ehhh? That’s so boring! Everything in here is boring!” (Lara)

“Big Sis, you’re being loud...” (Sophie)

“No, I agree with Lara. Come on girls, let’s go outside and play!” (Ellie)

“Yaaay!” (Lara and Sophie)

Good, crisis averted, I don’t want them asking questions about that thing.

It’s not like I can’t answer them, I could be called an expert at using that sort of tool by now.

But these two are much too young to know about these things!

* * *

“Good day Ellie! And… Kelly?” (Clara)

We’re back the guild building.

Whenever I visit, Clara’s queue seems to be awfully empty.

I’m not sure why, could it be a form of bullying or harassment like before?

I’ll need to confirm this later.

“We got a message saying the Grandmaster wanted to see Kelly about something.” (Ellie)

While we were out shopping someone had left a message at Bork’s house for us.

Kira’s negotiations took a while this time too, but she got both eggs at almost half price.

Kelly ended up buying the sapphire she wanted at a similarly cheap price while Stan was still recovering from Kira’s assault.

The rest of us just played outside with my [Telekinesis] until they were done inside.

But this message was a bit unusual - they requested for Kelly specifically.

Since it asked just for her, it’s probably not an emergency.

So Kira and the girls stayed behind, they are earnestly tackling Nano’s cooking training.

“I see, then is Ellie here to pick up today’s share of the Elder Dragon compensation?” (Clara)

“That’s right.” (Ellie)

“I thought so, I’ve already prepared it, so here you go!” (Clara)

She takes out the usual bag heavy with coin and places it on the counter.

This is good, even heavily discounted those gryphon eggs cost a lot.

“We also found another one of Ellie’s swords!” (Clara)

This time she takes out one of my swords and places it next to the bag.

We had used many of them as improvised lightning rods.

It was an effective strategy for getting past the magic-resistant scales.

I should talk with Nano about making something that serves this exact purpose later.

“Thanks, Clara!” (Ellie)

I gratefully receive the black blade and coin pouch from her.

11 out of 12 swords are accounted for with this.

While I pulled out most of them once the dragon stopped moving, there were three that got driven in quite deep.

So we left their recovery to the dismantling crew.

Making them is simple enough for Nano and his workshop, the materials are precious.

We have neither the machinery nor raw materials to synthesize more Tritanium, it’s a very finite resource for us.

Kelly claims there’s something called Adamantium that’s similar in toughness and weight, but it’s near impossible to get in Ferseit.

“As for the Grandmaster, I will go check to see if he’s available. One moment please!” (Clara)

With a smile and a bow, Clara goes off to the second floor.

“I hope it’s not another invitation to join the bloody Guild again…” (Kelly)

“Again?” (Ellie)

“Aye, that Grandmaster is pretty much begging me to join every chance he gets. I keep telling him I don’t wanna be bound by no guild, but he doesn’t back down easily. He’s a stubborn as stone that one. Probably moreso than Red.” (Kelly)

Was something like that going on?

Well, it doesn’t matter to us since we get Kelly’s help anyways.

“The Grandmaster will see you both, please go right ahead.” (Clara)

“Gah! Blast it, girl, you don’t have to sneak up on people like that!” (Kelly)

Clara was back before I even realized!

How is she able to hide her presence to that degree?

No, wasn't I just caught off guard?

That must be it.

“Thanks, Clara. Let’s go Kelly.” (Ellie)

We head off to the Grandmaster’s office on the second floor.

“Damn that girl is creepy. I can’t tell what she’s thinking at all!” (Kelly)

Now that Kelly mentions it, Clara’s mind was completely blank so I didn’t notice her approach.

Perhaps I’m just conceited and ended up depending too much on [Telepathy] to sniff out enemies.

There's no countermeasures against it in this world, so it's been incredibly useful.

But I've never relied on it in the past, so I should refocus my efforts!

Over-dependency on one strategy will prove fatal at a critical juncture!

This time it’s just Clara, but what if it was someone dangerous?

Come to think of it, Clara would make an amazing spy, I should introduce her to Lilly.

Might be a better career path than getting bullied at the guild.

We reach the Grandmaster’s room and enter casually.

“Ah, good, come in and take a seat. I’m afraid we found something… troubling inside the Elder Dragon’s stomach.” (Grandmaster)

He gestures at the brown boulder on his desk.

Wait, that’s a stone head, isn’t it?

Did the dragon eat some important statue?

It’s about two times larger than a normal head, but the face is incredibly detailed.

I swear the eyes seem to be moving.

Ah, they actually moved… they’re staring directly at Kelly.

“'Allo, Sistah of Steel. I been waiting fah yah. Dis here Grandmasta be telling me yah be one of dem Daahkhands, seen?” (Stone head)

It talked without moving its mouth.

The voice sounds… lofty, like it has no worries in the world.

The dialect is also something I’ve never heard before, I’m having some difficulty understanding it.

Kelly on the other hand seems to have gone completely pale in the face.

I’m trying to pick out the head’s thoughts, but there aren’t any.

Or rather, it’s like I’m trying to read Nano’s androids - it’s impossible.

It may be possible if I put mana into my [Telepathy], but I’d need to unify with Kira first.

“By my father’s beard… it can’t be…” (Kelly)

“Aye, yah guess be right, child. De time has come.” (Stone head)

“Kelly, you know this blockhead?” (Ellie)

“Uh… that…” (Kelly)

I point at the stone head while Kelly’s eyes swim between me and the head.

This is strange, like Kelly’s turned into someone completely different.

“Do not blame de Sistah of Steel. She is under oath and cannot reveal my identity. But as one of de souls dat freed me from dat dragon's belly, I shall introduce myself as tanks.” (Stone head)

Kelly instantly relaxes a bit.

I guess there are things she can’t tell us, just like Nano can’t tell her.

“Daughtah of de Stahs, my name be Umphrumphil. De Breddahs an’ Sistahs of Steel know me as Umph. I am one of de titans.” (Umph)

This chapter brought to you by Little Jacob.

Breddahs an’ Sistahs = Brothers and Sisters