In light of recent events, Surumi had adjusted Vyra’s curriculum to cover matters of more immediate importance, starting with the basic knowledge among the various ruling classes. Unfortunately, the Orc Lord found the details of court ranks and inheritance practiced by humans to be more boring than she’d imagined.

“What’s the point of giving a soldier the title of Baron if the family can’t move up in rank until the next generation? It’s the soldier who earned the title, not his kids, right? And I thought it was usually Knights that are rewarded with land and titles after a big battle.”

“Commoners can’t become Knights in the first place, so while a valiant Knight may be rewarded with a territory, they already have a noble title by definition.”

“Right, okay, I also have a lot of complaints about the marriage customs between royal and ducal houses.”

“You’re job is to learn the information, not to complain about it, my Lord. May I continue to the middle ranks now?”

“Fine, but I don’t think any of this nonsense is going to get applied here. As soon as we’ve finished all the Human classes, let’s switch to a different race.”

Before the Scholar could continue, a yellow crystal sitting on Vyra’s desk started flashing soundlessly: one flash, then a pause, on repeat. She frowned and grasped it, pulling out the Magic Power so it would stop.

“Looks like something requires my attention at the West gate. I’ll try to deal with it quickly, but I have to go check on it.”

“That’s unfortunate, but we’ll continue this later.” Surumi nodded while she left, and Oolga leaned closer to the Beastman.

“Since there’s still time left, tell me more about Human inheritance policies.”

***

Vyra only had to fly a little bit into the air before she saw something worrying. The tiger Golem that always sat docilely at the west gate was swiping aggressively at something small on the ground. The creature backed off a bit, and although the Golem stopped attacking, it growled and kept up an aggressive posture.

Vyra flew over immediately; the guard in the Angelite tower atop the wall saw her and nodded. The winged Orc swooped down and positioned herself beside the gate Golem, stroking and patting its sleek side until it started to calm down. These things were instructed to bar any nonresident who tried to enter, but they weren’t supposed to attack unless the opposition had more magic power than the average Babylonian citizen.

A reasonably powerful humanoid shrouded entirely by black clothes made for one of the most suspicious visitors one could have. He was likely up to no good, but that wasn’t a certainty. Since he hadn’t fled already, she would at least hear the reason for his visit.

“It thinks you look suspicious,” Vyra said, gambling that this stranger would understand the Human language. She turned away from the relaxed Golem. “Who are you and why have you come to Babylon?”

“So this is Babylon,” the stranger spoke in what was probably a man’s voice. “It’s the most impressive settlement-like thing I’ve found so far, but I wasn’t certain I had the right place.” The man fished around in his robes and pulled out a piece of thin yellow parchment, “You could loosely say I was invited here by whoever sent this.”

Vyra held out her hand, and the person calmly came forward and handed the letter to her. She unfolded the paper and saw her own handwriting. Nodding in understanding, she folded it shut and handed it back.

“I was starting to think we wouldn’t hear back from you. Just to be sure, do you have the authority to speak for the Andorin Kingdom?”

“If it’s nothing too exceptional, then yes.”

She beckoned with her hand and turned away, “Please follow me.”

***

The stranger behaved himself during the walk to the palace. He never ogled the technology or architecture, and he didn’t show any particular reaction to the various Monster citizens. The biggest reaction he had was when they walked up the palace steps and the stranger tipped his head back to look at the massive green crystals. If anything, his relaxed attitude only made Vyra more wary of him.

Finally, they reached the throne room. Without pausing, Vyra strode up to her throne and took a seat.

“So you’re Orc Lord Vyra,” the stranger exclaimed casually. “I figured; since you were the only Leader type I saw the whole way here.”

“Indeed. You know who I am, but who are you?”

“I’m King Rufus Andorin’s shadow,” the stranger gave a shallow bow. “If we were to chat in a way that was easy to see, there are some parties who would turn it into a problem.”

“Well, since we’re “chatting” in the first place, my proposal must have been a bit shy of good enough. I’ll be forward. What will make you accept?”

“Well then, allow me to ask you back: why do you want our cooperation so badly?”

A heavy silence blanketed the room, and Babylon’s Lord felt the stranger’s shrouded gaze analyzing her.

Her head dipped with quiet dignity. “For my own selfish reasons, I want Humanity to prosper. That is all.”

The masked person said nothing for a time, then finally chuckled and shifted his weight to one leg. “Well, what am I supposed to say when I thought you were trying to force us into a war alliance?”

She nodded, “True, it might end up that way, but that isn’t my goal. So I’ll ask you again, what will make you accept?”

“The materials to be exchanged are fine, but my side needs this arrangement to stay a secret. Also, we don’t want to send our people somewhere as dangerous as here to make the exchange.”

Well then, a direct portal from your capital to ours—there’s no way he’d agree to that. "It's risky for my people to go farther than the edge of the West forest. Will that place do?”

“Yeah, that should work for both us. By the way, after a while, it’ll be impossible to hide that my kingdom has more rare metals than before. I have an idea for the cover story.”

Vyra rested her cheek on one fist, “I’m sure you have a better grasp of these things than I do. What’s your idea?”

“We can claim we found a new mine just inside the forest. I can tell from this city that you have someone very skilled at earth magic on your side. You could have them bury the raw metals near our trading spot, and we’ll pay local villagers to dig them up.”

Vyra raised a hand to her chin. “I see. It seems like a needless expense though. It would also draw more eyes to the both of us. Let me contribute a bit of information that might change your thoughts.”

She reached to her hip and into a small leather pouch. From inside, she took another leather pouch, which she tossed to the emissary. “Some samples, just in case you were skeptical.”

The masked man pulled open the pouch and peeked inside. “Hm?” He reached in, pushing his arm inside all the way up to his shoulder, then removed it and tipped the pouch over, dumping some chunks of precious raw metals into his hand. He felt their weight on his palm and curiously weighed the pouch with his other hand. “Where did you come across a legendary item like this?”

“More importantly,” Vyra chided him, “how can it help us?”

“If we have this, I can come and go undetected, transporting everything myself.”

“But now how will you explain where your kingdom is getting these materials?”

He shrugged. “Perhaps we found a hidden treasury beneath the palace. There’s no need to try very hard to cover something up when it’s this difficult to follow the trail. When they can’t figure it out, people will just have to accept what we tell them.”

“I see. Before you leave, let’s discuss an exchange amount and frequency we can agree on. Then when you go back to your king, you can present everything to him at once. That should result in fewer trips for you.”

“I agree.”

Vyra had already consulted, Surumi, Oolga, and Balig the Dwarf on things like ore and spice prices and exchange rates, and settled on an ideal range to bargain for. How pathetic would it be if the first Orc Lord to trade with Humans got ripped off? The masked stranger drove a hard bargain, but Vyra managed to settle something within her range. Once every three Human weeks (or every eighteen days), the king’s shadow would come to Babylon to make the exchange. For his first trip back, he would bring one-tenth of the usual shipment to help convince the king to accept.

“Thank you for responding to my letter, and not just ignoring it,” Vyra thanked the king’s shadow at the gate.

“Well, the letter came from a trusted source. Besides, it’s hard to ignore something like that.” The shadow held his hands behind his back and looked over his shoulder at her. “If you don’t mind humoring my curiosity, what made you so different from previous Orc Lords?”

“I'm probably not all that different, but I've never known another, so I can't really make a comparison. Have a safe trip back."

The shadow just faced forward and nodded, then he melted into the air even though she had been looking right at him. The Orc Lord shut her magic eye and rubbed it lightly. Royal spies are really something. His Magic Power was so bright, but it completely vanished with that stealth skill.

She was going to turn around and return to her lessons, but the War Orc up in the Angelite tower called down at her, showing a yellow crystal that was pulsing with light: two quick flashes, followed by a pause. Now the Golem at the North gate was acting up, apparently. Vyra sighed and spread her wings, soaring off to investigate.