Soon time for the meeting came. Kazius would walk with the group into a meeting room, Damon and Azanor still exchanging some concerned looks as they would look at him.

“Lord of Vargstam… You look different.” Lady Sakura stated, the tall woman standing now. She was by a table with a large detailed map of Blossom and the surrounding areas. There was a part the map had a bold line that read ‘Red Dragon Territory’ towards the east where the map cut off. To the North East, the map ended with a line that read ‘Witches’, which was not something referenced in the map Kazius bought in Veleno.

Then again, the map was not well filled out and old. The fact that Blossom was labelled a village rather than a city made that much clear. Kazius could not help but wonder what other useful information and resources he could get once he brought Blossom under his rule. That would have to wait though…

Kazius finished skimming the map with a quick glance, looking over at the tall woman and smiled. “It is just an ability of mine, nothing to be worried about, I assure you. I did say I would be of use, right? You’ll find that in this form I will be able to take care of more problems than you realize.” He stated with a slight grin.

“I suppose as long as that is the case, that is satisfactory.” Sakura stated calmly, seeming a bit surprised but his confidence though her face hardly showed it.

“Since we will be working together, I would like to introduce you to my friends.” Kazius stated as he gazed over at the group. Damon seemed to be struggling between giving Kazius a concerned look and giving Lady Sakura this somewhat lost puppy kind of expression. The Werewolf had it bad for the woman.

“This is my best friend, Damon, you could say he is in charge of militaristic operations in our small settlement.” Kazius introduced, purposefully making his position grander than what it really was at the moment. He wanted to help his friend, but it would be beneficial for him.

At the sudden introduction, Damon would perk up, “Nice to meet you!” He exclaimed with a bit of a salute, clearly feeling flustered and awkward. His cheeks were a light pink. It was a surprise he didn’t stammer.

Lady Sakura seemed a bit surprised at the sudden volume of the Werewolf’s voice, a bit of confusion showing in her typically calm face. “A pleasure.” She stated politely to the taller male.

“This is Azanor, another comrade of mine as well as Eve… Consider them advisors of sorts… Last, but not least, there is Alice. My future wife.” Kazius stated quite bluntly, talking in a more direct manner than he once did… Or perhaps it was just the formal setting?

Alice at this would grow quite red, but she did not protest his introduction. Though they both knew it was too early in their relationship to speak that way, yet Kazius seemed to pay that little mind.

“I see… Good to have you all… I hope your abilities truly do prove of use… It is a bit… Unusual for me to receive help… But I suppose drastic times call for drastic measures…” Lady Sakura responded with a sigh. She seemed very reserved, then again… Rowan did say she pretends to be calm… Perhaps she was putting on airs for the sake of being a good ruler.

“As mentioned before… A Green Dragon has been causing trouble for us… At first it was Raiders being sent our way… But then it escalated. Reports I’ve received indicate that he instigated some of my own people to start uprising… He built a mountain of lies to sow unhappiness… And sadly, many listened and now seek for my death… I hate to admit it, but as things are, perhaps 20% of Blossom despises me based on the lies he fed them… I continue the ruling style of my father, as I always have… But now my actions only draw criticism from this group… They have already made several attempts on my life.” Lady Sakura explained.

Kazius nodded in understanding, though if Kazius was, honest… A lot did not make sense… He information certainly had to be flawed. For one he knew that Green Dragons were sneaky and conniving… And- Wait… How did he know that? He never interacted with dragons before… Well, he supposed it did not matter.

Bottomline was… For it to stir up trouble and allow so many roads to lead to him… That was strange… He didn’t know Green Dragons to be so sloppy… Something was definitely off… People being manipulated in such a way… That wasn’t something Kazius was unfamiliar with…

Kazius would look around at the security in the room… He didn’t trust Lady Sakura’s people… For the information about her to get this bad… Someone close to her must have manipulated something… But who?

“I think I have a good idea on how to get to the bottom of things…” Kazius admitted simply.

“I will help in your search for the Green Dragon… What is it’s name?” Kazius asked.

“I… I don’t know…” Lady Sakura admitted with a sigh.

This indeed only confirmed to Kazius something was strange… Dragons were proud of their titles… The older they were, the longer their names were. Even if Green Dragons would normally be more sneaky with their actions… You would at least know their name, they were too proud of their names to not have someone in the area they lived not hear it. Unlike involvement in nefarious actions, which they were eager to hide… For a local ruler to not even hear the name of a dragon in the area… Specially one as long lived as Lady Sakura… It was very suspicious. He would find the Green Dragon… And intended to talk to him.

While he was fond of the idea of practicing necromancy on something on the grand scale of a dragon, he needed practice and the value of Green Dragons was in their minds, not their force… So, he hoped to solve things amiably with him… And make him submit.

After all, with all the years he had of experience… While he tended to keep to himself and the Shadow Fiends, unless for a purpose, he…

‘I’m 18…I…’

Kazius began to think to himself.

‘No. It doesn’t matter. Why am I focusing on such foolish things?’

With that, Kazius would nod to himself, “I will solve this for you… Lady Sakura… I will personally look into this matter and contact you once we have further answers… I do hope I can have a promise of your cooperation once I have the information… It would be worthless without your willingness…”

“Of course… If you find out something useful. I will Cooperate the best extent I can…” Lady Sakura agreed.

She seemed so silly to him. She had quite the intimidating air to her… To some at least, not to him… But she was surprisingly trusting. Then again… With the scale of her palace… And how her people treated her except the revolutionaries… It was clear that she was worshipped like a goddess almost… And who would dare lie to a god? She likely had little experience with elaborate deception… And if what Rowan said is true… She wasn’t as calm about the change in attitude as she let on… She must be desperate.

Kazius chuckled mentally to himself. How perfect.

“Until next meeting then, Lady Sakura… I believe starting sooner the better.” Kazius stated, holding a hand to his chest in the slightest of vows. One similar to what royalty would do to each other in acknowledgement.