Late Evening - Mid Winter : Atlas Academy | Atlas, Bahamut

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*clack* *pour* We sat in silence as Sir Atsáli poured some kind of drink into a small barrel before inevitably pushing it to Krystallo.

It was an action he did out of nowhere, but I was so confused I couldn't say anything.

But his smile eventually started to fade. "You.. aren't joking?"

-Huh?- I immediately tilted my head. "What do you mean?"

He paused to give me an odd look before finally letting out a quick breath. "Hooh... Kid, how much do you know about your family?"

"Well, I'd like to say quite a bit." -But the way you're acting is making me doubt myself...-

"In that case, could you tell me why the Ragnarok family is held in such high esteem?" Grabbing two more small barrels off the shelves, he quickly started filling them with alcohol.

"It's because of Atlas, is it not?" I responded as if the answer were obvious.

But he just scoffed. "Maybe to some, but if you think your family is able to hold nearly a hundred thousand dragons in the palm of their paw because of everyone else's respect for Atlas, you are gravely mistaken."

My expression quickly turned curious.

"You have too much faith in us as a species, Vasilias... If he was Bahamut, you would be correct, but Atlas didn't have that kind of presence." He continued as he pushed the small barrel of alcohol to me. "I would love to say that we dragons hold onto and respect honor forever, but unfortunately, the more time that passes, the more the weight of honor from our ancestors lightens, and the more people forget it ever existed in the first place."

My eyes instantly widened; he hit the nail square on the head. -But if people's honor and respect for Bahamut are already starting to fade...- "Then what upholds the Ragnarok name?"

He gave me a serious look before responding simply. "Money, strength, and blood." His voice was without an ounce of hesitation or uncertainty. "In her current state, you may see your grandmother as a young lass who is just beginning to see the world for what it really is, but if you give her a few hundred years, she will turn into a monster that even the strongest dragons would do anything to curry the favor of... However, what do you think they can give a family that already has enough gold to build an island out of it and enough cities, resources, and skilled subordinates to essentially rule the world?"

I immediately hesitated before finally speaking with some uncertainty. "Loyalty?"

He nodded right away. "And with loyalty being something even common folk can pay, not only has their influence grown, but people's trust that their loyalty will be repaid has deepened; after all, if people retain their loyalty to the Ragnaroks for long enough, their taxes in Ragnarok-owned cities will be slashed. That single repayment caused their influence to spread like wildfire, to the point that even the two other major families could no longer escape from beneath their influence; however, among those two, the Chalastís family were the only ones to embrace it."

The Chalastís family was one of the three major families from the great war and were a family that was meant to rival the Ragnaroks. -But while we grew our power and influence, they simply accumulated money like treasure hoarders.-

But that was exactly what made them love us so much. -Alleviated taxes would essentially double or triple their profits, and that isn't even including that they can use our influence for their own gain...- After falling into thought for a moment, I eventually spoke up. "So, are you trying to say that the Chalastís auction is beneath me?"

He immediately smiled. "Well, you are a Ragnarok, are you not? If you want something from the auction, you could simply ask them, and they would sell it to you for cheap if not just outright give it to you."

"I mean, sure, but we can't go around touting the family name until the festival in 8 years." My smile finally returned as I tossed the small barrel into my mouth. "Plus, it would be more fun to attend regardless of that."

"Ah, is that so." He immediately started to clam up a bit. "In that case, the auction is held the day after tomorrow in the Southern Hall of the academy. Anyone affiliated with the academy is able to attend, so if you are to speak to the headmaster, he could get you a VIP spot, but if not, you could use the Whyte family name as well."

"Hm, I see..." I quickly started to fall into thought again before promptly tensing up. "Wait, it's in the academy?"

He quickly nodded. "When the Chalastís family originally built it, it was meant to be a massive gathering hall for their businesses to host auctions, gatherings, and parties in, but once they realized it was quite unnecessary, they eventually changed it to be the academy we know of today, and only hold their biggest auctions in it."

-Ah, that's quite convenient...- But while it was convenient, it raised some of my worries. "Does the Chalastís family still have influence over the academy?"

He gave me a confused look before responding plainly. "Absolutely. They could shut down the entire place and turn it into a field of grass if they wished."

-So they are the ones with all the power...- My suspicions only worsened. "In that case, were they the ones to choose the headmaster?"

"No, but he typically has to report everything he does to them, and if they wish for something to be done, he cannot object. Although after seeing how successful the academy was, they rarely do anything besides things related to the auction."

"Ah, is that so..." I responded with a blank expression as my mind started to wander, questioning who I should really be pointing fingers at, but eventually I snapped out of it. -I should just ask Mother about that when we get back... But in any case...- "It seems like we will be going to the auction then... Before that though, I need some money."

His smile widened instantly. "Right, you said you had some mythril for me?"

"Well, of course." I smiled, thinking it would be a quick deal, but little did I know, it would be another hour before he even gave us the opportunity to leave.

But eventually, after his endless barrage of questions about where I got the mythril and how much more he could get came to an end, he let us out, and we finally made our way home.

But the questioning continued; the only difference was the identity of the interrogator.

"So, is that all money you can spend right now? When are you going to go create an account with the bank like Sir Atsáli suggested? Can I hold it until you deposit it?" Krystallo's eyes simply had money signs in them from the moment she first heard Sir Atsáli say how much was in the pouch he gave me.

But it's not like I could blame her; even for me, it was a sum way beyond what I imagined. -But why should I complain?- *cl-cl-clink* A warm smile came to my face as I tossed her the coins. "I'll take it to the bank in the morning. Do you want to hold onto them until then?"

Her eyes instantly lit up. "ABSOLUTELY!"

Her enthusiasm hit me like the warmth of the sun, quickly lightening my mood and making the trek home quite a bit more enjoyable.

However, once we eventually got back, I needed to shift gears once again.

"Hehehe~" Just after we got back, Krystallo made her way back to her room with the pouch of money and a wide grin on her face, but my smile had already faded by then.

"Welcome back, my lord!" Chloe quickly greeted me as I walked inside, but now wasn't the time for conversation.

"Is Mother in her office?"

She nodded immediately. "She is. Would you like to speak with her?"

"Yes, if you could prepare that."

"Right away!" She quickly straightened up before making her way down the adjacent hallway but almost immediately returned with a much older maid.

The older woman bowed the moment she came up to me. "Young master, the Missus wishes to see you."

-Good timing.- "Alright, please lead the way."

Quickly following the maid down the hallway, we came up to Mother's office and promptly opened the doors. *Click-fwoosh*

As they swung open, a blast of chilly air rushed past me, but contrarily, Mother's expression was incredibly warm. "I heard about what you did in the combat assessments this morning... You know it made your name spread around like wildfire, right?" Her words sounded like she was trying to warn me, but her voice was full of pride.

Quickly finding my way inside, I found the comfiest cushion and promptly sat down. "I sort of figured that would happen. The students liked how I taught so much that they tried to get me to teach every class for the whole day. Plus, I can't deny that I made an impression on several of the professors as well."

The pride in her expression only grew as I spoke. "Hoho~, it sounds like my sweetie is starting to get recognized by the world."

I immediately let out an awkward laugh. "Haha, not quite. I still need to lay on the low because of Asgard, but as long as I don't trip on any of their wires, I should be alright..." I paused to think about the situation for a moment before continuing. "In any case, I need to ask you about a few things."

She immediately straightened up her posture. "What is it?"

"The headmaster and the Chalastís family. How much can we realistically trust them..."

She was immediately taken aback. "What makes you ask that?"

-Well...- "I have some suspicions about the headmaster, and since he has to report everything to the Chalastís family, I can't exactly take any suspicions away from them either."

She gave me an odd look before speaking. "I understand where you are coming from, but at the same time, the headmaster is certainly not someone who betrayed Lord Bahamut."

"But..." I felt a little back to be throwing out accusations so baselessly, but at the same time, I couldn't shake my suspicions. "How can you be so sure?"

"Vasilias." Her expression quickly turned serious. "The group that still prays and worships Lord Bahamut. Do you know their name?"

"Well, it's Latreía, isn't it?" I responded instantly as if the name was already on my mind.

But that's because it was. -Wait.. isn't that the headmaster's last name?-

My suspicions got tied into a knot almost instantly.

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