A Dragon’s Curiosity

 

Taking another sip of the delicious juice, Nisha observed the bartender closely, the little bit of trust and reliability faded away like smoke as the man contradicted himself.

Even if the [Unknown] bar was in the business of connecting people with each other, everything the elf had seen so far indicated that they took privacy very seriously.

For the bartender to volunteer information of his own volition in lieu of an apology, it went against everything the establishment stood for.

Apparently, he also managed to sense the doubts of the elf, as he provided additional explanation.

“It’s really not a problem. Part of our business is to connect two suitable parties with each other according to their respective needs.”

Nisha was not really convinced by his reasoning, even if they facilitated meetups, it went against their code of conduct to freely give away secrets.

Beasts were just too different from regular humans.

She had never expected other ones except for herself to live in the capital, and they even formed their own small circle.

Encountering them was a lucky coincidence and not even intended by the dragon, yet it was doubtful if the information was accurate and not a trap instead.

It was questionable if a kingdom would ever allow a foreign species to reside in their cities among themselves.

Due to the nature of Grand Marshal's Luthais Dharnas, Nisha was more than aware how serious the guard was in protecting the city and had a vague understanding on this matter.

“Whatever you say. I will take it into consideration, then.”

Although she said that on the surface, the elf never intended to actually follow up on the suggestion.

Even if there was a hidden crowd of beasts inside Thurgau, there were bound to be other ways to find them instead.

“It’s just that I find it hard to believe that you can make such decisions when it comes to a temple oath.

Erring on the side of caution is better, lest the punishment for breaking the vow gets triggered.”

 

The dragon originally wanted to finish her juice and then go back home, not willing to get involved any further.

Nevertheless, the unresolved discrepancy continued to bother her, so halfway through her second glass, she spoke up again.

She often visited the [Seven Stars Church] and went to the Life and Death Hall to meet up with Miss Thana, either drinking tea or simply chatting about casual matters.

Thanks to that, the dragon acquired a good understanding of the church and its methods.

Each Hall had a spirit in charge of it, which Nisha was only barely able to see with her [Spirit Sights], as a result of worship and prayers every day.

In the dragon’s opinion, it was quite likely that they were a form of elementals, fostered by the idolization and worship of believers.

Temple oaths were overseen by them and the understanding between a regular human and a spirit did not always match up.

Even if the pledger personally thought they kept to the terms of the vow, the spirit in charge of the hall might judge it differently.

Skirting around the edges of an oath was not recommended, divine punishment was not to be taken lightly.

“Haha, thank you for the concern. Actually, the group wants us to keep a lookout for potential new members anyway, they don’t mind at all.

On top of that, every employee has indeed sworn an oath and is not allowed to leak information, that much is certain.

Anyone can check that out, it’s public and registered in the temple.

It’s just that for some reason, people assume that everyone is included in a blanket statement like that and don’t bother to figure out if their assumption is true or not.

The boss is not part of the employees, for example.”

Chuckling to himself, the bartender put away the bottles for the elf’s juice once again, being especially careful while handling the pot with the honey.

Due to the multifarious number of offspring, insects rarely stuck to a single element and grouped together in kingdoms and armies instead.

[Army Honey Bees] picked an elevated position for their hive, where the queen bee resided for her entire life.

Once the initial base was completed, the queen produced soldiers in charge of gathering pollen and forming the army, elites that guarded the hive and composed the royal guard and lastly generals, the only male bees and mates of the queen.

Their strength got progressively stronger with each tier, making a hive easily range from the lowest first rank grunts to third rank powerhouses ready to throw away their lives to protect their queen.

In order to gather their honey, the job either needed a fourth rank cultivator to completely overpower them or a specialised expert with knowledge how to handle bees to get completed.

The price for their honey was accordingly high, similar to a fourth level ingredient on the market.

 

“Isn’t it kind of dishonest to mislead others like that? Your reputation will suffer if they find out.”

Nisha similarly lost some of the respect and trust she had when the man showed off his dependability and broad back.

She even wondered what sort of weird luck she had to have in order to run into the owner of the bar the first time she visited at all.

At least it made sense, he was wrapped in two layers of illusion and had a cultivation level that was hard to estimate for the elf.

Suffice to say, it was at least above her own, yet the specifics were hard to estimate thanks to the man’s secrecy.

Suddenly, she had a flash of inspiration and looked at him with even more suspicion.

He never said he was the boss himself! What if that was just a broad statement to mislead me as well?!

Overall, the entire place was draped in contradictions.

From the outside, it looked like a proper business in a sea of run down buildings, sticking out like a sore thumb.

Inside the bar itself, the theme continued with a lavish bar counter and tastefully arranged seating arrangements, private spaces centred around a table and several chairs.

With the generous decorations and fancy accessoires, the place exuded a high class atmosphere without ending up being tacky or overdone.

Nevertheless, the guests either had reservations to show their face in public or wanted to avoid openly coming into contact with the dark underside of the city.

Those that met them might not have minded to show their faces, yet their identities were a problem in itself, as they either belonged to the Thieves Guild or wandered along the edge of the law in similar matters.

Although some of them would not like to make their presence known either, as the City Guards had outstanding arrest warrants on them.

Whatever shady deal it was, the [Unknown] bar could connect them to each other and facilitate an exchange.

By doing that, the establishment took their share of the profit and everyone involved won.

Order and chaos, two diametrically opposed forces peacefully existed alongside each other in this place.

 

“Don’t say that, dishonest is such an ugly word. I’ve never spoken a single lie, to the best of my knowledge.

People are just really bad at asking the right questions, at least in my opinion.”

Apparently the bartender was amused by his own observation, he chuckled as he tossed his towel in a pile of used ones and retrieved a pristine and clean new one from a drawer.

Staffing a bar meant a never ending amount of work in the form of dirty cups, countless stains on the counter and a ton of small tasks that kept the entire place running.

Nisha saw that the man had no intention of ever admitting to his faults, deflecting any queries with his work and evasive words.

Ultimately it did not matter to the dragon whether there were any shenanigans going on or not in this place, it was not going to affect her in any way either.

With a critical eye, she eyed the remaining amount of juice in her glass, it definitely dropped low way faster than the girl intended.

Nisha deliberately took small sips to extend the joy, but somehow it was not working, very strange.

“In the end, it all comes down to professionalism.

Here at [Unknown], we provide all services with only one thing in mind.

The venue guarantees anonymity, security and convenience.

Because of the location in the slums, anyone from the lowest thief to the highest noble can access the place without restrictions.

Multiple exits ensure that leaving without pursuers is possible at any time as well.”

While he was most likely still not admitting to his faults, the bartender most likely became aware that his lacksidal attitude was a bit too over the top for an employee.

 

“Although we have food of good quality available, there are several convenient options in the common district and noble district that are just a tad more exquisite.

For the liquor, while our selection is top of the shelf, there are similar alternatives, which are cheaper.

Of course, neither of those shortcomings are because our establishment is inferior, everything is a calculated business move.

We, at [Unknown], provide room for discussion.

On the first floor, there’s seating arrangements combined with formations to establish a connection between interested parties.

And on the second floor, we have several private rooms for a more in-depth discussion, to seal the deal after determining the specifics.

Whether it is an exchange of goods or services rendered, this bar is the perfect choice to meet for buyer and seller.

It is the strict professionalism and thorough confidentiality that gives our customers peace of mind.

The temple oath is more of an assurance than a requirement in that regard.”

While it was delivered in a dispassionate tone of voice and a surface level of disinterest, it was clear how much it meant to the man to have shaped [Unknown] into the place it was.

Nisha had not guessed that so much detail and thought went into the setup, but she was impressed nonetheless.

On a fundamental level, it was very smart too.

If the level of the amenities was too outstanding, guests would come for the food and beverages instead of the original purpose, anonymity.

By deliberately staying a step behind other places or setting the price just a tad higher compared to them, it filtered out the crowd the bar did not want to have as their customers.

“And the guards do nothing despite knowing about this place?”

Nisha wondered whether she should stay silent about this or ask Luthais if the guards had any plans for the bar.

 

“Of course they know. In normal circumstances, the City Guard would not tolerate an establishment with a main focus on serving criminals and fulfilling their needs, but it’s different in our case.

There are no arrests tolerated while our guests, and because of that no crimes take place here either.

On normal occasions, neither the guards nor the Thieves Guilds would interact with each other under any circumstances, yet they can keep an avenue of contact open.

Should extraordinary incidents take place, it’s possible to settle them without breaking convention.”

Nisha had to agree, if the guards ever talked to the higher ups of the Thieves Guilds, it would lead to a scandal that would influence the highest noble circles and get investigated by the King’s own men.

But if they met with concealed identities and figured out a solution in private, then a lot of problems could get settled before it reached that stage.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you for taking your time.”

Sadly, the elf had finished her glass of juice, all too soon in her opinion.

It really made her wonder whether there was some trickery involved, but not even her [Spirit Sight] caught any sneaky thieves.

“Ah, I never caught your name. I’m Nisha.”

There was no harm in introducing herself. Although the dragon never planned to take up the bartender on his offer to introduce her to the group of beasts in the capital, it was good to make an introduction at least.

“A name, huh? Just ask for Niko, if I’m not around.”

For a moment, she wondered if the name was fake, he gave the same doubtful vibes as before.

Ultimately, it did not matter if it helped her find him.

“I’ll get going then.”

Picking up her shiny glass, Nisha jumped off the high chair and walked towards the exit.

“Hey! Wait a moment! The glass is property of the bar, you can’t take that!”

Genuinely surprised for the first time, the bartender Niko called out to her while Nisha left through the front door, not worried about being recognized at all.

She had her suspicions when he refilled her glass instead of bringing a new one, but he really had planned to take it back!

After taking her silver and presenting such a sparkling treasure, it was not good manners to covet her treasures.

Ignoring the voice calling her name, Nisha wandered off in direction of the Dharnas compound.