The Quantum Wanderer

We get to Edward’s home and we are takes to the front door.  The door opens, and Edward’s butler is holding a card, making this weird face, as if something is out of place.

“Excuse me, is everything alright?” I ask.

“Yes, sir.  Your butler updated the card for your arrival announcement…  Dragonlord Marcelo?  It is rather…  Unusual…”

I am going to have to have a talk with Rudolph.

“Just announce me as Marcelo, that is enough.”

Edward saw us by the door, and came around when he saw us talking to his butler.

“What happened here?”

I replied.

“Rudolph apparently decided to change the arrival announcement behind my back.”

Edward grabbed the card from his butler, read it, and just boomed laughing.  Now everyone was looking this way.

The butler shrugged, and announced.

“Sir Marcelo, and wives!”

I wish Edward would stop laughing, it wasn’t *that* funny.  We enter the party with him, and go to Anthon.  Anthon is talking to a group of men and he must be describing something wonderful, because they are making some faces, and scratching their chins.  Anthon looks at the girls and me.

“And here he is.”

“Huh?  What is going on, your excellency?”

“Not much.  I was talking to them about the glass treasure you unearthed on one of your adventures…  You know, the supposed map of the lost land…”

Opal made a face of disdain.

“You do realize that it’s not that hard right?”

She grabs her holding bag, inside her purse, and brings out a glass sculpture.  It is around 1 foot big.  It is a female dragon, with a very tiny human riding it.

I had know that she was playing with sand, and making some glass artwork, but I never did look at it.  I only knew the glass thing because she asked me for some pure sand, and we found some river sand in Drakonia.  Everything is so recent, and so much has been happening.  I really have to pay more attention to the girls and their hobbies.

The piece is beautiful.  The dragoness is looking up, her neck stretching up.  The details on the wings are magnificent, the details on the tiny human are marvelous.

There is a red dot under the neck, and I can see some mana path ways designed on the glass, ending on the dragon’s mouth.

“Opal, can we let then hold it and look it up close?”

“Of course, my lord, consider it yours.”

I pass the sculpture to Anthon, and he exams it.  I tell him to push just a little mana on the red dot, and the dragon spits some fire up.  Anthon just keeps looking at the glass sculpture.

“Can I see it?” Edward extends his hand.  Anthon takes a very long time before obliging.  Edward proceeds to also inject a little mana on the statue.  This time the flame is higher, he place too much mana in it.

When I look ourselves, I can see that there is a lot of people at the statue in Edward’s hands.

“Did you make this?”

“Yes, I created that little trinket.”

“How long did you take to do this?”

“Not much, it was just something I did to pass the time…  I couldn’t stand not presenting something finer than a bunch of wholes on some melt sand to my lord…”

It was my turn to recognize this girl’s talent.  I embraced her.

“Opal, you really surprised me in a good way.  It is fantastic.  I will treasure it.”

Then I kiss her on the cheek.  She look smiles, and I can hear a very low ‘he he he’.  I place the piece inside my holding bag, so that it doesn’t break.

After everyone settles down a little bit, we get to talk to Edward and Anthon.

“Hi.”

“Hey.  What is that sculpture?  It’s insane.  Our artisans have some trouble working with glass.  I hear that it is not an easy product to work with.”

“All the merit belongs to Opal.  It was her work.  I have to actually take a look at what the other girls are doing as well.  But the fire mana vein was a nice touch.”

“I don’t suppose you would like to sell it…?”

“This one is going to above the fireplace.  But you can ask her for a piece, it’s up to her.  I don’t force my girls to do anything.”

“Lady Opal, would you mind creating a piece for us?  Please?”

Opal looked at me, and I gestured her that she would be ok doing that.  I whispered in her ear.

“Dear, no one is forcing you to do anything.  You can do as you please.” 

Looking at this long ear, up close…  I get a little mischievous and do a little bite at the tip.

She jerks with a little ‘hum’ and gets red in the face.  Then she gets back to her normal demeanor.

“Sure, I will see what I can come  up with.”

Anthon and Edward are obviously excited with the idea.

“So, other than that, what is new?  The city is really excited with the last things that happened.”

Edward looks around, as if he is going to provide something juicy.

“What was the pillar of fire in the demon empire?  We have heard from some that there was a pillar of fire, in the direction of the demon’s empire capital.”

“Rajesh and Opal decided to prepare a surprise behind my back…  So when we got to the demon empire capital, the dragons basically put up a show.”

Edward scratches his chin, and throws a look to Anthon, that raises an eyebrow.  They then start to giggle, until they start laughing.

“What happened?”

Edward was the one that answered.

“The information we had was about this huge pilar of fire.  But when seeing a pilar of fire and dragons, the first thing someone thinks is that it is a pity that something no longer exists.  As in, ‘well, I am not going to be able to visit that place again.’

“Because it generally is turned to ashes.

“But the country that borders the demons is Arthuria.  And they moved their troops, on assumption that the demons capital was razed to the ground.  They intend on trying to do a quick attack, and obtain some land.

“But doing quick attacks on fortresses that are well fed is…  Futile.  And recently, the demons have got more powerful.  Our intel says that they have more mages available for war effort, besides their new strategic squad that is using dragon material.”

Anthon added.

“Well, it’s not like I ever liked this war, or Arthuria, for that matter.  I just wished I could see that idiot’s face.”

They laughed again.  Apparently I am not the only one that is not fond of Lirastra.

We continue to chit chat through the night, Edward is apparently delighted to share my nickname in the guild with Anthon.  And also the reason behind it.  And Cecilia’s nickname as well.

I have a lot of fun.  Opal is being offered obscene amounts of coins to provide a sculpture.  After she got the order from Anthon and Edward, now it was apparent that a noble would have his honor hanging on the fact that they possessed a glass sculpture from the new sensation in town.

The next couple of days go by normally.  In the morning, I start my [demon] lessons with Siratra.  Although the dragonesses can also speak [demon], but their knowledge on the languages is too instinctive to teach anyone. 

On the afternoon of the first day I visit Leopold, and on the other I visit Andrew.  I tell them some of the stories.  Leopold is not stressing about details anymore, I think he grew kind of numb to the stuff happening.  He did have fun with the drunk guy’s story, though.

When I mentioned the party to Andrew, he actually sounded nostalgic.  I told him that he could live among the demons, there should not be any discrimination any more.  Talking with him reminded me of how long this war with the demons was going on.

Andrew mentioned that there were too many interests in the war.  On the human side, there was the prejudice from the church, that tried to preach that humans should reign on other races, and the demons was the biggest one of them.  There were other races, sure, but their numbers were way smaller.  On the side of Arthuria, they were interested in the gems produced by the demons, and they wanted to keep the war going.  As the country that actually bordered the front, they received a lot of monetary incentives to keep fighting.

At first, this was a good idea, but then it created a whole economics system around the war. 

Those two powers ended up controlling the human’s council, and then controlled other human nations indirectly.

The good news about that is the peace between human countries, the treaty against border changes.  But it did not forbid soldiers from acting as hoodlums once and again.  Specially Arthuria, that was the most corrupt among the three of them.  The church had very strict rules, and allowed for corruption, but only when that corruption would be to it’s interests.  High clergy could get away with bizarre crimes, but their armies could not.

Three days later, it was time to start school for the girls.  After our morning activities and breakfast, I accompany them to school.  The classes start at what they call mid-morning, around 9:00.  Since the day starts at sunrise, there is enough time.

Cecilia is starting with magic theory, mana manipulation, and then each school of magic has their own classes.  Magic theory could be interesting, my learning method was mostly practical, but I don’t really feel like going back to school at this point.

Siratra is going for math, finance and logistics.  I told her that I could help with some of it, either another angle of explanation or additional exercises.  Depending on whether finance would include the tax laws, that I did not know anything about.  I only knew that adventurers were exempt.

The dragonesses are going for Sword, Axe, Lance and Unarmed classes.  I told them that relying on their natural speed and strength would impede on their growth.  They should try to learn the skills in the training, so that they became stronger.  Use the classes to improve themselves, to be able to face bigger enemies.  And if they relied on power, they wouldn’t be able to learn much.

I don’t know if I should buy a carriage for the girls.  The way to the academy would be faster.  I have to think of a way to improve on the experience.  They are going to walk almost 2 miles to school.  It’s a longer walk than usual.  Not really comfortable.  The second thing is the time spent.  If walking normally, they are going to spend some 45 minutes each way, with some transportation this time can be cut short.

I am thinking about buying a carriage.  It would be inconspicuous, just something a noble would be expected to have.  People already see that I live in the noble’s district, so this would not be too far away from what is expected.

With that in mind, I decide to pay a visit to Edward.  I go to his house, and I am informed that he has gone to the schools.  This is a nice day for a walk, so I decide to go there.  I am not terribly busy.

I get to the campus, and walk around the schools a little bit.  I only walk on the public part of the campus, I am on my way to meet Edward, in the Command school.

There is large road in the middle, and then two different groups of people walking around each side.  The mages, using robes similar to the one Cecilia has acquired, with books, reading and talking.  And on the other side, the group of people using simple plate armor, with some pieces of metal here and there.  The Knight school.

I follow the road to the Command school, at the end of the road.  A much smaller set of buildings.  I have already been to Edward’s office, and I go there.  I announce myself to a young military like personnel, and I am taken inside Edward’s office.

“Hello, what can I do for you?”

“I was thinking of buying a carriage for the girls to come to school.  Either that or some place that we can use to do a portal to.  People might be scared with a  portal spell in the middle of the school.”

“I see.  Well, for now you guys can just get a ride with me.  I will let you know in advance if I don’t come, but I should be doing my job, right?”

“Isn’t it going to be a bother?”

“Not really.  I might even get some insight into what is going on with the students.  I have heard, for instance, that professor Ambrose might be trying to get some additional math from Siratra.”

“I don’t mind, as long as she doesn’t.  The math I have taught her is basic math. She has to assimilate it, and do some exercises.  I think she is having fun with that, the professor is probably going to have some fun as well.”

“And what about you?  What are you going to do?”

“Well, there are a couple of things I would like to investigate.  I want to be able to create a Comm Gem for the girls.  I even thought of creating a carriage myself.  This whole carriage thing is not really to my liking, though.”

“Why?”

“Simply put, too much maintenance.  To have the carriage, I have have a stable for the horses, the horses, someone to take care of the horses, then the carriage maintenance.  The only advantage is being able to ride it to school.  But it is something that happens every day, so I am kind of divided on the subject.

“Other than that, if I have to go somewhere, the worst that I need is to go outside the city, away from eyes, or use a closed room in a guild.”

“Hummm…  I can provide you with a room in the dormitory.  Once the girls end the class, you can portal them home.  As for the Comm Gem, it seems that you want a set, not really learning how to do them.  Do you know why they are so rare here?”

“I thought they were just rare.”

“They are this rare because they are mined in the demons’ empire.  It is one of their primary export products.  That is also part of the reason why their military is better organized than ours.”

I scratch my chin.  This changes things a lot.  I already know how it works.  Deconstructing the magic around it is possible, but it is not something that I want to keep doing.  I think I will ask Rajesh for a place to buy a set.

“That actually solves a lot of issues at once.  How much is the room in the dormitory?”

“You’re kidding, right?  I already punished the lady that asked your girls to pay for the tuition, in spite of my warnings against it.  I will just provide you a normal room, in the girls dorm, and that should suffice.  Unless you want something bigger.”

“Nope, one room is enough.”

“Alright.  Anything else I can help you with?”

“No, I am good.  Do you mind if I portal to Rajesh’s?”

“Be my guest.”

I stand up, and I open a portal to Rajesh’s guest room in the palace, and close it. 

***

Edward POV

After Marcelo is gone, I sit down a little.  I go outside my room, and professor Ambrose is there.

“Where is he?”

“Where is whom?”

“I heard that Professor Marcelo was on the campus, that he was here.”

“He was here, you just missed him.  Did you have anything you wanted to ask him?”

“Of course!  Everything!  He is a beacon of knowledge in our era.  His numbers, the way he thinks about them, is divine!  Why isn’t he our colleague yet?”

“I don’t think he would be interested.”

“Did you ask?  By the gods!  We have to have him!  What are you doing?”

“May I remind you, professor, that you are speaking to the dean?”

“Oh, sure, of course.  Do you think I might be able to catch him?  Which way did he go?”

“I don’t think that will be possible.  Wait a minute…  Shouldn’t you be teaching a class?”

“You want to compare a meeting with Marcelo to teaching a bunch of morons?  That don’t even understand what is the power of knowledge?  Bah!”

He turns around and walks away.  I hope he is going back to the classroom.  I go to my secretary’s table, he was watching the whole exchange, he is livid.

“I swear I tried stopping him, dean.  But…”

“Don’t worry about that.  Find a room in the women’s dormitory, it is going to be provided for 4 knights, one mage and a student in the Command school…”

***

Marcelo’s POV

I get to Rajesh’s palace, the room that I always use for the portals.  I can hear some noises behind me.

“Main tumhen bata raha hoon, yahaan koee nahin aata. yah vah kamara hai jahaan Wraxs utarata hai…”

There is a guard, he has his backs to me.  He is standing in front of a sofa, he has his back to me.  By the noise, I can assume that there is someone sitting on the couch in front of him, giving him something.

I go to the side.  There is a demoness behind the guard, and she is giving him a blowjob.

“Hello.”

“Laanat hai!”

She is livid.  She zips up his pants with all the strength she could muster, but his stuff is on the outside.  Yes, he gets caught, and screams.  Then he notices me.

Both of them kowtow on the floor, and now a couple of guards open the door.  One of them stays, and the other one is running.  The guard kowtowing is trying to keep the pose, but he is going through a lot of pain.

A couple of minutes later, there are half a dozen guards in the room, with Rajesh.  Rajesh sees the scene, and he is livid.

I manage a ‘koee baat nahin’, that in [demon] means ‘no problem’.

Rajesh then looks at me, with an intrigued face.

“That’s all I can say in [demon] right now…” and I give a smile.

He turns to the guards, tell them something, and they take the two lovers out.

“I am sorry about this, my friend.  Truly, truly sorry.”

“Don’t worry about that.  I came unannounced.  The whole thing was funny, anyway.  The guy is already being punished.”

“Oh, it didn’t even start.”

“Please don’t punish him because of me.  I will understand if you have to keep the order among the military ranks, but he did not offend me.”

“Alright, it shall be done.  But even if it didn’t offend you, it offended me.  This is my home, he is not a guest.  He is working here.  He is here to prevent others from doing exactly what he was doing here.”

He got close, and sat on the couch farther from where the two were.  I picked up a chair in the corner and used it.  Neither of us were getting close to that couch.

“I want to buy a set of Comm Gems.  I was told that this is a product I can find around.”

“Sure.  How big do you want your set?”

“Huh?”

“The Comm Gems are found together, inside geodes.  They are already born this way.  We cut around the nuclei of each, and they can communicate between themselves.  We add the runes so that they can send and receive the voices to and from the nucleus, but they have to come from the same geode to be born paired.  How many do you need in the set?  If the set is for you, at least 7?”

I thought a little bit.  This is not something that can be added later, because it has to use entangled electrons for it to work.

“At least 7.  Does the price go up too much after that?”

“After 10, they start to get rarer and rarer.  You’d also have the problem of making sure they are all safe.”

“Can I have 10, then?  That should leave me a couple of extras ones.  Where can I buy them?  How much does it cost?”

“You jest, friend.  Your money is no good here.  I will have the gems ready in a couple of days.”

He looks around.

“Where are your wives?  Did you leave them at home?”

“Actually, they are at school.  The dragonesses are taking fighting lessons, Cecilia is taking magic lessons, and Siratra is taking some generic lessons?  Math, finance, stuff like that.”

“Why do the dragonesses need fighting lessons?”

“The way they fight is too based on natural strength.  They don’t really have technique, and it can help them to go above their strength a little.  They can learn to fight smarter instead of just pouring strength.”

“And how is Siratra doing in her lessons?”

“I don’t know.  They just started.”

“But surely you could teach Siratra if you wanted?”

“Not really.  Part of the way I learned was using books.  It would be very hard for me to plan a way to chain the knowledge, so that I can teach.  I can teach her, and you, stuff, but those are pointers.  Not really a knowledge platform.  I don’t have that skill, actually.”

“Interesting…”

Rajesh rings a bell, and a butler comes along.  He asks the butler something, and the butler answers.

“Before we continue, I have asked him to get your Comm Gems, they should be ready in a couple of days.”

“Thank you, I appreciate.”

“Now, there are a couple of things that I would like to run by you…”

Rajesh mentioned that the humans’ army was moving in a weird way.  They were mobilizing, but there was not an improvement in quantity from the back lines.  He just made sure that I was good with whatever happened in the war.  I made sure he knows that I am not going to interfere, that I am completely neutral in this conflict.

We chit chat about how the party went, the funny moments, the issue with the drunk that he had missed.  It was fun.

After sometime, I see that the day is ending, and I portal home.  A little bit later, the girls are arriving as well.

Everyone is excited over dinner.  The dragonesses are mentioning how much effective learning fighting skills can be, they actually thank me.  Cecilia says that some of the stuff she is seeing was already known.  I tell her that knowing the theory can help her go beyond.  She could construct stuff, like the air magic modification to the fire spell.  She told me that she would pay attention to what they are teaching.  A lot of the students are younger than they are, and there have been some jokes around that.  The dragonesses have all gained flowers during the day.  They don’t understand why would someone gift them flowers.  They are dead, and about to decay.  They can’t be eaten, they taste terrible.