Petra knew this day would come!
"So—" she said with a dry laugh. "Ha ha ha! W-we meet again..." Petra then went quiet...
All the female servants looked over, amusement swimming in their eyes. As it would turn out, it was finally their turn to eat melon seeds!
Between the two girls, the younger one, 'Nenl Azurefell', planted her hands on her hips and huffed. "You're really bad! You cheated us so casually that we didn't even question it back then!"
Petra stayed quiet.
The older woman, 'Lalume Azurefell', crossed her arms. Her sleeves brushed together with a soft, restrained swish as she grumbled in an indignant tone. "Little girl, don't you think you should return our money? After all, you lied to us! Now that you're caught..."
Petra stayed even quieter.
She shrank her neck…
Did she have to?
She really didn't want to!
Nenl stepped forward and scolded, "You tricked us in the end! And here I thought we could be friends!"
Mm, indeed, Petra had met these two girls before…
The first time she had met them was when she was traveling to Sevensen for the first time. She had encountered them while looting the golden wolf king, which, on a side note, had become a permanent light fixture in the Verdelith Castle! The second time was at the Grand Gathering in Imai, when they had stopped at her small candy stall as paying patrons. Petra had gotten away with it back then because her face was not well known, but… It seemed that they had 'finally' 'caught on'.
Mm, it was about time, too…
Back then, Petra had taken some money from them after ever so kindly 'tipping them off' on the twins' last location. Of course, being the protector of the two, she naturally didn't 'tip them off' in the right direction! That had been nearly two years ago! After the Grand Gathering, Petra and her known companions, which naturally included the twins, had become very public, so it was only normal that they would eventually realize they'd been completely fooled by this little green-haired girl.
So, they were understandably angry!
At the time, they had paid Petra ten crystal coins for a single hint.
That was an absurd amount of money—especially for the 'mortal' Petra back then.
The only reason Petra had gotten away with it was because she had the twins' bloodstained clothes in her possession. To any outsider, that looked like proof, no, it definitely was proof! Proof that she knew something no one else did! Who could've guessed the real reason she had them was far simpler?
Instead of fining them, Petra had taken the twins in as servants...
What made it even more ridiculous was the fact that Petra was actually younger than they were, both in appearance and in real age! (In this life) Because of this, nobody would have guessed the truth!
Now that she was caught—
Petra coughed, her face reddening.
"I-I-I… do I know you?" she asked weakly.
…It was a belated attempt…
Nenl squinted her eyes, clearly not believing it, no, not even for a sliver of a second! Petra had a very distinct face, so normally it would be impossible to mistake her for anyone else!
'Normally…'
But unfortunately for Nenl, there were currently several small green-haired girls wandering around the capital who looked uncannily alike.
Her expression wavered, just for a blink, but—
Lalume wasn't fooled at all…
In fact, it was a laughable attempt! Unlike her little sister, Lalume wasn't an idiot!
Her eyes slowly shifted past Petra, sweeping toward the two twins literally sitting only a short distance away! They were still sorting through the boxes, seemingly only half aware of the confrontation. They had yet to look over and acknowledge their family.
Mm, perhaps this was intentional...
Petra rubbed her forehead. Ah! What a pain! This was what people meant by being caught in the act!
Lalume exhaled through her nose. "We've only met you a handful of times, and yet, every single time we've met, you've asked about the twins! It's on purpose, right?"
Petra rocked on her butt, nodding awkwardly. Mm, indeed, it was…
In the end, who would know more about the Azurefell Family than the Azurefell Family?
"You—you laugh, act all cute and confused… but in the end, you're just a troublemaker, aren't you?"
Bingo! She hit it right on the head!
Petra nodded again.
Nenl pointed at her. "Stop nodding!"
Petra nodded, then froze, then chuckled.
Lalume's gaze darkened. "You understand why that's a problem, right? Hum! Because if you seriously don't, then we'll have to take away the twins!"
Petra nodded very seriously! Mm, no, wait…
Something wasn't right…
"What do you gain from lying to us?" Lalume asked again. "Is it really worth it?"
Petra rolled her eyes.
Why would she need to explain her actions to anyone? Also, why did it feel like this conversation was going somewhere very different from where she expected?
Worth it?
Did she mean the money? The twins? What was worth what?
It was the same strangeness that youth had had earlier in the day. Why did everyone in the Azurefell family seem to think the twins were better off not returning home?
Petra nodded again. "Mm."
Lalume pinched the bridge of her nose. "Those two have a very special identity in our family, did they not explain it to you? There's no way 'they' will let you go. It's only a matter of time before they find you, especially now that you've come to the capital."
Petra had already heard something similar.
"If you insist on 'keeping them'," Lalume continued, "then you should at least leave the city. Once the family properly mobilizes, 'you' won't have a chance to escape, much less protect them."
Nenl folded her arms. "You have no idea how scary our family can be when they actually want something. Even though our patriarch no longer participates in worldly affairs, people say he lived long before the initial migration! Some even say that he's already surpassed the sixth realm!"
Petra nodded seriously.
In the back of her mind, she made a mental note…
People above the fourth realm were troublesome, yes, but they had a very fatal weakness. They couldn't fight freely inside the city. If they wanted to act, it would usually require 'physical contact' because their spiritual energy would cause too much damage. And physical contact was… very abusable, especially for some particularly potent poisons Petra possessed.
Nenl threw her hands into the air. "Unbelievable!" She could tell Petra wasn't listening at all!
"You're a very troublesome child," Lalume said with a sigh. There was a strange emotion in her eyes.
Petra hummed.
She knew that—
But she wasn't really a child, so she didn't care...
Around them, a few of the nearby female servants glanced over. None of them looked surprised at how quickly that conclusion had been reached.
Suddenly—
Buz! Both women paused at the same time.
Mm? Petra looked back at them, feeling the sudden shift in the air.
There faces had changed.
Seeing this, Petras brows furrowed.
Lalume was the first to turn away. "We're done here!"
Nenl shot Petra one last glare before she quickly followed her sister away. "I'll remember you! Also, don't forget our words! It would be best if you left right away!" The two Azurefell girls walked away, their blue-and-white robes swaying as they disappeared into the crowd.
Petra stayed where she was, lost in thought.
"…Mm." She scratched her head.
Out of all of that, what bothered her the most wasn't the sudden change at the end, no, instead it was the comment about 'keeping them'. Petra didn't know why, but this particular statement bothered her.
She shook her head.
Behind her, the twins finished sealing the last of the boxes. Without commenting on what had just happened, they lifted their things, passed them around, filling the hands of the other female servants, and stepped back onto the streets, continuing as if nothing had happened.
Petra scrambled after them…
-
A few minutes later.
There was a brief pause as Petra's mind turned.
While walking, she leaned back slightly, then glanced over at Wind.
"Hey," Petra said casually.
"What's the deal with the Azurefell Family? Are all four of the great families 'like that?'"
Wind paused.
She had been thinking about their travel plans, but the moment Petra asked, she knew this wasn't going to be a short answer. With a quiet sigh, she shuffled her way towards Petra. She didn't need to ask what 'like that' meant, because she also felt the strangeness of the situation.
After a moment to think, Wind eventually spoke. "…That depends."
"Hmm, let's start with the difference between 'mortal' and 'practitioner' families. What do you know?"
Petra blinked. "Is there even a difference?"
Petra didn't actually think that bloodline mattered very much when compared to raw talent.
Wind nodded. "There is, and quite a big one..."
She thought for a moment, then began from the most basic knowledge. "A 'mortal generation' has roughly twenty-five years between each descendant," Wind explained. "That's the normal period for one generation to grow up, have children, and pass on their inheritance. Practitioner families are different. Their generations tend to be longer, usually around thirty to thirty-five years. This gap becomes even more extreme among top-level families, such as the four great families, the mage tower bloodlines, and even the royal family. As one's 'innate' talent increases, the difficulty of having descendants increases as well. This stacks on top of the natural reproductive decline caused by a higher level of cultivation."
Petra hummed, filing that away in her head.
"Mortal families outside of the Cross Continent usually struggle to produce practitioners without 'uniting' with a practitioner family beforehand," Wind continued.
"Most never do, in fact, this is very normal!"
"But the Cross Continent is… unusual."
She paused briefly, choosing her words before continuing…
"One of the reasons why the Cross Continent is considered so special is because many mortal families will spontaneously become practitioner families. They don't need to arrange a marriage, they don't need to wait to give birth to a genius, no, it just happens naturally. These mortal families will simply become a practitioner's bloodline out of nowhere."
Petra's eyes widened slightly. "Is it natural?"
"…Yes."
Petra suddenly looked confused.
What was so special about the Cross Continent?
Wind didn't wait for her to think.
"A practitioner's bloodline just means that it is easier to get over that 'initial hurdle' of sensing and controlling spiritual energy. That's all. Being born into one doesn't guarantee strength, and not being born into one doesn't mean you can't learn. It just lowers the bar by a lot."
She added calmly, "And raises the ceiling..."
Petra nodded.
She vaguely remembered Elena teaching her this during the period when they were together…
'Raising the ceiling' was what was really important.
Wind continued, "That said, not all practitioner families are equal."
She raised a finger. "Let's look at the four great families, for example. First, the Dimebeck family. They're the smallest of the four great families by far, but in exchange, each member has a much higher talent than normal people."
Petra blinked.
"They only produce a truly skilled descendant once every two hundred years. This is because they burn an enormous amount of resources to artificially make the next head of their family into a genius! By doing this, they can ensure that each family head is a top-level powerhouse, exceeding the previous generation by at least one stage!" Wind explained. "They specialize in fire-based techniques, spear-type weapons, and a special momentum-based cultivation technique. Everything they do is about rushing forward, and this shows in the personality of their family members. For them, whether it's combat or childbirth, they hold that momentum and use it to continue advancing. Perhaps not now, but some time in the future, they will either produce a ninth-order genius, or burn up in the process."
She paused. "At the moment, the only two notable figures in that family are the old man and his grandson. Everyone else is..." she hummed. "The head of the family from the previous generation died in an accident, so it's only the family head from four hundred years ago, and the young master who had been born relatively recently, along with a bunch of side branch descendants."
Petra nodded, less interested.
She had 'met' the current young master of the Dimebeck Family during the grand gathering. He was the drunkard with Lalume and Nenl. Thinking back, he probably saw through her façade at the time.
"Next," Wind continued, "the Barak family!"
"They are a notorious family of necromancers who specialize in soul arts and poison. Although they appear normal on the surface, they're deeply involved with the underworld in Llynun and are often caught cooperating with the large criminal organizations hidden within the city. There was also a rumor that they were related to the creation of the capital's underworld. Their generational cycle is about forty years, and they're a very large family, the largest of the four great families!"
Petra frowned.
"Then, why don't we see more of them?"
She actually knew a little about the Barak Family for certain, Mm… 'Poison-related reasons.' One of the most annoying things about them was that they rarely appeared during the day! This made it difficult for Petra to buy things from them...
"They prefer to stay in their ancestral residence," Wind replied.
"When they do go out, it's usually to places that aren't exactly public. From what I understood during my time in the capital, they had a lot of mercenary teams working for them. With the ban last year, they probably lost a lot of manpower and are still recovering."
Petra made a small 'oh' sound.
Poor them…
Wind continued, "Next, the Gallon family is similar in size and scale…"
"They have an extremely stable foundation and a strong position in the capital's market and entertainment industries. In that family, the three elders and the patriarch are the big figures to watch out for, not the young geniuses from their family. This is because those old monsters are all fifth-order practitioners. Also, the reason the Gallon family is so special," Wind continued with an emotional tone, "is because of their hereditary magic—'State Manipulation'. They can convert water freely between a solid, a liquid, and a gas."
Petra nodded like a good little student.
"It usually requires a 'stable medium'," Wind added. "This is usually contained within a hollow crystal embedded in their custom-made ornaments. Hairpins, necklaces, rings, any of it will do!" She gestured faintly. "That's why you often see the Gallon Family wearing a lot of jewelry. Hmm I'll tell you a secret! Not many people know this, but it doesn't have to be water, their magic can be used on any substance, but things that naturally shift between all three states are much easier to learn with!"
Petra glanced briefly at Wind's accessories. In her mind, she thought that she probably knew a lot more about manipulating the state of matter than anyone else in this world…
That was normal, but then, something else seemed to nip at the back of Petra's mind!
She asked, "If the four great families are so strong, then what happened with the first calamity? I heard that the big ice guy was somewhere in the fifth realm. If the capital has fifth-order experts, was it really necessary to evacuate? No, there was also the shiny cannon thing too, right? Surely the emperor could have also dealt with it himself, right?"
Wind shook her head, "I don't know, but it should be the same reason why the experts from the Mage Towers don't make a move. There should be some law or rule that is restricting them in some way that we don't know about." She paused, then added, "It's also possible that they just wanted people to understand the sheer scale of what was to come..."
Petra nodded slowly. "Ok, so that's a reason… but—"
She felt like it was bullshit!
Moving on!
Wind rolled her eyes, then continued.
"Finally, the Azurefell family—"
* * *
Willow Wind Garden, Private Room…
"—The Azurefell Family is the most mysterious of the Four Great Families," Rotell explained. Trili and Atllin sat across from her, with Lilit standing slightly to the side...