Chapter 73 - Earthquake

At the Academy, while Robert was with the King of the ‘Kingdom of Garam’, his friends were in the boring classes, like Hinen Sukemoru said at lunch.
The hours were dragging for him, and while Nozomu and the girls were listening attentively and taking a bunch of notes, he could barely keep his eyes open.
One class finished, and another started, and he didn’t even notice. For him, it was still the same boring talk, even if the sounds were coming from the mouth of a different Teacher.
When the class finished and everyone was exiting, Nozomu had to shake his shoulders to make him stand up and follow them to their room to relax a bit before going for dinner.
When they entered, Hinen went straight to his bed and laid there, with his eyes closed.
He fell asleep in mere seconds, and he didn’t even notice the girls were also there, talking with Nozomu about the subjects they had heard in class.

Taisetsuna looked at her notes and asked, “Nozo, what do you think Teacher Egar Gage meant when he said that knowing our enemy is halfway to a victory? He said that we should think about it and that he wanted to hear our interpretation in the next class. I keep on thinking about what he meant by that, but I can’t quite understand it. What about if we face an enemy that we have never met? How would we be able to know an enemy to gain any sort of advantage?”

“Information is key. Not only that, but in a fight or a war, it could mean defeat or win.”

“Say what? I don’t understand.”

Nozomu grabbed her notebook and made a quick drawing. “This is you. This is Tresuria. You know she doesn’t like to fight, but she has two pet plants to fight for her. So, I put these two drawings in front of her… here. This is what you know. With this, what would you do to defeat her?”

“I… would avoid fighting her pets, go around them, and attack her.”

“Correct. So, the next situation. This is you. This is an enemy you don’t know and have never met. What would you do to defeat him?”

“I… would attack him with everything I got?”

Nozomu slowly shook his head as he made a scribble on the paper with the word ‘run’ and explained. “If you had information about him, you would know what the best way would be. Since you don’t know, it would be wise to retreat and gather as much information as you can. This is also valid if you know you are going to face an unknown enemy tomorrow. Find as much as you can about him, because that…”

Taisetsuna completed with a smile, “… that would be halfway to a victory! Oh! Right!”

“Well, that is my interpretation. Feel free to think about something else. What about if we went to have dinner? Maybe Robert and the girls are back already.”

Chujitsuna pointed at the sleeping boy on the bed. “What about him? Should we wake him up or let him sleep? I had no idea why he was so tired!”

Nozomu tapped Draiky’s head and pointed at Hinen, and smiled as he saw the strange pet running to the bed and jumping over Hinen to slap his butt with his vines to wake him up.

Hinen jumped to the floor and looked at the laughing group. “What happened? I was asleep?”

Nozomu answered as he was stretching his arms. “Yup. You fell on your bed as soon as we got here. You really need to get used to the classes. Not every class will be practical; some theory is also needed.”

Hinen rubbed his eyes and answered as he was following the others out of the room. “I know, but I could barely keep my eyes open. Those classes were so boring! Why do we need to learn any of that? We need to learn how to fight or use Magic, not a bunch of strange old History!”

“One day, you will realise that history teaches you not to make the same mistakes that others have made before you.”

As they were walking along the corridor, Hinen kept on yawning. He barely noticed they were already entering the main room for dinner. Because of that, he made a turn in the wrong direction, and Taisetsuna tripped on his foot.
When she tried to use her other foot to prevent a fall, Hinen’s tail entangled on her leg, and she went face forward, towards the ground.
She had both hands ready to stop her body when she felt a hand grabbing her right arm and another hand over her left boob. Someone pulled her up by pushing her arm and squeezing her breast.
She looked to her right and saw Tomiga Yurao facing her with a worried look.

He asked as he was pulling her up, still grabbing her arm and with his hand over her breast. “Are you alright? That was dangerous!”

Taisetsuna asked, with her body glowing with Magic and her face red with anger, “Dangerous is you shamefully grabbing my breast like that, and you are still grabbing it!”

He immediately let her go and raised both hands. “I am sorry! I didn’t mean to! I saw you fall, and I only thought about helping you!”

“I didn’t need your help. I am perfectly capable of using my hands to stop a fall. I am not that useless!”

“I didn’t say that either! Can’t you just say thanks? I only wanted to help you!”

Before Taisetsuna could punch the surprised Lion-kind boy, Nozomu grabbed her fist in mid-air and said, “Thank you for helping her. But next time, be more careful where you touch a woman. And even if you happen to touch her breast, take your hand out of there and apologise as fast as you can. That can save you from certain death at the hands of an angry woman.”

Tomiga Yurao nodded and ran to his table, where his friends were muffling their laughter. Taisetsuna saw it, and she snorted. “I bet he did that on purpose to look cool in front of his dumb friends… moron…”

Nozomu pinched her arm and said in a low voice, “Shut up, you crazy girl! It was not on purpose! He seemed genuinely surprised when he noticed what he was grabbing. Maybe he is not used to women that much, and that was an instinct when he saw one of his friends fall. I could make the same mistake, you know? If I noticed before him, I would worry about stopping your fall, and I wouldn’t worry about where I was grabbing!”

As they were going to their table, she whispered, “But you holding, I wouldn’t mind...”

While they were sitting, Robert Keskula entered and went to join them.

As he sat with a big smile on his face, Nozomu asked, “Judging by your big smile, everything went well?”

“Of course! And I caused a major impact by arriving at two Castles while riding a Dragon! After visiting two countries, I left Asadate and Takanari on their estate, and Hinotsume brought me back. He left with Mizukonta to the mountain where we caught those two Drakes. They said it was an excellent place for them to stay near us.”

“So, no more doubts among the Kings? But what about the other countries?”

“They are going to send a few messages to the rulers of the other countries about what we talked. Asadate will report tomorrow to the Princess, so I am pretty sure everything is clear. What about here? Any news?”

Nozomu shrugged and answered. “Not much. Hinen was asleep with his eyes open during class, and when we got to our room, he fell asleep as soon as he laid on his bed. When we got here, he made Suna trip because he was still sleepy, and that weird Lion-kind boy prevented her from hitting her face on the ground by grabbing her breast and pulling her up. She is still pretty pissed about it.”

“He did what? The nerve! That is no way to treat a woman! Where is he? I am going to open his skull!”

“You don’t need to do that, because I am pretty sure he did it by accident. He was embarrassed when he noticed what he was grabbing. I could be wrong, but I think he is not used to dealing with women.”

Robert Keskula looked to the nearby table and noticed Tomiga Yurao, who was red-faced and vigorously shaking his head, with his friends mocking him for what he had done. That was enough to ease the anger of the jealous young Viscount because he had done by accident what Robert had been eager to do ever since he met Taisetsuna.
During dinner, Robert whispered what he had talked about with both Kings and what his suspicions were, together with what he could find hidden in the words both Kings said.
Despite the commercial treaties between countries, they were still in effect after all those years because it was more beneficial for the other countries to have the ‘Principality of Khiz’ as a border with the Empire than the products that were exchanged between countries. Meaning that if the Empire decided to invade, that would grant them time to send their armies to help, because if they didn’t and the Principality fell to the claws of the Empire, their country would be next.
When Robert told what Hinotsume said to the King of the ‘Kingdom of Garam’, Nozomu wondered what he meant. Until Robert explained. From his words, it was clear that Hinotsume and Mizukonta liked to be in the Academy, and if anyone threatened their peaceful day there, they would retaliate. Be it the Empire, or any other country.

To that, Nozomu asked, “Do you know if any Dragon ever said such a thing? I mean, Hinotsume is always saying that he doesn’t care about meat sacs, but I am pretty sure he likes to come here every year, and even after his defeat, he didn’t leave, and he is always out there, waiting for us.”

“Well, he said to the King that he wouldn’t intervene in a war, but if an army approached the Academy, it would be different. Something in his tone of voice led me to believe that he wouldn’t care if that army was from the Empire or another country, and maybe he would destroy that army and the country from where it came. I could be wrong, but that was what I felt.”

“I see… I hope the Princess knows what she is doing, because an allied country that ponders an invasion or is worried if she has an heir or not is kind of strange.”

“I think we can trust her judgement. She has been dealing with the Royals of all the countries in the World long before I started to frequent her court. The King’s concern is not a surprise. She has been pressured to have an heir and to find a spouse since she was very young. Her father never gave an opportunity to any Prince or High Noble to court her, because he used to say that she was way better than any of them. That caused some problems with the other countries, which Princess Mere solved and cleared as soon as she ascended the Throne, in a clear sign that she wasn’t as intransigent as her father. That granted her not only the respect but the friendship of all the Kings in the World. You for sure have noticed that she is very special.”

Nozomu nodded, a slight smile on his face, recalling all of his conversations with the Princess.
When he was sticking his fork into the food on his plate, he felt the ground trembling a bit.
He looked at his glass and saw the water trembling slightly. Two more shakes and the chandeliers in the ceiling vibrated.
Nozomu looked around and saw the other students puzzled as he was. Then, a strong shake made everything move over the tables, with the students grabbing plates, glasses, and trays to prevent them from falling on the shaking ground.
It lasted mere seconds, and as quickly as it started, it stopped.

Taisetsuna looked at Nozomu and asked, “What the heck was that? I never felt the ground shaking before!”

“I think it was an earthquake.”

“A what? Earth what?”

“It’s when the ground shakes. It has to do with the plates that make the continent when they shift a few millimetres. This was a light one, but maybe a bigger one comes next, or in the following days.”

Taisetsuna frowned and said, “Nozo, the ground never once shook…”

“Really? Then that is strange.”

Taisetsuna opened her eyes wide, and Nozomu noticed she was thinking the same he was. He slightly shook his head, so that she didn’t say a thing.
He pretended nothing was worrying him, even with the others asking how he knew about what made the ground shake and what exactly those plates were.