Besides giving birth to children naturally or through ans that are supported by mana, there were indeed other ways to increase the number of residents in the sanctuary. It may take a lot of resources and diplomacy though since we will literally take these mystiques away from their original hos and most would find it hard to live out of their comfort zones or away from their kind.
As for now, before leaving Marahuyo, I gave the assigned hunters and foragers an extra task of picking up distressed, wounded or people who appear to be in grave danger of death in the area. The task was fairly simple. If they find people, bring them to the border of Sklavryet. If they find mystiques, bring them to Marahuyo. I also advised them not to be choosy in terms of people that they will be helping. If they encounter one, place a temporary marking on their hand which will ensure that they can be kicked out accordingly if they do misdeeds and also to avoid the barrier from instantly killing anybody.
Everyone appreciated my plans as if I was the the most benevolent being in their eyes. It was very awkward since I have other goals as to why I am saving other mystiques in unfavorable situations into Marahuyo. It was like they have forgotten why I brought everyone else here. I decided to stop caring about how their minds work as long as my tasks are being completed gradually.
Before sunset, I had to go back to Sklavryet to pick up the current drama queen of my life from work. I arrived just in ti that he clocked out and we ate a hearty dinner before I sent him ho. I made a quick visit at the alchemy shop to sell my daily haul based on the requests of the owner. Most of the items were sent back to Uncle Daejung's shop inventory though. I went straight to my work at the port once both things were handled.
I only have a few hours of work in the evening so I decided to walk leisurely on my way back. I was enjoying the cool breeze, the starry night sky, the noise from the evening market and looking at the people passing by. As I reached the third alley before my house, one of the aides assigned to by the Noir HQ appeared. He relayed that there was an important letter I had to read and decide on. His voice sounded scared so I think it must be very urgent.
I looked at the aide and grabbed him by the arm to teleport us in the HQ as soon as possible. I chose the conference room as my teleportation point. Once I arrived, all the elders are seated around the table with a black box on top of the table. There was also a sealed envelope on top of it which should be the said letter. I looked at all the elders and they look quite distressed with the package that arrived. It must have been from an unexpected or perhaps a dangerous source.
I sat at the head of the table and asked about everything they know about the package. They said that it was delivered via teleportation inside the main training hall of the HQ. It was like it fell out of the sky. It caused a minor earthquake as the box seems to have been made from very sturdy material that they have not encountered before. They tried opening the box with all the tools they have available but it wouldn't budge. They finally asked for my help after they ran out of ideas.
I looked at the box and sensed a strong mana source being concealed inside the box. It seems that whatever material the box was made of, it was ant for mana concealnt and to give the gift the highest level of security. The sender is making sure that only the intended recipient can open it and peek in what's inside. I used mystique mana as I took the letter on top of the box carefully checking for any chanism that may trigger at the slightest touch but there was nothing, fortunately.
The letter floated quickly to my hand. I looked at the seal on the envelope and tried to check through my inherited mories if I have ever seen such a family crest before. The other elders stood around where I was seated to take a peek as well. One of the elders gasped as he seed to have identified the symbol on the wax seal. I looked at him and asked, "Have you seen this family crest before?" He carefully answered, "I don't know exactly which family branch it would be but this is a family crest from the dragon race, my queen."
I stared into the wax seal as I narrowed down my search through my inherited mories as to anything about the dragons. I closed my eyes for what felt like the longest minute and when I opened my eyes, I already got the answer. I opened the envelope and inside was a very short note, "Yth re spolrir nono lae vi quilins di hesi herunga kagh midun ekess wer ralthok daariv di Eieneos." (We are sending this as a sign of our support and loyalty to the current queen of Eieneos.)
When the elders saw the ancient letters written in the note, they paled even further. They started apologizing about it being their fault for not being able to fully conceal my identity so we were found out by the dragons.
I had to calm the elders down by providing a statent, "They are just testing their luck. Don't show any strong reaction to the package. Dragons are very smart so they might have deduced that you are taking care of simply because your organization has always been assisting Eieneos even from a long ti ago."
I flipped the letter in my hand and burned it with a fla spell. As for the box, I won't touch it. It surely will have so type of magic that will tell the sender if it was opened or if I touched it. I don't want to give them a chance or a way to track my whereabouts. I put the box in an isolation barrier then sent my mana to check on its contents within the isolated space. I closed my eyes to look inside and I saw a huge piece of a silvery white dragon scale emitting a very strong ice attributal mana.
I abruptly opened my eyes and looked at everyone. I told them the translation of the note in draconic language and that it was from the Ice Dragons. I honestly hate how they approached first and then the obvious plot to put their best foot forward which was honestly four centuries late. I think I have to tap on other resources to do my information-gathering tasks on the dragons. I do have Noir and Void but I think I will need ones that can control the environnt. I think, it's ti to try to get in touch with the faeries of Zanahavre soon.
As for this gift from the ice dragons, I can keep silent about it, not declining and not accepting their loyalty. They may be trying to get in my good graces as early as they can but it does not change the fact that they ignored Eieneos as it was falling apart during the last war. Getting to won't be that easy, no matter how sincere they were. I will decide if it was ti to get in touch with them. As of now, I don't have any intention to do that.
I sent a telepathic ssage to Lia and asked what the gift of a draconic scale ant since it was not shown in any of my inherited mories. It took so ti for her to reply as if she is confirming if her answer was correct before replying to my question. Instead of Lia answering, I heard an irritable side comnt from Aelorus instead. He almost scread as he said, "Don't you open that box! Those shaless dragons! Don't accept-"
His rants were interrupted by Lia's calm and cold tone. She responded, "Sorry for that noise. I already made the fly shut up. As for the dragon scale, it is a sign of subservience in all aspects. That scale must have been sent by the current lord of that draconic family. The problem is that dragons, especially of a lord rank, will only be fully subservient to their mate. That scale is indeed a sign of loyalty and support but also an offering of being mates."
I scoffed at Lia's answer and couldn't help but scoff a bit more in annoyance. Dragons are really cunning. I understand that all races are desperate to have good relations with . They may have also realized that I am their only hope in continuing their bloodlines but this type of trickery is not helping them at all or did they send this knowing the full aning of this gift?
With these recent events, I may not be able to avoid increasing the population of this world more though I am trying to slow it down or avoid it for now. But with this move of the dragons, it may happen sooner than I thought. It may be just one draconic family right now but I know the others will eventually catch wind of the Ice Dragon family's movents and may send their own gifts as well. Of all things I hate, being sched at or manipulated into making a decision quicker than I should would be the worst. The more you pressure , the more I will delay it since I am petty like that.
For now, I advised Noir HQ to keep the box in a vault for my personal use and all other gifts that may arrive for will be placed in the sa vault no matter who gave them. I will envelope the vault with an isolation barrier. I gave them instructions to act as if they don't know what to do with the package so they just kept it secured. I told them that they should not respond to any letters or send thanks for any gift. They will simply ignore it on purpose.
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