"Of course, good sir. Is this gentleman with your party?"
"My chaperone. As I am meeting an unfamiliar young lady, it is only right to protect her reputation with a third party in attendance."
The host smiled faintly, while the guests who could hear the conversation had to struggle not to laugh.
The Fox wasn't concerned about his own safety, but about the reputation of the lady he was meeting? Was he actually being courted by a young Elven Princess? The scandal that would cause if she was alone in a private dining room with a Divine Fox would last for decades.
And they were all fully invested in seeing it play out.
Then, the host spoke. "You must be waiting for the Lady Silverwood. She arrived just moments ago. Please, do follow me this way."
The person he was meeting was not a debutante with a deep appreciation for fluffy tails, but the Lady Silverwood, a ten millennia old widow, and Family head?
That was even more entertaining, even if the level of scandal was nonexistent.
Nobody would dare tell her to her face that she had done anything inappropriate with a Divine Fox. But the speculation that she was arranging a consort for one of her younger family members would abound.
The mage with Karl didn't see it the same way.
The notion that a Noble Elf would marry a granddaughter or great-granddaughter off to a Divine Fox, instead of another Noble, was scandalous enough. The fox would naturally be immune to such scandal, as nobody had expected him to be anything but a fluffy eared Incubus.
It didn't help that Karl had let both halves of his aura slip, the natural predatory one and fox charm.
The effects pounded each other, and the Elves didn't dare to even try to sneak a touch when his tails brushed against their chairs. Except, the mage was beginning to suspect that Karl was actually brushing people with his tails on purpose.
They were going to need that wine.
Karl entered the private dining room with a flourish and found that not only was the Lady Silverwood there, she had brought ... children?
Karl gracefully joined them at the low table, sitting cross-legged on a cushion with his tails spread out behind him.
"Lady Silverwood, it's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for inviting me to such a lovely establishment on my first day in town. The hospitality of the Elves truly lives up to its legendary reputation."
The ancient druid shook her head in dismay. "I had heard that you were fearless, but I didn't dare to believe it. Wele, Lord Karl, to the Ancient Oak Restaurant. Tell me, did you enjoy your trip to our local Dungeon? I heard a most curious thing about your trip there."
"Oh, it was highly enjoyable." Karl replied, pulling all his aura back and muting [Fox Charm] now that they were seated, and he didn't need to put on a show.
"I have a rather unique affinity for Dungeons as an Avatar of the World Dragon, and this one was no disappointment, given that it is aligned with the Titan Gods. We didn't get the maximum benefit of it, as my group is a bit chaotic, and the effect can be random.
But it was more than enough to provide us with resources worth the entry fee."
"So I am told. You see, one of your group members is a retainer of my family, and he relayed the events as they happened. Something about hundreds of Golems and a small army of Epic Dryads.
I am willing to pay a handsome price for the knowledge behind that ability."
Now Karl understood. She was a Supreme Ranked Druid, never advanced in her class. And she was looking for a way to push her power progress further than she had managed.
If his guess was right, she had likely peaked and stagnated centuries ago.
But Karl wasn't an expert in Elven Ages, as forming your Immortal Spirit let you lock your age in place, or alter your external appearance to some degree. If she had the potential to bee a Family head, she would have done that when she was still a young Elf, so her appearance had nothing to do with her actual age.
Karl frowned. "Not intending to cause offence, but I'm not certain that you were informed of the full extent of the situation. You see, the skill that summons the Dryad Queens is not a simple one. It's a Peerless Grade skill with extremely tight restrictions."
The younger Elves paled at the ment.
Peerless Grade skills only existed in theory. There were a few reputed to exist in the Royal Family's archives. But nobody outside of a fairytale had ever actually used one. They had assumed that it was an army type golem summoning skill, and that the ability to make them Epic Grade was from his class, or an illusion.
"So, you're saying that you know a Peerless Grade skill?" The Matriarch asked dubiously.
Not wanting to argue the point, Karl simply summoned one of the Dryads with [Army of Nature's Vengeance].
"See for yourself. This is the Lady Silverwood, she's not an enemy."
The dryad bowed to Karl and then shook her branches happily as the flood of nature magic from the Elven city settled over her body. This place was like home to her species, incredibly fortable.
"It really is an Epic Grade Dryad Queen. Tell me, how realistic is it?"
The dryad answered for Karl. "Lady Silverwood, I possess all the innate magic and mental capacity of my kind. The spell that called me here did not diminish me in any way."
The Elf looked shocked, and the Mage saw a cunning smile cross Karl's face. He was definitely going to milk this situation for an immense amount of wealth. There was no way that smile said anything positive for the treasury of the Silverwood Family.
But if they could get the skill, wouldn't that put them next to Royalty in prestige?
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