The Whisper of the Nightingale

Chapter 63: Foes and Allies

Raven's mind reeled. Many questions that had been hard to grasp before started to get some reasonable answers as she considered the possibilities that these outer-realm people added. There was for example the supposedly mythical Phoenix Death Lotus that had been used to kill her family; it was a flower that only existed in legends yet somehow the Talons had gotten a hold of it. It should be impossible, but who knew what could be found in all the other realms?

Raven also couldn't help but remember the rumors that Dunlin and his gang had spread concerning her supposedly stolen cultivation. It had seemed like a preposterous thing to claim at the time - there were simply no records of any theft or transferral of cultivation ever taking place - but perhaps it had not been as random an accusation as Raven had first assumed. If Gadwall was the original instigator, then perhaps he was speaking from his own experience.

She needed to know more.

"I take it they do not like us very much," Raven half stated, half asked, the still mumbling Headmaster. The man blinked and looked at Raven. "The people from the other realms I mean," she continued.

Swan sighed, finally relaxing his fists a bit. "To say that they don't like us, would imply that they cared enough to form an opinion." He tucked his hands into the sleeves of his robe, leaning back on his heels. "And why would they? From what I gather, even twenty year old Spirit Masters aren't unheard of in some of the other realms. . . ." A trace of melancholy filled the man's golden eyes as he stared off at the central pillar of water. "No, it's more like they find it wasteful to leave so many resources in the hands of us weaklings."

"Then why do they?"

"Huh?" The question had caught the headmaster off guard.

"If they do not approve of us being here, why don't they just take over? Surely one man's saved life would not be enough to keep all of them at bay forever."

"Ah, I see your point, Student Night, but you don't need to worry about any invasions." He gave Raven a reassuring smile. "They might not be polite towards us, but neither will they harm us."

From his expression, Raven could tell that the headmaster intended to leave it at that, but Raven persisted; "but why not?"

Swan seemed to grow a bit frustrated at her insistence but he chose to reply nonetheless. "Because those are the rules; no realm is allowed to make moves to seize control over a . . . less developed realm. Doing so would cause the other realms to unite in exterminating the initiator. This is done to protect the variation in the realms."

Raven frowned. 'Then what is Gadwall doing?' If her new theory was correct then Gadwall was likely the mysterious foreigner referred to as 'Elder W', only he wasn't simply from another empire but rather from one of the other realms. However, he must have a motivation for coming to this specific realm and stirring up trouble. While Raven pondered this, Headmaster Swan casually gave her another piece of information.

"Of course, for that same reason, they would have no choice but to intervene if a lesser realm was on the brink of self-destruction, though I doubt that happens very often."

Raven's eyes widened and she almost jumped up and down on the spot. 'That's it!'

"That's what?" asked the slightly confused Swan, and only then did Raven realize that she had spoken out loud. Raven quickly raised her hands to cover her mouth, but as countless possible lies - with all their pros and cons - were being constructed in her mind, Raven recognized that perhaps this was the time to come clean and gain a powerful ally in the process.