A Villainess Should Be Strong

It was a red dragon who had sharp, spiky wings. The creature let out a loud roar as it flew out of Estelle's sight.

This was her first time seeing a dragon like this, and Estelle was quite surprised by how grand it looked even though it was supposed to be just a common creature. She heard that typically, the skies were rarely covered in dragons. The stronger dragons preferred staying in their seclusive habitats and did not mingle with those who weren't related to them directly.

This dragon's flight was akin to a greeting for Estelle. A reminder that she was now in Vaitral, about to look for her item and accomplish the mission.

"...I'm here," Estelle took a deep breath as she stretched her body out, letting a sound in pleasure as she speedily walked into one of the settlements. She had chosen this place after much consideration with Frey, who told her that this was a bit friendlier than the other places in terms of hospitality to outsiders.

She was headed towards an inn, where she would be staying during her travels in Ehrendil. As described in the stories, Ehrendil was extremely rocky and had a desert like climate. In daytime, the heat emanated would be enough to cook an egg on the road, while in night time, water could freeze outside.

Estelle only needed a few minutes of walking in order to reach the inn she was supposed to stay in. She composed herself before stepping into the building, convincing herself that whatever she's going to see behind this door is normal.

"Excuse me.." Estelle lightly spoke as she twisted the door nob and entered. She could feel a slight tinge of magical power scan over her figure as she entered. She assumed that it must be a sensory feature to check on who entered, but she doubted that the magical power would penetrate her identity and expose her in the first place, so she didn't resist the checking and let it through. Since she had also masked part of her status during her way here, the status that is shown to the magic's owner should be a relatively strong person, but not to the point of Estelle's true power.

However, she realized that Vaitral's culture was really different. In Alfheim, checking up on someone's status without permission was offensive and basically was an initiator to a fight. However, in a country like Vaitral where power was above all, checking on someone's power was almost necessary to determine their positioning in society.

The weak would be on the lowest caste, while the strong stood on top of those who couldn't oppose them. Estelle narrowed her eyes, thinking that her decreased status should be enough to fool their eyes and make them consider Estelle as a proper equal.

it was possible to lower your status numbers, but impossible to increase it without having the actual power. You couldn't create something that did not exist. If your numbers were low, then you could only lower it even more, but not increase it. Not even by a single point.

Inside, she was able to spot nobody. There was a table in the shape of a semicircle positioned in the middle of the room, next to a staircase. The aesthetic was wooden furniture, and she was able to get a faint scent of freshly cooked stew waft throughout the room and pleasure her sense of smell.

There was no one attending to the table, so she went and stood by the nearest wall, looking left and right. The interior was actually not that different from the typical inn she would be able to find in Alfheim. Of course, it wasn't that strange if you think about it. Inns were made for people to stay in and be comfortable in it. Of course, the necessities that will be provided to the guests weren't all that different from each country.

"Ara, who is this? A new guest?" A woman with with horns sticking out of her head came from behind the counter and landed her gaze on Estelle's figure.

"Yes. My name is Eirlys, and here are my documents. Could you sign me up for an empty room? One person, please." Estelle instructed, approaching the counter and handing over the forged documents Shirley made for her.

The woman gladly accepted the item and looked over it, humming as she raised a brow. She identified the information and looked up at Estelle multiple times.

"Eirlys.. with no last name. This is Alfheim's documents, correct? You.. don't look like an Elf. Are you sure that this is your documents...?" The woman questioned.

"Yes. If you are not aware of the system we use in Alfheim, there will be an authentication seal placed on the documents. Using magic, you can identify the owner.. Besides, when I entered this place, wasn't there a detection magic placed on the door? You should be able to see my status with it, no? Then, you could check if my name matches the one you see... right?"

The woman seemed to be intrigued upon hearing that Estelle mentioned the detection system. She then went ahead and looked over the documents one more time.

"Ahh.. If I recall correctly.. The seal you are talking about, isn't this is a feature granted to high ranked citizens, though? Am I wrong? Especially considering that your race is stated as Human... Esteemed Guest- Well, who am I to pry in further? I will drop the matter. My apologies, my words got a little too out of hand," The woman immediately corrected herself after realizing that she was being too intrusive.

"..You are right. It's a little complicated, but I have connections there. Let's just take it as that. As long as my identity is confirmed, I think Vaitral's policy shouldn't contradict my existence in any sort of way, right? Unless your inn has a special rule that I'm not aware of, that is," Estelle tilted her head as she asked.

" Well then, I have no other reasons to suspect you, so I will give you a room. Please wait a minute, I will sign your arrival into the database. You should take a seat first," The woman finally concluded.

"Ah.. this is actually my first time coming into Vaitral, do you think there is someone who could help me with maneuvering around the area? I'm afraid that I still don't know much about this place,"

"Well.. I don't think there will be someone who wants to take on the job unless you pay them heftily. People who come here are usually experts in travelling, they aren't here to sightsee, but rather to fill a duty. Vaitral isn't exactly the best place to have a vacation, you see? A lot of people have the misconception that we are domineering and scary, but that only applies to aggressive dragons. Dragons may have aggressive traits depending on their faction and upbringing, but you usually wouldn't see them in organized places like this area. It's good that you have come here. If you went to the outskirts, you might've encountered far worse creatures," The woman said.

"That was also the reason why I chose this area from the other ones. Because I heard pretty tame things about it. Do you have a recommendation of where I can pay someone to be a guide?" Estelle asked, taking out money from her spatial system and handing it to the woman. She had seen the pricelist for the staying time right after coming in here and looking around, so she already knew how much she needed to pay.

Alfheim Castle had some of Vaitral's currency in hand, so Estelle was given some from Shirley. Although she did not possess that much yet, she was at least able to rent a room for several nights. She refused Shirley's proposal to take a lot more because she did not want to stand out from the start. Having a lot of money or treasures would only attract unnecessary attention onto her.

Considering that she was going to stay in Vaitral for quite some time, she wanted to actually try to live properly and not just do casual visits. Her mission this time would require her to do extensive searching, and she never knew how long that would take.

Along with it, she also wanted to look for the next member of the Constellation so that she would have a representative hailing from Alfheim.

"Hmm.. I suggest a shop by the name Tertia. It's run by one of my acquaintances, and they also offer some odd job services. From hunting, information gathering, and all of that. I think you would find what you want there?" The woman answered.

"Tertia? Could I get the directions?"

"Of course. By the way, my name is Alyssa. If you go to that store, the shopkeeper should acknowledge you if you mention my name. Do you have a map of this area?" Alyssa questioned.

Estelle nodded and handed over her map, to which Alyssa reacted by tracing her finger from one place and dragging it to the other. Her finger's trail created a faint magical light.