"Because being related to a species doesn't mean you have to feel bad for what another does, and tell me, what is the hoarding usually done, what is hoarded?" Caelus spoke.
"Gold? It is obvious that depriving those of gold is wrong, because it is used to trade and get more food."
"Then what was used before people had currency? What about trading certain things people want or need to get food? What about hunting animals for food? Surely those Dragons don't simply hunt deer or pigs or even cows, right?" Caelus replied, his voice remaining calm.
"Well, they do not, but hoarding gold still hinders current humans, which is a problem."
"Why do you specify humans? Why not people? Is that broad for you, or are people of different species worse for you?"
"They are not, I simply said human because that is what the Word says," Kiana replied.
"Then tell me, what makes it so these Dragons are not allowed to hoard gold but humans are allowed to have as much as they need, and why could Humans not trade with dragons, giving Meat of things they eat to them, and getting gold in return?"
"Because Dragons are greedy, they desire more than they need, and trading with them is impossible since they are less than intelligent and only go taking things from other species."
"So why does it not deserve something like that? Why would a Dragon be less deserving of gold and food than you? And who says they're less than intelligent? Your God or your preachers?"
"Neither, it is simply a fact, as for why they deserve less, it is because they are greedy and keep taking all the gold and such that they find-" Her voice laced with annoyance. "I shall stop arguing; you clearly are not listening."
The wind blew past, and silence followed for a second. Insects brushed against the grass as Caelus's tail, which Tellus saw was longer than she expected, looked almost twice his length, but became thinner near the end.
"You repeated your own statement as if it were a fact and expected it to be right. Why is that?" Caelus asked, finally, pressing further.
"Because it is a recorded action and thing they do, they always hoard-"
"And humans doing it is acceptable?" Caelus interrupted; he was expecting a reply that either dismissed him or them, just ignoring.
"No? But humans do not do something like hoarding," Kiana finally stated.
Caelus heard this and was utterly stunned, "...Humans aren't greedy? What?" Caelus took a second and chuckled, almost instinctively. "Okay, then, why do you need everything that Dragons have?"
Caelus's tail twitched, as if waiting to smack into Kiana, but he stopped it. She was a lot stronger, and he didn't want to fight her in front of her own student. And because Kiana held the Princess.
"Because humans need it, Dragons have no use for that; it's not there for any use other than them sitting on it."
Caelus listened and spoke, mostly on assumption but also knowing his own body. "You know, dragons lay eggs, right...?"
"What does that have to do with this argument?" Kiana replied, her expression tightening.
"First, answer, does Gold get extremely warm in heat and insulated places, or under human body temperature?"
"Indeed, it does; it gets warm, especially with dragons, too, due to their ability to breathe fire. Hence their higher body temperature."
"So... What if they maybe have the gold and things similar to it, under them, and sit on it because-" Caelus took a breath. "They want to heat the egg with their body while protecting it and finding a proper way to keep it warm. Because that's how Wyvern's do it, so it would be so Dragons are similar to that."
Caelus only knew this because he'd seen and heard Wyverns who were openly talking about how they even had kids since they were going too, and didn't really care much for what humans thought about that.
Kiana looks at him, her expression calm, but beneath that, her body temperature is higher, enough that Caelus can notice.
"...Well, I think we shall stop this conversation for now," Tellus spoke, looking at Tellus with nervous eyes.
Caelus heard her and simply nodded, looking ahead as Tellus and Kiana began talking about how she was to become a Royal Guard soon, and Kiana was much more expressive with her. On the other hand... Literally, the Princess was still annoyed that she was not allowed to train and was being treated like a little kid who knew nothing.
[Ooooh, that's Rough. Good thing changing her mind isn't something you should do, for reference, Tellus is at the Virtuoso Realm, and that is Three Realms lower than Kiana's-]
"...Doesn't really matter to me, just because someone is stronger doesn't mean you just let them say what they want, you can try and get the same level of power as them and then argue, or even surpass them, and if they follow."
Caelus dragged his gaze away from the Empire's Entrance and looked over to the side fields, with rows and rows of empty, cut grass, a field devoid of anything except grass and the occasional hills; otherwise, nothing.
For some odd reason, it bothered him that the ground was kept so... Dull; to him, it was lifeless, but it looked normal to his mind as well. Those conflicting thoughts caused his head to ache, almost like a Migraine.
"...Why do I still keep parts of myself hidden? I should show myself fully; it doesn't matter what these people think of me." Caelus shook off these feelings as soon as he felt the touch of the Princess, whom he knew as Elysia.
"What do you need?" Caelus asked, turning his head, his voice calm yet lightly irritated.
"Well, I do want to know if you're willing to train me on cultivation when I have free time, of course, since Kiana is not willing to teach me such." Her voice was calm, and oddly... Familiar, like someone wanting to do what they wanted, even despite being told not to. Such was his past life.
Except he didn't have many people who were in any sense royalty. So it may have been different, and he held some dislike towards monarchies, especially with how much he had to study them.
"I'm new to Cultivation myself since I had just discovered it from Tellus, but I wouldn't mind, especially since you're studying, you'd be a fit for my Path." Caelus took a second to reply, almost a minute, so he didn't misspeak. Even if he disliked Royalty and how it worked in general, he wouldn't hold it against a person unless they were giving a reason for it.
Elysia heard his reply and gave a soft smile, the first time she'd been actually allowed to do something she wanted, at least from what Caelus assumed. However, he had the urge to wrap his tail around her, mostly out of instinct, since she acted as he saw with his Draconic mind as a child; he didn't want to risk having his tail get cut off by Kiana if it looked wrong.
"Well, if you do wish to meet me, tell me where to go; you just need to tell Tellus anyway, since I'm friends with her."
Kiana froze at that moment. "...I thought-" Her mind took a second to recognize why she didn't have Minerva or Arjuna... She only assumed he was either her pet or someone passing by. "I see, well then I've misjudged. Even if your cultivation is lower than hers."
"Doesn't mean I lost to her. Just because your cultivation is lower doesn't mean you'll automatically lose. Albeit I shouldn't be talking because I have advantages humans don't have."
Caelus continued. "...And that I'm a Dragon."
Kiana only then found out he was a Dragon; she couldn't believe it, so she took a second, blinking, and finally, after a full minute, recognized he was one. "...Well, his scales are stronger; they don't look as brittle as Wyverns or Drakes... He also doesn't have poisonous blood."
"...And he has fully humanoid features other than the tail and scales."
She took a second, realizing that, while yes, she was wrong about them being less intelligent, she simply reaffirmed it as morally inadequate.
"I see." She spoke and said nothing else, not wanting to argue further.
Caelus, though, already knew this as a way to evade, but he didn't pressure now, as it would get him into more trouble and would just annoy him more than anything.
Caelus finally moved ahead, leaving the entrance area once Tellus simply nodded at him, implying she wasn't going to go, with the Princess following him and looking at his tail and somewhat mesmerised by it, which made him embarrassed.
"Uhm, Elysia, could you stop staring like that- It's distracting other people," Caelus spoke, and they were walking past commoners when they saw the Princess of their own country following what they thought was a Dragon, and was looking at its tail.
People murmured and backed away. Some elders were much happier that the Princess felt more. Close, at least, than the King, who never spoke to the people or showed any interest in anything near them.
On the other hand, there were no nobles nearby, so he felt better that the Princess wouldn't get something like a bad reputation over something as small as being mesmerised, even when he knew it was something that would happen.
"Alright, so, where should we go? I'm going to get some food. What about you, Princess Elysia?" Caelus finally broke the silence between them, mostly from her trying not to touch his tail, which was flicking away as soon as her hand got closer.
"Oh! Uh, I was going to go back to the castle since I needed to do some paperwork. Though my younger brother will probably be trying to stop me and bother me, so I'm just trying to have some peace of mind right now." She spoke, her tone happy and a little bit energetic.
"I see, well, I don't have siblings, so I cannot relate, but maybe he's doing it so you don't overwork yourself," Caelus replied, his voice repeating words a little, mostly because he didn't know how to answer, but still wanted to instead of leaving her in silence.
Elysia went still for a moment, only to chuckle. "Maybe he does, or he's just trying to get me to get annoyed like I used to over the smallest things." Only now realizing she was saying a bit too much about her personal life to someone she just met, who was staring at her to stop. Caelus wanted her to stop, but didn't want to just say it.
"Oh, look, food." Caelus looked to the side, seeing the stall he got Wyvern meat from, and realized there wasn't really any species he knew that would be hunted by Dragons to eat... But he also focused on the food, so he didn't have to stand in silence with her.
[Ah, for Dragons! They usually eat Wyverns, or they simply eat large amounts of moose, which have grown larger due to cultivation and Mana enhancing their bodies. Usually with some sy-]
"...Why are you speaking like you're from the West or something?" Caelus asked Aphro. He did want to know. Caelus looked ahead and noticed the same lady.
"Ah, you again, is it Wyvern meat and bones you need or something else?" Her voice, with a thick accent, he found peculiar; she said 'something' without the h, which he also assumed was where she was from, before remembering this wasn't his world and he couldn't just judge her over something like how she sounded.
"Wyvern meat and bones are a yes, though could you give a little less?" Caelus replied. A soft expression on his face was visible.
"I see, then, that will be coming, since you've been the only one buying such meat other than those of Beast Slayers, you shall get the same discount they get, hence only eighteen gold." She replied, going back.
"Six gold less, that's a lot less, but I guess it is expected since I buy such in large amounts."