The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 479: Constant Flow

The next group of airships landed while Dominic and the others were still getting the first group settled into rooms, and explaining that "Full Occupancy" meant a man in every bedroom, not one in every apartment.

It shouldn’t have been shocking that the Nobles were more than a little entitled, especially the sons of higher titled Nobles, but Dominic wasn’t willing to budge on the space, unless they wanted to move into a spare room with one of the locals.

A few had actually done just that. Instead of rooming with another Nobleman, they had rented a room from one of the common families in town for the duration of the dating event, and hoped that it would work out for the best.

The idea was that if they did find a potential match, they could bring her to the house where they were staying for a chaperoned dinner, and get a better idea of what she was like away from the pressure of a Noble dinner.

They were not particularly wealthy themselves, but they had a title to offer. So, the setup seemed to be nearly perfect.

The next batch were a bit different. They had come from the southeastern region of Cygnia, and they were mostly students at one of the Academies. They had the lineage, and the backing, but they were so much younger that Dominic wasn’t entirely sure that they were ready to be here looking for a wife.

Wasn’t it customary for a man to have a career going before he married? Or was that only for common men?

"If you’re ready, the guards will show you to the empty rooms. One man per room, not per unit. Wistover is already crowded, and we simply don’t have the space to keep all the young Noblemen in luxury.

However, the houses have all the basic magitech that you would have at home. Showers with hot water, magitech fireplaces to keep them warm, and relatively comfortable oversized cot mattresses.

I believe the Merchant’s Guild told everyone to be prepared for a camping trip, but you’ve arrived early enough that isn’t necessary."

Dominic repeated the line as each group of Noblemen came to greet him, then watched for signs of trouble as they were led away by the town guards.

Though they were disappointed that their early arrival didn’t get them a spot in the Manor, everyone seemed to accept that they were filling the Manor with senior Royals and the ladies of the debutante ball.

They were the stars of the show, after all. It was their introduction to society as an adult lady, while the men had mostly been working for a few years, or serving in the military, so they already had experience in these sorts of social situations.

First it was airships. But the next morning brought the first of the truck convoys, the ones which had come either from Stasia Province, and had driven hard, or the ones which had come from Western Cygnia, picking up young Noblemen along the way.

There was no way that this party could be considered any sort of regular coming of age event, and the thought of calling it a debutante ball was laughable when they now had a hundred young men camped at the edge of the city, with an influx of untitled branch family’s daughters rumoured to be on the way.

They wouldn’t be considered suitable to attend the main event, given that they had no lineage to inherit, no alliances to leverage. But they could proudly say that at one point their family had Noble blood, and they could marry a man in a similar situation, or even a younger son of a Baron, without shame.

As with everything else that Wistover did, the party had gone far beyond its intended parameters, but Dominic thought that this might be a good opportunity as well.

Some of these young couples would need a place to live. One with good fields, easily accessible amenities, and a welcoming community.

Wistover checked all those boxes, and without titles to inherit, there was no reason that the branch family members who had tagged along as servants to see if they could change their fate couldn’t join them.

And, much to the engineering team’s relief, they were mostly arriving in Merchant Guild caravans that had brought all the extra goods they had ordered.

The silk was in for the airship, and the compounds for the synthetic rubber to make it gas tight.

They could finally make progress on the prototype cargo airship again.

Dominic returned to the Manor just after lunch, as there were no more airships coming in the next few hours, and the caravans would come straight to the Manor to get directions if they needed them.

There were no more tasks for him to use to escape the pomp and ceremony of the main house.

"There are more than I remember." Julio sighed as Dominic walked into his study to grab a drink before he changed clothes.

"I smell magic, so they’ve likely arrived by portal directly to the courtyards being used by their politicians. If they’ve sorted out lodging on their own, the maids will take care of the rest.

How is everything else? Did all the supplies arrive?"

Julio nodded. "Indeed. We’ve received all that we asked for and more. The Guild is sending extra caravans, given the increased size of the event, and the Adventurer’s Guild is sending an entire convoy of treasure hunters to the region.

Rumour has it that you’re going to put up a bounty on monsters to keep them away from the camped Nobles, and they all want in on the windfall."

Julio gestured to the desk, where he had already written the request, ready for signature.

"You are a life saver. Once this is signed, I will go join the party, Is the Princess in the main garden?"

Julio shook his head. "The Princess has stepped out for a moment. Something about ensuring that the guards aren’t slacking on their rotations due to the distractions."

Dave was on guard today. The only ones patrolling the Manor were the trolls and the veiled maids, as everyone else had been moved to the city to keep order.

Which meant that Dominic wasn’t the only one hiding from the chaos.