The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 750: Gifts For The Nobles

Two hours later, Dominic was standing at the gate to Castle City with one transport and his full Royal Guard.

From the outside, it didn’t look like much. Four men in light armour on mechanical horses, surrounding an odd open sided transport. But the curtains of the transport flew the heraldry of Wistover Duchy, so everyone knew that someone important was inside, even if he chose to travel by private car instead of a luxury carriage.

The seats inside were actually quite comfortable, but both Dominic and Amie preferred to have the vehicle open, in case they were attacked.

Actually harming them when they had layered the stretched transport with protective spells was no small feat. But having solid walls around them would limit their ability to fight back.

The rest of the Royal guards were either in the front seat, or hanging off the sides of the vehicle as armed guards.

It didn’t seem like much, but Dominic knew that it would be more than enough.

"Halt, do you have an invitation?" The guard at the gate to the central Castle that gave Castle City its name asked in a bored tone.

The driver handed over the invitation, which the man barely glanced at before handing it back, then doing a double take. The Lords hadn’t actually expected Dominic to show up for all the events.

This was just a coming of age for a Mayor’s son. The invitation was mostly ceremonial.

However, Dominic was mostly here for what came after.

The birthdays for the other Noblemen were a smaller gathering, but with everything so close together, they would combine the events and make it a grand one to get the Mayor’s boy started on his path to service.

The title wasn’t technically hereditary, it was more like the Castellan of a Manor. But tradition was to pass it down to the chosen heir of the last Mayor.

There was a small panic when they reached the end of the driveway. They hadn’t been prepared for Dominic to show up so suddenly. They had assumed that he would gather a larger group, or call for them to provide an escort suited to his station.

Therefore, a single vehicle passing through the city had escaped their notice until the last moment.

"Your Grace, welcome. It’s an honour to have you here today. I see that you’ve brought just one companion?"

"A Lady’s Maid, the daughter of the Baron of Skipton River. She has come as a representative for Princess Alexis, to deliver Her Highness’s blessings upon the new young Lord."

Amie curtsied politely, and the City Lord noticed that the ring on her finger appeared to be made of a Mythril alloy, and it was embossed with the Wistover Duchy’s staff seal.

Duke Wistover was truly generous with those under his care.

The ring was actually a one-off, and Dominic hadn’t made it at all. Amie had made it herself, testing the [Earth To Aluminum] spell with the [Quality Upgrade] magitech orb at different levels. She had also been the one to do the [Storage Ring] spell on it, though she hadn’t fully mastered the spell.

She was fairly confident in her skills now, and she had enough magical power that it wasn’t a big deal to make a fairly large storage space.

The City Lord noticed that all the Manor Guards had the same signets, but in a non-reflective black that appeared to be another magical alloy.

Extravagant.

Two more men came to join them, and Dominic nodded politely to the Earl of Totbu, and the Count of Maltondon.

"Totbu, Maltondon, it’s a pleasure to meet you both. I have prepared a small token for our first meeting. Or perhaps your birthday, as it’s close anyhow." Dominic greeted them.

Amie extended a set of three boxes, and the men looked slightly confused.

"I wasn’t sure what each of you preferred, so I prepared the same for each of you. I do hope you don’t mind the slight to your varying status." Dominic explained.

The three boxes were carefully opened, and the men began to chuckle.

There was nothing in them. They were just boxes that Dave had carved in his spare time with pictures of trees on them, and Amie had enchanted them as storage items.

They would actually come in extremely handy soon, as they fully expected to be burdened with a large amount of decorative gifts.

"I have a theory on gift giving, you see. It should either be useful enough to become part of the receiver’s everyday life, or consumable, so that it doesn’t clutter their home." Dominic added.

"That’s a wonderful theory, Your Grace Wistover.

In fact, I believe that I may take up that stance in the future. Having a constant flow of new items only encourages regifting, which is lazy, even if it is a convenient way to reward those under our jurisdiction."

"Indeed. I have already passed along many gifts to the Barons, and I suspect that many of them were given for exactly that reason.

The real trick for someone without decades of practice is ensuring that a gift doesn’t make it back to the original gifter."

Earl Totbu admired the gift. "I daresay that this will not be an issue with your latest gift. Though, might I ask, who is Dave? The artisan signed only his first name."

Amie giggled, and Dominic smiled at the older man. "The boxes are Troll made. If you’re familiar with their naming conventions, you will understand."

Earl Totbu nodded. "Aye, I am familiar. It’s devilishly difficult to get them to do what you need when everyone has the same name. They just assume that you’re talking to someone else and do whatever they please."

That was actually brilliant.

Dominic hadn’t seen them doing it, but he could see how they would weaponize the identical names against someone, innocently claiming that they all thought they were speaking to someone else.

"He will be overjoyed to know that you appreciate his artwork. The trolls often carve such things when they’re on break from guard duty at the Manor.

You might want to consider it as well. Even a small group of Mountain Trolls is an excellent deterrent when they are patrolling the walls."