The carriage pulled up to the restaurant with a hiss of released steam and the squeal of brakes.
"You know, one day, they will update the rest of these things to start using magic instead of coal or wood. The smog out here past the Palace is awful, but the commoners would riot if we told them they had to start walking again just to have cleaner air in the Noble Districts of the cities." Elanor sighed.
"You can only do so much at once. But we should head inside for dinner. I can sense them waiting for us already." Dominic replied with a smile for the normally cheerful Princess.
He did agree with her, though. If he had to stay in the city, he would definitely prefer that they cut back on the number of coal burning boilers. Not just the vehicles, but many of the buildings burned coal for steam equipment, heating and hot water.
Dominic checked the runes and the embroidered golden scrollwork on the mage robe that he was given, ensuring there was no damage or wrinkling of the thick fabric, and stepped out of the carriage before offering his hand to help the Princess down.
There was some murmuring among the crowd as they walked into the venue, but it wasn't loud enough for Dominic to pick up on what it was, only the generally shocked mood.
"They didn't expect us to be here as well. My sisters must have caused quite the scene coming in with a whole unit of the Royal Guard." Elanor whispered while smiling and waving at some of the Nobles in the crowd.
The whole table stood up to greet the Princess as she entered the private dining room, and her sisters came over to give her a hug.
"Good work out there, little sister. I know that you've tried hard to get the chance to prove yourself." Josephine, the older of the twins, whispered to her before leading Eleanor to her seat.
Alexis, the younger of the twin Princesses, pulled out a seat between her and her sister's chairs at the other end of the large round table for Dominic and smirked at the young caster's startled reaction. Then she gave a meaningful look at the Paladins in the group and back at the chair.
[We're trying to set her up with the team leader.] The message couldn't be clearer if the Princess had shouted it at Dominic, who gently took his seat, nearly forgetting to tuck his robes forward, as he hadn't worn a formal robe more than twice in his entire life.
They were kind of comfortable, though. He could see why the Mages liked them.
The elder Princess stepped to her seat, then tucked her long blonde hair out of the way and addressed the group. "As agreed, you have the chance for a chaperoned dinner with our lovely little sister. But don't expect us to make it too easy on you. That said, we have found an interesting new person to talk to, and we will be rather busy through the first course. Waitress, the wine, please."
Elanor giggled at her sister's antics. She knew all these people, so it wasn't like she was having dinner with strangers. But the two Princesses had already turned away from the crowd to talk to Dominic.
"Thank you for serving as our foil to anyone attempting to sit with Elanor. I won't apologize for using you to keep others away, but I can tell that you don't have that sort of intention toward the youngest Princess." Josephine began.
No, he had no intentions of a romantic sort with the youngest Princess.
But he quickly realized that every other man on the mission was looking for a Royal bride, and the two older Princesses had their own arrangements for the journey.
"I heard that you only just arrived in town. How are you liking it here in Cygnia City?" Princess Alexis asked, her long blonde hair falling around her face now that it was out of the chain mail coif of her armour.
"It is quite an incredible place, I must say. The air is a bit thick for my liking, but not much worse than in the forges."
"So, you really are an apprentice smith? Will you be applying at the Castle and working toward the Journeyman's Badge then?" She asked, with a meaningful look at Dominic's horns.
It was clear that she knew something about him already, and had likely looked into his past as much as possible when her younger sister asked for him to accompany them today.
Dominic nodded. If he were going to train his Smithing, he would certainly want to get it to the standard of a Journeyman eventually. He also had many more Monster Cores on him now, after killing and looting so many Goblins, and he could likely advance his skill a second time after using them all up later that night.
Perhaps there would be value to upgrading one of the other spell gems as well, but with under a month to the intake exams, he really couldn't spare the cores.
"Marvellous. We can always use more Smiths in town, especially Sorcerers with nimble fingers, to set the gears of the magical devices. The crystal shaping and clockwork are beyond most smiths, but the metal craft is beyond most watchmakers and Inscriptionists."
Making Magical Items sounded like a very lucrative trade, but Dominic wasn't sure how to get into the market. So far, he hadn't had good experiences in the Noble District, where such things were typically sold.
"As interesting as the creation of Magical Devices is to a young apprentice, I'm still in my first level of Apprentice Smithing Skill. I have a long way to go before I will be ready to move on to such detailed work."
The Princess chuckled and took out a dagger from her inventory. She placed the weapon on the table, and Dominic looked it over, noting that it was a crudely hammered steel blade with a poorly set gem. The gem had magic in it, though, so the weapon would be formidable despite its poor quality of construction.
"What do you think of that dagger?" The Princess asked.
"Poorly hammered, the gem is only partially set, and I can see the impurities in the steel from here. It looks functional, but nobody would ever call it a display piece." He shrugged.
"It was dropped by one of the Hobgoblins today. That is the quality standard of the Common Magical Items that an apprentice in the lower levels needs to compete against. I suspect that with an old Dwarf as your mentor, you wouldn't turn out something worse than that even now."
Dominic looked the weapon over more closely. All the magic was in the stone. It was only the effect of the magical stone that made it a magical item. He wasn't certain of precisely how the magical gems worked, but in his childhood, magical items were ornate things with runes and special materials. Not this crude approximation.
"Well, perhaps it is possible. I certainly wouldn't do worse on the dagger. I don't know how to make the gems, though. Perhaps I will ask Pops later, once we're done with tomorrow's tools." Dominic agreed.
The eldest Princess burst into laughter, startling the table.
"Yes, ask Pops about making magical weapons. Perhaps he will show you when he politely refuses to make them for the Royal Family. He says his weapons aren't up to Royal Standards, but we all know he makes the best tools around."
Dominic frowned. An expression that scrunched up his face and made Princess Alexis want to tease him just to see it again.
"Are you that short on weapon smiths? I thought that this city was full of them, since I've seen forges and artisans everywhere since I arrived." He asked.
"Artificers, steam-smiths, carriage makers, airship docks, clockmakers, Brasswork Inscriptionists and a dozen other specialties that use forges, yes. The whole city specializes in magitech devices, but only a select few of them make practical weapons." The older Princess explained.
"Magical weapons are much cheaper, thanks to the chance to get them from monsters, and crafted ones are in lower demand than a new part for an aging or damaged magitech carriage, you see.
So, all the graduates learn to become mechanics and factory workers instead of the daily drudgery of a Weaponsmith or toolmaker like Pops." The younger twin added, mischief twinkling in her ice blue eyes.
They hadn't even noticed the wine being poured as they were so engrossed in the conversation, and they certainly didn't notice that their odd trio had become the interest of all the serving staff at the restaurant, who wanted to know who the new mage boy was who had captured the Royal Family's attention.