"That's none of your business," Isdis growled at the two maids.
"It is," Rey said with a passive face.
"You don't find someone like him everywhere," Ray added, looking at Arad and Isdis. "You know we're supposed to beat most assassins,"
"Arad is strong, isn't he," Isdis said with a smile, relaxing on Arad's chest.
[In a world full of monsters and where their lives aren't certain. Humans start to get attracted to power like all other monsters. They might not be as extreme as dragons or titans, but a woman would prefer a strong man over beauty most times. The reverse is also right.]
^Are you saying I'm ugly?^
^[She sure is]^ Doma giggled.
[I mean, your strength matters more than your look. As long as you have it, you can get by. Sometimes, it's more important than gold.]
^Power rules, power controls, and power dominates.^ Arad thought, looking at the two maids and at Isdis.
"Say, what do you like in a man?" Arad asked directly without thinking about it and everyone froze in place.
"What do you mean?" Isdis gasped with a worried face.
Rey scratched her chin, "As long as you won't die to the average monsters, I'm mostly fine."
Ray nodded, "It would be sad if he went to work and never came back,"
The three bathmaids in the back nodded, "They are right," One of them said, "Before I worked here, I was married to a farmer. Sadly one die died in a common wolf raid."
The other one looked down with a sad face, "Father and brother were gate guards, they both died when a Hydra attacked."
"I worked as a debt collector in the past, and was quite strong." The third maid said while looking away, "One day, bandits targeted me with a coordinated attack. I managed to wing and kill them, but I suffered too many injuries that I can barely walk." She scratched her ankle, showing a hidden scar hidden beneath light paint, "I was too weak to survive without damage. I wish I was stronger, or left the job for someone stronger."
One of the maids looked at her, "There isn't a safe job in the world,"
The other sighed, "Even though our job here can be one of the safest and easiest. We can still die in an assassination attempt," Another added.
Rey and Ray stared at the three maids, "That would be us, we're the one protecting Lady Isdis," Ray said with a smile.
"Sister is right. But lucky, not many assassination attempts happened since she came back." Rey added.
Arad blinked, "Not many? I was clearing idiots every night,"
"Wait! What?" Rey and Ray gasped, "That disfigured corpse we found in the garden..."
Arad pointed with his thumb at his face and replied with a passive face, "I killed him. They were sneaking on the roof searching for Isdis's room."
Isdis stared at Arad, "You didn't tell me! How many, who sent them?"
Arad started counting on his fingers, trying to remember how many he killed, "About thirty I would say, give or take the ones I chased to the forest." He said, "Wait, thirty-one now. My rats just ate one that was sneaking in the sewers beneath the castle."
Arad stood, pushing Isdis aside. He walked to the drain and stared down, his hands resting on his waist. "There are another three trying to sneak here at the moment." He looked at Isdis, "Someone really wants you dead,"
"What? I would inform the guards immediately," Isids gasped.
"No need," Arad waved his hand, "With where they are hiding, they would escape before they could get caught," Arad replied, kneeling down and touching the ground.
Isdis started at him with a smile across her face. ^Of course, he's a dragon. He has been living here for a few days, this castle is already like his lair. You can't sneak into a dragon's lair and expect him not to notice. Gin and Kin are already here, but they won't interfere with the crown candidates no matter what.^
She stood, "What are you going to do?"
"Kill them, all I need to do is pull them up with Gravity and they will get crushed on the ceiling of the sewers," Arad replied.
"Don't kill them. Pull them up, but not hard enough that they would die." She stared at one of the bathmaids, "Inform the changing room maids to report this to the guard." She looked back at Arad, "Where exactly?"
"Twenty-three meters down, seventeen north and five west," Arad replied.
Isdis tried to imagine the place, doing her best to remember the castle layout. "From here... That would be the main sewer line going between the kitchen and this bath." She looked at the maid, "Go,"
The bathmaid rushed to inform the changing room maids. Who reported it to the guards outside.
Arad pulled the assassins up with gravity magic, tying them until he felt the guards' presence beside them. "They are caught," Arad replied, looking at Isdis.
"A light torture session and some spells and will get answers to who sent them," She sat in the water, "To think all of those assassins were coming behind my back," She sighed.
Rey and Ray stared at Arad, "We aren't needed?" Rey said with a sad face.
"He's too much, sniffed them all the way from here," Ray added with a sadder face.
Isdis stood slightly panicked and shook her hands, "No! Don't compare yourselves to him. He's a bit of a special case," She said with a tense smile, ^It's unfair to ask them to match up to a dragon.^ She thought.
Rey and Ray still looked sad, Arad didn't just beat them to a kill, he also was protecting them and Isdis since they came without them knowing.
Arad looked at them, "So, no one answered my question,"
"Reliable," Isdis replied with a smile, "As long as I can leave my back to you and be at ease, that all is needed. You're exceptional at that."
Rey looked at Arad, "Strong senses, as long as you can notice the small changes. You're fine,"
Arad looked at her, "Like the fact you cut your hair a bit between our meeting and coming here?"
"Heh!" Rey gasped, "I tried helping the maids heat the water and ended up burning the tips of my hair. It was less than a finger so I just cut that bit..." She stared at Arad, "You noticed that?" She said with a shaking face.
"For me!" Ray looked at Arad, "Muscles! You can't be thin as an asparagus," she approached Arad, touching his arm, "Ah! And be taller than me!"
Arad stared at her, "Bold words for someone like you," Arad could see her standing almost as tall as Aella. She and her sister are almost 180 cm in height. "Drop your expectation a bit,"
Ray stared at him with a grin, "You're far taller, why care?"
Arad blinked, understanding what she meant, "I'm only taking her," He pointed at Isdis.
"What!" The twins cried.