"You look kinda pale, Lyra. You alright?" I asked, leaning forward from my seat. "Is it 'woman issues'?"
Lyra crossed her arms. "Even if it was, do you think I'd discuss that with you?" She laughed. "If you must know, after I finished up in the bathroom, I walked around the courtyard for a bit. That book was a boring read and I didn't feel like getting back to it. Hope you didn't miss me too bad while I was gone."
"I almost cried my eyes out; you were taking too long." I joked.
"Oh, whatever will you do without me, big brother~?"
"Aaand the moment is ruined."
As good as it was to joke with Lyra every now and then, the most important part of that little exchange was confirming that she hadn't unintentionally seen or heard anything Isobel and I had gotten into. I'd like to say I don't "normally" lose myself like I did with Isobel, but that was the second time I'd ever had sex, so… who's to say that's just a thing with me? I'd have to be mindful. The last thing I needed was to get too absorbed in the moment and get caught by Lyra. I know she wouldn't kill me or anything, but I still didn't want her to see me like that. Her knowing Isobel and me were involved was enough.
"So," Lyra started, loudly patting the blue tome on the table. "Pop quiz time. Advisors, Paladins, Instructors, Prodigies. Tell me what you know. Now!"
I rolled my eyes. "I could lie to you and you wouldn't know. You think I didn't notice how absent you were when you were reading? You make the exact same face every time someone explains something to you that you don't understand."
Lyra straightened. "O-oh, I…" She blushed. "That's because I had to go to the bathroom. I was trying to get through it so I could leave! But since you were so attentive, educate me! Tell me what I didn't pick up on!"
"Why should I have to? That book isn't going anywhere. If I have questions, I can just refer to it."
"So you weren't paying attention!" Lyra shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at me. I looked away, blushing as she continued.
"If neither of you are capable of skimming through a book, then House May will certainly fall by the end of the year," a new voice called from the hall behind us.
Isobel appeared dressed like a typical black mage: sleeveless black dress, thigh-high heels, black fingerless gloves, and a comically pointy hat. She didn't have a wand, but she did have a small spellbook orbiting her.
"What's this about?" I asked, giving her a once-over.
"We can discuss this after I'm finished reminding you two what you should've learned by now. Listen close, because there won't be any catch-up lessons, and I'm hardly an Instructor."
Isobel returned to her earlier seat beside me and droned on for an absurd amount of time about the Quintessential Quartet. To her credit, I felt like I had a firm grasp on the concept by the time she finished her very long lesson.
"Now that that's settled, there's another matter I'd like to discuss with you–the actual reason I called you two here, and why I'm dressed as I am." Isobel stood from the seat and mentally maneuvered her spellbook to appear before her. Once it opened itself to a specific page, she placed it on the table, turning it so that both Lyra and I could read it. "'The Fledgling House Grant'. This was actually news to me when I learned about it. Yesterday, when I met with the gentleman from the Adventurer's Guild, he informed me that you were allowed a small grant. All Fledgling Houses are allowed grants by the Adventurer's Guild."
"Y'know, I don't want to sound ungrateful or anything, but…" Lyra started, an awkward smile on her face as she stared down at the open book on the table.
"You're amongst friends," Isobel noted, a familiar smirk on her face. "Speak your mind."
"We make way more from 5-Star Quests," I finished. "Like, way more."
"What can we even do with this?" Lyra asked, looking around the barren dining room. "I suppose we could use it to furnish a room or two, but… we won't be recruiting an army with this."
The "grant" provided by the Adventurer's Guild was for 2000 gold coins. If I were a bachelor living in Podros, that'd be a lottery ticket. If I were a father in Eshil, that'd be enough to take my children to a private mage academy for a semester. As the leader of arguably the largest Great House in Amelan, that may as well be my grocery bill. That was the kind of paycheck you gave to a 1-Star Adventurer! Like Lyra, I didn't want to sound ungrateful. Some help was better than none, but… still…
"So," I started, noticing the perpetual smirk on Isobel's face. "This the reaction you were expecting?"
"Precisely. I know you're familiar with making far more from the Adventurer's Guild, but you only get those because you two are 5-Star Adventurers. As the Lord and Lady of a Noble House, the only Quests that House May will receive are those fitting a Fledgling House. If you want those high-paying Quests like you're used to, you'll have to increase your reputation. Once you're a Standard House, you can expect to make low to mid five figures per Quest. As a Great House, that's when you make a low six figures per Quest. Remember, though, Noble Houses usually have hundreds of soldiers all going on missions for them. Sure, making 30,000 from one Quest isn't ideal, but twenty squads doing missions for that price? That's where the money is made."
"And why can't we just do 5-Star Quests on our own?" Lyra asked.
"Because you won't get any House reuptation like that. The only way to get that is by completing House Quests. Of course, the other way to increase reputation is to hire a Quintessential Quartet, but we aren't even sure the sale will go through! So let's just focus on what's in front of us, shall we?"
"What's in front of us, then?" I asked.
Isobel smiled. "Ah, that. I signed us up for a House Quest! It starts in a few hours."