The Manor of Erudition

"This can't possibly be the place, right?" I say to Yue while looking at the mess of a building in front of us.

If anything, this place takes up more space than any of the other nearby buildings in total size. But the appearance is nothing but a mess, trash is littered all over the sides of the building and with just a quick peek through one of the windows I can see scrapes of food left all over the room.

"Despite its appearance, this is the house of some of the greatest minds in Zhongyang... when putting your conditions into consideration," Yue says as a small explosion destroys one of the windows.

"Hey, I'm pretty sure something just--"

"It's just your imagination, ignore it," Yue says, cutting me off.

But before I can say anything in response we hear, "shit! Hakase, your coat is on fire!"

"..." I don't say anything and just look at Yue with a blank face.

"Why don't we just enter and see if they'll do the job, I'm sure they'll be interested."

As we walk over towards the door, I can't help but think in the back of my head that I should have been more lenient with my conditions and looked for someone who might have sold us out to Shenzhou.

Maybe my thoughts are too obvious as Yue says before knocking on the door, "I'm sure this won't be all bad. If anything your not going to have any risk of the anyone here taking your work for themselves and selling you out to any of the three other powers in Shengdi. Much like you, the three people who call this... thing home are also considered criminals. But unlike you, they are wanted in not just Shenzhou but Yamato and Samhan as well."

"I know am not one to talk, but I'm not sure if I should trust people who are considered criminals in nearly all of Shengdi."

"From the reports I read, they didn't actually do anything particularly bad. Most of their charges are property damage. Normally this isn't too big of a deal, especially given their talents, it's just they somehow managed to set fire to several government buildings in the three other Empires and even partially destroyed the vacation home of the Phoenix Emperor of Samhan."

As if waiting for this moment, as soon as Yue finishes, the building in front of us trembles as we feel the ground shake beneath us. The shaking only lasts a few moments and Yue ignores my stare as she knocks on the door.

"It's open, just come in!" we hear someone yell from beyond the door.

As we step in and close the door behind us, I see several scorch marks on the ground and walls. There are even a few holes in the walls of the hallway before us. After a few seconds, we hear the sound of footsteps on metal stairs as three people appear from the corner and make their way towards us.

Two women and one man. All three seem to be human and a quick look with my Draconic Insight confirms this. One of the women should be the one whose coat caught fire as half of the lab coat she is wearing is burnt. She is the tallest, only just a bit shorter than me. She also looks to be the oldest of the three, probably a little older than Serabane's apparent age, so likely to be in her mid or early thirties. Shoulder length White hair, red eyes, and unusually pale skin, if I'm not mistaken, she should have albinism.

The other woman is just a much more average in terms of height and appearance with long Black hair and brown eyes. Her skin is lightly coloured but still a little pale for someone from Shengdi, but this is probably due to her lack of time in the sun. She looks to be a little younger than her compatriates, but if I'm hearing her right, she is scolding the other two.

In my opinion, the man also doesn't really have any particular stand out features about him, if anything, it would be the small glasses he wears. For what it's worth, I'm sure most people would consider him to be a bit handsome. But upon seeing me and Yue, his face briefly shows a bit of disappointment although it doesn't last long.

"Do you really... have to scold us in front of... our guests?" the albino says with clear signs of exhaustion in her voice as the trio arrive before us, "I heard from the Treasury some people would be visiting with a potentially interesting offer. I assume this would be the two of you?"

"Yeah, but it's really only me, she is only here to watch," I say while lightly nodding towards Yue," you can call me Cordelia."

"And I'm Yue."

"*Sigh* why'd it have to be women... well, I guess I can introduce myself. I'm Hagja Gyosu," he says with clear disappointment in his voice.

"Sorry about him, he was hoping that a good looking guy would show up, a bit of a waste for someone like him to go for the other team. Anyways, I'm Jiaoshou Boshi, nice to meetcha."

"And... I'm... can I just sleep and do this later?" the albino woman asks.

"No, you have to do your responsibilities. And it's not like sleeping will change how tired you are," says Jiaoshou Boshi.

"Fiiiine. Name... Kyouju Hakase. I'm the leader... I guess... uhh... welcome to the Manor of Erudition."