The Noble Queen-A Shadow Slave Fanfic

As every head turned her direction expectantly, Noble felt sudden compassion for every student who had ever stopped paying attention in class.

She hadn't noticed when the monotonous woman finished or when the older Awakened took his place. The new speaker must have said something pertaining to her or else why would Seishan have called on her? 

Resisting the urge to squirm, Noble folded her hands and set them lightly on the table. 

'Think, think...' 

The Princess of Song had called her both an expert and used the title of professor. That meant it had to be related to the Academy, didn't it?

She looked between Seishan and the presenter. 

"I need more information," Noble stated more confidently than she felt.

"How can you be so calm in the midst of this educational crisis?!" The wizened old man with silvery-grey hair pleaded. "Don't you have children?"

"I do," Noble was relieved to receive a question she could easily answer. 

"I have grandchildren among the refugees. If we do not teach our young, then years of progress will be lost! Each day they lose a little more of what they have already learned. We cannot let that continue!" The gentleman banged his fist on the table with fervor.

Seishan smiled tolerantly. "While I appreciate your enthusiasm, Elder Azuma, perhaps we can do it at a lower register." 

Azuma nodded slowly and sat down. "All I am saying is that not making education a priority is a mistake. It may not be noticeable in the short term, but in the long term we will fall behind both the Waking World and the other clans." 

"Shouldn't we focus education on martial training? Now that people can choose to enter the Nightmare at any point, having a training center makes more sense than a traditional school." One of Azuma's peers challenged. 

"Your arguing is what got us mired in this discussion. Let Noble speak." Seishan cut off the two gentlemen.

"You want to open a school?" Noble felt the man's frustration before she had finished her question.

"That is the crux of the matter," Azuma responded politely.

Noble quickly continued her line of thought. "And you would rather open training facilities for people who want to challenge the first Nightmare."

The second gentleman nodded his agreement.

"Why must it be one or the other? Are there not enough resources for both?" Noble went out on a limb with the inquiry. If it had already been discussed, then her inattention would be apparent to everyone in the room. 

"Allocation of resources is an issue," Azuma acknowledged.

"Even traditional schools have combat training." Noble had witnessed her own children's progress before hiring private tutors.

The training had not been enough in Noble's opinion, but it was certainly present. 

"If you are asking my professional opinion as a Master and a professor, I think that balance is needed." 

"We can work toward balance later, for now, combat is key!" 

Noble hadn't caught the blonde Awakened's name, but he seemed like a hardened warrior. 

"Will you open a combat school?" Azuma raised his eyebrows. "Unless you are volunteering your resources, this conversation is moot. I will oversee a house of learning, but if you want a place solely dedicated to bashing and slashing, you are more than welcome to..." 

"I will do it." The words came out of Noble's mouth before she had fully considered them. 

"Do what?" Azuma's voice softened. 

"I will train those who want to take on a Nightmare. I assume people outside of the normal range will want to try their hand at becoming Awakened. It would be strange to place grown adults with children to learn alongside them."

The professor's words tumbled out, but she wasn't through. 

"Maybe there could be something like a feeder school to the Awakened Academy."

Noble had always felt that helping students after the first Nightmare was like putting the cart after the horse. 

Sure, they learned some useful skills for being thrown into the Dream Realm on the Solstice, but those skills and a lot of that knowledge would have been even more useful if they had been acquired before heading into the first trial.

Not having an Aspect to work with or being able to access Memories would be an added challenge, but Noble sincerely believed the benefits would outweigh the drawbacks. Training Rain, and to a lesser extent, her boys, had taught her that a lot could be achieved even without the Spell as a guide.

"Do you think the Government would approve a feeder school?" Azuma looked at the other government employees. 

"I believe if Master Noble puts her mind to it, she can make anything happen," Renle nodded slowly. 

'Is he insinuating I'm stubborn or have good connections?' Noble wondered. 

Both, most likely.

"Even if it isn't official, I believe I would find a way to make it work temporarily until more permanent institutions could take its place." Noble liked the idea quite a lot.

It married her love for teaching with her desire to help the people of Ravenheart have a better life. She never would have chosen to conquer her first Nightmare, but if others felt that call, she would be happy to equip them as best as she could. 

"That would solve our problem," Azuma agreed. "Could we meet about this more after you have spoken to the Academy?" 

Noble nodded. She shouldn't be agreeing to anything at all yet. Once she spoke to the proper officials, then the professor would know how to move forward. 

"Then I will move forward with gathering resources for a school or two." Azuma looked at his disgruntled counterpart, but the other man remained silent. 

Seishan jumped at the chance to move on. "Who is next?" 

When the representatives of Clan Song were finished, the government officials gave small presentations of the best-case scenarios. They stuck to the most immediate concerns and made connections with those who would work with them going forward. 

Renle was last, talking in great detail about his plans for plumbing and technology. He expounded on his hope to work with officials from Bastion to get things moving into the modern era in the next few years.

"If someone had the proper Aspect, implementing electricity would be fairly straightforward, especially if there is a way to store soul essence and expend it like a battery. As for conventional means of electricity production, Ravenheart has that sorted. Geothermal energy would be the first venue I would like to explore. The first hurdle, however, would be to reduce interference from the Dream Realm on technology or create new technology that is resistant to its anomalous effects." 

The others in the room found his report interesting but insisted that he focus on plumbing first and foremost. It seemed Noble wasn't the only one bothered by the smell. 

In the end, the short meeting turned out to be many hours long. Noble was not sad when it was over. It would be dark soon and the food from the welcome party had long passed through her stomach. 

Seishan received a paper in her hand and after looking at it, she stood. "I think that concludes our time together. The Pilgrims will show you out." 

Noble felt movement from the walls. 

The dead had been so quiet that she had completely forgotten about them. Pushing back her chair, Noble joined Renle to ask him about the Nightmare Creature containment failure when Seishan stopped her at the door with the paper in her hand. 

"Master Noble, a moment. I have some questions."