[Alkelios’ point of view]

 Humans and dragons were fundamentally different... when it came to their appetite. While I was not one to shy away from a decent meal, someone like Coshun tended to eat up to three times my fill.

Seriously now, he was eating like there was no tomorrow! The food from his plate vanished faster than the waitress could bring it. What was even more ridiculous was the fact that he finished eating before all of us did, including Ildea, who ordered a meal fit for a lady rather than an adventurer.

At least he did not grab the mug and smashed it on the ground calling for another round.

Once we ate our fill, we left the tavern and returned to our rooms, where I looked around my stuff to find some decent gear for them.

“My friend, there’s no need to bother yourself with something like this. I am fit and strong enough to go out in battle only with the shirt on my back!” Coshun bragged.

With his arms crossed at his chest and leaning with his back against the wall next to the door, Kalderan raised an eyebrow at him and scoffed “Now this explains why you are covered in scars. You are one barrel extra of recklessness, aren’t you?”

“Jumping in battles you cannot win is something only fools will do!” he declared.

“Hm, so how foolish was I to challenge a Breakthrough-er to a battle when I was not even at the level of strength of a regular knight?” I asked out of curiosity.

“What? You did something as insane as that?” he asked surprised.

“Yeah.” I shrugged “She ended up becoming a good friend of mine, so all was well.”

“You were incredibly lucky, my friend. Normally, challenging someone as mighty as that is nothing but a fool’s errand, a death wish, a suicidal quest, you name it.” he declared.

“I’m probably the exception that confirms the rule.” I showed him a wry smile.

Leaving aside their comments, the only armors I had on me right now, were the mass-produced version of draconian armors given to the soldiers in the Albeyater war and several experimental armors I worked on by using the hides of various monsters from the Seculiar Forest.

Rather than making a new armor, I decided to use those.

Risha received a hide armor with several enchants that were around the Trusted Legendary rank. From my point of view, they were not anything to gawk at, but they could keep her safe on the Dragon Continent. The bow she carried was replaced by another one of my experimental weapons. It was a folding type with a string made from enchanted spider thread. It was one of my better products since everything else was either too ridiculous or too useless.

Speaking of ranged weapons, I never did try to make something like a firearm. Something told me I could, but another part of me wondered how that would all fit in the whole sword and magic theme of this entire world. Then again, when I saw Kalderan brandishing his guns, I felt as though such thoughts were simply ridiculous. Maybe one day, when I had nothing to do, I was going to try to make a gun.

Ildea received a thin leather armor which was intended to be used while traveling through town rather than being used in combat. It was a combat dress enchanted to survive Seryanna’s moves, and which thankfully had a size adjusting enchant. No offense, but Ildea could not really compare in term of body proportions to an average dragoness.

As a weapon, she received one of the mass-produced swords for the Albeyater soldiers. I did not really think she would be able to effectively use something of a higher quality, but hey, if I was proven wrong on this journey, I wouldn’t mind swapping it with something else.

When it came to Kalderan’s turn, I gave him a hide armor similar to Risha’s, but this one was focused more on strengthening his agility and speed. He was a range shooter, so being fast and agile was the best for him. Unfortunately, I could not give him any other weapon except for a Legendary Dagger that was intended for self-defense. His belt also had a bunch of crystals that could store Magic Energy for a later use.

For Tamara, I could not go with anything else other than enchanted normal clothes. The little rascal didn’t sit still to change into a regular armor. Even when both Risha and Ildea ganged up on her to make her change, she managed to slip away. For her, this turned into a game of chase.

I could not leave her without weapons, so I gave her a dagger similar to Kalderan’s, but it was of a lower rank, it was a mere Beginner Legendary. No offense to Ildea, who received something weaker, but I wanted Tamara to have an extra chance at defeating her enemy even if she didn’t know how to properly use it.

The last one to stand before me to receive an armor was Coshun. I could not give him something like a standard soldier armor, so I looked through my experimental plate armors and found one that was at Trusted Legendary rank. It enhanced the user’s magic attacks as well, but its main usage was in a battle of strength and endurance. Basically, it was a vanguard armor. As a weapon, I gave him a Beginner Legendary two-handed sword with some decent enchants on it. This too was one of my experimental weapons, that was why it looked a bit... unique. It resembled a katana a lot more than it did other weapons, but the tip had two shark teeth protrusions on the flat side.

“They aren’t much, but I hope you will use them well. If I find you misusing them, I’ll take them back!” I warned them.

With the exception of Kalderan, who was clenching his fists and shaking for some reason, everyone else was quite impressed with their new upgrades, especially Coshun, who was admiring his new sword like it was something special. Honestly speaking, it did not even matter if they lost or destroyed them. These were all just things that I made when I was experimenting with my crafting skills back when I was in the Seculiar Forest. If given the chance, I could make something far better without changing the rank. No doubt there were other blacksmiths out there who could reproduce or even improve their designs.

Maybe the dwarfs have someone special like that? I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a smith that could create Godlike stuff with ease. I thought.

“Alkelios... let me get this straight. Are you telling me that all of these things you gave us are either at Master or Legendary rank?” Kalderan asked with a twitch in his right eye.

“Erm, yes? I am sorry, but I cannot give you any of the Godlike ones. They are a bit too powerful, but these are just right to take a stroll through the Seculiar Forest.” I replied with a smile.

When they heard me, they all looked at me with mouths agape.

“Alkelios.” Kalderan narrowed his eyes at me.

“Yes?”

“Are you an idiot? Even a Trust Master Rank weapon or armor can be considered a great treasure in this country, and you just gave us Legendary stuff. What are we supposed to kill with these things? Demon Kings?” he retorted.

“Huh? No, for Demon King you would use a Godlike, isn’t it obvious?” I replied.

“Mother of all...” Kalderan said and face-palmed himself.

“I don’t think our friend here understands just how much of a treasure he gave us... Even for Albeyater these should be considered impressive.” Coshun said.

“How are these things impressive? At most, they are just average from my point of view.” I retorted.

For some reason, I felt as though he just insulted my crafting skills.

“Your point of view is the problem! It’s messed up!” retorted Kalderan.

“Alkelios, we aren’t ungrateful you gave us these gifts, we’re just... a bit shocked.” Ildea told me.

“Does my father know of your skill?” asked Coshun.

“Of course. I made a bunch of armors and swords for the soldiers in the last war.” I told him.

“I see.” he looked down at his sword for a moment and then back at me “You said this before, but... what war are you talking about?” he asked.

“The civil war between his Majesty’s army and the rebels under the command of Draejan Andrakaryus Doesya.” I told him.

Coshun furrowed his brow.

“That whelp raised his sword against his own kind? Why?” he asked.

“Because he wanted to rule the lands. I’ll let your father tell you more about it, right now, there’s some info that’s a bit sensitive to share, you see.” I showed him a wry smile.

“I understand. This was enough, thank you.” he bowed his head.

“Well, now that we are properly equipped with overpowered items, shall we go for a stroll through the town?” Ildea asked with a smile.

“Sure, why not?” Kalderan let out a sigh.

“Tamara wants fishy fish! A barrel of fish! No, two barrels! No, an entire fish market!” she declared with a bit of drool flowing down from the corners of her mouth.

“Is that what you want to buy or eat?” I asked raising an eyebrow at the nekatar.

“To eat! Tamara definitely has extra stomach just for fish!” she declared with absolute certainty in her sparkling eyes.

“I would say let her eat that much just to test out that theory. If she gets a stomachache, maybe she’ll reconsider how much she can eat.” Kalderan said with a smirk.

“Tamara’s tummy will never hurt because of fish!” she declared as she twitched her whiskers.

Now that they had their new armors equipped, our group looked like high leveled adventurers. The problem now was that I looked like the weakest out of all of them. My armor was the same one as before, and it was certainly of a worse quality than theirs.

To be fair though, I wasn’t completely unaware that what I gave them could very well be considered national treasures in Ten Swords. Considering who we were escorting now, I figured that this level of protection was the least we could offer.

I may have been powerful, but I wasn’t almighty. There was no way I could tell who and when someone could attack us. With this gear, they had a bit of protection even if their levels were rather low. If this was a game, then it would have been impossible for them to wear them, but in real life, the worst that could happen was that they wouldn’t be able to use them at their full potential.

We started our little sightseeing tour by going around the noble area. The fancy building and relatively clean streets brought a good change, and the fact that we didn’t look like poor bums also helped in keeping the guards away. The few people who stopped us to ask us one thing or another were those interested in our weapons and armors.

Most of them were looking at Coshun, they were impressed by the intimidating aura he gave off, but they weren’t afraid of him. Before we left our room to go grab something to eat, I asked Coshun to put on a fake slave collar just like Tamara to keep the nosy humans away from us. They could take it off any time they wished.

Within the noble area, we saw several shops where the prices were at least double when compared to those within the commoner area. The things they sold though weren’t very interesting. Out of curiosity, I wanted to enter one of them, but the big guard at the entrance stopped me from going in under the pretext of me looking like a poor commoner.

I would have wanted to retort, but I abstained. Risha, however, didn’t. She asked the guard how much he thought the sword I carried was worth. The man said 10 silver coins at best, to which, she smirked and told him that it was clear now why someone who was unable to tell treasure from junk was given the role of a guard.

To add insult to injury, Coshun walked up to me and said: “Master, you shouldn’t waste your time with the blind.”

His armor and weapon looked like something expensive and powerful even to a regular commoner. By saying those words, he simply implied that I was far more powerful and richer than the guard believed.

We stepped away from the store and didn’t bother to enter another one, but I do remember there were other people on the street who noticed the scene. The owner would most likely hear of this incident at one point. After all, nobles loved their gossip.

After we left the noble area, we went towards the craftsman area. There, we saw the most skilled artisans and blacksmiths this town could offer. As one would expect, the moment they spotted our group, they were all eyes on us, or more specifically on our weapons and armor. At the very least, they acted like true professionals and didn’t stop their hands from moving while they were still working on their important projects. Only if they could find a second to spare would they rush over to ask us where we acquired our armors and swords... well, they did. I was wearing some very common gear at first glance.

The thing was that all of this attention could also be considered a double edge sword. First of all, the people around us weren’t so eager to think of us as poor or weak anymore, but on the other hand, they would spread a bunch of rumors about us. Depending on whose ears were listening, this could spell trouble for us later.

By trouble, however, I was thinking more along the line of lengthy bureaucracy or annoying bandits who would try to steal our stuff. The latter were like cockroaches, just when you thought you got rid of the last of them, a bunch more popped out of nowhere.

There was nothing interesting to see in the craftsman area or the noble area, although the humans in our group appeared to be rather curious and amazed by some of the items they saw on display. When I asked them why junk like that caught their attention, Ildea had this to say with a perfectly polite smile on her lips:

“I remember a strange individual suddenly giving all of us armors and weapons that each in their own right might as well be considered a National Treasure by the Ten Swords Kingdom, but apparently they weren’t that important to him. But that must have been my imagination, right? After all, if such a genius of a craftsman truly existed, then no matter how much our humble blacksmiths struggled, they could never hope to catch up to his level. So yes, it must be my imagination that such an incredible craftsman would be envious that his companions are admiring the work of these other humble craftsmen.”

There was nothing I could say as a comeback.

From the craftsman area we headed back to the inn, but we took the more scenic route and passed by the small castle belonging to the noble who ruled over this town. I didn’t catch his name, but I didn’t bother myself to find out either. Ildea seemed to be talking something with Coshun and Risha was playing with Tamara, the only one who was staring at the high walls that separated this estate from the rest of the town was Kalderan.

“Something on your mind?” I asked him.

“Not exactly.” he replied and shook his head.

I looked up at the walls and then back at him “This world, it’s very different from ours, isn’t it?”

“Different?” he scoffed “I would say it’s like an entirely different Universe. Six years ago, my only political worry was whether or not the USA was going to declare war on us or the other way around. But now...” he looked up at the wall “Now I have to worry not only about what country might decide over night to attack this one but also who might be a noble or not because offending them is akin to a death sentence... And I’m not even going to start about monster hordes and all that stuff!”

“Hm, yeah... that’s true. A few months after we arrived here, I ended up getting in a duel with one of the leading knights in the Albeyater Kingdom, that Doesya guy.” I told him.

“The one you said you fought against in the war?” he asked raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, that one. He was at that time the fiancé of my wife. I allowed myself to fall in his political trap because of my lack of knowledge in the matter and nearly got myself killed. It was only thanks to my friends that I was spared, but I ended up losing something far more than my life back then...” I told him and then looked at him in the eyes “The dragoness I fell in love with, Seryanna Draketerus...” I looked down at my hand and grasped it in a fist “I went through what I perceived as a living Hell back then until I finally had the guts to step up and fix my mistake.”

“How did you get her back?” he asked me.

“I had friends... and a bit of luck.” I showed him a wry smile.

Kalderan closed his eyes for a moment, he was thinking about something, then he opened them and looked up at the wall “Friends, huh? Maybe if I had friends like you back then, she would still be alive...”

Our little chat ended here, and we continued to move down the street. The closer we got to the commoner areas, the more adventurers and ruffians we saw. While there were a few who were glaring at us, no one had the courage to try anything.

It was a bit of a change though. When in the noble areas we were tossed gazes of curiosity and maybe admiration, in the commoner areas we were one step closer to being their enemies.

“They think we are a bunch of stuck-up rich nobles who are coming here just to brag about our wealth and lineage.” Kalderan told us.

“Ridiculous.” scoffed Coshun.

The only ones who did not seem to be bothered by us were the adventurers. They mostly traveled in groups of at least three and could be identified either by the mismatch of their weapons and armors or the fact that they gave off a completely different feel from the people in this place. Locals usually felt as though they were a heavy stone bound to this land with invisible chains, while foreigners were like a passing breeze.

At one point, I noticed that something was happening a bit ahead of us, which garnered the attention of the passer byes. There was a child of around ten years old with black hair and black eyes that strongly reminded me of a Japanese person. He wore rags that had been patched up together by an unskilled hand. With tears streaming down his cheeks and snot running down his nose, he was on his knees, begging the man before him.

Instead of moving away, I moved closer to the scene. There were other passer byes who stopped to stare, casting gazes of disdain at the poor child.

“P-Please! I beg of you! P-Please heal m-my little s-sister! S-She be s-sick and feverish! S-She needs d-doctor! Please! I b-beg of you! P-Please!” the boy cried with a poor broken accent of the local language.

“Brat, I told you that I won’t go to the slums with you! Do you think someone like me will go and do a checkup on someone who lives in that pigsty?!” the man scorned and spat on him.

“P-Please! I have money!” the boy said and pulled out a bunch of copper coins from his pocket.

“Filth! I don’t need your stolen money! Go bother someone else or just use those coins to pay the priest for a decent burial!” the doctor slapped the money out of the boy’s hands.

“Ah! No!” he cried out as he saw the coins scattering on the ground all the way to my feet.

I looked down and grabbed a coin. When I looked at it, I saw that it had been recently washed with water.

“A thief wouldn’t have cared so much for a stolen coin...” I said in a low voice that probably only Tamara heard.

Looking to my left, I saw a ruffian reaching down to grab one of the coins, but I tossed him a glare to stop him.

“Touch it, and I’ll cut off your hand.” I warned him.

Coshun noticed my intention and moved towards the man. Seeing the prestigious armor and the pressure the dragon gave off, the ruffian backed away with a yelp and then quickly made himself scarce.

I picked up the coins around me and then walked up to the crying boy who was trying to gather the rest of them. There was no one here who so much would have wanted to try to help the boy, and I, for one, couldn’t help but feel as though there was some sort of discrimination happening here. Maybe it was because he was poor or maybe it was because of his origins?

For me, such things didn’t matter. With a gentle smile on my lips, I knelt on one knee in front of the boy and gave him the few coins that were scattered all the way to my feet.

“These must be yours.” I told him.

The boy lifted up his head to look at me. There were so many tears in his eyes that they were clouding his vision.

“T-Thank you... m-mister.” he said as he took the coins.

He wiped off his tears, but when he looked at them, he began to cry even harder.

“W-What am I g-going to d-do?” he sniffled “S-Sister is s-sick...” he hiccupped “S-She...” he hiccupped again “S-She c-can’t s-survive l-like this.” he stuttered almost at every word because the tears and snot were in the way.

I looked back at my companions; they were all looking at him with eyes of pity.

“He’s probably from Akutan. The people here aren’t that warm towards them or those who live in the slums.” Kalderan explained.

“Everyone immediately assumes you are of poor birth or even that you may hold some sort of disease if you live there. This is something I experienced myself before I was rescued by you, Alkelios.” Ildea said.

“Sigh... well, you guys know that I can’t leave this be now. He’s just a kid.” I told them.

“There are countless more like him out there, Alkelios. Having pity towards one and ignoring the others is a bit hypocritical, don’t you think?” Kalderan asked.

“No.” I shook my head. “I help those who cross my path and I know it won’t interfere with my current quest. If I were to be so magnanimous as to stop and help everyone around me, after everything I saw in this kingdom, I would probably never end up seeing Seryanna again.” I replied and then thought as I looked at the kid Besides, the God-like told me to take my time while I travel through Ten Swords, and I know for sure that she received the pings from my [Dragon Tamer] skill. If it wasn’t for this small piece of reassurance, I wouldn’t have wasted a single second and flown all the way to Albeyater at full speed, ignoring everything and everyone on my path. Taking the slow route is painful enough as it is but might as well enjoy it and try to do as much good as I can while at it.

“Kalderan, it’s not like he’s trying to become a saint or anything like that. Besides, it’s not like there’s anything else interesting to see in this town.” Risha told him.

“I agree.” Coshun nodded.

“W-What are you t-talking about m-misters?” asked the boy as he looked up at us.

“M-Misters?” Ildea and Risha said at the same time with a low voice as though they were struck by a bomb.

“We’re talking about going with you to see how your sister is doing. We might be able to help.” I told him.

“What? W-Will you really do that? Are you a doctor?” he asked and got up on his feet immediately. “Ah!” one of the coins fell from his hand, and I caught it.

“Not exactly, but I do have some extra potions and I may know a spell or two.” I told him as I placed the coin back in his hand.

The boy looked at it with big eyes and then back at me. He was probably still confused about what was happening, so I didn’t rush him.

“Alright, I’ll take you to see sister.” he told us with firm nod.

“Great. Well, my name is Alkelios, the big guy is Coshun, the grumpy one is Kalderan, the two women who look like shattered glass are Ildea and Risha, and that’s... erm... Guys? Where’s Tamara?” I asked when I didn’t saw the fur ball anywhere.

“Huh?” Risha snapped out of it and looked back.

Our eyes darted left and right until we spotted her at the far end of the street munching on some smoked fish in front of a food stall.

“Of course.” we all said at the same time.

“Sigh... I’ll go get her... I hope I have enough coins, though.” said Kalderan as he walked up to her while checking his wallet.

Meanwhile, the boy got up and wiped off his snot and tears with the sleeve of his shirt. The money he had were all tucked away in a small pouch and tied up to the rope he used as a belt.

“My name... My name is Amadeus.” he told us.

“Nice to meet you, Amadeus.” said Ildea with a soft smile.

Amadeus? Where have I heard that name before? I wondered.