~ Chapter 36: Dragon Flu ~

[Alkelios’ point of view]

 Reaching Toros would take us almost an entire day from dusk till dawn, with training time included when we stopped for a break. We encountered a few monsters such as a walking tree and a small pack of Dayuks, but we made quick work of them. There were no serious threats because I also wished for it. I mean, the training was killing me enough, I didn’t want to face a dangerous monster while I could barely hold a sword with both hands.

Once the big town was in sight, my first reaction to it was one of amazement. Forty or so dragons were patrolling the skies in their full dragon form. The outer walls were made out of a black stone and double the size of those in Andromeda, with countless soldiers patrolling them.

Even from afar, we couldn’t see what laid hidden behind those walls, but maybe they were made specifically with that intent. In other words, rather than a town, this place was a fortress designed to withstand an army siege. It was impressive.

Looking behind Toros, I saw the Great Chasm: dark, uneven, with jagged ridges on both sides, and spreading far and wide all the way the eye could see. It was as if some sort of great force ripped the surface in half, separating Drakaria from the rest of the kingdom. It gave off the feeling that it was ready to swallow you up at any moment now, or that countless monsters were about to burst out to conquer the surface.

“That’s some place to put a town... I think it’s a town. Is it a town?” I asked a bit confused.

“Toros is the only town in the Albeyater Kingdom that also serves the role of a military fortress. It’s also one of our best lines of defense against humans.” Seryanna explained.

“Wait, humans reached all the way out here?” I asked surprised.

“As of yet, no, but military strategists foretold and advised time and time again that in the event we lost Tunberdraken, the port city, Toros would become a very important strategic location. On another note, it can also be used as a military capital in case Drakaria is invaded from the other side.” she explained while we approached the big walls of the town.

The gates themselves were ordinary in size, but instead of just two, there were eight guards placed here, and some of them appeared to have different armors on. Either way, thanks to them, the huge line of dragons that wanted to go through Toros and reach the capital was flowing smoothly. It didn’t seem we would have to wait for too long for our turn to enter.

“Hm, I would have thought that those strategists would most likely boost about the humans never being able to reach all the way here than say there was a chance to do so.” I said as I scratched my head.

In many of the stories I read and experienced through playing games, there was always some douche in the top brass who constantly bragged about how impenetrable the kingdom’s defenses were rather than admit that they had even a single flaw.

“What use does a strategist have if he cannot come up with defensive strategies in the worst-case scenarios?” she asked a fairly good question.

“True...” I nodded.

Now that I think about it, back on Earth, the Pentagon had strategies for all sort of situations, including the very unlikely zombie apocalypse, alien invasion, or even a complete takeover of the USA. Considering what Seryanna said, I find it now very unlikely that none of the other countries did the same. I thought while looking out at the big fortress town.

As we arrived at the back of the line to enter the town, I saw there two more roads intersecting here. One that came from the North, in the middle of the plains, and the other from the South, following the Great Chasm. When I followed them with my eyes, I could see there were several more travelers heading our way. They were probably trying to reach Toros before nightfall.

In front of us were a lot of dragons who traveled by foot and two big carriages pulled by strong-looking Khosinni. Many of them were probably adventurers of some sort, or actually escorts for the carriages.

With nothing else to do, we waited patiently in line until our turn was up. We presented our Guild Cards as identification and paid the toll fee to enter, but right before the guard gave Seryanna her card back, he sneezed in her face.

“Ah! My apologies! Something tickled my nose.” he immediately said, but the redhead was doing her best to keep her sword sheathed.

“You’re going to need a bath.” I joked.

“Ugh...” she groaned as she wiped her face with her hand.

Well, no more kisses until she washed her face.

“Here! I’ll help you!” Kataryna said as she pointed her hand at her and then let loose a water spell.

Instead of a small sprinkle coming out, the pressure was akin to that of a fire hose. If she wasn’t a dragoness with superhuman strength and endurance, she would have been blown away.

“Ah... Oops!” Kataryna said and awkwardly laughed.

Seryanna had no words to retort to the silver-scaled dragoness, who wasn’t hiding her apology very well. She was wagging her tail in amusement, which led me to presume that her little accident might have been intended. Was Kleo’s prank habit contagious?

“Are you alright?” I asked from the sidelines.

“Never better...” the dragoness grumbled as she prepared a fire spell to dry herself up.

After this small incident, we entered Toros and were welcomed by a crowd of... soldiers. The whole town was filled to the brim with them, which came as a surprise even for the three who’ve been here before. Many of them were camping outside because there were no more rooms where they could stay for the night. This in itself gave us a frightening premonition.

“I apologize, but we’re out of rooms.” said the dragoness innkeeper.

This was the last of the four inns in this town where we could hope to find an empty room. All of the others were booked until next year. Each and every one of them was filled to the brim with soldiers, commanders, and other military personnel. We were currently in a pinch.

“Ungh... I wanted to sleep in a cozy bed!” complained Kleo.

“Me too, but there’s nothing we can do about it.” I let out a sigh.

“We could always kick the commanders out by force?” Kataryna suggested with a smile.

“Wouldn’t we get in trouble with the army?” I asked.

“You think any of these weaklings are a match for us? Hahaha!” she laughed.

Well, truthfully speaking, most of them were around level 100 and 200, but stat wise, I doubted any of them were able to go head-to-head with any of us. I was a bit of a cheat because of my Luck and skills, especially if I summoned Jophiel Thunderash, the phoenix. She alone was a 999-level entity.

Indeed, we can easily wipe out this whole town off the face of the planet if we want to, but then we would need to live as wanted criminals. And for what? A room at an inn? No, thank you. I thought while looking at the soldiers around us.

“We can go to the pub and spend the night there. Afterwards, we’ll be on our way to the capital.” Seryanna suggested.

“That’s not a bad idea.” Kataryna agreed.

Thus, we headed for the nearest pub, we found it was full, then we headed for the second nearest pub. This time, I wished in my mind that we would find an empty table.

When we entered, there were no free tables, but not even a moment later, one of them was cleared up by a party of soldiers who had too much to drink. We made our way there and took a seat.

“This place sure is packed...” I pointed out.

“It appears so. Maybe if we had a bit more luck, we would have found an empty room too.“ Seryanna then looked at me.

“Hey, if I knew there were going to be so many soldiers here, I would have made my wish way back in Tomeron.” I told her.

Apparently, Luck wasn’t omnipotent. We barely got a free table at this pub, let alone an empty room where we could spend the night.

“True. I just wish you actually did, but not even I thought there would be so many dragons here.” she said.

“Maybe some general gave the order to rally up? I can go ask the soldiers at that table if you want?” Kataryna suggested.

“Yes, but first, let’s order something. The waitress is here.” I pointed out.

“What will it be, ya’all?” she asked.

The woman was a bit older than Seryanna in terms of looks but was quite fat as well. I refrained from making any rude comments and peacefully ordered something to eat and drink. The others did the same, then while we were waiting for the order to come, Kataryna went to the soldiers.

Several minutes later, she returned and sat down at our table.

“Well?” I asked.

“It appears there’s a new general who will be replacing Seryanna’s grandfather. The King decided there was a need of someone to take over his armies. So, this new general apparently gave the order for his whole troops to assemble outside of Drakaria. The inauguration ceremony will be in the autumn of next year, but he wishes to see who the best of the best in his army are and reorganize it by then.” she replied.

“Do we know anything about this dragon?” Seryanna asked.

“Draejan Andrakaryus is his name, but they haven’t heard of him either.” she replied.

“I know that name.”

“You do?” Kleo asked as she looked at her sister.

“Yes, I heard form grandfather that he’s the son of the Duke of Doesya and the Sixth Princess of Albeyater.” she replied.

“Sixth? How big is the Royal Family?” I asked surprised.

“The Albeyater Royal Family consists of their Majesties the King and Queen, the heir to the throne Prince Charmeill, the current Prime Minister Prince Elovius, then there’s the First Princess, Natalia, the Second Princess, Josephine, the Third Princess, whom I also serve, Elleyzabelle, the Fourth Princess, Mayelle, the Fifth Princess, Decessere, the Sixth Princess Noyelle, the Seventh Princess Saluka, the Eight Princess...” before she continued, I raised a hand up “Is something wrong?” she asked furrowing her brow.

“Yeah, that’s a lot of names. How may princesses and princes are there in total?” I asked with a wry smile.

“Eight princes, twelve princesses, and four adopted princes.” she replied.

“The King’s been busy.” I remarked.

“There are indeed a lot of possible heirs to the throne, but the current King is also nearing the end of his life, or so the rumor says. There’s also a difference between the siblings of at least 50 years. As for the adopted ones, they will become the hands and limbs of the next King. A... And... Achoo!” she explained calmly and then sneezed cutely.

“Bless you.” I said.

Seryanna blinked surprised and rubbed her nose with her finger.

“That’s odd...” she said.

“Ah! The food is here!” Kataryna announced.

It was finally time to grab some grub and fill our growling stomachs.

We ate like starving wolves and then slowly enjoyed our drinks. The time would pass by incredibly slow, with everyone around us coming and going, but there were a few tables that never changed. They were adventurers who had the same idea as we did, spending the night at the pub and hoping to leave the following day. On the other hand, the soldiers could leave only when their commanders gave them the order to go.

Since we had no board games we could play and knowing that one day was actually 32 hours long was pure murder on a guy like me who once spent a lot of time immersed in video games. But I didn’t let all of this time just go to waste. With Seryanna and Kataryna’s help, I did a small recap on all the info I gained from this world.

So, this Kingdom’s name was Albeyater. It was one of the two medium sized kingdoms on this continent alongside Solustia, which was the neighboring country to the South. Merganus Kingdom was located somewhere to the far South. To the North was nothing but a big ol’ desert, and the Embryger Empire spanned over the largest surface on this continent. There were several other kingdoms besides this one, like Lorak, Trusk, Novarak, Ozur, Shion and a few others. The Merchant Guild, just like the Adventurers Guild spread across all the known continents and more than often acted as a neutral bridge in time of conflict between countries. Going against these two powers was often seen as nothing more than economic and political suicide. This, however, didn’t mean that either guild had a say in the development of the countries that hosted them, and this was exactly what granted them this impressive power.

The Dragon Empire Embryger was located on the right half of this continent and was known to be the most powerful dragon nation in existence. It was also a leading developer of new technology. Most Magic Tools were developed there. Its armies had in its employment over 20 Awakened Dragons with a Breakthrough achieved.

The currency used in this kingdom was the Albeyater Coin. Although we called it simple copper, silver, and gold coins, they were specific for each individual nation. Thus, the Embryger Empire had another type of coin, with a different design on it. The exchange value was almost the same everywhere, meaning that an Albeyater copper coin had the same value as an Embryger copper coin. The only catch was that if you wanted the same exchange value, you had to go to the Merchant Guild, otherwise, it depended on the relationship between the two nations. If they were at war, the exchange was most of the times banned.

Also, it would be important to point out that the dragons as a species were matriarchal rather than patriarchal. Which meant that the Queen held more power than the King, however, so far, I heard nothing of Albeyater’s Queen, and I was left with the impression that her authority here was rather... lacking. Actually, I wasn’t that good with politics, so be it a matriarchal or patriarchal society, I gave this subject a pass for another time when it didn’t feel like 3 AM in the morning.

It was good to know that the world, in general, was separated politically into kingdoms and empires as far as the dragons knew. Most of them were at war with each other, while at the same time battling the corrupted nobles within their own territories. There was no trace of a Demon Lord or King yet, but there seemed to be a clear difference between the two.

As far as Kataryna explained, the Demon Lords were powerful monsters within a kingdom or empire, who were at the center of a conglomerate of corrupted monsters. The Demon Kings were Demon Lords who were able to conquer an entire nation. They were Legendary monsters with the ability to think like all other sapient species and even had a humanoid shape to use. Besides this, none of them knew anything else, which made me wonder what the whole deal with these corrupted monsters was in the end. Seryanna did promise me that after we reached the capital, and she had the time, she was going to look into the matter.

With all of this information being poured down my ears up to 5 AM in the morning, a headache was bound to hit me sometime sooner or later. Once that happened, I excused myself from the conversation and laid my head down on the table. A few more hours passed by with a graveyard silence falling over the pub. Kataryna and Kleo at one point began to give score numbers to all the men there based on looks. I got a glorious 7, to my surprise. I thought I was at least an 8, but maybe the difference was in the fact that I wasn’t a dragon?

The one other most interesting event that took place was Seryanna’s sneezing, which by sunrise turned into a small coughing fit. With teary eyes, she managed to control it in the end, but she couldn’t figure out the cause and neither could we. I simply blamed it on the possibility of a light cold.

Once the sun was up, we moved out of the pub and made our way to the gates of the town.

“Seryanna? Are you sure you are alright?” I asked as I looked into her eyes.

“I’m awright...” she replied with weak smile.

“You don’t look ‘awright’ to me.” I replied.

“Achoo!” she sneezed again.

“I think you caught a cold.” I said.

“A what? Dragons don’t c-c-atchoo!”

“Bless you.” I said, then I saw Kleo and Kataryna keep their distance from us.

With a raised eyebrow, I look at the two and asked “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know what she caught, but we don’t want any.” the silver-scaled dragoness said shaking her head.

I rolled my eyes.

“Take a healing potion, maybe it will help you feel better.” I advise.

“Good idea.” Seryanna nodded.

After gulping down on the small bottle, we made our way to the gate, but we were stopped before leaving.

“Hey! Let me pass!” shouted a merchant in front of us.

“No! Our orders are clear! No dragon with Dragon Flu symptoms may pass!” retorted the solider.

“But I have no flu! Achoo!” the merchant sneezed.

“I doubt it.” he shook his head.

“Tch!” clicking his tongue, the dragon walked away from the gate.

Several other dragons were checked, and most of them were sent away, then it was our turn.

“You three can go, but she can’t.” he pointed at Seryanna, who was rubbing her nose.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Didn’t you hear? She has the Dragon Flu!” he said.

“What the heck is the Dragon Flu?!” I retorted.

“Well, we dragons don’t often get sick, but when we do, it’s usually a magic disease.” said Kataryna.

“Exactly as the miss said. Dragon Flu is a magic disease that spreads in unknown ways. We confirmed the outbreak last night, and the commander decided to shut down the gates today.” the guard said.

“What’s the cause of this disease?” I asked.

“We don’t know, but it should pass in a few days. She just needs some good rest and lots of healthy food.” he told us.

“So it’s similar to the human common cold?” I asked.

“The what now? I don’t know lad.” he shook his head and shrugged.

“What are we going to do?” asked Kataryna.

“Hm... Let’s go find a room somewhere.” I declared.

“Good luck with that.” the guard scoffed.

Indeed, finding a place to stay here would have been a bit tricky, but this time, I was prepared.

“Yes, I really do wish to find a room where Seryanna can rest and get better.” I nodded and smiled.

The guard raised an eyebrow at me, but my companions already knew that the gears of fate had started to turn in our favor.

“Come on, let’s go.” I said and held Seryanna’s hand.

“What about us?” Kataryna and Kleo asked.

“You two wait for us outside. It’s better than to risk catching it yourselves.” I replied.

“Very well. But if something happens, just shoot a fireball in the sky or something.” the silver-scaled dragoness told me.

“I will.” I nodded.

“Take care, sis! Get better soon!” the black-scaled dragoness said, but she kept her fair distance.

“I will... Now go!” Seryanna replied with a smile.

We went our separate ways here; the two of them passing through the gates, and we went to find a room... somewhere somehow.

“What about you?” the redhead asked me.

“Why would the Dragon Flu affect me? I’m a human, remember?” I replied.

“Ah, yes... I sometimes forget.” she smiled.