[Present time. Two years and four dragon months after Seryanna departed from the Sarakus Kingdom]

[Seryanna’s point of view]

 I stood on the bridge of the Scorpion Dream Galleon, the same one that took us on our journey towards the far away continents. With the breeze of the ocean washing over me, I came to remember the time when I met Shelly, of her kidnapping and then her rescue.

It saddened me back then to leave her behind after such a traumatic event, and I knew that my words might not have been the most appropriate ones to give to a child. Back then, all I wished for was to let the young relliar know that she was strong enough not to let such an experience force her in a world filled with fear.

Although I worried greatly for her, I continued my journey in the hope of finding all the ingredients we needed for making the Queen’s cure. Right now, long after I had returned to my homeland and began to seriously train the Order of the Searing Blades as Knights worthy to defend the Albeyater Kingdom, I still received letters written by that furry kitten of absolute cuteness.

Her mother, Drameer, helped her write. They were all letters filled with the child’s thoughts and experiences after my departure. I received one such letter every several months, and I spared no effort in sending a return letter to her.

Right now, I held in my hands her last one. I had already made sure to send her a reply before I left on this journey to find my husband, and I hoped that by the time a new letter arrived, I would be home reunited with him. I had the feeling it was going to be quite the interesting news for Shelly, and I was excited to let her know that I finally found him.

With a smile on my lips and hope in my heart, I began to read the child’s letter one more time:

 

Dear Seryanna,

 

How are you doing? I’m doing great.

My beloved mommy taught me well. I know now how to write letters on my own, but my skill with the pen is lacking. Mommy said I could scare off papa just by showing him this paper. Mommy is mean.

Yesterday, I finally held a real sword. The instructor was surprised in how fast I’ve grown with my skill in sword handling. Papa fainted when he saw me balancing an actual sword. Papa is silly. He always faints when he sees me training. He makes me worried. Maybe he will grow bald?

I am learning the skills you taught me in your letters. I can harness Magic Energy better now. Using a crystal to help me focus it and carcu crincu chircu circulate it through my body was smart. Are all dragonesses smart like you? I miss playing with you.

The teacher of history is boring. Has a big mustache. I find him funny.

Two weeks ago papa saw me climbing a tree in the court, the big one with spiky hedges under it. He fainted and a maid had to carry him back to his room. Mommy scolded him that night, but the next day both of them were acting weird. They were blushing a lot. Papa and mommy are weird sometimes. They argue one day then the next day they blush when they look at each other. Are all adults like them?

Last month, a human came to papa. He demanded papa reopen trade with a nation led by human heroes. He was told that after Ten Swords falls, this kingdom will follow next. Papa not scared. I am not scared either. I know my friends, the dragonesses will come if bad men try to hurt us. Dragons are relliar friends now.

Two months ago, I tried horseback riding. I’m too small. I fell and scraped my knees. Papa fainted when he saw the blood. He fell backwards on one of the small maids. She had to be helped to the infirmary and mommy scolded papa. Maybe papa is growing fat?

I am practicing Queen skills with mommy. I am learning Easter Draconian and a human language. I am also learning to paint. I drew bad men skewered by brave women relliar. Papa trembled when he saw the drawing. Papa is a weird old man. When I said this, papa cried.

The sword instructor never heard of Seryanna’s skills, but I learn them when no one is looking. One day, the sword accidentally slipped out of my hand. The guard who takes care of older sister Leanna was nearby and caught it for me between his palms. He was sweating and trembling when he returned it to me. He and Leanna are getting along well, but lately I think Leanna’s tummy grew bigger. Is she getting fat? The guard should help her cut down on sweets. With sweets you can’t grow muscles!

I am learning well how to use the sword, but a real one is still too heavy for me they say. I’m training with one in secret, but with one with a dull edge and no tip like you advised.

The day before yesterday, papa was crying because a noble who wanted me to marry his son pulled back from the engagement. I know that relliar. He is weak. When I had a spar with him, I only broke one leg and one arm. His nose wasn’t bleeding that much, but he wet himself. Are boys supposed to be that weak? Papa faints a lot, so maybe they are? Should I marry a strong woman like Seryanna?

 

Your friend, Eshantiel Ruvus

 

I made a wry smile when I read that last line.

I should advise Shelly to look for a strong man rather than a strong woman. Her father seems to faint a lot recently. Does he have some sort of sickness, I wonder? I thought and then let out a sigh.

Shelly was still a child, and the world was still quite foreign to her. Even so, I was happy to hear that her training was progressing smoothly. In time, maybe she would be strong enough to learn my [Fire Tornado] or maybe teaching her a [Raging Fire Sword] skill would be better?

That journey of ours definitely had a great impact on the world, but it also had a great impact on us individually. If not for those events in the Sarakus Kingdom, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten to meet with cute Shelly nor helped create an alliance between dragons and relliars. Strangely enough, those events and that moment of reflection I had when I was carrying the injured Shelly back to the capital helped create the Knight Order: The Searing Blades.

On my next meeting with Shelly, I wanted to bring Alkelios with me. It really did make me wonder how he was going to react when he saw her fluffiness and cuteness.

As for the more concerning parts of her innocent letter, I had already informed her Majesty about them, and it appeared as though she sent a message to the relliar King. For now, I was ordered not to worry about it too much and just keep my ears perked up for strange rumors when we reached the Ten Swords Kingdom.

 

[Alkelios’ point of view]

 The three black carriages were pulled by powerful horses, but they were no match for the Khosinni found on the Dragon Continent. Those monsters with three pairs of legs and two of eyes could easily outrun the animals used by the humans. One average Khosinni could have pulled with ease all of those three carriages and lasted on a run for a longer period of time. After all, six legs were better than four.

As we traveled towards Lineas Village, we were kept on constant alert for monsters and possible bandits. While it was logical for everyone to stay focused and make sure to attack when it was necessary, only my party seemed to have been tasked with the actual combat. It was like the others were pushing their work on us.

During one of the stops, I happened to hear one of them whisper some rather unpleasant words.

“Ragna, shouldn’t we take front and get some kills as well?” asked the woman from the group of four.

She spent most of her free time playing with her dagger or making new arrows for her bow. The one she spoke with, Ragna, was the warrior with red hair and a general nasty attitude. The black sword he carried on his back made him appear rather intimidating, but the fur armor made him look like some uncivilized barbarian.

“Kill what? Dayuks and goblins? Risha, haven’t you seen what sort of pathetic little beasts that idiot Kalderan Brahmin has fought against up until now? As for his partner, the weakling Alkelios, he was having trouble with a mere goblin!” he scoffed.

In my defense, I was too bored at that time to bother taking the fight seriously. I was actually playing around with him. I just need to flick a goblin over the forehead to splatter his brains in the opposite cardinal direction. I thought as I furrowed my brow.

Well, I wasn’t mad that I looked like a weakling to them. Besides, if they paid extra attention, they would have known that I was just keeping aggro on myself while Kalderan was killing them off and raising his levels. That was far more important that flexing my muscles.

I did that once when I was on a hunt with Seryanna... she ended up hunting me in a sexual manner. Ah~ Good times. I thought.

“Risha, what Ragna here is trying to say is that we need to save our strength just in case a bunch of bandits decide to attack us.” said the man who wore full-plate armor.

“Indeed. There is no need to waste our energy on weak prey.” the hooded archer declared.

“Fine! I get it! I just hope this mission doesn’t take into account the number of kills of each individual party member.” Risha retorted as she crossed her arms at her chest.

They continued to talk about various things they wanted to do when they reached Mathias Town, their next base of operations, so I quietly left them alone. A few hours later, we stopped to set up camp for the night. Our parties huddled around three separate fires, which clearly showed that there was a lot of friction between us.

I had no idea why the three mysterious ones didn’t like us, but I could understand the other four. Being the former party of Kalderan, they didn’t see him with good eyes.

With a sigh on my lips, I stirred the embers in the fire and played with the flames using a stick. As a half-dragon it was a bit foolish for me to fear the possibility of being burned. After all, I was also a red scale.

“What’s the matter?” asked Kalderan as he was eating a chicken leg dipped in what I would assume was a spices mixture of his own concoction.

“I was thinking about my home...” I replied.

“On Earth? You said you were from Romania, right?”

“No, not that place. I guess it’s been such a long time for me, that I have come to be at peace with the idea of never being able to see my mother or father.” I showed him a wry smile.

“All of us heroes are like that, don’t worry. Although, acknowledging the fact doesn’t make it any less easy to live with it.” he looked down at the fire and then added “Especially when you know that you might not have anyone to return to...”

“The home I’m talking about is the one in Drakaria, the capital of Albeyater Kingdom. If you follow me, I’ll be able to show it to you one day. There, you will be able to meet my wife, who is a beautiful redhead dragoness. She is strong, brave, and chivalrous to say the least.” I showed a soft smile as I gazed into the embers.

“Chivalrous? Is she a Knight?” he asked me, raising an eyebrow.

“A Knight of the Third Princess and a Duchess of the Kingdom. We’re a rather strange family, but nonetheless, we are family.” I replied.

There was a moment of silence between us and then Kalderan asked “Was it hard to give up on it?”

“On what?” I lifted my eyes from the fire and looked at him.

“The purity of your species?”

“When I did not understand what I was giving up on and what I was gaining, I thought of losing my human side as losing my humanity, and I saw this possibility with a heart filled with fear. A friend of mine helped me to understand that not being human does not mean not having humanity. Overall, I think I saw a lot more humanity in dragons than I did in humans.” I let out a sigh “Changing my species and accepting my dragon half was probably the most wonderful and best thing that could have happened to me second only to marrying Seryanna.”

“What would happen if you were to find out that humans and dragons are once more at war?”

“I would side with my Queen, Elliessara Seyendraugher, and lead in battle as Duke Yatagai Draketerus.” I replied while looking into his eyes.

My resolve was clear in this matter. My choice and loyalty were already declared from the moment when I accepted to become Seryanna’s husband. My age may have been what offered that extra degree of certainty, but in no way was I thinking in an immature way. I understood my responsibilities all too well, and I both accepted and supported my wife’s choices in life.

“It’s been three years since you last saw her, right? What if she married someone else?” he asked.

While this thought did cross my mind, I felt like it was rather ridiculous when applying it to Seryanna.

“I highly doubt it, but in the case that she did, the Albeyater Kingdom’s laws accept the existence of married couples which are in a monogamous relationship as well as those who are in a polygamous and polyandrous relationship.” I replied, but a part of me hoped that Seryanna remained faithful only to me.

“So, it accepts polyamorous relationships?” he raised an eyebrow.

“I think so, but from what I understand, while the polyandrous relationships are often the most common ones, the general tendency is towards monogamous relationships.” I said.

Thinking about it, the King was the same, and so was Kleo and some of the Princes and Princesses of the nation. But as far as I knew, I had never seen same-sex marriages. Of this part I wasn’t informed at all, and I never did bother to ask.

“Meanwhile, Ten Swords rejects the idea of polygamy unless the individual is a high ranking noble. Even then, rather than having multiple wives, they have multiple mistresses.” said Kalderan.

“I see. By the way, have you thought about what sort of skill to acquire next?” I asked, changing the subject.

By now, I had gotten a basic understanding of Kalderan’s power. Besides the one which helped him act as a walking translator of all known languages, his other ability, which he claimed to be called [Toyman] allowed him to conjure up Magic Energy constructs and with a bit of practice even mold matter in the shape he desired. It was an impressive skill which I found most useful in the hands of an engineer. The reason for that was because it required the user to know every single little detail about the said constructs.

In other words, he couldn’t build stuff like plasma rifles he saw in games or copy my Heaven and Hell swords. The SMG he was using was a result of countless trial and errors. They were the latest result of his patience and practice.

“I have no clue, honestly, and I’m a bit afraid to open that window in case I land with a silly skill that won’t be of any help to me.” Kalderan replied moving his head from left to right.

“Do you want to hear my opinion?” I asked.

He looked at me for a long moment and then nodded “Sure, why not?”

“Before opening the skill window, imagine the skill you want and wish for it.”

“So, play by chance?” he asked raising an eyebrow.

“I’ll help you out, so don’t worry too much about it!” I showed him a smirk.

“Even if what you say actually works through some law-defying reason, what sort of skill should I be wishing for?”

“Hm... That’s the tricky part. You can ask for something that will buff your natural learning ability, such as magic affinities. You could also wish for a physical improvement skill or a crafting one. However, the best skills are those that are capable of complimenting and reinforcing your existing skills. In my case, my weapons and armor are the result of such a skill.” I showed him a smile.

“So... something that could reinforce my [Toyman]?”

“Yes.” I nodded.

“Hm...” he closed his eyes and crossed his arms at his chest.

While he thought about it, I continued to stir the embers and take a quick peek at the other groups. I didn’t see the merchant anywhere, but every time I passed by those black carriages, I felt the strong scent of tannin, which was a chemical used in the process of tanning leather. I also felt the scent of some other stuff, including vinegar and lemon, but there were others I didn’t recognize.

What was the most prominent scent of them all was that of death... almost as if there were decomposing bodies hidden behind the veils of the black carriages. This worried me, but at the same time, it was also a scent I often felt when walking by a butcher’s shop, so it was possible that it was just some meat gone bad.

My best guess was that the merchant was probably transporting some sort of food stuffs and tanning products. Yet, I didn’t see the need for such suspicious-looking carriages. Then again, was a simple food merchant capable of employing so many adventurers, among which three at a power level far beyond what those four had?

It’s also quite curious that he spends almost all of his time inside... I thought.

“I want something that can enhance my weapons. I saw you infuse your sword with Magic Energy countless times, and I want to do something like that, if possible, with my bullets.” Kalderan said after he made up his mind.

“That’s great. Then I wish that next time you pick a skill, you will receive one that will help you infuse your weapons with Magic Energy.” I showed him a smile.

“As if that’ll happen.” he scoffed with disbelief and raised an eyebrow.

“Mhm~ Just choose one now.” I told him as I kept that calm smile.

Kalderan narrowed his eyes at me.

“You aren’t seriously suggesting that I use my precious skill points on something like this now, are you?”

“Actually yes.” I nodded.

“What?” he furrowed his brow.

“Just trust me on this one.” I said.

“...” he squinted his eyes at me.

I couldn’t blame him for being a bit skeptical, but from my point of view, this couldn’t come at a better time. After all, he had made up his mind on what he wanted, and it wasn’t like those skill points were going anywhere. The skills, however, did vanish from the list when someone picked them.

“Do you have anything to lose?” I asked him.

He looked at me for a long a moment and then turned his sight towards the fire. He was thinking seriously about it, but his indecision was clear as a result of the past failures of other heroes as well as his own. Unlike him, though, I knew not such failures. My luck was to blame for this. Any skill I desired, I would receive it as though it was the first and most logical option I could take despite the ridiculous names sometimes.

About ten minutes later, Kalderan finally gave me his answer: “I’ll do it.”

“Good.” I showed him a smile.

He opened the window only he could see and then looked around it for a while. His eyes moved fast over the list and narrowed when he felt like he was getting close to something, but my wish and Luck would make it possible for him to ‘feel’ and take the best skill that met his requirements.

Judging by name alone, though, was a difficult thing to do no matter what. Especially, since we had no idea how many skill points just one of them would cost.

When it was over, he closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

“Well?” I asked.

He nodded.

It was all I needed to know that it worked.

I showed him a smile and then got up on my feet.

“That’s great! I’ll go patrol the perimeter for a bit. Meanwhile, you can play around with it. If you have enough, you could even enhance and advance it to the next level.” I told him.

“Sure... and thank you.” he said.

“You’re welcome!” I replied.

I got up from my spot in front of the fire and went to look around the camp. The other two groups were ignoring me completely, and the merchant was nowhere to be seen. Out of curiosity, I approached one of the carriages and thought about peeking inside. It was then when I sensed one of the individuals from the group of three approaching me at an inhuman speed. I decided not to react for now, but I kept my guard up just in case he tried to attack me.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he asked with his sword drawn and held at a distance fo two palms before my face.

I could see my own reflection in the blade.

“What the?” I acted as though I was surprised and moved back.

The mysterious fellow was looking at me with a piercing gaze. Only his black eyes could be seen, while the rest of his head was covered by a hood. Judging by his voice, he was past his thirties.

“I was curious, that’s all.” I replied.

“Next time, I’ll cut off your hand. Now get out of here!” he ordered sending a threatening wave of killing intent my way.

Hm... It doesn’t even tickle. I thought and then walked away.

From the corner of my eye, I saw him sheathing his sword and then returned to his companions by the fire.

They are definitely not transporting foodstuff. I should keep an eye on them... I thought as I resumed my patrol.

After I returned to the fire, I went to bed. The following day, we would reach Lineas Village. If I wanted to find out what they were hiding, I had to do so by the time we reached Leveder City.