It didn’t take long for Sina to wake up. When she did, she immediately froze upon seeing Pausers standing before her. Behind Pausers was Nobina, Fay, and Harton, with Harton in the center.


    “Hi… my love,” smiled Harton.


    “I don’t mean to alarm you Harton… But death is right in front of you,” she said cautiously.


    “Oh yeah… That’s Nobina’s bunny. Also, we made a few promises, so we aren’t harming them anymore. Isn’t that great?” he smiled.


    “I swear Harton. How do you get us into these messes?” she sighed. “Well… I guess we are just going to wait till Lina hatches and then we head out.”


    “Lina? I thought it was going to be a male dragon named Arthur,” said Harton, looking disappointed.


    “I have a feeling it’s going to be a Lina, but that’ll be discussed in a couple of days,” she chuckled. “But… Nobina, was it? I’m honestly shocked. I did not expect you to have more power than an ancient dragon.”


    “What do you mean?” she asked curiously. “I’m merely a C-rank adventurer.”


    As she said that, the Gaze bag glowed green. Fay handed it over to Nobina, who opened it to a little fairy dragging out a branch. On the branch were a few pieces of brown fruit resembling coconuts. However, when she took one, it was very easy to peel. Below that skin was a soft layer of dough. Taking a bit of it, Nobina tasted something similar to milk. Under that was a bit of chocolate, making Nobina smile as she enjoyed the fruit.


    “Amazing as always,” smiled Nobina.


    To her surprise, the little fairy landed on Fay’s shoulders, merely relaxing as it seemed to enjoy itself.


    “So cute,” smiled Fay. “You know… despite the chaos this bag can cause, it certainly brings calm as well.”


    “It does,” nodded Nobina.


    “I’m just saying this is why I knew you were dangerous,” said Sina. “That bag almost took over my mind. I barely fought it off until it disappeared. Though I guess that Alpha Death Hare is more of a threat.”


    “Pausers,” said Nobina. “His name is Pausers.”


    Sina nodded.


    “Yes… Well. I guess I should remember that.”


    Sina relaxed her head, lying down as she watched Harton.


    “Say Harton. How long can you stay in that form?” asked Nobina.


    “Hm? No limit. It’s a skill I spent like a good hundred years mastering. I will say that us dragons have so much time to train our skills. If you have it, you can master it. Though unfortunately we do not learn too many skills due to this. Hench why we master what skills we end up discovering,” responded Harton.


    Nobina gave a nod. Considering they had a lot of time on their hands, she wanted to know more about Harton and Sina since they wouldn’t be seeing each other after they left.


    As the four of them stood there, the group noticed some of the guards of the other noble’s approach. However, the sight of Sina deterred any of them from doing anything but watching. As they stood there, Marve and Cain approached the guards to explain the situation.


    From the manor, Duven appeared from the entrance, shocked to see both Sina and Harton standing there still.


    “Ah! My good man Duven. Glad you could come out,” grinned Harton.


    “Yes! I… I’m here! What do you require of me Harton?” asked Duven hesitantly.


    Harton approached Duven, causing him to freeze in fear. When Harton was close enough, he stopped in front of Duven with a curious expression.


    “You seem under the weather. Probably should rest up back at your own manor,” said Harton with a smile.


    “Of course! If you excuse me.”


    Duven took the chance to walk away, moving faster and faster as he got out of sight of the two.


    “Ah Duven. If we weren’t trying to avoid conflict right now, you’d be so dead,” chuckled Harton as he turned back to Nobina and Fay. “Now then, shall we discuss what will happen now?”


    Fay gave a nod.


    “Well… I’d imagine in these two days the only thing that might happen is reinforcements from Navira to assist in the dragon hunt. However, since we have an agreement, we will prevent them from attacking you,” replied Nobina.


    “Right. Cause I’d burn this city to the ground if you humans even think of trying to attack us,” huffed Sina, a bit of fire coming from her mouth. “Beyond that, I’ll be resting here for the duration. If you need anything, ask Harton. He’s in charge of the egg.”


    Nobina began wondering about the egg and what would happen when it hatched. What would the baby dragon look like?


    As she wondered about that, Nobina noticed Echo fly out of her bag. They seemed to look at Harton and Sina before landing in Nobina’s arms.


    “What the…” said Harton, mouth wide open.


    “Interesting… You should have shown us that baby dragon you’re raising Nobina,” said Sina, shaking her head. “We would have been significantly less hostile, perhaps even friendly to start off with.”


    “Really? I’d imagine it’s rare to see a human with a baby dragon, let alone raising one,” said Nobina as she held Echo.


    “Hm… Quite right,” nodded Harton. “If that baby dragon was in distress, we’d have to completely decimate you and this town, but it seems quite fond of you. Even as a baby, us dragons are quite intelligent. It has given every indication it is with you willingly, so we have no issues.”


    Nobina looked at Echo in the eye, who gave a nod.


    “To think I’d see a human caring for a dragon,” chuckled Sina. “What strange times we are in.”


    As she said that, Sina gave a yawn.


    “I have expelled too much energy for the day. Take over Harton,” ordered Sina.


    “As you wish my love,” he bowed.


    Sina’s body relaxed as she slowly began to slumber. Both Nobina and Fay turned to Harton, who had the happiest look on his face.


    “Look at that. My mate finally feels enough safety to rest. She’s been lightly sleeping for so long that I was worried for her, but now she can fully recharge her dragon breath. It will truly be a beautiful sight then. A pure blue fire that would turn everything to ashes…”


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Nobina couldn’t help but smile seeing Harton happy, but the idea of her burning everything to ashes was troublesome.


    “Say Harton,” asked Nobina. “Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?”


    “Perhaps tomorrow?” replied Harton. “The sun is down now, and I rather get some rest myself as well.”


    Looking around, Nobina was shocked that she didn’t notice how quickly it turned to night. The skies and moon were particularly bright, so there were no issues seeing around them.


    “Shall we head off for the night Fay?” asked Nobina.


    Fay gave a nod.


    “Lead on Nobina,” she smiled.


    The group gathered everyone to discuss the plan. Nia would stay with Harton to both keep watch and act as a liaison between them and the two dragons. As they all headed back, Nobina could tell they were all tired as well. They hadn’t eaten dinner after all, and that fight must have drained everyone.


    “I could do with some food,” said Mimiki, stretching her arms.


    “Same,” said Lila. “Tomorrow I need to be ready to spar with Harton.”


    Everyone else groans audibly as she says that.


    “Please just think logically for once Lila,” said Mimiki. “We aren’t trying to have them burn all of us to death.”


    “She is right,” said Helios. “Sina is likely holding back showing open hostility because of Harton and Nobina. We should not aggravate her if possible.”


    “Harton is not too far from that either,” said Fay. “Like he said, he made a promise to Nobina and will follow it. If we do break it though, I have no doubt that we will not be able to take both of them at this point. They are far stronger than us combined and will show no mercy.”


    Nobina could tell that both Harton and Sina were far stronger than they initially anticipated. Considering the tools both had at their disposal, she wondered if they could even take one of them head-on if it came down to it. Sina had her dragon fire, and Harton had his special illusion skills.


    “Do you think we had a chance?” asked Nobina to Fay.


    “Maybe,” she replied back. “Harton would be extremely tricky, but Sina is a more straightforward fight. I think the eight of us had a shot at defeating her even if she didn’t have that weird mark on her.”


    “Right,” said Cain. “It came from your… Gaze bag, right Nobina?”


    All of their attention turned to Nobina instinctively, who averted her eyes in response.


    “I… It came from the Gaze bag,” she replied, head facing downward.


    “That’s quite a dangerous bag then,” said Helios, shaking his head. “I’m surprise you bring that thing around with you. Imagine what would have happened should Sina have been fully converted.


    Nobina could only imagine the worst. She had even received a rare warning from Nonomo about stopping Sina before the mark fully corrupted her.


    “Can you even control what comes of it Nobina?” asked Cain.


    She shook her head.


    “I can’t really predict what this bag will do, but I am learning more and more about it to this day,” said Nobina. “That is why I hope to return to Agora so I can do research into the bag and potentially prevent it from causing issues like this.”


    As Nobina said that, doubt appeared in her mind. Was there really a way to dimish the bag’s power? At the present moment, it seemed capable of disrupting her life to the greatest extent. Not to mention that she also had her own Path to consider. At the moment, they managed to get out of the hairy situation, but would they eventually run into something they couldn’t defeat? She didn’t want to find out.


    “Well… I would suggest destroying it but…” said Helios before being cut off by Mimiki.


    “I believe some sort of divine entity is protecting it. Would not be wise to try to aggravate it,” Mimiki replied.


    There was general unease about the bag, but none of them had anything else to say about it.


    The group eventually reached the scout base, which was unharmed by the destruction. Nobina turned towards the town as everyone filed into the base. As she looked at it, she started to feel the guilt of its destruction. The battle between them and the two dragons had destroyed half the town. They were lucky that the fires were cut off by lines of destruction, leaving the part of the town with the nobles and mayor still intact.


    “What do I do,” she asked herself as she entered the building last.


    Once inside, everyone had a decent dinner to eat. There were still plenty of rations, and now they had no reason to stockpile more than what was needed. They would only stay for a few days and then depart.


    “Doors open and close up?” commented Mimiki as she took a seat on the living room couch.


    “I’d say,” replied Nobina as she sat beside Mimiki. “How are you feeling?”


    “Much better than you,” she chuckled. “Honestly? I didn’t do much during that battle. This wasn’t something meant for my skill level, and I don’t know if I’d even reach the realm of S-ranks anytime soon if ever.”


    “You’ll reach it,” nodded Nobina in support.


    Mimiki couldn’t help but smile upon hearing Nobina’s words.


    “I do love that optimism you always have Nobina. Cherish it well,” smiled Mimiki.


    Soon, everyone was done eating. They all found their own respective spots to either set up their beds or sleep on. As Nobina was getting ready to sleep, she saw Fay was already asleep. Normally, she was the one to stay up longer, so it was a nice surprise for Nobina to see the roles flipped.


    “You worked hard today, Fay,” Nobina smiled, seeing Fay sleeping away.


    Nobina was soon to follow, excited to see what the next day had in store for them.


    When Nobina woke up, she saw everyone was as active as they could be, enjoying a nice breakfast and talking strategy.


    “Ah, Nobina is awake,” said Mimiki, motioning her to join them at the dinner table.


    Nobina sat next to Fay and Mimiki, taking out her breakfast for the day. As she munched on it, Mimiki began outlining the plan of action for the day.


    “So, with the matter with Sina and Harton mostly resolved, our only goal is to ensure no one does anything stupid and attack the dragons. If we can have them leave without issue, that would be it for our mission,” said Mimiki, looking at all of them for a response.


    “It is quite dangerous to leave them be,” replied Helios. “There is a good chance Sina and Harton become a problem in the future. Despite Nobina’s promise, there’s no doubt someone is going to attack them and that promise becomes null and void. Then again, this is better than all of us dying.”


    All of them except Lila nodded in agreement.


    “Do you really think…”


    Their attention turned away from Lila as she tried to justify having a spar with either one of the dragons. Instead, they began discussing everyone’s roles.


    “I still have bad feelings about the mayor, so one of us needs to watch him,” said Fay.


    “Leave it to me and Marve,” said Cain. “He probably requires the least power and influence of the group to handle.”


    Fay gave a nod.


    “Next, we need someone watching the dragons. That will be…”


    “I’d imagine you and Nobina, right?” responded Helios. “After all, the dragons respect you two the most and if the worst happens, you two have the best chance.”


    Nobina didn’t like them considering her strong in any regard. She had already used the Nameless Knight token, and her other magical items weren’t really suited for pure power.


    “I don’t think that I’m that strong, but…”


    Pauser gave a squeak, turning all their attention to them.


    “I think I’ll be fine,” Nobina admitted.


    As for Lila and Helios, they’d keep watch for any new adventurers or reinforcements. If spotted, they’d alert Nobina and Fay to help prevent an attack on Sina and Harton.


    “Lila will also keep watch from the shadows as well,” replied Mimiki. “Anyone have any questions?”


    With no questions amongst the group, all of them packed their food for the day and headed out.


    The trek through the city in the day was sadder than they thought it’d be. The destruction caused by their fight meant the city might take years to recover, if not longer. It was unavoidable, yet that didn’t mean it wouldn’t cause problems for the guild in the future.


    “I guess that economic crisis will just get worse, huh,” Nobina told herself.


    After a good ten minutes, they reached the spot where Sina was sleeping. Next to her was Nia, and one of the guards was also having a chat with Nia. When the guards noticed their group arriving, he went to Fay to discuss something.


    “Excuse me,” said the guard. “Nia told me that we had nothing to fear, but is that really true?”


    “Yes,” replied Fay. “The dragons will leave us alone unless we attack them.”


    The guard seemed a bit relieved but shook his head.


    “The destruction they caused… So many lives were upended by their actions. It doesn’t sit right with me,” said the guard.


    “It is a matter we must accept,” replied Helios. “It’s either the land or our lives, and I rather we all live to fight another day.”


    “Agreed,” said the guard.


    With his question answered, he headed out, leaving the group to disperse. Once they were all gone, Harton exited the building, giving a big stretch.


    “Another day, another chance to learn more,” laughed Harton, turning his attention to Nobina and Fay. “And it seems the two people I wanted to talk more to are here.”


    Both of them looked at Harton curiously as they approached.


    “Do you mind if I take a look at Echo?” asked Harton.


    Upon hearing their name, Echo exited Nobina’s bag and flew into Harton’s arms.


    “Woah there,” he chuckled, smiling as he looked at Echo.


    “I see… So, Echo seems a bit special. I can sense a lot of draconic potential. Perhaps in a hundred or two hundred years they’d be as strong as us, which is fantastic,” he smiled.


    Echo gave a nod, then snuggled against Harton.


    “It also seems like they love hugs, which is a good sign of a kind-hearted dragon,” smiled Harton.


    “Perfect for you Nobina,” smiled Fay.


    As Nobina saw Echo play with Harton, who seemed happy to turn his attention to Echo, Nobina felt a bit better. Despite all the uncertainty and how many things there were to resolve, if they had moments of reprieve like this, that was all she really needed.


    “Fay?” asked Nobina, drawing her attention.


    “Yes?” responded Fay, tilting her head.


    “I can’t wait till we go home,” smiled Nobina.


    Fay nodded back, giving her own smile as well.