The rest of the day went rather smoothly. Despite Lila’s insistence on facing both Sina and Harton, neither of them showed any appetite to spar with her. As for everyone else, they had nothing to report. There were still no signs of the reinforcements, and the nobles had not sent anyone else to discuss Sina and Harton. Even the mayor was now keeping to himself, letting Nobina and her party handle things.


    As the day started to come to a close, Nobina and Mimiki had a moment to chat away from everyone else. Both of them stood outside the scout building, standing close to the edge of the city. The chill winds made her wish she had her scarf on, but she didn’t want to be the only one keeping warm.


    When Mimiki asked to speak to her, Nobina saw Fay find an excuse to step away. It wasn’t a surprise to Nobina though, as Fay must have known Mimiki wanted to chat with Nobina in private.


    “A bit cold out today, huh,” said Nobina, warming up her hands.


    “Yeah… Beats being burnt to a crisp by dragon fire,” chuckled Mimiki, causing Nobina to chuckle as well.


    Once the chuckling died down, Mimiki paused for a bit, trying to find the right words to say.


    “Say Nobina,” said Mimiki, keeping her attention forward. “Do you think what we are doing is right? Letting Sina and Harton go with their child?”


    Nobina turned to Mimiki, trying to get a sense of how she was feeling. Seeing Mimiki’s uncertain expression, she sighed and turned back to the forest.


    “You know… I wish I was more certain with my opinions on things, but lately I’ve felt like it’s been uncertainty after uncertainty. I never really know what’s the correct decision is. Sometimes I just let my instincts guide me. That or I trust those around me. As for the decision involving Sina and Harton’s children… I feel like we should let them go. No one else needs to die here.”


    “Nothing wrong with trusting your instincts or others,” said Mimiki, giving a smile. “Trusting those around you can really be the only choice sometimes. Especially if you can’t make a decision.”


    Nobina gave a nod. She knew it was always wise to depend on those who were more suited to making certain decisions. At the same time, she recognized that people saw her more and more as a leader these days.


    “There will come a time where I’ll need to make tough decisions though,” sighed Nobina. “With the new revelations that the Gaze bag can create tricky situations, the need to research it more grows by the day. Else, it might cause some calamity if left completely unchecked as it has been.”


    Mimiki nodded, a grim expression forming on her face.


    “I really don’t want to know what might happen should you lose it,” she replied back.


    As silence began forming between them again, Nobina decided to speak up.


    “When we get back to Agora, I really want to begin my research into this bag. There are so many problems that I’ve been dealing with. The Gaze has been involved in some way every time, either for the better or worse. If I could somehow understand it more and… perhaps control it… Maybe that will solve everything,” said Nobina, with a bit of optimism in her voice.


    “Perhaps… but I’d be careful Nobina,” she replied back. “Some things are merely not meant to be controlled. If you try to control it, who knows how they’d retaliate.”


    Nobina sighed, knowing how true that could be. If it decided to send something that could flatten a city or worse out, she’d be completely powerless to stop it. Her resources were slowly draining, and her own skills needed work.


    “Lots to do still,” said Nobina, turning for the scout base.


    “We’ll be there to help you at least,” chuckled Mimiki, following suit.


    Once they returned, they enjoyed a bit of dinner and headed to bed. Nobina knew that they only had one or two more days before Sina and Harton departed from the town. Once they were gone, they could finally depart and head back to Navira to report on everything that was happening. There was the issue of them helping the dragons, but Nobina wanted to believe that Harton and Sina would not cause any more trouble for them.


    The next day, everyone once again headed out to perform their assignments. It didn’t take long before the situation started to change.


    “Squeak,” went Pausers, looking towards the south.


    “What is it Pausers?” asked Nobina.


    A loud squeak could be heard from the south, which sounded similar to Giggles.


    “Wait. Is that…”


    Nobina didn’t need to say a word as Hammy flew out of her bag and then headed towards the direction of the squeak. About ten minutes passed before Hammy came back, with three people trailing him.


    “Wait, I think that’s Immana,” said Nobina, squinting her eyes to see who was approaching better.


    As the three individuals got into view, Nobina confirmed it was Immana and two other adventurers. One of them was immediately recognizable. Holding a different book, Casi was in a somewhat different attire compared to what she wore before. She was wearing leather armor under a set of blue and purple robes. She looked similar to a caster, despite not actually having combat magic as far as Nobina knew. The other was less recognizable, being someone with a large bow on their back. Besides that, they had black robes and what appeared to be scaled black armor underneath them.


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    Immana seemed hesitant to approach, but the sign of Sina sleeping gave her the confidence to approach Nobina and Fay.


    “Well… What do we have here,” said Immana, stopping a good distance away from the two of them and Sina.


    “Hello there Immana,” said Nobina with a gentle smile. “It seems you brought reinforcements.”


    “I did, but… I’m not sure for what now,” she smiled back. “Tell me Nobina, what… exactly is happening here. I see a dragon sleeping and you two relaxing around it as if your allies.”


    Nobina took a deep breath, trying to make sure to be as calm as possible.


    “So… Funny story. We have a deal with the dragons to let them hatch their egg and they’ll leave. Isn’t that great?” asked Nobina, hoping Immana would share her optimism.


    Immana seemed to struggle to keep her smile, taking a breath before responding back.


    “Let me get this straight… You somehow befriended the dragons and now have an agreement to let them leave with their child. After they destroyed a village, they caused a lot of damage to the nearby forest. Not only that, but the town looks mostly destroyed as well,” said Immana, failing to hide her frustration.


    “… Well, when you put it like that,” replied Nobina, trying to figure out a way to salvage the situation.


    “Nobina. You have no authority to let these dragons go. They are a clear danger and…”


    Before Immana could finish, Nobina noticed Harton appeared next to Sina.


    “Ah. Looks like a party has started,” smiled Harton, his attention towards Immana. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Harton and this here is my wife, Sina. See… We are currently in an agreement to let bygones be bygones. If we were to fight, things would get messy quickly and no one would like any further bloodshed, right?”


    Immana could tell Harton was ready to act if she spoke out of turn. However, she could also tell that he wasn’t showing any hostility.


    “I see… Well, as you might have heard, not everyone is fine with the destruction you two have caused,” said Immana, her eyes on Harton’s expression. “It wouldn’t be fair to let you two off the hook after what you did.”


    “Fair,” said Harton, a finger on his chin. “I guess that’s true. What do you people even desire? Wealth beyond measure? Power? Knowledge? Or something as lame as… punishment.”


    Immana stood there, trying to figure out what to say before a dragon roar could be heard in the distance.


    Sina, who was resting, immediately rose, causing Immana and the two adventurers with her to stand ready to act.


    “What is that?” called out Immana, looking towards the sky.


    “It must be dragons from Garival,” hissed Sina. “We’ve stayed here too long.”


    Not too long after saying that, Nobina saw a rather large dragon, perhaps twice the size of Sina, land on the opposite side of everyone. They showed no regard for the destruction they caused as they crushed a decent number of still-standing buildings. Looking at the dragon in more detail, Nobina could see they had a unique white marking on their yellow neck. Their scales and features looked bigger than Sina’s, with their wings, in particular, being almost three times the size. She could immediately tell they were far stronger than Sina.


    The dragon’s eyes were initially on Sina, but they immediately turned to Fay.


    “You there,” echoed their voice. “What god do you serve?”


    Fay seemed confused before turning to Nobina. Not wanting to keep them waiting, Nobina gave the best answer she could.


    “I do not serve a god. The Gaze merely watches over me,” Nobina responded back.


    A suspicious look formed on the yellow dragon’s face before their attention focused on Nobina.


    “Girl. My name is Faran. One of our elders has ordered me to dispose of the rogue dragons. If you have any reason why I should not, speak now before I tear them to shreds.”


    Nobina’s attention turned to Sina, who showed a similar fear to the one she had when she saw Pausers for the first time. Knowing time was of the essence, Nobina decided to try to convince them to let them go.


    “I have an agreement with Sina and Harton. To prevent any more needless bloodshed, please let them leave with their child,” yelled Nobina, hoping that Faran would listen.


    “The reason is insufficient,” he responded back. “Step aside. I have no qualms with whatever entity watches you nor you humans in general.”


    Before Nobina could respond, Pausers gave a squeak, drawing Faran’s attention.


    Immediately, Faran froze, eyes now on Nobina.


    “Girl. I am an emissary of the Dragon Mountain Garival. Do you really wish to threaten me?”


    Nobina shook her head vigorously.


    “Not at all! Pausers is making their own will clear, and…”


    Faran roared into the sky, causing all of them to cover their eyes.


    “Know this girl. We will not forget this decision. I shall consult our elders to determine our retribution.”


    Faran took off, not giving them a chance to say anything else. As Faran left, Sina spoke up.


    “Nobina,” she spoke. “Beware. You’ve made an enemy of the dragons today.”


    “I didn’t even mean to!” she yelled, extremely frustrated by what just happened. “I’m never going to know peace, huh?”


    “Nobina,” yelled Immana, clearly upset. “What did you do?”


    Nobina was close to blowing up, but Fay came to the rescue.


    “Everyone. Relax,” she said in a calm voice. “The situation at the moment is problematic, but we can resolve this without escalating everything unnecessarily.”


    Immana began calming herself down, as well as Sina. All eyes were on Fay at the moment, now away from Nobina.


    “We will handle speaking with the dragons regarding Sina and Harton. As for you Immana, please do not escalate the situation any further by being at odds with Sina and Harton.”


    “But…” Immana responded, stopping when Fay raised her hand.


    “I know. Their crimes are something that cannot be easily forgiven, but we must compromise to avoid any more needless bloodshed. I will personally oversee everything, so please have your reinforcements merely stay on standby until Sina and Harton conclude their matter here,” said Fay, maintaining a calm voice.


    Immana finally sighed and nodded her head.


    “You still have the princess’s authority, so I shall defer to you. However, whatever happens is on you. We will not hesitate to strike should it seem you have failed,” said Immana.


    “That is fine,” smiled Fay. “Please. Feel free to rest up at the scout’s headquarters. Nia shall lead the way.”


    On cue, Nia appeared, giving a bow to Immana before directing her away. Following her were Casi and the other adventurer, who didn’t say a word. Behind the group appeared ten adventurers, all about A rank, keeping at the ready to act.


    “Do not harm either dragon. Follow me,” she ordered, with the rest of them complying.


    The last member of their group, which apparently was Giggles, merely squeaked as it rested nearby. Sina eyed Giggles for a bit but relaxed as they showed no open hostility.


    “Your companions are something Nobina,” sighed Sina as she tried to rest. “Hopefully you two have a plan for the dragons, else it won’t be just us facing their retribution.”


    As Immana’s group finally got out of range, Nobina gave the strongest hug she could to Fay.


    “Thank you so much Fay,” she said, relief washing over her. “I don’t know if I could have avoided blowing up there.”


    Fay gave a gentle smile, hugging Nobina back.


    “We have a lot more on our plate now, but we can handle anything together Nobina. For now, let’s gather everyone else and discuss the next move. We might need to go somewhere a bit far to avoid something extremely serious,” said Fay.


    Nobina knew that things were going to get even rougher from here on out. Even with Fay, they had to figure out how to handle all the problems that had just appeared. There was only so much that their group could do, and the dragons in particular felt like something extremely difficult to handle.