《The Journey of a Lazy Magician》


 Chapter 1: A degenerate has made a goal for himself... somehow

    As the state of the Kingdom grew dire, the soldiers of the kingdom are desperately trying to defend the Kingdom ruled by the most influential king in the current era.


    As the sky gets stained by blood from the slashes from both sides, bodies varying from demons and humans lay motionless and the number increases even more as the battle wage on.


    The commanders shout commands and the brave soldiers adhere to those commands as if their lives are at stake. Truth be told and as obvious it was, that was very much correct.


    But those soldiers that had listened to their commanding officers as their very lifeline in this gruesome battle had inevitably crumbled in the hands of the enemy. It¡¯s quite amusing how their heads were to be flung away so high when one of the axes of the demons swung at their necks like cutting a paper with scissors.


    Loud ¡°AAAAAHHHH!¡± could be heard everywhere as men fall lifelessly one by one, mostly without heads.


    Of course how could this horrid scene be complete without the guts of the men? And likewise, the demons thought the same. Huge demons twice the size of an average man came later and cut those who blocked him like a land mower cutting the grass in the morning.


    Did I cut the grass in my front yard before I left? Hopefully I did not forget to do it.


    And the missing piece from this puzzle soon came out and had perfectly solved the jigsaw puzzle. In this case, the missing piece would be the blood-coated intestines and other inwardly bodily organs that magically flew in the air. What a scene. What a scene this is.


    Makes me want to puke.


    The commanding officers¡¯ faces turned pale from watching their men die in a very unpleasant way.


    ¡°Have the powerful adventurers join this fight! I never thought that our forces would be so easily slain like that! But surely, with the help of the adventurers, this will be an easy win!¡±


    Said so by one of the commanders to his second in command. With a nod, he cracked the reigns of the horse and sped off towards the main gate.


    In a panicked voice, he urged the adventurers to ready for combat and since the adventurers are all waiting for it, they nodded and grabbed the necessary things they would need in a fight. Since they¡¯re so ready, they basically placed their armour even before the second in command were to tell them that they need their help, as if they already knew that the army would fall flat.


    Like they just hit the biggest jackpot, with their swords raised high with pride and shields blessed by the priests, they charged maniacally as if they only see the demons as purely made of gold and silver.


    The archers then positioned themselves up at the walls and aimed and fired like their arrows are unlimited.


    Magicians as well supported and contributed on the battle field. Firing their most powerful spells if they can and if they ran out of mana, they drank elixirs that replenishes it like water.


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    I heard that those elixirs are like muddy water mixed with a glowing colouring. Incredibly distasteful.


    Soon enough, the demon forces dwindled. The demons which wore a dignified and bloodthirsty eyes are now merely cats in stuck in the middle of a rain.


    As expected, they retreated by the adventurers didn¡¯t give a single one of them a chance to escape so easily. Their speeds boosted by the magicians, the barbaric warriors chase after them like dogs chasing cats and the archers who boosted their accuracy and range using magic as well, managed to snipe off the very most far off demons that managed to ran.


    And like that, the invasion was successful.


    Unfortunately, countless soldiers were sent to their deaths because of a stupid plan from the commanding officers.


    I¡¯m not putting all the blame to the officers for the loss of their comrades¡¯ lives but hey, did something in that regard so blame shall be put were it should be. The soldiers with their very sloppy swordsmanship in that fight is also to be blamed¡­ in their deaths.


    ¡°Nice job guys! We managed to rack up about 30 or so demons and finished the side quest!¡±


    Is what one of the members in a party that consists of mainly warriors had said to his teammates.


    ¡°You¡¯re right! With this kind of reward, we won¡¯t be worrying about money for at least 3 weeks! Actually, why don¡¯t we throw a little party for ourselves as a celebration?¡±


    ¡°Oi, Oi, Oi! Let¡¯s not be careless on our funds just because we managed to get quite a lot of sum.¡±


    And of course conversations alike are heard in the vicinity. Adventurers cheerfully state their satisfaction on the completion of the quest and even the commanding officers that is to be half blamed from the almost defeat is thanking the adventurers until their saliva went spoiled. (AN: This is a slang in my country that meant to speak until they can¡¯t anymore.)


    Noisy. I want to sleep now. I think I¡¯ve contribute enough in that battle and thus, be given the rest I need.


    Also through this device called the adventurer¡¯s stone, which they give you for a small fee if you register yourself as an adventurer, I was notified that I had finished the side-quest as well. Telling me that my party had managed to finish off 30 unarmoured lesser demons.


    And my word, here comes my party.


    ¡°Nice job. Looks like we managed to finish the quest.¡±


    I gave them a congratulatory clap and even with a ¡°Wooo!¡± at that but from the looks in their expression, they don¡¯t seem to be all that satisfied.


    Rather, they look like a volcano that is about to explode.


    ¡°You leach! There we risked our lives just so we can get through this quest and rack up 30 kills while you just sit here on this hammock as if you¡¯re royalty!?¡±


    So the male warrior had said to me displeasingly.


    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m commentating on the battle.¡±


    ¡°What¡­!?¡±


    ¡°You could have at least done you¡¯re role as a magician and supported us with magic, you chose to laze here?¡±


    Why are they so displeased? I could have sworn I¡¯ve given them a potion worth 30 silver. Each by the way. Potions are worth more than three meals. Meals that are necessary for me to live! How ungrateful.


    And likewise, I¡¯ve given them my displeased comment on their comment which they have commented:


    ¡°That potion hardly heals a scratch?¡±


    Eh¡­?


    I¡¯ve been jacked!!!


    The peddler said that it can even regrow a detached limb. I mean, for 30 silver with that effect? Of course I would buy it but to think that that peddler pulled a fast one on me¡­!?


    ¡°It¡¯s not my fault the potion is faulty! The peddler I¡¯ve bought it from is the one at fault for mislabelling their products! Why don¡¯t we go and find him and get my precious 60 silver from him? How¡¯s that sound?¡±


    ¡°Screw you! We¡¯re leaving the party!¡±


    ¡°Go die somewhere.¡±


    Ungrateful bastards! I mean, even if the potion is faulty, It still helped in some way right?


    ¡°Backstabbers!¡±


    Haah¡­


    I still remember when I heroically saved them from those lesser goblins that are hitting them with a twig. I¡¯m a freaking saviour to them, why can¡¯t they get that?


    Whatever, I don¡¯t need them. I can manage myself.


    Plus, I got the 3 gold reward from the quest! I can sustain myself for at least 9 weeks. I can find another party for the meantime.


    To think that my first week as an adventurer would lead to this¡­


    I expected myself to already be among the richest in the world but hey, what¡¯s the fun in it if I can easily do it, you know?


    So in this kind of predicament that I never would have expected to happen to me, I need to keep on moving.


    My determination right now is as bright as the cloudless day that I see before me. Feather-like-wind scraped my face as I see the new hope that awaits me. The distant castle of the Demon Lord which no one, even the strongest party of the world would be able to reach it. The Demon Lord, that is feared by all can annihilate every human in existence but is sealed by an unknown great hero many years in the past and is now incapable to do so. But soon, the seal will be broken and the Demon Lord would be free once that happened but fortunately enough, there is a way to re-seal the Demon Lord but the whereabouts are currently unknown as the Hero had never told anyone the location of it.


    Now, my objective became clear¡­ My determination more so grew even more¡­.


    With a clear goal in mind, I stepped forward as if I was reborn.


    I shall become rich with the use of my soon-to-be party members and will absolutely do the most minimum amount of my energy in contribution before that sort of tragedy where the Demon Lord kills us all happens!!!


    Such a goal¡­ It makes me cry.


    With pride, I hold that goal in my mind.


    I must have a comfortable life before I die!!!

 Chapter 2: Epitome of rock bottom

    The lead coloured clouds envelopes the blue sky.


    I view this as a mockery towards me by the Gods. Leaving me like this, having to get abandoned by my dear comrades that I have known for a very long time (1 week) and only a mere 3 gold is the only thing that keeps me alive. Hu hu~


    And just this morning, it¡¯s cloudless. How could a group of water filled clouds be able to reach this place in such a short span of time?


    Oh¡­ that¡¯s how. A magic that somewhat advanced water magicians can learn. A spell that is able to control the weather in a whim.


    Isn¡¯t that illegal?


    The person doing this should get put into prison and fed with pig food! Obviously the one doing this is someone that has a grudge at me and wants me to suffer even more! I shall not forgive such wicked acts!


    ¡°Hey you! What are you doing!?¡±


    Oh guards! Wait, why are they looking at me?


    ¡°What do you mean officers? I¡¯m just standing here trying to appreciate the view but then these troublesome clouds appeared. The one at fault must be punished appropriately! If you want, I will be happy to help.¡±


    Manners, manners. A very powerful tool if you¡¯re fighting fellow humans.


    ¡°Yes, the one at fault must be punished. And with that, you¡¯re under arrest.¡±


    Wait, what!?


    ¡°What do you mean me!? I did nothing wrong! Is standing idly in a single spot is considered a crime now!?¡±


    ¡°Then explain why you¡¯re in the center of the storm? Only magicians with a dark coloured hat are able to cast a storm spell and the users is pretty much in under the eye of the storm. You¡¯re caught red handed so stop the spell or your punishment will get worse.¡±


    ¡°Eh? B-Black hat? Me? I possess n-nothing of the sorts! As you can see, my hat is clearly coloured grey and grey is dark in nature.¡±


    I removed my hat and let the guards inspect it. With an annoyed face, they took it and said something very absurd:


    ¡°This is clearly black. So black in fact that very little light is reflected off of it. Alright, resist or you¡¯re gonna get it and don¡¯t even try to cast spells. You won¡¯t be able to cast any spells since we have the Stone of Nullification. It¡¯s just a waste of mana.¡±


    Absolutely Bullshi¡ª!


    ¡°This is false accusation! I have you know that I¡¯ve figured out who¡¯ve done this! It is my former comrades and they¡¯re trying to frame me so I can suffer even more! One of them is also a magician but uses the equipment of a warrior! His hat is, from what I¡¯ve seen, is also black and I¡¯ve seen him cast a storm spell in the middle of a forest once! If you want, I can take you guys to them and arrest them.¡±


    ¡°Enough of that.¡±


    These ¡°Guards¡± elbowed me to the ground and carried me like I¡¯m some dangerous criminal or something. Obviously I¡¯m not. I¡¯m a very responsible man with worthwhile goals in life and a good member in society.


    ¡°Aw, aw! At least carry me a little higher so my knees won¡¯t hit the stairs!¡±


    Also, they¡¯ve used violence on me! These guards¡­! Do they even have the right to call themselves that? This is a violation on my rights as an adventurer!


    Of course I said to them my complaints but they didn¡¯t even pretend that they didn¡¯t hear me. What jerks!


    When we reached the main streets, people are looking at me with uneasy expressions.


    ¡°Is that the guy who attempted to cast a storm spell?¡±


    ¡°For him to do that while the repairs on the walls are on-going¡­¡±


    ¡°You think he¡¯s a humanoid demon spy?¡±


    ¡­Now I¡¯m looked as a criminal¡­


    Hu Hu~


    ? ¤Ä ?_? ?¤Ä


    When we arrived at the headquarters of the popo, I was directly sent towards to the interrogation room.


    So, obviously I¡¯m getting interrogated and from how they threw me at this chair, I think they¡¯re going to play the bad cop. Unfortunately for them, I know a way to get through the bad cop attitude. I had some practice of course by basically what you want to do is just not let their attitude affect you. That way, they¡¯ll quickly throw away their fa?ade as I call it and slightly turn the conversation towards your favour.


    Such techniques like that are very trivial to me now. For I have master all of the basic spells in existence! Trying to ignore the intimidation of a person is trying to ignore a single drop of water when I¡¯m basically 80% submerged underwater. Easy as pie. Or to be precise, easy as cutting a pie in half!The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Hmm~ Hmmmm~ Hm~


    The tune of victory.


    And with this revelation, I¡¯m very much capable of reversing the false charges put against me.


    That is if the one interrogating me is a piece of wood block.


    After 30 minutes, with the creak of the iron door, a woman entered the room.


    Ah¡­


    A handicap is spotted. I¡¯m not used to talking to a woman so¡­


    No! I can manage this! A mere woman won¡¯t make me falter! Plus, this woman in particular has big bewbs. She may not know this but I like woman with flat chests! Hazah!


    ¡°Sir Isaac is it? Says here you are charged with reckless use of storm spell during a time of crisis and a count of a violation regarding the contract on a formation of a party.¡±


    I heard something absurd¡­!


    ¡°Violation on a contract!? Shouldn¡¯t it be the opposite!? I was abandoned by my party without a reasonable reason!¡±


    After I said that, the woman interrogator spat out a heavy sigh and took out a small glass bell¡­


    ¡°Since you are a magician, I¡¯m sure you know what this is, yes?¡±


    ¡°¡­Yes.¡±


    What she just took out is¡­ a lie detector bell. It will ring if a lie is said in a 5 meter radius around it. So that¡¯s why this room is bigger than I anticipated it.


    So cruel¡­


    ¡°Are you the one who casted the storm spell a while ago?¡±


    ¡°¡­more or less.¡±


    ¡°For what reason?¡±


    ¡°So I can properly wallow in my sadness and how hopeless my current situation is.¡±


    The woman looked at the bell but it didn¡¯t ring.


    ¡°Any other reason?¡±


    ¡°So I can convince my former comrades to join with me again.¡±


    The woman again looked at the bell but it didn¡¯t ring¡­ thankfully.


    That¡¯s a lie actually. Of course I twisted the words I used so it¡¯s comes off as technically true but the main aspect of it or I should say, the ulterior motive behind it is hidden.


    My main objective in doing that was to blackmail them into making them into teaming up with me but that didn¡¯t work out as I expected it will be.


    Perhaps maybe I should¡¯ve cried. Will that make a difference?


    ¡°To where or whom did you learned the storm spell.¡±


    ¡°Self-studied.¡±


    ¡°Methods of learning it?¡±


    ¡°Books.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the name of the book or books?¡±


    ¡°Magic and stuff.¡±


    She annoyingly looked at the bell and it didn¡¯t ring.


    Hehe. That wasn¡¯t a storm spell. It¡¯s only a spell that creates the illusion that a storm is about to occur.


    I wish she would assume my answer as not having to have cast a storm spell but something similar to it. I''m sure she''ll assume that. She looks smart, doesn''t she?


    If not then crap. Looks like I have a lot of explanation in front of me if that''s the case.


    ¡°So then I assume that you¡¯re the author of the book?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    She flipped a page and started to write something.


    Tap, tap, tap. The sound of a pen touching the paper is sort of relaxing for some reason.


    Then again, it¡¯s irritating at the same time.


    After that, she put away the glass bell and composed herself.


    Ah¡­ It¡¯s rare for people to actually be practicing a good composure like this.


    ¡°The colour of the hat of a magician changes depending on their experience and how many spells they have learned. The darker the hat, the more spells they have learned but from judging from yours, you seem very experienced so I was confused as to why you did something as reckless as this. Now I know why.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Yes. From the what your old teammates has reported, you hardly help even though you have the most experience out of all of them and claimed yourself as the leader of the party. From hearing that and how you word your statements, I can guess that you are but a con artist rather than an adventurer. Leaching off on your teammates and explaining it as ¡°fair trade for your leadership,¡± giving them cheap potions disguised with a false label to make them seem more powerful than they actually are and even to the point of trying to blackmail them with that kind of pathetic attempt. I¡¯ve never encountered someone as vile as you. This is enough to get you jailed for a years and have your reputation ruined in all your days as an adventurer.¡±


    *screaming and sobbing internally*


    She didn''t mention about the storm spell so did my very vague and annoying answer worked? I''m sure it did but there''s something I just can''t let go of...


    "About the potions..."


    Before I could even finish my sentence, she cuts me off.


    "You aren''t scammed. We''ve tracked down the peddler. Rather, he''s the one who reported it himself. He said that he was threatened by you that you would burn his whole stock into blaze. Though luckily a bystander passed by and that sort of incident had never happened. From what he said to us, he isn''t lying."


    W-why¡­ I would never¡­ do¡­ something like that¡­! Maybe¡­ I don¡¯t really know what happened. Did I say that?


    "W-w-well his price is absurd! I mean, who sells a single basic potion for 30 silver!? The market for that is just 25 silver and it''s in a state of price freeze when I bought it! That¡¯s a crime isn¡¯t it?"


    "Of course. Since you two had made a crime yourselves, if both parties agreed to not make anything worse then we won''t press charges if the crime is that small. Unless you want to... Then go and sue him. Either one of you will get punished. Considering your situation right now, even if you win in the court, that still wouldn''t make a difference on your punishment on you other offenses as we already removed your threatening incident. Of course if you lose then that''ll make things worse for you."


    Well, I guess that¡¯s why a lot less petty thieves are being put into prison these days.


    I shut up after that. Really, if I speak anymore, I might make things worse. I almost did just for bringing up the potion.


    ¡°But for as one of the privileges of an adventurer, you can pay a fee and have one of the penalties I¡¯ve said to you removed.¡±


    Chance!


    ¡°How much the fee would be?¡±


    ¡°To remove the jail penalty, you¡¯ll have to pay 3 gold and 20 silver. As for the reputation penalty, you¡¯ll have to pay 2 gold and 50 silver. Don''t worry as we will use this as how we use taxes. To further improve our Kingdom.¡±


    Like a merchant selling their goods to their customer, she said the requirements and conditions.


    Well, the bell didn''t ring so she wasn''t actually lying when she said that the money would be for further improvement of this place. But then again, I don''t pay taxes so luckily, they didn''t noticed that I committed tax evasion for who knows how long... or is there some other reason to why they didn¡¯t brought that up?


    Anyway!


    Regarding on how absurd that is, I can¡¯t just up and pay with that much money! I won¡¯t be able to live if I did!


    Thinking it rationally, if I pay for the jail time to be suspended, then I won¡¯t have any change left. None at all. Plus, my reputation will be ruined! I can¡¯t join any party if I¡¯m labelled as a con man!


    If I did pay for the reputation penalty, I¡¯ll have to serve a year in jail. That would just waste my time and before you know it, the end of the world will come¡­ probably. And if that happens, I won¡¯t have much time to be the considered as one of the richest person in history!


    I can¡¯t afford to do the latter¡­ I just don''t have enough time to serve the jail time. Even if it''s the best course of action right now. I mean, the end of the world might happen in just one year from now! And all I did in my time here is just sing tunes and lift weights. I don¡¯t want that! Even if it¡¯s to exchange my reputation¡­


    With a heavy heart, I took out my pouch with my last remaining coins and handed them over to the woman. Counting the coins, it amounted as exactly 3 gold and 20 silver. She didn¡¯t ask what I wanted to get removed and just assumed that I don¡¯t want to be put in jail.


    So with that, she asked me to give her my adventurer¡¯s stone and so I gave it to her. Not like I gave it to her without any resistance. I¡¯m too stubborn to do that so she just snatched it away from my hands when I showed the slightest bit of resistance.


    My precious adventurer¡¯s stone¡­ I will remember your former glory¡­ Now you will be dirtied by the sins that I may or may not have committed and so do I.


    She left off after that and I¡¯ve waited like a dog in the interrogation room.


    Soon enough, a guard informed me that the process is done and gave me my stone back.


    And like that, I left the prison with absolutely no money in hand and a ruined reputation as an adventurer.


    How nice. Makes me want to cry bucket loads.


    This world is unfair¡­ I just want to earn money without me doing anything. What¡¯s so bad about that! Hu hu~


    ¡°So what now?¡± I asked myself.


    The sky, which was once covered in lead coloured clouds is now clear as day.


    Speaking of as clear as day, the difference from the looks of adventurers towards me before and after my reputation is stained is crystal clear. With a look towards me equal to that of looking at a garbage.


    Not only their look but their attitude towards me also changed. They¡¯re pretty much trying to avoiding me willingly.


    And to top it all off, I can¡¯t revoke my contract on being an adventurer. I¡¯m forever bound by this curse for the rest of my days.


    To add insult to injury, a sudden powerful gust of wind hit my face and I fall flat on the marble ground and people around begun to chuckle.


    Obviously, that wasn¡¯t natural. It was casted by a magician.


    Is this the epitome of rock bottom?


    Might as well just die right now¡­


    NO! I refuse to give up! What kind of coward would take the easy way out!? Obviously, I won¡¯t afford myself to die broke! I will achieve my ridiculous goal and my name would be known as one of the richest person in the whole world before judgment day comes!


    And with preservation and determination, I shall move on.


    Probably a change of tactics this time.


    Maybe rather than a single potion during battle, why don¡¯t I just give them two potions? I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t complain if I give them that much, right?


    But first, I need to find a party that is willing to let me join in.


    Of course, who wouldn¡¯t let a magician who mastered every basic spells to join their team!?

 Chapter 3: A gigolo for a teammate? Nice joke

    My situation right now is dire. Like how the situation of this kingdom is dire in the past few days, that dire situation somehow transferred to me.


    Like a cicada that desires the sap of a flower to live, a human too needs food to live.


    Well, I¡¯m broke. So what now?


    I could steal someone¡¯s wallet and leave it at that after miraculously escaping but that kind of method is definitely something I will never resort to. I have standards and I will not allow myself to go to such petty acts like that!


    What¡¯s that? Since me, an adventurer and having to master every basic spell should find a quest and live off from that?


    Why though? Why would I waste my energy on something tiring as that? Finding comrades is, as what I like to view it as, an investment. An investment so that I will never break a sweat in my road to becoming rich! Plus, I¡¯d rather use my spells to impress rather than to use in combat. It¡¯s a sacred thing, I¡¯d like to call it.


    But of course I may have not found any teammates in these past couple of days and had only received cold and harsh refusals, I still possess the necessary things to convince someone to join with me. Well this should be for myself but I can¡¯t be picky right now. The last remaining potion that I¡¯ve bought for a ridiculously high price of 30 silver, which is actually worth 25 in the current market so I was scammed 15 silver when I bought them, my speech and of course my plan to give a grand entrance when I make my move.


    Saving someone¡¯s life is the fastest way to a person¡¯s heart. I did it like once so I may as well be called an expert when I manage to pull this off.


    Regarding what I¡¯ve been doing recently¡­? Asking people to join me of course but like I said it only lead to harsh and cold refusals. Whatever. I don¡¯t like them either. Bleh to you people.


    I¡¯ll only use this kind of method when I am absolutely desperate, which I am.


    So since this is the place where adventurers usually start their journey, I think I can spot noobs trying to fight a wolf all by themselves or more fortunately, a group of noobs.


    But before that, I need to check up on someone really quick.


    (¤Å??????)¤Å


    The smell of dried wood floats around the vicinity. Freshly cut grass as well. Such a combination, it makes me have a headache.


    Damp and moist, that is what the ground I¡¯m stepping on currently feels. Like the ground is made of slime, it occasionally tries and devour my shoes.


    When I turned the nob, a crack and creak, as well as the familiar sound of a wood breaking could be heard. When I touched the door which normally gives me a splinter, now gave a more horrendous scratch as the tiny bits of pieces of wood seemingly, as if they¡¯re waiting for me to touch them, cut a small portion of the skin of my index finger.


    Ominous sound could be heard when you entered the house. You might even hear the sound of a cry deep within the house.


    Such a house with this kind of condition, normally people would straight up avoid entering such a house.


    But not me as this house is my old one. I inherited it from my father and lived here ever since. Since this is an incredibly old house and we can¡¯t afford to restore any parts of it so unfortunately, we have leave it as it is.


    And I can¡¯t just move out. I inherited it and I should take good care of it, even though I did absolutely nothing to even improve the house.


    Even if I do want to move out, I don¡¯t even have any money to feed myself and my pet.


    Yes. My pet.


    I do have a pet. A mighty dragon at that!


    What¡¯s a magician without a rare and magical beast as a companion!?


    Those who don¡¯t possess such intricacies is a lot poorer than me.


    And like its mother had just arrived from a hunting trip, he flew towards me with joy.


    In just a few short flaps, it eventually ceased to fatigue and fell down, gliding towards the ground.


    ¡°I got you.¡±


    Lighter than I remembered¡­


    Haah¡­.


    To why he chose someone as irresponsible as me as a parent, I have no idea why.


    Actually I do. It¡¯s because he saw me when he hatched from his egg and did something called imprinting but that¡¯s beside the point.


    For the reason why he chose to stay with me and treat me as a parent is because of love!Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Yes love, a bound that two living creatures made with each other through trust. A bound that is stronger than the strongest of steels!


    Though some bounds may waver but not ours! As ours are crafted through the relationship of a parent and a child.


    Such a thing, we have that kind of bound!


    I embraced his tiny body. The beautiful scales the he once had had turned grey and are about to fall off like a brown leaf unable to be with the branch that it formerly resided on.


    But such a thing is natural for a scale or a leaf to do. Like a child with its parents, it will eventually mature and become independent, leading to the separation of the parent and child as the child will soon have their own family. Natural. The way of life.


    Until the day that this child is going to separate from me, I shall give him my every drop of affection and love!


    Or until he dies¡­


    ¡­


    Let¡¯s move on. Yes?


    (?????? ?)


    Soon after that, I left the house. Leaving behind the wailing baby dragon that had went to the point that he can no longer shed any tears but could only make the familiar sound of sorrow.


    Since my house is at the very outskirts of the kingdom, my trek towards the forest is very just a few walks away¡­ that is to say if there¡¯s no wall around the Kingdom.


    Eventually, after my treacherous journey to cross the streets full of ¡°Oh look, a dishonest adventurer¡± looks, I managed to reach the back gate and made my way to the forest.


    The forest is, for the most part, an ordinary forest.


    Filled with trees and has its own ecosystem. Mostly filled with mostly harmless creatures. But if you venture deeper into it, you¡¯ll find a large village of goblins.


    Now there¡¯s a rule against directly harming the village but some troublesome goblins occasionally, which actually happens every day or so, cause a disturbance in the forest and if that happens, a request to eliminate the rogue goblin(s) will be put on the quest board. A beginner level quest I must say and gives a fair amount of coins as a reward.


    If a quest is taken, the involved adventurers¡¯ stones would automatically notify the adventurer¡¯s guild regarding the completion of the quest. Quite a convenient system.


    Obviously, if the time limit is hit then the adventurers¡¯ who took the quest would be automatically notified and is required to go back and pay the penalty fee in a set period of time.


    That¡¯s basically how it works.


    I checked the adventurer¡¯s guild¡¯s quest board if there are any goblin quests to do and there¡¯s none so beginner adventurers must¡¯ve took them and is now doing them.


    Now my plan is to find those adventurers and save them from their ¡°deaths¡±!


    Obviously, beginners won¡¯t be able to handle something like that without prior knowledge so I¡¯m pretty confident right now,


    Like a tiger seeking a prey, I hid in the bushes and looked for signs of a trace that may lead me them.


    And just like that, I¡¯ve spotted my first prey!


    Considering the prey is the goblins and the predator is the adventurers, then this is a scene scraps that idea! The predator becomes the prey! And like that, the predator now has two predators! Me and the goblins.


    That doesn¡¯t sound smart but whatever.


    Like I expected, they can¡¯t handle the goblin.


    Though from before, I¡¯ve fended off lesser goblins for my former comrades but this time, they are full fledge goblins that actually use a reasonable weapon. Which in this case, clubs.


    Tricky but I can manage.


    When they get knocked down or put to a bad stop by the goblins then I¡¯ll come in like a saviour and use a combination of earth and wind elemental magic. With that, the goblins will be put into a critical condition and the adventurers would be able to kill them with ease!


    A simple yet magnificent plan, I must say. Though may change depending on the situation.


    To act as a hero in front of others, it is to be expected that they will treat you as their benefactor.


    Looks like these two are both warriors. Like, why is there such a large numbers of warriors?


    ¡°How do we do this!?¡±


    ¡°You block, I attack. Let¡¯s go with that!¡±


    ¡°Idiot! I don¡¯t have a shield!¡±


    While they were busy arguing, the goblin had closed the distance and begun their attack. There¡¯s 3 goblins so with just 2 adventurers so they¡¯re technically outnumbered. Of course since they are goblins, a beginning adventurer will always be much stronger than a goblin. Obviously, these two doesn¡¯t know that because they have muscles as brains. Even a single beginning adventurer can take on 3 goblins at once if they know how to fight them.


    Unlike me, they didn¡¯t do their research before diving in the adventurer¡¯s life.


    ¡°Argh! H-hurts!¡±


    ¡°Dodge the attacks, you moron!¡±


    I continued to watch them struggle on fighting with these goblins until their faces shows a desperate one. Amusing.


    Well, I can¡¯t let them die now, can¡¯t I? Or else the performance that I¡¯ve practiced inside my head will be a waste.


    And like the lead of the play, I swoop in with my performance.


    I fired a wind and earth elemental spell combination and, thanks to the earth part, it made the knockback more effective and made them hit a nearby tree.


    ¡°Your desperate eyes suggest that you need help?¡±


    They looked at me with confusion and relief.


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold them off while you guys take them out. I assume that you still have a quest to finish, yes?¡±


    After hearing my statement, they nodded obediently and raised their rusty swords.


    To hinder the goblins¡¯ movement, I used a combination of water and earth elemental spell and made the ground they¡¯re standing on soft and ate their feet like a quicksand.


    Having their targets immobile, the two warriors landed their blows directly on the goblins¡¯ heads. A fatal strike¡­ if their equipment is actually not rusty.


    How unfortunate. I did the strategy a second time and then they finally took down the goblins. With a ding, their adventurer stones glew and notified them telepathically that the quest is finished and that the reward for their efforts will be waiting in the Adventurer¡¯s guild.


    ¡°Thank you very much, sir magician! We would have been killed if it weren¡¯t for you!¡±


    ¡°Yes, for you to come up in such a convenient time too! You¡¯ve saved mine and this idiot¡¯s lives!¡±


    ¡°Hey! Who are you calling idiot!?¡±


    I like their demeanour. I¡¯m sure they would make a fine work force hehe.


    ¡°Since I¡¯ve saved your lives, could I at least get a favour from you too?¡±


    ¡°Well of course! Why wouldn¡¯t we?¡±


    They smiled gently at me whilst giving me a thumbs up.


    And that¡¯s how you get a favour from people! Wait for them to be on the verge of death and miraculously save them with your unnaturally convenient timing! I have done it twice now so I am proud to say that I¡¯ve became an expert on it now. Hmm!


    Nodding to myself, I state my demands:


    ¡°I won¡¯t ask much. Just a free meal and an invite to your party. With a magician in your party, I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll make your lives easier. Not to brag but, I have mastered a lot of spells, from basic to advanced and as you can see, my hat is very dark. The mark of an experienced magician.¡±


    ¡°For an experienced magician such as yourself to ask us to be in the same party as you, how can we refuse?! Just tell us your name and we¡¯ll send and invite immediately.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Isaac.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± X2


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Did we hear you right? Your name is Isaac?¡±


    ¡°Yes. What¡¯s the problem?¡±


    ¡°How should we do this?¡¯


    The other one whispered to his comrade.


    ¡°Idiot, don¡¯t be so loud!¡±


    ¡°Eh? Aren¡¯t you the one shouting?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s seems to be the problem?¡±


    ¡°Eh? I-It¡¯s just that¡­ we have important business to attend to.¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Important business.¡±


    ¡°So could you wait for us in the tavern, we¡¯ll be there in a moment so wait for us, alright? Uhm¡­ wait for us there and don¡¯t look for us because we¡¯ll be there. Yeah.¡±


    And they awkwardly brisk walk towards the Kingdom.


    ?¨q¨r?


    So¡­ I¡¯ve waited in the tavern. Like always, the gazes of the people here landed on me like it was odd for me to go here.


    Right¡­ after waiting for an hour, they didn¡¯t came. I think I know why.


    That blasted stain in my reputation!


    It not only cost me a free meal and potential party members but it also made people look at me judgemental eyes!


    Even though at first it didn¡¯t bug me but when time goes on, it take a toll on someone psyche, you know?


    I feel like I want to cry¡­


    No, it¡¯s not my fault! I refuse to take the blame! It¡¯s all because those two screwed me over and made me do something as ridiculous as casting an illusionary storm spell in the middle of the kingdom. Yes that¡¯s it! It¡¯s all their fault!


    Hu hu~


    Who am I kidding?


    I exited the tavern and went to back of the building.


    And at that moment, I¡¯ve thrown away my standards and dignity. In a last ditch effort to survive, I found myself eating on the leftovers of the customers. To say it bluntly, I¡¯m eating trash.


    To become as low as a scavenger like a vulture¡­ Pathetic.


    But I can¡¯t just give up on my goal so easily¡­!


    I can¡¯t¡­ I need to do it¡­


    Rustle, Rustle¡­


    I searched the trash bin for something slightly edible.


    ¡­ Is the mushrooms growing on the walls of my house be edible?


    OH! Jackpot! A muffin!


    Ahhh¡­ I can already taste its sweetness¡­


    How long has it been when I last ate a muffin? Probably a month or two when I last worked in that bakery.


    As I was about to claim the gift sent by the gods, I hand snatched it away.


    ¡­A hand?


    I looked forward and to my surprise, it¡¯s a girl dressed in the attire of a common archer.


    Most importantly, my precious muffin is taken from me!

 Chapter 4: A rude ray of hope

    Gentle in when touched. It permeates an exquisite taste just from looking at her.


    From just the smell you can tell that she¡¯s the sweetest thing known in existence that not even magic can imitate.


    She is but a perfect existence and now I am staring at her. Is my unworthy eyes even allowed to view such an existence?


    Although she allowed me to and I shall take that blessing to heart!


    It took a stance that suggests that I take her. No, she wants me to take her. Coincidentally, our intentions matched like how the notes of a piano compliments each other as they¡¯re played by a skilled hand. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration that we are meant to be.


    But, before a happy ending could be had, I thief stole her away from me.


    Such an evil creature¡­! I won¡¯t let it get away!


    ¡°I found the muffin first! Give it to me!¡±


    ¡°No! I haven¡¯t eaten in days. I need this to survive!¡±


    ¡°So do I!¡±


    Currently. I am in the midst of an intense battle.


    The very monster that took away my princess, I argued with the monster to give my precious muffin back.


    But the monster was feisty. It wouldn¡¯t yield.


    Troublesome is all I can say but for me, who has a strong affinity with such creatures like this, will hopefully be able to take it down.


    ¡°Obviously you won¡¯t give it to me without any sort of reason so how about this¡ª¡°


    Its ears perk up when it heard that I want to make a negotiation.


    ¡°You give me half of it and I will do whatever you want? Here, I¡¯ll cut it for you.¡±


    ¡°¡­That meant anything, ye? Ho Ho~ very well!¡±


    ¡­ Easier than I thought¡­


    And like that, whilst wearing the face of a victor, it handed me the muffin which I gulped down in an instant.


    Shocked at my sudden action, it tried to take it out of my mouth desperately but unfortunately for her, I closed my mouth shut and thoroughly chewed it. Actually, now that I tasted it, it taste like the dough was made of sewer residue.


    ¡­Ugh¡­ I think I¡¯ll have a diarrhoea after digesting this¡­


    I feel like my face turned green too¡­.


    ¡°Eh!? Don¡¯t just eat it all! I¡¯m really serious when I said that I still haven¡¯t eaten anything! At this point, I might die in just a few days of being an adventurer in this world!¡±


    Adventurer in this world? What is she, an alien or just someone who succumbed to the delusion of being an otherworldly creature summoned here?


    Probably the latter because I¡¯ve seen people actually having that kind of delusion. It¡¯s very pitiful.


    Moving the spoiled muffin I¡¯m eating to the side of my mouth and spoke:


    ¡°Dewn, are youw wiwlling to eat thiws muwffin like a how a baby biwrd eawts the foowd its mother chewed fowr hewr?¡± (Then are you willing to eat this muffin like how a baby bird eats the food its mother chewed for her?)


    ¡°Ew! Of course not!¡±


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Thought so.


    I pushed it down my throat and left a really bad taste in my mouth.


    ¡°Now monster, what¡¯re you doing here?¡±


    ¡°¡­Monster?¡±


    The monster tilted its head in confusion.


    Ah, right. She¡¯s actually a girl. I haven¡¯t eaten anything recently so maybe I¡¯m going crazy and started to obsess on something as petty as a common muffin,


    This ¡°girl¡± wore her black hair to freely flow but was tied at the ends with a rubber. Her eyes shone blue as the sea and her proportions is like that of a teenager, I hate to admit it but she¡¯s taller than me. Her fair skin readily accepts the sunlight and made her look radiant.


    As for her clothes, it¡¯s like that of an archer. A light leather tunic with sheen guards and leather wrist guard. Of course, bow and arrow on her back.


    Right. Obviously she¡¯s an archer.


    And obviously, she¡¯s broke like me if she went as far as to resort to eating garbage.


    The reason being¡­ I¡¯m curious also but asking a stranger something like that is rude.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind that. I¡¯m Isaac. Yours?¡±


    ¡°Kyle. So you¡¯re Isaac? The Isaac who¡¯s everyone¡¯s bad mouthing?¡±


    ¡°¡­No, I don¡¯t know such person.¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Says in the adventurer¡¯s stone, the infamous con man Isaac is someone who is smaller than your average adult, green eyes that looked like he didn¡¯t sleep in weeks, and has a hair that looked like a pigeon¡¯s nest. You seem to fit the description.¡±


    My hair does not look like that! Are you kidding me!?


    Who is this girl!?


    ¡°Truthfully, I¡¯m searching for you.¡±


    She said that and accompanied with heavy sigh.


    ¡°Me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. I had hoped that I would find an experienced magician that would help me here and when the news regarding on your status came up, seeing that you look like the person I wanted to find, I immediately searched for your whereabouts. But to think that I¡¯ve found you searching for food in the garbage¡­ I think I¡¯m having second thoughts.¡±


    ¡°H-hey, though I may be in this pathetic state but it only happened because of some unfortunate incidents!¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Incidents you¡¯ve caused.¡±


    Giggling after she retorted, this girl¡­! Who does she think she is?


    ¡°If you talk like that to me then I¡¯ll just leave you right now. You said that you made the effort to find me so I can give you my help, right? For whatever reason that is and to why me in particular, I don¡¯t really care but I do care of how other people talk to me and from your speech, I can see that you¡¯re someone I¡¯d rather not be acquainted with.¡±


    Her face, whilst giggling stiffened like she was being petrified by medusa.


    In a panicked voice, she tried to find her words with ¡®Um¡­¡¯ and ¡®uh¡­¡¯ sounds.


    ¡°I-I apologise, alright. I was just shocked that my already rock bottom expectations towards you could actually go even lower than that so¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh? Are you mocking me or something? I¡¯ll have you know that I have mastered all of the basic spells in existence! I know of a lot of combinations to use them with too and mastered it to the point that I can generate a power that equals to that of an advanced spell.¡±


    ¡°Eek! N-No I¡¯m not! I highly see you as someone great so please don¡¯t leave like that. I really need your help. I really do.¡±


    She begged me like a dog asking to be removed from its leash.


    Thinking about this situation I¡¯m in, isn¡¯t this a perfect chance to get a teammate? I don¡¯t like her attitude but she can certainly be of use for me. Is this a ray of hope for my desperate state? With her, I can finally go to quests without me doing all the work!


    I mean, I can do quest myself and with the reward, could get me something to eat that¡¯s actually edible but hey, it¡¯s more efficient for my energy this way. Plus, quest consumes a lot of mana and I¡¯d like to preserve mine.


    But I have to ask¡­


    ¡°Why do you want my help so badly?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because I need you to do a certain task¡­ Erm¡­ I think it¡¯s better if don¡¯t tell you since it¡¯s not that important right now. So for now, if you¡¯re ok with it, I¡¯d like to be in your party. Since I am an archer, I think I can do things you normally aren¡¯t able to do. I can provide more varied and expansive options regarding on doing things.¡±


    She puffed her lacking chest proudly.


    Whatever that task she spoke of might be, I¡¯d rather not do it so I¡¯m hesitant on accepting her as a teammate even though I need someone to help me with my quests since it will be troublesome in the future. I just want to get rich as fast as possible without doing much effort and having some kind of side goal would just hinder my progress.


    But still, I need someone. Anyone for that matter and have them do as I say.


    After thinking it thoroughly, I sent her an invite which she was shocked for a moment when she heard it from the adventurer¡¯s stone but shortly afterwards, accepted it without any hesitation.


    ¡°¡­ I didn¡¯t think that you¡¯ll do it that quickly. So does that mean that we¡¯re comrades now? Sorry, I¡¯m not used to this.¡±


    ¡°Aye. That¡¯s basically it.¡±


    A twisted grin formed on my face.


    ¡°It says that what I¡¯ve just accepted is a slave contract. Eh?¡±


    Pfft! I can hold it in! I can¡¯t believe this girl didn¡¯t notice!


    ¡°Oi! What¡¯s the meaning of this!?¡±


    ¡°HAHAHA! Think of this as a punishment for the badmouthing you did! I already had enough of how people treated me and the cold gazes they look at me at and now you came here and did the same. Kyle, is it? From now on, you¡¯re my slave! Bounded by an absolute obedience towards me! I have something special in store for you¡­ hehehe.¡±


    Yes! Tremble and regret of how stupid you are! Something like a slave contract with a clearly obvious warning sign and you didn¡¯t even noticed it and accepted it immediately like it was natural, you did this to yourself! Although, a slave contract between adventurers will only last for a month or if I cancelled the contract but of course, there¡¯s no reason to tell her about it.


    ¡°¡­! What the!? What horrible things are you going t-to do to me!? Could it be that you¡¯ll do ¡®that¡¯? I-I understand. You¡¯re a male and they have these kinds of urge. Erm¡­ I don¡¯t think that my body had matured yet so¡­ just wait for a few more years alright?¡±


    Just then, I bopped her on the head.


    As she rubbed her forehead with her hand, I told her this:


    ¡°Idiot. I will never get controlled by those urges. My mind is like steel. It will not yield to my instinct to copulate. What do you think I am? A pervert? If I were to be, then I wouldn¡¯t have been able to learn so much magic spells like I did and continue to get distracted by girl¡¯s pantsu plus, I have a very distinct taste towards girls. See my hat? It¡¯s dark. It¡¯s the mark of an experienced magician.¡±


    Kyle, still rubbing her head, looked at me with a playful smile.


    ¡°¡­Yeah, experienced in only basic spells¡­¡±


    She whispered but I couldn¡¯t quite hear it.


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°I-It¡¯s nothing! Of course you aren¡¯t. Actually, now that my expectations of you are so low and view you now as someone pathetic, I expected you to be that sort of guy who would lay a hand on any girl he sees and if the opportunity arises, he would, without any hesitation, do ¡®that¡¯. I was just testing you of course.¡±


    She was testing me, but her trembling body isn¡¯t convincing at all.


    So now I got this girl in my party. Truth be told, even though I¡¯d like anyone to join me, I am very wary about her. I mean, she¡¯s too blunt! It hurts my ego¡­


    Well, I just have to deal with her for now. Also, I¡¯ll try to resist the best I can to punch her whenever she opens her mouth.


    And so then and there I found someone willing to join me. With her name Kyle and being an archer, I think I can come up with something to make her useful.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m starving. Kyle is it? We¡¯ll go on a quest. A simple one and evaluate your skills there.¡±


    ¡°Oh ok. Then after, I presume that after that, we¡¯ll eat something so we won¡¯t die of starvation?¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡±


    ¡°What are you? A pirate?¡±


    ¡°Shut up or I¡¯ll order you to eat dog poop.¡±


    ¡°¡­sorry.¡±


    For some reason, I have a bad feeling about this¡­


    And so does my fist. It really wants to hit her in the face.

 Chapter 5: An excellent archer who cant hit a target

    ¡°Oh? That¡¯s impressive.¡±


    Currently, we are in the firing range. A place where novice archers hone their talents. Thank god the entry here is free but renting the bow and arrow needs money though so we just used Kyle¡¯s.


    To why I said that compliment to someone as defiled as her? Well, believe it or not, she managed to hit the farthest target currently available. A 3 kilometre target, It was quite a feat.


    What makes it more amazing is the fact that it was windy as well and the sun shine brightly that it should¡¯ve hindered her eyesight and make her loose aim but she managed to pull it through.


    It¡¯s a bullseye at that.


    ¡°Told you I¡¯m good.¡±


    She proudly stated towards me. Rather than acknowledging her, I¡¯d like to do the opposite.


    ¡°Hello good, I¡¯m Isaac.¡±


    ¡°Wow, you seriously said a dad joke?¡±


    Well whatever I say, I can¡¯t say that she¡¯s bad if she can do this. Did my luck went backwards this time for me to have gained an almost praise worthy teammate? Is my act of appreciating the thing called garbage as a source for food made the hearts of the Gods melt because of my unprecedented act? Must be so.


    Of course it is! Hehehe.


    Excluding her annoying personality, she¡¯s a very experienced archer. Her arrows even glew brighter than 50 candles. It¡¯s the mark of an experienced archer.


    I can do that much too if I summon a lightning bolt to hit an area using basic water and air manipulation spells but I¡¯ll let her take the front stage here. After all, everyone has the need to feel that they¡¯re good at something every once in a while.


    ¡°I bet you can¡¯t even hit a mere 200 meter target with your spells, huh? I think you¡¯re just jealous of my range and accuracy. Hahaha!¡±


    She elbowed me while teasing me.


    Calm down¡­ Think of her as someone stupid¡­ right. That always calms me down.


    Zen. Alright¡­


    And so an image of her tripping on a banana peel appeared in my head.


    ¡°Well that is to be expected for someone who only knows basic spells and is too afraid to even learn anything more high tier than that.¡±


    Just then, a small cloud formed out of nowhere and hit the 3 km target and turned it into ash in an instant.


    Also in an instant, we were banned from entering that firing range again.


    ©Ð©¤©Ð¥Î( o _ o¥Î)


    ¡°What did you do that for!?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean!? You hurt my feelings as a magician! You don¡¯t just go and say to a magician that they lack stronger spells! Like I said, I can do all sorts of combos using only basic spells like what you just saw before.¡±


    ¡°By what you mean for feelings is ego, right?¡±


    This girl¡­


    Hmm¡­ Why don¡¯t I just dumb her in the river until she learns her lesson? Nah that might get added in my offenses. I¡¯m considering it though¡­


    ¡°Hey, what are you thinking just now?¡±


    ¡°How to drown you in the most inconspicuous way possible.¡±


    ¡°Eh? Wait, you want to¡ª¡±


    ¡°There it is. The adventurers¡¯ guild. A place I only visited like twice in my whole years of living here in this place.¡±


    And so I cut her off strategically.


    ¡°So you mean you¡¯re a shut in?¡±


    ¡°Eat this mushroom.¡±


    I took out a fungus known to kill a war elephant in a single bite. It grows in my house by the way.


    ¡°W-wait! Please don¡¯t order me to do that! I¡¯m sorry, alright!?¡±


    I want to throw her off a cliff!!!!


    Huh¡­The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Anyway.


    The sun is at the verge of setting so not many people are currently here. Only those who wanted to collect their reward.


    While Kyle is still clinging on me in a pathetic attempt to forgive her, we entered the adventurers¡¯ guild. People with plated armour filled the place. Laughter and joyful cheering could be heard inside as the adventurers who had done something tiring, were handed their compensation. Ah¡­ such joyous atmosphere. It would be great if there isn¡¯t a crying girl clinging on me and managed to attract the attention of everyone around here.


    ¡°¡­Oi, isn¡¯t that the con man everyone¡¯s talking about?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I heard he didn¡¯t contribute anything in the battle against the invading demons but still managed to get his reward.¡±


    ¡±What a scum¡­¡±


    I¡¯m used to the judgemental gazes of people and their repetitive comments about me so it doesn¡¯t matter. But then¡­


    ¡°What¡¯s with that girl?¡±


    ¡°Did he tricked her into making her as his slave? Considering his reputation, maybe it¡¯s that.¡±


    ¡°Oh? How cruel.¡±


    ¡­ How did they know¡­?


    ¡­I don¡¯t know why but I feel like a twisted smile just formed on Kyle¡¯s face¡­


    ¡°You know, I can use this opportunity to tarnish you reputation even more.¡±


    Is what Kyle whispered to me.


    ¡°Is this a threat? Pathetic. If you do that then it will be a major setback in our part. Having a terrible reputation has huge disadvantages. Do you want to do that to me, the one you wanted the help of to do whatever it is you want to do?¡±


    ¡°Actually, I changed my mind and it¡¯s not because of what you said.¡±


    Right then, she loosened her grip on my clothes and obediently stood on my side.


    What a good girl¡­ is what I would say if she doesn¡¯t have such a loose mouth.


    We hurried towards the girl in the desk. I believe she¡¯s the one who gives out the quests.


    For some reason, she was slightly taken aback when she saw us but regained her composure and gave as a warm smile.


    ¡°You¡¯re here to get a request, yes? Honestly, I didn¡¯t expect that anyone would take a quest so late in the afternoon but if you wanted to then its fine. There are some takes quests as late as midnight even.¡±


    Really? Never would¡¯ve thought that people would actually sacrifice their good night sleep for a pay check. What a bunch of idiots. Don¡¯t they know that a solid 12 hours of sleep is very important?


    ¡°We do want to take a quest. Is there anything available?¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Unfortunately, you seem to have a negative reputation so major quests are out of the question. But don¡¯t worry. We treat every adventurers that helps others for a living equally and that includes people we slightly bad reputations. Although the only thing available as of right now and within your limitations is a quest to hunt for wolves for their pelts. Will that be fine?¡±


    Yeah sure. Treat every adventurers equally. Having a narrower selection of quests is definitely equal.


    I think I know why she said that though. That¡¯s because a pair of ample breasts! I can never trust people with that kind of bewbs! Flat is justice and those who disagree is a trash beyond belief!


    ¡°Oh? Yes that is fine. We are just looking for a little stroll just to test out our compatibility.¡±


    After concealing my true feelings regarding her breast size, she looked at Kyle who is picking her nose and back at me again and uneasily said the instructions and details.


    ¡°Um¡­ right. Your job is to kill 5 wolves cleanly and bring the pelt back to us and we will send the pelts to the one who requested it¡­ Sir, please stop looking at my breast. It¡¯s making me rather uncomfortable.¡±


    And Kyle, who stared at me the entire time, giggle like a maniac like she expected it to happen.


    Eh? Why do I feel like kicking her right now?


    ¡°I¡­ Um¡­ sorry. I¡¯ll stop looking.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s alright. It just makes me slightly uncomfortable. Would you like directions to the area where the wolves generally are seen?¡±


    ¡°¡­N-no. We¡¯re fine.¡±


    She gave me a nod and said the pleasantries before we departed. Of course, all female adventurers in the guild house looked at me like I¡¯m some trash. Well, all except for this fellow besides me who is laughing her butt off like it was the best joke she had ever heard in her entire life.


    If it is then then man, how did she lived her life so pathetically?


    And as we were heading towards the plains¡­


    ¡°Ahahahaha!!! What¡¯s up with that!? I never would¡¯ve thought that you¡¯re a pervert who likes big breasts!¡±


    ¡°Sh-shut up! I am in no way a pervert! Plus, accusing me of liking big breasts? That¡¯s heresy of my religion!¡±


    ¡°Oh? What¡¯s your religion then?¡±


    ¡°¡­I-t¡¯s not important¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey! Tell me! You made me curious and now you must take responsibility and tell¡ª¡°


    ¡°Look, we¡¯re here.¡±


    Thank god the place isn¡¯t too far away! I was almost cornered.


    A sigh of relief escaped my mouth and as I inhaled, cool air entered my lungs. The smell of dew lingered in the air and the sound of courtship of insects resonates around us. Yes, the grassy field is but a real representation of peace.


    I looked at the sky and it¡¯s already falling towards the west. It¡¯s still isn¡¯t dark but soon enough, it will be.


    And there close to the forest is where the wolves usually reside in.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get started. I¡¯ll lure them out and you go and kill them.¡±


    She nodded earnestly with a serious face. I really would like it if she¡¯s like this all the time.


    I threw a rock at the wolves and one came out. It¡¯s eyes are locked on me.


    I threw another rock to agitate it and ti worked. It¡¯s now going at me at full speed.


    ¡°Now go and shoot it.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡±


    ¡°Just shoot it. Its fur isn¡¯t that hard for an arrow to enter it.¡±


    ¡°A-Alright¡­!¡±


    A dull glowing arrow shot out of her bow and had hit the wolf.


    When I say hit, I actually meant that it only grazed its fur making it more cautious.


    The distance between me and the wolf is shortening.


    ¡°What was that? You can hit a 3 kilometre target but can¡¯t hit a moving one with like a distance of 60 to 80 metres?¡±


    ¡°¡­Erm¡­¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious¡­?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m trying, alright!? I-I just can¡¯t judge the position all that well¡­ when it¡¯s moving¡­¡±


    Are you kidding me?


    Did I just gotten myself a half-assed archer in my party?


    Do I have to do something just to make this wolf¡¯s movement stop? Ugh¡­


    Before the wolf can even reach me, I stopped its movement using earth manipulation spell.


    ¡°¡­Shoot it.¡±


    A glowing arrow escaped the bow and hit the wolf dead center.


    1 down, 4 to go but¡­


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you hit a moving target¡­?¡±


    ¡°W-well, I only practiced shooting immobile targets all my life so¡­¡±


    ¡°Neither did I. Actually, I barely practiced on my aim and I can still manage to hit a moving target with my eyes closed!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you use magic to do that, you cheater!¡±


    ¡°Preposterous! I-I never do such a thing¡­ But anyway, we¡¯re talking about you! Archers should have inherit judgement regarding moving targets and even if they don¡¯t have that, they can use magic too to increase their aim!¡±


    Isn¡¯t she on the verge of tears when I said that?


    ¡°That¡¯s because I still don¡¯t know how to use magic! You think a newbie like me can learn magic without prior experience!?¡±


    ¡°What a pathetic excuse for an archer!¡±


    ¡°Eh!? M-meanie! I-I¡¯m trying my best¡­ *hic* and you can¡¯t appreciate that¡­ *hic* WAAAHH!¡±


    ¡­. Eh?


    Is she crying right now?


    Just then, a pack of wolves sprinted at us when they heard her cry like a freaking banshee.


    ¡­What had I gotten myself into¡­?


    (¨s¡ã¡õ¡ã£©¨s¦à ©ß©¥©ß


    ¡°¡­stop your weeping please¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­I-I-It¡¯s b-because¡­*hic* Isaac hurt my feelings *hic*.¡±


    Shouldn¡¯t I be the one who should be crying from all the crap I¡¯ve gotten myself into¡­?


    Ha¡­


    In the end, I¡¯m the one who killed off the wolves. Got us an extra 2 furs due to how efficient her cry is for luring them out.


    Currently, I gave Kyle a lap pillow which should be me to be having a lap pillow from how stories I¡¯ve read went to but whatever.


    My pants are soaked from all her tears.


    And finally, the crying stopped and removed herself from my very exclusive lap pillow.


    Wiping away her tears, she spoke:


    ¡°You¡¯re quite a powerful magician even if you only knew the basic spells. I was right to join you.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s with this all of the sudden?¡±


    She hugged her knees and looked at the sunset.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you getting what I¡¯m saying? I¡¯m obviously complimenting you, you idiot.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oi.¡±


    ¡°Also, cried there just to see you fight. Do you really think that I didn¡¯t anticipate that you would use me just so you won¡¯t be having the need to do anything? But then again, you actually bought it. Is my crying really that convincing? Haha.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oi!¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m digressing. You aren¡¯t as lazy as I heard you would be. That is if you were pushed to give it a little effort. And looks like now, I would be the one who would give you that push.¡±


    I, like her, hugged my knees and looked at the sunset.


    ¡°¡­I actually pushed myself in the past. I got tired of it and now, when I became an adventurer, I convinced myself that I never would want to work ever again. I never wanted to work due to that and some other reason.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Well, you can¡¯t have that kind of mind set from now on since I¡¯ll be needing help to actually hit something. Don¡¯t worry, once it¡¯s immobile, I can shoot its vitals and kill it with at least 1 to 3 hits or so.¡±


    She flashed me a smile as if that was very impressive and reassuring.


    ¡°A huh¡­? Don¡¯t expect much from me though.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t. Especially from someone who wasted his life studying and learning every basic spell in existence.¡±


    Then her proud smile turned into a mocking one.


    And just like how her smile transformed in an instant, my hand took form of a fist and nudged her head.


    ¡°Aw¡­Er¡­ sorry. Hehe.¡±


    I just hope the symptoms won¡¯t be visible that much¡­

 Chapter 6: Mushrooms are bad and so are you

    ¡°What are you looking for? You¡¯ve been searching your whole body for the past 15 minutes! I want to eat dinner! Let¡¯s hurry back.¡±


    ¡°Patience, dear.¡±


    Kyle was shocked for some reason.


    ¡­Thank god the symptoms didn¡¯t change. Well I only used a few spells so I doubt it will cause any change but I should be careful.


    ¡°C¡¯mon! I¡¯m hungry! I know you are too so let¡¯s collect the reward and fill up our stomachs!¡±


    Kyle here, who is wailing like a child wanting to go to a famous restaurant, extends her arms as if she¡¯s signalling and guiding cargo ships in the bay.


    It¡¯s almost dark out so we probably should go back. After all, demons often patrol the area outside the Kingdom at night. Thankfully, they only patrol and seldom attack. They¡¯ll only attack when they¡¯re in a group.


    Fireflies are fairies. They fly around a night whilst they emit a bright glow as they do so. It¡¯s very surreal in certain situations. I used to catch them and put them in a jar. They are guides to those who ask them, said my dad in the past.


    While I was thinking about that, Kyle approached me and stared at the fireflies too.


    ¡°So you want to eat insects? Suit yourself while I¡¯m going back and hog the reward money.¡±


    While she was about to head back, I stopped her tracks with a sudden statement.


    ¡°¡­Have you ever catch fireflies when you were a child?¡±


    ¡°Where did this come from...?¡±


    Kyle looked at me with suspicion.


    To why, I don¡¯t know. Had she never catch fireflies when she was little? What a boring childhood. The joy of running around at night with a net and swinging that net carelessly. It¡¯s nostalgic. Catching fireflies and putting them in jars had become a hobby of mine. I can still remember when we don¡¯t have a lamp, I often used the light from the fireflies to read. Yes, a mansion is certainly a dark place.


    As I was reminiscing about my childhood, Kyle extended her face close to mine and started to examine me from head to toe.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the staring? If you want to kiss then I¡¯ll gladly give you one but miss Kyle, this is certainly not the time for that.¡±


    ¡°Idiot. I don¡¯t want a kiss from the likes of a pathetic magician like you. Though we may have just met a few hours ago, I can tell that you¡¯re not acting like you normally do...¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    She looked at the thing I¡¯m holding and made a depressed look.


    Isn¡¯t she the one acting abnormally? I was merely trying to observe and appreciate the fireflies and how important it is in the past.


    She then proceed to take something out of my hand and showed it to me with a tired look.


    ¡°¡­You, did you eat this?¡±


    ¡°Why would I though? Isn¡¯t that the mushroom that can kill a war elephant in a single bite? Though not that fatal to humans, it can severely affect their perception and create false memories. Why do you have that?¡±


    ¡°You were holding it you idiot. I can¡¯t believe that you can remember the effects of this but still try to eat it. See this? Isn¡¯t this a bite mark?¡±


    Is this what they call a face palm? Because Kyle just did it.


    Hmm¡­


    Yes, I seem to remember when I had eaten that mushroom! I was in space, fighting off aliens entering the earth. When my food supplies were low, I accidentally eaten it by accident and I also accidentally manage to accidentally destroy the alien ships which I accidentally collected the pelts of by accident! Though I never would have thought that the accidental effects of this accident mushroom would accidentally affect me now, accidentally.


    I also had an accident at school.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Wait what?


    Why is my vision suddenly blurring? Eh?


    Is this a mind attack by one of those bastard aliens!?


    ¡°Accident! This is no time for games! The accident aliens will soon arrive and it may spell out the accidental end of the world! Quickly now! To my horse that I¡¯ve acquired accidentally!¡±


    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±


    Did a question mark just appeared above accident¡¯s head? No! It¡¯s probably the work of those darn aliens!


    We must defend this giant piece of rock!


    ¡­Oh no¡­ I tripped.


    *Thud*


    (??¥î?)?*:??? ???: *©c(?¥î?©c)


    ¡°Ugh! I can¡¯t believe you!¡± For someone who hasn¡¯t eaten anything for days, you¡¯re still so heavy!¡±


    Eh?


    Wait, am I being dragged by a flat chested girl?


    Oh wait, that¡¯s Kyle dragging me to the gate.


    What the heck happened?


    ¡°¡­What happened?¡±


    I asked softly but it looks like she heard my question because she suddenly dropped my feet.


    ¡°You Idiot! You just ate the mushroom you used to threaten me to eat! How in the world did you managed to eat it!?¡±


    ¡°¡­Huh?¡±


    Her face went full on tomato. Well the reason being isn¡¯t something nice. If she were a volcano, her head would¡¯ve shot of into the stratosphere and a large chunk of magma bursts out of her neck.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look you pathetic magician! I never would¡¯ve thought that you¡¯re capable of doing something that stupid!¡±


    She kicked me with all her might but it didn¡¯t hurt for some reason. Oh yeah, I had the pelt hidden under my clothes.


    ¡°Alright, I think I got the gist of it. So you say that I ate that hallucinogenic mushroom, right? Then I assume that I did something stupid while I was in the influence that made you angry. Don¡¯t worry, whatever it is, I will not take responsibility.¡±


    And so I calmly and collectively stated but it only made her face turn redder. What¡¯s redder than tomato? Apple, maybe?


    ¡°What are you thinking about when you said that you wouldn¡¯t take responsibility!? Also, shouldn¡¯t it be the opposite of that!? God! I¡¯m mad because you made me drag you all the way here!¡±


    ¡°Oh is that it? Then why didn¡¯t you wait for me to wake up?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m extremely hungry! If I had waited for you to wake up, I might have eaten your guts by now!¡±


    ¡°Alright, calm down. I¡¯m awake now so you won¡¯t have to drag me now. We¡¯ll get our reward money and go to the tavern for a meal so stop yelling. We aren¡¯t that far to the Kingdom now so the guards might hear us and put me in jail again for suspicion of sexual harassment.¡±


    She lets out a really long and heavy sigh.


    ¡°Just hurry up. At this point I might starve to death.¡±


    ¡°Just wait a sec¡ª¡°


    I stumbled back to my butt after attempting to stand up... Oh no¡­


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°¡­My legs are numb¡­¡±


    And like that, I managed to get orally abused by this girl and suffered through the judgemental stares of the people that we pass by.


    (©¤??©¤)


    The reward for the quest was 50 silver.


    To make 1 gold coin, you¡¯ll need 100 silver.


    The reward for the quest is half a gold coin.


    I first thought that it was good enough and that after this quest we can manage to eat something for two days so we don¡¯t die in a horrible death but that thought might never come through except for the dying in a horrible death part.


    The reward promised was 50 silver but we only got 25.


    ¡°Why only 25 silver¡­?¡±


    As Kyle with a broken heart asked the lady responsible for giving the quest and the reward, I laid on the floor, unable to stand.


    ¡°Well, since your party member here has a negative reputation, the reward money promised will be halved in the first few quests.¡±


    Yeah, treat every darn adventurer equally she said! Equal my a*s!


    As if knowing that she can¡¯t do anything about it, Kyle hesitantly took the money and left while dragging me to the door.


    With a tired voice, she asked me:


    ¡°¡­Why did you do it?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I heard you casted a storm spell in the outskirts of the Kingdom. The reason why you have that annoying negative reputation. So why did you do that?¡±


    ¡°¡­revenge. The plan was so perfect in my head but for some reason it failed.¡±


    ¡°I assume it¡¯s for your former comrades, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why did you ask?¡±


    ¡°They left you, right? Because you¡¯re a lazy piece of trash and merely gave them made-up excuses to why you don¡¯t contribute much during quests. I assume that they joined you only because you showed them that you¡¯re capable of doing advanced magic when in reality, it¡¯s only a combination of basic spells.¡±


    ...How did she know?


    ¡°¡­Yeah?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re pretty lucky that they can leave you so easily anytime. While I can¡¯t leave you since I needed you to do that ¡®thing¡¯. If I could though, I would¡¯ve left you in a heartbeat.¡±


    ¡°¡­So what are you saying? What purpose to why you tell me all of this?¡±


    ¡°You may be a capable magician but holy crap, are you a horrible teammate.¡±


    ¡°¡­Maybe.¡±


    ¡°But I guess I shouldn¡¯t put all the blame to you. Not like I can finish any quests that requires to hunt moving targets all on my own so we wouldn¡¯t be able to finish this quest without you.¡±


    ¡°You know, you have a weird way of complimenting someone.¡±


    ¡°Hm.¡±


    I wonder why the stars tonight shines brighter than usual?


    (??¥î?)?*:???


    For one I can barely walk now but I need Kyle to support me.


    Also, we¡¯re in the tavern eating a roasted steak for dinner. The cheapest meal in this tavern costing about 8 silver. So right now, since we bought two orders of roasted steak, we only have 9 silver.


    ¡°¡­Even though this is roasted, it still taste raw.¡±


    Kyle complained while she struggles to cut the steak in half.


    ¡°Get used to it. Since this is the cheapest meal we can buy, we¡¯ll be eating this for a while until we can leisurely buy something we want.


    My goal to be one of the richest person in the world is harder to reach than I imagine.


    But what¡¯s the fun in it if there¡¯s no challenge to it? I¡¯d like to think of this as a minor hurdle to my goal.


    I looked a Kyle and for some reason, she¡¯s staring at me and placing her hand above her head and moving it like she¡¯s saluting.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I just noticed now but I seem to be taller than you slightly.¡±


    ¡°If you only noticed now then you¡¯re more stupid that I imagined.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Look who¡¯s talking. Who do you think ate a hallucinogenic mushroom a while ago?¡±


    ¡°I was tempted at the time. I don¡¯t even know why I ate it without thinking.¡±


    ¡°Nice reason, smol magician.¡±


    She flashed a teasing smile at me.


    ¡­Why don¡¯t I just say that she¡¯s not with me and force her to pay for the meal herself? After all, I have the reward money¡­


    While I was thinking of a brilliant plan to have her get accused for dine and dash, I heard a talk between two bearded drunkards about the upcoming apocalypse. Looking at Kyle, she seems to take interest in it too. Actually, everyone in the tavern took interest.


    ¡°When do you think the seal for the Demon Lord would expire?¡±


    ¡°I heard word that it will expire in matter of a few more years. I think at least 2 years from now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty close into the future. I think that¡¯s the reason why meetings between Kings became so frequent.¡±


    ¡°Hopefully they¡¯ll come up with something.¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s the only thing we can hold on for. Hope.¡±


    Hmm¡­ I expected it to happen a lot earlier than that¡­


    ¡°¡­So the seal of the Demon Lord will expire soon¡­ Two years from now¡­ I don¡¯t think that that¡¯s enough time for me to¡­¡±


    Kyle mumbled to herself.


    ¡®Don¡¯t be so worried about that. It¡¯s not like it¡¯s a week from now. Two years is an awfully long time. Plus, it¡¯s only an estimation. Not like it will happen in that time exactly.¡±


    I nonchalantly told her just to ease her nerves to why she¡¯s so worried about it. It seems to work a little bit


    Man, I should get a reward for my good deed.


    ¡°What about you? Aren¡¯t you worried about that?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m more worried about not accomplishing my goal until that happens.¡±


    ¡°¡­I feel like your goal is something a degenerate would wish for.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s mean. My goal isn¡¯t something like that.¡±


    After eating our meals, we left the tavern.


    Of course I¡¯ve saved some food for my dragon too.

 Chapter 7: It rains, therefore its a good nights sleep

    "So, you have a house or something? If not then I can fully understand why."


    "Of course I have a house! Do you really think of me as someone without any qualities useful in life?"


    Her eyes grew larger when she heard what I said. Seemingly surprised as if what she just heard is something incredible. I wish people won''t look at me with eyes of disgust if I hit her right now.


    "Of course I do."


    I don''t think that anyone is capable of insulting someone with an absolutely innocent face.


    Then again, I''ll have her sleep outside.


    The sun has fully sunk in the horizon and leaving only a faint glow. The twilight. This might be a bit late on describing the time but whatever.


    The busy streets in the morning has is now filled with yawning people and adventurers a like, heading either straight to their inn and houses or to the nearby tavern to drink their night away. I envy them. I too would like to drink my night away.


    Thinking about it, Kyle is currently my slave. I could rent her to other people and allow them to make her do anything they wanted with a hefty price. With that, we can fix our financial problems! And a bonus, she won''t dare to say such ego draining things to me anymore!


    I''m joking of course! I wouldn''t do something so defile as that. But if all hope is lost and if we don''t have any choice, them condolences to her innocence...


    I felt a dagger-like glare to my side suddenly.


    "Oi, what are you thinking about?"


    "Considering if I should sell you as a prostitute if all our hope is lost."


    "Since when did you change job from being a pathetic magician to that of a slave labourer!?"


    "Meh."


    "Don''t meh me!!!"


    Geez, she''s making too much noise. It''s not like I''m going to that to her. I only said considering.


    Flailing her arms like a butterfly. I wish she would just suddenly fly away from my sight.


    Eventually she gives up and just silently followed me to my house.


    Since my house is at the outskirts of town, less and less people could be seen walking on the marble road and that certain marble rad soon turned into rocky one with such uneven terrain that it''ll be hard for carriages to even reach. Let alone drive through this place. I''m used to this but seeing Kyle here stumble on every few steps is amusing.


    Kyle seems to look at the sky frequently in this past couple of minutes now. I wonder why.


    "Hey, did you noticed that the stars shines brighter than usual?"


    Oh? So she noticed it too?


    "Yeah."


    "You think it''s a bad omen? I remember a saying that if a star shines brighter than the day before, then it that would mean it''s a asteroid."


    "Probably. I mean stars are mysterious and a big factor in our culture. Some even worship them."


    "So religion exists in this world too?"


    "Huh? What are you saying? Are you some sort of alien for you to say that and of course religion exists. People need something to believe in and worship even if it''s a magical butt that can do anything. Ridiculous, right?"


    "I don''t care anymore. So, are we there yet?"


    "Close."


    When I said close, I actually meant we''re still far away. An indicator that we''re actually close is the cry of my beloved dragon. One all the things that I''ve regretted in my life is not being a better owner of my dragon...


    So weak and limp. The mighty dragon that I knew couldn''t be seen in him... Hu hu~


    That''s what I get for not continuing to work on that bakery.


    "Why are you crying all of a sudden?"


    "There seems to be onions close by. Be careful."


    "...I don''t smell any, let alone anyone cutting onions."


    Eventually, we got nearer to my home that made the cry of that dragon audible.


    Don''t worry! Papa will be there soon!


    Control yourself Isaac. If she saw me crying and desperately running towards somewhere so suddenly, I would surely get mocked at again...


    Speaking of Kyle, she stopped walking and when I looked at her, her face is as pale as snow.


    "What was that?"


    "What was what?"


    "Can''t you hear it? T-the crying one."


    She looks like a wry cat trying o find who ever made that noise and is ready to run at any time.


    "Oh that? There''s a legend in this place about a girl brutally murdered in these streets by two large men. People passing by didn''t bat an eye on the girl being brutally murdered nor did they even tried to help. They continued their business as if nothing ever happens. Probably scared to even interrupt the two men. Since this place is so hard to get to, the authorities couldn''t respond quickly enough and only saw a horrid scene of a dismembered girl. A week after that incident, the residents of this place who passed by during that incident died mysteriously and as well the murderers. Now, the cry of the child could be heard every once in a while but people here are used to it by now and occasionally give respect to the girl murdered that day which is now buried in the cemetery. Isn''t it pretty scary, Kyle? Um... What are you doing?"


    While I was pre-occupied on telling a ghost story quite told quite frequently to kids to teach them about helping others in need, she came hiding in a nearby cardboard box and closed her ears while whispering something.


    Is the story that scary for her? I only told it to give her a little scare and make her shut up until we arrive. I mean, I don''t think the story is even real. I hope. I''m not sure...If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "...It''s just a legend... It''s just a legend... It''s just a legend..."


    And those words just went on repeat for a couple of minutes. I just looked her, laughing my butt off in how easily frightened she is on stories like that!


    Who''s pathetic now you imbecile!? Haha!


    Welp, looks like she won''t be calming down anytime soon.


    What if I just left her like this...?


    Nah. Let''s not do that.


    "Oi, you ok? Can''t believe you still act like a child!"


    "W-w-well... D-d-don''t just tell me something scary as that out of the b-blue!"


    "Don''t shout and stutter. It might attract the girl."


    "Eek!?"


    If she has a fur, I can imagine that all the fur on her body just immediately stood up.


    She hid herself again inside the box like a freaking turtle trying to hide from a predator! Man, what a sight!


    "W-w-what are you laughing a-about!? T-t-this isn''t funny! I feel like I would wet myself if this continues!"


    "Oh? I''d love to see that happening."


    "Pervert magician!"


    I like how her voice gets muffled inside the box. Makes it more convincing on how much of a scaredy cat she is!


    "Haha. Want me to drag you like this?"


    "...Yes."


    And so I did. Carrying with me a box with a scaredy cat inside, I headed towards my home.


    Although she complained why the crying sound grew louder as we move forward, I just laughed it off and told her that I''m giving her as a sacrifice to the girl.


    Now that I think of it, the cry of my dragon does resemble a little girl. No wonder why my neighbours all moved out. It''s lonely enough being alone inside the house. Being alone in a neighbourhood is just too much.


    Well, I got dragon so I''m not that alone but still...


    (©¤??©¤)


    "We''re here. You can come out now."


    She''s shaking too much that the box is vibrating like crazy. It''s making me uncomfortable just carrying her like that.


    Also, there''s a lot of sniff and sob sounds coming from the box.


    "If you don''t then I''m afraid I''ll just have to leave you right here. Outside. Where the ghost girl might be wondering around in."


    "Alright I''m out so just shut up!!!"


    And pop goes the weasel!


    "Geez you look like a wet bowl of cats."


    "T-that doesn''t even make sense!"


    "I doesn''t have to."


    Leaving behind the still weeping cat which hurriedly followed suite after she saw me walking away from her, I grabbed the door knob which again, gave me a splinter.


    "Wait, wait, wait! A-are you going to leave me alone in that h-house!? Isn''t that the source of the crying?"


    "Yeah? Why do you ask?"


    "Eh!?"


    Pfft!!! That face is gold!


    As she desperately plead me to not open the house, I opened the door anyway and was greeted by the cheerful yet weak dragon!


    "Huh?"


    While Kyle has a floating question mark above her head, I greeted my ever crying dragon!


    Like the reunion of a parent and a child, we are overwhelmed by a mix of emotions! This is what it feels to see you child for so long! Even though we''ve met just this morning but still!


    Tears long since depleted, my dragon could only cry by wailing. Only seldom does he feel how comforting tears are during the time of sadness...


    "I''m back!"


    I told my dragon with pure hearted feelings. Not only is this comforting for him, it''s also comforting for me, knowing that he''s at ease now even though I''m the reason for his sorrows.


    I''m sorry, my child! I''m a horrible parent!


    "H-hey! What''s happening here!? What''s with the baby dragon and why is it crying!?"


    Miss question mark head here puffed her cheeks as she looks at us while we have our heartfelt reunion.


    "Oh right, you''re here. Meet this little fellow here. I still haven''t given him a name so like you said, he''s a baby fire dragon. The fiercest species known to man!"


    I lifted the dragon up and showed it to her. Although, she isn''t Impressed when she saw it.


    Is there something wrong? Acquiring the egg of a baby fire dragon is incredibly hard to do. You''ll have to risk your life just to get one egg obviously. You''ll also need to know the nest of one and the behaviour of the fire dragon. Immense stealth skills is required to snatch one egg and they hatch in a very long time. About 30 years.


    So her not being impressed is odd. Or maybe she doesn''t know how rare a dragon is? If so then what kind of cave is she living in? I''d like to think that she''s stupid actually.


    "That''s a dragon?"


    Send tilted her head to the left and made a questioning remark.


    Though I''m more concerned to how she doesn''t know that this is a dragon. Really, her former home must be somewhere deep underground or something for her to not even recognise a dragon.


    "Of course it is. Don''t you see the scales and the wings? Though he''s only a baby dragon so he can''t breathe fire yet so... W-what I''m trying to say is, how could you not even recognise a dragon when you see one?"


    She moved her hand towards the dragon and felt it. At this point, her hand should''ve been bitten off but since it''s very weak at the moment, it couldn''t even move its head fast enough.


    "Oi, don''t poke it."


    "Sorry. Is this really a dragon? I mean, I can understand that it''s small because it''s only a baby but considering how I remembered the dragon, it certainly doesn''t look like this."


    "H-hey! It can understand you, you know!? And what''s wrong with him? He''s a full fledge fire dragon! He''s more powerful than you by a million fold!"


    "Yeah I get that but why is it so skinny and wimpy? Ah, considering that you''re the owner, I can understand."


    "What''s that supposed to mean?"


    She raised a finger pointing up to nothing in particular and said something incredibly ridiculous. Probably the biggest lie in existence.


    "Since you, Isaac who can''t even afford to do quests all by your own, resort to petty tricks just to have people join you as what I''ve heard, to have your house which is this I assume to be in such a state of disrepair that no one would believe me if I told them that someone actually lives here, and even doing something so stupid as to cast a Strom spell in the edge of the kingdom which lead to you being arrested and getting that scummy reputation, of course I would assume that you don''t have the capability of even taking care of a dragon even with such a low maintenance to take care of it."


    After her seminar to break my heart into tiny, molecular little pieces, I''ve come up of a retort so good that it will make everything she said completely void.


    "... For the record, that wasn''t a storm spell but an illusion spell that I''ve just come up on recently..."


    "Of course it is. You don''t even have the guts to learn something worthwhile as something as advanced as a storm spell."


    "...But I don''t need to since I can recreate almost every spell anyway so..."


    "Yeah sure but I still haven''t seen you use it in something productive except for the time when you used it at that quest but I shouldn''t judge you too much since we''ve just met."


    You say that but your second recent statement is certainly not very convincing to the latter of what you said...


    Oh? Oh!? What''s this!? Ahahaha! Is my little child defending me right here!? Look at him. He''s biting Kyle''s legs! Yes! Avenge me my dragon! Avenge your father! Kill this wicked archer who doesn''t know anything else to do but to abuse me with words!


    "What''s this fellow doing? Want me to give you a lift and take a little break from you irresponsible parent here? Haha! What''s it doing? To how it bites me is very calming somehow."


    "Huh? Obviously he''s angry at you for saying all those mean, and nonsensical stuff that I may or may not have done. Yes, all of it might just be your imagination. You¡¯re very disillusioned right now. That''s it."


    ...She ignored me and just lifted my dragon without my permission...


    "... Rrrrrrrrrrrrg...."


    "Look at this! He''s purring like a cat! I don''t know why but for some reason cats purrs like this every time I carry them like a baby. It seem to have some effect on a dragon too."


    So now I have to cats in my possession? Is that what she''s trying to say? As if my dragon is a cat. Also, is that how cats purrs you deaf archer?


    "Oh? Aren''t you scared of him just a few minutes ago? You just hid in that box, refusing to come out, you scaredy cat. I''m surprised that you aren''t purring yourself."


    "W-w-well that''s in the past and we''re living in the present... I''m scared of things that I don''t know and also I''m scared of things with a vague meaning behind it. It''s like that... But anyway, you should really feed it some more. Aren''t you worried that it''s getting thinner and thinner? Even if it''s a dragon, you still shouldn''t neglect it."


    "Of course I''m worried. I''m not heartless unlike you who doesn''t even think of how I feel when you keep saying that I''m pathetic... So that''s why I brought left overs."


    I raised the plastic bag that I''ve been carrying with me all this time but for some reason, she didn''t even noticed it and brought it close to my dragon.


    With a few sniffs, he seems to like it.


    I took out a piece and he immediately gulped it down. Even my hands got almost devoured.


    I patted his head which he nudged his nose to my hand. I feel like he''s a dog rather than a dragon.


    "Oh by the way, you¡¯re sleeping outside."


    "...What?"


    And so another 15 minutes of her annoyingly pleading me to let her in. Even though she can knock the door if she wants too since it''s so weak from all the termites did to it but of course, I won''t tell her that.


    ¤Ä¡ã ??¡ã ?¤Ä


    "... You''re lucky I didn''t call for the police."


    "You''re lucky that I''ve even let you in, let alone made you do something absolutely disgusting. Being you are technically my slave and all."


    "... I knew it. You¡¯re going to do to me this time you pervert."


    "Want me to?"


    "No, of course not."


    "Then that''s your answer."


    Guess what? It actually rained and that darn rain forced me to take her in so she won''t get sick. How unfortunate.


    Heavy sigh automatically went out of my mouth.


    "What''s that sigh supposed to mean?"


    "If it isn''t for that rain then I would''ve made you stay outside the whole night."


    "So your actually serious about that!?"


    Well leaving aside the wet scaredy cat in her business, looking around the house, drops of rain drop poured from the holes of the roof. Though I already placed buckets on the places where the rain drops fall on, new holes kept appearing out of nowhere so I couldn''t keep up with it.


    "... It''s raining cats and dogs out there. In this kinds of downpour, it''s a lot relaxing to sleep. You ever had that experience?"


    Kyle spoke softly as she dries her hair with the towel I gave her.


    "You mean how rain makes it easier to sleep? Of course I do. I like the rain but I also hate it. But if you ask if I love it more or I hate it more, then I''ll have to side with love. How about you?"


    "I think of rain as the time to unwind and relax. It makes me calm in a way. Wow, I can''t believe the atmosphere became serious in just a few short seconds."


    "Because you shut your mouth in just a few short yet precious seconds."


    "H-hey are you looking for a fight!?"


    Although we''ve only met for a few hours, the atmosphere between us isn''t all that awkward than what I''m used too. I still remember at school when the atmosphere between me and my classmates were super awkward even though we''ve been classmates for like 3 years. It''s a nice change.


    Kyle after pouting, looked outside the window and asked:


    "Aren''t you lonely in this kind of residence? Actually, should this even be classified as a residence? Looks like you¡¯re the only one living here."


    "Yeah, of course I do but I''m used to it."


    "Hm. *Yawn* I want to get some shut eye. Where''s the bed?"


    After stretching her arms, she asked me that.


    Now that she mentioned it, I noticed that I''m sleepy myself. Kind of weird to not know my state of energy for a few seconds.


    "Just around there."


    I replied to her as I replaced her spot on watching outside the window.


    "You aren''t coming?"


    "From how you said that, you seem to be implying that we''re some sort of partner or something. You go on a head, I have something else I need to do."


    "Hm? You actually have something important to do in this place? Well I don''t care. Don''t try to wake me up to move away from your bed because I''m a heavy sleeper. Alright, good night."


    "Aye."


    "Aye, matey. Good night cap''n."


    No, I''m not a pirate. Why does she think I''m am? Well it''s just a joke but still...


    Hah...


    Don''t know how much time has passed but I continued to stare out in the window motionless. Snoring from the living room could be heard and surprisingly, it''s just my dragon. Never did I hear him snoring like that before. Maybe he feels secured? I don''t know.


    After getting tired from watching the unending rain, I grabbed my dragon and headed towards the bedroom.


    After successful avoiding on getting a splinter, I saw Kyle sleeping like a freaking hobo. All limbs spread out with... Ugh. Saliva dripping out of her mouth.


    It''s quite a coincidence that she actually slept on his bed. Seeing that my bed is bigger than dad''s, I initially thought that she''ll sleep on mine.


    And with that, after snuggling with my dragon, I, for some reason, had a good night sleep that I never had in a long time.

 Chapter 8: Another day full of arguments

    Deep slumber is but an essentiality to anyone. A deep slumber can give wonders to the body. The feeling of refreshed, reborn, as if all the pain and sorrows that you may have been carrying with you just washed away in a single night of sleep.


    Though some have such a deep slumber that they only woke up in a few days. Some didn''t even wake up. The latter might have been what I''m experiencing.


    It''s dark, I could feel a warm sensation and a beating heart. As if my whole body is being crushed by an unknown force. Is this what comatose feels like? It''s both unpleasant and comfortable. Ah... What an experience this is. Occasionally, a long earthquake like sound appears. No, rather, it''s more like a stomach grumbling as it had not eaten anything worthwhile for a while than anything.


    Weird. I can move my arms and legs yet, it''s hard for me to get up. I feel like I can get up if I chose to.


    Just then, a soft sensation could be felt on my chest area. What''s this? Pillow? No it can''t be. The soft object isn''t very large. I mean, you wouldn''t even notice it unless you really touch this object. I''ve only noticed it now as the invisible force had moved slightly.


    Wait, my nose just picked up a very important scent. The scent of steak. The rancid smell of steak that had just came from somebody''s mouth. Could it be...?


    "Get off of me! My...! You''re too heavy!"


    Kyle, who is sleeping like a rock, had mysteriously transferred her body from her bed to mine. How is that even possible?


    D-disgusting! There''s drool on my hand!


    I looked towards her bed, where she should''ve been and it looks like my dragon had hogged it for himself.


    Doesn''t he like it when we snuggle like that...? Hu... It breaks my heart to be rejected like that...


    Hmm... I think that I seem to be hugging something tightly last night. Ah, my bad.


    But still, it''s odd for him to have just left me like that all of the sudden. He should''ve cried before leaving me.


    But then again, there''s another factor. This freaking cat. Not only does she cower like a cat but she also sleeps like one. The only thing missing is if she acts like one. Actually, I would prefer if she acts like a cat. That way, I wouldn''t get insulted all the time.


    Snoring lightly as her mouth is slightly opened and shaped like that of a smile with drool coming out of it. Doesn''t she look like a child?


    Leaving the sleeping Kyle aside, I stretched my arms wide and yawned like I''ve never yawned before and managing to catch a fly as I did so. After spitting out the fly, I wiggle my arms and legs and opened the curtains. Wait, we don''t have any.


    So after opening the curtains that I never had before, I looked out the streets.


    Would you look at that? Everyone sure had gotten up pretty early in the morning to go to their work. It really looks like a desolate place outside. I''m kidding of course. Why would anyone live in this kind of place? Ha! Only idiots I bet! Oh wait, I''m one of those idiots. Actually, I''m the only idiot.


    Welp, the early bird gets two worm so we should go and do something productive for once. When I said we, I actually meant only Kyle.


    "Wake up you useless archer. We need to do some quests or we''ll all starve to death. When I said we, I only meant you."


    Though she heard me, she didn''t get up but instead raised five fingers groggily.


    "...5 more hours..."


    "Like hell I''ll wait that long. Also, didn''t you mean 5 more minutes?"


    "...No."


    And then on, I just dragged her out of bed and out of the house until she wakes up but surprisingly, she only woke up when we''re half way towards the main streets. I also brought my dragon with me.


    ???


    "Ow... My arms and my back are all bruised... You don''t have to do that, you know?"


    "Maybe but I don''t really don''t want to."


    "My god, that sounded stupid."


    "It''s because I heard you speak that I jumbled on my words."


    After our little exchange, I re-positioned my dragon on my shoulders.


    Currently, we''re walking towards the adventurers guild to get an easy quest with a good sum of money. I''ve heard from another guy who got caught that the penalty on the reward only lasts for two quests so after doing an easy quest right now, we would do some medium leveled quest with a larger sum of money. With that, we might be able to last for another week. Also, when I said we, I only meant Kyle as I was only forced to do something during that last quest but this time, I''ll only help her out when she''s in trouble.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    She can''t refuse since she''s my temporary slave so my plan is very much perfect if I do say so myself hehe.


    I also learned that Kyle sometimes sleep walks. She mentioned this during our argument when she woke up after dragging her body for 600 meters in an uneven terrain. Actually, it''s not even an argument as I didn''t reply until we get to the main streets of the kingdom.


    When I was observing two dogs copulating, Kyle suddenly spoke.


    "Oh, I know this is about sudden but I''m not actually from this world. You could say I was summoned here by a powerful being to do something that he could''ve done by himself. Since we''ll be comrades from now on, I might as well tell you that right now."


    "Oh? Well I was a dog in my previous life. How I miss to chase cats again. Something you wouldn''t understand and I also might as well tell you since we''ll be comrades from now on."


    "H-hey! I''m being serious here. I really am summoned in this world."


    "Of course you are."


    After that, Kyle said something on and on but I closed my ear on her. She mentioned something like killing someone but I don''t think it''s anything good although I''m curious.


    "Fine. It''s not like it''s that important for you to know. So what quest are we getting this time?"


    Even if I ask her who she wants to kill, I feel like she wouldn''t tell me since I didn''t listen to her 15 minutes explanation. If she said it''s not important then that''s fine.


    "Something easy with enough reward to buy a snack or two."


    Kyle nodded lightly at my answer and proceeded to stare at my dragon with a dumbfounded expression.


    "Why is it with us? I''m sure it''s dangerous for it to be doing quests since a certain owner of it is neglecting it."


    "I-im not neglecting him. I just have a lot of business to take care of and I''m bringing him this time, aren''t I? Then you can''t call this neglect. I brought him so that if we did a hunting quest then he can eat the meat of the animals and such. Isn''t that a win-win? He won''t have to cry and starve in the house and I won''t have to receive your insults."


    "So you actually thought things through for once? Are you even the same Isaac that I know since yesterday?"


    "I thought things through all the time!? Why are you underestimating me too much!?"


    "Well, you shouldn''t have done those things a few days ago then I wouldn''t have teased you this much."


    You call this teasing but I call it oral abuse.


    Hmm...


    There seems to be a butcher house near this place. Maybe I should sell her there and get some money so I wouldn''t starve? Ah, but selling other people to the butcher house isn''t possible because of the darn health code. But if I did that... Yes that could work!


    I felt a gaze as if I was being looked on by a flat chested girl like I was a rotting trash in the depths of the garbage dump.


    "...I feel like your thinking of something useless again."


    "Not really useless. I was planning on selling you to a butcher shop just near here so me and my dragon could eat something nice for a while."


    Although she was shocked dfor a second, she recompose herself and spoke:


    "But I doubt you would do that, right? After all, I don''t think you have the guts to sell such a cute girl like me to the butcher shop."


    She looked at me proudly as if I was bluffing.


    "I would in a hearbest but unfortunately, selling fellow humans to the butcher shop isn''t legal but I have a plan to get through that. Just selling the meat and not the live specimen is good enough so I was planning on cutting from limb to limb and then selling you to the butcher shop. Of course, I would make your meat look like pork using an illusion spell. Sound plan, aye?"


    "No, not a sound plan! You aren''t serious right? What''s with the stern eyes!? Are you really considering it!? I-i-i''ll report you to the police if you did that! I will!"


    Like I cat trying to avoid getting in the water, she grabbed my arm with all her might and and refuses to let go as if her lives depends on how long she can grab on my arm.


    "You seem to have forgotten something crucial, miss Kyle. As you seem to be my current slave, you can''t decline on my orders and that''s absolute. If you don''t then a punishment would be applied and that would be an order that you would really do, even if you resist with your all, your body would be forced to do it."


    "Eek!"


    Hahahaha! This is really is something! This reaction of her is really amusing! I felt like all my worries in the world just washed away for a few seconds.


    Hmm~ Should I reassure her that I''m not really serious about it or I should just let her be and make her worry on every action she takes. Of course, I''m not fond of cutting someone''s limbs off one by one just from a little teasing.


    Welp, it''s obviously the latter since it''s more fun that way.


    "Well, if you''re so against it then maybe I shouldn''t do it. After all, I don''t like to force someone to do something that they don''t want to do. "


    "Y-yes! You definitely shouldn''t do that!"


    "But then again, I''m already tired of dealing with you. Maybe I should do it after all..."


    "No please don''t! I beg of you! I''ll do anything!"


    Ho ho~ got her on a leash!


    "Hm~ well if you say that much then I would have to retract on what I said previously. For now, I ask of you to respect me more. It''s getting rather annoying for you to bring back and base your ever opinion on things that I''ve done in the past."


    She nodded earnestly.


    Hehe, this should be good.


    ( ?? ?? ?? )


    "What''s that, my dragon? You want to eat now? Well you should just be patient for now, alright? Be a good boy and stay still."


    Judging my nose to my dragon''s, nothing beats the feeling of having to bond with your pet for a while.


    Stands could be seen everywhere in this part of the kingdom. There are some who sell polished jewelry and buys rare crystals, there''s one where they sell roasted frogs and crickets. To why people buy that, I have no idea. Well they are a delicacy but I never really get the chance to eat one.


    There''s even a performer who do plainly easy tricks using magic and people actually give him money! I mean, that kind of combination is so simple that I could do it with my eyes closed.


    Although the streets are still a bit wet in these parts for some reason but it''s not really all that bothering.


    Although surprisingly, I''m not getting that much attention that I should have been. I mean, I have a baby dragon on my shoulder right now and anyone hardly bats an eye.


    Are they underestimating my fire dragon? Oh, if this child grows up, I bet their jaws will hit the ground when they saw how majestic he is! Although I don''t think he will grow up that much since the seal for the Demon Lord would expire in about 2 years from now... Quite unfortunate but what can you do. It''s inevitable and I learned to accept.


    Isn''t that right my little child!? Ho ho ho~


    "M-m-m-master Isaac, please refrain from doing such immature acts like that. I know that you m-m-m-master lacks shame but I can certainly feel shame..."


    Oh yeah, I also made her call me a master because I wanted to.


    "Work on the master part and it''s not like people are looking at us as I thought they would be. I have a dragon and they hardly look at him."


    "M-master, that''s because your dragon is at the verge of starving to death. Rather than being impressed, they look at the dragon with sympathetic looks and quickly departing their eyes as not to catch your attention. I''m certain that they think of you as an abusive owner and scorn you from being so..."


    "Huh? They''ve got the wrong idea. I''m very sure that they''re just jealous that I have a pet dragon. Plus, I''m the epitome of responsible."


    "I''m sure master knows that lying is bad, yes?"


    Even though I forced her to talk to me with respect, I never imagined that she could still have the guts to insult me even after being threatened to get butchered.


    Ha... Maybe I should force her to act like a cat?


    "Could master perhaps be thinking of something stupid again?"


    "Are you fond of acting like a cat?"


    Her face turned into a tomato again. Maybe


    I should just let her act like a tomato?


    (?????)


    <div>

 Chapter 9: A reunion? Thats nice

    The reunion of old teammates after a long and lengthy separation is but a spark of light had shone in a dark tunnel


    The feeling of having to see someone that you had done unforgettable moments with could only be rivalled as that of the reunion of a family member after a war.


    Be it a few weeks or a few years, the strength of longing for that feeling only grows stronger as time goes on. Happiness and nostalgia. Those are the feelings that one experiences in such a glorious reunion.


    But in my case, I don''t seem to have the feeling. Rather than happiness and nostalgia, I experience hatred and uneasiness instead.


    The sight of my old comrades is like the sun in a long sleep. You had met the sun in the morning but left you at night and once you''ve closed all curtains and windows and slept, upon opening the curtains again, the sun blinds you when you greeted it.


    The greatest betrayal.


    My feeling is like that.


    Really, why can''t I experience something good for once?


    "Isn''t that Isaac? Hey, look its Isaac!"


    Oh no...


    They''re coming towards me.


    Moving aside those who blocked them, even after being looked on by them with a treacherous gaze, they didn''t mind as their minds are locked on one thing. And that''s me.


    Wait, wait, wait!


    I looked towards Kyle and she has this incredibly annoying expression on her face that makes me want to punch her. It''s like she wants this to happen!


    They''re getting close...


    "Hey Kyle, let''s leave. Right now."


    I pushed her towards the door and she moved to the side to prevent me from pushing her any further.


    "But master, isn''t it rude to not greet your old teammates? After all, have you not spent time with them long enough to consider them a family now? Please don''t get me wrong here. I only merely want master to be kind and hospitable to others. Unlike how you treat a certain archer... It''s definitely not me."


    This piece of turd!!!


    "It''s only like a week that we''ve been teammates! It''s not a very long time!"


    "Even so, a week or a year, as long as you had a moment of cooperation and comradery, it''s enough to be considered as a family."


    "Once we got home, I''m going to force you to eat the mushrooms growing on the sides of the walls!"


    I mean it this time! I''ll show her!


    "Ah...! For you master to force me to do such thing... Very well... I''m sure masters'' mushrooms is not like any other men''s mushrooms... But please be gentle with me..."


    What the hell is this girl saying!?


    Son of a ****!!!


    *The following is a fit of anger full of profanities and had been hidden for the safety of the readers* (AN: it''s not important. Don''t worry.)


    Then suddenly, while I was having a monologue that would or won''t be censored, someone tapped my shoulders.


    "H-hey, Isaac. What''s the meaning of this? We''ve only left you for almost two weeks and you got yourself a sex slave? I can''t decide if I should call this impressive or cruel. But considering it is you, then I''m sure you would have done it anyway."


    And a soft laugh of a woman that doesn¡¯t fit her whole get up followed afterwards.


    "She is in no way my sex slave! She''s more of a thorn in my butt than something as useful as a sex slave!"


    Then Kyle pretending to be shocked, had managed to shed tears.


    "... Is my body not good enough? B-but I thought master that you''re contented with me..."


    Screw you!


    Screw you!!!!!!!!


    "Oh? Haha! I thought you like woman with flat chest? Have you been lying to us back then?"


    Don''t give me that look, you worthless warrior!


    £¨¨s¡ã¡õ¡ã£©¨s¦à( .O.)


    So after having to calm down. We sat found a table for me, Kyle, and these three and explained to them for 15 minutes that, in fact, Kyle is not my freaking sex slave but someone useless than that.


    Although my feelings of hatred and resent towards them has been reduced by quite a sum since they didn¡¯t beat me up when immediately when they saw me. Still, it¡¯s nice to meet the ones who are the catalyst for me getting this darn reputation and not because of my stupid plan that didn¡¯t work out. It¡¯s definitely their fault, not mine.


    "Is that so? Well, I doubt that Isaac can has the guts to do that but it was certainly something if that were true."


    The female warrior. My ex-teammate, Sara, spoke as if she had known me for years when in reality, we''ve only known each other for a week.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "What makes you be so sure? I didn''t tell you this but this guy over here often takes your used panties and sniffs it all night. I didn''t tell you this sooner when we were comrades since it''s amusing to look at how pathetic he is."


    A little out of topic, I know but it''s nice to see their reaction.


    And like that, her face turned red in a blink of an eye. And speaking of in a blink of an eye, a certain male warrior named Troy had avoided the glare of his comrade.


    Though, a certain magician here who looks more like a 10 year old than an adventurer is staring at me all this time as if I robbed a bank or something.


    Let''s ignore him for now until they introduced him.


    Trying to change the subject, Troy spoke in an awkward way.


    "So Isaac, how was your days when we... Um... Left you, so to speak?"


    "Well, you may have known this but I was actually arrested."


    The two made a wry smile and said apologetically.


    "... We''re sorry about that. You see, we were a bit mad at you for not helping all that much so we decided to report you to the police so... I hope there¡¯s no hard feelings about that."


    Truthfully, I got over that. I seem to have overestimated their trust towards me that I may have been slightly been pushing my luck.


    After the Sara stopped speaking, Troy spoke in her position.


    "Surely you would understand our reasoning to why we did it right? You aren''t much help than we thought you would be and didn''t even contribute in the last quest we did."


    Understandable, have a nice day.


    But joking aside, everything he said is complete garbage.


    First off, I was a big help in our quests. Had they forgotten when I freezes the socks of the goblins when they were about to get hit by them? If it wasn''t for me, the sticks of the goblins would''ve caused them a huge splinter. Or maybe a bruise? Oh wait, I remember them wearing arm guards so maybe it''s just a small splinter... But nonetheless! I still save d them from an injury!


    Also, the potions I have them, I didn''t lie when I told them that the potion can regrow a limb. It''s really true! I mean, if you have a scratch on your hand and you took a potion, it would heal that scratch and therefore, would regrow a limb!


    But I''ll let them pass this time since I may or may not be making fake memories in order to deny such circumstances. Though I think it''s the latter.


    As I was having my thoughts, Kyle elbowed me.


    "... You thinking of how mistaken they were and how stupid they are to not realise your true value?"


    She whispered to me.


    Sometimes, she can say something that isn''t an insult. How nice.


    "...As expected of my current comrade. To know me so well even though we''ve only met just yesterday."


    She lets out a sigh for some reason.


    "...Knew it. And again, you had reinforced my image of you as being a pathetic degenerate."


    "...Want to eat mushrooms that''s growing inside the house? I''m seriously going to force you to do it if you say another insult towards me."


    "...Oh? Want me to call you a rapist and how you''ve tricked me on becoming your slave to everyone?"


    "...Quite counterproductive for you to do that. First of all, they will all think of you as some idiot who didn''t read the very obvious notice. Second, you already did that and it''s quite stupid for you to do it again. And third, just what you did will affect us as a party and not just me. Please think for your words first before considering it as a threat towards me. Ha!"


    "... On second thought, let¡¯s end our conversation for now."


    "Aren''t you two close?"


    Sara said suddenly.


    We are not even that close! How could she consider us as being close when we''ve only met just yesterday!? Which I had told her by the way.


    "But considering that you managed to find a party member even though you have such a notorious reputation is, to be honest, isn''t something that I''ve expected. Good for you. And the dragon, I thought that it already died? Looks like dragons are more resilient than I thought."


    Oh, I forgot that my dragon is on my shoulder. He''s sleeping so I didn''t quite notice him that much.


    "I''m sure you already know that Isaac here is negle¡ª"


    I shut the talking time bomb before she could''ve done some damage but looks like I was too slow.


    "Neglected? It is quite obvious anyway from how thin it is. For an owner to be neglecting their dragon is more shunned than an owner neglecting any other animal since dragons are rare. If you want Isaac, I could give your dragon some left over steak?"


    So the reason people aren¡¯t being surprised than they should be is because they thought that I was neglecting my dragon? As if I¡¯m neglecting my precious dragon! We¡¯re just in such a tight spot right now so I can¡¯t feed him all that well¡­ But still¡­


    ¡­That''s nice and all but why is she offering it to my dragon and not me?


    But when she took it out of her bag, it looks a bit spoiled. Yeah, I''ll pass.


    Though from the smell of it, my dragon immediately woke up, jumped off my shoulder and swallowed the steak whole in one gulp.


    "I''m not neglecting him, you know? If you two dumb heads don''t know, neglecting means, absolutely not interacting nor taking care of one''s pet to the point that it will be dangerous to the pet. I''m very much interacting with my dragon here if I get the chance and I only did the latter so technically, I''m only half neglecting him."


    "Yeah sure. Though I''m surprised that your dragon managed to live this far considering your work ethic."


    And so Kyle had spoken yet again another dangerous statement.


    "Well, if his words were to be believed, Isaac had said to us that he worked in a lot of part time jobs and gave most of the earnings to some organisation that he says is very important to him. I don''t know much of the full picture but that''s what he basically said."


    Is what Sara had answered.


    I nodded at her answer to Kyle''s suspicion but she asked something that I can''t possibly let it pass.


    "Most of his earnings? I bet it''s something stupid."


    She giggle afterwards...


    "It''s not something stupid."


    Kyle flinched on my sudden statement.


    I said in such a serious tone that I¡¯m surprised myself but still, calling it stupid is something even if she doesn¡¯t know of it is incredibly insensitive.


    "Ah, Kyle, it''s a sensitive topic for Isaac so please refrain from calling it stupid."


    "Really? I''m still not used to Isaac being all serious. If you say it is then I won''t."


    I don''t feel like Kyle meant it. Though I know she''s just teasing me but still...


    I let just let out a sigh.


    To change the topic into something less heavy, Sara spoke.


    "Anyway, it is nice to see you again. I was wondering how you two meet? Although I bet that it isn¡¯t in a normal way as asking to make a party, is it?"


    "Oh, I actually saved her from drowning in the nearby riv¡ª"


    "We fought each other over a piece of muffin."


    "...Don''t tell them you idiot."


    Once they heard that, they made an uneasy smile as if they''re guilty.


    Yes be guilty! You two are the reason why I''m in this state and not because of my stupid decisions. Definitely not.


    As if they''ve telepathically communicated with each other about what to say to us, Sara spoke such generous words.


    "If you guys want, well treat you for today. You see, we made much more money when... Um... You see, I think our synergy with our new teammate is better than when we were teammates, Isaac so..."


    "No need to sugar coat it. I get what''s going on."


    I raised my finger at his lips and stopped her from speaking.


    Yes, I very much know what''s going on here.


    "It seems to me that you got yourselves some pretty rich magician here. I bet he bought one of those potions that are worth at least 2 gold coins that can heal a status effect."


    This made the 10 year old looking magician tilt his head but still nonetheless, continued to glare at me.


    What the heck did I do to this person?


    "That¡¯s not it Isaac. It''s more of, our new magician in our party, Sam, knows a lot more efficient spells than you. Rather than relying on the combinations of basic spells which takes a lot of cast time but surely has lesser mana cost, Sam knows intermediary spells that takes only a second or two to cast. Also, he actually helps out."


    Troy suddenly cuts in and said such unbelievable words which may or may not be true.


    So this guy''s name is Sam? An appropriate name for someone who likes to glare at other people because they feel like it.


    Leaving the blunt statement of Troy which I would love to retort to, I''m more concerned about the path that this boy is going to in his career as a magician.


    First off, intermediary and advance spells takes tremendously longer time to learn than a basic spell, obviously. But considering that intermediary and advance spells'' strength and the method of learning it compared to a basic spell, it''s not very efficient. Yeah intermediary spells takes like 2-3 basic spell combination and casts faster and is more powerful and the advance spell takes 3-9 basic spell combination and is incredibly hard to pull off and really takes a long darn time to cast while just learning a certain advance spell will reduce it to one up to five seconds of cast time only, one has to consider the mana cost.


    The freaking mana cost must be the basis of things! Even if you can cast a lot of intermediary spells and some advance spells in the span of a minute, sooner or later, you would ran out of mana and possible collapse from mana exhaustion which is incredibly deadly for a magician. But if you were to just use the combination of basic spells to cast the very same spells, you can actually last longer and cast more intermediary and advance spell combinations! Although the cast time is incredibly slow and hard to pull off especially for an advance spell but it''s certainly worth it to learn those combinations anyway. Meaning, a tremendously lower mana cost is extremely good.


    Also! Almost 70% of the existing spells are basic spells so me, having known all of them, has a mastery of 70% of all spells! Now that''s a title anyone should want!


    Although I hardly remember the name of about two thirds of them but still! I''ve learned it and very much capable of casting it, if I just remember the name.


    Of course, if one learned a spell, the recipe of that spell will forever be written, so to speak, in their mind and would be able to cast it if they know of the name of it but I digress.


    Although I sort of understand why he didn''t take the absolute mastery of all basic spells and just took the route of almost all of the magician now took these days, the road to mastery of all intermediary and advance spell because he doesn''t have the guts or is too dumb to learn how to manipulate the flow of basic spells!


    As they say, the fundamentals is the very support and is the derivation of almost all the more advanced things in this world. If one where to master the fundamentals, one has mastered all.


    And with my thoughts at that, I said my retort finally.


    "You''ve misunderstand the point that of what I''m doing. Had you forgotten that I know all of the basic spells in existence? And thus, I can conjure almost all of the spells in existence in respect, even if it will take a long time to do it. Also, I didn''t do much because my leg was cramped all of the time."


    "And it that''s basically your very reason why you don''t help too much during our quests."


    Is what Troy had said to me in return.


    "At least I''m consistent with my reasons."


    "Alright enough of this! Isaac, I challenge you to a duel!"


    Huh?


    A sudden challenge to a duel by someone I''ve only met. And a guy that looks like a 10 year old at that?


    Who the hell challenges a fellow adventurer to a duel these days? What are we, in the West?

 Chapter 10: Duel? Who does that these days?

    "Duel?"


    Troy had asked Sam, their magician after having to announce to the whole adventurers guild that he had want to have a duel with me.


    As the ways of the past, a duel will only be done with adventurers with the same job. The one with the most powerful abilities will be crowned the winner.


    Of course, it''s not something very common around here and I only heard of it from the stories of merchants passing by from time to time.


    Though for him to just suddenly challenge me to a duel so suddenly... Of course it will attract people''s attention.


    It''s a bit uneasy for so many eyes to just fall on me... But I''m used to it.


    "Yes a duel! I can''t let this... Con man to disrespect you two so carelessly! As my benefactors, I can''t let this go on anymore!"


    From his words I can tell that he''s from a rich and noble family, or maybe even royalty. Who knows? Still, for him to call these two his benefactors...


    When I looked at them, they scratched the back of their heads and made a wry smile.


    Ah, looks like I get what they just did for this kid here to be so loyal to them to the point that he voluntarily tried to protect them and their pride, I guess? I don''t know, it''s kind of weird.


    I think these two dander heads here had saved this kid from some wolves or something is what I''m guessing.


    Being wolves an easy target for those who knows their behaviour, a begginer adventurer who doesn''t know anything would obviously struggle. And like these two who had trouble with lesser goblins who are hardly capable of welding a stick, I had saved them from those goblins and just like that, I had made myself some comrades... For like a week.


    But still! Saving someone is a quick way to a person''s heart.


    In the awkward silence in the adventures guild, Kyle elbowed me and looked at me with eyes that says "What did you do that I don''t know?"


    I looked at her with eyes that says "I don''t even know this kid."


    And like that, our conversation is done but I don''t even know how we even understood each other just from that.


    And after 10 solid seconds of silence except for one guy who just happens to sneeze in the middle of this silence, I looked at the magician and asked him a very crucial question;


    "How old are you exactly?"


    Very crucial. I don''t want to think of him as a kid all the time, right?


    Although shocked, he quickly regained his "intimidating" face and answered me earnestly.


    "I am 15. I have learned and mastered the few most powerful intermediary spells! Lightning, cyclone, tremor, and water jet spell!"


    The crowd is shocked for some reason.


    I mean, lightning is just summoning a cloud and having it to cause a reaction inside and then create a lightning. All I need for that is a few mere water and wind type spells. The cyclone one is just to have a wind spell to rapidly spin around and essentially creating a vortex which in turn create a cyclone. The tremor one is just earth manipulation spell with more effort put into it. And water jet spell is just create water spell but with more effort and a wind spell to make it spin in the air.


    These are all so simple yet they are considered as one of the most powerful intermediary spells known! I learned to make these combinations when I was 10!


    "That''s nice. But why a duel? And also, I didn''t even disrespect your teammates. Plus they''re my old teammates."


    "He''s right. Calm down Sam, he didn''t disrespect us that much to be concerned of and he''s merely a bastard who doesn''t even do anything in quests."


    Troy said to Sam as he patted his shoulders in which this made Sam have a contorted expression.


    And then bits came off from Sam''s mouth after that.


    While he reasoned to Troy about his righteous act, Sara here had moved her seat towards me closer and whispered into my ear.


    "... You see Isaac, while we were doing a quest, we found this fellow struggling to fight of wolves on his own. So we killed of the wolves that are attacking him and tried to leave after that but then he stopped us and thanked us way too much and pleaded us to let him join our party. So we still don''t know why he became so attached to us just from having to save him from wolves which could have been done easily with just a good amount of knowledge before hand."


    I''m so good at guessing...! Hm!


    "...So basically, he''s like you two but even more extreme?"


    "... We were naive back then and didn''t know any better! Of course, we''ve matured and had gained better understanding because of you and your petty reasons and persuasions to make us fight in quests almost all by ourselves."


    "...Isn''t that nice? I was somehow a teacher to you guys in some way without me realising."


    We giggled after that. Really, this are my old teammates before they got angry at me that time and left me...


    Let''s not get to that...


    "Even still! He msitreated you, didn''t he!? Then that I won''t let it pass so easily!"


    So Troy and Sam are arguing about Sam''s stupid offer of a duel.


    "Yeah, but that''s in the past even though he did that, I still respect him as a friend, I think. I''m not sure myself that he can be called a friend but that''s not the point."


    "I know but an action done has consequences. And his consequences from that time is still not done to him! It''s only a matter of time for someone to do it and that time has come for I would be the one bringing the consequences!"This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    That hardly make any sense or maybe it just came of as some blur to me?


    So Troy failed to put some sense to him, huh? That''s troublesome.


    "I''ll pass from that challenge. C''mon Kyle, let''s get some easy quest and leave this place. Troy, Sara, it was nice to meet you guys again although I do like some compensation to the thing you did to me. You already know what that is, don''t you?"


    And thus, a floating question mark appears above Sam''s head. Did he really expect me to just accept a challenge without any reward? It''s pointless and consumes mana.


    "You reap what you sow is how the saying goes plus we can''t do anything about that now although we will wish you the best of luck in the future."


    Totally ignoring the wide opened mouth of Sam, Troy had warmly said to me. Of course, I will have them pay a compensation fee regarding that, but maybe that would be on a later time. When this Sam kid isn''t with them anymore.


    Carrying my dragon after dozing off in my arms, I gestured Kyle which had followed with no words said, thank God. I feel like if we left this place, a barrage of teasing would occur.


    Although isn''t she a bit green-ish, specifically her face? Well, I don''t think it''s that serious of a problem, I think. Or maybe it''s just my imagination.


    "Wait!¡ª"


    Exclaimed Sam, as he tried to stop us from going to the counter to get a quest with his outstretched arm and sweating face.


    As per what he asked, I stopped and my dragon yawned. Although I didn''t look back at him.


    After finding the right words to say or should I say, having to ease his nerves and making his mind up, he said something that really intrigued me.


    "How about this? I shall give you this pendant that would increase a magician''s mana pool by a large amount if you win and if I win, you shall kiss my feet and theirs and say your apologies. For you to only do that if you lose, isn''t that a good deal?"


    He smiled twistedly as if he knew that it was what I want and for him to say that so suddenly to me would get me off guard and be intrigued by the offer.


    He can''t be more true though.


    Although this kind of pendant isn''t compatible with me, it''s would sell a nice price if I sold it so with that we can earn more money!


    "Alright, you caught me. Fine I accept the duel."


    A loud uproar occured in the adventures guild.


    Betting soon started on who would win. From their conversation, people aren''t particularly picking me over this kid...


    (??¥î?)?


    And so Sam here lead us towards the plains.


    I know that duels are done with a set challenge. Do the best skill you''ve got and you win. Do it extravagant like and you win. Blow up a freaking mountain faster than your opponent.


    Aside from the last one, those are legitimate reasons to how you win a duel but from I get this gut feeling like he would change the rules a bit.


    With us are the two warriors and Kyle whom had been watching us silently the whole time.


    It''s quite odd for her to do that but hey, it''s better than her opening her mouth with nothing but insults coming out.


    "I presume that you know of the rules?"


    So did this prideful magician had said to me.


    I just want the pendant so let''s get this over with quickly and skip the pleasantries, is what I would have said if he didn''t speak so fast after his first statement.


    "Although forgive me for this but I have to change the rules a bit."


    Knew it. I bet he would change it in a way that would be disadvantageous towards me.


    As he looked at the sky with a gleeful smile on his face, he looked back to me with contrast to his previous expression.


    "The rules is simple. The one who can cast the fastest spell wins."


    Ok. Seems easy enough. Actually, this rule is more in my favorites as the cast time for basic spells is basically instant.


    But the question surfaced. Why does it take me a bit longer to cast an intermediary spell using the combination route? Isn''t basic spells cast instantly? Well, basic spells, for them to act a certain way, one needs incredible concentration to do it.


    I looked back at the three and the two warriors looked as if they''re bored to death and would also like to get this over with quickly while Kyle is just standing there, giving me a thumbs up as she carried my dragon on her left arm.


    Aren''t she a bit nice this time though she''s acting a bit different though. Not that I''m complaining of her change. I actually very much prefer it.


    But I''m worried of how green her face is... Whatever, I''ll deal with that later.


    "Without further ado, let''s get started. Miss Sara, if you would please countdown from three to one?"


    "Alright... 3,¡ª"


    Sam looked at me as if we were in some sprinting race or something.


    "2,¡ª"


    The tips of his fingers glew a faint blue, signifying an abundance of mana circulation in that spot.


    "1."


    And after she said the anti climactic 1, I fired a small water ball while Sam here is still casting his spell.


    "I won. Now give me the pendant."


    After firing from what appears to be a rock bullet spell, he glared at me as if I just commited a crime.


    "W-what do you mean, you''ve won!? That can hardly be called a spell!"


    "Eh? But it''s a spell, nonetheless. It''s your fault for announcing rules without much specifics. Although from how quickly you casted the rock bullet, I''m impressed. Now give me the pendant."


    "That''s unfair! Did you see that!? Is that even a spell!? It''s more like he just threw the contents of a glass of water than a spell!"


    As he complained like a kid, which he is, he pointed his index finger at me menacingly, he looked at the two as if they''re his parents.


    "Ah, Sam, that to me looks like a spell. Isaac often uses that spell during our quests and said that he helped enough after that when the only thing he did is to give the monsters and animals a little bath."


    D-definitely not true Troy! Such lies to come from you!


    "Huh!?"


    Now Sam looked at me with clear annoyance and anger. Even more anger than before I might add.


    "I demand a redo! A proud and dignified magician wouldn''t refuse this offer!"


    Ha... The peaceful greenery such as this place and the silence that accompanies it except for the occasional fluttering of birds is now ruined by this kid.


    "You mean double or nothing? I refuse, unless you raise the rewards."


    "Tch...!"


    Grinding his teeth, he looked through his satchel like he''s searching for a needle in a haystack.


    Soon enough, he took out something.


    "Very well! I shall give you this ticket worth for 2 people towards places near Thai kingdom. But since the reward that I will get is already close to nothing¡ª"


    Just then, a sinister smirk appears on his face...


    What''s he up to?


    "¡ªi have your partner here to join us!"


    "Huh?"


    The two warriors, including me, exclaimed at the same time. Except for Kyle who just has a clueless look. There really is something wrong with her...


    Anyway, how ever you look at it, isn''t this a bit too disadvantageous for me? I have Kyle to be traded from a ticket that probably worth like 2 silver?


    If I lost Kyle then I won''t have anyone to help me in quests and if I don''t have anyone to help me in quests, then that would mean that I need to do quests all by myself now which will not happen, I tell you right now! Having to do quests alone consumes way too much mana that I would''ve want! Definitely a no-no!


    But it''s not like I would lose though but I don''t want to underestimate him. If he did a spell so incredible that it costs a ridiculous amount of mana then that would be troublesome. I really would like to conserve my mana. 2 silver or so is just isn''t worth it on how much mana I would potentially be expending.


    Although I have to ask...


    "Why do you want Kyle as a reward?"


    "I believe that Kyle would be better of with us than with you! Since you seem to have mistreated my fellow comrades, I won''t allow for you to mistreat annither adventurer."


    "Huh? She didn''t leave right? So how did you know that she doesn''t want to be with me?"


    "That''s because she still doesn''t know of your intentions!"


    Isn''t he acting all high and mighty as if he''s some justice warrior or something? It''s incredibly annoying.


    Right then, I stopped questioning him as I see that this will be just an endless loop. Maybe I could change his mind to not make Kyle as his other reward but I''d rather not to.


    It''s not like I would lose anyway. It would just be troublesome and a waste of mana.


    "Pass. Just give me the pendant and we''ll get going."


    "Huh!? Tch! Running away, I see. I expected it though."


    "Idiot. If I lose, I won''t have anyone with me then. The lose is greater than the profit. It''s simple. Something you still don''t understand kid."


    Of course I''m just saying that. I''m just concerned about the mana expenditure of this next one. If the reward he added in is at least 30 or so silver then I might reconsider.


    Really, this kid is more annoying than I expected he would be.


    But I have this feeling like I''m a hypocrite for saying it... Well, whatever.


    "Is that want you wish for? To have a greater reward for you? Fine! I don''t want to do this but I''ll add in another pendant! Refuse this and you''re basically brain dead!"


    Granted, 2 pendants and a ticket is worth a gold coin and a few silver at least and I should probably take this redo now but I feel like I can increase the reward even more.


    "Still¡ª"


    "Still? Still going to refuse is it? I guess that''s fine being the son of an incompetent father I bet? As the saying goes, an apple don''t fall far from the tree. I presume that your parents is someone as gutless as you!"


    ...


    "Hey Sam, cut this out! Give Isaac the pendant you promised and be done with this duel!"


    Sara scolded Sam while Kyle, still has a clueless look on her greenish face as she kissed my dragon.


    I would say something appropriate regarding Kyle''s actions but there something much more important going on here.


    For him, who doesn''t even know my father, let alone had met him yet still, he has the guts to insult him...


    ...


    "... I accept."


    "What''s that?"


    So he became deaf then?


    "I accept you little sh*t. Looks like I have to teach you a lesson then?"


    "Now that''s the eyes of a determined magician! I see that this would be a good duel! So insulting your parents did the trick huh?"


    "Just hurry up and say your idiotic rules."


    "Impatient... The rules would be the default. To whoever would be the one who can do the most powerful anf extravagant spell of all will be the winner. You first."


    "No, you."


    "Oh? Very well. Feast your eyes on this!"


    As mana circulated towards his hand in large amounts, a spark that soon turned into a flame appeared hovering above his palm. The flame grew brighter and bigger as he place more mana on it until it became bigger than him. At last, from the tall flame came upon the head of a dragon made of flames.


    "Woah..."


    Troy exclaimed.


    Looking at Sam, he seems exhausted after that. From a single advanced spell called The Fury of the Dragon spell, he suffered mana sickness just from that.


    "Ha... That is the most powerful spell that I know. For you to best that, I doubt it... Ha..."


    He layed there, motionless except for his frequent panting.


    "Is that it? What a waste of expectation..."


    And like that, the sky is covered in flames stretching far and wide to the very edge of the plains. Henceforth, a dragon made of flames and bolts of lightning came out of it. The flame dragon then moved on its own and breathe out flurry of liquid fire and accompanied with a chain of lightning.


    "...Call me anything you want but for you to disrespect my parent and my father at that, I won''t forgive it."


    ...


    Later on, Kyle collapsed. Not from what I expected...


    And as doI, from something thatI expected to be the reason.

 Chapter 11: Melancholy? Loneliness? They differ somehow

    We woke up in an inn.


    Presumably, Troy and Sara had taken us here for the time being until we get better.


    They left a note on the table that they would just be doing some work and will later comeback. They also wrote that the medicine would be their compensation for me for contributing on my tarnished reputation.


    Well, I was just joking when I said that but hey, at least I got something from them for free so I''m not complaining.


    Also left there are some medicines for mana exhaustion. Not like it will work on me though. There''s also a medicine for headaches and detoxification medicine for hallucinogenic toxins. Ah... So that''s why...


    Maybe Kyle ate some mushrooms growing on the walls of my house so maybe that''s the reason to why she went silent so suddenly then acted strange after that.


    Of course, my dragon is resting on my belly. I only moved him to the side so he won''t fall of from the bed. And Kyle here is sleeping on the bed adjacent to me. I could even see how red she is inside the bedding. Her breathe is obviously rough and warm.


    So it seems that she had eaten a potent mushroom. It made her sick to this point even with medication. Or maybe her immune system is just garbage.


    I didn''t get that sick since I known before hand of how potent the mushroom from looking at its color.


    Since I feel a little bit light headed, I took some medication for headaches and rested on my bed.


    Looks like I just have to wait here for the time being until they can back.


    Oh shoot! I almost forgot! My freaking reward from the duel!


    Where''s my reward!?


    It''s not here!?


    Did that Sam guy pulled a fast one on me or something?


    Even after I''ve expended that much mana on the stupid duel!? Are you kidding me!?


    The symptoms are a little bit visible now! Ugh!


    Once they get back, I''ll have them hand over my reward!


    (?©n?)


    Fiddling around the corners of the room, I noticed that the corners of the room, being it made of concrete, has molds and a visible stain of someone had pissed here.


    Smell. Like that of a spoiled milk with a hint of pee.


    Isn''t that something? For someone who knows that the inn has a bathroom, they still have the audacity to piss on the corner of the room is incredibly shameless. I bet it''s a guy! No it''s definitely a guy! Girls can''t pee like this!


    Even though, this stain is like a few months old now and doesn''t have any lingering smells, it''s still a concern! I''ll have to report this to the innkeeper!


    And as soon as I started to march to the reception desk, the door was slammed open by two warriors, carrying a magician with them.


    Ah...


    What a sight this is. Feels like these two just kidnapped him.


    Although the two warriors has an irritated face.


    "Stop squirming! Oh Isaac you''re finally awake. Looks like your opponent here is trying to escape."


    "I did that for you guys! Also, don''t you think that it''s a little suspicious to how someone who only knows basic spells to be able to cast such a spell to that decree!? We were almost arrested because of him!"


    As the squirming kidnapped magician tries to struggle to get free from the grip of Troy, he said his suspicions towards me in the duel.


    "Huh? Didn''t you know that you can intensify the power of a spell by pumping more mana into it?"You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    "Yeah, I know that much! I''m suspicious about how in the world could you get that much mana to do that, let alone to actually cast the spell to begin with!"


    Oh... So he doesn''t know that it''s just a combination of various different fire and wind spells that just did. Having to be basic spells, it''s mana cost is a lot less than actually casting the spell itself and with that, I can use a lot more mana to intensify the spell which I regretfully overdid.


    Although I do that think that I''ve collapsed from mana exhaustion but instead, severe headache because using basic spells to cast advance spells to that degree is extremely straining for the brain.


    And so I told him that but looks like he doesn''t want to accept my reason.


    "Huh!? I thought you were just joking! Maybe you can do an intermediary spell using basic spells but I only believe that much! Due to how dark your hat is, I bet you know a few advance spell yourself! For you to not reveal that before the duel just so I can underestimate you, you really are a con man!"


    "Ha..."


    I do that want to continue this conversation any further since it''ll just be a perpetual denial on his part. And even if I convinced him somehow, it''s not really worth it anyway.


    "Just give me my part of the deal, alright? After all, you did this to yourself and dragged me into it with your sense of justice or something."


    "Yeah, just give it to him."


    Is what the frustrated Sara had said and sighing afterwards.


    "Also, would you keep it down. My idiotic partner here is resting from eating a mushroom."


    "How did she even found a mushroom to eat? Let alone a hallucinogenic one at that?"


    Troy asked out of curiosity.


    "Probably while she was sleep walking last night, and unconsciously eaten a mushroom growing in my house."


    Oi, why are you two looking at me like I''m some unhygienic rat? It''s not like I can just move to another house that easily you know and it''s not my fault!


    "I won''t! I demand a rematch! Something like that is unacceptable!"


    Huh? Isn''t he pretty stupid? This Sam fellow doesn''t know how to quit. If you just saw your opponent do some crazy stuff like engulfing the entire sky into flames, should he be not want to have a rematch? I definitely don''t want to since it''s just a waste of mana and I certainly don''t want to use anymore spells for combat.


    Spells, if used with the intent to kill, usually has a bit higher mana cost than a spell just used for the fun of it and that''s one of the reason why I don''t want to cast spells in combat in particular. Even if I didn''t use that advance spell for combat, it still cost a pretty hefty amount that I rather not do it again. Truthfully, I overdid it a bit too much.


    "C''mon! Enough with this! Isaac won, just accept your lose, alright? Or we''ll be forced to kick you in our party."


    Troy scolded Sam as he glared at me, demanding for a rematch. Although, I have a little concern about what he just said...


    "Wait, why is it that he has been given a second chance but I didn''t? It''s a bit unfair, you know?"


    "Unlike you, he''s useful."


    "Isn''t that a bit blunt? Reminds me of a certain someone..."


    While I was saying that, looks like Troy is squeezing him to give in.


    How torturous Troy!


    "Alright! Alright, I''ll give it to him so stop squeezing me like a bear!"


    "That''s better."


    Finally...!


    After being brought down by Troy, he reached for his satchel and and took out two pendants. Mana pendants I should say. With this, one can increase their mana pool but I don''t really need it. Plus, it''s not compatible with me so poo. But at least I can sell it.


    Isn''t he missing something though...?


    "Where''s the ticket?"


    "You''re looking for that too? That ticket may cover 2 people and can have you travel to anywhere near this Kingdom but it''s only worth 2 silver at best and it''s not a ticket for premium carriages."


    "It''s nice to have it. Plus I can sell it for an extra change too."


    "Aren''t you cheap?"


    "Geez. We''re practically broke right now. Just give it to me and be done with this."


    After insisting him that I want the ticket, he gave it to me, finally. This guy really is a pain to have a deal with.


    "Oh by the way, where''s your hat? Shouldn''t magicians have a hat?"


    "That...? I left mine in my home. Even if our knowledge regarding magic is connected to our hats doesn''t mean that we can''t remove them, right? I removed mine because I don''t want to let anyone know of how much spell I know."


    Look who''s talking...


    I just let out a sigh, although he''s confused to why I did that.


    And with a clap, Sara said something normal yet melancholic for some reason.


    "Now that''s done, we''ll be taking our leave."


    So said Sara. So they''re leaving this quickly?


    "What about the rent on this place? Are you just giving this room to us? You know I have a ahouse, right?"


    "Yeah but considering what you''ve just said, I don''t think that it''s safe for you and especially your comrade over there. And the rent is only a silver coin per half a day so you''ll have to get out of here before sunset tomorrow."


    "Aren''t you using it?"


    "No. We have something to take care off."


    "Is that so?"


    Even if they''re the reason to why I have a tarnished reputation and no, it''s definitely not me to blame but them, they sure are nice to me. Or maybe that''s just how people are? I don''t know that. I never have anyone do this to me in the past. Nor do I have any friends to be with when I was a child so I don''t really experience this much hospitality.


    Also, my past jobs'' working conditions is poor so that didn''t help at all.


    Well, whatever...


    For now, lets sell these pendants and buy us some food.


    ~(???~)


    Oh my...! My dragon sure eats a lot!


    We really should have just taken a quest and have him feed on the meat of the animals and monsters that we killed...


    Our gold''s worth of silver coins plus our left over coins which amounted to 109 silver coins had just now turned to 77 silver coins already.


    Freaking dragon ate two orders of cheap steak and his tummy is still growling.


    At this rate, we''ll be broke again...


    After returning back to our inn, I found Kyle still sleeping.


    I had left her some water, the medication which are crafted using herbs and a note saying to take a regular dose and sleep again. Aren''t I nice?


    After examining the contents of the medicine, it looks like she woke up at one point and took some then slept again.


    Feeling her forehead, it seems to have gone down a little.


    That''s good...


    <div>

 Chapter 12: Hahahaha! Haha. Ha... crap.

    "¡ªyou! I can''t take this anymore! You have to cooperate too, you know!? You freaking useless garbage!"


    "Meh. I''m tired. Wake me up if you need some restraining to the monsters."


    So noisy. Had she not know of the importance of a one''s energy? I''m sure I have helped plenty enough anyway so what''s she blabbering about?


    "The heck!? You only casted like 3 spells and all of it is just ice magic that can barely root the goblins! What if we''ve encountered a group of them!? I won''t be able to take them all!"


    "Ah, don''t you remember of how much I used that day? A pretty hefty cost. Takes a toll on the body so please let me rest."


    "You''ve been saying that for the past 6 days! Enough is enough!"


    "But, you know that you''re my slave right? I can order you whatever I want. So just diligently follow your orders so your body won''t have to unwillingly do it, no?"


    "Eh! Such a cruel man like you! To make a girl do all the work...! Don''t you have any dignity as a man or is your tool down there got cut off!?"


    *Snor*


    "Are you serious!?"


    I wonder... what are those floating things that I see every time I look at the sky?


    ?6 days before?


    "Ugh... My tummy hurts..."


    Seems like she''s awake.


    "Take some medicine and rest for a while. Eat the left over steak if you can."


    "Huh...?"


    Half-closed eyes, she looks at the surroundings then finally sets her eyes on the medicine on the table right beside the bed.


    "...What''s this...? Where are we?"


    "In an inn. Can''t have you being sick, now can''t I?"


    Glaring at me with suspicion, she returned her gaze at the medicine. Taking a table spoon of the syrup-like medicine and gulping it down into her throat immediately and quickly drinking the water as to not prolong the bad taste of the medicine yet still had left a bitter after taste.


    She stuck her tongue in reflex, making an interesting expression all the while.


    Soon after that, she took the steak that I left for her on the table and took a large bite, ignoring the sour taste of it.


    Kyle had been sleeping for at the very least, 15 hours now and it''s a bit worrying. Primarily because I would most likely get accused of having to have poisoned her or something.


    To be frank, I sort of missed talking to her while she was sleeping and since she had woken up, I think I''m already sick of talking to her already.


    But I guess, I need to get used to it.


    "Thinking of something useless again?"


    After recovering from the bitter taste by eating the steak, she accused me of such thing. Like always.


    "Maybe. Lie and sleep for a bit. I don''t want you to be throwing up everywhere we go to."


    "I don''t need sleep. I''m feeling better now. But for you to watch over me like this is certainly new. Also why are we here and what about your ex comrades and that Sam guy?"


    What does she think of me? Some sort of guy who would get bored of a toy from having a repairable damage?


    Although calling her a toy is a bit too much. Might call her insultive cat than anything else.


    "Of course I will. I can''t just leave you alone, you know? I''ll need you in the future anyway. Troy and Sara left off a few hours ago, saying that they have something to take care off, whatever that means. But don''t worry about the reward, I got it. Totalling about 77 silver coins worth is our funds now."


    "Hm... So you''ve come to realise my true use then? Well then, let us work together in the future. Well anyway. At least we got some use in that little duel you guys did."


    A gleeful expression you''ve just made. Shame that it will disappear soon.


    "Hm. You said that you have a hard time hitting moving targets, correct?"


    "Yeah."


    "So if I restrict their movement then can you perhaps hit them then?"


    "Duh. Of course I can do that much."


    And with that, a loophole has been realised. Even still, it''s pretty obvious anyway.


    "Feeling better right? Then why don''t we have a quest and stretch our legs a bit?"


    "Sounds fun. You¡¯re speaking like someone with responsibility now. Have you changed somehow during that duel? Sorry but I can''t seem to remember the events in that duel though so please tell me about it later."


    Hm~


    ?3 days after?Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    "Hey Isaac, I know you''re tired and all but could you at least help me out a bit here? Just stopping their movement and me doing all the work very inefficient, you know? How about after stopping their movement, you go take out some of the ones you''ve used your spell too."


    "Sorry, but I can''t afford to use anymore unnecessary spells from now on. I''ve explained to you that in currently have a mana exhaustion right now right?"


    "Yeah. You say that but you can obviously walk normally. Plus, don''t mana exhaustion only last for like 12 hours? At the most a day and a half and clearly, it had been 3 days after that duel."


    "Yeah... But I''ve used so much on that day. You can find Troy and Sara and they''ll tell you just how vast my spell was so for me to get an ordinary mana exhaustion from that is illogical."


    "Huh...? Are you stupid or something? I''ve talked to certain medical experts around the kingdom and they all say that mana exhaustion always only last for at most, half a¡ª"


    "H-hey! Stop talking or you might get attacked by the wolves while your back is turned."


    "Ugh..."


    Phew... That was a close one.


    Truth be told, I''m not experiencing mana exhaustion right now or before. I only suffered from painful headaches that day. That''s all.


    Well, it''s not like I have any obligation to tell her.


    So for the past few days, we''ve been doing easy quests to earn a little bit of money. 50 to 70 silver per quest mind you.


    Well, I shouldn''t say "we" though as the most of the credit hours to Kyle here after all. I''m just the one who stops their movement so that she can hit them. Actually, aren''t I contributing enough? Of course I am. So I guess using we isn''t that much of a lie then.


    Mostly, these quests are just extermination quests and the left over bodies of the animals and monsters that we''ve killed aren''t really needed so we just feed it to my dragon.


    And with, he isn''t thin anymore to the point that the bones are apparent!


    And as always, we are in the plains. The plains are close to a small village outside the kingdom but affiliated with the kingdom nonetheless so they had the right to request for a quest if needed.


    Well, all their quest is for beginners so it''s a good thing for us. After all, I''ve only started adventuring legitimately for a week and half. I think Kyle is like that too.


    And speaking of Kyle, looks like she¡¯s done finishing all the wolves. And like that, we were notified that we finished the quest and are needed to claim the reward at the adventurers¡¯ guild.


    "Nice job for today. We did it quite quickly. Let''s head home for now and rest."


    Kyle panting lightly from having to fire continues shots of arrow for 30 minutes, for some reason, has such a dissatisfied look on her face...


    "By we, you mean just me, right? After all, I had done almost all of the work again this time."


    "Oh? But you wouldn''t be able to do most of the job if it weren''t for me. After all you seem to lack the intuition of judging the speed and distance of the target."


    "But at least help a little. Sooner or later, I''m going to get tired of this."


    Hm?


    ? Present?


    "For Christ''s sake, help me out!"


    "Who the heck is Christ? Also, I stopped their movement, didn''t I? I''m sure you can hit them with that much."


    "You freaking useless magician! The ice thawed! Obviously they can get free from that!"


    "Oh! Did you know that there are cases where goblins rape people? Specifically women and weirdly enough, children too?"


    "W-what!? Are you telling me to get raped by these goblins!? Is that why you told me this!?"


    "They can''t do that, don''t worry. They''re lesser goblins that can hardly carry sticks. I''m sure you can do it. Even without my help."


    "You know why this is requested, smart*ss!? It''s because this lesser goblins has large numbers! So you think I can handle that!? 60 lesser goblins on my own!? 60 lesser goblins can raid a small village, you know!?"


    "*Yawn* hey my child, would you like to eat the meat of those goblins that big sister here killed?"


    "Isaac!!!"


    Noisy... I''m not talking to you, you know?


    "Mruuuu! Mruuuu!"


    Ho ho~ his voice is back! Ha! So feeding him random stuff from dead monsters and animals we''ve killed is actually the way to go! At first, I thought that he might get infection from the raw meat so that''s why I had only gave him cooked food in the past with far lesser quantity. To think that dragons eat anything is certainly something to be learned.


    To why I didn''t know that in the first place is because nobody knew since dragons are so rare and all.


    "Eek! They''re close! Help me!"


    Ah...


    When I actually paid attention to her situation, I see why she''s being so desperate for help...


    The lesser goblins are like toddlers in both height and strength. Although with numbers, they pose a threat. And in our situation, these goblins isn''t like toddlers in my eyes but instead are ants. If you were to look at this scene from a higher vantage point, the lesser goblins would look like tiny green ants swarming towards a point in a ground and that point would be Kyle.


    Ha... I guess I have no choice...


    Although taking out these number of goblins will take a large amount of mana so...


    Hm? Looks like Kyle is running straight towards me.


    "Isaac!!! You useless magician! Do something! Like the thing that you did a week ago in that duel! Do it again to these goblins! Their grip is dry and rough! It''s making me uncomfortable! Waaah!!!"


    My... Talk about running like a freaking cheetah. Can''t believe she can run that fast...


    Woah, woah! You''re too fast! Don''t leap towards me you idiot!!!


    "Do something to them or I might get raped!"


    "Alright! Fine! Don''t hold me too hard, it hurts...!"


    Ha... I initially thought that this quest would just be simply waiting for a few groups of goblins coming out of the forest but I didn''t expect a freaking nest worth of them would come out...


    And thus, I created water below them and froze it to stop their tracks. They struggle to get out of the ice but tried in vain. Next, from the icy ground came shards of sharp ice, shooting from the bottom. Screeching of pain from the goblins makes one''s ear bleed. Like scratching fingernails on a chalkboard, the sound resonated surely a couple hundred meters away.


    Eventually, these ear tearing scream died down as the last one of those troublesome lesser goblins had let out their last screams before falling into deep slumber. And what I mean by deep slumber is that they died. Died a horrible death because they forced me to cast some hefty costing spells.


    Now that that''s down, Kyle had let go of me and let out a heavy sigh.


    So it begins... Me getting insulted again, I mean.


    "If you would just have helped me and not laze around like some koala with no strength to even move a finger then things should have been better."


    Didn''t I helped in this one? Like did most of the work?


    "What do you mean by better? Aren''t you not doing your best? If you could just shoot the ones I''ve stopped then things would have definitely turned for the better. And from the looks of it, you''ve just complained the whole time."


    Really... To accuse me of being no help at all. Hadn''t I been the one stopping their movement because she can''t hit them if they''re moving?


    "Yeah, sure. Maybe if I did my best, it would end better but for you to be the one saying that. Even if you''re the one stopping their movement, having an incredibly large amount of targets, I can''t simple take them all down, now can''t I? And as for you, to be so cheap with your spells like mana is made of gold or something...! You''re freaking useless in quests!"


    I could feel her grip getting tense without even looking at it.


    "... Useless? Have you forgotten of what I just did just now? I annihilated them in one fell swoop. The kind of combination of spells isn''t all easy to cast as you might think."


    She grinded her teeth so hard that I can imagine hearing her teeth scraping with each other.


    Ugh... Freaking annoying... For her be complaining even though I had helped plentily. Isn''t she being selfish?


    "... But then again, this wouldn''t have happened if you just helped me like a real teammate would. I had imagined myself from coming into this world to be doing incredibly quests with teammates whom I can call as a family. To fight side by side, helping each other out and having a great synergy. Like my friends in the games I''ve played... But this!? This is not what I signed up for!"


    "Huh!? So now you¡¯re saying that weird stuff again? Have you eaten that mushroom again for you to think of yourself as some summoned hero or something? Let me get something straight. From one, do you really think that we can get a great synergy from you being an incompetent archer? For you to not even hit moving targets is an incredible handicap. The best synergy we could get is by me freezing them and you hitting them. Simple isn''t it? Yet you can''t seem to do your part."


    "Even so! Since you''re my comrade, shouldn''t you take my handicap into account and come up with a strategy or something so that we could somehow complement each other¡¯s style of attack? You''re a magician, right? Since you are a magician, shouldn''t you be the one to be the smarter end around here?"


    "So you''re telling me that I should be the one to be adapting to your incompetence? And aren''t you an archer? Shouldn''t an archer have great observational skills?"


    "Yes! And it''s not like you''re the only one adapting. I too have to adapt to your lazy crap and I have to beg for your help every darn time that I need one when you should''ve done it yourself without any one telling you! Rather than me not doing my part, maybe it''s actually you!"


    "Pfft! I can''t just go on and cast unnecessary spells, it''s a waste of freaking mana! And me being lazy? Why don''t you look at yourself? Since you are an archer, of course you have a great observational skills but look on what you use that skill for most of the time. You just bring up every mistake that I had done and insult me for it. What an effective use for such a skill like that. Very useful."


    "Oh? But look who''s the idiot whom should''ve the brains here but always does such idiotic things that would''ve been prevented so easily if you were to just think things through, you know!? And you saying that I only use my skill to insult you? Have you forgotten that dungeon quest I mostly did? Didn''t I just saved our lives from falling into a pit of lave simply because I have such a good observation skill? Or did your brain just melted and had forgotten about it?"


    This piece of...!


    "You''re ungrateful, you know that? If it wasn''t for me, we would be soaking wet from all the rain in these last couple of days and haven''t I been the one taking responsibility for the both of us? Actually, you should be glad that I didn''t use your slave contract all that much. If I wanted it, I could''ve done cruel things to you right now."


    She''s ticking me off...!


    "...Ah... so you think of yourself as someone greater than me? You think you''re greater than me just because you have just mastered all of the basic spell and can do something like what you did last week...? I may not be at that level of strength but do know this... I have been caring for myself my entire life! Don''t you think for a second that I''m depending on you on this! I only joined you because that higher being had told me that I needed you but from knowing you... I don''t need you and your sh*t of an attitude towards your own teammates! With or without your help... I''ll kill that bastard myself!!!"


    Her face as red as a tomato. She said her thoughts with clear heavy emotions and as well as tears of frustration dripped down her cheeks. And like that, she left off and hurried to the direction of the kingdom.


    So she''s leaving me, huh? Not like she''s any help even. Even without her, I would still be doing the same thing anyway. Doing all the work again in the end so what use is she?


    I''ll just find more competent comrades then! I don''t need her!


    Fine leave! Not like your useful yourself!


    An archer who can''t even hit a moving target? What joke! I''ll be surprised as heck if there''s even a party that would let her join in! But for me! I have mastered all of the basic spells in existence and can recreate almost every spell! Only idiots wouldn''t let me join their party!


    Hahahaha!


    Haha...


    Ha...


    I don''t need her... It''s not like we''ve met that very long anyway.


    So why do I feel melancholic then? No, it''s different.


    This is loneliness.

 Chapter 13: Pfft! Who needs teammates!? Screw them!

    Smells like mushrooms in here¡­ or maybe wet wood?


    The walls are, from the looks of it, are on the verge of breaking at any moment but for some reason, it had lasted for years and it still hasn¡¯t been replaced or fixed.


    ¡°What do you think, dragon? Could it be that the reason she left is because the house is broken down like this to the point that it looks like an abandoned building and is now inhabited by ghosts?¡±


    My dragon, whom I¡¯m carrying like a baby, looked to me for a few seconds as if surprised that I have asked that question out of the blue and hen swayed his head, left to right.


    Well, of course that¡¯s not the reason. It¡¯s from our argument really.


    So, I guess it¡¯s my fault then? I don¡¯t really know.


    I think she mentioned something as me not being much of a use. Aren¡¯t I been useful in these past few days?


    Well, no need to repeat myself. I already told her that and she didn¡¯t acknowledge it. Isn¡¯t all she did is to fire arrows at the ones I¡¯ve rooted? Is that so hard now?


    Whatever, she left and that¡¯s that. It¡¯s only waste of time to delve deeper into that.


    Although for some reason, I felt lonely when she left me. I wonder why? Didn¡¯t the two warriors left me but I didn¡¯t have a squat of loneliness when that happened. In both cases, the party ended in a heated argument with clear hatred against each other so why does this one has this feeling?


    Ah¡­ maybe it¡¯s that¡­


    She¡¯s like that girl in my school days. The only one to have actually talked to me¡­


    I already forgot her name and face though but I at least remember how she treated me. It¡¯s like Kyle. Very blunt and honest with her feelings. Often times using insult as a way to tease me. Maybe, like how that girl made me feel loneliness when she left, is what I¡¯m experiencing right now but in this case it¡¯s Kyle.


    Now that I think of it, aren¡¯t I a bit of a masochist?


    Ha¡­ I¡¯ll forget about her eventually anyway like how I¡¯ve forgotten about that girl.


    Plus, I don¡¯t even needed her in the first place.


    The only reason that I wanted to find teammates is because I don¡¯t want to expend all that much mana in quests. But considering how we do quests, aren¡¯t I almost doing all the work? I mean, she¡¯s only killing off the targets while I root them. Plus, sometimes when we get overwhelmed like what just happened today, she offs and runs and begs me to kill them all off.


    Really, she says I¡¯m useless but isn¡¯t it the other way around?


    Screw her! Screw it! I¡¯ll go solo from now on! I should have done this when I was starting out!


    I don¡¯t even need teammates! They¡¯re useless and very much often, annoying and a waste.


    I know of plenty of adventurers whom had been rich by going solo. Using their wits and strengths, they are able to achieve their goals and get to where they are today.


    Goes to show that going solo isn¡¯t all detrimental.


    Also, it¡¯s not like I have long to live. There¡¯s probably 2 or so years before the seal placed on the Demon King would be broken and in that time, I would probably die.


    From now on, I won¡¯t be stingy with my mana this time¡­


    But I have already accepted that and it¡¯s not like I can do something to prevent that. But as long as I¡¯m still alive today, with still a goal in mind, be it impossible to actually achieve or not, I must try my very best to achieve it anyway.


    To be one of the richest man in the world. I know it¡¯s stupid and ridiculous but I must achieve it before time runs out. As it¡¯s the only worthwhile thing that I can do in this meaningless life of mine.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    (???)


    This morning¡­ the sun shone way too brightly. I felt like I was going to be blind.


    Anyway, I better start early so I can rest later. As the saying goes, the early bird gets the worm.


    The quests in the morning are often pretty good too so that¡¯s also something.


    And like always, my dragon had snuggled up to me sometime at night.


    Although, I would like to let him sleep here, it would be troublesome if he had to cry again, waiting for me so I¡¯ll just bring him with me like this.


    Unlike the past week were my dragon is basically a walking skeleton, he¡¯s a lot chubbier now. The bones are still visible though but it¡¯s not that alarming.


    Had I known that dragons eat even raw things then this sort of stuff wouldn¡¯t happen to him from the start but it already happened and I can¡¯t do anything to change it now.


    Let¡¯s leave the past to the past and stay at the present.


    Walking on the creaking wooden floor and after having to step on a bug of sorts, I¡¯ve finally made my way to the door which had always given me a splinter every time I use it.


    And as I opened it, the sun struck my eyeballs and burned them to crisp.


    In other words, I¡¯m completely blinded by the sun.


    But seriously, isn¡¯t the sun shining too brightly today?


    For the love of¡­ this is too intense! I can¡¯t even walk properly!


    Every time I take a step, I either almost get tripped or I get poked in the eyes by the freaking sun! Ah! This is too much.


    This lucky dragon¡­! Fast asleep and completely ignorant to the misery that which his father has been suffering from currently¡­


    Hu hu~


    As I inched closer and closer towards the main streets, the brightness of the light begun to diminish to which eventually went back to normal. To what I mean by normal is the sun¡¯s brightness¡¯ had returned to a state where living creatures can actually see things now.


    Somehow my pupils had constricted to the point that everything is way too dark but eventually, my eyes adapted and I can see fine now.


    ¡°What was that just now¡­?¡±


    That couldn¡¯t be normal, can¡¯t it? For one, it may seem to be a spell casted by someone.


    Ah¡­ Maybe a terrorist perhaps? Who knows?


    For one, it doesn¡¯t concern me right now so I shouldn¡¯t care about it much.


    After walking for a while, I finally reached the streets. To which the eyes of the people suddenly dropped on me¡­


    ¡°Wow is that a dragon!? A fire dragon at that!? How did you get it!?¡±


    ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t this the guy who tried to cast the storm spell? Why does he have a dragon?¡±


    ¡°I remember you walking around with a malnourished animal on your shoulder. Did you trade it for that dragon!? How did you trick the guy!?¡±


    Eh¡­?


    Why am I suddenly recognized? More specifically, my dragon?


    Well at least they aren¡¯t insults but admittedly, they aren¡¯t much of a compliment either. More like they¡¯re bewildered because I have a dragon.


    Although, why now of all the time that I¡¯ve brought my dragon with me?


    But yesterday and the day before that, there are some people who noticed us and approached us, saying how cool for me to have a dragon and stuff like that but not to this degree.


    Also, they didn¡¯t think that I was depraving my dragon when I first brought him with me and thought that it was some other animal? Well that¡¯s good I guess.


    Although unfortunately now, it¡¯s incredibly cramped. I can¡¯t get through this much people gathered here!


    What the heck is going on!? There¡¯s a lot more people here than usual!


    ¡°Don¡¯t block the way!¡±


    Oh¡­?


    I seem to recognize the voice.


    It¡¯s the voice of one of the commander from the day where the demons invaded the kingdom.


    I thought he got fired? Oh wait, I seem to recall that the guy is from a noble family¡­


    Bribery is a luxury¡­


    The people, after hearing him shout, had looked towards the direction to where the voice came from and had moved to the sides as ordered.


    The commander, followed by 15 lucky soldiers which didn¡¯t die that day, headed towards the castle where the king lives.


    So the source of the light seem to be in the area close to the castle then? Well at least they¡¯ve responded quickly. But I highly doubt that something very bad had happened since obviously enough, the castle is where most guards are stationed at.


    Anyway, I presume that these people are trying to head towards the source too then? To see who caused it and to see the culprit get apprehended. It¡¯s the nature of people anyway. Gossiping regarding certain topics just to join in the conversation and too feel informed is the act of some people in any community.


    Not like it concerns me though. Such unimportant things like this, I¡¯d like not to pay it any mind starting from now on. And that includes teammates which, often than not, will leave me after a week or so.


    Would you look at that, I feel accomplished for some reason.


    Let¡¯s not waste any more time here. Let¡¯s head towards the adventurers guild.


    (???)


    ¡°Ah¡­¡±


    That sound which had escaped my mouth unconsciously.


    The reason why is because the quests are pretty hard today.


    Even though I¡¯m early and hardly no one is here but a couple of adventurers talking, the only quest in the beginner side of the board is gone. Taken by whom? Probably these fellows here.


    Welp. I¡¯ve got no choice but to pick something in the middle tier. Something not too hard, is a hunting quest and elimination quest, and has a good reward.


    After looking through all of them, I¡¯ve picked something that fits the criteria and doesn¡¯t require me to test some old dudes newly invented machinery or something on my bare skin.


    And so I handed it to the receptionist.


    ¡°Good morning. Have you taken a quest to your liking?¡±


    Passing over the parchment to the ever so composed receptionist, I said my thoughts.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take this one.¡±


    After reading what the quest was, she looked at me with an uneasy expression.


    ¡°Ah¡­ a quest to eliminate the tribe of goblins near the Flores village¡­ Are you sure about this? I would like to suggest you to pick an easier one. For someone who had just started out a few weeks, this much may be too difficult for you. I recommend you take the quest about helping on the reconstruction on the walls of the kingdom. Sine it¡¯s almost finished, the work wouldn¡¯t seem to be all that difficult.¡±


    Oh yeah, the walls were damaged during the invasion. But nonetheless¡­


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll take this one.¡±


    Having to hear of my selfish request, she lets out a sigh.


    ¡°A-alright. But be careful as goblins are very cunning depending on the situation. Hm? Your partner seem to have taken a quest herself earlier. Then that would mean you¡¯re going to do this alone?¡±


    So she¡¯s the one who took the easy quest. Ha! As expected for her. For an archer who couldn¡¯t hit a moving target, of course she would choose the easiest quest.


    I pity her but it was her choice to have left me so she¡¯s on her own now.


    Although why is she still considered as my comrade? Oh right, she¡¯s labelled as my slave so she can¡¯t leave my party unless I¡¯m the one who removed her. In that case, removed!


    Shocked from what I just did, she looked at me with a more uneasy expression.


    ¡°Sir¡­ I know that you are capable of casting a storm spell but for a quest to this degree and having to do it alone¡­ I strongly suggest that you pick another.¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯ll do this one.¡±


    ¡°¡­Very well. Have it be done before sunset tomorrow. Be careful out there.¡±


    Alright.


    The first quest that I¡¯ll be doing alone. A tribe of goblins versus me alone.


    If I can do that much that day then I¡¯m confident that I can destroy a small tribe, right?


    After all the reward would be 10 gold. More than enough reason for me to take this quest.


    And so, as I¡¯m carrying my sleeping dragon, I left off to the village of Flores.

 Chapter 14: Goblin quests are as easy as ever... not

    When I was half way to the village, I turned around and headed to the tavern to eat since my stomach made weird noises again. Oh yeah, does Kyle have any money? Since I¡¯m the one holding our funds, then she probably doesn¡¯t. Ah whatever!


    Anyway, I also went back to my house to pick up some stuff. Then I soon realized that I have no useful stuff in my house¡­ I¡¯ll just take a pee pee.


    The village of Flores is quite close here. Actually, it can be seen if you used the front gate to leave the Kingdom. Unlike the village where Kyle and I often take quests from, Flores actually has a name and is much larger than that village but only request hard quests so I seldom go there.


    But not in this case as I have a quest to subjugate the nearby goblin tribe in the forest. Although goblins are quite secluded, they often attack villages with numbers and are incredibly annoying.


    Quests regarding on the elimination of a spotted group of goblins are almost always being requested. Since these groups of goblins are most likely scouts. And once the scouts are killed, the guild then request for more experienced adventurers to find and subjugate if there are any goblin tribes.


    More often than not, there isn¡¯t. Although, they would be compensated for their conformation though.


    Something I¡¯ve heard in the streets a few years back.


    But I do like if what I¡¯ve heard is something more useful than how the goblin quests form.


    Well, I guess I¡¯ll have to go in blind and think of a strategy along the way.


    And I will, as well, bring my dragon with me so he can eat the roasted meat of the goblins after this.


    Too bad that I still don¡¯t have a staff or even a robe for that matter but at least I have a hat so people would know that I¡¯m a magician and its pretty dark too!


    The mark of an experienced magician! But people are less than impressed at me than what I would have expected¡­


    It¡¯s not like I need their approval. It¡¯s would just be nice if people would appreciate the effort as it is.


    Enough with the blabbering!


    I shook my head left and right and slapped my cheeks as hard as I can to the point that it made a red mark on my cheeks¡­


    My¡­ it hurts actually¡­


    And then I put on my shoes and placed my dragon on my shoulders and went off. For real this time.


    ( ?¡ã ?? ( ?¡ã ?? ( ?¡ã ?? ( ?¡ã ?? ?¡ã) ?? ?¡ã)? ?¡ã)? ?¡ã)


    I did say that I¡¯m heading towards the village of Flores but in actuality, I¡¯m just there to inform the mayor that I¡¯m the one to be doing the quest. Although he looked at me with doubt since I¡¯ll be doing it alone, he nonetheless wished me good luck with an uneasy expression.


    Why doesn¡¯t people have any trust on me doing this? I mean, I can manage, right?


    Now I feel nervous.


    Welp, no time to weep and cry and regret to why I took this quest. I guess I¡¯ll head out to the forest and try to locate where the heck the tribe is.


    Upon entering the forest, the sound of singing and flattering birds came to my ears. The scent of wood and the damp ground which I¡¯m so familiar with, embraced my nostrils as if welcoming me. Yes, the sight of a pair of wolves copulating just made it all better!


    Let¡¯s avoid those two and give them some privacy¡­


    After that, I headed towards the heart of the forest.


    The forest is, like any other forests, is full of magnificently tall trees which had been around for more than 150 years since the King had forbade anyone cutting any of the trees down. So I guess it isn¡¯t like any forest since the trees are a bit older but I digress. Although there are some who tried to and sell the old wood for a great sum, they¡¯re reprehended quite unnaturally quickly.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    This forest too has its own ecosystem. The animals are quite varied and there have been sightings of more powerful creatures residing in the middle of the forest which I would like to avoid.


    But since I would be going deeper into the forest, I guess it¡¯s inevitable if I encountered a few on my way.


    After walking for a few minutes whilst dirtying my shoes in the process, I¡¯ve finally seen some signs that the tribe is nearby.


    The guild had given me directions to where it is but certainly, it¡¯s not that accurate. It¡¯s more of an estimation to where the tribe is. I have thoughts of doubt that I may be going nowhere while I was about half way there but the doubt was quickly swept away.


    So the signs to look for to know if the goblin tribe is nearby is the carving in the woods and if it¡¯s a nest, then the unnatural design of the cave. As said by some people I¡¯ve talked to on my way here.


    The carvings also tells where the tribe is and all I have to do is just follow where it would lead me.


    And just like that, I finally see the tribe.


    Now time to strategies. I should¡¯ve done this earlier but whatever.


    ¡°What do you think?¡±


    I asked my dragon in a whispery voice and he nodded his head. Well it¡¯s not like he can think of anything. And I couldn¡¯t think of anything either since this is practically my first time doing a quest solo. I¡¯ve only started adventuring a few weeks ago so I only know the ropes because my dad was an adventurer when he was young and had told me stories about his days.


    Enough with the origins stories I need some plan on how I would do this.


    First off, observe. And with that, I have to get closer.


    Sneaking a tad bit closer towards the goblin tribe, hiding behind the conveniently wide trunks of trees, I made my observation¡­


    Crap¡­


    They aren¡¯t any regular goblins. They¡¯re freaking hobgoblins! I¡¯m so freaking dead!


    How the heck can I take even a single one of them down!? I never fought a hobgoblin before, let alone seen one! All I know is that they¡¯re very tough and hit darn hard¡­


    Hmm¡­


    Should I just burn them all? Ah¡­ they might be fire resistant¡­ also it will burn the forest in the process which would lead me to getting executed when I return.


    Should I just cut them all using wind? Ah¡­ they might be resistant to that too¡­ and will also hit the trees which may lead me to getting jailed.


    Should I just drown them all? No wait, that¡¯s stupid.


    Should I just summon an earthquake? Might affect the roots of the trees and possibly break them and may affect the kingdom as well which would get me jailed again on top of having to destroy a couple of trees in the process, also the earthquake won¡¯t be effective anyway. They might make them throw up and ruin their homes but that¡¯s about it.


    Freaking trees¡­ why are they so precious?


    The cons of having to know only basic spells¡­ they¡¯re all elemental. I can¡¯t recreate special spells like void and light. Well except for illusion which my dad thought me so I got that going at least.


    Also using illusion is pretty stupid as well since I do need to kill them and all. Plus I¡¯ve heard that the leader and some shaman goblins can actually see through the illusions which would make them completely useless anyway.


    Hmm¡­


    Strike some lighting on their heads?


    Maybe¡­


    Moving to get a better sight of the tribe, the numbers are pretty low and I could very well differentiate what hut their leader is residing in since it¡¯s bigger, fancier and has 2 guards standing at the front.


    Should I just blow up that one using a lightning spell? I mean, if they have no more leader then they would inevitably fall into ruin until the next leader take control.


    No, I¡¯m exaggerating. Of course they won¡¯t go too crazy if their leader died but they would surely be suspicious and conscious if some lightning were to suddenly hit their leader and killed it but they would surely be at lost when that happened. Also, casting lightning using a combination of spells is very straining and I could only do it at most, 4 times. Especially since I would be using it for combat then the mana cost and the brain power to concentrate on trying to conjure a lightning is higher compared to when I¡¯m not using it for combat.


    Ugh! I should¡¯ve just been an entertainer then¡­!


    Alright, I¡¯ve thought about different ways on trying to wipe them all out and they are all either incredibly straining to do or there¡¯s risk that they are resistant to it.


    So it¡¯s decided. Let¡¯s hit the leader with a lightning.


    And so I summoned a mass of clouds using water and wind spell and try to compact them close to each other. Having half of the clouds warm and the other half cold, it a snake of lightning is forming on the clouds.


    As expected, the hobgoblins are startled with the vents occurring so suddenly.


    Eventually, sparks of light, shot out of the clouds. Just a little more and aim for the leaders¡¯ hut¡­


    My god, this is harder than I thought! Using this for combat is 4 folds more difficult than conjuring it in a whim! When I said I can cast this spell for like 4 times, that¡¯s actually a lie hehe¡­ ha¡­


    And like that, a bolt of lightning hit the leaders¡¯ hut and essentially blew it up.


    Man, what a spectacle! Sure wish I don¡¯t have a massive headache right now¡­


    This also started an uproar on the hobgoblins. Which is nice.


    If it were cloudy then this would¡¯ve been easier.


    With that, they don¡¯t have a leader which would make them at least less coordinated and would just attack like monkeys. I was hoping to attack them right then and there when I killed their leader and try to wipe them all out one by one using lesser bolts of lightning but I think that would be iffy to do¡­


    I mean, just trying to cast the big one had already put a lot of strain on me, If I were to produce a lot smaller ones continuously then I would pass out after just having to cast 3 or 4¡­


    Well at least in that massive one, I¡¯m able to take out the 2 guards and one passing by¡­ I¡¯ll continue this tomorrow and just try to wipe them all out using a big lightning or something. I really hope it would rain tomorrow too.


    Even with this headache, I at least can walk properly without stumbling to random objec¡ª


    *Crack*


    Spoke too soon? Yeah, I just stepped on some twig and it made a pretty loud sound too.


    When I looked back, the hobgoblins had stopped their panicking and looked straight at me¡­


    Crap! They¡¯re running towards me!


    This is bad! This is very bad!!!


    You¡­! Freaking twigs! Why do you even exist!? You useless tw*ts!


    I created a moderately thick layer of water to where they¡¯re going to in a few seconds but the water just got observed by the soil! And now when I tried to freeze it, it didn¡¯t stop their movement at all!


    I tried to soften the ground too while I¡¯m running and it did take one of them down, but the others just walked through the guy without even helping him!


    You cruel creatures! Have you not have any sympathy towards your kin!?


    Oh wait, someone helped him¡­ okay.


    I conjured a few more quick sands which hardly makes any difference and now my head feels like I¡¯m being pecked by a woodpecker!


    It hurts!


    *splash*


    Crap! I tripped and fell on a puddle¡­!


    I can¡¯t get up! My head hurts too darn much!


    I¡¯m dead! I¡¯m so dead!


    They¡¯re already here¡­


    I noticed that my dragon isn¡¯t with me. He must¡¯ve fallen off while I was running¡­


    Good. At least he will at least live.


    Well, I¡¯m done for. Death comes in different times. Mostly after one did something incredibly stupid. Looks like I¡¯m the stupid one this time.


    Ha¡­ I couldn¡¯t even manage to meet my father after 16 years now¡­


    The last thing I felt is a blunt object hitting the back of my head. And then I was greeted my darkness.