The Quantum Wanderer

I go to the other side, to open a portal while Piotr does his thing.  Strangely enough, I feel like I kind of owe Piotr.  I come here, I force him to obey.  And he even kind of helped me.

I open a portal to the nest of fenrirs, and choose the biggest one.  He is right in the middle of the pack.  Soul absorption, neck snapped, and portaled to Piotr’s cave.  The other fenrirs don’t even wake up.  I come out of the portal carrying the Fenrir by the back of the neck.  Piotr is in the submissive position, I throw him the Fenrir.

“Enjoy.”

I open a portal back to the guild in Frolk, to my room.

Cecilia and Shandon are sleeping on my bed.  I feel kind of dirty, with everything.  I am just tired.  I go down, to the side barn, and take a late bath and relax.

I wake up the next morning inside the bath.  The water is now cold, but that doesn’t bother me much.  I put on the clean clothes, and get back in to the guild.

Cecilia is already preparing the breakfast.

“Where were you?  Where did you sleep?”

She puts her hands on her hips.

“Are you going to bring more wives, hubby?”

I giggle a bit.

“I fell asleep in the tub.  I think I should do some reporting to Leopold later.  Let’s have some steak for breakfast.”

She starts to walk towards the door, when I interrupt.

“Do you think there are going to be people for breakfast today?”

“There has been, so I guess yes.”

“Let them have the rest of plated rhino meat.  It’s not like it is our best, and for them it is going to be a feast.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“You do realize that I am not going to be able to pay for it, right?”

“Sure.  Consider it good karma.  I am going to need a little bit.”

I say that with a tired voice, and I can see some concern on Cecilia’s face.

I take out all the plated rhino meat I have, it is a big chunk.  But whatever the farmers don’t eat, I am sure that Shandon will be happy to finish.  Of course, some of it goes to Muninn.  He, or she, I don’t really know, has actually helped me a couple of times just by being there.

I get off the kitchen, and Shandon gets down the stairs.

“Good morning, my lo-Marcelo.”

“Good morning.  Let’s have breakfast.  Today is a plated rhino, so that we can share with the other people.”

She nods, and we both sit on a table.  The guild is still empty, so I get to some questions.

“Shandon, you call me my lord, and I noticed that other dragons do that too…  Is this just out of respect?”

“Well, Marcelo, you are part of the…  council.  That is not transferrable.  Hence, my lord.”

“Oh.  Did I get that from Hoggar?”

“Yes.”

“Would you be more comfortable calling me Marcelo or my lord?  I want you to feel close to me.  Have you seen how Cecs calls me by various nicknames?”

“I will use any term you prefer, Marcelo.”

“But what make you feel closer?  How do relationships work in dragon culture?”

“We are different than humans.  Our lives are more practical.  There is a lot that I don’t understand yet.  Females among dragons are weaker.  We don’t get to the size of a male, our scales are softer, we don’t have horns.  If we challenge, we loose.  Unless we challenge a very young hatchling.  So we are passed on, like hunting grounds. 

“My line has been cursed with these white scales, that attract a lot of attention from males.  I don’t quite understand it, but we are a coveted prize.  My mother told me of a legend that, in a very distant past, our line came from dragons that could manipulate cold instead of fire.  But those are tales to help hatchlings sleep.

“The first time I was mated, my body wasn’t even ready yet.  I have laid several eggs for Hoggar.

“Then you received me, and you treated me tenderly.  Even now, you provide before eat.  You make efforts to keep a good and light life.  You gave me trinkets, and did so in a soft way.

“I surrended all of me, and would do it a thousand times more.  I would like to call you my lord, because it reminds me that you own me; and that makes me…  Happy?  I think that is the expression.”

“Ok, you can call me my lord if you wish.  I just didn’t want you to use terms out of respect.”

She opens a big smile.

“My lord, you mentioned that other dragons have been calling you my lord as well…  What dragons?”

“Kind of close to here there is something that people call the land of dragons.  It only have the smaller ones, though.”

“Oh, have you been to the nursery?”

“Huh.  Apparently, yes.  Why doing the nursery here?”

“Males like to make sure their legacy survives.  So sometimes they come with their hatchlings, to the nursery.  The hunting grounds here are way poorer than the ones in Drakonia, so elders are not attracted to come here, and the hatchlings have a higher chance of survival.  Sometimes, it is not the parent that comes with the hatchling, but rather a brother, because the hatchling was bred from an elder, and they just can’t be bothered.”

“Would you like to visit the nursery?  There is even a dragon that has kind of been helping me.”

“Not particularly, my lord.  It might be a new experience for Cecilia.  Since my lord is a council dragon, it might be good that she knew how exceptional my lord is.”

I giggled a little.

“My lord, isn’t Cecilia going to have breakfast with us?”

“She is responsible for maintaining this place.  She is preparing breakfast for everyone.  You might want to go to the kitchen to get your piece, she can’t use normal means to cook your share.”

She stands up, stays for a second, puts her hair behind her ear, and kisses me on the lips before going to the kitchen.

Cecilia brings my stake, and Shandon comes right behind, with a plate and this hill of steaks, just like previous time.

People start arriving at the guild, and sitting down.  They get really happy to learn that there is going to be this amount of steak, for the same price as the stew. Everyone goes for the steak. Word spreads around, and the guild gets cramped up in no time.

I see that Cecilia is really busy serving the tables.  At some point, some people start help, just because she tells them to wait.

“Cecs, I have to present a report to Leopold.  I am thinking of taking Shandon with me.  Do you want to come?”

“I would love to, but you do know that this is actually my job, right?  Tell me later how it went.”

I turn to Shandon.

“Do you want to come?”

“Yes, my lord.”

Cecilia makes a face.

“Are we back to my lord?”

“I asked her, that’s what she wants, she gets it.”

I go upstairs with Shandon, and we change into something adequate for going in the woods.  I open a small portal to check if Leopold is alone, and tell him that I am bringing company.

We go into the woods, and we portal to Leopold’s office.

“Oh my-y.  You’re so pretty!  Who are you?”

“I am Shandon.  I am one of my lord’s mates.”

He looks at me.  I smile and shrug.

“And where are you from, pretty… girl?”

“I am from Drakonia.  My lord allowed me to be by his side.”

“Oh my, so pretty, so pretty…  How are things, my hero…?”

Shandon inclines her head, and her brows connect.  I see that she is starting to get in a bad mood.

“Leopold, cut the crap.  The whole mask thing is tiring, and the cat is out of the bag already.”

He sighs, and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Very well.  Can we sit on the sofa?”

“Sure.”

“My lord, he seems to have knowledge on your situation.  Why isn’t he being respectful?”

Leopold looks at her.

“Situation?  What situation?”

“My lord is council dragon.”

“I am sorry…  What?”

“That dragon I killed in another continent.  I got his council membership as well, apparently.”

Shandon crossed her arms, underneath her breasts, and tapped her foot on the floor.  Leopold massaged his temples.

“Well, I did offer worship, he refused.”

Apparently, that satisfied her.  He was telling the truth, just didn’t mention that that was a joke.

“Now, how can I help you, my lord?”

Leopold was doing this in a slightly sarcastic way, but I don’t think that Shandon could actually understand sarcasm yet.

“I am here to give you an idea on the state of things.”

“Sure.”

“Well, after I scared the duke a little, …”

“You mean, broke his mind…”

“You already know that I got my hands on Igor the motherless, right?”

“Yes.”

“So, he had no direct contact with the leader of the Shadows, Piratress.  They only used this.”

I throw the Comm Gem on the table.

“I found the Piratress, she was the wife of a noble.  Her husband got caught in the crossfire.  She told me that no one is privy to my secret, and I believe her.  The only alive people that know about it right now are you, Andrew, and the asshole.”

“Ok.  Now, please tell me, what did you to him?”

“To the asshole?  I actually didn’t even hurt him.  I just took him to our dragon land, and kind of screamed a dragon into submission…”

“What?”

“Well, I knew that I could stand my ground against several Parents now, right?  So I portaled the asshole and myself to a dragon’s cave.  When Piotr came home, we were there.  He war cried, I war cried, and he stopped.  Apparently, news about me defeating Hoggar had already reached the nursery.”

“How do they show their submission?”

Shonda got up from the couch, kneeled on the floor, with her arms to side, palms up, head down.

“It’s a little hard to do it in this shape, but something like this.”

Leopold saw her doing that position to me, and just pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I assume Hoggar is the name of the council dragon you killed?”

“Yes.  Then I did this thing that I can do…  I absorbed the soul of a Fenrir that I killed in front of them.  I don’t think the asshole noticed, but Piotr did.  And seeing a dragon scared for life, or, more specifically, for soul, apparently did the trick.”

Shandon was back at the couch.  She had a straight back, and was smiling and nodding, as if that was the most natural thing to happen.  Like a wife proud that her husband got promoted.

Leopold just started laughing.  I knew that my soul absorption would not get in the way of reincarnation, it was just a way to milk all the experience from the kill, but no one else knew that, and I intended to keep it that way.  Leopold tried to control himself.

“I am sorry, I am laughing partly on the scene, and partly because I am kind of nervous right now.  No offense.”

“None taken.  So, in the process of getting to the Piratress, I identified that there are other 3 Comm Gems connect to this one in Lirastra.  Another one in the slums, one in the merchant district, and one in the military barracks.  Just giving you a heads up.”

“Can I pass this intel up?”

“Sure, you also have to make a living, right?”

He laughed again.

“I don’t know if I am aging or having fun during our encounters.  Probably both.  What now?”

“I am thinking of doing the traveling that was interrupted.  Perhaps allow Cecilia to see a dragon up close…  Shandon, with what I mentioned here, do you think Piotr would mind Cecilia flying on his back?”

“My lord, we don’t really have that concept.  Your question doesn’t translate to our language.”

“Would she be safe if I told Piotr to let Cecilia ride him?”

“Yes, he would protect her with his life.  He submitted all of him to you my lord.  That means looking out for yours as well.”

Leopold was pinching his nose bridge again.  He just smirked.

“Now I am just aging.  Why don’t you have a saddle made?  It will make more comfortable for her…”

He laughed.  But he kind of had a point…  Instead of laughing, I was holding my chin with my hand.  Shandon apparently liked the idea.

“My lord, you could do one for when you ride me as well.  I mean, your armor kind of hurts…  If only you did it…  naked… I woudn’t…”

Now Leopold had lost his grip, and just boom laughed.  Now I was interested on doing that.

“Leopold, do you know anyone that could do it?”

He reigned in his laughter.

“The design is not the problem, the problem is the secret.  It’s one more person that knows your secret.”

I was thinking about it, and he was right.  And even if it were someone friendly, I wouldn’t want to burden someone.  Perhaps the demons?  I mean, it’s not like I was really keeping the secret there.  Yes, that would do it.

I wonder if Andrew wanted to go with us in the visit.

“Anyway, I am going, I think that I already reported everything.  If you have any questions, just ask.”

“Sure.  Is there any part you don’t want reported to the upper echelon?”

“Not really, there is nothing in there to use against me, and they have been treating me well.  Even if we haven’t met.  So, go ahead.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

Again, just a tip of sarcasm, but I don’t mind, the whole thing is funny.  We portaled to the woods of Frolk and got back to the guild.

The guild’s movement had died down.  There was no meat left.  Cecilia is washing the dishes.  I join in to help a little.  Shandon is looking.  After some time, she joins in, and we finish it quickly.

I dry my hands.

“I am thinking of visiting the demon emperor, do you girls want to come?”

“I am sorry…  WHAT?!?”

“He actually is a nice guy.  His marshal is actually gentler than what you’d expect from a military leader.  They have all been extremely kind.”

…

“Plus, they have this liquor that is as good as a piece of mana enhanced steak.  And they speak [common].”

…

“Well?”

“Sure, I guess.”

I open a very small portal, and talk to Andrew.

“Hi Andrew.”

“What’s up, kid?”

“I am thinking of visiting Rajesh.  Do you want to come?”

“Nope, I am good, kid.  We already talked everything we wanted to last time.”

“Ok.”

I create a portal to the meeting room I use with Rajesh.  Cecilia slaps me on the head.

“Close that!  What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“He is an emperor, right?  EM-PE-ROR.  We have at least to bathe and dress a little better.”

“I never really worried about that, but ok.”

“By the gods, you men are animals.”

We all bathe, Cecilia puts on a dress, and helps Shandon to get in the best dress we bought at the Empire.

I open the portal, and we jump to the room.  Cecilia’s face is way more amazed than Shandon’s.  Both of them are looking around.

I pour ourselves a little of that liquor, Muninn as always leave my shoulders and go to the window.

We taste the liquor, and Cecilia rolls her eyes.

“Wow, this is good!  By the gods.”

“It is very palatable, my lord.”

I nod, and I open the door and the guard outside nods and runs away.  I leave the door open.  I sit on the couch, Cecilia looks at the glass.

“Where are we going to get summoned to?  Is it a long walk?”

“Huh?  What do you mean?”

“Who is going to escort us?  How long do those meetings generally take?”

“Ahhh…  I generally just put my face outside, there is generally a guard, and he runs to call everyone.”

“Who is everyone?”

“Well, sometimes the marshal comes visit as well.  Last time, they had one of their Nature researchers come because of some idea I gave them.”

“What is a Nature researcher?  What do they research?”

“They research how the world interacts, without the magic.  What would be normal if magic was not there.  It can help a lot, there a lot of things you can do that you don’t need magic for.”

“Do you have an example?”

I bring Cecilia to the balcony, I think it is possible to see the water tower from there.

“We are near the sea, just way high.  You see that thing over there?  By the corner?”

Shandon gets close, I am kind of squeezed between the two of them.

“I gave them an idea, they created a device that uses heat from the sum to extract pure water from the sea.  It puts the water there.  From there, it is distributed inside the city.”

At this point, we are heating something hitting the stone floor, tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak…  Rajesh appears on the door.  He raises his two arms.

“My friend!  Welcome.”

“Hi.  These are my…”

I look at Cecilia.  She helps.

“His mates.”

Tak-tak-tak tak…  Siratra appears on the door, she is wearing this dress, very tight around her body.  I can understand that, she is getting popular, according to last time I was here, so people start to worry a little about the looks.  But she seems kind of sad, actually.  Weird, last time we met she was very excited with the research and all.

The emperor bows to them.

“I am mostly honored to meet the mates of the Great Adventurer.”

I look at Siratra.

“Are you ok?  You seem a little sad.”

“Don’t worry about it, it is nothing.”

“Can I show you something, my friend?”

“Sure.”

“Please come with me.”

Muninn comes to my shoulder and the entourage again walks through the palace.  Tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak.  Why is Siratra using a dress like that?  It is so impractical…  Is she having a date after this?  She is definitely pretty enough, though I don’t know what demons go for.

As the doors to the are before the gate is open, I see that there is an irrigation thing, and that there is some grass that is starting to grow there.  I am impressed.  Rajesh opens a smile.

“Your idea for the water unseaing device allowed us to no only provide water for the capital, now we have even some surplus.  This idea is being used everywhere.  Millions of gallons of clean water from the sea!”

“I am super happy for you.” 

I take two steps out the door, and I am really embarrassed.

“Huh…  This was not here last time.”

“Yes!  We wanted to make you a surprise!  What do you think friend?”

I look at it.  There are two statues now, around the door.  One of Rajesh, as expected, looking far.  The other one is pointing in the direction Rajesh is looking.  It is a statue of a man with a crow on his shoulder.

“Yes, I am surprised.”

Shandon is nodding, with her eyes kind of closed, and Cecilia tries to find a place to pinch me, and whispers in my ear.

“What is this?”

“I didn’t know about this myself.  If they want it, ok.”

We go back to the meeting room.

As we sit down, Cecilia asks in my ear.

“Who is the girl?”

“She is the Nature researcher.”

“Researcher… Ok…”

I take a look at the corner of the room with my side eye, and I see a little shadow.  I change the air around it, to pure nitrogen.  I can see it starting to grasp for air.  I throw the glass at the spy’s head, trying to not use too much force.  It shatters, and the spy falls down, unconscious.

The guards come inside the room immediately.  Everybody is looking at the spy, kind of shocked.

“Hey Rajesh, I tried not to kill him because it could be one of yours, for protect or something.”

“Never!  This concept offends, me friend!”

“I am sorry.  Anyway, he has a tooth with poison.  You may want to remove it if you are going to question him.  I am now as forthcoming about my identity in the human lands as I am here.”

“Of course, I will investigate this matter.  Guards!  Remove his poison tooth.  Call the marshal.”

I let him to deal with it.  After some time, he comes back, and sits down like nothing happened.  He mentions how much cheaper food is going to get, with the addition of water and plantations.  They have a very nice potential, because they ended up not having forests, therefore not having many monsters.  The issue they have to deal is the water.

Siratra pulls her hair behind her ear.

“Great Adventurer, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Last time you were here, you were mentioning something about rain.”

“Yes.  Basically, I noticed how you guys have a lot of sea water around you, right?  Even without steam, there still is a small quantity of water that evaporates, that becomes water smoke.  I was thinking that when the wind hits the mountains, it would go up, get colder and that could create rain.  Don’t you guys have rains on the mountains?  Do you guys know if that happens?  If that creates rivers?  Where are those rivers flowing?”

The emperor showed his enthusiasm.

“Siratra, did you write that down?”

“Yes, your highness.”

“Rajesh, do you have any artificer that works with leather that you can introduce?”

“Of course.  What do you need, my friend?”

“I had this idea, for the kicks of it, and that was to make a saddle…”

“What animal are you going to mount?”

“One female dragon and possibly a male one.  If the male one agrees, of course, but he has been very cooperative.  This is a little whim of mine.  I wanted to keep this a quiet matter, I don’t want to spread this information.  Someone trustworthy would be nice.”

A spear falls on the ground, one of the guards dropped it, he is looking at us slack jawed.

“Hello?”

“Huh, sure, but you would have to bring the dragon to him, so that he can take the measurements and see what he has to come up with.  Just give me a week to find the right demon.”

“Sure, I appreciate.”

I look at the girls.

“Do you want to meet him?  His name is Piotr.  I think he doesn’t even care anymore when I pop up in his cave.”

“Sure, my lord.  Knowing your subjects may prove useful.”

“Are. You. Crazy?”

“He is pretty calm, actually.”

…

“So?”

“I don’t even know what to say…  Sure, I guess.”

We say our goodbyes, and I open a portal do Piotr’s cave.  I get out first.

“Hi Piotr.”

“Hi, my lord.”

He assumes the submissive position.

“I would like you to meet my mates.”

Shandon and Cecilia join me.  He doesn’t move an inch.

“Piotr salutes council member the soul eater’s mates.”

“It’s ok, you go to a normal position.”

Piotr lies down, keeping his head to the ground.

Cecilia is looking, Shandon is just kind of proud.  Apparently they ignored the soul eater thing.

“Piotr, what is your opinion on flying my mate?”

“My lord, I submitted all that I am to you.”

Shandon holds my arm, and nods with head, indicating that everything is all right.

“Ok then.  I may, in the near future, have a saddle made, because your scales would be too hard on my… mate.”

“Of course, my lord.”

“Thank you.”

I open a portal, and we go back to Frolk.  We now start eating some dragon meat.  It still feels weird that Shandon has no issues eating that, she actually enjoys.  Well, if she doesn’t object, it’s not my place to complain.  And we still have a lot of that to eat even before getting to Hoggar.  Once we are done, we are all doing the dishes.

Cecilia puts her hand in front of her mouth, and burps.  Shandon looks at that, then at me.

“My lord, isn’t burping something that displeases you?”

“Not particularly. What I told you is that you didn’t have to do it.  If your stomach is bloated, a burp will not be an issue.”

“I see.  Thank you for the clarification, my lord…  BBBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRPPPPPPPP!  Much better.”

Cecilia and I were just starting to get used to the amount of food Shandon ate.  We looked at ourselves, and laughed.  Shandon just looked at us.

“What’s wrong?”

“The thing is, it is considered bad manners for a human to burp.  That’s why you only do it around people that you are very comfortable with.  It ends up being a sign of intimacy.  But we are supposed to just do it when we actually need it.  So it was actually pretty.  And the size of that…  It could almost be a war cry!”

“HAHAHA, a war burp, I like it..”

Shandon just had her cheeks really red.  I just touched them.  She placed her hair behind her ear.  We left the kitchen, and went back to the tables in the guild.  Cecilia was passing her hand over her belly.

“I am sorry, my villain, I am too bloated to think of moving around too much.”

“I know, me too.”

I saw that Shandon was perhaps a little disappointed.

“My lord, may I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“I was thinking about the mating…  Why are mating if you are providing bad seed?”

Cecilia burst out laughing.

“By the gods, I just ate too much to laugh this much!”

Shandon showed a displeased face.  I pulled her closer to me, and I placed my hand on her leg.

“We humans like proximity to the people we like.  For instance, I like to grab your leg, or touch you, even if we are not mating.  We mate for the act, it gives us pleasure.  Was it not pleasurable to you?”

She smilled, and nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes my lord, mating with you is pleasurable.  I didn’t know it could be so.  If the other dragons knew, they would probably only mate in this form.  But what about your legacy?”

“Eventually.  I am in hurry.  I don’t have any ambitions of ordering beings around.  I just want a simple life, food on the table, enough comfort.  Power brings useless danger.  I can be happy with little.  What about you Shandon?  What do you need to be happy?”

She looked at me like one of those teen in love.

“Just you, my lord.”

I pulled and placed her on top of my lap.  Cecilia gave me a bad face.

“Come here, you too.”

She came, hugged my arm, and placed her head on my shoulder.  I could be like this forever.

The first golden rays of dawn crept through the silk curtains as Cecilia’s mischievous lips found my half-hard cock beneath the sheets. 

“Mmm…good morning, my villain,” she purred, her tongue swirling around the tip while her fingers kneaded my thighs. 

Before I could respond, a smaller, uncertain hand joined hers—Shandon, her wide eyes full of hesitant curiosity.

“M-may I also…attend you, my lord?”

Cecilia chuckled, guiding Shandon’s fingers to my shaft.

“Like this, little dragon. Firm but…ah! Not *that* firm.”

She corrected Shandon’s grip as the girl nearly crushed me in her eagerness. 

Shandon bit her lip, trying to mirror Cecilia’s rhythm as she stroked me—too fast, then too slow, her cheeks flushed with frustration.

“Forgive me, my lord! I only wish to—oh!”

Her apology dissolved into a gasp as Cecilia nudged her aside, taking me deep into her throat. 

 “Watch and learn.”

Cecilia murmured around my cock before releasing it with a lewd *pop*. And Shandon *did* watch, her thighs squeezing together as she studied every flick of Cecilia’s tongue. 

When it was her turn again, Shandon trembled, her tentative licks more reverent than skilled.

“Do I please you, my lord? Even…even a little?”

Unable to resist, I pulled her up, crushing her mouth to mine while Cecilia mounted me, her cunt dripping onto my stomach.

“Fuck—! Such a greedy villain,”

Cecilia moaned as she rode me, her nails dragging down my chest. 

Shandon whimpered, her fingers fluttering between her own thighs.

“M-my lord, might I…join properly?”

Cecilia smirked, lifting herself off me just enough to yank Shandon forward.

“On your knees, little dragon. He likes to see devotion.”

And so it went—round after round, Shandon’s clumsy adoration juxtaposed with Cecilia’s sinful expertise. Every whispered ”my lord” was met with a husked ”my villain,” every awkward thrust guided into something smoother, until even Shandon’s inexperience became its own tantalizing rhythm. 

By the third climax, the sheets were ruined, the sun was high, and Shandon lay sprawled across my chest—exhausted but victorious.

“Did I…did I finally serve you well, my lord?” 

Cecilia laughed, her heel digging playfully into my hip.

“Oh, he’ll let you practice again. Isn’t that right, my villain?”

All three of us were laying on the bed, each of them had one shoulder.

“Do you want to visit a city today?  I would prefer not going to the capital of the Holy Kingdom, though.”

“Why?”

“They don’t allow me to enter with Muninn.  Since we are going to do some tourism, leaving him for something like that leaves a bad taste in the mouth.”

“Sometimes I think you like that crow better than me.”

He flew down from the bookcase, and landed on the bed.  He cawed. 

“I like you too.”

“Than…  Hey!  Are you saying that to bird or to me?”

“To you, of course…”

Muninn cawed again. 

“Anyway…  City?”

“We could go to Ironhold.”

“The Empire capital, right?”

“Yes.  My initial thought was Lirastra, but I hear that situation there is kind of messy.  Apparently there is a crime syndicate war going on.”

“Shandon, is there any place you would like to visit?  I imagine you would not know much about human cities.  But we can visit your mother if you want.  But…  Would Cecilia be safe there?”

“She would be as safe as you made her to be, my lord.  Please remember that I am a female, even young adults are stronger than me.  I don’t think we have to visit her so soon, my lord.”

“Alright, Ironhold it is.  Let’s just have some breakfast.  Some more dragon steak?  I have to hunt if we are to eat some other meat.  What do you like?”

Cecilia shakes her head.

“I hope you have a notion on how absurd this kind of talk is.”

“I think I… do?  Perhaps?”

”I don’t think so.  But…  Why don’t we go have breakfast in Ironhold?  They have inns with very good food.”

“Do you think we should try the noble’s district?”

“Hummm…  I can’t say that I have been in any noble’s district, so I don’t know.  I am worried about the amount of food that would take to satisfy Shandon, though.  That would get expensive, fast.”

“That’s ok, I have some cash for now.  Are we going to need to get better dressed?”

“I don’t know, I have never been in the noble’s district.”

We decided to ask Leopold.  He actually referred us to a clothing shop in Orora that had a good quality for the cost.  We ended up spending two gold, but each of us had a noble’s garb.  Of course, it had no combat abilities, but that was not the intention.

With the time spent on doing the measurements, we ended up having a meal and walking around Orora.  Leopold offered his carriage, but we preferred to just stroll, and see the city a little bit.

Orora was middle grounds between Ironhold and Lirastra.  It did not have the corruption smell of Lirastra, and was way less stiff than Ironhold.  It was, of course, also way smaller than both.

It was a good experience for Shandon to see a human city as well.  She still hadn’t seen a city, as opposed to a village like Frolk.

A lot of options in terms of food, a lot more people walking around.  Even a noble’s district, that we were allowed to enter with my mithril tag, was less complicated to be in.  People’s eyes were not so bad as they were in Lirastra’s.

We had a meal inside the noble’s district.  The restaurant there was quite impressed with Shandon’s appetite.  At some point, they started to getting worried, but then I reset the bill, paid the gold and three silver we had accrued to that point, and the dishes started coming in a timely manner again.  Shandon ended up eating 17 portions.  The whole ordeal was 2 gold coins.  Of course, for a couple, the cost would be around 3 silver, so it is expensive, but not THAT expensive normally.  It was weird having lunch after so long without it, but apparently, in the noble’s district, this was a thing.

After some time, Leopold joined us.  He said that he had finished the work for the day, in that weird manner that he took on for most people.  He guided us around the best areas to visit, the best sweets shop.

Cecilia, at some point, seemed bothered on the amount of money we were spending.  Leopold suggested that the guild might foot the bill, but I preferred to pay out of my pocket.  We had spent 6 gold so far.

Leopold told me that he wanted to talk.  I gave Cecilia and Shandon one gold coin each, and told Cecilia to watch out.  Shandon wasn’t quite acclimated to human culture yet.  The girls went their way, and Leopold and I were left in the café.  Leopold did his silence spell.

“Just to keep you up to date, the upper echelon appreciated that you did not kill the asshole.”

“Sure.  One of those days he might end up costing the king’s head.”

“Yes, definitely.  The king was irate about it, but he has no idea what happened.  As of now, the best explanation he has is just a mental issue, and only the moon can explain those.  But, changing topics, the guild would like to hire you.”

“What do you guys need?”

“We want you to kill the rest of the captains from the Shadow.”