The Quantum Wanderer

Edward POV

Right now, I am having a drink with Anthon.  We are both shaking.  First, the spectacle of the parade.  Those were not 200 dragons.  Those were at least a thousand.  Even though I am used to counting troops, counting that was a little hard.  The two lines of dragons stratched across the sky.

I hear a knock on the door.

“Excuse me, your excellency, we have the numbers.”

Anthon stands up and opens the door himself.  He receives a piece of paper, and starts analyzing it.  He goes back to the sofa, sits down, and takes a big gulp on the hard liquor.

I take a look at the paper.

“Report on dragon flight

4 smaller dragons, three of them with riders.  They had a different aspect to the others in that they did not display spikes.  The riders may be of humanoid race format, but it was difficult to ascertain which race due to distance.  Spikeless dragons’ size, from nose to tail, around 100 feet.

213 big dragons, with spikes.  Sizes vary between 330 and 270 feet.

4078 small dragons, with spikes.  Sizes vary between 170 and 150 feet.”

“Edward, how big were the dragons acquired by the guild?”

“They were 83, 85, 87 feet.  Not in that order, of course.”

“Edward…”

“Yes?”

“HOW THE FUCK IS THAT 200 DRAGONS?!?”

I am laughing.  Part because the situation is funny, part because I just let it go.  I have never seen Anthon curse or lose his composure in my life.  He is a great commander of armies.  Part of what makes him brilliant in battles is understanding what is at stake, keeping cool, and putting his life on the line with his army’s.  This abandonment is just not the same with the nobles.  Thus he wins.

He fills his glass to the top with more liquor, and drinks it.

“I knew as much as you did.  You can just visit him demand an explanation from him.”

“Fuck you.”

“Besides…”

“Besides?”

“Besides, does it make any difference?  In the guild, there is a saying…  ‘What does a dragon hunt?’”

“I don’t know, Fenrirs?”

“Not wrong, but not right.  A dragon hunts whatever it feels like.  So, what’s the difference between 10, 100 or 1000?”

Anthon takes several gulps of liquor.

“You are right.  It’s not like you can kill someone twice, right?”

“I don’t know.”

“Wait.  What are you not telling me?”

“Do you remember the spy execution? And the fight over at that viscount’s home?”

“Yes, what about it?”

“There was no experience leak.”

“What?”

“You know, experience leak, when a person or monster dies, “

“I fucking know what an experience leak is!  Do you think it was…?”

I nod, very slowly.  We both know about the theories on the experience coming from the soul being expelled from a body that has just died, and being sent for the afterlife.  I really hope this theory is wrong.  If it is correct, it may the case that the souls may have ceased to exist.  In that case, I am really hoping that it happened because of the fear of dying.  But I don’t think that is it.  I never expected that I would

Anthon drinks the beverage as if it were water.

***

Henry of Arthuria POV

I did not expect this to actually happen.  The guild did send me a letter, detailing that the dragons were going to do this fly by, alerting not to attack, yada yada.  They mentioned a large amount of dragons, but what I was just... was just… 

There is not much to do.  It would be nice to understand what is really happening.  I really should have believed the report, I could have got some people to check on the stats of the dragons.  How big were they?  How many?

That big V flying from the skies, I wonder on that thing’s size.  It is probably the distance between towns.

The roaring destroyed a lot of windows in the palace.  I can only assume that it did the same with places that actually have glass windows.

Some of the guards that were policing the capital are terrified, some of them abandoned their post and ran.  I have to get a proper report later.  There was some looting on some merchants, that were exposed without said guards.

My captain had some good thinking on sealing the noble’s district against any additional chaos.

Then there was the apparent destruction of the capital of the demon empire.  That’s the only good thing about all this.  Now we just have to do an attack, I can send my own troops, and finally take over the precious gems from there.  With their capital destroyed, their army is probably in shambles.  It is a very good opportunity.

If I notify the Holy Kingdom or the Empire, they are going to want a piece of the cake.  I am probably better just sending the attack wave, since I am closer to the war.  We are going to get back from that mess that was created by them having dragon powered weapons and armors.  That might even be the reason that they got destroyed by the dragons in the first place.

If I mobilize my forces and do a speedy attack, I might just be able to get a couple of fortresses closer to their now fallen capital.  And I don’t even have to use the nobles.  Their army must be already kind of broken without a central command.

I am going to be able to cement my place, and push back the nobles a little bit.  Perhaps I even give some of the lands there to my nephew, the distance might do him some good.  He used to be a normal person and now…  He did improve a little after a couple of months, but he is far from what he used to be.

***

Pope POV

I am still shaking from that thing.  Who would have thought that something like would actually come to pass?

And then the rumors…  Some people are saying that the dragons had riders.  Idiots.  Something as big and proud as a dragon would never let anything other than a god ride it. 

But this is troublesome.  Some of the faithful are asking the priests where is Nergal.  As if they had the right to question us.  And idiotic priests, that were not exposed to the truth already, keep repeating these questions.

I have to find a way to capitalize on this thing.  It is perhaps time to start an inquisition, and see who was praying to the wrong god, and cut this idea in the nub.  I might even use this to get a couple of people that were bugging me out of the way…  Perhaps this wasn’t all bad.

I wish I had more information on how we are in terms of Empire.  We could even denounce them, and then we might have to cross the border to protect our precious faithful…  I had always prized the intel brought back by the bishop

Time to get back to work.  I have to make those idiots get back to normal routine, or they will stay agitated, and this is not good for us.

***

Rajesh POV

I can not believe this!  When I pitched my idea to Opal, showing her the church built for him, and asked her for a chance to show our appreciation, I could never, ever dream of that!  I can only imagine what legends are going to be told.

The roaring could be heard by the deaf, you could feel the sound in your belly.  Then the view.  The sea of the most powerful being known in the planet, bowing their heads to Marcelo.  He has no idea what that wave to me did.  There are things you just can’t buy, and this…  This is so much beyond what I expected.

I can only imagine what songs bards are going to sing.  The night became day.  The light of thousands of dragon fire in the sky illuminated the city.

The first thing I had to do was notify Sidhu.  He is a different man, I can even feel a different energy to him.  I think that this worship is impacting his mana.  At least his manners are impacted.  He is a different man today than he was some months ago. 

I hear that his church is actually healing and giving blessings.  This is a kind of magic that we didn’t have so much, as it pertained to a kind of casting that we didn’t have.  I have two hypothesis here.  One is that these kinds of spells are faith based, and thus need a target for that faith, even if the god does not exist.  The second one is that Marcelo is a god.  And he keeps telling me he isn’t.  I don’t really care anymore.

I expected some people to come, and planned some structure in the city.  My plans failed badly.  I gravely mis predicted the amount of people coming.  They actually doubled the population in the capital, and the capital is the biggest city in my empire.  On the other side, I didn’t have to intervene too much.  The faithful took care of their own.  People were invited to homes, meals were shared.  The fact that we live by the coast was a big help, since a lot of fishing was done.

The beach where he showed me how to purify water from the sea is now considered holy ground.  People are visiting there.  Fishing from there is now considered taboo. 

There were lines of people visit the place.  They would go there, and bow down and then see the water deseaing apparatuses, and marvel on it.  Parents tell their youngs how water was so much more expensive, how we used to have to use expensive mages to obtain it.  Now those devices are all over the coast.  Some water mages are even investigating a phenomenon where the humidity in the air is increasing in some places.  Some researchers, the ones that are not that much stuck to old ways, say that we may be having more rain in the future.  Rain!

The influx of people to the city promoted a cooperation that I have never seen before with the demons…  Merchants did not increase their prices, demon helping demon, it was like seeing a paradise taking place.  Crime was actually down.  I was initially concerned with the faithful becoming a little too fanatical with religion, but then Sidhu reminded me that The Great Adventurer had a mild heart, he is a fair and just god.  He even spared a noble that disrespected him.  Their way is the way of the balance and justice.

Sidhu was watching with me, from the city’s wall, when the surprise Opal did to Marcelo took place.  I could feel how lost at the whole thing he was, but then he was irradiating a special kind of happiness.  The waving back to me was a special treat.  Sidhu fell to his knees, and not because he was worshiping.  I think it wasn’t intentional. 

The human’s bane, the savage keeper was on his knees, crying.  Happy crying.  Like a child that found his special person is back.  The dragons bowing to him were an amazing detail.

Then there was the pilar of fire. 

I thought that there wasn’t any way to go over a grown man crying like a child.  I was mistaken.  Sidhu pissed himself.  Like some dogs do when their favorite demon is back from a long journey.  I don’t think anyone else noticed.  I only noticed because I was very close.  I pretended not to have noticed as well.  No sense in embarrassing him.

The whole situation is so curious…  So many humanoids trying to pass for a god, and now we have a god trying to pass for a human.  And going badly about it.  I wonder if he really thinks that this whole thing is just normal.

I wonder if I could invite him to live here.  Humm…  Perhaps I should think about this.  I wonder how I could sweeten the deal.  I think I am going to prepare a manor close to the palace, just in case.  The way things are, I would happily move and let him have the palace, but I don’t think that this is the way he functions.

And now there is the festival.  I have to talk to Sidhu, so that he can come with a name.  I am thinking of making this a yearly holiday.

And this festival is going on.  There is music all over town.  Even nobles, that tend to avoid mixing with the normal folk, are in the middle of the party, sharing fish meals.  I wonder how long I can extend this.  I think it is my time to have some fun.

***

Marcelo’s POV

The next day I wake up slowly.  We all got tired, but I imagine that all the girls had fun.  I know I did.  I take a look at them, Opal is smiling while sleeping.  I go to the bathroom, to take a shower.  I am thinking that we can play a little later, the whole thing actually drained my social batteries for days.  And now I have the problem that Rudolph knows that I was involved in that flight.  Not much I can do about it.

I get dressed, and go down to the dining room.  The breakfast is already set.  I sit down, and the maids start bringing some food.

Rudolph is all smiles.  His eyes are shining, it looks like he is serving Anthon.  I giggle a little.  The maids, however, are skittish.  I can sense fear in some of them.  Some just have awe.  Apparently, Rudolph wasn’t able to keep his mouth shut, or someone else spread the information already.

“Rudolph, can you please assemble everyone by the stairs?  I would like to say a couple of words.”

“Sir, of course, sir, when do you want that?”

“If it is not too much trouble, as soon as possible.”

He went out of the room in a dash, and disappeared after the door to the kitchen.  I look, through the door, to the living room, at the bottom of the stairs.  People are starting to assemble there.  5, then 10, then 15.  Finally, the 23 that worked here.  I go there, and I go up a couple of steps so that I see everyone.  Some people are shaking, Rudolph and some others are in awe, and there is even some that clearly do not understand what is going on.

“Good morning, everyone”

“Good morning, sir!”  Rudolph is excited beyond measure.

“I just called this group meeting to talk about an apparent rumor that has been going around.

“The first thing that I would like everyone to understand is that, be the rumor false or true, I am the same person I was 3 days ago.  I am still going to be in your care, and I hope I am a good boss.  I will not eat anything that I cannot share with you in here, and I think I have been treating every one of you well, right?”

The people that were shaking started thinking.  At this point, the girls started to come down from our room.

“I am sorry, sir, but what rumor is that?” Asks the gardener, that was apparently out of the loop.

At this point, let’s play along.

“The rumor that I would be involved in yesterday’s dragon parade.”

Opal’s satisfaction face, and the smiles from the dragonesses is definitely not helping with any attempt of cover up.  I think Cecilia is the only one that understands what I am trying to do here.  Siratra is kind of oblivious.  The gardener looks at them, and starts to pay attention closely…

“HOLY SHIT!”  He gets slapped in the back of the head by the chef.  I can see her lips moving, ‘moron’.

“It’s ok, everything is ok, just calm down, please.

“As I said before, I am the same person you guys have helped for all this time, the girls are the same girls, nothing is going to change.

“There are two things that I wanted to talk to you.  The first is about your personal worries.  I am going to ask you guys to think with me for a second, right?

“If the rumor is false, then nothing changes.  Am I correct with this?”

I get some heads nodding.  They clearly do believe in the rumor, but some of them can see that if it was false, nothing would change.  The gardener helper is the one to ask.

“Sir, is the rumor false, then?”

“Yes, yes, it is false.” 

The gardener helper is satisfied with the answer, but the majority is not.  Even the gardener slaps his own forehead.  Another maid slaps the gardener helper on the back of the neck.  He looks a ‘what’, and receives a ‘shut the fuck up, idiot’ face back.  I continue.

“Anyway, as I was saying, if the rumor is false, then nothing changes.  And if the rumor is true, then what you would have before you are powerful people that you have been keeping happy for the longest time.

“I have already been here for a couple of months, and you always have treated me well, in spite of lack of noble birth.  No one here has ever mistreated any of us.  There has always been a lot of respect.

“On my side, I have always strived to be a good boss. 

“So, let’s assume that the rumor is true; then it would make this house the safest on the planet!  No one would dare to do anything against this house, and I would make sure that everyone here is always safe.  Any questions on this subject in particular?”

The gardener helper started to raise his hand, but he was slapped in the back of the head again by the maid.

“Awesome.  Now the second subject.  I am trying to lead a normal life.  The girls are going to start going to their schools, and I will probably be taking a couple of quests from the guild now and again.  But a rumor like this can disrupt our lives.  It can really get in the way of things.  So I am going to ask you not to repeat the rumor to anyone, ok?  Please.”

I take a couple of seconds.

“Any questions on this?”

I see that the gardener helper was going to raise his hand, but he stopped midway through, when he looked at Roberta.  She had a look.

“No, sir!”  Rudolph answered, with a smug smile on his face.

***

Rudolph POV

There are so many things coming together now.  The whole day in the bedroom, while the whole city was like a fireworks festival.  The colors of the dragons ahead of the formation, and those girls.  Then the piece of information that the Duke had said in the past.  Roberta being lady Opal’s third favorite human.  Her mention that sir Marcelo wasn’t human in her eyes, he was dragon.  Everything now made sense.

The only logical conclusion is that the entourage was his!  What kind of being could have that big entourage of…  DRAGONS?

It is amazing working for a god that is so bad at lying.  I am going to keep treating him the same, but what should the correct treatment be?  His godliness?  I don’t even know.  There are no words.  That’s how wonderful my master is.

***

Marcelo POV

I go back to the dining room, and the atmosphere is much better.  The maids that were shaking a little bit are now relaxed, and have a smile on their faces.  I am happy that I was able to dispel the ‘rumor’.  Now we can all move on, as if this hadn’t happened.

After breakfast, the Comm Gem from Rajesh starts shaking, and I answer him.  He invites us for the festival.

According to him, there is a week long festival happening, and he would love if we could participate in it.  I ask the girls, and they seem interested.