Bofelton City…
"What!? That good for nothing couldn't even capture a single dragon? Humph! I should have figured as much." This man was Walter Lambfield, Ray's father and a noble with the rank of baron.
"Master... The dragon..."
"Hmm… Yes… Go and gather as many men as you can. If the dragon is that strong, we will need as many as we can get. Also, get the adventurers guild involved as well. Have a quest issued, no limit on the number of adventurers who can accept it. We will be heading out in three days' time. Conscript the healthy men of the city as well. I must have this dragon. If I can get it and present it to our king, then I am sure my rank will jump substantially. Make sure they bring it back alive!" Walter was already hearing the praise of the king as if he had already presented the king with a live dragon.
"What do we do about the girl named Ceilie?"
"Mmm, capture her too. As long as she is not ugly, she can give birth to a new son for me." Walter said off handily like it was no big deal.
The man who made the report couldn't help but wonder if the man in front of him even cared that his only son had died. But from the looks of it, the man understood that his master only cared about his own success. A son was expendable since he could always make another. When thinking about this, he felt bad for Ceilie because he knew his master had a habit of torturing women.
--
Back outside the forest, Kana was happily chewing on some rabbit meat. Ceilie had gathered all the belongings her former party members had left behind. She was lucky to find a single healing potion that allowed her to heal all her wounds. Fortunately, it was a medium-tier potion, so even her ankle healed well. If it were a low-tier potion, she would have only healed her cuts and scrapes. After gathering all their things and placing them to the side, Ceilie walked over to Kana with a few items in her hands. "Kana, I know these are used, but this is the best I can do for now."
Ceilie presented Kana with a fishing rod with some hooks, a blanket, and a pillow. Kana looked at them, her eyes lighting up: "Are you sure I can have these?" Kana, someone who was poorer than a rat in her past life, these items could be considered brand new to her. She was very excited to receive something like this.
"I um… In the future, I will figure out a way to get you new ones." Ceilie felt bad giving Kana old things, but she knew Kana wanted these items. It made her feel worse when she saw how excited Kana got just receiving these items.
Kana hugged her new items tightly and sat down near the fire. She gently placed the fishing rod and hooks to the side before she began spreading out the blanket and then placed the pillow down. After she was sure everything was okay, she plopped down on her stomach, pushing her face into the pillow. Letting out a relaxing sigh Kana felt content.
"You seem ever satisfied." Lysairth found the pillow and blanket to be a bit too shabby for one of her kind but seeing how pleased Kana looked; she didn't say anything. She also felt that Kana not being materialistic was also a good thing.
"Mmm… I never had a pillow this good before." Kana said absentmindedly. Not realizing her words could bring about questions. Luckily Lysairth paid no mind to how odd Kana's words sounded.
"Kana, we will need to move camp now that Ray and the others are dead. If Ray's father knows you are a dragon, I am sure they will come to hunt you down." Ceilie knew how the minds of nobles worked. Even if Ray were dead, it would mean nothing to Ray's father. He would send out an even greater force now that his son has failed.
"She is right Kana, I hate to say it, but we should probably head back into the forest. Level up as quickly as possible and take over one of the territories. If we make our way back towards the mountain area, we may even find a cave to claim as our home base." Lysairth did not wish to do things this way, but they were still in the middle of the humans' territory. If Kana were to venture out with her current level, it would only be a matter of time before she was caught. It was actually safer for her to head back towards the mountains and take up a base there.
"Mmm…" Kana replied. She was already half asleep, and it was unknown if she had even heard a word Lysairth had said.
"Kana?" Ceilie looked over at Kana, whose eyes were now closed. Her back was rising up and down as she slept peacefully. Ceilie shook her head in amazement. "You are very carefree when we could be in trouble at any minute. But I guess this is what makes you you."
Ceilie put another log on to the fire and then laid down, resting her head on Kana's back and closed her eyes. The day's events had really taken a lot out of her. In tune with Kana's soft breathing, Ceilie also quickly fell asleep. Lysairth gave a slight smile wondering how this human could also fall asleep after saying what she just said. "For a human, you are very strange. I hope the little trust I placed in you will not be thrown back in my face."
That night one dragon and one human slept the entire night through, without the slightest care in the world. The unlikely duo had no idea what they had waiting for them in the days to come.