“Isn’t it the sigma?” A voice called to Arad from deep in the forest. He quickly turned around, “Selena?” He called.
Selena and Hank walked out of the forest depth, “We haven’t seen you in a while. You’re already reeking of blood,” Selena said.
Arad smiled, looking at them and then at Aella, “I had to fight with my vampire power for a while. You can tell?”
“Yeah,” Selena replied, “My nose has been on edge since last night. Three powerful tieflings passed through here.”
“Tieflings?” Arad stared at her, his head slightly tilted to the side.
“Tieflings, half-blooded devils. We also call them demons. They aren’t necessarily evil, but when three who can dwarf the green dragon is power pass through, it’s bound to leave my hair standing,” Selena replied, speaking with a worried face.
Hank looked at Arad, “They seemed to be heading toward Alina. Be careful.”
Arad started taking the matter seriously. “You said three are stronger than Claug? The green dragon?”
Selena shook her head, “No, they are stronger individually. And one of them is an absolute monster. The stench coming from him doesn’t belong to this world.”
“Stench?”
“That’s the only way I can describe the feeling. I didn’t have enough courage to approach enough to see them.” Selena scratched her arm, “I feared they might mistake me for a monster. I would die before I could even know it.”
Hank patted her back, “It’s the same with a powerful monster appearing. The weaker ones evade him.”
“Thanks for the warning,” Arad waved his hand, turning toward Oakedge as he heard a carriage approaching. “Jack seems to have returned,” Aella said with a smile.
Hank smiled, “Then, see you later.” he waved his hand, taking Selena with him and leaving.
*****
“Do you really need such a big carriage?” The driver said, staring at Jack.
Jack smiled, “You won’t believe it, but the green dragon living in this forest sent a quest to the guild!” He flailed his arms, “He needed someone to slay an annoying monster.”
“You want me to haul it for you? To Alina?” The driver sighed, “Learn to butcher your hunt in the forest. Dragging big corpses is hard on the horses. They aren’t donkeys.”
“Believe me. It’s worth it.” Jack replied.
After they reached the forest, the driver’s face turned pale like flour. His jaw fell, and the horses stopped. With a shaking hand, he pointed at the massive corpse he saw.
“A dragon?” The driver gasped, staring at Jack and Arad, and Aella, “You lot are dragon slayers?”
“Our first hunt,” Jack smiled, “Will you help us haul it back?”
“Of course, I would!” The driver shouted, “Dragon slayers, you are heroes. There is no way I can refuse to move such a mighty beast,”
The driver jumped from his carriage and approached the dragon’s corpse, touching his head with his finger and then leaping back. “It’s dead!”
“Of course, it is,” Arad stared at him.
“Come on! Let me have a closer look. I am sure I will never get this close to a dragon in my life ever again.” The driver said, glaring at the dragon’s wings and scales.
“Come on, let’s haul it in,” Jack patted Arad’s shoulder, “We need to get the neck in first,”
After half an hour of hard work, they managed to lift the dragon on the carriage. ^With this, we might rank up directly to B-rank^ Arad smiled inside.
After covering the dragon with a blanket, they headed directly toward Alina. “This might be the best haul in my life,”
***
A few hours later, and before dusk, Arad’s carriage approached Alina.
“Sir, are you going to keep it hidden?” The driver asked. .
“No, we covered because of the sun and bugs,” Jack replied, “We’re showing it, right?” He looked at Arad.
“Yeah, hopefully, that will give us enough leverage on the guild to rank up,” Arad said with a smile.
“Is that what it is about,” The driver looked back at them, “I heard the guild can be stingy with the rank-ups.”
Jack scratched his head, “They are. There is this rule which says you can only increase one rank at a time. If we brought it on the hush, they might say we need a track record first to rank up,”
The driver nodded, “The guild value multiple, consistent small hunts than a single big one. Would they say this kill was a fluke?”
“Probably,” Arad sighed, “I don’t have memories of them being that helpful, or at least directly.”
“If the whole city knew you killed a dragon, the guild can’t keep you at a low rank without losing public trust.” The driver smiled.
“That’s the plan,” Aella smiled, “But don’t deliver the corpse to the guild. Deliver it to the Archmage tower.”
The driver looked at her, “Wait? Merlin is the client?”
“Yeah,” Arad smiled, “She asked us to hunt this one.”
The driver nodded, “As expected, the Archmage’s eyes are sharp for talents.”
Arad pulled the rug from the dragon as they approached the wall. GHA? They could hear one of the guards gasp in the distance. Jack stood to call and ask the guards to open the gate, but to his surprise, they opened it before he could speak.
Just inside the city, a guard battalion stood watching, and the commander approached on his horse. “Is that thing real?” the old commander asked, his beard trailing with the wind.
“Want to touch it?” Arad replied, looking at him.
“Can I?” the commander replied with a worried face. He led soldiers to battle but never dealt with a dragon. He only heard how a dragon’s breath could cook a knight inside his armor and how neither arrows nor swords could harm them.
With a shaking hand, the commander touched the dragon and quickly pulled his palm, “It’s dead,” He looked at Arad with wide-open eyes.
“Yeah,” Arad smiled, “Can we get inside the city?”
The commander nodded, “Yeah, of course.” He moved his horse back, “You’re heading to the guild? Should I get my men to guard you?”
The driver looked at Arad, “We don’t want children and people jumping in our way. It’s best to accept his offer.”
Arad nodded, “I will take you on that, but we’re not heading to the guild.” Arad pointed at the tower standing in the middle of the city, “The Archmage Merlin, this is for her,”
The commander stood silent for a moment, piecing everything together. “Don’t tell me this is for the heater?”
Jack smiled in the back, “You’re right,” He stared at the commander, “Critical ingredients for the success of the project,”
The commander’s face turned serious. He lifted his arm and shouted, “Summon the cavalry and the heavy guards! All foot soldiers assemble at the gate!” His voice shook the whole gate, “Don’t let a single fly touch them till they reach the Archmage tower!”
In a matter of seconds, over thirty knights on horseback arrived. Archers climbed the houses’ rooftops, and the foot soldiers rushed to clear the streets. It quickly turned into something similar to a parade.
The carriage slowly moved into the city, and the citizens peeked from their windows. The word quickly spread like wildfire. A hunting party has arrived with critical ingredients for the archmage.
The word soon became clearer. The dragon was for the heater. And that got the people more excited. They started cheering and throwing flowers from their windows.
A merchant even fell on his face crying, “My taxes weren’t in vain!”
The carriage moved across the city, drowned in cheers. The commander approached Arad, “You three killed this thing? Alone?”
Arad nodded, “Yeah, we almost died,”
The commander looked away, “You’re an adventurer. What rank are you?”
“E-rank,” Arad replied with a smile, and the commander gasped, “What are those idiots in the guild doing? I expected a dragon slayer to be no less than A-rank,”
Arad shook his head, “I honestly don’t know what their problem is. But, it wasn’t long since I registered,”
“Even so, with such power, they stay silent?” The commander growled.
Arad scratched his head, “Yeah, I even considered leaving for the elvish kingdom at one point,”
The commander looked at Aella in the side, and his face turned pale, “We can’t have that!” He gasped, “Leave it to me. I will get the city lord involved. We won’t lose someone like you due to their shitty attitude,”
“The city lord? Are you sure?” Arad stared at him.
“Yeah, he will have me beheaded if we lost you after this. We hardly talk about it, but strong people are a strategic advantage. The last thing we want is to lose a dragon slayer to another nation.” The commander combed his beard, “If I was in your place, I would expect a summon and a reward soon after this. The guards will remember your faces, so feel free to as for their help,”
Jack looked at the commander, “Really?”
The commander stared at him, “Yeah,” He sighed, “We won’t keep you in jail again unless you do something really bad,”