139 Getting the Lord’s Invitation
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*****Back to the chapter.
Arad flew to the sky, leaving Roberta with her father on the ground. ROAR! He disappeared behind the clouds, leaving only his voice behind.
Roberta barely stood, dragging her father to the carriage, “You cowards! We’re moving to Alina as fast as we can!” She shouted.
“But, lady Roberta. What about…” One of the men spoke, but she glared at him.
“Not buts, unless you want to wander around for more bandits,” Roberta glared at the bandit, “That dragon won’t save us again,”
The men looked at each other, “Let’s move away,” they started getting the caravan ready.
One of the women inside approaches Roberta, “My lady, did you know that dragon?”
“You must be joking. I couldn’t even imagine knowing such a being.” Roberta stared at the woman, “He came out of nowhere, saved us, and left. I better ask about him in Alina. He might be some local protector or a hero,”
“But that was a black dragon,” The woman said, “A chromatic one,”
“Black dragons usually have two large horns pointing forward. I’m sure this one didn’t.” Roberta replied, “He might be some rare metallic type,”
The caravan moved toward Alina without a stop, and Arad stared down from the sky. “They left,”
Arad spent a few more minutes flying around, looking for trouble and gobbling monsters as breakfast. His attack pattern was simple, dive from the sky, and use [Void walk] to close the distance.
When the targets panic, Arad swings his claws, killing and devouring them like apples. He even stored a few in his stomach for later.
^I’m full,^ Arad stretched his arms, ^Should we get back?^
[I was thinking of finding a blacksmith to make armor from your scales for the whole party, remember that you dropped them,]
^Yeah, I bet they can avoid many injuries, as my scales are strong. But won’t that sell me as a dragon?^
[If you found a trusty blacksmith, you can always paint the scales red and say they belonged to the red dragon we killed,]
Arad flew back to his how, transforming into his humanoid form before crossing the mountains. ZON! ZON! He used [Void walk] to approach his home. But then saw something strange.
Ten knights faced Aella as Mira held her hammer in the back. They seemed about to fight.
“It’s been three days! The Lord wants to see Arad Orion. Where is he?” One of the knights showed Aella a written order.
“I told you he would be back soon,” Aella growled.
“This is the first time someone made the lord wait for a week.” The knight replied, “His lordship suspects something might have happened to him. We only need to see his face and knew that he’s fine to stop coming,”
“Don’t you understand?” Mira approached, “We told you he’s fine. He will see you later,”
“That’s what you said five days ago,” The knight growled, “I only need to see him once, and I won’t be back. He can tell the Lord to wait for a month for all I care,”
The knight’s mission was to find Arad and deliver the invitation directly. To the Lord, it was strange that the hero disappeared without a trace, and he started suspecting that his party might have betrayed him.
“If we don’t see Arad for even a moment. We would have to arrest you and everyone here to investigate,” The knight growled, “Just tell him to get out, see us for a moment, and that’s it.” He sighed, glaring at Aella, “It happens a lot, a talented new adventurer killed by his own party for being too good. No one wants to repeat what happened with Jeremy Brian, abandoned in a dungeon, the poor kid,”
“Arad will be back soon. Please wait,” Aella replied.
The knight stared at her, “Tie her up. We’re searching for the place. They might have killed Arad,”
The knights pulled robes and clubs, ready to catch Aella and Mira. They surrounded them, “You better give up. We will let you go after the search if we found nothing, so behave,” One of the knights said.
“OI!” CRACK! Arad landed between them, glaring at the knights, “Who are you, bastards?” He grabbed one of the knights’ clubs in his hand, crushing it.
As Arad glared at the knights, his eyes flashed purple, and magic crackled from his body. The knights slowly levitated up with gravity magic, and Arad pointed his hand at them.
“Arad, stop! Those are knights from the Lord,” Aella grabbed Arad’s hand,
Arad looked at Aella, smiling, “I see. Should I blow the Lord’s house?”
“Arad Orion? Am I right?” The knights’ leader growled, “Our mission is to confirm your safety. And deliver an invitation from the Lord directly to you,” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a closed letter, and handed it to Arad.
Arad dropped the guards to the ground and opened the letter, “You could have given it to Aella. Why look for me,” Arad glared at the guards, “The whole party killed the dragon,”
“When a member of that party disappears for a week, we start getting suspicious. The Lord’s butler handed the letter to Jack at first.” The knight leader wiped the dust from his armor, “We started searching when we got no answer from the party and discovered that you are missing,”
“So it’s over now that you found me?” Arad asked.
“Yeah, my job is over with the invitation delivered to all members,” The knight leader waved his hand, “I’m happy you weren’t a second Jeremy,”
The knights then left without another word. Arad looked at Aella, “Since when did they start coming?”
“A few days ago,” Aella replied.
Arad sighed, looking at the sky, “We better go see that Lord as soon as possible and get rid of the problem,”
“They shouldn’t come looking for you now,” Mira said, “They came only because they weren’t sure if you’re alive or not,”
The workers working on the fence approached Arad and the girls, “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Arad replied, “You can get back to work, or are you lacking in wood?”
One of the workers nodded, “Yeah, we finished placing all the poles that Lady Mira made.” He looked at Mira, “Can you make more so we can finish the job?”
“AH!” Mira gasped, “Sorry, I will get it done,” She rushed to her carpenter table.
Arad and Aella started helping by carrying stuff, and the day quickly ended. The sun started curling behind the mountain as the darkness slowly fell. The workers gathered their things and left.
“Let’s get inside,” Mira said with a smile.
“Yeah, we will cook dinner first,” Aella replied, smiling as they walked inside the house.
Arad watched the two girls, wondering why Mira was still there. He wanted some private time with Aella, but that doesn’t seem to happen.
Inside the house, Arad looked at the couch that Mira made. It’s made of goat leather and filled with goat’s wool, giving it a soft yet firm feeling. The carpet was bought from the market, and it’s made of leather strings.
Arad sat on the couch and looked around. Mira has made everything that has wood in it, from the beautifully sculpted table in front of him to the doors between the rooms… He stopped. “Where are the doors?”
Mira looked at him from the kitchen, “I haven’t finished them yet. I focused on having the workers finish as fast as possible since they are paid for their time. It was mother’s advice to save on cost,”
Arad looked at her, “Is that so? What else is missing?” He asked.
Mira scratched her chin, “The king bed, most of the doors, the attic ladder, some cabinets, crats for storing stuff, and the garderobe,”
“The garderobe? Ge that done first,” Arad stood, glaring at her with a sight.
“I know it’s far cleaner, but the hole takes time to be dug nicely,” Mira scratched her head, “Aella suggested to leave it until you make it, saying you can dig pretty fast,”
Arad scratched his head, “A garderobe is important. Build that first and then everything else. Where do people shit?”
Mira walked out of the kitchen, “I have a makeshift one built outside. You can use that,”𝒷𝓭ℴ𝓋𝓵.𝒸ℴ𝓶
“So there is one built,” Arad sat back on the couch, “Tell me that from the start,”
Mira walked back into the kitchen, “I will finish the doors tonight. All they need is for me to stick the hinges in place,” she continued helping Aella cook.
After dinner, Mira approached Arad, “Say, can I move my shop here?”
Arad looked at her, and then at Aella, “You can’t get supplies here. That’s a bad idea, isn’t it?”
“I can make it work,” Mira smiled.
“What do you say, Aella?” Arad looked at Aella, asking for help.
“Mira can ask Lyla. I bet she can tell if that is even possible.” Aella smiled, “The lumbermill is far on the other side of the city, and let’s not forget how long it will take for the nails and stuff to get delivered from the blacksmith,” Aella stared at Mira, “The cost of your service will increase drastically,”