Chapter 123

The quest was accepted under one condition, they will try and drive the dragon away not kill it. That’s because forcing a red dragon to fight for its life is a stupid idea.

Cain walked toward Mary’s desk alongside Yamauba to finish the quest registration.

Flipping the pages she looked at Cain with concern, “Are you sure? It’s better to take it slow for now right?” Mary hesitated to sign the documents but Cain’s confident smile swayed her enough to do it.

As it was going to be a long quest they get back home to grab supplies and anything that they might need. This would also be a great way to keep it low as William will do the investigation. But a problem arose.

“I will come along!” Gracie said out of the blue, as she packed their belonging. Cain looked at her with a stiff face. “You know we can’t take you because it’s dangerous.”

Gracie cracked the bag close as she was sitting on the floor. Looking up at Cain, she said “You need someone for cooking and cleaning, I hear from the ladies that you carry a magnificent tower with you.”

“I do, but you can’t fight. You will just slow us down!”

“Master, I believe it might be good to take her with you. It’s rare to see her wanting something.” Sebas walked to them with steady steps, his words rang true as this was a first. Cain wanted to level her up as well, but this mission had a dragon.

“I was considering leaving them behind and now I have to take her as well? No way.” As they heard Cain’s words Alice looked at him with an angry face, “You would have died if not for us last time!” They were half-right and half-wrong so he didn’t argue any further.

“Fine, but you will sit at the farm when we reach there. I don’t want to deal with a charred body.” His words sounded harsh but Selena nodded, “He is right-nya, the dragon is strong-nya!” Sofia looked at her with a concerned face.

“Yamauba and the other should be waiting for us at the city gate, let’s hurry.” Sofia urged them to move, she was moved by a weird excitement in her chest. Seeing a fire dragon for the first time, she couldn’t hide her smile.

Even though they had an extra person, their bags weren’t larger than the last time. They have emitted the camping equipment as Cain could just create his tower.

Cain walked in the front, Gracie firmly keeping his right side as her place. Alice managed to keep his left, and Selena and Sofia walked behind as they chatted. They looked strange walking down the street, drawing everyone’s attention.

A white-haired guy cladded in black leather armor, accompanied by a black-haired maid who carried a brown briefcase in front of her. To his side is a blond beauty who everyone recognizes as their town’s princess. Behind them, was a mage whose face alone could make the hearts skip a beat. A catgirl energetically walked by the mage’s side, her arms making even the most valiant of warriors jealous.

“Who’s the maid?” Yamauba asked, “It is a dangerous mission!” Takeshi said with a stern face.

“Why the creepy face, at least blink!” Daraku walked toward Gracie, “Daraku, what did I tell you before?” Miko screamed at him but he shook his head.

“One…Two…Seven…twelve. That’s the number of blades I see on her, she might be hiding more!” Daraku smiled at Cain, “You got a nice one, mate. The moment I saw her I almost laughed at how many weapons she got ready. Hidden blade art is it?” Cain’s eyes opened wide as he realized Daraku wasn’t just fooling around.

Out of nowhere, Selena punched Daraku in the face as he got close to Cain. His jaw made a funny noise. Everyone got flabbergasted at the scene, both Alice and Miko rushed to heal him before it was too late.

“Selena, why did you do that?” Sofia screamed. As a reply, Selena stared at them with bloodlust. “I don’t accept male mates in the pride-gaw!” Cain had to risk it and explain what Daraku meant by a mate. It was an awkward conversation but Daraku learned a lesson, Selena was faster than his flexibility.

That awkward moment managed to smooth Gracie’s debut, despite being a level 1 with zero experience fighting monsters, she was going with them to hunt a dragon.

Leyla had prepared two carriages to carry the adventurers. One belonged to her and the other she rented because of the sudden addition of Cobra’s fang. Nine people should be enough to drive that dragon away, right? She didn’t know that Gracie wasn’t an adventure, she saw her and thought that adventurers are weird.

The farm wasn’t that far away, just about half a day trip to the east close to the mountains, a stream of fresh water flowing from the white peaks nourished the field all year round. Those peaks could be seen standing majestically even from the city.

Cain’s mind wandered to the horizon and landed on the mountains, “They like high perches, don’t they?” He muttered what he was thinking, Sofia who was sitting in front of him heard that and asked.

“You’re talking about fire dragons? That’s a snow peak, don’t they hate the cold?” Her question was reasonable and Cain thought it might be a great opportunity to inform them about the strongest monster type.

“That isn’t necessarily true. The heat from their body is enough to ward off the cold. Unless it’s magic they wouldn’t feel anything.” Cain said as looked outside the carriage.

“Care to hear more about them?” he said and they all nodded except Gracie who stared blankly at him.

Dragons are the most-extreme living organism in the world. Their might cannot be underestimated. It becomes clear when you know that they are the only race who doesn’t have a god, they killed him.

Red dragons or like what most people call them, fire dragons, scholars like to call them firewyrms as well. Multiple names for a single creature almost led some to think they are different.

When people talk about countries laid waste, benevolent maidens sacrificed, valiant and brave heroes sent back home as charcoal. Chances, it’s a red dragon we’re talking about.

“Are you sure? The farm wasn’t burnt up.” Sofia asked as she looked at Leyla who was driving, Cain understood what she meant and explained further.

Fire dragons are smart and intelligent creatures that rival other humanoids, in some cases they are even smarter. They wouldn’t burn the farm if they could have them breed cows and provide a constant supply of fresh meat

Leyla nodded energetically. The dragon did snatch one of the horses at the farm. She didn’t see it kill the horse, the dragon just snatched it and flew away.

Upon hearing that Alice’s face grew pale, Selena as well seems to tense up. “How big it was-nya?” Selena asked gulping.

An adult red dragon should be a bit larger than a house, their palm is big enough to grab a bull the same way a human grabs a mouse.

“That’s too big-nya!” Selena gasped, as she tried to gauge the size with her hands, “I can’t get-nya!”

Not every encounter with a dragon happens in the light so scholars found ways to identify dragons without seeing the color. Knowing what type of breath to expect can save your life.

Red dragons have multiple defining characteristics. The first and most clear one is their longhorns. They only have two at the top of their heads and they are long, the shape might be different from a dragon to the other by they generally point backward.

The second trait is their smell, they smell like sulfur and pumice. This might not seem big but any scout worth his salt would be able to tell the difference.

Another trait is that when angered a faint stream of fire will seep from their nostrils, this isn’t something that they can control so it usually gives them away even if they are just annoyed.

There is always a gust of hot air around the dragon, which could span for more than a hundred feet if they are adults. This is because the mere presence of the dragon burns the air around it and causes it to rise.

“Have you heard of dragonflies?” Cain asked a weird question in the middle of his explanation, his face was serious, and the girls respond, “We have seen the bug before, why did you bring it up now?” Alice asked, fearing her question.

“Well… They named it dragonfly because it flaps its wings just like adult dragons. Imagine the gigantic dragon, flapping its massive wings, just like that. You can hear the thing flapping its wings from miles away when it’s fighting.” Their faces changed as they imagined the crazy scene, Cain’s reluctance to face the dragon now seemed more justified.

“I wanna go home,” Sofia said as she regretted wanting to see one, with how big and violent they are. In addition, with her fire magic being most likely useless, she got cold feet.

“It’s already late, I hope we can get it away without a fight!” Cain forced a smile, this was the most dangerous mission he has taken in his entire life.