Chapter 45: Home

Chapter 45: Home

The sun was already dipping low on the horizon when I landed a short distance from Baruda and shifted into human form. Continuing into town, I descended into an alley a few blocks away from the Blue Stallion Inn.

“I can’t believe we made it from the capital to Baruda in less than a day,” Liz remarked as we walked out of the alley.

“Did you enjoy your flight?”

“It was... enjoyable,” she said hesitantly.

“What’s with the pause?” I asked, looking at her with skepticism.

“My back is a bit sore after traveling for that many hours,” she said, rubbing her lower back. “But it beats riding a horse.”

“Did you just compare me to a horse?” I asked, squinting my eyes.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she chuckled. “Although, maybe a-”

“No,” I interrupted her.

“You didn’t even let me finish.”

“You’re not putting a saddle on me.”

“What makes you think I was going to suggest that?” Liz asked, batting her eyelashes.

I just stared at her.

“Okay, fine, no saddle,” she smirked. “Shall we head to the inn?”

When we entered the Blue Stallion Inn, we made our way toward the bar when we spotted Mira waving at us from a table further back in the hall.

“I can go pay for our lodgings if you want to go to Mira,” I offered, waving back. “Or would you prefer your own room?”

“You even have to ask?” Liz frowned.

“I don’t think so?” I pondered for a moment. “But it makes me happy when you say you want to share.”

“Look at you trying to act all cute,” she said, nudging my shoulder. “I want to share a room.”

Liz walked over to Mira while I went up to the bar. “Hello again. I’d like a room for two for a month, the bigger one with a bath.”

“Oh, are ya back in town already?” Muscles asked as he recognized me. “Didn’t ya leave for the capital not too long ago?”

“It was just a short trip.”

“I never was much for the capital, too crowded for my taste,” he said, then looked over to Liz. “A month is fifteen small gold coins, and I’ll throw in meals for the second person as a bonus.”

“Thank you very much.”

I paid for the room, some wine for Liz, and a mug of ale for myself before making my way over to the table. As I approached, I noticed Hanna sitting there as well.

“Welcome back! How was the capital?” Hanna asked cheerfully, though she seemed a bit tipsy.

“Exhausting,” I said and sat down next to Liz and handed her the wine.

“You came back rather quickly, though I guess you cut down on travel time by flying?”

“Flying?” Mira asked with a curious look.

Liz stared at me and I just smiled at Hanna. “I don’t know what kind of contract you had to sign when you started working at the guild, but I’m pretty sure you are breaking it on a daily basis.”

“Oh, didn’t you tell Mira? I’m so sorry!” she apologised.

“Told me what?” Mira asked, staring at me with an intense gaze.

I just sighed. “It’s not something to discuss here.”

“Now I really want to know!” Mira replied, gaze stuck on me.

“Just leave it for now, ok?” Liz said in an attempt to come to my rescue.

“I feel like I’m being left out,” Mira said and started sulking.

I guess one more can’t hurt...

“I’ll tell you later, okay?” I said before turning to Hanna. “And I’ll deal with you later as well.”

Hanna swallowed nervously and nodded.

Mira stood up and put her hands on the table, leaning over. “It’s a promise, okay? I don’t want to be the only one left out.”

“I promise,” I replied, grabbing my mug to prevent it from tipping over. “Just sit back down.”

“Don’t you forget,” she murmured as she sat back down.

“I’m sorry about her,” Liz apologised. “Mira can be quite pushy when she is drunk.”

“That’s not true!” Mira pouted. “Liz’s so mean.”

Pushy and moody, apparently. Was she like this the last time we had a drink as well?

“Anyway, how have things been around here?” I asked, trying to change the subject in hopes of her forgetting my promise.

“It’s been great,” Mira perked up and pulled out her staff from her magic bag. “It’s all thanks to this!”

“Oh? I take it that you are satisfied with it?”

I let out a deep sigh, feeling a sense of resignation. “You remember the name of your staff, right?”

“Yeah? Dragon’s Favor.”

“I’m the dragon.”

“Eh?”

“You asked why I made a dragon motif, right? It’s because I used one of my scales to make this staff.”

Mira looked at me with wide eyes for a moment before laughing loudly. “Pfft, yeah, right! No one has seen a dragon in forever. You expect me to believe one is walking around as a girl?”

“It’s true,” Liz said with a smile.

“I may be drunk, but I’m not that drunk,” Mira said and started laughing again.

“You would be surprised what you can accomplish with magic if you put your mind to it,” I said, shifting my arm.

Mira immediately stopped laughing and stared at my arm, trying to process what she saw. “You... You’re serious?!”

“Very.”

“So when Hanna said you were flying, she meant you actually flew, as in flew as a dragon?”

“That’s right.”

Mira fell silent for a moment, processing the revelation. “Wait! Does that mean you got to ride a dragon?!” Mira blurted out, her eyes widening as she looked at Liz.

“Yes, it does,” Liz said with a smug grin.

“So unfair! Let me do it too!”

“Get your own dragon,” Liz grinned, teasingly.

“Lunaaa,” Mira pleaded, looking at me with hopeful eyes.

“No promises.”

“It would be an experience of a lifetime,” Mira said, her expression turning into a pout.

“Let’s see if you even remember this in the morning first,” I smirked.

“I will absolutely remember!”

“Alright then, we will go back to our room now. Good night.”

We left Mira and made our way to our own room on the third floor.

“It feels good to be back,” I said as I stretched my arms over my head.

“This feels like home to me, although I have moved up one step in room quality.”

“The perks of an A rank adventurer,” I grinned.

“You say that, but you still paid for the room. Let me pay tomorrow,” Liz insisted.

“If you insist, but you will have to wait a bit,” I replied.

“What do you mean?”

“I figured we would stay around for a few days, so I paid for a month.”

“A month?” Liz asked with a surprised tone. “Then let me pay for half.”

“If you try, I will bite you,” I teased, sticking my tongue out.

Liz let out a sigh. “You’re impossible.”

“Thank you,” I giggled playfully. “Do you want to take a bath? I could go for one.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

After our bath, we got ready for the night and slipped into bed.

“This isn’t quite the same,” I muttered. “I should have taken the bed from our room at The Gilded Retreat.”

“I don’t think you’re allowed to take the bed with you,” Liz giggled.

“I bet I could get away with it,” I mused.

“If you want to abuse your rank then probably,” Liz admitted.

“Well, this bed has its own charm,” I said, pulling Liz into my embrace. “Since it’s smaller, I have to keep you close.”

“As if you didn’t do that in the capital,” she smirked. “What will you do now when we are back in Baruda?”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to travel?” Liz reminded me.

“Eventually, the world isn’t going anywhere. I guess I have to go meet that girl I saved before I do anything else. Otherwise, she probably won’t stop visiting the guild. Hanna also said Chloe wanted me to take some quests, but maybe you can take them... or we could do them together?” I said as I stroked Liz’s hair.

“I would like that,” Liz said, snuggling into my embrace. “I still need to work.”

“Let’s go take a look tomorrow then,” I suggested. “Let’s go to sleep.”

AnnouncementAs IRL decided to suddenly become more hectic starting Monday, I will have to remove my upload schedule. I will still upload chapters, but I can't promise that I have time to do it as often and I don't want to upload anything I'm not satisfied with just to meet a deadline.