Chapter 9: Rize will woo her... sooner or later.

We walk around the city in the direction Rob leads us to, of course, slowly so I don’t throw up…

“So where are you leading us to?” (Doraig)

“An old friend of mine owns an inn in this city, it’s a fairly famous one but he and I have known each other for a very long time, and we went through many hardships together, so I'm sure he will help us out” (Rob)

“I guess we’ll leave it in your hands, then… Rize?” (Doraig)

“Dude, get the hell over here” (Rob)

This guy wanted to covertly leave…

“Sorry, sorry” (Rize)

“Can’t you heal yourself or something? it seems like half your brain turns on pause when you’re drunk” (Rob)

“Let me try…” (Rize)

Can’t believe it worked…

“Ah, now I don’t feel that happy anymore…” (Rize)

“Anyways, tell me about the things you found in the Adventurer’s guild, I will have to go there with you when we check people applying with us” (Rob)

“Hmm, I'm not sure how many people are normally in there, but it felt quite spacious, aside from that there seemed to be quite a lot of quests that should have been part of the city guard’s job?” (Rize)

“What do you mean with that?” (Doraig)

“Well, some kidnaps and a lot of hunting around the area to make the outer zone safe for commoners” (Rize)

“That’s pretty common here, especially since this is a place where a lot of other races gather” (Rob)

“?” (Rize & Doraig)

“Think about it, how many people guarding the city do you think are necessary just so there isn’t any fight inside, hell, in any other big city we’d have to move around with a whole patrol guarding our every action” (Rob)

“Well… that was somewhat weird indeed” (Rize)

“What do you mean, I'm the most friendly guy you will meet in your life” (Doraig)

They just kind of ignored me, I think…

Well, whatever.

And soon enough we arrive at the inn…

10 minutes later

“I’m telling you Robin, dragon or whatnot he’s too much big for this inn! I don’t even think he’d fit if we were to destroy the walls connecting 3 rooms!” (Tenant)

“Can’t you do me this one favor, Alan? we’ve known each other since the academy!” (Alan)

“What kind of friend throws a dragon at you and tells you to keep it inside his home! even if we somehow fit him inside he’d completely destroy my business!” (Alan)

“Just this once man, I'm leaving the city afterward, probably won’t be back until my hair’s all white and my sword is all rusted up” (Alan)

“You’re leaving? ...I'll tell you this, now is not a good time to go on an adventure Rob!” (Alan)

“Why? are things outside that bad?” (Rob)

“Didn’t you hear? weird things are happening lately, disappearances, massacres, even a village disappeared out of the map some time ago!” (Alan)

Oh hey, the thing about that village reached around here already.

“About the disappearances, you mean the children? I saw a quest about it in the adventurers building” (Rize)

“Not just that one, many more people have disappeared as of late, even old Bang disappeared a few days ago!” (Alan)

“even old Bang disappeared?” (Rob)

“exactly, and nobody knows what the hell is going on anymore!” (Alan)

“but then isn’t it safer to just skip town and go somewhere else?” (Rize)

“That would be great but the outside seems even worse! some travelers that arrived from the south told me there were Karfi roaming outside their area” (Alan)

“Holy crap, those guys that live secluded in the snow area?” (Doraig)

“Yes, they said the towns in the south were completely terrified at the chance of the Karfi desiring to expand and invade towards the north” (Alan)

“Holy crap!” (Doraig, Rob & Rize)

“Anyways, it’s safer for you guys to stay around until things settle down. Tell you what, go to the outside part east of the city, and stay at my farm there, Doraig can stay in the barn with the cows” (Alan)

“Thanks, Alan, we will stay there for a few days, but we must leave the city, there’s an urgent reason why I must get strong as quickly as possible” (Rob)

“What did you do now Rob?” (Alan)

“...You will probably find out what I'm talking about in a few days... probably” (Rob)

“?” (Alan)

“Anyways, we will get going now, there are some things we have to do in the following days. See you later Alan, thanks again!” (Rob)

“...if you say so. Here’s the key to the farm and the barn” (Alan)

“Thanks, Alan” (Doraig)

“Just make sure this guy doesn’t kill himself okay? I heard you guys were very strong” (Alan)

“Of course, although he’s the meat shield and I am the mage that stays at the back” (Doraig)

“...” (Alan)

We walk away after that, Robin with an ashamed face, me with an embarrassed one… Rize seems to want to go off and start drinking again…

“Okay, let’s go to the farm, drop our stuff, go out, drink something and call it a day” (Rize)

“Alright!” (Doraig)

“...Okay” (Rob)

After Dropping our stuff (not that we had much) at the farm, we head to a bar close to the farm with Alan but before we can enjoy a nice evening drink we find out something extremely important…

“You can’t go inside, wait for us to buy the stuff” (Alan)

“NO!’ (Doraig)

FUCK! WHY! WONT! THEY! LET! ME!

“Just calm down, we’ll be out with the drink in just a few minutes, we can drink at the farm or something” (Rob)

“I swear if you fuckers leave me waiting outside I will blow this shit up…” (Doraig)

and I'm not kidding!

“Ahem, okay” (Rob)

“I'm not joking” (Doraig)

I'm glad they listened to me, and so we take the drinks to the farm and have a nice get together with Rize, Rob, and Alan.

“So Doraig, tell me, why are you on this continent? I didn’t think dragons would easily leave their home, let alone their continent” (Alan)

“Well… you know, stuff happened and now I'm here. will probably stay for a few years before I go and take a look at that place” (Doraig)

“I see. well, I hope you have good luck with whatever you’re trying to achieve in this place” (Alan)

I don’t really have any master plan of what I will do outside of helping Rize, though.

“Thanks, I guess” (Doraig)

“Oi Dragon, fill my cup” (Rize)

“Drunken asshole…” (Doraig)

“...” (Rob)

“Will you finally tell me what happened to you? from your unusual party to you wanting to leave under these circumstances, I don’t understand anything” (Alan)

“Hah…” (Rob)

“Do you remember Lady Seras?” (Rob)

“The girl the Prince had his eyes on? she’s been his target for a while now” (Alan)

“She died” (Rob)

“What!?” (Alan)

“She died. I was tasked with bringing her to the Prince covertly, to avoid possible drama. while on the road here we got assaulted, 6 guys” (Rob)

“And what happened?” (Alan)

“I killed one, but in a moment of distraction, i got hit very hard. Lady Seras sacrificed herself for me to live” (Rob)

“But… why wouldn’t you report this immediately? you are one of, if not the most loyal person towards the Prince!” (Alan)

“The ‘thieves’ seemed to be more than just that. they weren’t there just for the sake of money, apparently, they were looking for some sort of sacred artifact which they were to receive in exchange for killing Seras” (Rob)

“What item were they looking for? did they tell you anything about it?” (Alan)

“Not exactly… they mentioned it was two separate items, an orb, and a necklace. But anything more than that? nothing.” (Rob)

“Why won’t you let the Prince know?” (Alan)

“I’ll send him a letter, but I will destroy his psyche if I just go like this, along with getting myself killed for basically no reason whatsoever. I plan to find the people responsible for what happened and also, to redeem me for failing Sir Harliq” (Rob)

“An orb and a necklace…” (Alan)

“Did you think of something?” (Rob)

“A couple days ago some travelers were talking at the bar in my inn. if I remember correctly one of their topics revolved around something they called Kafuja and another thing called Lankus. Apparently, those were objects they were planning to obtain ‘soon enough’. they were 4 people only, though” (Alan)

“Kafuja and Lankus…” (Rob)

“After that, they stood up and left for their room, so I couldn’t hear anything else” (Alan)

“Do you know who those people were?” (Rob)

“They said they were adventurers coming from the west, but honestly, I don’t believe that anymore after hearing what happened to you. I think it would be too much of a coincidence for there to appear two pairs of very important objects in such a short period of time” (Alan)

“I’ll keep those names on the back of my head and hopefully, it brings something better for me, so thanks for the information, Alan” (Rob)

“You’re welcome, man” (Alan)

“So, in the end, you didn’t explain to me, how did you end next to these two guys? they don’t seem like bad people but they’re… strange” (Alan)

“Well… Doraig kind of brought me back from the pits of desperation I was inside of after the Lady was murdered. at that time we didn’t have anything to do with each other so I don’t blame him anymore for not intervening. Rize seems to be together with him but I don’t know how they met together” (Rob)

“I see, that’s good, then. Hopefully, they will help make you strong enough to tackle whatever giant is behind all the shit that’s been going on lately” (Alan)

“I hope that’s the case, too…” (Rob)

“You talkin’ about me?” (Doraig)

...

“Bottoms up!” (Everyone)

The next day we come to the adventurers guild to see how many people have applied so far, to have a small idea of how tomorrow will look like.

“Holy crap!” (Doraig)

“9 people applied since yesterday!?” (Rob)

“Yes, among them there are some people from other races as well, it seems word of a dragon looking for a last man spread out, I think someone heard me freak out yesterday while you were processing your order, and after that people just came here in waves to see if they fit the criteria you set up, Mr. Rize. Sorry about that” (Alka)

“It’s fine Ms. Alka, I think it’s better this way. it will improve our chances of getting someone competent and who fits into this… group” (Rize)

“Well, that’s good for this guy over here. maybe we can find him a cute chick for him to stop lamenting over the spilled milk” (Doraig)

“Who is lamenting! you can’t really expect me to be jumping around happily after a day, right?” (Rob)

“Meh” (Doraig)

“Well, Ms. Alka, see you tomorrow again, then” (Rize)

“See you tomorrow, Mr. Rize” (Alka)

We walk away and soon enough I ask Rize

“Do you like that girl?” (Doraig)

“What are you talking about?” (Rize)

“Don’t give me that ‘What-are-you-talking-about’ crap, you know perfectly how polite and well mannered you’re behaving with that chick” (Doraig)

“What? I'm always a gentleman” (Rize)

“Yeah sure, and I'm the son of god” (Doraig)

“Do you really think I like little children? I'm like twenty times her age” (Rize)

“Wait, hold on. repeat that?” (Rob)

“What?” (Rize)

“You’re… how old?” (Rob)

“Well, I stopped really counting a while back, but I should be about 320 years old or so” (Rize)

What a funny face, this guy.

“A-and you? how old are you, Doraig?” (Rob)

Hmm, how old am i…

“I think i should be 600 in a few years?” (Doraig)

“Holy fuck!” (Rob)

I like how his face lost all color, how amusing.

“I-I’m sorry for being disrespectful to you two, s-seniors” (Rob)

“Drop that” (Rize & Doraig)

“Seriously, our age doesn’t matter. we’ve taken you for an equal, so just call us by name” (Doraig)

“Humans don’t live for long, and it would be annoying, tedious, and fairly dumb if all races that lived long referred to humans near their expiry date as children” (Rize)

“I… I see. Sorry about that” (Rob)

“It’s okay” (Rize)

“So… then why won't you go for the chick? if you take things proportionally, you and she have around the same age, no? (Doraig)

“you perfectly know why, Doraig” (Rize)

Ah, that’s right.

This guy will live for way longer.

“But what does it matter? it’s not like you will find a girl who will live for another two thousand years that easily, anyway” (Doraig)

“Two thousand years? don’t elves live for like half a millennia?” (Rob)

“well… he’s a special one” (Doraig)

“…I guess it doesn’t really matter” (Rob)

“Anyways, no… just no” (Rize)

“Heh…” (Doraig)

“Anyways, what’s on the menu for today?” (Rob)

“Hmm I don’t know, how about we share a whole pork?” (Doraig)

“I was talking about our plans for today you blockhead” (Rob)

“Ah…” (Doraig)

“Let’s see… it’s still early. let me go grab an easy quest in the Adventurer’s Guild for us to clear quickly” (Rize)

“Take your time, heh heh” (Doraig)

“...” (Rize)

In a flash, he goes and comes back.

“Slime!?” (Doraig)

“What is it? are you scared?” (Rob)

“No! it’s I can’t bear to destroy those little guys! they’re the best friends to share a bath with!” (Doraig)

“What…?” (Rize)

“As I said, no!” (Doraig)

“I have no clue what you are talking about… is it really something so important to get all fuzzy about?” (Rob)

“You… you ignorant fools!” (Doraig)

“...” (Rize & Rob)

“Let’s go!” (Doraig)

“Go where? you don’t want to do the quest” (Rize)

“We have to save them!” (Doraig)

“...Did you have something rotten to eat yesterday or did all the alcohol you’ve had in your life finally get to you?” (Rize)

“Get up. now” (Doraig)

“Ugh…” (Rob & Rize)

they get on my back and I get off the ground

“Wait, where to?” (Doraig)

“...That way” (Rize)

“I’m coming for you little fellas, hang on for me!” (Doraig)

15 minutes later…

“What the… why is a dragon protecting the Slimes!?” (?? #1)

“Should we go back and report to the city guard?” (?? #2)

“Hey” (Rize)

“Ah!” (?? #1-#2-#3)

“Calm down… this guy is our... friend. he likes slimes and… he will protect them…” (Rize)

“Just… go back to the city or do some other quest… the slime slaying quest will be removed shortly as we will remove the quest from the bulletin…” (Rob)

“what!? that’s so unfair! you just want to hog the quest don’t you!?” (??#3)

“...here, have 10 silvers and just leave without making a fuss... okay?” (Rize)

“Well, I won't say no to free money, thanks, strange guy!” (??#1)

“...Whatever” (Rize)

“You guys are done?” (Doraig)

“Hah… I guess so” (Rize)

“Okay, thanks, guys!” (Doraig)

“So… what do you plan to do with these guys? I don’t believe you will stay here and protect them forever, right?” (Rob)

“Oh, about that? I'll make a cave somewhere further away and bring them over there” (Doraig)

“...’bring them away’? how do you plan to do so? there’s easily two hundred inside that cave” (Rob)

“Ah, that’s the easy part, actually. All you have to do is grab two guys, take their cores out of their body, then you put those two cores inside the queen. the queen will change color and exude a pheromone. after that, all slimes in the vicinity will come running over, so I just grab the queen and bring her away to the newly made cave, leaving a trail of slime behind for the rest of them to follow” (Doraig)

“...That’s it?” (Rob & Rize)

“That’s it” (Doraig)

“Holy shit!” (Rob & Rize)

“Well then, stay here while I go and find a place to make a cave. I’ll be right back” (Doraig)

“Okay…” (Rob & Rize)

Hohoho, my plan will finally take shape!

I take off and fly… somewhere, this direction is north I believe?

This place should be good enough. ‘Minor Destruction Breath’

Mmm, looks good!

“Okay little guys, get inside the lady for a second, this won’t hurt you!” (Doraig)

“You disgust me, for some reason, you really disgust me right now, Doraig” (Rize)

“Just give me a shout when you’re done, I can’t look at this” (Rob)

“Pair of wusses” (Doraig)

Okay, grab the cores…

Now put them inside of the queen’s body…

and… ta-dah!

“Oh wow, the queen really changed color” (Rize)

“Heh heh, do you envy me now, Rize?” (Doraig)

“no…” (Rize)

“oh don’t be shy, I got more tricks up my sleeve!” (Doraig)

“how in the world did you even learn this stuff, Doraig?” (Rize)

“Teacher taught me” (Doraig)

“‘Teacher’?” (Rize)

“Yup, the guy who brought me up” (Doraig)

“your parents didn’t?” (Rize)

“That…” (Doraig)

“Sorry, nevermind I said that” (Rize)

“no, that was my bad. maybe some other day I will tell you that story” (Doraig)

“Alright” (Rize)

“Okay, I'll take the queen away, I'll see you in a while!” (Doraig)

“See you soon, then” (Rize)

I take the queen away, while I’m flying she’s at my belly level, I have her grabbed by my four limbs. She’s… Drooling, I guess?

“Thank you… I heard your name is Doraig?” (Slime)

“Wat” (Doraig)

Huh!? She disappeared!?

what the…

“Doraig!” (Rize)

“Did you see what happened!? She just… disappeared?” (Doraig)

“Yeah, the slimes that were around disappeared as well!” (Rize)

What the fuck is going on…

“Wait. she talked to me! she said ‘Thank you’ and seemed to understand my name!” (Doraig)

“No fucking way…” (Rize)

Oh… Ohhh. well shit…

“She evolved, she got her race to be reset by the System” (Rize)

“Well, I consider that… to be a good… thing… I think?” (Doraig)

“...” (Rize)

“So what will happen to the slimes now?” (Doraig)

“If I remember correctly… the system will reset them all to level 1 status and put them in a territory, somewhere in the world. no clue about the time, or where” (Rize)

“NO! MY PLAN!” (Doraig)

“...What?” (Rize)

“No-nothing” (Doraig)

“What happened guys? I heard you screaming” (Rob)

Damn it...