(Aug 23)

I was baffled.

A lot of new information was just revealed to me just now.

I asked Briggs why he did not let me know earlier, if it was this serious, I should have the right to know what’s going on.

“We were afraid that you might have run away, we didn’t know what your personality was like. Any normal person would flee from the country if they found out a war was starting, much less a war with dragons…”

…

I’m not confident in myself to say I wouldn’t have ran away if I had heard about that when I had first arrived…

But even so I feel like I had the right to at least know.

“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you, but you need to understand. The lives of many are on the line.”

And I do, I understand.

“If they successfully create dragons, they could potentially rival the power of the entire Council Of Rulers and potentially affect not only our country but neighboring countries as well.”

Uh… what?

Council of Rulers?

What’s that?

I didn’t go to school as a kid and didn’t receive proper education so I’m not too sure if this is common knowledge or what?

And so, I asked Briggs what a council of rulers was and he gave me the most dumbfounded face and looked at me like I was an idiot.

I never wanted to punch his face so much before as I did right now.

“You… don’t know what a council of rulers is? Don’t kids learn that at the age of 10 or something? Come on, I’m the muscle head here and yet even I know what that is.”

Like I said, I had a rough childhood and didn’t receive proper education…

Don’t make me punch you Briggs (jokingly of course).

He let out a small cough and cleared his throat.

“Wellllll…. I don’t know how much you know, but I guess I’ll explain like you know nothing. The world we live in is a planet, and the planet is divided into many countries.”

I know that much at least; I have common sense.

I hate how he treats me like an idiot.

“Each country is divided into kingdoms, a country has around 3 – 8 kingdoms but it varies depending on the country.

Each kingdom is divided into cities, towns, and villages. Like the city we are in now, or the village of which your wife and child lives in. Each kingdom has a main Capital City where the ruler of a kingdom resides.

The city we are in right now is a capital city.

And all the rulers in a country are part of a council called a Council of Rulers.

Instead of having a single ruler to rule a country, there are multiple rulers to manage a country. A council of rulers, represent the entire country as well as each individual kingdom.”

I see…

(Authors note: a country in this world is like a country in our world,

a kingdom in this world is equivalent to a province of a country in our world,

a city/town/village in this world is equivalent to city or town in our world.

A Ruler of a kingdom is the same as Premier in our world, which is the leader of a province.

Instead of having a president or prime minister, there are multiple rulers managing the country together.

This isn’t that important, but it helps with the lore of the world. Though if you are confused, don’t worry.)

Wait a second… so if their dragon experiments are successful, then they would have the strength equal to an entire country???

“We didn’t want to risk anything, that’s why we didn’t tell you.”

“But why tell me now then?”

“Two reasons, I trust you. You’re my bro now, bros trust each other. Second, you’ve seen the power of a dragon firsthand, even if you flee or run away, you will know that if this isn’t stopped, it will affect you. Also, I trust your morals.”

Damn it…

It’s all true.

The power of a dragon can’t be contained with a singular country…

Briggs just knows me too well.

Wait a second, this reminds me…

Gin.

The guy who saved me.

He took down a dragon bare handed, ALONE.

What about him?

I asked Briggs if he knew anyone by the name of Gin but he shook his head and said no.

What if, I tracked down Gin and tried to convince Gin to help us?

No…

This wouldn’t work…

It’s too much of gamble, the chances of finding him is low as if but the chances of convincing him to become a major part of a war is even lower.

Simply put, the chances are just too low to gamble on this possibility when the risks and stakes of many lives are so high.

Damn it.

But who was Gin anyways? He must’ve been at least an S ranked to take down a dragon…

The more I thought about it, the more unreal it felt.

It felt as if everything that happened was a dream.

Briggs and I talked for a little more, we changed the subject and we tried to talk about happier things.

It was fun, the sun was slowly setting and soon the festival would end. The entire day felt like I was in a dream, a colorful sky, the thick magical air… even now I’m not even sure if this actually happened.

When I said goodbye to Briggs, he waved back and told me to make up with William.

I nodded.

I do intent to talk to William again.

I walked through the courtyard again and looked at the castle of which the king was living in.

Then I looked at the city, which was currently being repaired and rebuilt by all the citizens and workers.

It’s been tough, but I’m sure things will eventually go back to normal… that is if this war issue is resolved.

For some reason I didn’t get scared at the thought of fighting dragons anymore, I haven’t felt fear since the incident with the wyvern.

It’s strange.

As I was walking back home slowly, watching the sun sink below the horizons, a beautiful lady with relatively long black hair approached me.

It was Mona, the A ranker who was also in the tournament as well and fought using the strange weapon.

I had never spoke to her before, so I was confused why she approached me.

“Hey, you’re that dragon dude, aren’t you?”

I was stunned slightly by her looks, first time seeing her up close after all. I felt myself stiffen a little and I’m thinking back on that moment now and I’m embarrassed that a married man my age was getting nervous talking to a woman.

I nodded and asked her if she needed anything.

“You’re a friend of Briggs, right?”

This was a strange question for a first meeting, but I replied with yes.

Her face suddenly became cold and replied in a monotone voice:

“I thought so… Then you’re my enemy as well then.”

Eh?

Why the sudden change in tone? And what did she mean by, “enemy?”

“Also, since you probably don’t know, here’s some advice from a senior, Briggs isn’t as easy going as you think. He has great ambitions… too great for his own good.”

She turned around, and slowly walked away.

I tried calling out to her and get her to clarify what she meant but she simply ignored me and left.

What is going on today?

That was so random…

Geez… I was hoping I could become friends with her too. I could learn a lot from her considering her fighting style isn’t too far off from mine.

But I guess not.

With that I headed home to get some rest.