We pace slowly and have some time to talk on our way to town. So far, we kept small talking about some unimportant matters.

But there's still a question I'd like to ask him.

"How did you find this town? Have you always known it was here? Or did you just randomly come across it, just like me?"

He seems to be struggling with something while trying to come up with a reply.

'I think I can tell you this much...

I can say that I knew of this town, albeit no one else except the priest and me knew about it.

And that's it, please don't ask about this ever again.'

He appears to be quite angry, although I can't determine if that's pointed towards me.

After some time, he seems calmed down, but I still better refrain from asking him something.

The walk to the town seems longer than it should, probably because of this uneasy silence.

To pass some time, I start to talk to the *friends* inside my head.

I think one of them has some explaining to do.

"Zabula, I think you know what it is that I want to ask."

I state in the most relaxed manner I can muster with the kind of topic I want to talk about.

{Of course. But I can assure you, I have never ordered something like that, and I never even heard of this. Well, obviously, I can't talk for all of demonkind since there are too many for me to keep watch over everyone.}

Of course, she'd say something like that.

In times like these, it gets demanding to maintain my trust in them.

Maybe I shouldn't put my trust in them in the first place.

Especially Zabula is a master of trickery.

Gabriel seems to me like someone who'd kill because of any slight disturbance, but he at least is direct with what he thinks.

And Dorminil is just brawn over brain.

Now that I think of it, isn't Dorminil way too silent?

He's usually the loudest of them and always needs to shout out his opinion on something. But he hasn't said anything in the last few hours.

"Dorminil? You there?"

I hesitatingly ask into my mind.

I can feel him turning his head like he's looking at me, but he doesn't answer. I feel something from him I've never felt from him.

I think he's sad.

The sight of the young dragon being attacked by an army of humans probably left a deep impression on him.

"I'm sorry, Dorminil. I couldn't do anything, although I felt your anger at that time."

/That's precisely the point I am worried about. We, the dragons, always were the least in terms of numbers, but each individual was formidable to the extent where we could make up for our low numbers with strength. And I, the king, always held a vital role as the primary detergent. But now I am gone. Attacks like the one we witnessed before will occur more often. And all of this is happening because I ain't strong anymore. I am weak.../

I can feel it. The sheer gigantic bitterness Dorminil is feeling suffocates me.

It is intense to a point where I can feel my eyes getting watery, and I can feel tears rising in me.

Now I want to protect the dragons as well. But I am still too weak.

Miles seems to have noticed my change of attitude.

'Everything alright?'

He asks me, worried.

"Yes, it's just a bit much these last few weeks, and maybe it just got to me after I'm not alone anymore."

I came up with a lie. I can't possibly tell Miles I feel sorry for the dragons which killed millions or even billions of humans so far.

[I think I understand what he's feeling. It's very similar to what I am feeling right now. Our forces were in a kind of fragile balance that was held up since, we as the leaders, held most of the power of the corresponding faction. Now we are gone, and no one could predict the power shift this will cause.]

{For us demons, this is even worse because I held even more power in relation to the others below me. We strife in numbers, not individual strength, so the leaders were necessary to maintain a balance. Now there could be a dragon or a high archangel that could easily cast large scale spells to wipe out millions of demons. Before, I could have protected them with my magic, but now this is impossible.}

Man, they never told me about all of this. Zabula, Gabriel and even Dorminil are anxious about the well-being of their men.

Great, now I have three depressed guys inside me who are making me cry. I should've never started this topic.

I can't even tell them to stop this since their feelings aren't something they could just turn off.

I feel like I could just sit down in a corner and start crying.

I hope we soon reach the town, so I get something to distract me from these saddening feelings, which aren't even mine, to begin with.

Sometime later

This must have been the most arduous walk in my entire life.

Well, at least they calmed down somewhat after half an hour or so.

Now I can see a large cave room with a slight upwards slope.

At the end of the slope, I see a gigantic wall reaching from wall to wall and from floor to ceiling. It seems to be fully built from steel or iron and spans about 200 meters in length and 50 in height.

In the middle, I see an enormous gate that's about 15 meters wide and 20 tall. The doors are open, and I can see the thickness of them.

They should be about half a meter thick. I wonder how the guards even manage to open these things.

And yes, there are a lot of guards. I think I can see about 20 of them? There could be more. They are all neatly aligned like a tunnel or passage, so everyone who wants to enter passes between them.

There also are few people who don't seem to be guards. All of these people are currently talking to a guard. They probably want to enter as well.

As we approach, some of the guards turn towards us.

When we get within a few meters, they cross their weapons in front of us.

'Please wait. There currently is an investigation in progress. After it has ended, you may proceed and be examined as well.'

With a sigh, Miles pulls something from his pocket. It seems to be a bar of some weird metal with a slight greenish tint. On it, there are some symbols engraved that I can't read.

He holds it up in front of the guards for them to see.

Suddenly their eyes go wide for a short moment. Then they put down their weapons and instead bow down deeply before Miles.

'I am Mercenary Miles of the highest rank and this here,' Miles points at me.

'Is one of my dearest friends. I vouch for him with my life and honour as a mercenary. So please let him enter.'

One of the guards hurriedly replies.

'Of course, Sir. If he is your friend, he is a friend of this town. Both of you may enter.'

Miles starts walking ahead nonchalantly. Although this seems normal to him, I definitely have to inquire what that was just now.

I follow Miles closely, trying not to freak out because of the tens of guards staring at me.

Oh, I probably should have mentioned this before. I have enough mana by now for me to cast illusions again, so they don't see anything suspicious on me. But we have to hurry since there wasn't enough time for me to fully recharge, and I only have about half an hour before it gets problematic.

I told Miles this, and he said he'd guide me to an INN as fast as possible to get into a room he'd rent for me so I can relax again.

But I never expected the sight that awaited me inside the town.

It is beautiful and blue. And I can see it for the first time in my life. The sky. This has to be the sky. I might only see a small part of it, but it seems to be the most beautiful thing in this world.

This whole town is built inside some kind of crater, so the stone walls cover up most of it, but this somewhat small hole just amazes me.

'Ah, right, this is probably the first time you see it. Isn't it beautiful?

But you'll have enough time to look at the sky later. Now hurry on, I don't want any bad things to happen.'

I manage to turn away my gaze from the sky but am still somewhat hazy. After shaking my head to get rid of this feeling, I close the distance to miles and start following him again.

While following him, my gaze keeps wandering off to the sky or some stores that sell items I've never seen before.

But there isn't much time for that since we soon reach a brightly lit, seemingly very clean and expensive looking INN.

'I have some privileges in this town due to my standing, so I can afford this INN albeit not haven that much money.'

He says while entering the building.

I follow him closely. The inside looks even more incredible and luxurious than the outside.

Now I feel kind of misplaced with my dirty, ripped and blood-stained clothes. I haven't been able to wash with soap for more than a month.

The receptionist first looks at Miles and greets him.

'Sir Miles, I feel honoured by your visit. But I fear, Sir, there is a rat behind you who thinks he could scrounge off of your generosity. Could you please guide this animal to the door?'

He says while pointing at me and being seemingly disgusted.

I fully expected something like that.

In the past, I would have felt embarrassed for sure.

But now, with my newfound strength, this just sounds funny to me.

I've had it worse these last few weeks.

I am even a bit happy because I got rejected for something normal and not because I'm a monster.

So I just smile back at the receptionist.

Bus Miles doesn't look as happy as me.

'This rat, as you called him, is my dear friend. How do you dare to say those things to me? Get your boss, NOW. Before I lose my control and rip that little head of yours from your neck.'

The man behind the counter suddenly became white like paper and started to back down. While Miles hissed at him, he released some of his magic, making him seem to grow bigger with each word in the eyes of the receptionist.

I already feel a bit uneasy because of the released mana, so how bad would it be for someone who's even weaker than me, like the receptionist, who is also the focus of these threats.

The intimidated man quickly starts running to a door behind the counter, where he vanishes inside another room.

After the man is gone, Miles retracts his mana.

After a few seconds, a different man emerges from the same room, the receptionist fled to. He seems a lot more collected, even in front of Miles. He has a large scar running across his forehead. To be precise, the thing is so huge I even wonder what would cause such a scar without killing him. And the probably most important part is his missing part. His left arm is missing. Nonetheless, he seems threatening and battle-hardened. Stats-wise, he is just slightly weaker than Miles, but he feels more dangerous to me.

Then he starts to talk provocatively.

'Miles, what are you doing, scaring my men like this?'

Miles grins and answeres.

'Beorn, you have to educate them a bit better. You see, that guy called my friend here a rat and an animal. You think I can tolerate this?'

The man, whose name apparently is Beorn, squints his eyes and replies.

'But still, you could've solved this in a more civilised manner.

Tell me the truth, why did you want to talk to me?'

'Because there's something only you could do. I need an ID for this guy and a mercenary license. On top of that, I want the best room for him but no maids or service EVER entering it. I want this to be clear: while he stays here, no one may enter his room.'

Beorn looks at me with evident suspicion.

'The room isn't a problem. But we have to talk about the other things in private.'

He snaps once, and a maid emerges from the same door he came from.

'Guide this gentleman to room one!'

He commands and then goes off to somewhere else, Miles following him.

The maid simply goes to the stairs left to me and asks me to follow her upstairs.

After reaching the second floor, she climbs a stair again, so I follow her. At the top of this stair, there is a door right away. Unlocks the door and hands me the key. She then says.

'From here on is your room. It takes up the whole third floor and is our most expensive penthouse suite. The windows are enchanted to only allow one-way sight, and everything here is magically automated, so you even have warm water running if you press a button in the bath. I wish you a nice stay.'

With that, she turns around and leaves me alone in this giant room.

I close the door behind me and let myself fall onto the floor, sitting with my back against the door. It got closer than I thought. I almost ran out of mana.