Chapter 3
1154 Words
"Declared dead!"
Lilian couldn't help but wince as the dragon glared at her. “A-a group of Barinian adventurers brought back a red dragon skull twenty years ago after Barsino’s march through the mountains, declaring it belonged to Sen… and since no red dragon showed up for years afterward…”
“This, this is an indignity!” The news had infuriated the beast almost as much as Kyle's attempted robbery, smoke steaming from his nostrils. “Minion, order human Lilian to inform your primitive, credulous species that I, Sen Krendrath, am not dead!”
“I am sure the news will travel fast after Your Majesty’s mighty show of force,” Kyle deadpanned, the dragon thankfully too incensed to notice the sarcasm.
“They better do!” Sen calmed himself, his eyes fixed on the board. “What kind of requests does this human get?”
“Lilian, can you read a few quests for His Majesty’s benefit?”
A bit more confident due to being in her element, Lilian grabbed a paper sheet and read it out loud. “A clan of trolls calling themselves the Branded Barks has sacked the lands of the Count of Valmere and currently hide in the Woods of Gevaudan, east of his domain. The Count offers a great reward for the extermination of this vermin.”
“You get ‘experience’ and ‘levels’ for this deed?” Sen asked, before clarifying his true intention. “I could get levels?”
“You know about levels?” Lilian blinked, without waiting for Kyle's ‘animal translation.’
“His Majesty Sen apparently leveled up in the Noble class,” Kyle told her. It was fitting for a large, bellyful parasite living off the gold he ‘taxed’ from people weaker than him.
“A dragon can level up in a class?”
Whatever colors left on Lilian’s face suddenly drained, as she realized the implications. “Oh, by the twelve gods, dragons can get class levels.”
“Yes, my minion recently informed me of the existence of this class system.” If glares could kill, Lilian would have murdered Kyle twice over. “How much do you humans get paid for this request?”
“Six thousand gold coins.”
“Six thousand gold coins, to eat trolls?”
“This is considered a difficult quest, Your Majesty,” Kyle said. These were war trolls, brought by Prydain during the great war, crafty and strong.
“Trolls? You are afraid of trolls?” The dragon’s bellowing hiss of a laugh made the walls tremble. “You humans are so weak!”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Kyle deadpanned, angered by his patronizing. “Maybe you should consider a career as an adventurer and show us the ropes? I’m sure you would do great.”
He said this as a joke, but much to his horror, the dragon seemed to consider his words seriously. “Six thousand coins for a feast of trolls…” he mumbled. “Is this the most well-paid request available?”
“No, Your Majesty,” Kyle replied. “I think it was the kraken hunting bounty, right?”
Lilian nodded abruptly. “Killing the Kraken of Vanewater is worth the equivalent of sixty-four thousand gold coins in emeralds.”
The fires of greed lit up in the dragon’s eyes. “Sixty-four thousand? That is almost as much as my entire—” He stopped himself, probably realizing that he had already said too much.
As much as my entire hoard, Kyle guessed. Perhaps more. The rogue estimated quite a few of the items the dragon had collected had lost their luster over time.
Kyle could almost see the gears turning in the dragon’s head, and the exact train of thought his mind followed. And it terrified him.
Oh no. Oh please no.
“Minion Kyle, I intended to burn this village to the ground for you humans’ crimes against my royal person,” Sen declared. “But I suddenly realize my usual method of building my hoard may be slightly outdated. All of this wealth sleeping without a good dragon to claim them is a sin, and if this Old Money Ability does not lie...”
Oh by the gods, please no...
“I, Sen the Dragon, will gladly answer requests and solve your inferior species’ problems for your coins!”
Lilian, too, wondered if the dragon was serious. When it became clear that yes, he was, she didn’t know what to do. “Your Majesty, Sen, I am not sure a dragon can become an adventurer.”
“Of course, I am overqualified,” Sen declared proudly.
“Your Majesty, this is not—”
“I am a dragon. I am, now, an adventurer. And you are starting to sound like food. Minion, is human Lilian food?”
“Lilian, are you dragon food?”
Lilian, understanding the implied threat, searched under the desk for a huge pile of paperwork, putting it on the desk. “I will register you two as a new adventurer company. We will need both your signatures, and the paperwork done.”
Sen glanced at the pile of paper, then at Kyle, who saw what came next coming from a mile away. “Minion Kyle.”
“Yes, Your Majesty?”
“I officially promote you to my minion chief of staff and living signature. You shall be responsible for managing this ‘paperwork’ thing on my behalf. This is a great and important responsibility, but you will do fine.”
Kyle guessed he wouldn’t be paid for it, but wisely kept that to himself.
Congratulations! By becoming the chief enforcer of a mighty dragon, you gained a level in the |Monster Squire] Class!
Kyle blinked at the notification. Monster Squire? He had never heard of that class.
+30 HP, +10 SP, +1 STR, +1 VIT, +1 SKI, +1 AGI, +1 INT, +1 CHA, +1 LCK!
You gained the [Monster Kin] Class Ability!
[Monster Kin: you can now talk to and understand any monster, and gain a +20 charisma bonus when interacting with them!]
Wow, he never received such a massive stat boost before. That Class must have incredible growth potential.
Kyle glanced at the name Lilian registered the adventurer company as, and froze.
S&E?
“Is this a prank?” he asked out loud.
Lilian glared at him, then at the dragon, then at the destroyed ceiling, then back at him.
Okay, maybe he deserved it. He supposed that also meant she wouldn’t go out for a drink with him. Bugger.
“What is it, minion Kyle?”
“Nothing, Your Majesty,” Kyle sighed as he completed and signed the documents on both his and the dragon’s behalf, “Nothing.”
“I would wish for you to go to hell, Kyle,” the receptionist said. “But I think you’re already there.”
- Writer
