35 Dragon-chan, a sword of victory, and a problem

A few weeks after that disaster at my promotion ceremony, I went to the Drake city-state to restock - I mean, deal with a Kraken. It didn't take that long, excluding the three hour flight to get there, but as I had plenty of time afterwards, I went to the festival that was going on, to see what it was all about. I asked someone as much, and got a blank look at first, before he laughed for a while and answered my question.

"And here I was thinking that you'd come all the way out to this place for the festival. This festival is to commemorate the founding of our country, from back when Founder Alberius used his sword, one whose name is known all over the continent, the Sword of Victory, also known as Týr's Fang, to defeat a horde of monsters and was rewarded with this area. Now, it's a festival where people can try to draw his sword, and if they can, they could keep it... but that's never happened. Ever. Still, hundreds of people try every year" (Man)

"So, it's something that can't be drawn by anyone but one who has the right qualities or something?" (Nene)

"Seems to be that way. Oh, right, there's a note the Founder left with it, saying something to the effect of 'the one who can draw this sword shall triumph over any foe they may meet' so it's considered to be a sword that bestows victory to its wielder, hence the name" (Man)

"So, could I try to draw it, or is it limited to just the residents of this city?" (Nene)

"Trying is free for the residents, outsiders have to pay a small fee. Still, what would you do with it if you got it? You don't look like a swordswoman... no, I don't need to ask, you'd never be able to draw it, I think. Still, if you want to try or even just watch others do so, I can lead you there. My name's Albert, by the way" (Albert)

"My name is Nene. It's nice to meet you. Why not try it? It's not like it's that expensive to try, and a guarantee of victory is always a nice thing to have as an adventurer, right?" (Nene)

"HA! I like the way you think. Let's go, it's this way" (Albert)

He led me to a large area in the middle of the city, where I could see a sword and sheath stuck in an ornate pedestal, and a long line of people trying to pull it out, then giving up after a few seconds, some even trying for a full minute. I paid the fee, which wasn't much money at all, about the cost of lunch, and waited in line for a few minutes. When it got to be my turn, I walked up to the sword, and noticed the engraving on the sheath, written in draconic runes, which I read under my breath.

"This says... [This sword shall only be drawn by the one who can obtain victory without it. This sword is naught but a symbol of strength, not the source of it] ... eh? So... HA!" (Nene)

I pulled on the sword's hilt, and it came out easily, to the shock of everyone there... no, followed by the sound of several dozen jaws hitting the floor and more than that many fainted people's entire bodies doing so, and then I turned to the woman who had been keeping the line moving, who was the former type, and spoke while suppressing a laugh.

"So, I got the sword... how do I get the sheath? Some other trial? Fight a demonic being that was sealed within the sword? Just pull it out of the pedestal?" (Nene)

"Uh... umm... ah... just pull..." (Woman)

"Oh, thanks. Ah, there we go. Hmm... this sword is a bit too big for me to have on my hip... I guess it'll have to go across my back" (Nene)

I put the sheath on my back, over my cloak, the hilt of the sword poking out over my right shoulder. I moved to leave the stage, but I was stopped by the woman, as the lord of the city-state needed to go through a formal ceremony with me, one that hadn't been done, well, ever, actually. Skipping the boring parts, it basically went along the lines of "This person has been chosen by the sword that still carries Alberius's will, and shall bring her victory in whatever fights she may get into. I present to the world, the next legendary hero, Nene!" and then a big feast and whatnot to celebrate. I tried to avoid talking to people as much as possible, and managed to get to a quiet alley to eat after a while.

"Haaa... I hate getting crowded like that... This is just as bad as it was when I was at my S rank promotion ceremony... Still, at least the food is better than it was then and there" (Nene, then resuming inhaling her food)

"An S rank?! You're kidding!" (Voice from the alleyway)

I languidly looked up, smiled, and spoke, as I was too tired from getting mobbed to do so with much enthusiasm.

"Hmm? Oh... Albert. Yeah, I'm an S rank. Yes, I'm young. I'm barely 13... and I also hate being in a large crowd, especially one where everyone wants to talk to me or touch me or something. It makes me feel like I'm some exhibit in a zoo, not actually a person, but I can't walk around without that happening" (Nene)

"Yeah, that's gotta be rough... and it's not like you could put the sword away or hide it somehow, and change how you look, so you can't even hide in plain sight among the crowd" (Albert)

I... oh... I feel like an idiot now. The things that make them be able to notice me are my hair color, ears, and the sword on my back, so I just need to use my shapeshifting to hide my ears, change my hair color, and put the sword into my hoard, and I could blend right in... probably.

"Thanks for that suggestion, actually. I feel somewhat stupid for not realizing that that sword and my hair are the reasons I am noticed. And I actually can change the way I look, and..." (Nene)

I put the sword into my hoard, as my ears vanished and my hair changed to a fiery red, my cloak being removed and replaced by a shirt and pants to cover up my scales. It meant that I now looked like a boy, but whatever. I don't care.

"I'm not sure what I should be more surprised by... that you can use magic to hide your ears and change your hair color, that you can use storage magic, or that you have dragonscale armor... No, if you're an S rank, that last bit is not that unlikely, but illusion magic and storage magic are rare, very rare, in the case of storage magic. If your skills at combat magic are even close to that good, I can see why you got to S rank" (Albert)

"Well... My skill with magic isn't the only reason I am an S rank, I tend to fight weaker foes with weapons, or my fists, in most cases. Though, there are times when I leave it to my summons" (Nene)

"I guess that's to be expected... still, who'd've thought that the little girl who asked me what the festival is about would be the S rank who would end up pulling out a legendary sword sealed for the last 20000 years?" (Albert)

"Alberius... 20000 years ago... Oh, gramps... you did have the worst naming sense, just as mother said... Like, Alberius? It's an anagram of your real name, Serubial... And that also explains the name of Drake" (Nene)

Just then, the sword shone after popping out of my hoard, and a small Dragon, seemingly made of fire and light, appeared next to me.

"Ah, it feels so good to be free again. Seriously, I should never have taken that job he offered me. 'Oh, I'll spare your life if you just possess my sword for a short while when I want to leave it to a worthy successor, so as to make it only able to be drawn by people meeting a few criteria' What bullshit! A short while? I would have died ten times over in there, were I to still have had my physical body! Still, I thank you for freeing me... oh no... no, please, don't make me go back in there... anything but that... mistress... don't seal me again" (Dragon Spirit?)

He noticed my icy stare being locked on him, a gaze with a ferocity one could only find in a Dragon's eyes.

"If my grandfather thought you'd be dangerous enough to have killed or sealed away, I'm not letting you leave either. Sorry, but you'll have to stay in the sword for a while longer, unless you'd rather be made into a stove in my shop's kitchen? And tell me your name, I'm going to want to ask you some questions now and then" (Nene)

"Yes, mistress... My name is Ddraig, formerly the Dragon possessing the God-Scorching Flames" (Ddraig)

"Very well, Ddraig. I'll make you a deal. You can become my summon, my contracted subordinate, and live in the same space as them, not inside the sword. In return, you'll do whatever I ask. Sound good?" (Nene)

"Yes, mistress... ah, geez. And here I thought I'd be free to destroy that damned Gwiber, now that I'd gotten stronger from becoming a sword spirit in addition to being a Dragon. You're just like your gramps" (Ddraig)

"Am I the only one who is surprised by you calling the Founder your grandfather?" (Albert)

"Yeah, let's just say he and I aren't really fully humanoid... So, he lived for a long time, my mother lived for a long time, and I'm going to live for a long time... And the way I know he was my gramps was that he engraved runes onto the sword that only my family would or could use, and since their names are anagrams..." (Nene)

"I see your point. Still, not humanoid? Say what now?" (Albert)

"It's a pretty well-known fact that I'm part Dragon, at least among those who've heard about the event that could have been a disaster that happened at and during my promotion ceremony. You know, what with a small horde of undead showing up, each of the undead in it as strong as an Elder Dragon? That thing?" (Nene)

"We'd heard about there being a strong horde of undead repelled by an S rank recently, but nothing about just how strong the undead were, nor anything about Dragons other than the S rank's summons" (Albert)

"Ah, well... a quick explanation was that I had to shift into my real form, that of a Dragon, so that I could use magic strong enough to take out the undead, and that was in front of tens of thousands of people from all over the continent, so it spread all over. Evidently, it did not spread all the way out here, however" (Nene)

He looked a bit offended for some reason, but quickly wiped that look off of his face.

"Either that, or it, along with the description of your age, parts of your appearance, and so on, did make it out here, but were considered to be too far-fetched to be added to the fact that there's a new S rank, which didn't have your name, just the title of [Draconic Empress] and strong enough to beat Dragons single-handedly. Considering that I don't think of this city as being in the middle of nowhere, I simply think that the rumor about the S rank being a little girl - no offense - was ignored, and the name of someone suddenly going from unknown to famous being lost on the way isn't very rare. However, with you being the one to pull out the sword... people might put two and two together. By the way, you should probably wear the sword, even when not in this city. Plenty of people will recognize it, and avoid giving you trouble, if they do notice it. Of course, some people will doubt that it's the real deal, but... once word gets out that the sword's been drawn, and your description and name get spread, it'll be less likely that it'd be thought of as a fake... I think" (Albert)

"Honestly, I don't care if people think the sword is a fake. I already have had to deal with my card being thought of as fake, so I'm used to people doubting me. Anyways, I'm going to get some food, I haven't eaten since breakfast. First, I had to fly here for a few hours, then I killed the Kraken, then I asked what the festival was about, then I got the sword, sat through a long oration, and was mobbed as soon as I left the stage, so I haven't had any chance to eat" (Nene)

Saying that, I left the alley, joined the crowd, filled a few plates with food that I put into my hoard, and then sat down to eat, sitting against a wall in a well-hidden courtyard I got to by going through an alley. While I was doing so, I found that I was getting surrounded by some people in clothing that one would generally associate with thugs, gangsters, and bandits, and I finished my plate, put it into my hoard, and pulled out a short sword, which I sheathed at my hip.

"Once I saw your weapons, I realized that I wasn't wearing any of my own, so... thanks for the reminder, I guess. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get seconds. Could you get out of my way?" (Nene)

"Look, boy, you're wearing some fine clothing, so I'll bet you have a good amount of money too. Give it to us, and we won't have to hurt you. You wouldn't be able to win if we began to fight, after all, as it's six against one, and you only have that tiny iron sword, whereas we are each on par with a C or B rank adventurer and have mithril weapons. Just hand the cash over and you won't get hurt" (Thug)

"I've got a few things to correct. First, I'm not a boy, I'm a girl. Second, I could win if we fought, as it's six against several hundred. Third, I have more than just that one sword, and I generally don't use weapons at all. Finally, my reaction to your strength as you stated it is something along the lines of 'oh no, there's no way I could beat some C and B ranks, I'm just an S rank!' with an appropriate amount of quivering in my boots... namely, no quivering at all. Hmm... this could be a great opportunity to test out my new sword, actually. You're weak, but... whatever" (Nene)

"A girl, eh? In that case, we might have a little bit of fun with your body too. Several hundred invisible guards is not something I'd believe, and the same thing is true for your being an S rank. So, I guess you aren't planning to hand over your money peacefully, so we're going to do this the fun way" (Thug)

The thugs all rushed me, so I pulled out Tyr's Fang, unsheathed it, and cut through the first guy's mithril sword, as well as his waist, after I dodged the attacks of everyone else.

"I said I'm good, that you have no chance. My name is Nene, S rank adventurer and the one who pulled this sword out this afternoon. Still, this can cut through mithril? That's pretty good, it's on par with my claws" (Nene)

"Let's get out of here!" (Other thug)

"I don't think so... I guess I'll cut off your escape with {Earth Wall}? Yep, that works. Now, let's see how this does when trying to cut through mithril armor? Will it cut, or just get stopped? I wonder..." (Nene)

It bisected two more of the thugs, and the remaining three had passed out after pissing themselves, so I just removed the wall, put away Tyr's Fang, and brought a few guardsmen to take care of the three remaining thugs. As it turned out, they were pretty well known, and they were actually on par with C and B ranks. I was asked how I beat them, so...

"I just cut through them with a sword. It wasn't hard. Good test for my new sword, actually" (Nene)

"You are a heartless killer, you know that? Most boys your age wouldn't be able to be this calm after they killed three men, not unless they'd done it several times before" (Guard Captain)

"Well, I have done so several times, I've even fought in a war, in every battle of it, so... I'm not your ordinary girl, that's for sure. Other things to give that last bit away would be the fact that I'm an S rank, but that's not something you'd realize on first glance. Here's my card" (Nene)

"Terribly sorry ma'am... Wait... Your name is Nene... You said you were testing a new sword? That wouldn't happen to be..." (Captain)

"The Sword of Victory? Yes it was. I'm disguised like this, with the sword in my storage magic, so I can go around the festival and not get mobbed. Please don't ruin this for me" (Nene)

"Of course not... just... could I... maybe... get your autograph?" (Captain)

"What would you like it on?" (Nene)

"Uh... my sword, I guess?" (Guard Captain)

"Sure... oh, wow, this is a really shitty sword for a Guard Captain to have... How about this: I'll get you another sword, and put my autograph, or rather, my emblem, in this case, on that. Deal?" (Nene)

"No, I don't want to make you go through that sort of trouble just for me..." (Captain)

"Nah, it's fine. I have dozens of good, but plain, swords lying around. Hmm... based on the size of your sword... this one should do nicely" (Nene)

I pulled out a sword made from an alloy of orichalcum and adamantite, one that is basically unbreakable, and would never dull or rust or anything like that. After I pulled it out, I took my claw and engraved the emblem of the Drachen Imperial Family into the base of the blade on one side, and carved in my name on the other. I also gave him a sheath, because it was slightly too large for his old one, though I made sure to make the sheath be almost identical to his old one, in terms of looks, at least. He doesn't need to know that it's woven from Dragonscale wires reinforced by mithril on the inside, and thus able to stop just about anything coming at it. I... didn't have any other sheaths that fit and didn't look gaudy or act as a huge glowing sign saying that the sheath and sword are valuable and thus targets to steal.

"No... This sword has to be made of, what, orichalcum? I can't take this! I've been using an iron sword all my life, this is too much!" (Captain)

"If you wish, you could just put it on display or make it a family heirloom or something, but I'd recommend you use it. It'll serve you well, but if you really can't take it... I guess I could just sign your iron sword" (Nene)

"Please... I'd much prefer that... I can't take a sword that must be worth as much as a small country!" (Captain)

I tried to carve the same things into his sword, but it was so badly made and so old that it just shattered... oops.

"Well... uh... I think you have to take the sword. I don't have any ordinary iron swords, and... I mean, this sword is good. It looks like an iron, or rather, a steel sword from a distance, at least, right?" (Nene)

"I mean, it does, but... steel is rare in and of itself, and... oh, fine, it has your autograph. It's been autographed by the person who got to S rank at 13 and pulled out Tyr's Fang, I can brag to my friends about this!" (Captain)

"And it was forged by my parents, one of... like, five hundred. This is actually one of the rejects, as they didn't get the alloy quite right" (Nene)

"And they were probably trying to make the metal of the gods, right?" (Captain)

"I mean, it's what Tyr's Fang was made from, and the same is true for a few other things I own. I myself am able to make it, if I wanted to. Still, spending well over a week without food, drink, or sleep at the forge to make a single knife is... not something I'd like to do, thank you very much. Hmm... I wonder if any of my Dragons would like to do so?" (Nene)

"Sir, we've finished up here. It's time to get back to the guardhouse" (Guard)

He said a quick farewell, thanked me for the sword, and left. I went out, got even more food than the last time, and then went to Crimonia via {Gate}. I changed back to my normal appearance, and then, when I went to the Roost, what awaited me was a large group of people outside it, so I asked one of the orphans working there what was going on.

"Well, to put it simply, some noble's son came in, ordered some food, and, while he was waiting for it, overheard people talking about the fact that all of the chefs are either orphans like us or Dragons, and so when the food came, he asked for it to be made by - and this is a quote from him - 'a real chef, not a gutter rat or a lizard monster'... and when we told him that those are all of the chefs we have or need, and so he'd have to go elsewhere if he didn't like the way we operated... well, he basically tried to rampage in the store, so after he'd used magic to destroy some of the tables and chairs, also injuring some of the customers and staff in the process, Garnet knocked him out, and when he woke up, he used his noble authority to shut this place down for the fact that its staff attacked a noble such as him" (Orphan)

"Where can I find this guy? I'd like to talk to him, see if I can resolve it without getting Cliff or anyone like that involved... and do so peacefully, no less" (Nene)

"He's at the higher-class inn. I could take you there if you need me to. His name is Anzole Kein" (Orphan)

"No, I know the place. Thanks for the offer, however" (Nene)

I went to the inn, by way of a short detour, and asked to speak with him. The innkeeper, an old lady with two walking sticks, said that I couldn't from in back, but when she came out and actually saw me, she changed her mind.

"Well, if an S rank is wanting to speak with a noble, I don't really have a choice. I'll send someone for him. Erin! Could you get our guest from room 203, or give him a message that the owner of the Dragon's Roost would like to speak to him? Erin! Did you hear me?!" (Innkeeper)

"I heard you, I heard you. I'm on my way!" (Erin, I guess?)

A minute later, a fat boy, maybe 16 or 17 years old, waddled down the stairs, and glared at me as he took a seat.

"What do you want? I'm a busy guy, so spill it, chit" (Kein)

"Oh, nothing much. I just heard about how you injured some of the people working at my shop, in addition to the customers and furniture, simply because you didn't like the chefs. You never tried the food, right?" (Nene)

"Of course not! No self-respecting noble would eat food made by monsters, even ones like Dragons!" (Kein)

"With some exceptions, such as... Cliff, the lord of this city, and his daughters and wife, the Earl Gran Faren Gramm, and his granddaughter, as well as the Queen of Ordesia, the Empress of the Drachen Empire, and let us not forget, the King, Queen, and Princess of this here Erufanica. All of them love the food I make, and it's the same as the food made in my shop" (Nene)

"Yes, but what they eat was made by you, a human... or beastkin, I suppose, and not by those grimy orphans and Dragons! It's completely different!" (Kein)

"I'm actually an orphan myself, and I'm also a Dragon. I guess you weren't around at my S rank promotion ceremony. Furthermore, Cliff and his younger daughter visit my shop and eat the food made by the chefs other than me more than once a week. Besides, if you were to have a rug in your room, made from, say, a Black Tiger, you wouldn't dislike it just because it was made from a monster, nor would you care if the one who killed it was an orphan, or the one who made it was some other form of distasteful in your opinion, right?" (Nene)

"No, I wouldn't dislike it. However, that is a rug that goes under my feet. This is food that goes in my body. That's like asking if, since a person is fine with walking on rocks, they would be willing to eat rocks" (Kein)

"Salt..." (Nene)

He looked perplexed due to what I said, and that I said it in a bit of a monotone with no explanation.

"What?" (Kein)

"Salt. It's a rock, and one that I'll bet that you ingest rather often. Most plant and animal products also contain salt, as well as iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, sodium, chlorine, and several other things you'd think of as being rocks or metals" (Nene)

"Oh, shut your hole, brat. Maybe I'd like you better if you opened the other one instead, at least then, the two of us could make something productive after having some fun, not getting nothing done after being bored out of our skulls or whatever" (Kein)

"You know what? I think that I will pretend that I never heard that comment... as it would get you killed if any of a list of several dozen people heard that you'd said that. Still, you ignored the bit about all kinds of influential figures liking my food, despite the fact that it was made by an orphaned Dragon... oh, right. I forgot to mention... you are actually supposed to be under arrest for damaging the property of a business under the protection of His Majesty and attempting to interfere with its operation. It's back up and running, by the way... the Roost, that is. I have a bit of pull with Cliff, you see... and by that, I mean that Cliff had plans to eat there this evening, and as he no longer could keep to those plans... well, he removed the reason he couldn't do so. You are in his domain, so he does outrank you. Of course, as you are a noble, you won't face much punishment besides having to reimburse us for the damages, troubles, and lost profits you caused, and maybe getting disinherited if your father hears about this. Still, compared to a life as a criminal slave or something like that, it's nothing right?" (Nene)

"You know what, I don't have to listen to this. You're wasting my time and disrespecting me, so I am within my rights as a noble to request that you leave my sight and never return, or to kill you" (Kein)

Oh, he's angry, and he just made a mistake... he should be glad he wasn't overheard by much of anyone of real importance who knows me, but most of the other patrons in this dining room, as well as the staff, were all giving him the stink eye or outright glaring at him. A few adventurers, including a few B and A ranks I knew, had their hands creeping towards their weapons, and one man was gripping his mug so hard that it cracked. I'll add that mug to the list of things for Anzole Kein to pay for, as he was the cause of its destruction.

"And I am within my rights as an S rank adventurer with the Seal of Erufanica's royal family to say that that right to ask me to leave doesn't apply in this situation. I also have the right to say that you need to finish this conversation... and by the way, trying to kill me is a very bad idea... even if you lived to talk about it the next day, you'd be unable to talk about it after a week. Remember that I was called one of His Majesty's best friends, have the seal of the royal family, and that the Roost, which you so stupidly tried to trash and shut down, was and is under his protection, as are those working there, some of which you injured. It's also under the protection of no less than three S rank adventurers, the commerce guild, the lord of this city, the adventurer known as the Bloody Bear, who is another of the king's best friends, and last, but certainly not least, the Drachen Empire. I think that protection is greater than the protection you have as the son of a noble" (Nene)

"Tch... Fine, I'll pay for that problem I caused, but change your cooks. Hire someone good and famous to teach them, so that you could at least say that they were taught by, say, the king's assistant head chef or something like that. That should deal with most of the problems people would have, if you really don't want to change who you have as the staff" (Kein)

I hid a chuckle, and then smiled slowly so he could see and get a bit irritated by it.

"Well, they were taught by two people who Zelef, the royal head chef, said were as good as him or better. All of the Dragons fall into that group, and the orphans fall into the group that were either taught by one of those two, or someone they'd taught extensively. Basically, the quality of the chefs has the approval of someone on par with Zelef. Oh, speaking of good chefs... do you think we should enter in the cooking competition held by the commerce guild? Wait, I shouldn't ask someone who hasn't tried our food... Well, how about this: I'll be more likely to forget to mention that this ever happened if you try the food and give your honest opinion on it. I have some with me, actually, so... Here. You'll have to pay for it, of course" (Nene)

I set out some fried Kraken rings, as well as a burger. He paid me a bit more than what it would actually cost at my store, which I didn't point out, hesitantly tried the burger, and then devoured the whole thing and asked for more as he wolfed down the Kraken rings.

"You can eat them at the Roost, so I won't give, or rather, sell, more here. So, do you think -" (Nene)

"If you have more things like this, you would definitely win the cooking competition. I mean, what do you put in this stuff? It's insanely good!" (Kein)

"Well, the fried food that you ate was made by dipping small bits of Kraken in our special batter, then frying it in oil. The burger you ate was made from Wyvern, Mithril Lizard, and Black Tiger meat, the bun was made extra fluffy by adding in some Floating Fungus spores, which aren't harmful, by the way, and the cheese was made from Behemoth milk" (Nene)

"Eh? But... those... if I wanted to have my chef make any of that, it'd cost a few hundred or thousand times as much as this did... how are you making a profit off of this?" (Kein)

First off, I'm not really doing this for the profit, meaning that there isn't much of it at all, but...

"Well, we raise the Behemoths and milk them ourselves, same as raising the cluckers for their eggs and the Floating Fungus for their spores. Then, the Krakens and Wyverns are obtained by me, the Mithril Lizards and Black Tigers are as well, though I plan to try to raise them too at some point. Err, the Mithril Lizards will be able to be farmed from my new dungeon, once it is up and running, but the Black Tigers will have to be raised. It shouldn't be too hard, if we have some Dragons guarding them and enough space to do so... well, we'd have to find food for them, but we can feed them the parts of the Krakens and Wyverns we don't sell as materials or food for people, I think. Maybe we'd also have to use some of my wolf corpses, which I have... thousands of, actually. That's the main problem we have to think about at the moment. The three Behemoths we are raising eat plants, so they consume what the dozen or so Treants we have with them grow, and-" (Nene)

"Okay, I get the idea. Basically, most of what you use is grown or raised yourself and so the costs are minimal. Still, selling this stuff at this price is just... I'm surprised that you don't have that many nobles coming here just to eat your food, or asking you to open another shop like it in their cities" (Kein)

"Most nobles have things to do that prevent them from coming here whenever they want good food, and they don't really want to interfere with this place due to the king's protection, and I think that asking me to make another one in their area could be seen as such, considering the staff I have here and the fact that I'd need to make more areas to farm the ingredients near the other branches. It also doesn't hurt that I'm often busy, so it's hard for them to meet me to ask for that" (Nene)

"I... I can see how that would explain that... so, I'm not going to ask for you to do so in my territory. Thanks for the food, I'm going to go get more!" (Kein)

"You won't be allowed into the Roost until you've paid what you owe, and I think I'll add that guy's mug to the list. Unless I am wrong, he gripped it so hard it broke when you were insulting me and my chefs, so it is kinda your fault. For the reparations to my store, talk to the commerce guild, I guess" (Nene)

"Uggh... fine. How much would that be?" (Kein)

I left him to pay his debts as I went back to the Roost, fixed the tables, and then I went to heal my employees and the injured customers, if I could find them. After that, I went to one of the balconies on the Roost, and slept in my Dragon form, as it was comfortable there, and I hadn't done so in a while.