Chapter 5: To Humans
The door opened again, and Raphael rubbed his slightly reddened neck, where the warmth of that human still lingered, echoing his words in his ears.
The white bedding had already been moved into the room by Ral and the others. At the doorway, Ral poked out her bright, watery eyes, cautiously examining Raphael as he walked out of Fisher’s room.
“Did… did he hit you, Lord Raphael?”
After entering the room, the bedding was laid out on the floor, and Ral sat beside her, on the bedding closest to the door, looking at Raphael’s reddened neck with concern. Ral was the youngest among them, and just seeing such a situation made her eyes soften, as if she were about to tear up.
Raphael was slightly taken aback, still pondering the terms of the game he had just agreed upon with Fisher, unable to respond for a moment. The slave mark on her chest still existed, but it had turned into a simple empty shell, no longer instilling the same sense of control as before.
“…” She opened her mouth but ultimately revealed nothing, only gently embracing the petite Ral before her. “No. Don’t worry, I will take you all home.”
“Lord Raphael.”
Behind her, Keshil and Fashir were a pair of twin sisters, rare white-scaled dragonfolk from the tribe. They had initially been assigned as Raphael’s guards and companions, but due to Raphael’s oversight, they had been captured by humans. Mill was the oldest among them, the only adult dragonfolk, who had already undergone a marriage ceremony in the tribe and chose a suitable tail partner. Having been captured, she had not seen her family for a long time.
If it weren’t for her own mistake, she would never have let them leave their homeland.
Knock, knock.
As Raphael hugged Ral, the doorframe behind them was gently knocked on; it was Fisher appearing at the doorway. Except for Raphael and the Ral she was holding, everyone unconsciously shrank back.
“Come out to eat.”
After saying this simple sentence, he disappeared from the doorway.
The dragonfolk in the room exchanged glances, but only Ral’s stomach responded with a soft sound.
“Lord Raphael, I’m so hungry.”
Ral’s pitiful voice arose in her arms, and Raphael glanced around, noticing that the companions nearby were also looking at her.
“Let’s go.”
Upon leaving the room, Fisher’s figure was no longer inside the carriage. Looking towards the upward staircase, the door was open, revealing the already dimming sky outside.
Raphael led the way outside, the fresh night wind hitting her scales. Just as she stepped out of the carriage, she recalled the rules of the game set with that human, which allowed her to kill him outside the carriage.
As long as she killed him, she would win the game and gain freedom.
Her emerald green eyes brightened slightly as she instinctively searched for the man’s figure.
She found him standing by the river, holding a strange long wooden stick, gazing towards the desolate wilderness on the opposite bank. In the darkened field beyond, several faintly glowing eyes were watching from a distance.
Fisher raised the “long stick” in his hand towards the distance, and Raphael suddenly realized something, her tail lifting slightly. The next moment, she heard a loud bang from the stick in his hand.
“Bang!”
“Roar!!”
Fisher looked at a unfortunate wild wolf that had collapsed on the ground, while the wolves around it scattered in fear, meaning that terrifying roar did not come from them.
He put away the firearm and turned to look at the bright-red dragonfolk with completely narrowed pupils. She had her scales slightly raised, emitting many streams of hot steam, crouching on the ground, warily watching the man with the gun, seemingly afraid he would shoot at her.
All the other dragonfolk had hidden behind the carriage, only their frightened eyes peeking out.
So that’s it.
Fisher glanced at Raphael, nonchalantly retracting his firearm.
“Can you start a fire?”
“… Roar.”
Raphael’s leg claws trembled slightly, her mouth still letting out a small growl like a frightened beast.
“If you can’t, then go pick up that wolf. Move quickly if you don’t want to starve tonight.”
He carried the gun, placing the terrifying weapon on his back, bypassing the crouching Raphael keeping her combat stance, and directly walked to the side of the carriage, pushing away the dragonfolk hiding there.
“Step aside.”
Inside the dark door was a portable campfire that could be ignited with magic, but he didn’t know how many uses it still had; the magic circle had already dimmed considerably the last time he used it.
Things related to magic were like this: constructing a magic circle took a long time, was not very durable, and was expensive; it was no wonder those guys in Saint Nali researched steam engines every day.
“What is that thing? The one making noise?”
While setting up the campfire, Fisher suddenly heard a soft, delicate voice, thinking it was the chattering of an earth spirit from the ground. Looking back, he was surprised to find it was the smallest blue dragonfolk, speaking to him.
It was Ral, right?
She looked somewhat pale, gazing at the firearm on his back, anxiously watching the smoking muzzle, as if the bullet that had hit the wolf had struck her, touching her scales to confirm no blood was seeping out.
“This?”
“… Yes.”
“It’s a gun.”
Fisher replied while activating the almost disappearing magic circle, not even turning to look at her.
“Is it made of magic?”
“No, it’s man-made.”
“Is it used against us?”
It was unclear whether she meant subhumans or dragonfolk, but evidently this assumption was inaccurate. Beneath the brilliance of human civilization lay countless filth, so he shook his head.
“No, it’s used against humans.”
Ral opened her mouth, her brain seeming like a big pot, still simmering the flavors of their earlier dialogue.
“Ral!”
Mill, who had been behind her for just a second, noticed Ral was talking to the dangerous human, and when that human suddenly stood up with the gun, she immediately rushed over to shield Ral with her body, only to see that human fire at the opposite bank of the river.
“Bang!”
The dirt far away was exploded by a shot, followed by a flurry of panicked shouts.
“Damn it, Rania has been hit!”
“Quickly run, that bastard’s not easy to mess with!”
“Press against his chest, he’s bleeding!”
In the darkness, chaos ensued over there, and faint sounds of arguing reached their ears, along with a couple of stray gunshots, seemingly to cover their retreat.
Ral and the arriving Mill stared blankly at the figures gradually disappearing into the darkness on the opposite bank, opening their mouths as they looked at the expressionless human male now fiddling with the ground campfire.
The Southern Continent was filled with gold, attracting countless explorers from the Western Continent to seize these precious treasures. Among them were certainly some desperate rogues. Before coming, Fisher had heard rumors that the Parliament intended to exile those heinous criminals to an island near the Southern Continent, reasoning that it would save a lot on building and maintaining prisons.
In short, the Southern Continent was a mixed bag, resulting in many people being permanently stranded here, unable to return to the Western Continent.
Those bandits earlier were likely attracted by the gunshots and the sound of hooves. Enhanced by the previous research on subhumans, Fisher subtly picked up their faint conversations.
The benefits bestowed by subhuman research had brought him considerable advantages, such as his now extraordinarily robust physique and keen observation skills, as well as the ability to drive magic.
“Ral!”
Raphael returned, carrying the wild wolf, and let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that Ral was unharmed.
Fisher glanced at her expressionlessly and pointed to the already lit campfire beneath them.
“We have research to do tonight; first, let’s eat.”
The others didn’t understand the meaning of Fisher’s words, but only Raphael’s lips tightened slightly, staring intently at the figure of the man before her.
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(End of this chapter)
