Chapter 6: They
The black steed neighed softly by the riverbank before bending down to drink deeply from the water below. Beside the carriage, a pelt-less wild wolf was roasted to a crisp, tender perfection. Unfortunately, Fisher did not bring any spices, so it tasted a bit bland for him, and he didn’t eat much.
However, the dragonfolk, especially the little dragonfolk named Ral, were devouring the meat with grease spilling from their mouths, having consumed more than half of the wolf.
He leaned against the side of the carriage, confirming that the earlier fight with Rafael inside had not damaged the overall magic array.
If the spatial magic of the carriage were to collapse, he wasn’t sure what would happen to the beings inside; they could potentially be squished under the pressure of the items compacting together.
The yellow-scaled dragonfolk named Mill, like Fisher, ate very little and sat down early beside the carriage, watching a few young dragonfolk enjoy their food.
“How old are you?”
Fisher noticed her yellow scales gradually changing from smooth to sharp, lightly bulging at the skin’s surface to form a small armor-like appearance, piquing his interest, and he asked.
Mill’s pointed ears perked up slightly, surprised, and she turned to face Fisher’s direct gaze, immediately lowering her eyes to avert his stare.
“Twenty-two.”
“I see. How long does it take for the dragonfolk to mature?”
“Mature!?”
Mill opened her mouth, apparently struck by some thought, lowering her head even further, her voice becoming much softer. “At this age, I should already be able to bear children.”
“……”
Fisher’s eyes went blank, momentarily speechless.
Is this girl an idiot?
The language boost from the Supplement Handbook for Sub-Humans was directly planted in his mind, which was quite a novel experience. In an instant, many strange grammatical structures and linguistic thoughts filled his mind; however, he clearly wasn’t able to use them well yet, occasionally blurted out ambiguously phrased sentences.
“I meant, how long until adulthood.”
He rubbed his brow, then adjusted his wording, taking a while to find the corresponding dragon language vocabulary in his mind.
“Ah! Uh…”
Mill’s scales slightly raised, and she became even more embarrassed. Her tail was sweeping back and forth behind her, her body language quite animated, yet the words that came out were still barely audible.
“Twenty…”
“I see.”
Then, Rafael’s age should be close to twenty.
“Um, what is your name?”
Mill glanced at Fisher beside her, hesitating for a moment before asking. For some reason, she always felt this human was different from other humans, though she couldn’t quite pinpoint why. If it were another human, she would have been too scared to speak at all; after all, her mother had said she was the most timid among all her yellow dragon sisters.
And she hadn’t been home in a while, wondering if Bull had married another dragonfolk.
Thinking of this, Mill suddenly felt a bit sad.
“.Fisher, Fisher Benavides.”
“Ah, Fisher… Fisher.”
Snapped out of her thoughts, she mumbled Fisher’s name a few times and then sneaked a glance at the tall human man, quickly averting her eyes again and falling silent.
Fisher didn’t say anything further either. He glanced toward the fire, where Ral was still munching away. A single person was somehow able to out-eat those two white-scaled dragon sisters, showing how formidable her fighting capability was. Rafael held a wolf leg in her hand, eating while vigilantly watching Fisher speaking with Mill, fearing he might secretly do something bad again.
Fisher smiled slightly, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it before stepping a bit away from the carriage. He needed to call back the two horses; it was almost night, and he had to prepare defensive magic to prevent any unwelcome guests at night.
“Tweet~”
“Hoo, hoo!”
He whistled, and the two horses instantly came running back excitedly, returning to the side of the carriage.
“I command you, the misfortune of attackers, protect us.”
Then, Fisher knocked on the edge of the carriage. As soft chanting followed, one of the intricate magic patterns inside was awakened, glowing with deep purple light. Looking closely, the deep purple radiance was filled with layers of circular magical symbols, representing the profound magical ability of the master who set up the spell.
Fisher did not set up this magic; he didn’t possess such skill yet.
Watching the purple light before him, Fisher suddenly thought of a certain sorceress, unable to help but smile softly.
Waiting until the purple glow completely enveloped the surrounding space, he finally relaxed.
The dragonfolk watched the purple light covering the nearby area like an aurora, and they couldn’t help but be awed.
While only Rafael could see the terrifying level of the magical arrangement, the other dragonfolk merely felt that the purple light was ominous and frightening.
“Are you full?”
Fisher pinched out the finished cigarette butt, and as he asked, he noticed scattered bones beside the fire with no meat left on them. Ral was holding her belly and picking her teeth; Keshil and Fashir were not much different.
It seemed the answer was already evident.
“You can move freely here; Rafael, come with me first.”
“…”
Rafael pressed her lips together, understanding the reason he called her; it was about “research.” Although she didn’t know what this human meant by “research,” Rafael had already defaulted it to mean something bad.
In her eyes, everything Fisher did was bad.
She glanced at her companions and advised, “Don’t stay outside too long, and don’t go beyond this purple light circle. Keep an eye on Ral.”
After getting nods from her companions, she jumped onto the carriage and entered the interior.
Outside, Mill worriedly glanced at the disappearing figure of Rafael before turning to her companions and asking,
“Why did Fisher only call Rafael in? Does he know that Rafael is the chief’s daughter? Or is there another reason?”
Ral looked at Mill, shocked, and exclaimed, “Fisher? Fisher? That’s the name of that human! Mill, you know his name? How do you know?”
Fashir and Keshil also turned to look at her, causing Mill to panic and wave her hands.
“It’s because he told me. I’m worried about Rafael.”
Her nervousness made her tail wag back and forth.
Fashir thought for a moment and said, “.Mill, where do you think he’s taking us?”
“Perhaps to sell us.”
“.To their homeland? I’ve heard other dragonfolk say that humans come from a very distant place,” Keshil added.
But Ral shouted, “No, there are humans here too! And goblins!”
Fashir glared at Ral, “No, Ral, don’t interrupt! I mean, those well-dressed ones holding…”
“Guns!” Ral interjected.
“Yes! Yes, guns. The humans with guns and magic come from another place… perhaps from the sea or flew here; who knows… I mean, he won’t take us back the same way.”
This statement frightened all the dragonfolk.
After a long silence, Ral pitifully raised her hand.
“I… I can’t swim… even if we have to go by sea, Mill must carry me.”
“Shut up, Ral!”
The flames of the fire flickered as the dragonfolk speculated about Fisher’s intentions, just like dealing with math problems in an end-term exam; even if they couldn’t figure it out, they wouldn’t get an answer.
But at least they had gained something, which was the roasted wolf meat filling their bellies and the knowledge that the human’s name was Fisher.
(End of Chapter)
