Chapter 9: The Tail
“Dada dada!”
A gust of wind swept by, and Fisher’s carriage appeared unsteadily in front of Kekken City, which was still under road repairs. The city walls had just been completed, and the uneven dirt at the entrance was covered in the tracks of carriages and horses’ hoofprints. Armed soldiers were patrolling the entrance, and many farmers, having collected goods from outside, were queuing at the gate with their agricultural products.
Countless posters were plastered at the city gates, introducing the city and advertising local shops, featuring oil paintings of scantily clad blonde women along with store addresses. A griffon flag fluttered above the city, casting its shadow over Fisher as the sun shone through the brim of his hat.
Fortune favored him; this was a city of Nali. If it had been a city of Shivali or Cardu, as a citizen of Nali, he would have had to pay an entry fee and likely taxes too.
Fisher lightly spurred the horse’s flanks and continued onward.
“Esteemed gentleman, please present your identification.”
At the entrance, a soldier with a scruffy beard, carrying a musket, coughed and respectfully requested Fisher’s credentials, while several young soldiers behind him looked eagerly at the intricately designed carriage, seeming somewhat impatient.
However, when Fisher produced the “Southern Continent Travel Permit” and “Citizen Certificate” issued by the Nali government, the leading officer exchanged glances with the soldiers behind him, who then glanced away in disappointment and returned to chatting at their posts.
“Ah, a gentleman from Saint Nali. Have a pleasant time in the city; welcome to Kekken City!”
Fisher gave him a casual glance, retrieving his documents. The carriage passed through the city gate, followed closely by a deep red carriage, clearly belonging to a gentleman from Shivali. That region favored deep red decorations, even their wedding attire was bulky and in deep red.
A similar document check was repeated, but this time the young men behind were preoccupied.
He withdrew his gaze, lowered the brim of his hat, and ignored what was happening behind him.
The roads inside the city were still under construction, littered with filthy dirt and sewage from the shops. For cities in the Southern Continent, the foremost tasks were constructing walls and shops; everything else could wait, so the sanitary conditions and living standards of most cities were rather awkward.
But it was bearable, and Fisher did not plan to stay long.
“Sir, please look this way! Here is a guesthouse for night rest, we offer free care for horses and carriages, warm water and towels in the morning, just 50 euros a night, long-term orders have discounts!!”
“The most authentic food of Saint Nali!”
“Indigenous people of the Southern Continent! Ladies of Saint Nali! Sisters of Shivali! Sir, are you alone tonight?”
The carriage was moving at a slow pace, and several errand boys kept running alongside, promoting their shops to Fisher.
Of course, alongside them were restaurants, brothels, and similar establishments, all crazily highlighting their unique offerings.
Fisher ignored them, lightly tapping the back door of his carriage with his staff, and after a moment, it began to open, but he suddenly pressed the door shut, preventing it from fully opening.
“This is a human city; stay inside for now.”
“You knocked and called me.”
Only after Fisher spoke in Draconic did the force pushing the door relent, revealing a pair of bright green eyes peering at him through the gap.
“First go buy some food, give it to them to eat, then look for a set of clothes in the second room on the left, then follow me to buy supplies.”
The eyes studied him for a moment before retracting back into the carriage, presumably to inform her companions.
With his carriage enchanted with spatial magic, he certainly didn’t need to stay at a shabby tavern, but he still required a place to park the carriage, so he called over a stable boy who was allowed to only park carriages to lead him.
Once the carriage was backed into a corner of the rudimentary “stable,” he finally opened the door of the carriage. There were many carriages of travelers resting here, and while some were housed, most belonged to drivers responsible for those carriages. Fisher deliberately chose the furthest corner to avoid their noticing anything peculiar about the carriage.
He instructed the tavern chef to prepare five portions of roast chicken and one portion of bread, and just for this group of dragon ladies, the meal approached 100 euros, causing Fisher’s brow to twitch when it came time to settle the bill.
The money to buy their meals came from that unfortunate Auren, originally meant to gather information on the whereabouts of the red-scaled dragon people; unexpectedly, the informant and seller turned their sights on his own wealth, leaving Fisher no choice but to accept his entire fortune with tears.
Fisher had anticipated substantial expenses for coming to the Southern Continent, so he had brought most of his savings, yet each time he paid out, his face grew increasingly stiff, as if it were painfully extracting his blood.
In this age, there were many ventures to make money, yet none seemed to concern him, as it appeared the Mother did not intend to bless him with financial fortune this year; his current income and expenditure status was possibly the worst phase of his life.
Fisher received the large platter of turkey dinner, and in the terrified gaze of the tavern servant, he balanced seven plates with both hands as he steadily returned to his carriage.
Just as he opened the carriage door, a series of chattering voices greeted him, making Fisher think he had wandered into a cotton factory on the outskirts of Saint Nali.
“This definitely shouldn’t be worn like this; I think it should be turned the other way around.”
“Ah, I get it! This is human clothing; how could there be a space for a tail? No wonder we couldn’t figure out the front from the back!”
Fashir should be the second smartest after Raphael; aside from some childish innocence, she often noticed blind spots that other companions missed, like now.
From the conversation inside, Fisher could roughly guess what kind of “catastrophe” was unfolding.
He carefully carried the turkey down the steps, and indeed, upon witnessing the disarrayed dressing room, he suddenly felt the urge to rub his forehead, only to find that he had no third hand.
Aside from the few chattering dragon ladies outside, the next thing that caught Fisher’s eye was a long red tail. Following the base of the tail connecting to the spine upward, he noticed soft crimson scales, revealing large patches of pale skin like cream, covered in faint red scars.
Even from the back, Fisher could still catch a glimpse of the broad, soft outline in front.
Raphael turned to look at Fisher in a panic, her tail lifting slightly again, but for some unknown reason, upon recalling something, she hurriedly lowered her tail to cover her lower half.
“Human clothing doesn’t fit me well.”
Fisher indifferently took in that scene, before shifting his focus to the ragged white shirt and pants she was wearing.
Before coming here, he had prepared appropriate garments for these dragon ladies, and they should have been sealed in the changing room using Draconic, why hadn’t she found them?
“You all, come here first and take the lunch; one portion each, no taking extra.”
“It’s delicious!”
“Ral!”
“It’s your fault, Mill; it must be you who spoiled her.”
“Eh?”
Ral was the most excited one; just a moment ago she was playing with the clothes on the ground, now upon seeing food she hurried over to be the first to enjoy it. The partners behind her couldn’t hold her back either and had no choice but to set down the clothes they were carrying to come eat.
All the chicken had been distributed, and once Raphael’s and his portions were set aside, Fisher could finally get the space to enter the dressing room to help Raphael with her clothing.
He saw her clawed feet poking through the holes of the white shirt, pulling the originally fitting white shirt’s seams out of shape, and she was merely draped in a long garment that only covered the front, seemingly getting stuck and restricting her movement. It was only then that the large patches of red dragon scales came into Fisher’s view.
“I should have written the clothing you need to wear in Draconic here; why are you rummaging around?”
Raphael couldn’t see Fisher’s figure, but sensed his voice was very close, probably right behind her; even the breath as he spoke could be felt against her scales. Strangely, even though dragon scales are typically hot, at that moment, she felt an overwhelming warmth from his breath hitting her.
“Y-yes, it was Ral who came in first…”
She felt a bit embarrassed, especially after looking at the chaotic dressing room.
Fisher didn’t respond further, lowering his head to search through the heap of clothing on the ground until he found a box marked in Draconic, the sharp lettering resembling blades and scales that read, “Female Dragon Clothing.”
Fortunately, nothing inside had been taken out by that prankster Ral; otherwise, repairing it in the Southern Continent would be impossible.
“You stuck your head inside the sleeves of the clothing; that’s why you got caught. I’ll hold the shirt while you slowly pull your head out.”
Fisher reached out to grab the long garment hanging between her neck and red hair. As his fingers made contact with her neck, her body suddenly shuddered, and instinctively, a thick dragon tail gently coiled around Fisher’s waist, causing him to look down in surprise.
“Mm.”
Raphael’s scales slightly parted, emitting a bit of warm steam; however, to Fisher, it felt pleasantly warm, not as burning as that night, so he did not withdraw his fingers.
In the next second, the entire room fell into a moment of silence, with no actions or words exchanged. Fisher felt a long tail gently tugging at his body while her fiery red hair cascaded over his chest, obscuring her expression from view.
For an unprecedented second, he was momentarily stunned, then gradually softened his expression and gently reminded her, “Your tail.”
“!!”
But it was that single reminder that seemed to open the steam valve of a factory. The familiar hot steam suddenly surged uncontrollably from Raphael’s body, and her tail, which had gently coiled around his waist, suddenly thrust outward, causing Fisher to instinctively stumble back.
However, he still had a grip on the clothing wrapped around her neck.
“Rip!”
“Bang!”
Naturally, at the moment of the garment tearing, Fisher fell backward, and Raphael crashed forward, producing two loud thuds in the dressing room.
“You…you…”
The red tail gently swayed in front, covering her exposed body after she fell; Raphael adjusted her position, leaning against the corner of the dressing room, her long red tail instinctively shielding her.
Meanwhile, Fisher stared blankly at the ceiling, utterly avoiding looking in her direction. The next moment, the ever-chatty Ral, catching wind of the noise, bounced over from the next room and entered his line of sight.
“Whoa! Lady Raphael has fallen, and Fisher has fallen too! Mill, come quickly; it must be because Lady Raphael’s tail is too big, and the clothes can’t fit! I told you so, but you all didn’t believe me!”
It seemed that even without research time, some information about dragon people could be gleaned.
He sat up silently and turned to throw the clothing in his hands toward the still-sitting Raphael.
“There are instructions inside; this should fit you now; don’t let Ral and them help you devise a plan.”
It was quite absurd; he suddenly found himself looking forward to Raphael trying to assassinate him, only to fail and face punishment.
He cast a glance at Ral, who had looked at him incredulously and then transformed that into a grievance, and ruffled her hair with his hand before picking up a piece of bread and heading back out of the carriage.
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(End of chapter)
