"NO WAY! We got back without any trouble!?" - Garami

Standing on the bow of the Marauder, I couldn't believe my eyes. The Dungeon that doubled as our home came into sight, all without any form for troubles, disasters, or monsters messing with us on our way home. We even got to say our farewells with Percel's knight brigade without any tears, troubles, or backstabbing. Not that I was expecting the last one from such a Lawful Good group...

Speaking of those guys, they said they wanted to stay to keep an eye on those Chaos Church guys. Can't blame 'em. Just their name marks those guys as the "bad guys" around town. Not that they're my problem anymore. Let's stay safely indoors and focus on developing the Dungeon from now on...

"Nope. Nothing's going on." - Garami

"Hey, Princess? Can't you take the rudder now? This isn't the way to treat the MVP of our last adventure~." - Mira

"Didn't you learn that a quest's never over until you've gotten the acknowledgment sign from the quest giver? Well, I can take over though." - Garami

Our resident female evil knight gave the driver's seat to me while stretching her body like a content cat. Despite what I said, I have to agree that Mira's the member of our expedition who managed to score us the most benefits. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her return alongside the knight brigade, the raptors loaded with treasure chests filled with importer jade, silk, and most importantly, scrolls that contained secret forging recipes from the mysterious land called "Wakoku". Terra Sol's home for samurais and ninjas.

We gave some jade to Percel's crew as a thank-you gift for helping us out, but we still got A SHITLOAD left of it. Not to mention other valuables such as gems (mostly diamonds) and various weapons and tools (mostly for piracy). Finally...

"Remind me again how big this... what did you call it? A 'diamond hermit crab'?" - Garami

"That guy? Bigger than the Marauder. Why?" - Mira

"Nothing. I was just wondering if Skill Orbs were supposed to be such bargain sales." - Garami

We ended up obtaining 3 of them at once thanks to Mira's victory over that giant...thing.

"Peh. If I had gotten the Extra Skill I was promised...!" - Mira

No, nobody ever promised you that. And even if such a rule existed, I'd bet all this loot we've gotten that it only applies when you're in a "real" Extra Trial. As in, one that wants a Medal and not something you joined thanks to some random piece of paper.

Speaking of maps, I need to thank Flint for setting us up on this quest... Maybe not. I don't wanna have him get some "bright" ideas regarding the loot. He'll have to settle on those bamboo scrolls Mira found in that "pirate king's" treasure chests. I took a glance at them and they seem to be recipes for katanas. Whoever that pirate was, he sure loved the country of Wakoku as much as Flint. The difference is, that the former loves it as prey while the other guy idolizes the place.

"...Hey, is there something in the distance?" - Alf

The newly resurrected vampire after his latest KO from the sun, along with his new ursine pal, stared in the distance a little away from the Dungeon's entrance. I KNEW it was too good to be true! Getting home without any disturbances happening, that's as ridiculous as expecting snow in July! Not that there is any month of July in this world, but you get the idea.

Now, for the trouble incoming, it looks like...a different floatship. Desert pirates? No, that's a common floatship model, mostly used by civilians. Pirates would probably rather use something with a little more oomph. Like, say, a few dozen cannons or something. That old dinghy doesn't even have a Jolly Roger on the top of its mast! Even we have one! In Mira's loot, but you know. Details, schmetails.

I paused the Marauder and had the two (plus one) get ready for combat. We're still a stonecast away from the Dungeon, but I want to play it safe. No need to show any sign that we're familiar with the place to whoever's manning that chibi ship.

However, despite my fears, the dinghy floatship wasn't sailing toward us. Its nose is pointed toward the Dungeon's entrance and has no intention of even taking a glance in our direction. Should I feel insulted or weirded out?

"Hey, I think they're being chased by something," said Mira who had taken an old spyglass from our pirate loot to spy on the unknown ship.

"How did you deduce that?" - Alf

"The sand moving as if something is digging through it in a feverish chase after the enemy(?) ship is one thing." - Mira

"Sandworms?!" - Garami

"Now that would be a classic, but don't ask me. I'm no desert monster biologist." - Mira

"Sandworms... I wonder if any smaller variant could be useful for my next fishing trip..." - Alf

Uh-oh. He better not go through with that idea. However, it seems impossible this time around. Why? Because whoever was digging through the sand jumped out with a bang. If one hadn't known better, one could have mistaken the spectacle for a mine underneath the dunes that had detonated. Sadly, the figure that came out of the sand didn't leave any doubts.

"Why a dragon!?" - Garami

Even while knowing we were out of the all-time fantasy classic's path of carnage, I couldn't stop myself from a small outburst. A giant dragon with scales as red as blood had emerged from the desert dunes. Some weird contraptions on his front limbs fell off in pieces, with the dragon himself tossing the remains off with an irritated huff.

From what I can gather, it seems the dragon has a beef with the people on the dinghy. Either because he had those items forcefully attached to him, or he had some other bone to pick with them, causing the sailors to use the entrapment gadgets to slow the dragon down. So much that he went down under. Not that it helped in the end...

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The dragon released a massive breath of fire, the all-time classic of these reptilian champions. Man, if a fellow high fantasy fan were here, they'd be drooling all over the deck right now. Luckily, I know how to keep myself in check. Plus I've been developing immunity thanks to my scarce encounters with other draconic beings, like the ones in the unexpected Extra Trial I once had, or the undead dragons of Tir na Nog. And Revi, I guess, though she just barely qualifies as a member of the dragon species. Don't tell her I said that.

Aaaand there goes the dinghy..., or not? Some sort of force field fended off the flame breath before it could turn the ship into a burning pile of scrapwood and metal. Where have I seen that sort of defensive barrier before...

"Geh!? That's Iron over there!" - Mira

Tch. I didn't want to be remembered. Here you try your best to forget something and bam! Your right-hand knight spoils it all. Then again, we had better get a move on, or my left-hand knight (sword in right and shield in left) would get his goose cooked. Or become the oven to cook the goose.

"Mira, take the helm!" I shouted before jumping onto the ship's nose with my scythe at ready. Mira didn't waste a second for an explanation and started the Marauder's motors the second I jumped out of my seat.

Alf, meanwhile, had abandoned the ship along with his bear pal. This is a tactic our Guild has thought of beforehand. Whenever we encounter anything big and nasty, make sure that someone in the crew can go around it and make it into a pincer attack. Usually, the last part would be my gig while Alf, the frontline warrior, would work as the distraction. But with the opponent being a dragon, the roles must be switched. That's another thing we had decided on beforehand. Even if we were just joking back then... I hate being jinxed.

"HEY, BUDDY!" I shouted at the dragon as we got closer to the fire-spitting lizard. The dragon didn't stop his barbeque attempt on Iron's ship, but my next move will have a different result.

"-!? ****-!?!?" - Fire Dragon(?)

Fanatically, the dragon paused his breath and did his most to dodge the black mass of darkness that had tried to take a bite out of him. The culprit behind the attack? Me. The identity of the attack? Zahhak. As in, the Darkness Extra Skill attack I obtained from that random Extra Trial forced upon me.

It belongs to a category known as "Dragon Slayer Extra Skill", something that enhances the skill's properties when used against dragon-type creatures. It's not part of the skill's effect, but rather the nature of the skill group it belongs to. And it's not even limited to only attack power. If I had created a Zahhak and coiled the dragon around me to block that fire breath, the move would have worked as a first-class shield against any dragon-type attacks. Or like now, using it as a surprise freaked the red dragon over there way more than what any other attacks of the same rank would have done.

And FYI, I didn't miss my target. Dragons are, despite their appearance, intelligent creatures. Going for the kill right away could cause more trouble in the future, so I fired off the Zahhak as a warning shot. Not that it will prevent me from missing the next one. Dragon Slayer Extras may cost a lot of MP, but my strong affinity for the Darkness attribute has lowered the cost to the lowest possible value of 100 points per Zahhak. And if there's something I can be proud of, it's my MP tank.

I had Mira turn the ship so it passed the former line of fire (literally) and parked a little away from the dragon. This was not only to keep the dragon's attention directed at us. It was also to make the dragon turn his back on Alf and his pal so that the duo could sneak up behind the dragon more easily.

"Now we're ready to start a conversation?" - Garami

"Tch-, what's a human, no, you're a demon? Plus, you too a Dungeon Master?" - Fire Dragon

Tch is my word. This damn lizard Identified me. I knew I should have invested in those anti-identification skills rather than the "Enhance Follower" series. Also... Bloom, investigate this. Discreetly.

"(Roger)." - Bloom

"Is it popular in Solomar to interfere with Loitan business!?" - Fire Dragon

"I'm from Velantas, never been to Solomar. And for the second, what's your deal, trying to barbeque one of my Guild members?" - Garami

"Haaaah? What Guild's stupid enough to hire someone charged for assault on royalty?!" - Fire Dragon

"Assault? On royalty? What did Iron do?" - Garami

"Iron? I'm talking about that bastard Flint!!" - Fire Dragon

Flint?! The last time I heard from Iron, he was indeed in Oasis Town where Flint lived, but what circumstances caused them to flee from town, chased by a dragon?

I asked this of the overgrown lizard in front of me, causing him to recall his story with Flint. He's laying it high on the praises for a certain female character in this story, but the abridged version would be...

Back in Loitan, the hometown for both parties, Flint worked as an aspiring smith. That on its own wasn't too bad until a certain royal princess snuck out from her castle in Loitan and wandered downtown. She came across Flint's forge and crashed down the door wanting to see how blacksmiths work. And in the process, she caused Flint's latest creation, a gauntlet with a rocket punch function...

Ignoring Flint's questionable sense of aesthetics, this princess ended up with a large bump on her head and was brought home by her bodyguards who had finally found her thanks to Flint reporting the incident to the city guards. After that, Flint fled the country in a hurry, probably because he learned that it was someone of royal birth that his invention had struck.

Later, after hearing about this incident, this Fire Dragon decided to punish Flint, who had already fled the country to the desert south for Loitan, aka this place. Now I understand the situation, but...

"Wasn't all this that princess girl's fault?" - Mira

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" - Fire Dragon

Yikes. Talk about a bad attitude. Still, Mira wasn't faced.

"You said so yourself. That it was the princess messing around with that gauntlet thingy that caused it to misfire. You can't blame Flinty for that." - Mira

"Guh... S-still-! That doesn't mean we can leave this incident behind just like that!" - Fire Dragon

Considering how Flint managed to flee the Loitan kingdom without getting caught by their police force or royal guards or whatever, I think it's safe to say the kingdom doesn't think there's any need to punish him. Flint doesn't look like a criminal mastermind who can flee a country after finishing his crime. Not that I have any solid proof of that...

"Oho~. Are you that desperate to attract this princess' attention~." - Mira

"Wha-, n-no! Wh-wh-wh-where did that idea come from!?" - Fire Dragon

Aha. So that's his source of motivation. Can't blame him on that part. Who wouldn't want a princess or two? Though I'm probably more in the position of the villain kidnapping them. ... That wouldn't be too weird of an idea. I have to work more on that.

"(Master, I finished the investigation)," notified Bloom all of a sudden. About time. I had Bloom, who had been hiding in my hood all this while, secretly tell me what she had gathered. ...For real? Is he one too? Never judge a book by its cover... Even if he does fit that cover, now that I think about it. A dragon is a perfect match for that title.

"In any case, you want Flint to impress the royal lineage, is that right?" - Garami

"Wh-who are saying anything about impressive anyone!? I-I'm just doing what is to be expected of a loyal citizen of Loitan-" - Fire Dragon

"Yeah, yeah, let's go with that. Anyway, you think just beating up some random 'punk' is gonna score you what you want?" - Garami

"Th-that is..." - Fire Dragon

"Therefore," I said while walking to the back of the ship. "How about we do a little bet? However, the participation fee for joining this bet is to leave Flint alone. He's not going to be of any use to you anyway."

He's going to be of the use for us. Both as a client and as a potential personal blacksmith. We have to strike some kind of deal with him now that he's getting to know about the Dungeon. Plus, we're fellow samurai geeks. We should get along~.