After the talk with the kings, I compensated the farmers who got their crops crushed by Cinnamon. I took a look at the crystal ball book to find the Raven Knights' number. Then, Cinnamon gave me a ride back to Blitzburg. Or, rather, to a few kilometers away from Blitzburg so that he wouldn't freak anyone out. It was late at night by the time I returned.

"Thanks for flying me back, Cinnamon," I said.

"It is being no problem. I am very happy to help you," the dragon replied. "But now I must be getting back to my horde."

"I'll call the Raven Knights soon and tell them you're going to put your horde in their banking service," I stated.

"Oh, that is being very kind of you. I will be seeing you later in Blitzburg for making the company, yes?"

"Of course."

With that, Cinnamon flew off. I watched him fly into the distance. Then, I pulled out my crystal ball. My fingers rapidly typed a number in.

"I only ever saw Joanna type her number in. I hope I'm remembering it right," I thought.

There were a few rings, and a voice came to my ears.

"Hello?" it was Joanna.

"Joanna, this is Gustav," I said.

"Thank the gods. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Everything went well. No one's claimed the treasure. King Eduard and Hildoara are going to work together to make sure no one claims it. Dʰéǵʰom gave me a crystal ball. And no one holds a grudge against me as far as I can tell."

I heard Joanna breathe a sigh of relief.

"Where are you now?" she asked.

"Near Blitzburg. Where are you?" I questioned.

"A dragon port. We've had a few long flights, and now we're about to board a flight to Blitzburg. Dimitri went back to Weltai."

"Okay. Joanna, should I tell my parents about everything before or after you get here?"

There was a moment's pause. I assumed that Joanna was thinking things through.

"Before. It's more efficient," Joanna said.

"Okay, I'll see you soon," I replied.

"I'll be back before you know it."

I hung up the crystal ball and typed in a different number.

"Hello, this is the Raven Knights hotline," a tired feminine voice on the other end said.

A smile crossed my face.

"Hello, this is Saint Sir Gustav Lord von Blitzburg," I replied.

I heard the sound of a spell being cast. Then, the voice picked up in tone.

"We're honored to have a saint call us! What do you need?"

"Sometime in the near future, a dragon's going to visit a bunch of your chapter houses. It's one of the large wild dragons," I said.

"You're trying to warn us of impending disaster?" the voice asked.

"No. The dragon's going there to deposit money in your banking system."

There was a moment of silence as the person on the other end took in what I said.

"A dragon wants to put money in our banks?" the voice questioned.

"Yes, he does. His name is Cinnamon. I called you so you wouldn't freak out when he showed up," I said.

The sound of a deep sigh hit my ears.

"Okay. I will inform the chapter houses of this. Thank you for telling me about this," the voice stated. "Is that all?"

"Yes, that's everything," I replied.

"Alright. Goodbye," the voice said.

"Goodbye."

I hung up my crystal ball and started walking back to Blitzburg. I arrived just before dawn.

Soon enough, I was in front of my parents in the solar. They sat in front of me. There were looks of concern on their groggy faces.

"You were gone for weeks, Gustav. King Eduard sent us a call to arms and then a call to stand down while you were gone," Mother stated.

"I know. I'd have called you, but I didn't have a crystal ball until Dʰéǵʰom gave me one," I said.

"That's no excuse. Joanna has a..." shock covered Father's face. "Did you just say that Dʰéǵʰom Dʰéǵʰom gave you a crystal ball?"

"Yes. He did it yesterday," I replied.

I showed them it.

"You're too young to own one, but if Dʰéǵʰom wants you to have it," Father sighed.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

"Could you tell us everything that happened to you?" Mother asked.

"Okay."

I pondered a moment.

"What was the last thing you know I did before I left?" I tried to recall.

"You convinced us to give a plot of land to a minotaur so he could be your retainer," Father said.

"Right, Dr. Minos joined my retinue. After that, I teamed up with a playwright to make money. We went North to the Mr. and Ms. Barbarian contest to get a new lead actor for his play."

Shock covered my parents' faces.

"You're so against marrying your cousin that you'd go that far?" Mother asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"I don't see why," Father said. "Your mother and I get along just fine."

"Please don't remind me," I thought.

"You aren't the first inbred noble, and you certainly won't be the last," Dʰéǵʰom assured me.

"That doesn't help at all!"

"On our way to the Mr. and Ms. Barbarian contest, I got two other retainers. They're commoners who can use magic, so I'll knight them when they get back," I said.

My parents looked confused.

"Only a knight can make a knight. Are you a knight now?" Father asked.

"Yes. King Eduard knighted me. Anyway, we arrived at the..."

"Hold on!" he interrupted me.

Father stood up, shock covering his face. Mother looked like she could barely breathe.

"King Eduard knighted you?" Father said.

"Yes, but we'll get to that," I stated.

"Do you have any idea how big a deal that is?"

"Every noble gets knighted eventually. I don't see what the problem is," I replied.

Father sighed and stumbled back into his seat. Mother placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"This is my failure as a parent. I should have taught you self-awareness," he said.

"Can I get back to my story now?" I asked.

"Yes, please do," Mother answered.

"I went to the Mr. and Ms. Barbarian contest. It was attacked by a demigod saint, but my retinue drove him off."

My parents looked too stunned to talk. I decided to abridge things a bit more for brevity.

"Donnie got his lead actor after that, but I decided that we wouldn't get enough money fast enough from his play deal. So, I decided to get a dragon to make a company with me," I said.

"A flying company?" Mother questioned.

"No. I'm talking about a new type of company. I got a wild dragon to make it with me."

My parents' jaws dropped to the floor.

"You convinced. A wild dragon. The type bigger than castles. To make a company. With you," Father said.

"Yes. That's exactly what happened," I replied.

"By the gods, Gustav, do you have any idea how dangerous that was?"

"I do."

A smile crossed my father's face.

"I should be furious at you for doing something so reckless, but I'm proud of you. You accomplished something no one else has ever done."

"Thank you, Father," I said. "Anyway, after that, I heard that a few monarchs were going to claim the Lost Treasure of Captain Omen. Dʰéǵʰom told me to talk them out of it. So, I flew Cinnamon to where the monarchs were at and demanded an audience."

My parents were frozen in stunned silence for the second time.

"I talked to the monarchs and convinced them to not try to get the treasure. Then, King Eduard knighted me, and I got a few crystal ball numbers for my contacts," I said.

"Whose crystal ball numbers?" Father asked.

"King Eduard's, Hildoara's, and King Dalv's," I answered.

"By the gods! We don't even have King Eduard's number! He just has ours! Do you have any idea what this means?"

"It means I have a few crystal ball numbers."

"You have three monarchs in your contacts!" Mother exclaimed.

"I know. I just told you," I said.

"Gustav, you're smart, but you really have no self-awareness," Dʰéǵʰom replied.

"Did anything else happen?" Father asked.

"I got King Eduard to help with our financial issues. He'll be here in about a week. Also, Hildoara implied that she would marry me if I wasn't King Eduard's subject."

My parents fainted. I rushed over to them.

"Mother, father, are you alright?" I asked.

They woke up.

"By the gods, Gustav, you might have solved everything," my father said.

"Thank you?" I had no idea how else to respond to that.

Later that day, I was in the dragon port. I saw Joanna, Johannes, Astrid, and Dr. Minos get off a dragon and go into the building I was in. I stood up and walked over to them.

"It's good to see you all again," I said.

Joanna hugged me in a tight embrace.

"I was so worried about you, Gustav," tears streaked from her eyes. "You flew right into a battlefield, and none of us were there with you!"

I was too stunned to speak. Joanna's tears leaked onto my clothes.

"Is Joanna really crying?" I thought.

"She is," Dʰéǵʰom confirmed.

I wrapped my arms around Joanna's body.

"It's okay, Joanna. Everything's fine. I resolved everything, and we're all together now," I said.

Joanna hugged me tighter. It started to hurt.

"Promise me that you won't run off by yourself ever again!" she demanded.

"I will under one condition," I replied.

Joanna broke the hug. She put her hands on my shoulders. Tears streamed from her eyes.

"What is that?" she asked.

"That you don't freeze up when something weird happens," I answered. "I know what it's like to freeze up. I do that in battles sometimes, but the reason why I ran off on my own this time is because you all froze. I didn't have the time to snap you out of it."

Joanna took a deep breath. Her tears started to dry.

"Okay, Gustav, I will start training to not freeze up like that. So, you'd better show me a lot of weird things," she said.

"I have plenty to show you," I replied.

Joanna took a few more moments to calm down. Then, we left the dragon port. I guided everyone to a somewhat more secluded location: a dirty alley behind a few buildings. After that, I turned to Johannes and Astrid.

"His Majesty knighted me. I want to knight both of you now," I said.

They looked at their surroundings. There was trash all over the area. A cat was eating a rat right next to us.

"My Lord, shouldn't we be knighted in a more dignified place?" Astrid asked.

"Does the place matter? People get knighted on battlefields covered in blood and guts all the time," I replied.

"It's just...I never thought I'd get knighted, but I didn't think it would be in a place like this."

"Okay, then," I said. "I'll take you somewhere better."

"Thank you, my Lord," Astrid stated.

"You don't need to thank me. This is your special day, after all."

I took them to Blitzburg's church of Dʰéǵʰom. It was a quaint, humble place that wouldn't have used much resources to make. We walked over to the pulpit where I turned to my retinue. Astrid and Johannes were right in front of me.

"Kneel," I said.

They did as commanded. I drew my sword and placed it on one of Astrid's shoulders.

"I swear allegiance to you, Gustav," Astrid stated.

"So do I," Johannes added.

Confusion flowed through me.

"I didn't ask you to swear anything," I said.

"You've already earned our loyalty," Johannes replied.

"Yes. The oath is just a formality," Astrid nodded.

"Alright, then," I tapped my sword on her other shoulder. "You are now Dame Astrid Cobbler."

I slapped her right in the face.

"That was the last blow you have to take without fighting back. From now on, if someone strikes you, kick their ass," I said.

Then, I tapped my sword on Johannes' shoulders.

"You are now Sir Johannes Talhoffer," I stated.

I slapped him in the face.

"That was the last blow you have to take without fighting back. From now on, if someone strikes you, kick their ass," I told him.

Then, I smiled.

"You two are now knig..."

Before I could continue, Johannes and Astrid tackle hugged me. I almost crashed into the pulpit, but I used magic to strengthen my body and stay up.

"Thank you so much, Gustav! You have no idea how much this means to commoners like us!" Astrid had a look of pure joy on her face.

"Gustav, will you be the best man at my and Astrid's wedding?" Johannes asked.

"I think we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves," I said. "That's a few years away, and I have other things to worry about first. But yes, I will if Dʰéǵʰom approves."

The god's voice came to my head.

"Go for it, Gustav."

"He approves," I stated.

Joanna chuckled.

"Honestly, Gustav, you've assembled the strangest retinue I've ever seen. You've done a good job," she smiled.