Chapter 1

My routine was was like this for a few weeks until someone finally noticed.

And ironically it's the apple stall vendor.

So now, I and the four dragons were running away from a group of thugs that the vendor called over.

“...”

I looked behind him and found the thugs closing in.

“Tch.”

I ran as fast as he could not minding whether or not I bumped into someone or something.

But I did make sure that the four dragons were still with me.

After making a turn, I found the alleyway I always slept in. And on the opposite side although furthur away, I saw the apple stall.

I went straight for the alleyway. Upon going further in though, I heard voices.

“Where did he go?!”

“That brat...”

“Over there! He went in there!”

Not slowing down, I kept going. Until...

I was pulled from the side.

Not knowing what happened, I heard the door slam. I quickly began to analyze the situation. Looking around, it was pitch black and so I cautioned himself. But I realized.

(The dragons!)

Darting my eyes around, they slowly adjusted. There I found the door. I quickly went for but was stopped by a person. I jumped back and readied two knives from my mantle. My eyes were still adjusting so I couldn't make out the person's appearance.

The person seemed to be surprised when I jumped back and took a stance. The person also seemed like they were carrying a bag. A big bag. The person then moved around me slowly. I watched the person cautiously and also moved around.

(Need to get to that door...)

The person then stopped. So I also stopped. Now that my eyes have adjusted, I looked closely. The person was standing near a door. It was still dark so I still couldn't make out the person's features.

The person then moved their hand and reached for the wall and I in turn readied himself. The next thing I saw though was a blinding light.

(Turned on the lights?!)

The person then threw the bag towards me. I barely noticed and hastily prepared to guard himself.

The bag poured out its contents and flew towards him. Four heavy-looking objects came out as I brandished my knives.

(…!)

I immediately dropped his weapons realizing what the objects were and tried to catch them. As a result, I fell. I then looked at the objects that weighed on top of me. They were the dragons. Relief showered my entire body as the dragons also noticed and embraced me.

“That's very cute of you.”

“...!”

A female voice entered my ears.

I looked towards the direction of the voice. There, I saw a girl that had white hair up until her shoulders that contrasted her dark complexion. She seemed to be around 19. If not, maybe younger. Her delicate features and above average curves would make any man stop and look but at least not too over the top. She was wearing a sleeveless turtleneck shirt that exposed her shoulders as well as some fitted jeans. On her feet she wore ankle-high boots.

Overall, she was beautiful.

“...”

I stayed silent because many doubts filled my head.

“Not very talkative now are you?”

Just as she gave her remark, they heard voices from the outside.

“That bastard... Where did he go?!”

“Check the doors!!”

“On it.”

-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-

Loud knocking noises resounded in the room.

“-sigh- Annoying...” The girls then rushes up to me. “Hurry, hide over there.” She pointed towards the boxes as she told me this. Without much choice though, I nod and got behind the crates, and the dragons followed suite. The girl runs up to the light switch and closes the light. She then enters another room.

-CRASH-

The door opens but is now in a very sorry state. A man weilding an axe enters and shouts.

“Hey brat!! Come out with them apples, and we'll be happy to give ya a lesson!”

“What's with all the ruckus!” The girl from before enters the room and complains as she opens the lights.

(So she's trying to act this out...)

The girl gasps as she saw what has happened to the door.

“Hey you!! Just what do you think you're doing?!” The girl shouts at the man really angrily.

(Is she acting... or genuinely angry?)

“Shut it lady, I'm looking for a thief.”

“What makes you think he's in here?!”

“Well, after entering that alleyway back there, he suddenly disappeared.”

“That doesn't explain why you thought it would be alright to break down my door!!”

Seeing that the girl was getting in the way of his job, he got annoyed.

“Tch. Move it.” The man then proceeds to move her aside and started inspecting the room.

“Wha- Just who do you think you are?!”

“I said move it, didn't I?! Or else something bad will happe-”

“HEY!!” The man with the axe was interrupted by a voice coming from the door. “I thought I told you to chase the boy! Not invade other people's property!”

“But boss I-”

“Shut it!” The man then turned towards the girl. “I'm sorry for my uh, friend's behaviour.”

“If you'd pay for the repairs, maybe I'd forgive you.”

(That... was a quick reply.)

“Hey you lady! Don't get too cocky!”The man with the axe shouted angrily.

“I thought I told you to shut it!” The man with the axe flinched at the words from a man who's smaller than him.

(Poor guy...wait...now that I look closer, isn't that the apple vendor?)

The vendor turned towards the girl again. “-sigh- Can't be helped. I'll pay for the damages.”

“Tch. You're lucky my boss is generous.”

“I'm only being geneous because of what you did. You know that, right?”

“...”

“Well anyways, I apologize for taking up some of your time so I'll be on my way then.”

The vendor then motioned the man to follow him.

After they left, the girl went towards the boy.

“All clear. You can come out now.”

“...”

Hearing this, I slowly came out of hiding.

“What? Still wary after what I just did for you?”

“...”

“Whatever. Name's Ban Almerousa. Yours?”

“...”

“C'mon. I know you have one.”

Stll hesitant, I turned my head to the dragons then back to her.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“......Ourma.”

“There you go!” The girl said rather happily. “Come, I'll show you to the bathroom.”

To this, I was a bit taken aback.

“... What? Why?”

“Well obviously because you're dirty and you smell. C'mon.”

Ban once more goes through the door she came from and I follow her.

(...What is she planning?)

After being shown the bathroom, I looked around and found a clean room with a shower. Looking around once more, I found a set of clean clothes and shoes.

“Change into those once you're done.” After saying this, she left and enters another room.

“...”

Quickly taking a bath with the dragons and putting on the clothes Ban gave me, I felt a bit refreshed.

(Well, now that I think about it, the last time I took a bath was at a lake...) I thought as I walked along the corridor. Looking around, the place was entirely made of wood. Although small, it seemed to have all the needed rooms one needs in a normal house. Probably. The place was strewn with boxes and barrels, so the boy took a peek in one of them.

Inside were a bunch of potatoes.

…

Ok.

Closing the barrel, I continued walking and inspecting the place.

It was kind of hot though, but that is to be expected as the area the city was in was naturally reeally hot. Even on colder seasons. So people here prefer to dress lightly.

As I continued, I sumrised that this was a bungalow as I did not encounter any stairs.

Probably hearing my steps, I was called out to by Ban.

“Heey! I have some food ready.”

After being told this, I noticed an aroma that tickled his nose. My stomach grumbled and I subconciously walked towards the smell with the dragons. Upon entering the room, I found a table with dining utensils and two plates full of food, albeit not so impressive. But to someone who's been eating only apples occasionally, this was luxurious.

“Dig in.”

“...” I only stared at the food then looked at her.

“Don't worry! It's not poisoned. And I know you haven't been eating very plenty.” Ban smiled.

“...”

“I noticed you stealing apples from that pig for a few days now. It was kind of amusing.”

“...”

“And since you were in quite a pinch, I thought I'd help you.”

“I could've handled them...”

“Oh really now? Well whatever. Eat up.”

I brought his attention to the food once more. The two dishes were the same so I thought the other was for her. I took a seat, picked up a wooden spoon and hesitated. The food was an assortment of meat and other ingredients paired with some rice.

I took a spoon-full and brought it to my mouth.

(...Oh. This is actually good.)

After this thought, I began wolfing down. Seeing this, Ban smiled and began to eat her share. There were also some bowls of the same food on the floor for the dragons.

A few minutes have passed and they finished their meals. Although I was grateful, I was still suspicious. I mean, I was given a bath and a meal.

(There's gotta be some catch...)

Voicing my thoughts, I asked a question.

“Why did you help me?”

“Hn? Oh, of course I didn't help you for free.”

(...of course.) Thinking that my guess was right, I quickly said to her.

“I don't have any money...”

“I know. But I don't need money. Com'ere.” She stood up and gestured for me to follow her.

Hesitating for a bit, I decided to follow her. The dragons just flew silently behind me as we went towards some stairs in some part of the house and went down. Becoming a bit suspicious, I readied myself as I placed my hand on the object tied to my waist.

A knife.

The reason I didn't use this on the man before was because, if I did then those people won't just send another thug after me. No. They'll send as many mercenaries that they could find just because I cut one of their own. Because that's the kind of group they are.

But now is a different situation. I'm being led to some unknown place and underground too.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not stupid. It's just that I take my debts seriously. If I didn't...

I would have died a long time ago.

And now, I'm gonna stick with that belief. But as a precaution, I held my knife underneath my cloak. I checked my surroundings. Even if it is dark, I can see that this corridor is made of stone and with a few cobwebs here and there.

I can feel that it is a bit humid as well. I sniff around as well and don't seem to smell anything. I turn my head a bit to check my dragons and they too don't seem to smell anything.

If they did, they would tug at me if they either smelled gunpowder or people.

Going through a series of turns, I mark the corners just to make sure I'm going the right way when escaping. After a while, we finally got to a certain point when I started to hear singing. I even caught the scent of alcohol and gunpowder. It was a disgusting combination but it was already something I was used to so I didn't mind it.

The dragons were tugging but I kept going. If they wanted to ambush us, they wouldn't be making such a ruckus. I mean, they sound completely drunk and sang without a care for the world.

-Clang!

At this sound, I became even more curious. Are people clashing blades in there?

-Clang!

Giving a look to Ban, she gave me smile.

-Clang! Clang! … Thud!! Clang! Crash!!

Finally hearing someone falling and crashing, Ban moved to an area full of boxes and opened the door that led to the source. And to be honest, I didn't think that the door she opened was a door in the first place, as it looked like a box itself. I mean literally like a box. The moment she opened the door though, loud cheering thundered throughout the place and the corridor.

Looking through the door, bright light assaulted my eyes once again but quickly adjusted.

What I saw...

piqued my interest.

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haha! didn't expect an update on THIS story now did you?

jk

well anyways, i'll be posting randomly on this one coz i also randomly just get motivated to write on this too.

:P

sooo, see you guys later?