“We already met as enemies before but—it’s a pleasure to meet, Alice’s friends.”

His hand extended out to me, I’ll admit that I was pretty hesitant. I’m sure anyone would be after everything I experienced with that guy. Still…he seemed genuine enough at the time.

All that intimidation stuff aside.

Our hands met and I greeted back with a nervous grin.

“Thanks…my name is Rei, nice to meet you mister—uh—mister dragon sir.”

“You humans are funny! I can’t believe this little human just called Aki, sir! Ha-ha-ha-ha!” Zephier erupted into laughter.

Zephier, the dragon who lit up with laughter broke the tension quite easily. His toothy grin was relentless and only grew larger as the mood brightened. It was kind of rude to hijack the greetings like that but I’m honestly glad he did. I thought that awkward moment would last forever.

He didn’t seem up to the formal style greeting so he kept his hands around the back of his neck in a relaxed manner and simply greeted us with smiles.

“Nice to meet ya! I’m Zephier, this crimson dude next to me is Aki!”

“My name is Akai actually, my little brother just isn't much for good behaviour. I’m sorry for any trouble he causes going further.” The crimson-haired brother bowed slightly.

The way Akai conducted himself was something else, the trained way he conducted himself was something of royalty. The more I watched him move the more I realised that Alice and them came from palaces and luxury.

Even their names sound very opulent, nothing like the ones you’d hear in Istoria. The only thing close to it was Olivia, a name you wouldn’t hear quite often.

“I’m Arga! I’m a blacksmith but I also travel with Rei into the Tower.”

“Oh-ho! This must be your mate then, she certainly seems like a prime choice!” Zephier stood over Arga and examined her body while speaking to me.

My face turned warm at his sudden accusation. I must have heard him wrong, right? I waved my arms around nervously as a rush of embarrassment flooded my body.

“No, it’s not like that! Arga and I are just friends—she’s just in my party!”

I could feel it, my face had turned beet red from embarrassment and turned hotter than coals. I was seconds away from emitting steam when Arga spoke her side of it.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Yeah, we’re not like that. I’m more into manlier men anyway.” Arga added frankly.

“…huh?”

Zephier frowned and backed away, he looked disappointed. “Oh well~ I’m sure you’ll find him one day.”

“…manlier men?”

Mister Ed cut in as I was at my lowest point, we had gotten pretty sidetracked and he wanted to bring things back to the important topic.

“Ahem—let’s refrain from steering off topic.”

“Agreed.” Aki replied.

The two figures locked eyes and it seemed as though the conversation had centered around the two of them. The rest of us had become mere spectators to their encounter.

“My name is Edward, the leader of Heaven’s Gate—it’s a guild that we humans formed to counter the monsters in this Tower.”

“It’s good to see that there are powerful fighters in all sorts of places.”

“It appears there is.” Edward retorted.

Both sides glared at each other’s calm expressions as they shook hands. There was a heavy aura surrounding them, for a moment it looked almost as though their eyes lit up.

I focused harder and it went away, I must have just imagined it.

“Although I will admit, there are some interesting ones among you humans too.” Akai glanced in my direction briefly.

Does he mean me? I doubt it, he destroyed me in that battle of mana earlier…

“Well, now that we’re all acquainted we can get started for real. We should head over into the briefing tent, there’s more privacy for us to talk.”

Edward led us to the main tent at the centre of the Hollow, where fire and small charred patches of grass surrounded us.

“Will you be able to trust us, after all of this?” Akai stated bluntly.

He was gesturing to the large amount of damage they had created, the countless flames that their men were still trying to put out, along with destroyed provisions.

It wasn’t something I had thought about until then but he was right. It was brief but they caused a lot of damage, even though nobody was hurt they fully intended to beat us. Luckily they were all higher-ranked adventurers or someone could have been seriously injured or worse.

I was just as curious as they were to hear Mister Edwards’ response. After all, he wasn’t just speaking for himself, but his entire guild as well. It was a decision that could influence not only them but all of Istoria if they planned to cooperate further.

Mister Edward turned back to Akai and he was met with a stern expression, one that exhibited his earnestness on the matter.

“I can.”

There wasn’t a flicker of doubt in his words, he truly meant it. I’m sure everyone else could feel it too, the sincerity in his response.

“You had every opportunity to hit my men, the element of surprise was yours. The only real damage you did was to our tents and a few of our supplies but nobody was hurt. I thought at first it might have been pride, not to hit an opponent while they’re defenceless but I realised that wasn’t it. You couldn't hurt us until you knew for certain that Alice was a prisoner here. You actively avoided bloodshed.”

Akai and Mister Ed were locked in another intense stare, it looked quite similar to the one he and I were in but not quite as intense. This was something else, it felt less like a battle of sorts and more like—an understanding.

Akai broke the silence with a slight chuckle. His brooding voice shattered completely as a light-hearted laugh left his mouth. It wasn’t much but it was enough to throw us all off, even Zephier and Alice were surprised.

“I guess you found me out then, you really are as strong as I thought you were. I’m glad we’re able to move forward then, Edward.”

“I look forward to it, Akai.”