The years have been kind to Harvey, his hair though is now a sea of pure white. The wrinkles on his face barely visible and his physique has not deteriorated since the last time I met him. He tells me to sit down and leaves for a moment. This silence is killing me...

Harvey quickly returning with two mugs one filled with ale, the other the beer I saw earlier, which he left in front of me. Bless his heart, this guy’s a saint! I grab the mug and take a sip, it’s a creamy beer that reminds me faintly of chocolate with a roasted bitter sweet taste. I really needed that today.

(Harvey) "You haven’t changed at all over the years there's only one explanation I can think of but I would like to hear it from you."

He sat there as if he was staring through my soul.

"Thanks for the beer, I guess you heard why this whole thing happened. I'll be honest with you Harvey when I first met you; something told me one wrong step and you could have easily killed me. So I had to hide my identity. I am indeed the dragon you were scouting for that day; I hope you understand why I had to lie to ensure my survival."

He smiled at me and assured me my hunch was right, thankfully he is aware that I am not a threat to the safety of the city and begins to drink his ale.

(Harvey) “It seems like the sword I left you has been in good hands, how has it treated you?”

I smile and pat my sword.

“Perfect in every way, I’ve never had to perform extensive maintenance on it and to this day it’s as sharp as the day you gave it to me. I couldn’t ask for a better sword”

Harvey smiles as I tell him and lets out a laugh.

(Harvey) “Good… Good! I knew leaving it with you was a good idea. Speaking of which do you remember my offer when we parted ways? I’d like to retract that as an offer… and instead change it into a request from an old friend.”

Well I wasn’t planning on joining the Guild quite yet but if Harvey’s here it might not be a bad idea.

(Harvey) “There have been complicating matters lately… monster activity is on the rise and there are talks about a Demon Lord rising in power. There are even talks about a full blown war with the Demon Country. Honestly, our current Adventurers are unable to keep things in control. At this rate there may be monsters appearing at our front door.”

That’s worrisome… the increased monsters AND a war with a Demon Lord? What if the fighting comes here and they pull Lilly, Lila or Edward into it? Or the monsters… if there are too many what if they break through the barrier protecting Roy and Lena? The Elders told me the barrier can only stop medium sized monsters… anything larger than that can stroll right through it.

I can’t let that happen… No monster or Demon Lord is going to lay a finger on my family. Mmm this beer really hits the spot… when was the last time I drank alcohol? None since I’ve taken this body… I think it was that time with Arlene…

(Harvey) “Are you listening to me Kuro?”

In a daze I stare at my empty mug and Harvey’s face. Whoops let my thought stray for a moment there.

“Ah, sorry Harv. The beer was delicious so I lost myself for a moment, continue.”

Agreeing to join the Guild Harvey pulls out a map and shows me where the area’s with especially high reported monster activity and one is in the mountains west of us.

(Harvey) “I had sent one of our best Adventurers to scout the area but he hasn’t returned. I then sent two more to aid him or find his remains and continue his quest. They too, are two days late for their report… Old friend… bring them home… whether they be alive or dead. At least the Guild Card which will at least give the family closure.”

The guild cards must be like dog tags, it’s not in my nature to leave my comrade in arms behind so I agree.

“Leave it to me Harvey, I’ll bring them home. I promise.”

A faint smile is shown on his face as he receives a small box from who I’m guessing is his assistant.

(Harvey) “This is your Guild Card, your rank is S but it will be a secret. It can be doubled as an Identification and since your circumstances are… special, the minimum amount of information was inscripted inside to not raise too many questions. Here’s another dummy card of rank B which should be used when introducing yourself to other guild members. Though your ability I feel is S ranked there will be unwanted questions if your rank is too high. At least until your appearance ages a bit more.”

Harvey put a lot of thought into this, I’m honestly dumbfounded and can’t see any problems with his judgement and take the cards and put them into my bag. As I try to excuse myself to prepare for my trip Harvey throws a bag onto the table and I can see several cura spread out on the table.

(Harvey) “This is a special case, this is half the payment. The other half will be received on completion. NORMALLY payment isn’t received until completion is confirmed, but you probably need some funds to buy some equipment.”

As I gather up the money, my stomach growls… it’s my money now right… time for lunch~! As I leave the room I can hear Harvey chuckling behind me.

As I try to exit the Guild I notice quite a few eyes watching me as they are whispering among themselves. I’m curious what they are saying but first I need to eat something, but didn’t I eat before I left…? Really though… what’s wrong with me lately my head’s been full of food lately. After I grab a “bite” to eat… Ok, maybe it was a full meal… Fine! it was a full course meal!

After eating my fill I wander into the Smith’s Alley and look around and finding something useful. It looks like they were thinking of making a rectangularly shaped chainmail and it looks like it’s cheap only 50 cura.

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(Shop Keeper) “Were ya interested in that one boy? My stupid son decided to change the design of the chain links and no one wants it.”

Trying to break free from the normally circular link huh?

“So Mister… can you take it apart and re-link it into a rope? I’ll pay for the extra labor if it’s reasonable.”

(Shopkeeper) “That I’ll do it free of charge, if you take that thing out of my sight!”

SCORE! I quickly pay the shopkeeper and tells me to come by in a few hours? As I walk away I hear can hear angry yelling… that guy’s poor son… I keep going farther down the alley until I run into a familiar shop and walk in.

(Female Shopkeeper) “Welcome! If you have any questions about our wares please let me know. My husband is in the back right now if you needed to do a custom order”

It looks like this shop has done well over the years the place looks well maintained the the person tending to the store is a well dressed young girl of 17 I’m guessing.

“I was actually l wondering if I can get this repaired?”

I take out the Main Gauche I had used during the duel with the Beer Burglar, the blade had chipped during the fight and was in need of repair.

(Female Shopkeeper) “Wait one moment, I’ll ask my husband.”

She takes the dagger and disappears into the back room. Sadly it could not be repaired, the blade had received too much damage over the years. And as soon as the hammer had met it, it shattered. But, as compensation he reinforced my extra dagger… I wonder?

“Excuse me… do you happen to have metal shavings? Just bits of metal scraps? I’ll take the pieces of my old dagger also.”

The smith looked at me confused and told me he should, I ended up buying a bag full of it for 2 Cura. Before I left the Alley I checked on my chain linked rope which was complete… that poor soul. Stuffing it in my bag I went into the market area and bought some jerky, bread, powdered sugar, salt, pepper, and whatever stall food looked tasty.

Alright that was quite the haul, thankfully I have this magic bag to stuff it all in! How did I live without it before? Humming as I walk I start walking home and pass by the courtyard by habit and see a heartwarming scene. Lila was sitting in a chair underneath a tree next to Edward holding hands as they watched Lilly and Aoi running about. She is my older sister… right?

At least in appearance she looks to be at least 18… mental age is a different issue though. My presence is found out by Lila and she motions me over and I give them both a hug from behind and tell them about me joining the Guild. To my surprise Lila was perfectly fine with it and Edward was the one that was concerned!

He started telling me about the dangers, all the jobs sent to the guild are ones that normal people could not do. Even the requests sent from the Kingdom were ones where either the mortality rate was too high to sacrifice troops or could not allocate extra troops to handle.

“You’ve become too much of a worrywart Eddy. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed, and this kind of work suits me best!”

Edward just sighs and pulls something out of his pocket.

(Edward) “I won’t stop you then, but please be careful. We lost you once… I’ll be damned if we lose you again. This bag has some papers which can be used if you get in trouble with any local officials. It has my families insignia so they’ll know you’re part of the family. Only use it when all other options are expired and I’d rather you not open it unless it’s needed.”

I wonder what it is… regardless I grab it and toss it in my bag as Lilly comes tugging on my shirt.

(Lilly) “Kuwo! Play with Lilly!”

Lila just giggles as I get pulled away to play captured princess. Lilly took the role of the princess and Aoi took the role of the Hero… me? The evil dragon who captured the Princess of course. After a couple hours Lilly had her fill of fun and we ate dinner.

After dinner I return to the courtyard, everyone else is relaxing inside by the fire and chatting. If I could I would join them… but right now I have something more important to worry about. My understanding of what magic was extremely limited it seemed. While I was staying with Roy and Lena I had learned how to control the flow of magical energies from within me and the environment. Do I understand it? Hell no.

What I do know is if strong enough of image is produced and enough magic energy is poured into its formation, one could manipulate nature. Chants were used to AID in this visualism and were not required if one could produce the image of the spell. Alongside my general understanding I’ve been able to increase the strength of my “Create Water” and “Ignition” spells.

Aoi had also told me that being half Azure and half Shadow dragon it was easier for me to use the elements of water and fire. I’m currently training the image of a ball of water and moving it around in the air. I’m currently able to conjure up 4 of these, and move them independently. I can also control the temperature of the water to a point.

The current technique I’m trying learn, is to freeze the balls of water by trying to extract as much heat as I can from it. If I can achieve a point where the water’s molecules stop movement I should be able to freeze it… All while keeping the the form of floating, magical balls of water things.

Until I become sleepy I try to instantly freeze the water but it’s harder than I thought it would be. Tomorrow I have to depart to take care of Harvey’s request and instantly pass out as I lay on my bed once I return to my room.