As the group left the estate, the guard escorted them toward the location of the scout’s base. During this time, everyone was thinking about what Duven said and how strange the situation was.

“Do you think Duven is hiding something?” asked Nobina.

“He has to be,” said Fay. “Think about it. Despite how bad it is to lose all those scouts, he seemed content just waiting in his estate for the nobles to leave. I know his property is quite valuable, but he didn’t seem that happy we were here.”

“You noticed it too?” asked Helios. “Duven was certainly trying to win me over with his words, but I can tell a snake’s words when I hear them. He has a reason for staying and a reason for not caring about the situation at its present moment.”

“Then let’s interrogate him,” said Lila, looking ready to crack a few bones.

Fay shook her head.

“As much as that might sound appealing, none of us are interrogators,” said Fay.

“Not only that, but it spits on the spirit of being an adventurer if we did that,” he replied.

All of them continued to think before Nobina made a suggestion.

“What if we speak with the nobles? They’d likely shed some light on the situation,” said Nobina.

“I like that idea,” said Fay. “Let me speak with the others so we can split off. Me and you should be sufficient.”

“I should join you two as well,” said Master Helios. “Your lack of pull might cause issues, unless you want to use the princess’ name.”

Fay shook her head.

“I used it once out of necessity, but I rather not use her name everywhere. It creates problems for her if someone just casually uses it unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“Don’t worry,” said Lila, pointing to herself. “I’ll make sure the rest of them are safe.”

It was clear Lila didn’t want to investigate at all, but it made things easier for them. Nobina had the carriage stopped, and soon, the group gathered to discuss the plan.

“That’s fine with me,” said Mimiki. “We’ll have their base investigated and things set up for your return. If you find nothing wrong, we’ll need to decide whether we launch a hunt with the backup plan or if we fall back.”

With the plan settled, the three of them stayed as the rest of them continued to the scout’s base. The escorting guard had given them the general direction of the three estates but also told them that the presence of guards beside gates should be easy to spot.

As Helios, Nobina, and Fay made their way to the first noble, Helios began speaking his own hypothesis on the situation.

“If you ask me, we might be dealing with a town working with the dragon,” said Helios.

“That’s insane,” said Nobina, shocked by the initial hypothesis. “If that’s the case, then how do we even proceed? Report back to Aunai certain individuals are working with the dragon? And if we are wrong, it’ll cause so many issues.”

“That’s why it’s a hypothetical,” chuckled Helios. “We could be dealing with only Duven or even no one here working with the dragon. The investigation we are doing should she light on things.”

Nobina gave a nod. She began wondering what kind of mess they had gotten themselves into.

It didn’t take long before they reached the first set of guards. Seeing them, they gave them the whole speech of the order of evacuation, but Helios showed his adventuring card and explained the situation.

“Of course,” said the first guard. “Please enter.”

The guards opened the gates, allowing the group to head inside. Unlike Duven’s estate, the estate they were in was mostly minimalistic. Only a few trees and bushes filled the space, with the rest of it merely grass.

Once they were at the door, another guard told them to wait as he contacted Sir Hinar.

“I believe this is the one barely able to move, right?” asked Nobina.

“That sounds right,” replied Fay.

“If only Lady Immana was here,” said Helios. “She would have made things much easier.”

“Or chewed me out,” sighed Nobina.

After a good ten minutes, the guards allowed them in, leading them deeper into the house. Eventually, they reached a room with an elderly man lying on the bed. He seemed in no condition to move, confirming Duven’s story regarding his fear of death being transported.

“Excuse us Sir Hinar,” said the guard. “The S-rank adventurers are here to speak with you.”

Sir Hinar’s mouth began to moved but none of them could hear a word he said, prompting the maid attending to him to listen closely to his mouth. She then sat up straight and spoke.

“I shall relay Sir Hinar’s words. ‘I greet you. I apologize. I cannot move and must stay’,” said the maid.

“Sir Hinar,” said Nobina. “This might be a bit too forward, but…”

Fay held up her hand, stopping Nobina from speaking.

“What my friend meant to say was that we thank you for speaking with is. Can we do anything to help you?” said Fay in a polite voice.

The maid leaned closer to Sir Hinar, listening for a bit before standing back up.

“Yes. Can you tell my daughter I’m sorry for not being able to see her one last time? Her name is Aurana Hinar.”

Fay, Nobina, and Helios went silent for a bit before Fay finally spoke up.

“Of course,” said Fay. “Once we conclude our mission, we will deliver the message.

The maid leaned in one last time and spoke one more set of words.

“Thank you,” said the maid.

With that done, the group left, with Nobina shaking her head.

“He seemed… not suspicious honestly,” said Nobina. “Do you think this really is only on Duven?”

“It’s hard to say,” replied Helios. “Remember, the scouts were all either B or C rank. It doesn’t take too much to take either out.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“So, it’s possible that Duven alone could have arranged for their deaths,” said Fay. “Though… I don’t know. I was getting a feeling we are missing something. Duven might be involved, but I don’t think he got rid of the scouts.”

“So the dragon perhaps?” asked Nobina.

“Maybe… I need more information,” replied Fay.

With that, the group left the estate, heading off to the next noble.

Walking through the town, the three of them found the silence very eerie. It was to be expected due to the lack of population, but another part of it was getting close to the end of the day. Tomorrow, the group would head out to hunt the dragon, so they only had today to investigate the nobles and the mayor.

The estate of the next noble was in a similar state. Outside of their estate were guards watching the gate, giving the same response. Once again, Helios showed his adventuring card, and they were told to wait. This time, a rather furious noble exited his estate, followed by a single butler. When he reached the outside of his gate, he stopped and looked at the three of them carefully.

“What do you three want?” he asked, holding back his anger.

“Please calm down sir….”

“It’s Lord Exa to you adventurer,” said Exa to Helios.

Helios was a bit caught off guard by his attitude but relaxed quickly.

“I understand your desire to stay here Lord Exa, and we have no intentions of demanding you to leave.”

The moment Helios said that, Exa visibly relaxed and gave a sigh.

“I’m so sorry then,” he said, shaking his head. “That blasted mayor has been egging the three of us to leave, yet I will not let the dragon or some looter have free reign on this estate. My family has spend generations building this place and I will not be the one to loose it. Even at the cost of my life.”

“But don’t you worry that the dragon might end not only your estate but your own life as well?” asked Fay.

He shook his head, looking at his hands right after.

“My father told me to protect this place with my life. Our noble family is already dying out and I’m… A failure of a noble. If I lose this place, then we have nothing left.”

“Nothing?” asked Nobina.

“My father and mother are dead. My grandparents are dead. I’m the last noble of the line and my stubbornness is going to result in this line coming to an end. I… Rather not get more into details about that though.”

Nobina noticed that Exa was holding back tears. It was clear he thought that even if he was to lose his life, he felt it was better to protect the estate of his family rather than run away.

“I can understand that, but what’s your plan once the whole incident is resolved?” asked Nobina. “Do you intend to go back on the hunt for someone to have a relationship with?”

Exa stood there for a bit before shaking his head.

“Honestly? I have no idea what I want to do. All I know is I plan to protect this estate,” he said with a bit of reluctance.

She wished there was something more she could say, but she had no sense of relationship advice. Nobina herself was never in a relationship with anyone, so all she had to go off of were movies, books, and other media she viewed. If there was anyone who could help, it would be Fay.

“I can totally help you out,” said Fay, nodding her head. “Though, I’m quite busy with the dragon situation, so…”

“That’s alright,” said Exa. “Anyway, what did you come by for anyway?”

“Right,” said Helios. “Have you noticed anything strange? We came here with the intention of working with the scouts to defeat the dragon, but Duven informed us they were all dead.”

Exa nodded his head, looking a bit irritated.

“That Duven… Something is up with him,” responded Exa. “He’s been pushing for all of us to leave, yet I feel he has no intention to leave himself. Else, he would have his things packed. If you asked me, he has plans involving an empty town. What those plans are, I have no idea.”

Helios gave a short nod.

“We appreciate the information regardless. Thank you for seeing us,” said Helios.

“Good luck on the dragon hunt,” responded back Exa.

With that, the three of them left for the final noble’s house. As they left the earshot of the guards, they began discussing the conversation with Exa.

“I have a feeling Duven is hiding something,” said Fay.

“That seems pretty obvious,” responded Helios, one of his hands on his chin. “I think the likelihood he’s working with the dragon is far greater than not.”

“If that’s the case, then what do we do about him?” asked Nobina.

“Nothing,” he responded back. “If we act against Duven without confirmed proof, we waste valuable time and might be completely wrong. For now, we will investigate the last noble and meet up with everyone for the hunt.

The last noble house had the most eerie feeling out of all of the estates. No guards were present at the gates. When Fay went to try to open it, the doors opened without resistance, creating a loud scrapping sound as if the gates hadn’t been open in a long time. Looking around the estate, it was clear it was overgrown, yet Duven indicated it wasn’t abandoned.

“Where are the guards?” asked Nobina.

“I don’t know, but I don’t like this,” said Fay. “I don’t sense anyone watching us either, so either they are deep within the house, or they are better at hiding themselves than even people like Nia.”

All three of them nodded, proceeding with caution deeper into the house. Once they were inside, they noticed cobwebs everywhere. On the staircase and furniture were layers of dust that must have been accumulating for some time. At first, they were worried this was the wrong address, but someone’s voice yelled up.

“Who’s there?” called a man from under the floor.

The group tensed up as they heard someone walking around. It wasn’t long before they noticed a door open, showing a man in noble attire stepping out.

Unlike the other two nobles, this third one looked far nicer than the rest. He was tall, well-groomed, and was wearing attire that looked extremely decorative.

“Hello there,” said the man with a grin. “Name’s Harton Dale. Pleasure to meet you three. I don’t mean to be rude though, but why did you enter my house without permission?”

Helios gave a bow.

“I apologize, but we have an important matter to discuss with you Harton,” said Helios. “We are checking on the nobles to see if they found anything strange with the deaths of the scouts. That is why we were concerned with the lack of guards and servants here, not to mention the bad condition of the house.”

“Ah apologize,” laughed Harton. “I’m actually just a cousin of the noble family. They asked me to come here to watch over the estate until the conflict is resolved.”

The three of them looked at each other before returning their focus to Harton.

“It’s hard to believe that they’d ask a cousin to come to an evacuation zone to watch over a house that appears not used that much,” said Fay, eying Harton suspiciously. “Are you sure you are with the noble family?”

Harton nodded his head vigorously.

“Ask Mayor Duven. He also questioned me taking over the house, but I showed him the family crest and he verified it legitimate.”

Reaching into his coat, Harton brought out a noble crest. It was clear it was nobility since the noble crest had a particular design that only a verified crafter could replicate. Not only that, but it also had a unique magical crystal on it that only the royal family could implant.

“This is the real deal,” said Helios, examining the crystal.

“Sorry for the suspicion,” said Nobina.

“No worries! After all, I…”

Before Harton could finish, Fay immediately jumped and almost cut Harton in two with the sword on her side. However, he stepped back and dodged with ease.

“Woah there miss,” said Harton, looking dumbfounded. “Why did you…”

Fay wasted no time. She locked eyes with Harton, ice in her stare as she used a skill.

“Magic breaker!”

Magic began forming around Fay’s hand as her sword fell to the ground, and she charged straight for Harton. This time, he couldn’t dodge the fist strike completely, suffering damage to what appeared to be a magical shield around him.

“Damn you,” said Harton, quickly running out of the house.

Fay began running after him, prompting Nobina to look at Helios in confusion.

“What is going on?” she asked.

“I believe that Harton must have had a stolen crest,” he replied. “I couldn’t tell since I’m not familiar with them, but someone like her who has close ties with the princess must have figured it out easily.”

Not wanting to let Fay chase him alone, the two of them exited the building. Once outside, they saw Fay standing in the center of the yard, looking up. Their eyes widened upon seeing a medium-sized dragon flying away.

“Was that…” said Nobina, trailing off.

“Harton is the rogue dragon,” said Fay. “Looks like the mayor is working with the dragon. The real question is, why was he in this house?”

The three looked at each other, making a nod before heading back inside. The group made their way down the staircase into the basement of the estate. What they saw shocked them.

In the basement was a bed that had a large dragon egg on it. It had to be half the size of Nobina, making them all wonder if this was that dragon’s egg.

“I don’t understand,” said Nobina. “Why did that dragon abandon its egg?”

“Perhaps this is merely a temporary retreat,” responded Helios. “If it sensed that it couldn’t take us on without damaging the egg in the process, it’s sometimes better to perform a tactical retreat. When it does come back, it likely won’t be alone.”

“What do you mean?” asked Nobina.

“That dragon… has to have a mate,” said Fay. “That means we have two rogue dragons we are dealing with, not one. Not only that, but the fact the dragon had the ability to shapeshift means these likely aren’t normal dragons.”

Nobina felt the blood drain from her face as she realized how serious the situation was. Even with Fay and the Gaze, could they actually handle two dragons? Not only that, but Nobina was aware that most dragons could not shapeshift. That meant the dragon likely gained it through a rare Path.

“What should we even do,” she thought to herself.