The three of them quickly made their way to the scout’s building, which was located at the edge of the town. Once there, they saw Mimiki outside, reading what appeared to be a journal. When she caught sight of the three of them, she waved them over.

“You guys won’t believe this,” she said, waiting for them to get close. Once they did, however, she asked them what was wrong.

“Did you guys learn something important?” asked Mimiki.

“Let’s speak inside,” responded Nobina.

The group headed inside, where Marve, Cain, Lila and Nia were. Inside was a large single room that had a staircase going upstairs and downstairs. The room itself was a mixture of a living room, a dining room, a study and a kitchen. It lacked the ways to separate them, but the large room was arranged in a way to fit all of those four elements.

Marve was sharpening his axe while Cain was looking at a table of documents. Lila and Nia were merely sitting, facing each other. Neither of them turned to look at the four entering the building.

“What’s going on?” asked Cain, the first to turn to the group.

“Big news apparently,” said Mimiki, putting down the journal. “Everyone gather at the table.”

Everyone stood up, with Lila breaking concentration first.

“Damn it,” said Lila, shaking her head. “You’re lucky I hate keeping others waiting.”

Nia nodded, joining Lila at the central dining table.

“What’s up?” asked Lila first, showing a tiny bit of impatience.

“We investigated the three nobles, and it turns out one of them was one of the dragons,” said Nobina.

Lila turned to Fay, surprised.

“You let it escape?” she asked.

Fay shook her head.

“I don’t do well against targets that try to flee,” said Fay. “Not to mention, that dragon is probably similar strength to me, perhaps a bit stronger. In its human form, I had a chance, but in its dragon form, I had no shot of containing it.”

Lila covered her mouth.

“Wait... human form? Is it an ancient dragon!”

The excitement exuded from Lila was instantly crushed as Fay shook her head.

“I believe it’s just a dragon with a rare Path, but we must be cautious regardless.”

Nobina remembered she did have her ability, but she was too slow to react anyway. It did seem like she made the right call though, as the three might not have been enough to take out that dragon.

“Do you think we could have taken it out?” asked Nobina.

“Not without serious destruction to the town,” said Fay, shaking her head. “Not only that, but it might have called for its partner, which could have resulted in our complete defeat.”

All of the others gasped except for Lila, who was shaking her head.

“Tch. I wish I was there,” said Lila, cracking her knuckles. “I really want to defeat a dragon.”

“Well… The issue is that I don’t think we are in a position to take out two dragons,” said Fay.

“We need to interrogate that mayor immediately,” said Mimiki. “He must have known there were two dragons and was protecting them.”

All of them nodded in agreement. Before leaving, Mimiki informed them of the contents of the journal. Apparently, it had indications of suspicion of the dragon having interest in the town, but they were unsure of what the reason could be. The idea was to investigate the outer parts of the town for a few days and then begin investigating the town itself a bit to identify anything of interest in it.

“And I guess we have the point of interest,” said Mimiki. “Is the egg still back at the nest?”

“Yes,” said Fay. “If we moved it, we risk damaging the egg or invoking their fury. The best bet was to leave it there for now. I doubt they’d come back immediately for the egg.”

“This changes things though,” said Mimiki. “Should we still proceed with the hunt or abandon it until we get reinforcements.”

The room went silent. All of them knew that they were only really prepared to face one dragon. Two was definitely too much for the group.

“We obviously retreat,” said Cain, being the first voice of reason.

“I reluctantly agree,” nodded Marve. “We are only four S-ranks. Two dragons can get a few of us killed, if not all of us.”

Helios gave a nod as well.

“I must concur with the group. As strong as we are, the collateral damage of a two-dragon attack is far too much.

“I disagree,” said Lila,” shaking her head. “We need to hunt them immediately, or else we’ll never get a chance to slay one.”

“Listen here you,” said Cain, slamming his hands on the table.

“You want to go?” responded Lila, her sharp gaze on Cain.

“Calm down you two,” said Mimiki. “We are in the mist of voting. Let’s hear the others.”

Turning to Nia, she spoke one word.

“Stay.”

It surprised the rest of them, but Fay gave a nod.

“I agree with Nia and Lila, but for a particular reason,” said Fay. “If we abandon the town, the dragons might take the egg and raze the town right after, finding a new nest. If this egg is freshly laid, then they will protect that egg with their lives, let it hatch, then leave.”

“Are new eggs that fragile?” asked Nobina. “Was that the reason they attacked the town in the first place? If so, why have the egg here in particular?”

“We need to ask the mayor that,” said Fay. “But for now, my vote is to stay.”

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Three stay. Three leave. Nobina turned to Mimiki, who shook her head.

“We lack the information, but my vote is Nobina’s vote. Whatever she decides, I’d go with that.”

Nobina felt the pressure of the vote as the rest of them looked at her.

“We are rushing things,” she said quickly, waving her hands. “Let’s find out what the mayor knows and go from there.”

“Agreed,” they all nodded.

The group left the building and made their way to the mayor’s residence. Once they were there, the guards halted them immediately.

“The mayor has ordered no one come in, no exceptions,” said the guard.

Fay, irritated, pulled out her letter.

“By order of Third Princess Elina De Lural, let us through immediately,” said Fay, showing the letter.

The guards bowed, opening the gates for the group to proceed inside. Once they were at the door of the estate, the doors opened to one of the maids standing there as if expecting them.

“Mayor Duven is waiting for you upstairs,” said the maid. “Follow me.”

The group followed the maid up to the second floor, heading all the way to a set of double doors at the other end of the building. The maid opened the doors, showing the mayor standing facing the window away from them.

“So,” said the mayor. “You poked around and doomed this town. Congrats.”

“You know this is your fault,” said Fay, irritated. “You had to hide the fact you were working with…”

“For,” he corrected. “Not by choice either.”

He turned to the group, sighing before sitting down.

“You must have discovered that the third noble was using that house as a nest.”

“Why,” asked Helios.

“Are you familiar with World Energy Pools Helios?” asked Duven.

Helios nodded.

“Yes. World Energy Pools are exact locations where one can gather energy directly from the world itself. Only a few are known to exist, and they drain quickly. Are you saying…”

“The dragons are using a World Energy Pool to ensure that child becomes a Magical Dragon when it hatches.”

Nobina was confused, but Fay began explaining what she knew.

“They must be certain that a World Energy Pool can influence Paths. I’ve heard people have tried to do it themselves, but to no success. It must require certain conditions to use those pools we are still unaware of.”

Duven gave a shrug.

“I told that dragon she didn’t need to burn a village and forest to get people to abandon this town, but she said that she didn’t trust a town full of people. Instead, she wanted to empty it, have her child, and leave as soon as it had absorbed the energy and hatched,” said the mayor. “And now her mate is likely going to warn her, and this town is doomed.”

“So what do you plan to do now?” asked Mimiki. “Will you oppose us?”

“Like I have a choice,” he said, shaking his head. “Those dragons will kill me and burn my manor to the ground. At this point, I hope you defeat those two and spare me a harsh sentencing.”

“We’ll see about that,” said Fay, shaking her head. “So, with the new information, what’s the plan Nobina?”

All of them turned to Nobina, who was deep in thought. If they left, the dragons would be gone by the time they got back. If they stayed, they’d have to fight two dragons. As far as Nobina was concerned, they could likely take one on without casualties, but two was unlikely.

“What are the odds we take out both?” asked Nobina.

“Slim,” said Fay immediately. “As much as I don’t like to say it, if we stay to fight the dragons, there will be sacrifices. We have to all be committed to defeating both if we do.”

“A magical dragon is a threat that we cannot ignore,” said Helios. “As much as I want to leave, this new information means we have to defeat those two dragons or take out that egg in the worst case.”

Nobina turned to Marve and Cain, who looked at each other before turning to Nobina.

“I’m on board,” said Marve. “It’s risky and I might die, but I rather die a hero than let people die.”

“Where Marve goes, I go,” replied Cain.

At this point, Nobina was the last person left. Fear threatened to overtake her, but she only had to look at Fay’s gaze once to know her decision.

“We prepare to fight two dragons,” she responded.

With them all on the same page, they turned to the mayor.

“There are no more secrets,” said the mayor. “You know what I know, and I will fully cooperate.”

Fay gave a nod.

“Tell me this, did you get all those scouts killed?” asked Fay.

“Unfortunately, I gave the dragon the information that might have got them killed,” responded Duven. “They asked me for their plans, and I gave it. Then they informed me they planned to dispose of them during their mission.”

Nobina could see Mimiki ready to take out her frustrations on Duven, but she managed to calm down.

“You know that will only look bad on you,” said Mimiki, spite in her voice.

“I rather have a chance to survive than die on the spot,” said Duven. “Do you blame me?”

Mimiki clicked her tongue. As angry as she was, she knew Duven was being held hostage by those dragons if his story was now fully truthful. It was possible he was going to receive something else as well for his cooperation, but it was also as likely he was receiving nothing.

“No,” said Mimiki, shaking her head. “Anything else we should know?”

“I swear that’s it,” he replied.

Seeing no need to question him further, the group decided to have one of them watch him as the rest met downstairs in the meeting room. They had no reason to believe speaking about anything near him was safe at this point, but at the same time they were certain he was telling the truth mostly.

Once everyone except Cain was in the meeting room, the group began discussing strategy.

“So, what’s the plan?” asked Nobina. “We don’t have a strategy for multiple dragons.”

“The key is their target,” said Fay. “Those dragons will defend that egg to the death. They likely have no plans to abandon it, but…”

“Hey Fay,” said Nobina. “Why did you attack the dragon? Couldn’t you have ignored it and let us know you suspected they were a dragon? Then we could have all gathered and…”

“He was going to kill you Nobina,” said Fay, looking downward. “You are right that it would have ideally been better to come back with everyone, but that dragon had his eyes on you the whole time. I had such a bad feeling I felt there was no choice but to strike first.”

Nobina found herself shocked by the news. She didn’t even suspect Harton was going to strike her down, yet knowing now made her realize how weak she really was in the face of a dragon.

“Thank you, Fay,” said Nobina, unable to hold back her nerves.

“Hm,” said Helios. “Your senses are pretty keen Fay. Are you sure you’re just an S-rank adventurer?”

Fay nodded her head.

“I’m nowhere near the fabled SS rank status Helios. Maybe after ten years or longer? If ever? For now, I just know I have my limits. I’m just really good at trusting instincts thanks to my time at Arren,” said Fay with confidence.

He gave a nod back.

“Back to the planning. Do we intend to use the egg as leverage? Perhaps threaten it or even use it as a shield? As long as its there, they won’t use powerful attacks,” asked Helios

“They might be rageful though if they see that we are taking those actions,” commented Mimiki. “Our best course of action likely will be to somehow get the fight outside the city.”

“It gives them a tactical advantage though,” said Fay, shaking her head. “Out in the open, we’ll almost certainly get slaughtered. Those two dragons will likely keep draconic form.”

“Then what do we do?” asked Nobina. “Try to separate them?”

“Almost impossible,” said Helios. “They can fly and are massive. There’s a reason that the dragon decided to retreat instead of fighting the three of us. It might have died, and its partner would have been delayed in responding. That being said, my suggestion is we attempt negotiations. Even if they have an advantage, they’d likely don’t want to risk the egg if possible.”

“It does give them the first strike though,” said Mimiki, shaking her head.

None of them were certain about the correct course of action, but Nobina had a potential idea pop up in her head.

“What if we get my bunnies here?” asked Nobina. “Pausers was called, and we know Giggles isn’t too far. If we…”

“Wait,” said Mimiki. “You… called your Death Hare to Navira?”

All of them turned to Nobina, who waved her hands.

“Listen! I was worried and its better we have all our cards on the table, right?” asked Nobina.

“Nobina,” said Fay in almost a yell.

Nobina shrunk back as Fay began laying into her.

“You know how destructive this might all be if we get something as deadly as a Death Hare involved.”

“I’m sorry,” she replied back, her head downcast.

“How exactly will your bunny know where to go?” asked Helios.

Nobina raised a finger before lowering it.

“Note to future self?” she asked, reluctantly smiling.

“We’ll need to talk later,” said Fay. “About this and loads of stuff.”

“Right,” said Nobina.

“Hold on,” said Cain, face full of shock. She has a Death Hare?”

Nobina realized how bad things were going to get, but Mimiki came to the rescue.

“We can discuss this more in detail later, but please let’s focus on the topic at hand. The dragons.”

“Right,” said Helios. “We don’t have much of a choice here. We should attempt negotiations. If it fails, we must be ready to strike them down. Those dragons will likely appear either tonight or tomorrow, so we best be ready.”

“Agreed,” all of them responded.

Nobina was unsure of how things were going to turn out, but they needed to know for certain whether they could let those rogue dragon lives or had to take them out.

“If all else fails, I have my Gaze items,” she thought to herself.