“But you owe me dinner.”

“I guess that’s acceptable.” I smiled, pleased that she wasn’t attacking me anymore.

That satisfaction lasted only a second longer until suddenly, a voice rang out, causing me to turn around.

“That was a spectacular battle.” A man stood there, arms folded, watching us. He looked like he was in his early thirties, with a thick goatee and a glint in his eyes that I didn’t particularly care for.

“Thanks. Do you need something?” I raised an eyebrow at the man, trying to make it clear that I didn’t care to have him around.

“Oh, would you care to introduce us, Rose?”

I cast a questioning glance at Rosalina, surprised.

Rosalina?

She sighed as if telling me not to worry about it before she shook her head.

“Look, Aster, now’s not the time. In fact, we were just about to leave.”

“Oh, don’t be that way, Rose -”

Yep, don’t like him.

“- as your teacher, you should show us the respect we deserve, don’t you think?”

The man glanced at me, expecting me to go along with his stupid game.

“Teacher?” I asked Rosalina.

“He’s not my teacher.” Rosalina ground her teeth. “Isn’t that right, Aster?”

“Nonsense. Rose here spends a great deal of time sparring with me. Of course, she’s never managed a win, so it’s my job to teach her as her respected superior.”

Alright, I’m about ready to punch his teeth in. He could only give more creepy vibes by waving a flag that says he likes to torment children.

“Aster.” I raised my voice, trying my best to sound innocuous. “I take it you’re an adventurer?”

“Of course.” The man swelled his chest with self-confidence. “Aster Ouro, Rank 3 High-Gold.”

Not too bad.

“Can’t say it rings much of a bell.” I shook my head. “I’m afraid I have no memory of you.”

It was his turn to look annoyed, grinding his teeth for a second.

“Well, be that the case, I came over to investigate who managed to swoop in and steal a turn with my partner.”

My eye began to twitch, taking every bit of effort I had not to beat the man senseless on the spot.

That’s my sister you’re talking about, asshole.

The way my sister looked around with annoyance on her face earlier made sense now. She’d likely been searching for a way to avoid the man until she spotted me.

“I would apologize, but it would be a lie.” I finally gave up faking pleasantries, letting my annoyance shine through.

“You’ve certainly got an attitude to you,” Aster growled. “I think it might be worth teaching the both of you respect.”

Lords and gods above, can you be any more cliché?

Rather than put this sham to an end here and now, a new option appeared before me, a chance to humiliate the man.

Haven’t done this in a while.

“I think you’re the one with an attitude problem.” I clicked my tongue at him as if he were one of my misbehaving students. “A bald-faced vulture who only rose to prominence after the events of the dungeon quest several years ago carved out an opening near the top.”

That did it.

My provocation worked perfectly; the man and his intentions were an open book to read.

“Damned punk. Who cares if you could best the girl? She throws a hell of a punch, but that’s all she’s got. Now here you are, some nobody with the same attitude as her. If you think yourself so grand, why don’t we have a go?”

Hook, line, and sinker.

Several nearby adventurers had stopped what they were doing, watching and listening to us intently.

And the stage is set.

“Fine, sounds good to me, but why don’t we put a bit more than pride on the line?”

“I was just thinking the same thing.” The man said greedily, eyes darting toward my sword.

How did an idiot like this rise as high as he has?

The answer was surprisingly obvious. Once there had been Iris and the other prominent adventuring parties that bloated the upper ranks of gold, gatekeeping those unworthy from stepping out from the mid-levels of gold. Their collapse had left a vacuum for any to scramble toward the top. Those with less than noble scruples would have climbed easier than the rest.

Case study number one the idiot I’d baited into a beating.

“How about this, then. You win; you get my sword.” I waved the weapon before him, his eyes following it like a trained dog. “And if I win…. How about I get your rank?”

“Huh?” The man seemed taken aback. “I can’t just give that. Only adventurers can place their rank on the line against other adventurers.”

“Well then, isn’t this fine luck we’re having today?” I smiled at the man as innocently as I could before raising my voice, projecting it as far out as I could. “I, Zero of the Flowing Blade, accept your duel. Your rank versus my sword.”

Like a fish out of water, his eyes began to bulge.

Guess he wasn’t expecting that.

“…Zero? Did he just say Zero?”

“…not a chance. He’s been gone for years.”

“…Akadia, right? What if that’s really him?”

“…would pretend to be the guy, right? He was legendary.”

“….need his rank anyway? Wasn’t he higher ranked than that?”

I listened to the murmuring crowd gathering around to watch us.

Not what I intended for today, but I won’t be here for more than a day or two anyway. Dion should thank me for dealing with a leech in his midst, if anything.

As men of his ilk often did when presented with such an unfavorable and alien situation outside their expectations, he chose to ignore the reality, an egotistical smile of self-assuredness returning.

Here it comes, the classic ‘hah, you’re nothing but talk. You probably only survived by hiding and taking advantage of others.’ C’mon, say it. I know you want to.

“Zero.” The man scoffed, almost like he was reaffirming himself. “I heard you disappeared after that dungeon quest. Was it because you couldn’t face the fact that you let everyone else die for you while you scampered away?”

Ah hah! See, classic. Knew it was coming.

“Gods above enough talk. I’m going to die of old age at this point.” I faked a yawn just to piss the man off. “Whenever you want, feel free to attack me. Not just that, I’ll even offer you a handicap.”

Switching the sword to my left hand, I held my right hand behind my back. “I’ll fight with only my non-dominant hand.”

Watching the man, I was afraid I’d win simply from a blood vessel popping.

That would be anticlimactic, but I’d also pay to see it.

“Aultar!” The man shouted before charging me with his weapon raised, the stance awkward.

Beneath me, I sank into thick vicious stone, quicklime swallowing my feet up.

Composite magic right off the bat. Guess he isn’t all talk. Also, is that supposed to be central sword?

The man swung with all his might, but I shook my head a second later.

Central sword artists can make powerful swings without looking like a newborn duckling.

Swinging my sword in the way of his blade, I was surprised as his weapon swerved with sudden agility, glancing my blade out of the way before darting toward me, the entire movement a ruse.

Ahhhh, I get it now. Southern style. Now it makes sense that he is an entitled asshole.

The South’s defensive style, favored by nobles, was expert at redirects and feints. I saw a nasty smirk flash across his face, but I paid it no heed.

I can see why Pips would have struggled. Her style of brute force doesn’t pair well against Southern style.

Many didn’t know of the history of how the different regions’ sword fighting styles had developed. The north, a colder, more forested area, had a more significant concentration of swift-moving animals and magical beasts. As such, the people of the north had emulated that agility in their blades. The central region had developed swordplay focused on pure offense and heavy swings needed to crack through the tough armor and hide of the desert region’s many monsters.

Unlike the north and the central region, the South was neither extremely hot nor cold, with fewer monsters. With more food, fewer monsters, and a tamer climate, the South became like a cornucopia of prosperity, a veritable treasure trove.

So, humans being humans, they did what humans do best.

They raided one another.

The desert people of the past, forced to withstand hot and harsh life, soon turned to raiding their southern border, the north far too cold for those used to the scorching heat. As the fat pig to the slaughter, the South was constantly under assault by raids from the desert region.

Which was how the Southern shield-sword was born. Not made to emulate or adapt to the monsters of the natural world but the terrors of the human world.

It was a shame that such a noble history was being tarnished by people unworthy of it, such as the asshole currently trying to chop off my hand.

No thought of holding back, eh? Plans to claim that he expected someone of my caliber to have been able to avoid it.

It was depressingly easy to understand the man’s train of thought, but I had no intention of playing along.

If you want to be an ass, I’ll make you feel like an ass.

Dropping my sword, I swung my fist through the air faster than the man could react, slugging him across the face as he staggered back, surprised that I could have responded so swiftly, trapped in place and off balance.

“C’mon, is that really all you’ve got?” I laughed before dragging my feet out of the quicklime, a whispered null softening the material clinging to me. “You know what, I don’t even need the sword.”

Samgen would probably prefer I use the sword, but he’ll get over it.

Cautiously, the man approached once again, searching for an opening.

The issue wasn’t that I lacked an opening for him to take advantage of.

It’s that I didn’t bother to guard myself whatsoever; I was one large opening.

Hurry up already, would you?

“Renlous!” The man finally snarled, flinging his hand toward me as dozens of silvery liquid needles were hurled at my face.

I had several ways to shut down the attack, but I opted for perhaps the showiest way I could think of.

“Renlous.” I countered, raising a palm toward the projectiles. I didn’t meet the attack with one of my own; that would give him the dignity of suggesting he was my equal, my contemporary.

He was beneath me, and more importantly, he was beneath my family, who he’d made the grave mistake of antagonizing.

The quicksilver needles froze midair before congealing with one another and slowly levitating toward me like a perfect sphere above my now outstretched palm. I saw the color drain from his face as he watched the control of his spell be wrestled away, the crowd murmuring in a frenzy.

“… just take over his spell?”

“… thought that wasn’t possible?”

“…explain that, then?”

Ordinarily, taking control of another person’s spell wasn’t possible. Just like it wasn’t possible to use magic inside of another person, their innate mana signature prevented foreign intrusion into their inner workings, be it themselves or their magic.

Ordinarily.

But I wasn’t like most people. I’d already used magic inside of another, so theoretically, I could dominate another spell as long as I understood it, and my opponent’s control of magic was inferior to mine. It would have been impossible against a powerful opponent like Harris; each of his attacks carried far too much mana to dominate.

But a punk like Aster, throwing around aulous affinity spells of all things? Now that was fair game.

“W-what did you do?” The man stuttered, staring in disbelief as his magic was suspended above my hand, now belonging to me.

“Not much,” I said before casually crushing the spell within my hand, dispersing the mana as if it were my own. “Now, where were we?”

In sudden desperation, the man began to fling more spells at me. Those with water affinity I dominated, and those without water affinity I simply overwhelmed, casting myself in null I could physically destroy the attacks with a wave of my hand.

Seeing his magic fail to leave even a scratch, the man darted in, sword dancing through the air.

Credit where credit is due. He’s skilled with the sword.

Sword skill alone, he would have been nearly my equal; I’d sadly relegated my practice with the sword over the years to a distraction more than a craft to hone.

But this wasn’t a duel of sword skill alone. I wasn’t my sister who fought through pure savagery where talent alone could overcome the difference in physical strength. I could see his ploys and traps, and with disgusting ease, I simply crushed them through overwhelming superiority.

The entirety of the battle lasted just short of a minute before the man lay on the ground, panting and heaving as I picked up my sword and pointed its tip at his neck.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“I think I can call this my victory.” I yawned for extra effect like our battle hadn’t been enough to warrant my full attention.

“D-damn you.” The man hissed.

“Yeah, yeah, heard it before.” I sighed.

Sheathing my sword, I turned toward Rosalina.

“I believe it’s time we went for dinner, don’t you think?”

My sister laughed before linking arms with me. “I think so.”

Content, we began to leave the rings before I paused, turning to look back at the crowd.

“Now, this shouldn’t matter to most of you since Rose here could beat you black and blue, but let it be known, those who mess with my sworn sister antagonize me as well.”

I could already imagine the rumors and gossip spreading that Zero had not just returned but apparently was sworn siblings with a certain Rose.

Better than getting any sort of weird thoughts about our relationship.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Rosalina whispered as I turned back.

“Yeah, I didn’t,” I admitted. “But I wanted to.”

“You’re insufferable.” She scowled but couldn’t hide the hint of a smile that she was forced to repress.

“So, where to?” I asked, hoping she had an idea.

“Oh, you know exactly where.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------

“I haven’t been here in years.” I chuckled as I stared at the restaurant in front of us. “In fact, last time I was here, that was when I ran into the guild master.”

“Yeah, I remember you leaving me to twiddle my thumbs at the table alone.”

“Builds character.” I scoffed.

“Should have recognized your habit of abandonment back then.”

“Ouch.” I winced. “Low blow.”

“Oh, you’ll live. It builds character.”

“Who taught you that?” I feigned surprise, raising an eyebrow at her as she responded by rolling her eyes.

“Whatever. Let’s just go grab a table. I’m certain they’ll find a place for us as long as you’re here.”

Soon enough, we found ourselves seated; my sister had proved correct that upon learning who I was, they quickly found us a table without any prior reservation.

“Alright then.” Rosalina leaned back in her chair. “Talk.”

“About?”

“Everything. Where have you been these last four years? Why exactly did you leave? All of it.”

“It’s sort of a long story.”

“We have time.”

“Not that much. I’m only going to be here for another day at most.”

“Why am I not surprised? That was always you. You’d return for a few days, then disappear on some commission or adventure.”

“I’m sorry.” I glanced at my hands, regretting the years I hadn’t taken advantage of.

“No, don’t. I told you to go out there, to not be bound to me, didn’t I?”

I was suddenly sixteen again, twelve-year-old Rosalina grasping my hand tightly as she held herself up, determined that she would be okay.

I wiped a non-existent tear before opening my mouth.

“It all went downhill after the dungeon. It… it ended badly.”

“I’m aware of that much.” Rosalina nodded. “A few dozen highly rated adventures go in, only a handful come out.”

“Then there was that entire mess of a debacle with Iris.” I sighed.

“What was that all about? I never believed the rumors that you did it for clout or ranking.”

“It’s… it’s not easy to say. When we went down there, Iris was our quest leader, responsible for our lives. Normally a party leader might expect a few deaths; that is part of the job, but as gold-ranked adventurers, and high-ranked ones, no hurdle should have been too high. There were enough of us that even a party of nizeium adventurers would have been hard-pressed to win.”

“But that’s not what happened.”

“We were slaughtered. The dungeon didn’t care about numbers or strength. It crushed us all the same. I was your age then, the youngest one there by a decent margin. At the time, surrounded by adults that knew better, I kept my mouth shut and did as I was told. I just wanted to do my job, do it well, and leave well enough alone. But I saw mistakes at times, and occasionally I tried to correct those mistakes.”

“Iris didn’t take well to that?”

“Well, not quite. I think losing so many people she was responsible for in such a short period was too much for her to handle. Without ever even realizing it, she was cracking under the pressure. The dungeon quite literally drove her mad. She attempted to murder me, and I was separated from the rest for some time. When I finally met them again, Iris only got worse; she truly believed everything had gone wrong because of me.”

“A little harsh.”

“That’s what madness does to a person.” I sighed. “We saw… terrible things. A black nightmare that still haunts my dreams. People we knew were dissolved and absorbed by living darkness. I won’t hold it against her for fracturing under the pressure of responsibility and the horrors we saw. Still, the choice was obvious when push came to shove. An insane Iris, or my life. It’s a bit of a shortened summary, but you can understand what led to our duel.”

“So then what? You felt so bad that you went and disappeared?”

“No. I was exiled.”

“You were?

“Guild master didn’t like that I killed his daughter, nor that I was now the master of the dungeon.”

“Wait, Dion did all that? And Iris was his daughter?”

“I take it you’ve met him?”

“A few times,” Rosalina admitted. “But I didn’t know he would do something like that! Sure, he always gave me weird vibes, but…”

“Well, I’m not surprised you never found out. The deal was simple, I leave and never return, and he wouldn’t go after my loved ones.”

“Me.” Rosalina realized. “I was being held hostage this entire time?”

I said nothing, letting the silence do the talking.

“That does explain a few things.” To her credit, my sister seemed to take the revelation in stride. “I thought he simply was showing up out of concern for my well-being with your disappearance, plus my father had proven diligent in his work for the guild.”

“The man is a snake, but there are things worse than snakes out there.” I huffed. “We hate each other, but we also understand one another.”

“So, then what?”

“After I was exiled, I made my way to Songhold where -” I froze, images of Maeya appearing in mind. “- where I attempted to find leads on my mother.”

“And?”

“Well, she found me.”

“Really?”

“Yep.” I glanced around, whispering as an imperceptible veil of water vapor surrounded our table. “She apparently returned to where the rest of our family lives. Varana, who’d have thought?”

“So is that where you went after?”

“No.” I frowned. “I became a professor in Akadia instead."

“You? A professor? You’ve never taught a day in your life.”

“It’s not always been easy, but I made it work. I teach magic.”

“Not like I expected you to teach math.”

“Shush.” I glared at her. “One thing led to another; I offended some noble family, they had an officially sanctioned ‘Honos Festum’ declared, and I was forced into a duel against a former nizeium adventurer. I won, but I was forced to use my alias, Zero. Dion caught wind of that, showed up, and made some demands of me, but I earned the freedom to return here to Dunehold as a reward.”

“Glossing over a few things there, aren’t you? A nizeium adventurer you beat?”

“Former.” I corrected.

“I can see why you felt so confident thrashing Aster then.”

“What was his problem anyway? Other than being a creepy possessive asshole with an ego-inflated balloon for a brain?”

“Ego-inflated balloon for a brain. I think I’ll be stealing that.”

“Go for it,” I said, smiling at Rosalina.

“After most of the top-ranking golds were either killed in that dungeon raid or promoted to nizeium themselves, a bunch of nobodies and opportunists began pouring out of the woodworks. Aster used to be an enforcer down South for some family. I think they were called the -”

No, don’t say it.

“-Aizenbern. Apparently, they’re a family of loyalist thugs, or so I’ve heard.”

Of course.

“Seeing an opportunity, he left his cushy job behind to rise the ranks as an adventurer, a fame whore.”

“And you really couldn’t beat him, not once?”

“Bleh.” Rosalina stuck out her tongue, annoyed. “I could have.”

“So why didn’t you?”

“There is a limit to what I can show off. Fighting like a wounded animal and with the strength to compare is one thing, but if I showed off everything I can do…. Yeah, that would have been a bad idea.”

“I don’t see why not. Tez can use dragon magic, and she can pass it off just fine.”

“Tez has an artificial dragon heart, thanks to you. I’ve seen what her magic looks like. My magic, though? Yeah, no amount of smooth-talking will convince anyone that I’m anything but a monster after they see it.”

“You’re not a monster.” I shook my head before winking at her. “You’re a dragon.”

“Yeah, literally.” She said, without a hint of humor in her eyes.

“Wait, what do you mean by that?”

“It happened shortly after you left. I thought I was going through a second puberty, but instead of a period, I received this.”

Showing me her arm, the skin rippled, pulling away to reveal scales that looked precisely like the scales of earth I’d once seen at Sun-splitter Peak.

Except not fossilized.

“I’m not human.” She glanced upward. “I’ve always been aware I was different, but it never revealed itself so…Vividly.”

“Wait, was your mother-”

“Not that I remember, no. I think what I was put through… awakened the dormant part of my blood. That awakening then quickly consumed the rest of my identity. I’m a wolf in sheep’s fur. Or rather, I’m a dragon in human skin.”

“Explains the temperament you’ve had since you were younger.”

“Shut up.” She smacked my arm, rolling her eyes at me before turning serious again.

“So, does that mean you can-” I was halted mid-question as Rosalina raised a hand toward me.

“Turn into one?” She closed her eyes, sighing. “I haven’t tried. I’m afraid I’d be stuck that way if I did, but I’m pretty sure I can. I can feel it, lurking just beneath the surface.”

The skin that had pulled back to reveal her scales swiftly settled back in place, once more hiding her identity.

“Ever since you left…” Rosalina shook her head as she gathered her thoughts. “You weren’t around to protect me anymore, and I understood I couldn’t pretend I was human any longer. So, I began to teach myself. Being a dragon makes that stuff come more easily to you, but I still had to suppress it. If I fully embraced it, who knows? But as long as I do, my ability to grow is hampered, and I can’t use any of my magic for fear of outing myself.”

“So assholes like Aster found you an easy target.”

“Hah, no. It was only Aster. While an asshole, he’s about the only one with the skills needed to beat me and having just the right amount of douchebaggery to even bother in the first place.”

“You know, I’d like to see this magic of yours someday.”

“Sure.” Rosalina smiled before pointing at my wrapped arm. “As long as you explain those.”

“Those?” I felt my blood freeze. “What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, please. Once, you could have fooled me, and perhaps it can fool those around us, but now that I’m awakened, I can feel it. You’re different. I’ve always known that, but now I can feel and see it firsthand. Humans don’t typically have mana channels through their body like magical beasts, after all.”

“You can see them?” I was surprised, staring at Rosalina incredulously.

“See isn’t exactly the right word, but it’s like the world is always tinged in a hue of red now. I can perceive the mana all around us.”

“Mana sense, and apparently, it’s innate for dragons,” I answered. “I should have taken precautions for that, but not exactly like there are True Dragons just waltzing around.”

“True Dragon?” Rosalina questioned.

“You. A dragon is anything, any subject, that denies the understood laws of magic. On the other hand, True Dragons are giant, powerful death lizards that also defy the logic behind the laws of magic.”

Rosalina shot me a rather fitting death glare, which I ignored.

“I’ve only met one True Dragon before, your ancestor, but in fairness, they were also dead.”

“Solarus? Rosalina questioned.

“How do you know about him?” I was taken aback by how she knew. I’d never spoken about the True Dragon for fear of triggering some traumatic memory.

“I know the entirety of my dragon lineage now. Once I awakened, I was flooded with thoughts, feelings, and knowledge of those that came before, though nothing more concrete than passing images. But that’s not the subject I care about. You, explain.” She pointed at my arm once more.

“I.. Uh…” I fumbled with my words, trying to figure out how to explain, before shrugging; no point in holding back. “I’m what you would call a Sage.”

“Oh!” Her eyes flashed with recognition. “So you are one of them!”

“You know what a Sage is?”

Rosalina pointed at her head, smirking. “I said I’ve got a bunch of old memories, didn’t I? I can’t neatly organize most of them, but Solarus had rather strong feelings regarding one Sage specifically.”

I can guess who.

“Huh,” I mumbled, the wind sucked from my metaphorical sails. “Well, that makes things… easy, I guess?”

“Have you been a Sage this entire time? Like back when you saved me?”

“Back then? No, I hadn’t yet become an actual Sage.” I was reminded of the battle against the would-be dragon mage and how much easier it would have been had I had the magic I had now.

“How did you become a Sage?”

“You just have all the questions, don’t you?”

“Not my fault you never talked about this stuff before.”

“I guess you have a point.” I huffed. “But that’s a long story in itself.”

“I have time.”

“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to put you in danger.”

“There you go again.” She growled, clearly annoyed.

“What? I’m just trying to look out for you.”

“I’m not a kid anymore, Rook. When you left, I had to learn to protect myself, I love Dad, but if anyone ever came after me, he wouldn’t be able to do anything. I’ve become strong.”

“You’re the one who doesn’t understand.” I snapped back. “You’ve got old Solarus’s memories, right?”

“Yeah, and?”

“You know how powerful he was?”

“He was like a king of the dragons. Or, True Dragons, I guess.” Rosalina drummed her fingers on the table as she corrected herself.

“Yeah, and the one who killed him is the one I’m trying to keep you from getting involved with.”

“But that would have been thousands of years ago.”

“Time doesn’t matter. That same Sage is the reason I’m a Sage. She was reborn, and literally, everything I’ve heard about her is that you’re better off never becoming the subject of her interest. As far as I know, you are the only True Dragon left. That sounds like the exact sort of thing that would garner her attention. The less you know of her, the less likely you are to stick your nose where it’s not supposed to be.”

“So, that’s it?” She crossed her arms, staring at me with unwavering eyes.

“Gods and lords above, this isn’t the thing to demonstrate your bullheaded stubbornness on.”

“Well, I’m sorrryyy -” She dragged the word out, looking not at all sorry. “- that I’m a gods damned dragon. Being stubborn is sort of in my blood.”

I was happy I’d taken the time to raise a veil to mute the sounds of our conversation, our steadily increasing volume not even raising an eyebrow of concern from a single fellow patron.

How long has it been since we last fought like this?

Even mid-argument, I smiled, recalling the yesteryears. For a while after her rescue, Rosalina had been quiet and anxious. Still, as she overcame her past traumas, her original fiery personality began to shine through, leading us to heated arguments on many occasions.

Like siblings often did.

“What are you grinning about?” Rosalina scowled at me, but even her annoyance began to crack, my smile infectious.

“I missed you. I missed this.” I said softly after a moment. “It was… It was tough. I ended up in a bad place; I was taken advantage of all to find my mother, so I convinced myself it didn’t affect me. Perhaps if you were around, you could have set me straight, opened my eyes to what was right before me.”

“Of course,” Rosalina puffed her chest out. “And I could have eaten whoever was responsible.”

I laughed for a moment before fixing her with a level gaze.

“You are joking, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know, am I?”

Right, Rosalina might eat people now. I’ll keep that in mind.

“Wait.” I suddenly clanked a fork against the table, something occurring to me. “If you got so strong, why didn’t you ever come to visit me?”

“Because I didn’t know where you went, dumbass.” She stared at me with increasing incredulously. “Gods above, I forgot how thoughtless you could be.”

“No.” I crossed my arms. “I’m certain I wrote down exactly where I intended to go.”

“No, you didn’t.” As if to prove a point, she suddenly reached into her bag, shuffling around before pulling out an oddly familiar piece of paper.

“Wait, is that-”

“The letter? Yeah. I brought it everywhere with me. Whenever I felt down, I would look at it and get angry all over again. A great form of motivation, let me you that.”

Sliding the letter across the table, I scanned it, eyebrows slowly climbing.

Lords above, I wrote like a teenager, that’s for sure.

Sure enough, my eyes reached the bottom of the letter; there was zero mention of where I had left for.

Right. I remember why.

I’d been worried that if I left any indication of where I was going, she would follow me.

“Sorry,” I mumbled.

“I would have tried to track you down, but without any lead, I assumed you didn’t want to be found. So all that was left was to train myself. I guess I always hoped that you would return to the guild one day, and then I could find you.”

“Speaking of that, is that why you’re involved with the guild now?”

“Sort of.” Rosalina shook her head. “Dion occasionally showed up, though I now understand it wasn’t for benevolent reasons. When I showed interest in training, he offered to have some of his people assist.”

“No doubt to further keep an eye on you.”

“Yeah, I understand that now.” She grumbled. “Eventually, he even offered to help teach me magic. He explained that it would be much more difficult to watch out for myself without magic. Also told me he knew about me, so I didn’t bother hiding anything about that.”

“Wait.” I froze. “Does he know you’re a True Dragon?”

“No, that part I kept to myself, and now you.” She shook her head. “I may not have known the extent of what he was up to, but at the least, I never felt fully comfortable around him. It always felt like his mind was elsewhere.”

“You made a good call.”

“Mhmm. Anyway, at some point, he came and asked me if I would like to become a part of some test program. He called it the ‘Sentries’ like we were supposed to be lighthouses or something.”

Rosalina giggled at her own bad joke before continuing.

“He said the issue with adventurers was that it was hard to delegate them properly because of the travel involved. But, if we had pseudo-adventurers stationed at every city, adventurers who never traveled more than a day or two away from the city itself, it would free up adventurers to undertake a wider variety of tasks.”

“Sounds like glorified city guards,” I noted.

“You’re not wrong.” Rosalina agreed. “But it came with several benefits, so I thought, why not? Dunehold was more than happy to work with him regarding the suggestion. It allowed them to downsize the active guards, saves them a pench or two.”

“Wait -” I raised a finger, keying in on something she said. “- you said the active guards were reduced?”

“Yeah, why?”

What game is he playing?

I was one hundred percent certain that wasn’t just a coincidence. Dion would have unquestionably predicted that the city would reduce its active guard upon receiving the guild’s external aid, which would now effectively subsidize their protection.

Why?

From my interactions and impressions of the man, he wasn’t the type who was setting up for some sort of coup effort.

Why? Why? Why?

Scyla would have had an idea, but I could think of nothing more than wild conjectures.

Control, maybe?

While Dion wasn’t the type to seek active control, I doubted a man as scheming as he would turn down having more influence and power in the cities. If that was the case, Dunehold was the perfect pilot city; as the home of the guild headquarters, they would be more partial to his suggestions.

My theory felt plausible enough that my stomach began to roll. I wasn’t fond of Dion weaseling his way into the inner workings of more places, but there wasn’t much to be said or done on the matter.

Just another thing to keep my eyes peeled for.

“- okay? Hello? Overprotective brother say what?”

“Nice try,” I said instead, snapping out of my thoughts.

“Meh, could have been worse.” She shrugged. “So, you’re a Sage, I’m a dragon, you’re a teacher, and I’m a grandstanding guard. Anything else missed?”

“Not much.” I chuckled. “Actually, there is something I am very interested in knowing.”

“What, my magic? Or maybe some of my abilities? Perhaps-”

“Are any guys, or girls for that matter, talking to you?”

“Gods above.” Rosalina groaned. “I’m nineteen. Are you really going to be asking me this?”

“It’s my duty,” I answered with a stalwart expression.

“Ick. But to answer your question, no. Sort of hard to grow romantically involved with another when you’re wondering if you’ll wake up a giant lizard one day.”

“Hey, it doesn’t have to be romantic. You’re an adult; you’re allowed to have non-romantic consensual-”

“Ick. Ew. Gross. I’m sorry for hitting you, but please just stop.”

I grinned, successfully embarrassing her.

“What about you then, Mr. Overly curious?”

“I-” I froze, images of Scyla coming to mind.

Right, how do I explain that?

“There is someone! You, of all people?”

“How do you know?” I countered.

“Please, I can read you like an open book.”

“Fine, yes, but it’s a bit complicated.

“Of course it is.” My adopted sister nodded. “And what abou t-”

At that very moment, a furry head suddenly popped up from beneath the table, staring up at my sister, who jumped in sudden surprise.

“Oh, now you decide to make an appearance.” I sighed as I watched my cat.

“I-is this yours?”

“She. And it’s probably more accurate to say it’s the other way around with how she struts around like she owns my place.”

“Rightttt,” Rosalina mumbled before reaching down to pet the cat.

“Careful. Her scratches can be… Rough.”

“Scales under my skin, remember?”

“Yeah, honestly, I’m not sure how well they will do against her claws.”

“Relax, she’s just a cat.”

My expression must have said enough, as Rosalina rephrased her prior statement.

“She is a cat, right?”

“Something like that,” I half-lied.

“Explain.” My sister demanded, never believing me for a second.

“Before that.” I interrupted. “Why don’t we take a break from interrogation to eat?”

From a nearby door, a cart was drawing toward us, piled high with pre-meal appetizers, the establishment apparently deciding I was enough of a big shot to bust out the good stuff.

“Fine.” Rosalina sighed. “But only because I’m hungry. Afterward, you’ve got more explaining.”

My cat glared at me before meowing angrily.

“Right, you’re hungry too.” I sighed. “Let’s just enjoy our first meal together in years, then more talking, okay?”

“You promise?”

“Promise,” I answered.

Rosalina leaned back as my shadow blossom ducked back under the table, the server piling trays of appetizers upon our table.

Finally, some real food.

My mouth watering, I prepared to gorge myself, my sister watching the food with perhaps even more intensity than I. Waiting until the server returned to the kitchen, my sister turned an eyebrow at me.

“Shall we?”

“Time to dig in.” I laughed.

And dig in, we did.