Chapter 4: You Can't be a Troublemaker... Right?

“Where here”

I slowly opened my eyes and noticed that the rocking from before had stopped. I yawned as I slowly stood up from the cart.

“Thank you for the trip sir. It really was a lot of help”

“Why are you thanking me? If it weren’t for you and your pet, I would have been dead on the road already”

I shook my head and finally remembered what happened. During our trip, we ran across this merchant. Of course, he was being attacked by bandits so we decided to help. Of course, we didn’t harm them, but we did make sure to tie them up.

“LET GO OF US ALREADY!”

“IF OUR BAWS HEARS THIS, YA’LL REGRET THIS MISSY”

Speaking of the devils, they were shouting at the top of their lungs in the cage we made. I turned towards them and gave them a growl. They began to shiver as they all shrank inside the cage.

“Hahahaha… I’ve never seen such a thing before. Bandits afraid of a small wolf. Miss, you sure trained her well”

Iridia gave a wry smile as she walked over to me and picked me up. As she left though, she gave a quick look towards the bandits. I swear I saw one of them piss himself. And I thought I was scary. Aside from that, you’re probably wondering on how Iridia can pick me up. Well, during the first half of our trip, I found out a way to make myself smaller. Convenient no? At least now, I wouldn’t catch that much attention… or so I thought.

“WOW, she looks so cute”

“Neh, can I pet her? Can I?”

“HOW MUCH FOR THE WOLF. I’ll give you 20 no… 30 gold coins for her!”

Iridia and I instantly glared at the merchant looking person. He immediately grew silent, apologized and ran away. Aside from that though, I also noticed something.

“That’s such a cute child you have there missy. What’s her name?”

… I’ll give you a few seconds to guess what’s wrong… EVERYONE’S CALLING ME A GIRL! Yeah. Her or she. This is all I’ve been described as. Honestly, I’m a guy. How can people mistake me for a… oh wait, I’m a wolf. But still, even I have pride as a guy ok. I can’t just be called a girl, hell even as a wolf I’m sure I’m a guy… actually, there was no information on the spirit library about the Deus Alpha’s gender. You can say, as a wolf, I have no gender. But still, I would very much like to be considered as gu…

“Her name is Fer”

The surrounding people’s eyes immediately sparkled.

“My, my. What a fitting name for such a cute thing”

I couldn’t help but blink. Did Iridia… just give me a female name? Oye, oye… What do you think you’re doing Iridia? I thought I can trust you? As if sensing my displeasure, she looked at me and gave short explanation.

‘I’m sorry master, but we should try to lay low as much as possible. So please, until we get your human body, just accept the name and gender for now’

Mwuu… I really want to refute it…

wait, why can’t I be male then? Wouldn’t it be the same thing?

She broke eye contact and seemed to be looking into far distance.

It’s because you’re much cuter this way

… TRAITOR! I couldn’t help but cry as my only ally has forsaken me.

“Is this all of them?”

I immediately recovered myself and directed my gaze to the new voice. There, a dwarven soldier could be seen. Unlike the previous ones I saw, this man wore leather armor. It still had that box shape to it, but you can clearly see the difference between him and the soldiers from before.

“Yep, this is all of them”

It was the old man who replied. Speaking of which, this man was human. As to why he wasn’t being scrutinized for being a human, it’s because he’s part of the English kingdom. In other words, the human continent of this world has several other kingdoms aside from the French. What’s more, they actually have the same names as in my world. France, England, Sicily, Venice, Milan, Spain and Russia. Well, those were the major powers. There are actually smaller kingdoms in the continent.

“I’m impressed. You guys are from the Riple Bandit group right”

The men said nothing. They only gritted their teeth as they glared at the soldier in front of them. The man didn’t care and instantly went over to Iridia.

“And, I believe it was you who captured them”

Iridia gave a small nod.

“Hah, to think a young lady defeated some members of the most troubling bandit group in the region… who exactly are you?”

For some strange reason the atmosphere became unpleasant. I could see sparks flying between Iridia and the man. Oh, boy. Just a week of travel and adventure, I would say that Iridia has been gaining knowledge. Not only that, she’s actually pretty emotional. In other words, She doesn’t really know how to handle her emotions properly yet. That’s why if she’s annoyed, then she’ll tell you she’s annoyed. If she’s uncomfortable, she’ll glare at you. If she’s mad, she’ll glare at you with a hint of killing intent. Yeah, she needs to learn how to handles herself. With a sigh, I gave a short bark that broke the man’s attention from her. He then stared at me and seemed to calm down a bit. The same with Iridia.

“Well, either way. I need you to come with me. As much as I don’t trust you, I still have to reward you for catching some members of the Riple bandit group. That’s why if you don’t have any business anywhere else later, just go ahead and make your way to the barracks ok”

He didn’t even finish his sentence before he started walking away. As for the men, their cage was already attached to another cart before we even noticed. Suddenly, he stopped and turned to look back.

“Oh, and if you leave. Well, just say that you’ll never be able to enter another Dwarven city unless you clear yourself of suspicion alright”

We watched as the bandits were taken away. But still, this is going to be kind of a problem. But with this problem, there’s also hope. Why? It’s because, if we clear our suspicion now and actually get papers, then we’ll be free to travel with actual identities. The reason I say this is because we actually entered this city through the grace of the merchant. If it wasn’t for him, we would have been thrown out if we didn’t show identification cards. It was only when he told them that it was us who captured the bandits that we were allowed inside. But, if we managed to get these so called identification cards, then we would be able to enter the other cities with no suspicion. Truly, the gods must be watching over us… actually, goddess. O thank you great Arian Sama.

“I’m sorry I can’t do much to help you”

The old merchant who drove us apologized. Really, such a nice old man.

“It is fine. Thank you for helping us. I do hope that you won’t get into any more trouble once we part”

Iridia gave him a smile as he also gave a smile. He then hopped on his cart and went on his merry way. As for us, time for some sightseeing. I didn’t really get the chance to see much when going into the city, but wow is this place amazing. The houses were built grandly. They had these ancient modern feel to them. The houses weren’t the typical medieval houses. No, they were fashioned in a way that complements the dwarves. There were also giant towers as well as small citadels that were spread around the city. To my amazement, these were used both as defenses and entertainment. Apparently, restaurants exist in this place. You could smell the food that was being made.

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“Why don’t we stop to eat first master?”

I nodded enthusiastically as we entered one of buildings. The inside looked like a tavern. There was a bar area that had high stools on the bar. Behind the counter, there were several barrels of what appears to be beer. Everyone was smiling, talking and laughing in here. Several waiters could be seen… oh, and there were an assortment of waitresses too. There were humans and dwarves. But most surprisingly, there were elves. Just like the ones I knew from my world, they had long ears and had a graceful appearance. Also, these must be dark elves since they were tanned in color.

“DRINKS UP”

“HOHHHHHH”

A cheer ran throughout the bar. When I looked around for the reason, apparently there are two men drinking away with people surrounding them.

“”””CHUG, CHUG, CHUG, CHUG, CHUG””””

Both men kept chugging with the chant. As soon as they finished, they would place there empty mugs on a pan which instantly replaced by a fresh mug by the bartender. From there, they continued to drink.

The atmosphere is very toxic here

“Yes, I believe so master”

We quickly, or should I say, Iridia carried me in her arms to the counter. There, she placed me on the counter and sat on the stool. She then placed me on her lap giving me a comfortable place to sit.

“First time I’ve seen you here missy. So, what’ll be?”

He pointed upwards. There, a list of food could be seen. They were even cheap too ranging from 10 copper coins to 2 silver coins. Really cheap.

“One order of seasoned salad and a steak”

“HEY BRUL, YOU HEARD THE LADY”

“YEAH I HEARD”

A fierce battle then began in the kitchen. Paying it no mind, I kept glancing at the people on the side. It appears the young man was beat. Everyone in the group began laughing as they took the poor man to a seat. That really made me curious.

“One Beer please”

Sensing my curiosity, Iridia immediately ordered a cup. This naturally got the attention of our neighbors. Actually, it only made them look even more. Before, she was already catching everyone’s eye. The bartender immediately took out a cup and slid it on the counter. Iridia caught it and took a small sip.

‘It is safe for you to drink master’

What do mean safe? Oye, your not a poison tester you know?

‘But…’

No buts.

I greatly admonish her in my mind. Although I respect her loyalty for me, but even that’s taking it too far. What’s more, I’m a monster that only be killed by a god slayer weapon. Nothing else, like poison, can kill me. I sighed as I brought my face to the cup. I could everyone’s gaze on me, but the smell is really making me come closer. I then licked the top of the drink and a sweet feeling met my tongue. What is this divine drink? It tastes so good!

Wasting no time, I immediately started sipping the cup. With the help of Iridia, the entire cup was drank by me.

Ahh… such a taste. I’ve never tasted anything like it before… does beer really taste like this

‘I’m not sure how master’s old world’s beer tasted like, but the beer in this world is apparently made from a highly concentrated dose of fruits’

But it’s beer, isn’t it supposed to have a high alcohol concentration?

‘But it does’

Not understanding what she meant by that, I noticed that everyone has gathered around us.

“Eh, what an adorable little thing. To be able to drink such an alcohol, just how did you do it missy”

“That wolf sure is amazing”

“Wow, she’s cute too”

Eh, what do you mean alcoholic? I didn’t even feel anything from that? But it did taste good.

“Bartender, one more”

With a surprised look, the man gave us another cup. She immediately presented it to me, and I wasted no time in drinking it. Oh, unlike last time, this was melonier. Man, if beer was this good, I would have drank this in my previous world regardless of age limit.

“… she sure can drink huh”

Everyone seemed to be gawking at us now though afterwards they raised a loud cheer. Then for some reason, they started to order me more alcohol. I ignored the drinks though since our food came in. While Iridia ate a bit of the steak, upon my suggestion, she mainly stuck with he salad. As for me, well. I’m a carnivore right. So, I should focus on the me… A spoon filled salad was instantly placed on my mouth.

“You should also eat vegetables Fer. It’s healthy for you”

I instantly felt the surrounding giving us a heartwarming look. Ignoring it, I chewed on the salad and found out something. These were giving me mana. I mean, the steak was also doing it, but… the vegetables were more… pure. What is this?

“Neh, how can that wolf be so cute. It’s like a child”

“Right, right”

Suddenly, the females started to approach even closer than the men. I felt my back tingling from them. Suddenly, I sensed one of them starting to reach towards me.

“Please, don’t interrupt her when she’s eating”

I looked up towards Iridia who was smiling… scratch that, her eyes weren’t smiling. She was also blocking the woman’s reach with her own hand. After looking at her, the surrounding people seemed to sense trouble. To get rid of this, the men began chanting and drinking again. The happy mood from before returned, but there were two people who remained the same. One was a blond girl and the other was a woman in her early twenties. Neither one of them flinched as sparks were flying. I then looked up at Iridia, a single thought in my mind.

Are you a troublemaker type character?

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Author Notes:

As always, I suck with titles. Also, I don't really understand the process of making alcohol. So don't judge me lol.

P.S: Already working on the next chapter. Might finish it later, who knows. I might be even able to dish out two more chapters :P