Curiously, the official-looking person waiting in the inn's lobby hasn't approached me while I wait for Adam to come downstairs. I would've expected him to approach me with an offer as I've already been approached by two people today and was approached by five yesterday. The fact that he has four strong-looking guards with him concerns me a little, but they're all just chatting in one corner of the inn's lobby.

A yawn starts to escape me and I cover my mouth. I think I went a little overboard in the Dungeon yesterday afternoon. After bringing [Swordsman] up to Level 2, I worked on bringing [Knifeman] up to Level 2. Once both of those were finished, I brought [Martial Artist] up to Level 2. It took two and a half runs to achieve all of that, and my body is rather sore.

Even more sore than it was yesterday. Today's aches are probably a mixture of my body recovering from the training two days ago and how hard I pushed myself yesterday. I probably could've attempted to take on the second Zone to make things a little easier, but I didn't want to ask Adam to spend the money that would be necessary for me to handle any injuries I received there.

True to his promise, Adam carried the loot, though he also did most of the looting as he has more Mana than I do. Mostly, we just sold rat pelts for a copper each, and I now have a pouch of my own. There are only a few coins in it, though. That's enough for me right now, as I'm getting into the swing of things.

"Morning, Adam," I greet the warrior when he finally descends the stairs.

"Morning, Jamie," Adam greets me, then approaches the desk to turn in his key.

He's renting the rooms by the night, so we have to turn in the key each morning. As soon as Adam has finished checking out, the official-looking man and his guards approach the warrior.

"Adam," the official-looking man says. "It has come to our attention that you have been acting as a combat trainer without a license. Here in Ratton, it is required that anyone who trains others in combat be licensed with the town. Also, it is required for anyone acting as a guide in Dungeons to be licensed with the town. As you have done neither of these, you are in violation of the law."

Adam furrows his brow a little as he takes in the man's words.

"I checked for such policies," Adam says. "None were made clear to me."

"They were both established in the year 783," the official-looking man says. "At the inception of this Dungeon Town. It is for the safety of those being trained and guided to ensure that they are receiving proper guidance from their mentors. The penalty for failing to do this is a fine of five gold per day per offense. You spent both morning and afternoon training another, which is two offenses, and morning and afternoon running a Dungeon with four runs, for a total of six offenses between them. That is a fine of thirty gold. Now that you are aware of the fee, you will be penalized an additional ten percent of the current for every day you do not pay."

"That's odd," Adam's frown deepens. "I checked with the Dungeon Guild and the town's Adventurer's Guild. Neither one of them mentioned this policy to me. Do you mean to tell me that you're going to fine me for breaking a law town officials directly told me did not exist?"

I see what's going on here. They want to get Adam out of the way because they know that he only intends on helping me out until he leaves here. Without knowing when he'll leave, they're concerned he'll stick around for longer and I'll gain enough that they can't give me a deal that seems rather good.

So either they're pulling out a false claim of law violations or they hid the law from him to use this as a backup. That way, he no longer provides me training and the offers from the various people here will seem enticing.

They know that there's no obligation for me to repay Adam and that he's just doing it to help out a little before he leaves. That creates no attachment to him from me, and the way he's talked made it clear that this training is only while he's here in town. In other words, I'll lose the free training I've had these last couple of days.

They're really focused on that detail there, and I can use that for my own gains. This town wants me because I'm a Summoned. Let's see how well that works in my favor.

"And if I refuse to pay the fine for a policy I was directly told by town officials didn't exist?" Adam asks.

"You will be arrested and sent to work in a debt camp until you pay off the fine," the official-looking man answers. "And any assets you have on you will be seized and used to pay off what it can."

"Let me get this straight," I approach. "Adam checked with the town to see if he needed to be licensed, was told he wasn't, and is now being penalized for not having a license? What's your name?"

"Jeffery," the official-looking man answers.

"Alright, Jeffery," I say. "Based on that, it seems that town officials lied to Adam just to get him into trouble. Taking that and the fact that Adam was planning on leaving here soon anyway into consideration, why not simply ban him from the town for… let's say five years. That's probably how long it'd take to work off such a massive debt, right? Give him time to buy a few supplies for his trip, then escort him out of town. I think that would be a reasonable change, yes?"

Jeffery looks a little uncertain, but nods. Agreeing to this still gets Adam out of the way and it will make me more friendly with them. That's what they're thinking.

"Then it's settled," I say. "Adam gets to buy a few things for his trip, then he leaves Ratton and doesn't return for five years. Our first stop should be to get you a pack."

"I don't need a pack," Adam says. "I can carry what I need just fine."

"Right," I roll my eyes as we start to leave the inn. "You do have some nicely-defined muscles there. You said you're going to be going through some wilderness after leaving here, yeah? I'm sure you'd encounter some rare plants or something on your trip. You going to just carry that the whole time? And what if you find food but aren't hungry? You need a pack, Adam. It'll also let you carry more potions and salves than what you can fit into the vial slots and tin straps on your belt."

Adam's belt has two straps for holding three-ounce tins of salve and six slots for holding half-ounce vials of potion. Something he mentioned in the Dungeon yesterday was that it's usually enough to make it from one town to the next, but not if he goes off-path and into the wilderness.

"Having more of those would be useful."

"Then it's settled," I say. "You're getting a pack."

We go to a store that sells supplies for travelers and adventurers, and Adam looks through the packs. It's clear he's not comfortable with any of them, but eventually settles on a sturdy one.

"Hey, Adam," I say. "Could you buy me one, too? It'll make carrying loot from the Dungeon much more easy, since I won't have you to help me out anymore."

"You could get one from whoever you let sponsor you," Adam says.

"Yeah, but I don't want to waste their money on something so basic," I tell him. "I mean, the Dungeon is super low-quality, after all."

"Hm… okay."

I also talk Adam into buying some soap for the road, as well as a set for me, and some cooking tools because he apparently just… uses fire magic to cook meat and eats veggies raw. I talk him into buying some traveler's provisions for both of us – him for the road and me for when I do a longer Dungeon run.

"That way," I say. "I can listen to all of the offers over the next few days without having to rush."

"That's fair," Adam nods.

Adam haggles the price down on everything I talked him into getting for the road, then heads to an alchemist's to buy some potions and salves. Since he has a pack now, he can carry a box of [Mana Recovery Potion]s… and apparently has the funds to pay for them. One that restores 8 Mana costs 10 copper, while one that restores 20 Mana costs 25 copper. He buys a case of twenty-eight potions on top of the six he buys for his belt. Without me asking, Adam buys me a couple of tins of healing salve, including a poison-relief one, and he buys me a few [Poison Cure Potion]s.

"Thanks," I say. "And do you really only have one pair of pants, Adam?"

"Yeah," he answers. "I just give it a scrub in water as needed. Buy a small amount of soap at a washer's when in a town."

What does he do without another pair of pants to put on, while he's cleaning and drying his?

"You should get more," I tell him. "And no tunic?"

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"I don't like them."

"Alright," I shrug. "But you should still buy more pants. It's not good to wait in the nude for them to dry."

Adam sighs, but agrees to buy some clothes. I talk him into buying two more pairs of pants as well as two more sets of clothes for me. He's not happy about buying me so much stuff, but I think me being attractive prevents him from actually complaining while convincing him to give in. A slight, happy smile from me is most of what it takes when he looks like he's going to say something.

I feel absolutely no shame in what I'm doing. Not for convincing someone else to buy me stuff, and not for using my looks to do so.

Once all of Adam's supplies are purchased, I accompany him to the northern gate, the guards escorting him as well.

"Remember," Jeffery tells Adam. "You are not to return to Ratton for five years from today. If you do so, you'll be arrested immediately and sent to prison. Are we clear?"

"Yes," Adam responds, and I know he was likely not planning on returning ever. "Goodbye, Jamie."

"Goodbye?" I ask. "What are you talking about? I haven't paid you back for anything you've bought me. I don't like being indebted to people, especially good people, and I'd rather not have to track you down once I've earned the money. I'm coming with you."

"You-"

"Can actually cook," I tell him. "And with two of us, that means we can take turns keeping watch at night. I'm sure you've had your sleep interrupted more than once from a monster attacking."

Adam stares at me for several moments before realization dawns on his face. I wasn't talking him into buying me that stuff for free just to get more out of him.

No, I was talking him into buying it so that I could use it as a way of sticking it to the town. They expected me to have no desire to pay back the free goods, to just take advantage of Adam. Instead, they're finding me wanting to pay him back for what he's bought me.

Treating Adam as a proper sponsor.

"Maybe I'll see you around again," I tell Jeffery. "If I don't, though, then I hope that you have the life you deserve."

The looks on the faces of Jeffery and the guards is priceless as they realize that their plan to get Adam out of the way backfired. Instead of creating an opportunity to get me to work for their merchants, nobles, or earl, they've now lost me and the perks that come with having a Summoned around.

"And if the god who the statue for the Dungeon Fountain is modeled after is still around," I say. "Then I hope he blesses Ratton with all it deserves."

Immediately after I finish saying that, several bolts of lighting strike down into the town at exactly the same time. The flashes were too bright and blinded me, and the thunderous booms that came with them shake the air, making it hard to breathe for a few moments. In fact, I find myself thrown backwards from the force of something.

When the bright spots in my vision fades, I find… that Jeffery and the guards with him are nothing more than ash, charring on the stones making up the road where they had been. The gate guards are staring in shock where they'd been knocked to, and I find Adam grabbing me and pulling me to my feet.

"Thanks," I say. "What… the fuck just happened?"

"Considering we were only hit with the blast from the thunder and impact," Adam says. "Rather than with actual lightning effects… that was a god deciding to strike him and his guards with lightning. Lightning that was powerful enough to obliterate even their armor. I kind of want to know which god it was… and where the other strikes hit. I counted seven other bolts."

Adam was able to count them? Now that I think about it, he was still standing, too. It seemed almost like he reacted immediately and braced himself. Is he actually extremely powerful, or was he just able to withstand the blast because he had braced himself?

"Ah," I say. "Well… unless some other god decided to act, I think we know that the statue for that fountain is modeled after a god and that he's still around."

"Yeah," Adam frowns a little. "Still around."

He shakes his head, then suggests we leave. I follow Adam down the road leading past the farms to the east. There's nothing but fields to the west, and the road ends after about a mile and a half. From there, we walk through the grassy fields and hills. There are occasional boulders and trees, but nothing else in sight.

"Thanks," Adam says after we finish our lunch break, which consists of some bread, jerky, and cheese.

"For?" I ask.

"Coming with me," he says. "You didn't have to, you know."

"I know," I say. "But you're friendly, and I did want to repay you for the meals, rooms, and weapons. Sorry for talking you into buying me extra stuff. I know the trip could have gone fine if you only bought me gear, but I wanted to avoid letting Jeffery catch on until the end."

"It's fine," Adam says, then snorts. "And don't think I didn't catch what you were doing, Mr. Sexy Smile. I didn't realize why you were doing that until you revealed it at the gate, but I did know that you were appealing to my attraction to you. How did you figure it out?"

"You mean how did I figure out you thought I looked nice when you so obviously ogled me when I took off my tunic a couple of days ago?" I ask. "Probably just a lucky guess."

His face turns bright red.

"Was I really that obvious?"

"Yup."

"Sorry," he apologizes. "I mean, I get that you clearly weren't uncomfortable by it, but I shouldn't have done that."

"Hey," I say. "If a sexy guy who's pretty cool thinks I'm attractive, who am I to complain? It's not like you're a creep or anything. Though I guess if I'd been the type to get uncomfortable with gays, I'd-"

"Not possible."

"Er… I didn't even finish."

"I know," Adam says. "But the god who summons people over here only summons over gay guys who are eighteen to twenty years of age. They're always confident people who are sure of who they are and give zero shits about hate thrown at them. Honestly, that's the main reason I felt comfortable thinking about you."

"That is an oddly specific thing to look for in a person to potentially summon over."

"The gods are odd and whimsical," he says. "And gay. All of them."

"Wait, really?"

"Yup," he answers. "There's a rumor that they all used to be the harem of another god, but no one's entirely sure if it's true or not."

"Ah," I say. "So… where are we going? You never told me before, probably because you'd planned on leaving alone. I'm not intruding on your journey, am I? You just seem rather nice and I'd rather travel with you than those jerks."

"No, it's fine," he says. "I don't mind the company, it's just that I don't often find someone comfortable traveling with me. I guess you don't have the prejudices against people with draconic traits that someone raised here would."

"I mean, they do kind of make me a little wary," I say. "So I can see why people more be uncomfortable being around you for too long. But you're a pretty decent person, so it's easy for me to get comfortable."

"Right," he says. "So we'll traveling north of here for about two weeks. There's no road directly to our destination as it's rather hilly terrain for most of the way and not much on the road there, so no other settlements were really ever constructed on that way. So there was no real reason to put in a road. It's also another kingdom entirely, though it's not one of the ones that require a border check or whatever. Those are annoying."

"Another kingdom?"

"Mostly beastkin," he nods. "They're… sort of like me, I guess. Human base form, but with some animal characteristics. Mostly, altered senses, sometimes an affinity for things related to their more bestial side, tail and ears of their more bestial side – things like that. No body hair."

He scratches the back of his head. It's a pretty cute movement, though I refrain from saying that.

"Though they kind of don't like demihuman dragons," he says. "But the twin villages are… well, they're a bit detached from the conflicts as they're toward the far eastern end of the kingdom, so I'm hoping they'll let me run their Dungeon."

"Beastkin don't like your people?" I ask. "How come?"

"My people's land borders their western edge," he says. "And we, ah, have territorial disputes. It started a few centuries ago when some of their hunters 'got frightened'," he makes air quotes there. "And killed one of our people while hunting in our territory. Claimed they were terrified because he was very draconic and threatening and they were fearing for their lives. It's just been bad blood between our people ever since. I mean, the fact that his clan wiped out their entire village didn't help. That's kind of a custom for our people, though. He was the next clan-head and killing one of those is declaring war on the clan. Among our people, if someone does that, you wipe out their clan or lose your life trying. It just got applied to a village from another kingdom instead."

Then that kingdom saw it as them instigating things, and it's just never been resolved.

"Alright," I say. "Why do you want this particular Dungeon, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Well, it's not actually the Dungeon I want," Adam tells me. "I want to pass through the kingdom. The 'proper' route to go around it would take me an extra few months due to the terrain. If I can pass through the twin villages, though, I can stock up on some more supplies, then head to the town north of them, then past there. I just want to run the Dungeon as I pass through for some Levels."

"Ah," I say. "And what's north of the kingdom? Do you think the town you'd pass through would be welcoming to you?"

"They'd probably be a little hostile," he admits. "But they owe my grandpa a debt. I have a token showing that debt in my pouch. As long as I use it to just pass through and maybe stay a night or two, I should be fine.

"As for north of the kingdom…" he trails off, lost in thought. "Well, it's not important. I might not go there if my research in the town fails to yield results."

Right. He's looking for a dragon no one's heard of. I guess he suspects it might be living north of that town. My guess is that even without people having heard of such a dragon, Adam still has something to go off of for where it might be.

Though I'm curious about how people can just lose a dragon. That just doesn't make sense to me.

"Well," I say. "For as long as we travel together, I'll help you out. I'm not coming with you just to pay you back, so if we find that we make for good companions, I'll be sticking around for longer. And I'm sure there are things a human can manage that a demihuman dragon can't. For example – I could go into the twin villages and ask around to check how they'll react to you and gauge whether or not they'd let you into their Dungeon."

"That's… actually a good idea," Adam says. "I mean, they probably don't have very many strong people there, but it's better to not risk it. Thanks, Jamie."

"You're welcome," I say.

"But be ready for a very boring two weeks," he says. "It's going to be just boring, grassy hills for the next week, then a boring forest for the week after. I know stories in this world are all about adventure and whatever for every step of a journey, but the reality is so much more boring."

His expression tells me all I need to know: he was hoping his travels would be exciting, only to find that a lot of it is just walking by himself.

"Well," I put a hand on his shoulder. "It's better to be bored with someone else than bored all alone. At least we can tell stories and make up games or whatever to give us some entertainment."

"Yeah," he nods. "And by the way?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm selling this pack once we reach the twin villages," he adjusts the pack he's wearing. "You can carry our stuff. I don't like the weight. Or the feel of the straps."

"Alright," I chuckle. "I can accept that. So. What kind of stuff did you do in your free time before you began your journey?"