"Do we really have to tear it?"

"Yes, we do," I emphasized a tad morosely.

"But it's one of my favorite suits. It's a waste."

"You were the one who decided to wear it going into an epic duel of epic proportions," I responded, and then vigorously rubbed the piece of clothing in my hand against a nearby wall.

Naoren continued to give me a disapproving look, so I stopped and told him, "We've been over this. If we come out of this duel with only my clothes being worn down, it would be peculiar. We don't want people to ask questions, so you also have to look equally disheveled. Speaking of which, Mountain Girl?"

"Yes, Leonard-dono?"

"His hair is still too neat."

"Understood!"

While Rinne proceeded to mess up the Feilong patriarch's head, much to his dissatisfaction, I resumed my attempts to make his garments more authentic by carefully tearing one of the sleeves, and then rubbing the torn parts on the previously mentioned wall to make sure they wouldn't look too fresh and clean.

Once finished, I handed the ruined coat over to Naoren, and he let out an annoyed huff as he put it back on.

"Almost right," I mused while pinching my chin, and took a closer look. "The glasses are still undamaged, so we could—"

"No," he declared, on no uncertain terms. "The glasses are off limits."

"Can we at least smudge the lenses a little?" He glared at me, so I quickly backpedaled with, "Fine, we aren't touching the glasses."

The bespectacled guy let out a relieved sigh and crossed his arms.

"Are we ready to leave yet?"

"I think we are."

I gestured for Rinne, and she wordlessly merged into my shadow. Even after the floor where she disappeared stopped rippling, Naoren kept staring at it with an intrigued expression.

"Such a strange yet immensely useful technique. Is this how you also come and go whenever you visit my office? Through the shadows?"

"My trick is a bit more complicated than that," I responded modestly before looking around the green-tinted café. "So, how do we exit?"

"Normally one of us would have to be dead or unconscious, which would send a signal to the ceremonial officials outside. Only at that point are they allowed to enter the Restricted Space and tend to the wounded."

"Wait, so they are the ones coming in? I thought we would be the ones getting expelled."

Naoren gave me a skeptical look and explained, "Leonard, we are in the middle of a city. Imagine what would happen if you suddenly appeared in the middle of a crowded crossroad, or if you were standing inside a destroyed building that was intact in the real world and you materialized inside a wall."

"Can that even happen? I'm pretty sure these things operate on standard teleportation-displacement rules."

"... I'm not sure, but it's best to be careful about these things, don't you agree?"

"Sure. So, that's for when someone's down for the count. What about our case?"

"I believe so long as we both proclaim that our grudge is resolved and we show a gesture of friendship, it should allow us to exit on our own. I think."

"You think?"

"This isn't exactly a common circumstance," the bespectacled Draconian huffed. "I did read up on the topic in preparation, and this method was listed among the traditional ways to end a sacred challenge."

"You said we would leave on our own this way, so I suppose we should head back to the front of the hotel."

"I believe the lobby would be more appropriate."

"Either is fine by me," I said with a shrug, and we both headed out.

In the end, we settled on the lobby, and once we arrived, Naoren turned to me and offered a hand.

"First a handshake, then proclamation of eternal friendship?" I jested, but he seriously considered it.

"I believe regular friendship should suffice."

Rolling my eyes, I took his hand and shook it.

"Let's make sure this works," I said, and then roughly cleared my throat before assuming a super-serious façade and declared, "I, Leonard S. Dunning, hereby solemnly declare that my conflict with Naoren Feilong was resolved to a satisfactory degree."

I thought I was being purposefully facetious, but Naoren gave me a pleased smile.

"That's about the right level of formality, I believe." He cleared his throat, then added, "I, Naoren Feilong, also consider the feud between us settled and all previous disagreements null and void."

After he said that, the air around us began to shimmer with a green-ish light. I waited for the usual color-inverting effect dumping us back into realspace, but nothing of the like happened.

"Now what?"

"Patience. The ceremonial official is being informed of our agreement, and once he reviewed it, he will give the signal to the Restricted Zone to let us out."

"No offense, but you're waaay over-complicating this whole dueling business."

"None taken, but you're still wrong," Naoren responded with a provocative smirk, yet before I could respond in earnest, the shimmering light around us intensified and we were abruptly shifted into realspace.

The lobby of the pagoda-hotel-cum-headquarters was incredibly crowded, with about twice as many people crammed inside than when we entered the Green Zone. Most of them were the same people from the morning, but I could recognize a couple of faces from the tournament venue as well. That was actually good news; it meant we had more eye-witnesses.

The moment we appeared, Naoren was swarmed by the men in ceremonial robes, wildly gesticulating and talking in some Chinese dialect I naturally didn't understand. He listened carefully, appearing genuinely surprised by whatever news they piled on him in a hurry, yet he didn't let go of my hand. If anything, he squeezed it harder to make sure I didn't slip out of his grasp.

At last, he raised his free hand and directly addressed everyone.

"These are serious matters, but let us conclude our duel first." After a beat, he raised his voice and declared, "We traded blows, and after a long and evenly matched battle, we have successfully resolved our differences!"

"That's right," I concurred.

"As such, Leonard Dunning is now my sworn brother!"

"Yes, I'm... wait what?" I tugged on the hand I was holding to draw him closer and whispered, "What are you talking about?"

"This is an appropriate outcome after a closely matched duel," he whispered back. "Becoming sworn brothers should also benefit you when it comes to resolving the alliance between our factions."

"Maybe, but you could've at least told me you planned to do this," I griped, and our conversation got exactly this far before it got interrupted by a small body weaving through the crowd and leaping at Naoren's waist.

"Elder brother!"

Odango girl had a change of clothes since the last time I'd seen her, ditching her usual qipao for a more regal green robe, and she was accompanied by a small gaggle of bodyguards. Most of them were the Asian martial-artist variety, but I could see at least a couple of men-in-black from the Dracis security service as well.

More importantly, since Naoren's grasp slackened, I used the opportunity to slip my hand free, and then proceeded to nudge things along a little.

"Hi there. Is the tournament already over for the day?" I asked cheerfully, then overtly glanced around before looking at Naoren. "I didn't think we took that long…"

"No, senior!" Odango girl suddenly exclaimed and detached herself from the clan head. "Something unbelievable happened!"

Before she could explain herself, Naoren tapped her on the crown of her head.

"Xiao Xiao? Leonard is now my sworn brother, so you should refer to him as such."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up at once, and I was glad to see that she wasn't affected by what happened at the amphitheatre too much. I was a little worried at first, because she looked completely beaten the last time I'd seen her, but by this point she was back to her usual self. Maybe she was just tired out by her transformation? In any case, she beamed at me, cupped her fist in her palm, and bowed. "Xiao greets brother Leonard! I'm glad to see you've resolved your differences!"

The last part sounded a little off, like she was trying to hold herself back from giggling. I was once again completely lost on the etiquette, and had no idea about how to react to her greeting, but thankfully Naoren picked up the pace by asking, "You mentioned something unbelievable. What happened?"

The tiny dragon let out a gasp and turned on her heel to face the bespectacled clan head again.

"That's right! Listen, you won't believe this!"

"Lady Xiao?" one of the bodyguards, a young woman with her hair tied into fancy loops, interjected. "Why don't you explain the details on the way?"

"Oh, that's right!" the little girl dropped her fist into her palm, and then pointed at us in turn. "Brothers, we must head out at once! The clan heads are waiting for you two!"

"Is there an emergency meeting?" I asked, and she nodded.

So far, things were proceeding more or less as expected.

"All the clan heads are gathered at the home of the Dracis clan… except for the Luus and Rồngs."

"Really? What happened? Did they eat expired dumplings or something?"

"No, it's much more serious!" odango girl stressed, and seeing that Naoren was busy talking with one of his aids in Chinese in the background, she gestured for me to lean closer before whispering, "They tried to start a revolt."

"A revolt? That sounds really serious," I said with my best serious face. "I guess they failed spectacularly."

"Yes, but that was just the beginning! You see—"

Before she could say more, Naoren turned back to me and said, "We should leave. Apparently, Zihao was also injured and being treated by clan head Abram."

"Oh no. He was hurt? How tragic," I responded with a voice flatter than the EKG readings of a zombie.

My self-appointed sworn brother looked a little miffed, and I had no idea why. I mean, I told him that his dear brother was knocked out during the operation, so he had no reason to be surprised. Sure, I might not have described just exactly how knocked out he was, but hey, he didn't ask for details either, so I washed my hands of any responsibility.

In any case, Naoren's groupies and Xiao's bodyguards ushered us outside, and the three of us were practically shoved into a limo parked in front of the hotel. It was one of the smaller ones, without the fancy bar, but it still had the seats in a U-shape, allowing each of us to sit on a different side so we could all face each other. Odango girl could hardly wait any longer, and the moment the door closed and the car started moving, she began to recount the events from her perspective.

Since she was in the Purple Zone at the beginning, she naturally couldn't recount the events of the failed coup, and instead she focused on what happened on the inside. Her explanation fell more-or-less in line with what I'd seen. Of course, her descriptions were much more vivid and elaborate than how I would've put them, but at the end, the order of events was the same. Purple Zone, Knights arrive, argument with the grand elder, Zihao acts unreasonable, fight breaks out, grand elder gets his butt handed to him on a silver platter.

If there was one discrepancy, it was the way she conspicuously avoided talking about the part where she was fighting Elly, only describing her part as 'trying to break up the fight, but nobody listened'. I naturally didn't call her out, since I wasn't even supposed to know about any of this yet.

We were about half-way to the neighborhood with the Dracis mansion when she finally moved on to the part where she met with Bel. She skimmed over the parts where I talked with Roland, and mostly focused on how Zihao was knocked out with one slap, and then the grand elder's explanation for his actions. Then, just as we were getting for the interesting part, she hesitated.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, it's just… a little embarrassing," odango girl said, averting her eyes.

Naoren finally took a break from staring daggers at me and turned to the little girl.

"I've already heard from Zhang San that you revealed your dragon form in public. It's no longer a secret."

I had no idea who this 'Zhang San' person was, but they sounded unimportant. More importantly, odango girl was downright mortified by the casual way her secret was revealed.

"Brother Naoren! I was still thinking of a way to explain it to brother Leonard without shocking him!"

"I believe he already knew," the young clan head explained.

"No, I didn't," I blurted out in reaction, and his eyes immediately snapped back to me.

"Didn't you say you have already met a dragon?"

"Yeah, but I didn't mean her, obviously."

"Brother Leonard knows another dragon?" Xiao exclaimed, bouncing on her seat in a mixture of shock and anticipation. "Can you introduce us? I've never met another dragon before!"

"Easy there, easy," I chided her, lest she would fall off her seat in her excitement. "I'll talk with him later and ask, okay?"

"Thank you, brother!" she beamed at me, and while the situation was all kinds of off, I couldn't help but note how used I was to getting new little sisters left and right, to the point her repeatedly calling me her brother didn't even faze me.

"It appears I misunderstood you," Naoren noted on the side, lazily crossing his legs with a contemplative expression.

"Don't sweat it, happens a lot," I responded offhandedly and gestured for odango girl to finish her story before we reached the mansion.

"Ah, so, I transformed into my dragon form, and fought the bad man!"

"You mean Bel, right?"

"Yes! He was the evil villain who threatened to stab grandfather, so I chased him around!"

"As a dragon?" I asked, and she vigorously nodded. "Must have been quite a sight to behold."

For some reason, the little girl flushed and turned to the still thinking Feilong patriarch.

"Brother Naoren? Can I show my dragon form to brother Leonard?"

"Hm? Yes, but later."

"Xiao obviously meant that!" she huffed and stuck out her tongue, and then turned back to me. "I will show you my dragon form later, and you'll see how great and mighty I truly am!"

"I'm sure you are."

"Yes! If I'm in a good mood, I might even let you comb my majestic mane!"

"Oh, what an honor. It must be truly amazing."

With each praise, her face flushed more and more and her smile became sillier. I wanted to see how far we could take it, but then Naoren subtly cleared his throat in the back, so I was forced to get back on track.

"We'll talk about this later, okay? For now, please tell me what happened to the bad guy. Did you chase him away?"

"No…" Her enthusiasm wilted at once. "I tried to, but couldn't land a single strike, and then he left on his own." She paused here, and I was worried she would get more depressed, but instead her mood turned on a dime and she suddenly exclaimed, "Uuu! Next time, I will beat him up! Brother Leonard! Please introduce me to your dragon friend so I can learn how to become stronger!"

"I wouldn't necessarily call him my friend, and I don't really know how he could make you stronger, but sure, I already promised."

She nodded in satisfaction, and after that, she finally mentioned something I didn't know about yet.

According to her explanation, after Bel left, the bad Knights were defeated by the good Knights, and once things were safe, all the people in the Purple Zone were evacuated, the underground arena was combed for anyone in hiding and/or injured, and once they made a headcount, it turned out that there were a couple of injuries, nothing worse than a few broken bones here and there. No casualties.

It was at that point that there was some disagreement, as our Knights refused to hand Morgana and Raven Boy over to the Eastern Draconians, and since my in-laws vouched for them, they decided to take them into custody over at the Dracis mansion. This, in turn, meant that in order to hold the emergency meeting with everyone present, the clan heads also had to go there, so it was decided to hold it in the mansion's conference room, while all the injured and less-important Draconians came to the pagoda hotel to wait for us to finish our duel.

Xiao rushed there to change her clothes as well, so she didn't know the agenda of the emergency gathering, but it didn't take a genius to guess that it probably had more to do with dealing with the aftermath of the failed coup and the appearance of a new allied combat force than Bel. After all, none of them really knew anything about his origins or motivations, and while I made sure his presence dominated the scene, there wasn't much they could do about him now that he was gone.

As per the unwritten rules of timing, Xiao finished her recounting of the events just around the time our ride rolled through the gates of the Dracis mansion, so I took a deep breath, and looked Naoren in the eye.

"The coup is an unexpected variable, but it's an issue within your family, so I think it's something you should resolve internally."

"Agreed."

"Of course, if you need help feel free to ask for it, but first we should focus on introducing and explaining the role of the Knights. Once we've made sure everyone understand that they pose no threat to them, then we can test the waters about the pan-draconic alliance."

"I agree, thought before we do that, I would like to get two things sorted out." Naoren raised a finger, and pointed at me. "Before we start negotiations, please come up with a better name for our union."

"Draconic Federation?"

"Please put a bit more thought into it than none at all," he grumbled, then sighed, and then he raised his other arm and pointed at his torn sleeve. "Before any of that thought, I think we should change our outfits. Any objections?"

Just as he said that, the limo's door opened, revealing the steps leading up to the mansion's main entrance, with the security team and our Squires forming two columns on either side. I'm not going to lie, if I didn't know both sides already, I would've thought we were about to run the gauntlet, but I figured it was something closer to welcoming us honor-guard style.

Either way, I glanced between the men outside, and Naoren, still pointing at his sleeve, before I uttered a flat "None," and we headed out to what promised to be the most important summit in the history of both the Draconian families and the Knights. Was it weird that I was feeling more apprehensive about this than facing a dragon? Or was it just me?