"So are you going to visit the old sage?" Martha, the leader of the group said as we walked through her village near the mountains.

"The old sage?" Amity asked her.

"Yes, the old safe who lives in a valley between the mountains. Aren't you going to go there?" She asked back.

"Well, now we will. Tell me more about him" Amity smiled as she asked her to tell the story with a playful tone.

"It's an old story passed down by generations of residents. It's about a great sage who was dying because a newborn Demon Lord attacked him, but he escaped certain death in the hands of said Demon Lord-..." Martha began to tell.

Meanwhile I was being carried like baggage, again.

"Why do I feel like my life has been reduced to being a luggage?" I said as Gregory, the man from the trio, and Sammy, the other woman, held me like some kind of precious gem.

"You are a talking domesticated White Dragon, of course I'm going to protect you, while also studying you as this is the first time ever a White Dragon developed consciousness in the care of a Human" Gregory said.

"I'm not domesticated!" I shouted.

"Oh, sorry, sorry" He said.

"Yeah, G, you should be sorry. How could you offend this cutie pie" Sammy said while she rubbed her face over mine.

"A-anyway, could you two put me on the ground? I know how to walk" I said.

They put me on the ground while making sad faces. Yeah, I won't fall for it, you just want to hold me like a cat for hours on end, I already received enough of that from Amity.

"She must be a great tamer to actually train a White Dragon to the point of sapience. I wish I could be like her one day…" Gregory looked at Amity with heart in his eyes.

Is he… beginning to love Amity because he thinks she is a tamer that can turn a White Dragon to a complete Dragon? I'm a little sorry for him. I mean, yeah, she trained me… one spell, that's it… oh yeah, she also brought me an Orc that wanted to make mashed dragon with me. Considering all of that, I don't think she would really actually help a normal White Dragon to sentience.

"Oooh? So that's his nameeee. I seeeee" Amity said a little too loud and everyone, including me, turned to her.

"We were going there to check something out, but now that I heard this story we're definitely going there. Let's go" She said while starting to walk to the mountains.

"Wait, why don't you stay in our village for today? It's nothing fancy but we'll be having a feast celebrating the foundation of our village" Martha said, getting Amity to stop in her tracks.

Even if you didn't look at her race you could still see the gears turning inside her head.

"Huuuuurgh fine, we're going to stay one night. Your "old sage" lived there for centuries, what one night can do for him, right?" She said while turning around.

"Amazing! We don't get many visitors because of the proximity to the mountains. So I'm sure everyone will be thrilled to receive visitors during our little feast" Martha explained as she began to lead us in the direction of the village.

The trip to the village didn't take too long and just two hours later we were entering the village. The sun was still high in the sky and the furthest moon was already beginning to appear on the horizon, meaning it was around 3 in the afternoon.

"Hey, everyone, we're back! And we've brought guests!" Martha shouted.

We were still near the entrance and after a few seconds an older human appeared.

"Martha, Gregory, Sammy, where were you? We were waiting for you to begin" The human said.

"Mr. Osgood, sorry. We heard an Orc and we headed out to investigate" Gregory said. 

"Everyone is waiting for you, now go to the center of the village to help out. I'll be a good host and show the village to our precious guest. Would you mind a tour?" Osgood, the old man, bowed to Amity and pointed his hand to the village, meaning he was offering to guide us.

"We'll be heading to the center of the village, we'll meet there" Martha said, waving her hand and walking.

"Yeah, see you soon!" Sammy said, also waving her hand and walking.

"H-here, your dragon. I-I was thinking… m-maybe you could teach m-me?" Gregory sheepish said as he gave me to Amity.

"Teach? Teach what?" Amity asked, her face a question mark.

"H-how to tame l-like you did w-with him" He said, his face red as a tomato.

Did he really develop a crush on Amity because he thinks I was tamed by her? How shallow do you need to be to actually do this?

Poor human. He'll have his heart broken right about now. Zenshin said in my mind.

"Oh. I didn't tame him" She said.

"N-no?" Gregory was taken aback by Amity.

"Hmm, yeah, I haven't. I just named this little guy, but I haven't tamed him and he is not mine, we're just together because of circumstances. Besides, I think I might be a little too old for you. But good luck in trying to find a mate" Amity said as she smiled and patted his head.

As Zenshin said, I could almost hear his heart breaking as his eyes opened to reality.

"I...erm...I think I'll go now. Bye Denaru" he said as he quickly walked away looking down, almost bumping into a wall before he turned behind it.

I just waved as he walked away before looking towards the old man as he just smiled.

"Soooo, you said a tour, right?" Amity asked as she put me on the ground.

I used the opportunity to stretch my legs and my wings, which I still don't know how to properly use and I just keep them closed or drag them around. After my evolution they feel more connected to me, but it's like trying to learn how to use a new limb all of a sudden.

"Yes. First, let me welcome you to our beautiful little village near the mountains, Hutopia" the man said.

"Oh" all of a sudden Amity's face became expressionless and she started to use a monotone voice. Even Zenshin who was just around until now stopped and started to look at Amity with worry with worry.

"I would like to ask, did the sentinels give you any trouble?" The man asked.

"Are this "sentinels" the stone golems? If so, no, they weren't a bother after I killed two of them" Amity said. Something in her voice is giving me chills, and Osgood noticed as well as he coughed with a weird face.

What is she talking about anyway? I don't remember seeing anything besides that Orc I killed earlier today, tho she did wander off somewhere, that's probably where she saw those sentinels.

"Oh my, you killed two sentinels? You must be incredibly strong, miss..?" The old man asked for Amity's name.

"...." Amity seems to be thinking of whether she should answer or not. "Witch. You can call me Witch" She answered.

Witch? I thought, not understanding why she wants Osgood to call her that.

Witch is the name she uses when she doesn't want anything to do with a person and keeps the relationship strictly formal and conversations as small as possible… You can see it by the manner she is talking and acting now. I suggest you try to not get in her way in any way possible, you do not want her to get mad at you. Zenshin said in my mind as he jumped on Amity's shoulder and put his paw on top of her head.

"Miss Witch, of course. Would you like to ask anything before I give you a tour? Don't worry, the old sage notified me about your arrival, so everything is just waiting for you to see them" Osgood said.

"Oh, he did, didn't he?" Amity answered disinterestedly.

"Is there something that's not to your liking, Miss Witch?" He asked.

"No, there's nothing wrong with anything. Please, go ahead" She answered.

"Uhmm… right…" He said awkwardly before continuing. "If you could please follow me" he said as he began to walk at a slow pace.

Osgood showed us around and the only thing that caught my attention were the light poles and the plumbing, the rest was your typical "medieval age village" from a history book.

"May I ask you a question?" Amity said as the old man was showing us the agriculture fields.

"Why yes, ask as much as you'd like" he answered.

"How many people live in this village?" She asked.

"That's a very interesting question, let me think for a second" Osgood said before thinking for a moment and answering. "There is two hundred and forty five people living in this village, from which fifty are children"

"And how many of them are human?" Amity asked.

"All of them, of course" he answered. "Why would it be any different?"

"I...see… just one more question" Amity said, her indifference towards the man and the village was giving me chills. Even Zenshin, who at the start of the tour was on Amity's shoulder, left at some point, keeping some distance from her. As I am not stupid, I stayed even further from her, if even Zenshin, who knows her, is keeping his distance who am I to stay right by her side?

"Of course!" Said Osgood, who was partially oblivious. He could only see and hear the indifference Amity was showing and me a good 10 meters away from them.

"How many people leave the village and how many enter the village from outside?" She asked.

"..." The man seemed to ponder a good answer. "I'll be honest with you… a few people left the village during the last centuries… we found their bodies near the perimeter where the sentinels live. For the same reason, we don't receive any visitors from outside. We know there is a civilization outside because we've found their bodies as well" he answered.

"Oh, I understand" I couldn't see Amity's expression, but for her voice tone I could sense she was showing a little sympathy.

"What is your response if I tell you outside of this village there are more than just humans" Amity suddenly said.

"You mean Dragons?" Osgood said.

"Besides Dragons… I meant Elves, beastmen, Dwarfs, onis. A lot more" Amity said with hope in her voice.

"I… erhm… we… The old sage never told us about them. He told us that outside the village there were only monsters and animals, like the Orcs that we have near the river near here" He said.

"Ohhh, he's probably outdated. Just point me where he lives and I'll be going there to update him" Amity smiled, but different from her usual smile this one had a sinister aura behind it.

"I can guide you to him" The man said.

"That won't be necessary, you can guide Denaru towards your party, tho" She said, this time actually smiling.

"Oh, of course. In that case, you can follow this road and you'll eventually arrive at his house" He said.

"Thank you" Amity waved her hand as she walked the dirt road outside the village.

I looked at the man and after Amity was away he looked at me.

"So, how do those light poles work? What about the plumbing?" I asked, which caused the man's eyes to widen in surprise for a moment before laughing.

"Ohohoho. I wasn't expecting you to talk at all. I was thinking she just left me with her pet for a moment there. You got me there. Ohohoho" He laughed. "You want to know about our lights and our pipes?" He asked.

I nodded my head. I know there's a chance he could answer with "magic" and while back on Earth this would imply that the person didn't want to explain or doesn't know either, here on this world it is actually a way for something to work. I wonder what would be the equivalent phrase in this world, maybe "reality warping"?

"What if I show you our hydro plant?" He said.

Honestly, it would be nice. I asked expecting a verbal answer, but if he's willing to show me where it all happens I'm all for it.

I nodded and he began to walk. As we walked and the sun began to settle I began to hear music coming from the center of the village and the light poles coming to life as well. The lights were different from what i was expecting as they weren't either warm light from a flame nor a cold light from a light bulb, but rather a magical white light.

"You wanted to know how our lights work. If you use the skill [Magicule Detection] that each pole draws magicules from the air to power up a magic crystal right on top of the pole that irradiates light, it’s pretty simple if you can understand magic circuit and create them, but if not you might as well be fighting a monster. I myself can just explain just this basic concept as I find it hard to understand as well. Jana, our engineer who works on our hydro plant can explain it better for you” Osgood explained to me as we walked towards a building near the edge of the village.

“Why are we walking away from where the music is coming, won’t this Jana be there?” i asked.

“She won’t. She says she prefers to stay in the hydro plant than be with the rest of the villagers. Don’t get me wrong, she just doesn't like socializing with people. That’s why i’m bringing you to her, she can’t complain she doesn’t like interacting with people because she won’t be interacting with a person” He cheerfully said.

did… Did he just say I wasn’t a person? really? like, i’m literally talking to him and asking about stuff and he just said i’m not a person? I decided to let it be as I couldn't think about anything to say to him and just activated my [Magicule Detection] skill.

Just as he said, I could see all the magicule in the air being dragged into the poles right above where the light is coming from. I couldn’t see the crystal he talked about because it was emitting light and me trying to see it was like someone pointing a white lantern at your face while you’re trying to see another lanter behind it. Yeah, you can’t see the second lantern at all, and that’s exactly what’s happening for the crystal.

I eventually lost interest in them as there wasn’t much to see unless i went on top of the pole to see the crystal and the magic circuit myself and was about to ask Osgood if it was going to take longer as we’ve been walking for fifteen minutes by now when he suddenly said.

“There is it” he said, pointing his hand towards a lone wooden building near a mine entrance just outside the village.

The building didn’t look impressive at all and the only things that caught my attention were the pipes coming from it and entering the ground. Even the mine had some pipes going into it.

He led me inside where I saw a giant mess of metal pipes, tools, papers and different crystals.

“Jana, are you here?” He shouted.

“I won’t go to the feast, I already told you so!” a feminine voice echoed throughout the building.

“No, I didn't come here to ask you to participate. I’ve come here with a visitor and he was interested in your pipe system you developed” Osgood said.

Suddenly I heard the sound of something hitting a metal piece followed by an “ouch”. I think she hit her head on something when he said someone was interested in her work.

“...Fine…I’m coming” the voice said.

After a few seconds someone dropped from somewhere in the mess of pipes that forms the ceiling onto the floor.

“Wow” was the only word I could muster when I saw Jane.