The earth dragon was a large lizard that walked on four legs.

It was as large as a house and had scales so hard, that a normal swords wouldn’t even put a dent in it.

The materials were so valuable that the reward to bring one down was 12 million credits.

I sighed as I spotted one near the forest.

I can’t believe I am hunting an A-rank monster right off the back… Thanks a lot, goddess…

I checked my status one more time

***

Name: Sojuro

Level: 15/100

Title: Hero

Class: Sage

Attributes: Earth, Air, Water

HP: 18000/18000

MP: 20000/20000

Skills: Inventory, Universal Language, Appraisal, Earth Wall, WaterFall, Air Blade, Water Whip, Fire Ball,

Cheat Skill: None

Devine Protection: Athena

***

A quickly began making preparations for the upcoming hunt. 

It took me a little over an hour to make the preparations, but finally i was done. I slowly approached the sleeping earth dragon before using appraisal on it for the second time.

***

Name: Earth Dragon

Level: 478/500

Title: None

Type: Monster

Attributes: Fire

HP: 20000/20000

MP: 2506/3056

Skills: Fire Breath

***

Looks like its stats are still the same…

You can never be too careful against super-powerful monsters or any monster for that matter.

Just ask the adventures who tried to kill me when I reincarnated as a slim…

I used < Air Blade > to get its attention. The earth dragon had a red underbelly which meant that it was a male. I got that useless information from the brief guidebook, that goddess Helen left in my inventory.

The earth dragon woke up and glared at me. It roared before releasing its fire breath. I dogged to the side I used a combination of < Waterfall > and < Earth wall > to shield me from the heat.

I quickly got up and ran towards the trap I had set for it.

The dragon chased after me. It was probably seeing me as nothing more than an ant it had to squash.

Humph… Fool

I was running in a zigzag manner and deploying Earth walls in its path. If I had just ran in a straight line, that thing would have caught me by now.

Soon we reached the place where my trap was set.

I stood there, waiting for the dragon to come after me and as if not to disappoint me. It charged head-on. It was going to use fire breath on me again, however, the dragon’s front legs fell quickly in a freshly made quicksand.

This was my chance. I used Earth Wall to raise the dragon's back legs at an angle that allowed its head to fall into the muddy water. I then blocked off its escape routes. Creating Earth walls to its side and behind.

It violently thrashed as it ran out of air. I used appraisal and saw its HP dropping.

Even in a fantasy world, there is such a thing as choking to death unless you are some kind of undead, immortal, or have some kind of legendary item that prevents death.

Luckily for me, Earth dragon lucked any of that. There were just flesh and bones.

I had to constantly repair the earth walls it was breaking. At one point, it look like it was going to fall into the muddy water and I had to use the earth wall to keep it in place.

Soon enough the thing died. Now comes the next part.

I used the < Waterfall > skill to wash off the mud before carefully removing some of the scales around its neck. I was planning on bleeding it out right here.

Part of the reward comes from the sale of dragon meat. Adventures usually bleed out the monster the kill if its meat can be sold. I would look suspicious i if i didn't do the same.

As the dragon bleed out I began to make plans for the future.

***

Name: Sojuro

Level: 98/160

Title: Hero

Class: Sage

Attributes: Earth, Air, Water

HP: 26000/26000

MP: 40000/40000

Skills: Inventory, Universal Language, Appraisal, Earth Wall, WaterFall, Air Blade, Water Whip, Fire Ball,

Cheat Skill: None

Devine Protection: Athena

***

Looks like my level and level cap have gone up.

The skills I had acquired were basic… I need to acquire more powerful skills in the future if I was going to clear this mission.

Luckily the amount of money I would receive from this quest will not only solve my debt but also allow me to upgrade my stats.

I should also look into the white crusaders. If they are enemies of the demon king then they can be useful allies.

***

I returned to the city but Hearth wasn’t manning the gate. The guard who was on duty gave me a very weird look.

Understandably, he would… I was covered in blood and scratches. My clothes were torn here and there.

Had I returned in perfect condition, I would have stood out too much. At the very least I need to make it look like it was a death match between me and the dragon.

I smeared dragon blood on me and used the sword to cut pieces of clothes. As the guard gave me the all-clear I headed to the guild.

“No way!”

“I won’t accept this!”

“He did it!”

The guild was full of noise when I told Maria that I had finished the job.

Maria had a surprised look on her. She refused to believe what I had said but as soon as I removed the dragon in the dismantling hall, she could no longer deny my success.

I was waiting for the reward to be given to me at the reception desk as the other adventures gossip.

The night was fast approaching and I wanted to check up on that useless goddess. There was no telling what kind of problems she may caused by now.

“You pulled it off.” The voice that spoke to me belonged to Catherin.

“Yeah…” I replied

“Thanks to that, I made over 300,000 credits.”

“Does that mean that we are even?”

“Does this body look like it would sale for a mere 300,000 credits” she replied before striking a sexy pose.

Hmm… This is weird. There is something different about her? True I defeated a dragon but her behavior now and before I left doesn’t match the behavior of the person who called me a pervert after I accidentally opened her room. Does she want something from me?

“Here you go. Sojuro-sama. Your reward of 14 million credits.”

“Eh? 14 million? Don’t you mean 12 million?”

“Well, you see… The dragon you brought was in such a good condition, that the material was valued to a higher rate.”

Good condition? Ha… I see… Usually, a party would end up destroying most of the materials of the earth dragon as they take it down. Shit… I hope this won’t attract unnecessary attention.

“And here… You have been granted the rank of B for your success. Congratulations.” She continued

This is bad… I am standing out too much

“There are a lot of people who have done what you just did but apart from Catherin-sama, I thought I would never see anyone else do it.”

“Eh?”

Her last statement got my attention. It meant that I wouldn’t have to worry about attention being drawn to me but it also meant that this world had some super strong people living in it.

“Okay… Everybody… Drinks on Him!” Catherin yelled before the adventures shouted in joy

“Wait a minute!” i utterd

“There is no helping it Sojuro-sama. It is a tradition that an adventure who received a big reward buys the other adventures drinks for the night at the adventures bar. Don’t worry… I have already subtracted it from your reward…” she said before winking at me.

You got to be kidding me! I yelled in my mind.

I spent the whole night drinking and telling a very over-the-top lie of how I defeated the earth dragon. Catherin kept me company the whole night, much to the dislike of the other adventures.

At first, I was angry at Maria and Catherin for putting me in this situation but as the night rolled on and let out some steam… I began to enjoy myself more and more.

Of course, the payback would come in the morning with a hangover. Only Catherin wasn’t bothered by it.

“As expected… Catherin-sama is strong.” I heard Maria say as she left for home.

With a splitting headache, I made my way to the winged-snake Inn. Now that I had the means to pay off the debt I headed straight to do that.

Always pay your debts as soon as possible – Sojuro reincarnation rule 25

Not to be confused with reincarnation rule 24 – Never be in debt.

The butler who first guided me when I first arrived received the payment in this white room I was currently sitting in.

“Would you like something for the headache?” he asked

“Depends… How much does it cost?”

“Normally it would be rather expensive… but for the hero who will defeat the demon king. I will make it free.”

“Eh?”

Oi… Oi… Oi… What did he just call me?

“Something the matter? Hero-sama” he said before grinning in my direction

THE GODDESS AND I HAVE BEEN FOUND OUT? WTF!