I tried to speak the dragon's magic toungue and . . . It didn't go well. After trying a few pronunciations I landed on one that gave me a massive migraine. That probably means I'm saying it right. The headache was way worse than the time when I learned the spell for lightning; I even got a bloody nose. That's probably not good... I think I'll go to sleep a bit earlier than usual.

The next day I washed my face and tried again but still no success. The headache wasn't as bad as last time but its still pretty bad. I'll have to put off on testing further as I'm approaching a human settlement, but at least I'm making progress. Still not very pleasant though...

---

I plan to stop at the village up ahead so I can get more seeds. While Bram did give me a little variety of seeds, it's not enough and I'm already starting to get bored with eating the same things. I can also get my knife a proper handle and sheath from some nobody who nobody will believe when they start blabbing about how special my knife is. I was initially going to also have my clothes changed out for something cheaper, but after some wear and tear,  my clothes look a lot more shabby. While Bram may have shafted me on seed variety he certainly knew what he was doing in the clothes department. I wonder if he predicted I would run away in a manner that would get the clothes to this point? I didn't tell him anything about how I would use the stuff he got for me, so he's either a genius or incredibly lucky. The person who is no longer my servant aside, the village gate is in sight.

Before approaching the guards and getting inspected I hide my knife on my thigh like before. Next I take some seeds and grow them to get some beries so it looks like I have some sort of travel rations. Then I hide the valuable books by hiding them inside the trunk of a very distinct tree. I cast an illusion to make me look slightly older. Finally I think up a cover story and I'm ready to get through the inspection without much suspicion.

"Halt traveler, state your name and business here."

"Um... my name is Sam and I'm on my way to the capital to see some relatives, but I didn't pack enough rations so I need to restock. I've actually had to eat some berries I found in the wild yesterday because I was completely out of food."

The guard gives me a look of pity before asking, "Are you traveling alone? It must be rough out there alone at such a young age..."

"Yes," I fake a distant look of sadness before continuing on, "Actually the reason I'm going to see my relatives is because my parents died due to an illness a few weeks ago..."

"Oh how terrible..." the guard says as the the pity in his gaze grows stronger. My little bit of theatrics got me a discount on the toll to get in, nice.

Inside the walls the town is rather small. There is only dirt roads and the houses are made solely of wood, but nonetheless the town is very lively. A few children play with a ball made of leather, while the adults go to and fro. First things first I immediately look for lodging.

After asking around it seems there is only one inn in town as this place doesn't get many visitors. I suppose that makes sense. This place doesn't have much that any other poor village would have. Soon enough I'm walking through the front doors of the inn.

Once I'm inside I ask, "How much for a room?" Only to get the response,

"Ah I'm sorry lass, but me only room is already occupied."

While I was pondering upon the best way to sneak out of town to set up my camping cube, I hear a deep, mature voice from behind me.

"Ah let the poor kid lodge with me. My bed has enough room for two"

Hot damn, milk truck coming through. Behind me stands a built snake woman, who looks to be in their mid thirties. Her bottom half is more of a tail, covered in glistening black scales that match her hair as is to be expectedof a snake person. Both of her arms also are covered in scales sorta looking like the long gloves that would go with some ball gowns. Judging by their muscles and the spear on her back it looks like she's a pretty fierce warrior. While her spear may be imposing, it's not her most imposing weapon. Those would be her tits. They are quite frankly massive. Can you spare some mammary meat for me please? Because according to the game's sprites I could get the occupation of cutting board in the future.

While I was staring at the snake milf's humongous hongolomghnonoloughongus with a burning jealouy, the inn keep pipes up with,"Are you sure you want to share your room with a stranger, Mi 'ara?"

"It's fine. It's fine. Not much a little girl like this can do to me even if she had ill will towards me."

The serpent-folk woman, who is apparently named Mi 'ara, completely underestimates me. While that act and her to mounds irritate me, said irritation fades away at the offer of not having to sneak in and out of town to get a decent sleep. 

Now that I think about it, its odd that a snake person would be out here in this town. To add to that, judging by their black scale color they are apart of the N'esk tribe. N'esk tribe's territory is on litteraly the whole other side of the island. How the hell did Mi 'ara end up all the way out here? My questions start fade,  as I drift off into the most comfortable sleep I've had in awhile, in the surprisingly soothing embrace of the snake woman I met just a few hours ago.

----------------------------------------------

Cornelius pov

Once again there appears to be some kind of anomaly in the forest. This time instead of lots of dead fish it seems to be a strange mana disturbance in the air. It's attracting reptilian monsters into the area. After some testing it appears that reptilian monsters that remain in the area under go some kind of mutation. So far the team has found two such areas. I'm thinking of giving up the hunt and heading towards the capital. HQ needs to hear about this. Something isn't right in these woods.