As the smoke thickened, it materialized into the silhouette of a bipedal creature. As the figure cleared up, I found it to be recognizable.

It was Rauchlim, this town’s leader’s guardian. He was as imposing as ever, towering over everyone here including the relatively tall gate guards. He wrapped his arms around both of their necks, preventing the one that was advancing from moving any closer to Vivian.

“C’mon, guys, let’s not do that,” Rauchlim spoke in a reproaching tone of voice, as if he was reprimanding the guards, “Didn’t I ask you to tell me whenever someone claims they were ‘Jason Stubbs’?”

“But… They all turned out to be frauds anyway,” one of the guards replied, “We didn’t want to bother your needlessly.”

“Besides, his companion is suspicious,” the other interjected, “It’s strictly against our policies to allow people with unknown identities to enter our city.”

“Well, this ‘Jason Stubbs’ is the real deal, and any friend of his is a friend of ours. Besides, he could just kill the two of you and enter if he wanted to, you don’t want that to happen, right?” he tightened his grasp around the guards, bringing them even closer to his maw, “Now, what do you have to say to our guest?”

“We’re ready to die for our city, and he doesn’t scare me in the slightest,” said the guard who tried to assault Vivian, “I still want to see who’s behind the hood too. It might be a wanted criminal for all we know!”

Rauchlim stared the guard who spoke dead in the eye, and dark smoke started erupting from the sides of his mouth. I expected the guard to die, but something unexpected happened.

Out of nowhere, Vivian swiftly moved toward Rauchlim and touched his arm. The smoke stopped coming out of his mouth, and he turned to look at her. The hood was still covering her face, and she gave off a creepy vibe because of that.

“Well, that’s something! I can’t even use my powers. I’m pretty sure you’re the one who did it, and now you grabbed my attention,” he spoke in a calm voice, chuckling, “You can keep your secrets for now, but it’s only because you’re accompanying a friend of ours. Also, if you don’t mind, I need to use some of my skills real quick to punish that impudent guard.”

“No,” she seemed resolute, “I’d only let you go if you promise not to hurt him. You can’t punish him for his dedication to his job.”

“He’s still young, and a person needs to know that sometimes, being nosy isn’t the best move,” he spoke calmly, ‘They already had instructions on what to do in case someone claimed to be Jason Stubbs, but they…”

Oh god… I don’t have ample time to listen to this crap!

I clapped three times in quick succession to grab everyone’s attention, then I interrupted the duo’s conversation.

“Alright, Vivian. Can you reveal your face, even for a couple of seconds? I know that you find the sun uncomfortable, but please endure it for a bit,” Like it or not, covering her face with the hood was the cause of this small quarrel, to begin with, and it had to be the key to ending it, “Besides, people will keep suspecting you and speaking about you behind your back even after we enter the city if you don’t reveal yourself!”

Then, I looked at the dark-skinned Lizardman’s eyes.

“And Rauchlim, I’m not sure whether you’re going to kill the poor guy or just cut two or three of his limbs, but I’d prefer it if you let him go.” My words were concise, and I spoke as fast as I could before he did anything sudden, “Whom do you think people will blame if something bad happened to one of the guards? They’ll pin it on me! Everyone would say that if Jason Stubbs didn’t appear, that random guard would’ve still lived happily forever and ever! I don’t think it’d be in your Lady’s best interests if your brethren didn’t like me, given the fact that I might become their employer shortly.

Both of them turned toward me for a moment, then looked at each other, only to face me once again. Vivian let go of Rauchlim, and he distanced himself from the guard that he was trying to punish.

“It’s true. To gain trust, you must give trust.” Vivian spoke softly as she revealed her face, “I’m sorry about the needless trouble. The sun hurts my skin, and my cloak makes me more comfortable in such an environment.”

It was her usual human form. White hair, caramel skin, and hazel eyes to top it off. She was as majestic as ever.

Rauchlim nodded, bowed his head, and spoke.

“Forgive me, my lady. For I would’ve never thought about bringing you any harm had I known you beforehand,” he spoke eloquently, “I seek your forgiveness.”

He immediately switched his tone of speech when she revealed her identity as if her beauty fascinated him. To be fair, her voice wasn’t clear when she spoke while the hood was covering her head, likely because of the cloak’s obstructive features, so he might’ve mistaken her for a man.

However, I knew better. Rauchlim was the kind of guy that would spit on an ugly woman's face and worship a beautiful one. He wouldn’t have acted this way if she used the cloak’s transformative function to appear as a goblin.

What a sleazy guy…

“And you too!” Rauchlim grabbed both of the guards’ necks, “This is your last chance to save us from humiliation. Apologize!”

Immediately after hearing Rauchlim’s words, the two guards dropped their weapons and bowed toward me and Vivian. Their tails stopped moving, and their bodies started shaking slightly.

“We’re sorry,” they said in unison, “We’re the ones in the wrong here, so if our stupidity bothered you, please don’t take it out on the innocent citizens of our city. We’ll take responsibility.”

I wasn’t a fan of such overt apologies, and I didn’t like the current situation at all. Too many people were staring at us, and I was hoping to enter the city without raising any alarm. My name was popular on Earth, and I wouldn’t be able to act as freely as I would hope for if people started linking that name to a face.

Vivian’s mood got better, and she covered her head with the hood once more. She told the guards and Rauchlim that it was no big deal and that she wasn’t bothered to begin with.

Rauchlim was still admonishing the guards for their inadequacy, so I interrupted him.

“It’s fine, Rauchlim. They already understand the gravity of their mistake, and I don’t have enough time to warrant punishing them,” I furrowed my eyebrows, “Let’s get this over with, and I’d appreciate it if you led us to Akeniska’s castle as soon as possible.”

The meeting with the strongest people from the tutorial would happen in about two hours, and I still have things to do in the meantime.

Rauchlim straightened up after hearing my words, dismissed the guards, and spoke in a much more serious voice.

“It’s my first time seeing such an expression on your face, you’re usually more laid back,” he tilted his head slightly, squinted his eyes, and hissed, “Oh, well, sometimes a man has things to take care of. Follow me.”

We followed the elusive Lizardman as he navigated through the town with ease. Everything was much different from the last time I’d been here, and I could see people working on buildings and paving roads.

Lizardfolk and Humans too… Now that’s remarkable.

This made me curious as to why the other humans were still outside, and I kept the idea in mind for now as I observed my surroundings. The buildings were more sophisticated than ever, even though the architecture was slightly confusing. As if both races tried to mix up two completely different styles of buildings.

I could even see Zinnia holding a couple of crates of what seemed to be cement, and she nodded and waved with her tail after she saw me.

I’m glad she’s still doing well, and I hope her grandpa is healthy too…

“It’s amazing what our people have done with the place, right?” Rauchlim pointed out as he puffed his chest slightly.

“That’s true, and it’s only been about a couple of weeks since I left the place. It’s truly remarkable,” I nodded as I appreciated the newer look of the city, “Now that you mention it, it seems like the construction works aren’t over yet. You could always use more manpower to speed up the progress, right?”

“True, my friend, true,” he nodded, “I understand that you’re worried about the humans outside the town, but there is nothing to be done about that right now. All the completed buildings are occupied to the brim, and we don’t have enough liquidated assets to pay more people. That’s why we focused on picking the most useful humans, to speed up the progress efficiently. And only after we have enough buildings and fewer workers to pay, we’d allow them in.”

“So, you’re running out of mana stones?” His words piqued my attention, as I might be able to solve that problem and get a good economic deal at the same time.

“True,” he nodded, “As you know, we have a lot of Mythril, and we have equipment of high grade made of that metal as well, but there is simply no one to buy them. The mana stones aren’t circulating as they should be, as people are consuming them to replenish mana, all to accelerate their progress in gaining levels.”

“Then I’ve arrived here in time!” I grinned while maintaining eye contact with him, “I’d need a lot of Mythril equipment, more than I estimated the first time I’ve spoken to Akeniska about the subject. I’m sure she’ll be elated to hear my business proposal.”

I have to get adequate armor and weapons for the future members of my guild, and equipment made of Mythril are the best option!

Furthermore, the first dungeon breakout would likely happen in a year or a little more than that, and I had to prepare as many people as possible for it.

Even though humanity prevailed against the challenge without a hitch in my past life, it never hurt to be more prepared. An extra life saved is worth more than tons of Mythril to someone like me with enough wealth to splurge.

Rauchlim grinned and motioned for me to follow him.

Unlike last time, we moved through the city without facing resistance at all.

“Wow, it’s amazing what these people managed to do in such a short time,” Vivian was eyeing everything around her, “I knew that people adapted fast to changes in the environment, but this is mind-blowing!”

She had a point. Humans were very adaptable, but I knew for sure that they could only do this much because of the help they got from the foreigners.

It didn’t take more than ten minutes for us to reach Akeniska’s castle, which was an upgraded version of the one she had when I visited for the first time.

It wasn’t much taller than it used to be, but it was wider; occupying what I estimated to be three times the area of what it used to.

The guards of the front gate allowed us to enter without uttering a word after seeing Rauchlim, and some of them squinted their eyes at me as if they remembered me.

Well, we had a small quarrel last time, so it’s understandable that some of them still hold a grudge.

Rauchlim led us through, and we reached the crown room.

Ruzfol, the royal advisor and regal speaker was standing next to the throne, on top of which sat Akeniska.

Golden scales covered the majority of her body, and the rest of it was covered in white ones. Her crimson eyes looked at us as if we were prey in the presence of a greater predator.

Damn, she’s as bewitching as ever!