The sun was already dipping low on the horizon when I landed a short distance from Baruda and shifted into human form. Continuing into town, I descended into an alley a few blocks away from the Blue Stallion Inn.

“I can’t believe we made it from the capital to Baruda in less than a day,” Liz remarked as we walked out of the alley.

“Did you enjoy your flight?”

“It was… enjoyable,” she said hesitantly.

“What’s with the pause?” I asked, looking at her with skepticism.

“My back is a bit sore after traveling for that many hours,” she said, rubbing her lower back. “But it beats riding a horse.”

“Did you just compare me to a horse?” I asked, squinting my eyes.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she chuckled. “Although, maybe a-”

“No,” I interrupted her.

“You didn’t even let me finish.”

“You’re not putting a saddle on me.”

“What makes you think I was going to suggest that?” Liz asked, batting her eyelashes.

I just stared at her.

“Okay, fine, no saddle,” she smirked. “Shall we head to the inn?”

When we entered the Blue Stallion Inn, we made our way toward the bar when we spotted Mira waving at us from a table further back in the hall.

“I can go pay for our lodgings if you want to go to Mira,” I offered, waving back. “Or would you prefer your own room?”

“You even have to ask?” Liz frowned.

“I don’t think so?” I pondered for a moment. “But it makes me happy when you say you want to share.”

“Look at you trying to act all cute,” she said, nudging my shoulder. “I want to share a room.”

Liz walked over to Mira while I went up to the bar. “Hello again. I’d like a room for two for a month, the bigger one with a bath.”

“Oh, are ya back in town already?” Muscles asked as he recognized me. “Didn’t ya leave for the capital not too long ago?”

“It was just a short trip.”

“I never was much for the capital, too crowded for my taste,” he said, then looked over to Liz. “A month is fifteen small gold coins, and I’ll throw in meals for the second person as a bonus.”

“Thank you very much.”

I paid for the room, some wine for Liz, and a mug of ale for myself before making my way over to the table. As I approached, I noticed Hanna sitting there as well.

“Welcome back! How was the capital?” Hanna asked cheerfully, though she seemed a bit tipsy.

“Exhausting,” I said and sat down next to Liz and handed her the wine.

“You came back rather quickly, though I guess you cut down on travel time by flying?”

“Flying?” Mira asked with a curious look.

Liz stared at me and I just smiled at Hanna. “I don’t know what kind of contract you had to sign when you started working at the guild, but I’m pretty sure you are breaking it on a daily basis.”

“Oh, didn’t you tell Mira? I’m so sorry!” she apologised.

“Told me what?” Mira asked, staring at me with an intense gaze.

I just sighed. “It’s not something to discuss here.”

“Now I really want to know!” Mira replied, gaze stuck on me.

“Just leave it for now, ok?” Liz said in an attempt to come to my rescue.

“I feel like I’m being left out,” Mira said and started sulking.

I guess one more can’t hurt…

“I’ll tell you later, okay?” I said before turning to Hanna. “And I’ll deal with you later as well.”

Hanna swallowed nervously and nodded.

Mira stood up and put her hands on the table, leaning over. “It’s a promise, okay? I don’t want to be the only one left out.”

“I promise,” I replied, grabbing my mug to prevent it from tipping over. “Just sit back down.”

“Don’t you forget,” she murmured as she sat back down.

“I’m sorry about her,” Liz apologised. “Mira can be quite pushy when she is drunk.”

“That’s not true!” Mira pouted. “Liz’s so mean.”

Pushy and moody, apparently. Was she like this the last time we had a drink as well?

“Anyway, how have things been around here?” I asked, trying to change the subject in hopes of her forgetting my promise.

“It’s been great,” Mira perked up and pulled out her staff from her magic bag. “It’s all thanks to this!”

“Oh? I take it that you are satisfied with it?”

“More than satisfied!” she replied happily, hugging her staff. “I feel like a whole new person.”

Is she that happy with that stick? Better not show her the stats on Liz’s gloves.

“I’m glad you like it,” I responded warmly.

“I love it! I can’t thank you enough.”

“You thanked me plenty already. But lower your voice and put it back in your magic bag,” I gestured at the staff. “I would rather not get approached by people asking me to craft gear.”

“Speaking of gear,” Mira said, looking at Liz’s hands. “What are those? You didn’t have them before.”

“Luna gave them to me.”

“It was a gift to celebrate,” I added.

“Celebrate?” Mira pondered. “Oh, right! It was your birthday.”

“Well, that was that too,” I said, smirking at Liz. “Do you want to show them?”

Liz took out her guild card and put it on the table.

Before Mira even had a chance to inspect the card, Hanna had already picked it up and held it up. “You got promoted to A rank? How did that happen?” she asked, flipping the card over and over to see if it was real.

“It just kind of happened?” Liz replied.

“It just happened?” Hanna frowned. “Getting promoted to A rank doesn’t ‘just happen’.”

“Well, Luna made me go through some training and then the guild in the capital promoted me.”

“You even advanced to Cryomancer?” Hanna said with a surprised expression.

“That’s amazing! Mira blurted out. “What kind of training was it?”

“You don’t want to know,” Liz said with a slightly bitter look on her face.

“I didn’t make you do anything you couldn’t handle,” I said, gently poking Liz's cheek.

“But didn’t you go to the capital to get Luna promoted?” Hanna asked as she gave Liz back her card.

“About that, I made you a promise, didn’t I?” I said with a sly smile, taking out my card and putting it in front of Hanna.

“You got SSS already?!” Hanna yelled out loud enough for half the town to hear.

“Lower your voice. Do you plan to tell Chloe from here?” I smirked.

“I’m sorry, but still… I didn’t think it would happen so fast,” Hanna said, looking at the card in amazement. “It sounds like your trip was quite exciting, to say the least.”

“It was pretty fun, right Liz?” I asked with an affectionate gaze.

“I enjoyed it a lot,” she replied, meeting my gaze.

“Oh, get a room you two,” Mira muttered.

“Already did,” I grinned before pulling out a key and giving it to Liz. “I almost forgot. Here is your key.”

“I can’t believe you went to the capital and came back as an SSS and an A rank in such a short time,” Hanna said, still holding my card. “Still, it’s nice to have you back. Chloe is going to be happy.”

“Is she going to try and nag me into taking some quests?” I asked.

“I think so. We don’t have many high-ranking adventurers in this town,” Hanna said, finally giving back my card. “Speaking of, the lord’s daughter has been visiting the guild a few times, trying to get a hold of you.”

“She visited herself?” I asked in surprise. “Shouldn’t she have sent a servant or something?”

“The lord’s daughter is…” Hanna stopped, trying to figure out what to say. “... a free spirit?”

For better or worse, I’m used to dealing with conventional nobles. I’m not sure how to handle an unusual one.

“That sounds troublesome,” I muttered.

“She just wants to thank you for saving her in person,” Hanna reassured me.

“I sure hope it’s only that,” I sighed.

“Enough talking about work. Tell me about your trip,” Mira requested.

We began telling stories about what we had done during our trip. Mira showed the most interest in the dungeon while Hanna had more than a few questions about our spa experience. After a few hours of eating, drinking, and talking, Hanna said she was tired and said her goodbyes.

“Should we head back as well?” I asked Liz, noticing her drooping eyelids. “You’re starting to look tired.”

“Yeah, we should probably end it for today while Mira can still walk on her own,” Liz said, looking at Mira, who appeared to have trouble keeping her eyes up.

“I’m not that drunk,” Mira pouted, though it was clear she was far gone.

“Whatever you say,” Liz said with a smirk. “We will see you tomorrow then.”

“Wait! You promised to tell me something,” Mira reminded me while trying to stand up on her wobbly legs.

“You remembered about that one, did you?” I muttered. “Fine, let’s go upstairs first.”

We made our way up to Mira’s room and entered. Mira sat down on the bed with anticipation in her eyes.

“I trust you will do a better job at keeping your mouth shut than Hanna, right?” I asked, giving her a serious look.

“Of course, you can trust me!” Mira exclaimed eagerly.

Yeah, sure. The one under contract is running her mouth all the time, but I can trust the drunk one? Maybe I should just go around with my tail out and get it over with.

I let out a deep sigh, feeling a sense of resignation. “You remember the name of your staff, right?”

“Yeah? Dragon’s Favor.”

“I’m the dragon.”

“Eh?”

“You asked why I made a dragon motif, right? It’s because I used one of my scales to make this staff.”

Mira looked at me with wide eyes for a moment before laughing loudly. “Pfft, yeah, right! No one has seen a dragon in forever. You expect me to believe one is walking around as a girl?”

“It’s true,” Liz said with a smile.

“I may be drunk, but I’m not that drunk,” Mira said and started laughing again.

“You would be surprised what you can accomplish with magic if you put your mind to it,” I said, shifting my arm.

Mira immediately stopped laughing and stared at my arm, trying to process what she saw. “You… You’re serious?!”

“Very.”

“So when Hanna said you were flying, she meant you actually flew, as in flew as a dragon?”

“That’s right.”

Mira fell silent for a moment, processing the revelation. “Wait! Does that mean you got to ride a dragon?!” Mira blurted out, her eyes widening as she looked at Liz.

“Yes, it does,” Liz said with a smug grin.

“So unfair! Let me do it too!”

“Get your own dragon,” Liz grinned, teasingly.

“Lunaaa,” Mira pleaded, looking at me with hopeful eyes.

“No promises.”

“It would be an experience of a lifetime,” Mira said, her expression turning into a pout.

“Let’s see if you even remember this in the morning first,” I smirked.

“I will absolutely remember!”

“Alright then, we will go back to our room now. Good night.”

We left Mira and made our way to our own room on the third floor.

“It feels good to be back,” I said as I stretched my arms over my head.

“This feels like home to me, although I have moved up one step in room quality.”

“The perks of an A rank adventurer,” I grinned.

“You say that, but you still paid for the room. Let me pay tomorrow,” Liz insisted.

“If you insist, but you will have to wait a bit,” I replied.

“What do you mean?”

“I figured we would stay around for a few days, so I paid for a month.”

“A month?” Liz asked with a surprised tone. “Then let me pay for half.”

“If you try, I will bite you,” I teased, sticking my tongue out.

Liz let out a sigh. “You’re impossible.”

“Thank you,” I giggled playfully. “Do you want to take a bath? I could go for one.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

After our bath, we got ready for the night and slipped into bed.

“This isn’t quite the same,” I muttered. “I should have taken the bed from our room at The Gilded Retreat.”

“I don’t think you’re allowed to take the bed with you,” Liz giggled.

“I bet I could get away with it,” I mused.

“If you want to abuse your rank then probably,” Liz admitted.

“Well, this bed has its own charm,” I said, pulling Liz into my embrace. “Since it’s smaller, I have to keep you close.”

“As if you didn’t do that in the capital,” she smirked. “What will you do now when we are back in Baruda?”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to travel?” Liz reminded me.

“Eventually, the world isn’t going anywhere. I guess I have to go meet that girl I saved before I do anything else. Otherwise, she probably won’t stop visiting the guild. Hanna also said Chloe wanted me to take some quests, but maybe you can take them… or we could do them together?” I said as I stroked Liz’s hair.

“I would like that,” Liz said, snuggling into my embrace. “I still need to work.”

“Let’s go take a look tomorrow then,” I suggested. “Let’s go to sleep.”