In Another World With JUST MONIKA 126 Into The Beastkin Capital

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It was a nice new day and there was only the fair lingering smell of soot in the air. The carriage door opened and we stepped out into the sun.

People were already busy outside cleaning up and making breakfast. But on our appearance, everyone just stopped. The Belfast and Mismede soldiers fell in line to either side like presenting arms for a procession. Even Yumina stepped into place right beside Yae and Olga Strand, though she looked faintly confused about it all.

Lyon Blitz looked up with awe as we exited the carriage. He glanced from Elze and Linze as they also exited then bowed. He said "Sir Zah Playa – I really really respect you."

Olga Strand gave an offended little hiss.

Lyon's eyes widened in panic. "No wait, that's not what I meant! No, wait, I mean – I do respect you, milord. As a warrior! Not as a… well yes, of course as a man too, but – not for uh…" This handsome young lion's face twisted up trying to figure out a way to say 'not for philandering purposes'.

Elze glared at the men, who looked away shiftily. "What the dragon dung, idiots?! It's the middle of camp, there are people who just lost their homes and livelihoods last night! I'm a farm girl and I've got a whole lot more delicacy than all you lot! Nothing… happened."

"… and guess who's to blame for that?" Linze muttered aside.

Then brightly "Of course nothing happened!"

"Linze don't say things that make people disbelieve what I'm saying!"

With another exaggeratedly cheerful tone: "I'm telling the truth. Nothing interesting happened aaall night. That's why sis looks like she didn't get any sleep at all."

"Linze why?! I thought I could trust youuu! You're my sister!"

I pointedly ignored the twins going Full Anakin and Obi-wan Chosen One over there and stepped up to Lyon. He was several inches taller than me, broad-shouldered and fair. I put a white-gloved hand on his shoulder and said "You need but to ask, and I shall teach you my ways."

Olga Strand looked away, head bowed with a very disappointed air.

Nooooo. Lyon Blitz gave a pained wince and his right hand twitched. He desperately wanted to defend himself to Olga, but he was still too shy to make his romantic intentions known in public. "The King said I should accept if you offered to teach me your secrets but now… can I refuse itt?!!!"

Ahahaha.

First time I've seen a riajuu suffer for being a riajuu.

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Since Elze and Linze needed some s.p.a.ce for a while, and Lyon was trying hard to furtively make his gentlemanly virtue clear to Olga, and everyone else avoiding me... I ended up riding up front in the lead carriage with Yumina.

I held the reins in my hand. The usual beastkin driver and guard had gone ahead to scout to allow us to speak mostly in privacy. I'm not sure why they thought it was necessary but whatever.

A long and uncomfortable silence stretched out. Until finally, Yumina broke it by saying "Um… Sir Zah, that was most kind of you to give the dragon's carca.s.s to the villagers to rebuild their homes. The value of it is… staggering."

The village chief was almost in tears. All the villagers shouted their thanks and waved colorful pieces of cloth as they watched us leave, as if we were their own homeboys off to war.

I shrugged. "Like what would I do with a dragon's corpse? You've seen how big that thing was – what's the point of hauling one around? Giving me a dragon horn to make into a weapon… several weapons, even – that's good enough."

"I suppose we are still trying to hide the specifics of your [Boom Tube] power." Yumina nodded. She glanced up at my face and then back to the road. She bit her lip. After a while she asked "Sir Zah…? Aren't you… I mean… are you insulted?"

"Hm?"

"You… you say you're a man born with the soul of a dragon. You were angry at that big red dragon, you really didn't want to have to kill that black dragon, didn't you? Do you think it's bad that we are… are we desecrating a corpse of your own people? We humans are greedy. Dragons are thinking beings. It feels like making magic wands out of human bones… is that wrong?"

"Yumina, I'm a man born with the /soul/ of a dragon, not the body of one. Dragons are not my people." I waved aside at the thick sub-tropical forests on either side of the road. "I'm annoyed at these dragons not because they're not living up to their potential, but even in their isolation they're just half-a.s.sing it."

I smiled faintly. "Dragons have long been a symbol of royalty. Of majesty. A dragon that's just a beast, that's fine. But a dragon that can think - if I look at it and see a being that is not a king in its own right, I'm just so disappointed."

"I see…" Yumina stared fixedly ahead. "But dragons becoming kings… it's not good for the people who aren't dragons, isn't it?"

"Dragons don't /need/ land or tribute or praise like human kings, that's the point. Dragons shouldn't need to prove their might. (Well except to each other because dragons are a.r.s.eholes like that...) And… if dragons coming out and wrecking villages is a constant threat for Mismede, then beastkin lives are hard enough and it's going to take more to persuade them to fight for the sake of the humans who used to enslave them."

"Are you going to solve this problem to sweeten the talks, Sir Zah?"

"Not really. I can't promise to do anything other than complain to their dragon-king, if that's a thing."

"I see. Thank you anyway."

There was only the sound of horse hooves in a hot humid day. I gestured aside and a curtain of wind flowed over us like a sun shade.

"Allow me, Sir Zah, I need to practice anyway." Yumina raised her wand and intoned "Wind, flow, be a calm soft breeze, [Breeze Wind]!"

Rather than a curtain, a wall of wind seemed to flow down from on high like water off a faucet. Unlike my simple spell, which created just a quick draft as if from a large hand fan, her spell maintained itself for as long as she could feed the spell stone magic power. The magic stone on her wand glowed bright green.

Yumina looked towards my white gloves with the spell stones embedded in them. "I really envy being able to command [Wind] soundlessly like that. Unfortunately I can't regrow exploded fingers."

"I can't do that either!" I responded brightly.

Yumina let out a long-suffering sigh. "Sir Zah, with all due respect, even if you are the absolute master of Wind Magic, at some point you should really consider using normal magic tools. At the very least, fingertips limit the size of spell stones that you can use to cast spells."

"I'll get around to it. I haven't yet managed to get a replacement for my sword Zanzibar anyway. Dragon bones are magically conductive, right?"
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"Yes they are. That's why having a whole dragon is so rare and treasured. Anyone who brings down a dragon is instantly famous."

"Mmm. Just out of curiosity, what do you think is the going market for that?"

Yumina made a little humming noise. Royalty did not concern themselves with counting coppers like some merchant. But Yumina was, as always, serious about her duties. As an adjutant it was expected for her to know how much it should cost to run a military troop. "Like how the price of a cow is less than sale price of the meat it's made of… I'd say at least ten royal coins."

"… And those would be?"

"Ten platinum coins each."

"I see. No. I don't see." I remain bad at the maths. "Monika?"

/"Approximately one million dollars, Player."/

I winced. "That's pretty cool dosh." Then I shrugged. "Ah, well. If I took the dragon as payment, I don't think we could get paid twice by the beastkin king if he hears of this." It was better to have liquidity than a.s.sets; i.e., cash on hand rather than inventory that still needed processing.

"Is this a test?"

I turned and Yumina stared up at me with intent green and blue eyes. She spoke again "If the King of Mismede acknowledges what we've done, that is good. The amount of reward he would give to someone who has saved his people and performed a great service for his kingdom… would it be a test of how much care he will have for humans of another kingdom?"

I raised an eyebrow under my white mask. "It… could be? What do you think?"

"Not being effulsive in his rewards would imply he is being stingy and his kingdom is poor. It would not be politic to be anything less than generous. Anything less would be insulting." She put a hand to her chin and began to nod softly. "That was nicely done, Sir Zah."

I laughed weakly. "If you say so."

-.

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Days pa.s.sed uneventfully. And soon enough the road grew wider, if not less stony, and we saw fields of grain, and in the distance high walls with building with bulb-like roofs. Weird, a faintly Arabian style in a land surrounded by damp jungle.

We had arrived at Berne, capital of Beastkin Kingdom of Mismede.