A Benevolent Evil Dragon

Well that was a massive waste of time. I did not find anything even after I spent so much time going through every single corner of the library, checking under every shelf. The only anomalies I stumbled across are windows that popped up in places where the damage was a bit too big for my patchwork fix to hold up properly, some even appeared on the floor which is certainly trippy since the only thing I can see outside of my library is a flood of empty pages, a roiling sea where nothingness melts together then crashes against itself forming pages that melt right back into nothing. Interesting thing, but it gives me a headache and staring at it somehow makes the glass crack by itself, so I would rather not get absorbed by the call of the void if I can help it.

In the end, I don't know what happened. My own magic fought against me, something it doesn't really do, just to stop me from admitting what I am. I will need to test this in the future but either I have some powerful subconscious reservations, or my magic has its own goals, which feels like I have an uncertain ally in my own chest. Not a good day for me.

Now that the wild goose chase is done, I open my eyes and find that some serious time has passed. At least my spell remained active since it's stable and doesn't use chaos mana at all. The reason I notice time passing is both because the weather changed, but also because I see a piece of paper in front of me, being held down by a silver coin. I read through and it's a quick note from Edith saying a day has passed and she found a few of the things we needed to search for.

Currently my goal is to get as far away from The Empire as possible, while hopefully aiming for a spot with large quantities of mana so I can grow without needing to constantly do heists of nobles. Say what you want, but I doubt an honest nine to five will pay me enough to make a hoard. Which is why Edith has looked into places rich in mana and how to get to them. From what she wrote here, we have a few options but they're all dangerous in different ways.

The first option is going to the northmost spot. There's ports there and much like The Empire, this kingdom sends expeditions into places where mana is simply in the air all the time to capture beasts and gather resources. The danger comes from having to sail all the way there without me being discovered. Other, less radical options, are to either find a mana oasis around here, or to go east, past the barbarian plains, where there should be some higher densities of mana, but it is uncertain. Apparently they managed to go to whole different continents but nobody managed to check yet what is in the eastmost part of this one.

The east sounds tempting, in all honesty. Ayrah was the least put off about my appearance and nature, if she is any indication then I could possibly integrate with a tribe there. She also didn't seem to worship any god similar to Rirshka. What did she use to say… Muur, beloved guardian spirit… Sounds similar to a god, but maybe different enough.

The oasis option might be closer, but it is much more dangerous by virtue of how these things happen. Mother's territory was such an "oasis", so any one of them that exists likely has some apex entity as the owner. Any other place that would have the resources necessary to make an oasis would be exploited into nothingness by now anyways.

I scratch my head, then stretch. I need to get something done, staying locked up is not actually healthy for my mind. I peek my head out and I see the suns going down. I basically slept for a whole day. I then turn towards the Inn, but I don't see Edith in her room. I shift to mana sight, but it's too far to get a good view, and even if I did I wouldn't see color through a wall while being so far away. Still, I have my ways, so I drop the paper and the coin through the thin gaps of the floorboard, hiding them from sight, then slowly crawl my way out.

I am in the shadow of a building, so while I may stand out if someone looks straight at me, I can do my sneaky routine, starting with a silence spell around my feet. I hear a loud neigh and some hooves stomping the ground, so I turn to a particularly large and beautiful horse. A magical horse, of course. I narrow my eyes and I see it eyeing me back, pacing back and forth. It likely doesn't see through my spell, but noticed the moving, silent void which was enough to put it on edge. Good to know that my magic is still far from a perfect thing. Still, I need to silence the damn thing before it brings people, so I let out a low growl infused with mana.

"DEATH."

The horse freezes, then turns around and drinks some water. All the horses nearby pretend to focus on something else, but I see the way their bodies tremble, the way they sweat despite not being tired. I guess Edith's legend is quite true. Animals obey dragons as their kings, unless they're mad witchbeasts or completely different creatures. I would guess that other things like gods, mind mages and maybe a good owner or a family member might have priority over a common dragon, but even so this talent is useful. Fear, truly a tool for a tyrant.

I shake my head, then go back to my curiosity. I sneak my way to the side of the inn, looking in through a window. It looks like a lively place inside. The ground and first floors are the bar area, the latter being a partially open plan thing that has tables and places to eat. I am guessing the second and third floors are fully made for rooms and the fourth floor is for their VIP's. I turn on my mana sight and I notice quite a few people with magic. Some seem like nobles, some seem like rich common men. That's another difference I've noticed. Many mercenaries are just nobles doing work for a bit to build experience and prestige, but there's also the true mercs that do this for a living. This place might be built for nobles but with enough coin even the talented commoners can come in, though conflicts likely arise from this situation.

I finally notice Edith, standing by the bar, nursing a glass of some amber liquid. She's also not alone. The woman she's talking with has basically no mana, but is certainly a beauty. Also from the style of clothing and accessories… I see a few more like her around… Is that? Huh. Good business model, what can I say. Well, I don't want to startle her now, especially since she seems happy with the company.

The suns are almost fully down, the sky is barely still lit up. I think I can stretch my body a bit by checking out the rest of the city. Might as well let her enjoy her break.

With the moons up I walk through the streets. Contrary to my expectation, this place doesn't become barren during the night like the towns we passed through, instead a different kind of life begins. Guess humans were always like this, making the night the time for reckless fun and less than legal pleasures. People take mostly to side alleys, so the main roads are better for me to sneak through, paradoxically enough. I see gambling being done in good fun and in excess, people dancing to improvised music and even a few drunken brawls.

I feel at home here. Then I feel sad for not being able to walk up to someone I don't know, buy them a drink, then become best friends for a moment before never seeing each other again. I miss being able to let loose in such simple matters. I miss having to deal with traumas like domestic violence and having to kill a man in self defense, instead of dragging tens of mangled corpses behind me, fearing that at any moment a god might come strike me down. I steal a mug of ale, down it, then throw the cup away, starting another fight. I can't even enjoy this poison, it's the first thing that tastes badly from anything that I tried in this life.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

I slap myself out of my thoughts, drawing the eye of a drunkard, who just looks confused before returning to his bottle, then I speed up. I shift my spells around, keeping up the darkness but replacing the sound rune with wind, helping me take to the skies. It all looks so small from here, ants holding sparks wander through the tiniest of tunnels. There is merry and joy, there is anger and sadness, there is life and I don't belong.

So I search for the quiet parts, the gaps where I might fit. I go past vaults of knowledge that had closed for the day, past lightly enchanted buildings and rich mansions crammed together in a slightly prettier part of the town. I ultimately find what I wanted towards the edges, close to the walls but not next to them. The true underbelly of the city is here, be it gatherings of gang members, people sleeping on the streets, or places where unsavory things happen, this outer district was where all the criminals were gathered.

Yes, this is where I am needed most. I am not the religious sort, but humans are beings of superstition and I am no different, even now. I killed and I stole, even if I had good reasons, I feel like I might end up getting too accustomed to either, so I should at least do some good deeds to make up for it. The first opportunity for that showed itself rather quickly. I hear a shout from an old, shabby building. It looked abandoned but it seemed rather lively inside.

"I told you. Kids are damn good at this." Said a rather unflattering looking man.

"Well, their fault for doing this in our territory without paying their due. I'd say they will need to give us double this just as payback for all the months of unpaid protection!" Replied an outright ugly one.

There were two others that stayed silent, one looked bored, while the other looked out the window, seeming on edge. Really dumb to have a lookout that doesn't notice a dragon coming in, but what can you expect from these common rabble? I look at the situation and it's pretty clear what's going on. Kids got busted for having some decent coin, either from begging or from pick pocketting. There's one older kid passed out on the floor, another wounded but awake, surrounded by kids, and a final, thirteen year old looking kid is being held down by the neck by the ugly man. Interestingly, the kid has a defiant look in his eyes, despite having no chance to win. Ah, I see he had a plan B, but I wouldn't suggest it.

"What's with that look, imperial brat? You don't even get this? I said that you'll pay triple this if you don't want me to kill you and all the other bastards! Earn your bread or we'll sell you for it." Shouts the ugly one.

It doesn't have the desired outcome. I clicked my tongue, something that might have revealed me if not for the fact that the kid pulled out a rough, handleless knife from his boot, stabbing it in the man's wrist, making his hand slack as he screamed. He instantly rushed the closest man, the other one that spoke, while the smaller kids took scrap and other broken pieces from the floor and started pelting the other men, who just reacted.

I know how this would end. Half of them would be beaten to death, the other forced to work one way or another, no chance of escaping. Maybe they kill one of the men, but not all four. I don't know if killing people is the best way to up my karma, but what can you do? It would be worse to sit by and let them fall victim to these criminals.

It all happens so fast that people barely react. One moment the four gang members were recovering from the attack of the kids, then the next the anxious one lost his head. Everyone stopped as it rolled between the two groups. Their heads slowly turned to me and all they saw was darkness. They heard my heavy steps as I dropped any attempt at stealth, their hairs stood on end, one of them even began a confused curse, but without knowing he was in range of my tail, so he turned to ribbons.

"M-monster!" Screamed the ugly one.

"Fuck this…" whispered the bored one as he tried to make it to the open door.

I let him, but then the door slammed in his face with such strength that the wooden spikes which suddenly manifested on it turned him into Swiss cheese. The final man tripped, holding his bleeding wrist with his other hand, then screamed for a moment before I gathered the strength to smash his head against the floor. Now, all is quiet.

I look over at the kids, my darkness much more visible now that I sit in the torchlight. They tremble. They are terrified. It is clear that they expect me to kill them next. The darkness appeared and ravaged four men, of course they didn't expect to be special. Instead of doing any of that though, I loot the men. Only one of them had any coin on him and it certainly wasn't much. It was clear that he wasn't the boss around here.

"You should gather your things and leave this area. They might hurt you if they find out you have any relation to what happened here." My voice is calm, but its roughness startles a few of the younger ones into screaming and burying their faces into the older ones.

"W-what?" The likely leader finally breathes out as he clutches the poor excuse for a knife so hard his hand trembles.

"Also, do you think you can pay for a healer to look at the kid? Being beaten unconscious can easily lead to death." My voice remains calm, contrasting the other's demeanor.

This prompts the leader to look at his friend, then back at me, then inch over and put a hand under his nose. He lets out a sigh of relief, but then tenses right back. I throw the coin pouch over to him, which catches him off guard.

"I don't want to hurt you or your friend. Focus. Can you get him help with what you have?" At my insistence, the kid snaps out of it.

"Y-yes… No… no… S-sister Alicja might look at him! But she's not a proper healer… Proper healers want many silvers, more than this. Said I need five kid's fingers last I got a cut on me leg! Sister's the only one that don't look at us like trash… Sir…" I am surprised at the politeness, but it didn't seem too outlandish for the kid to think I am some mage, rather than a monster. Guess he doesn't expect speaking monsters.

"I see. The sister is the only one that doesn't overcharge you for being street urchins. Take a small break, then get your friends there. I am guessing she's over at the closest church, yes?"

"Yes sir, she is! Sister's good to us… I just wish we had more to give 'er… T-thank you for helping us…" There it is, that fear came back in full.

"You don't need to pay me back for this, kid. Just take care of you and yours. Ah, there is one thing you could do for me. Make sure to not talk about me. If you must, say that a masked man came and killed these people saying something about a debt. I would much rather people not look around for the man hidden by a cloud of darkness. Same for the little ones, please."

"Y-yes sir! We gon say what you said! No dark, just a masked loan shark!" It's impressive that the only perfectly spoken words are those a kid shouldn't know.

Regardless, I nod, though he likely doesn't see it, then go out and take off. I don't leave the kids to their own devices, of course. I watch them from above, sometimes stopping to rest on rooftops, sometimes flying right above them, sometimes throwing spells at other vagrants to make sure they don't intercept the kids. Once they get to the church and are welcomed by a tired looking nun, I take my leave.

I look around some more, learning things by listening to conversations and observing people. Ultimately, when it gets so late that even the night life has gone to sleep, I return to the inn, checking in on Edith. She is sleeping, of course, but her luxurious and spacious bed looks a bit more crowded. With a chuckle, I glide my way down and go into the wagon. I know that I probably shouldn't get involved in things like this, but there is one fundamental thing I can't run away from. I ultimately want to help people.

Now, I just need to make sure I actually help and don't leave things into a mess by the time I leave this city, and for that I need to chat with Edith, properly this time around.