Louis felt like he was on the verge of tears.
He was originally just a merchant traveling back and forth between the Eastern Kingdoms and the God-Forsaken Land.
Normally, he mainly purchased various very cheap ironware, food, and tools in the Eastern Kingdoms.
Then, he would transport them across the Great Gana Forest to the God-Forsaken Land, trading them for large quantities of local specialties and rare materials from the beastkin there.
He made his living buying and selling goods back and forth like this.
But just a few days ago, while passing through the Great Gana Forest, he took a risky shortcut because he was in a hurry to deliver his goods.
To his horror, he actually ran into two black dragons!
Louis could swear to His Holiness the God of Light that he was nearly scared to death at the time.
Fortunately, the two black dragons didn't seem to notice him and just flew right over his head.
Having luckily escaped with his life, Louis started bragging about his thrilling experience in taverns after he returned.
Unexpectedly, a group of adventurers in a tavern took a keen interest in his tale.
They actually offered a high price to buy detailed information about the two black dragons.
This included the location where he spotted them, their sizes, and so on.
As a profit-driven merchant, how could Louis pass up such a great opportunity to make money?
With the silver tongue he had honed over years of trading, he managed to sell this exciting experience for the high price of two gold coins.
To put that in perspective, Louis barely made half a gold coin from a single, grueling round-trip journey between the two regions.
This time, he had earned four times that amount just by wagging his tongue.
If things had ended there, it would have been a sure sign of favor from Her Holiness Tymora, the Goddess of Fortune.
But the problem was, just today, the group of adventurers who bought the information approached Louis again.
And they made a request that nearly scared the piss out of him...
They wanted him to act as a guide and lead them into the Great Gana Forest to find those two black dragons!
The Great Gana Forest was usually uninhabited and teeming with magical beasts. Trespassing into it meant a high probability of being torn apart and eaten by beasts.
Compared to these adventurers, he was indeed more familiar with the environment and knew how to safely venture deep into the forest.
But those were two black dragons! Legendary dragons!
Even ordinary kingdoms wouldn't dare provoke dragons lightly, especially the brutal chromatic dragons.
For a mere merchant like him to provoke a dragon, wasn't that just seeking death?
But those cunning adventurers claimed they were only two juvenile dragons.
At their age, hunting on their own meant there was definitely no adult dragon backing them.
They were probably kicked out of the nest by their mother.
Even if they provoked them, there would be no adult dragon seeking revenge.
Furthermore, these adventurers had even put down a deposit of five gold coins!
And they promised another five gold coins once they found traces of the black dragons!
Those were gold coins! A single gold coin was enough to feed a poor family for an entire year!
Even so, Louis considered himself a merchant of principle who would never gamble with his own life.
As for why he was currently standing in the Great Gana Forest...
It was simply because they offered too much!
The adventurers promised to give him another ten gold coins once they successfully captured the black dragons!
Added all together, the total reward was a whopping twenty gold coins!
Louis calculated that his entire net worth didn't even add up to twenty gold coins.
For the sake of the gold coins, he had reluctantly agreed.
Only now, he regretted it.
Along the way, Louis had come to realize one thing.
That was: what was the point of earning so many gold coins if he lost his life?
With that thought, he stopped in his tracks.
He looked back at the adventurers, who were chatting and laughing without a hint of tension,
and shrunk his neck, whispering with a mournful face:
“Lord adventurers, if we find those two black dragons, you have to look out for me.”
“I haven't even found a wife yet. I don't want to end up as dragon dung...”
“Alright, alright, how many times have you said that along the way?”
Borent, a warrior with a broadsword on his shoulder and a round shield on his back, waved his hand.
“Just stay far away when the time comes. They're just two juvenile dragons. What's there to be so scared of?”
“Borent is right. There's nothing to fear,”
the dwarf priest, Iron Hammer, who carried a cross on his back and a holy flail on his shoulder, chimed in.
“Aren't they just two juvenile dragons? At most, they're only Bronze Rank. When the time comes, I'll take them down with one swing of my hammer each. Just be careful not to get splashed with blood.”
“Pfft.”
Tasha, the only female in the group and a mage, couldn't help but chuckle at his words.
Her chest, bouncing up and down with her laughter, drew frequent side-glances from everyone except Iron Hammer.
“Tsk, have you guys never seen a woman before?”
Alvin, the half-elf ranger up in the tree, said as he slapped dead a swamp poison mosquito trying to suck his blood.
He then pulled out a white cloth and wiped the mosquito's blood off his hand with disgust.
“Damn it! There are way too many swamp poison mosquitoes around here!”
Iron Hammer looked up at the half-elf crouching in the tree,
and saw that Alvin's originally fair skin was already covered in several red bumps, and even the tip of his ear was slightly swollen from a swamp poison mosquito bite.
He sneered:
“Long-ears, that's because you refuse to apply the insect-repelling potion.”
Hearing this, Alvin glared fiercely at Iron Hammer and gritted his teeth.
“Only you filthy dwarves would like to smear that slimy, dirty stuff all over your bodies.”
He then added sarcastically:
“I really don't understand how a filthy fellow like you could become a holy priest.”
“Did even the great God of Light make a mistake?”
“I won't allow you to insult my faith!”
Enraged by those words, Iron Hammer's beard bristled. He grabbed a handful of wet mud from the ground and hurled it at Alvin.
Alvin quickly dodged, but caught off guard, his clothes were still slightly soiled by the mud.
Looking at the stain on his clothes, he gritted his teeth, drew his bow, and aimed an arrow straight at Iron Hammer.
“Filthy dwarf! You're dead!”
“Come on! Who's afraid of who!”
Iron Hammer raised the flail engraved with holy runes in his hand, taking a combat stance.
The atmosphere in the party instantly grew tense.
Seeing that these two idiots were about to fight, Borent, the captain, tore his gaze away from Tasha's ample chest
and looked at the two hostile companions.
Rubbing his temples in frustration, he was already long used to this kind of situation.
“I say, guys, can't you wait until we get back to argue?”
“If we fail to capture those two juvenile dragons because of you, I will personally beat your asses to a pulp!”
Hearing the captain's angry shout, Alvin finally lowered his bow.
After giving Iron Hammer a fierce glare, he leapt a few times and vanished ahead to scout.
Iron Hammer watched the half-elf ranger disappear into the forest, his teeth grinding.
Gripping his holy flail tightly, he muttered under his breath:
“Damn long-ears! I really want to smash that long-ear's skull with my holy hammer.”
“Alright, shut up, Iron Hammer,”
Borent said, his expression turning serious.
With that, he waved to Louis, gesturing for him to continue leading the way.
The party set off once more.
...
A moment later, the two little black dragons arrived in the area.
They had traveled on foot.
For these sharp-sensing combatants, flying in the sky made them too easy to spot.
Furthermore, the Great Gana Forest was densely forested.
Some trees could grow up to thirty or forty meters high, providing excellent cover to hide their movements.
Thus, the two dragons chose to track them on foot instead of flying.
Daviel sniffed the air and spoke:
“There are scents of humans, a dwarf, and an elf.”
He then looked at the little dragon girl beside him, who was squinting as if lost in thought.
“With so many different races mixed together, and I saw they were carrying weapons just now...”
“They don't seem like passing merchants. They look more like adventurers.”
Rate on N.U.
