Dragon's Tale 91 (Patreon)

“D-done,” she stammered as she took a step back, a deep blush on her beautiful face. Then, she reached for a uniform of her own and turned to me. “Now, leave!” 

“Do you think that’s fair after you get such a good view of my body?” I asked, her sharpness enough to put a smirk on my face even as her fury grew. 

“If you think I’m going to undress in front of you—“ she started, her voice getting louder with every word. It was nice to see that she had an actual temper behind the impervious aura she was trying to convey. 

Just for that reason, I was tempted to let her anger continue growing as I teased, but the amusement factor it created wasn’t worth the risk of the delay. We had already spent too much time in the base, and the more we stayed inside, the more difficult it would be for us to escape successfully. 

And that was not something I wanted to test the limits. 

Even under the best of circumstances and against an ordinary Patrician house, attacking their Estate as just a Sorcerer was a way of committing suicide. Exchange an ordinary house with House Junia, the strongest Patrician house — which was even stronger than the public perception considering the amount of treasure hidden in their research base — and add in the fact that my ally had an extremely poor combat attitude compared to her vaunted rank, but also already exhausted to the limit, and the suicidal nature of such an event just doubled further. 

Though, technically, my own condition was a plus. After I had merged with that huge dragon heart, my magical power multiplied. I didn’t know the exact limits of the power I reached. Yes, it had ruined my control in the process, but that was not very relevant in a straightforward battle. 

Under overwhelming power, no defense worked. 

Of course, that was under one important assumption. I could actually cast any spells without burning myself, which, unfortunately, wasn’t a given. 

Ultimately, one thing was certain. We didn’t have the luxury of wasting time, forcing me to reject the temptation of teasing my reluctant ally. 

“You’re not going to change, you’re going to stay in your usual clothes.” 

“I don’t understand,” she asked. “Wouldn’t it raise an alarm?” 

“That’s the only thing we can do. I can’t cast anything without bringing half of Rome chasing us and risking exploding myself, and you can’t cast illusions. Things would have been different if the mages among them had been wearing robes in a style that could conceal you, but that’s not the case. Adding a hood would be more suspicious than trying to bluff that you have a mission.” 

“And do you think you can convince the guards that they are allowing me to leave with only one guard?” 

“Maybe,” I said. “Either we convince them, or we make a run for it. Sometimes, acting directly is the better option. How well can you ride?” 

“N-not bad,” she stammered, but her blush suggested she might be slightly exaggerating her ability. 

“Maybe one horse then,” I suggested. “But it’ll get tired carrying both of us.” 

“I can remove its exhaustion, it’s not a difficult spell,” she answered. 

“Good, then start sealing the dragon hearts and the weapons, and we can leave.” 

“For how long you can seal them?” 

“After that battle?” she said. “I’m too exhausted. Maybe an hour, anything more would make me collapse unconscious.” 

“Hmm,” I murmured as I looked at Dragon Hearts and weapons, quickly separating them into many groups. I pointed to the first group. “Seal these with a weak one, so that they only last for a minute,” I said before turning my attention to the next group. “Seal these for fifteen minutes…” I continued, creating a wide variety of sealing. 

“Why something so complicated?” she asked, which was enough to confirm for me that she didn’t have a mind for more mundane aspects of trickery. 

“Just do it,” I said, not wanting to bother to explain, and when she finished, I threw her the biggest remaining piece. “And seal this for as long as you can manage without compromising your ability. It’s going to be your ace in case of an emergency.” 

“And how about you—” she started to ask, only to stop halfway, remembering that I was not exactly suffering for extra magic power. “Silly question,” she said. 

“Don’t worry about me,” I said as I flipped my spear, then, patted on my side, touching the sword hanging on my belt and the bow hanging on my back simultaneously, though the bow was covered with a cloth to hide its extraordinary gold look. 

Its looks didn’t match with more utilitarian looks of the Patrician weapons, suggesting that it didn’t belong to Rome, but there was no doubt that it was strong enough to rival the others. 

Luckily, it was a common practice to keep bows covered to protect them from the effects of the weather, so it wasn’t too suspicious of a move. 

“Can you use those?” she asked, looking suspiciously. 

“Well, we’ll find out if we face a disaster,” I said with a smirk that looked more confident than I had been feeling. Handling a Patrician class weapon was certainly not simple, but compared to the other risks I was taking, it didn’t even register properly. 

“Let’s go,” I said as I gestured for her to follow, and we arrived at the entrance. Without anyone to control it, it was easy for Xia to control the ward and open the entrance once more. 

I walked out of the building first, dressed as a guard, carrying a large bundle in my hand — that contained all the weapons we took from the base. 

Yet, as I took a step, the first rays of the morning hit my face, proof that I had spent way more time than I had been planning inside the base. The good news, there wasn’t a huge army that surrounded the secret base, which told me that the modifications I had done on the wards to block communication worked. 

Bad news, my absence still managed to trigger some kind of commotion. By the courtesy of my visual abilities, increased even further, I could hear more than one servant walking around, asking whether the others had managed to find the lost barbarian with increasing panic. 

Not exactly what I had been looking for. 

Xia was just a couple steps behind me. Lacking my senses, she was aware of the additional commotion that was going on. “Are you sure I shouldn’t disguise myself as a mage? Or at least another guard?” she asked, looking hesitant.

“The answer is the same unless you managed to learn how to create a convincing illusion in the last few minutes,” I answered, doing my best to look expressionless as I started walking toward the gates, Xia just a step behind me. 

I moved forward, tapping into the more ordinary aspects of the abilities I had developed as a child, in particular, disguises. The biggest part of any disguise was the attitude. People were much more willing to go along as long as they were confronted by something familiar. 

So, as I walked toward the guard, my face was expressionless, my steps sharp, doing my best to look like a brainwashed warrior. 

Meanwhile, the guards were dealing with the exit of one of the noble parties — the beautiful woman in the carriage one of the ones I had been acquainted with the last night closely, sitting next to her clueless husband. 

I smiled at their presence, and not just because of the pleasant memories of her beautiful cries. The existence of the noble party at the gate meant most of the guards were distracted by them, making my job easier. 

It turned out that my luck was not limited to that, because as I got nearer, the horses of the noble party started to shuffle uncomfortably. Though, when I walked closer, only for their panicked faces to turn toward me while they started making scared voices, I realized that it might not be luck. 

They were feeling my aura even when I was trying to suppress it, I realized. With that, it wasn’t entirely shocking, considering I had used the same aura to dominate an actual Nemean Lion into submission. 

Compared to a mythical beast, an ordinary horse was nothing. 

With most of the guards paying attention to the horses, I hoped that I could slip unnoticed, but the guard captain noticed me and walked toward me. “Where are you going?” he asked, though, behind his confident tone, I could hear his hesitancy. 

He was just as comfortable as the warriors in black, just hid better than the ordinary guards. 

“Mission,” I said sharply.

 “And you’re taking the Sorceress with me, yet only one guard. That’s not allowed,” he commented, looking suspicious. 

His comment was reasonable, and the determination mixed with his fear suggested that he was willing to argue that point. 

But I had other options than my words.

“Mission,” I repeated, but this time, letting my aura slip just a bit as I did so, making my words hit him with the strength of an avalanche. He took a step back fearfully, but it was nothing compared to the reaction of the animals. Their fear finally broke through their attitude, and they started a panicked canter, spreading the party. 

The guard captain looked at me hesitantly before rushing toward the carriage of the nobles, deciding that dealing with one of the black warriors was not as important as preventing a noble from getting injured at his gate. 

As I started to walk, the Sorceress behind me, I gestured to her twice, using prearranged signs we had discussed. And just like that, a small dagger floated off the bundle I was carrying, and went inside the window of the guard house, while a small dragon heart flew fast toward the carriage of the nobles, lodging underneath their carts, their concealment aura about to be dispersed in a couple minutes. 

The perfect distraction for us to use while we got away. 

With that, I stepped outside the gate, feeling the oppressive weight of the Estate Wards disappear…