Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened for the next few days.
The dragon was adapting well; that was no surprise. It seemed to be understanding speech better. Askr was also doing his best not to be a burden. He still was though, in the eyes of a mercenary and an assassin.
The cotton fairy, Q-tip, had gotten much more proficient in finding hiding spots in Ryuu's shirt. That too was expected. As an assassin, Ryuu had many hidden compartments in his clothes. Be it in one of the many pockets, under the robe, or the collar, there was always a place to hide for a five-inch creature.
Isle forest was known as a hunting ground, but that was not all to it. After all, a place without any remarkable characteristics couldn't have become a monster habitat.
The curious dragon was now somewhat careful after the past demonstration. But it was but a child. Ryuu took every opportunity to teach the newborn and old-born child about the facts and dangers of wildlife, ending up with multiple blue-purple-green marks on his arm.
'Ain't I generous?'
Having a high pain tolerance, he was the best person to demonstrate these things, according to himself. 'Nothing beats practical experience.' His demonstrations had left the intelligent creatures hiding in the depths of the forest questioning humanity's sanity all over again. But this wasn't their business.
Kai looked like he had reached transcendence or something since the third day, but this wasn't about him anyway.
The problem arose only after they crossed the central border of the forest.
[Sub quest, Loading.]
'I should have guessed…'
The system had been awfully quiet for the past few days. Ryuu was starting to forget about it. But that didn't last long.
"I think we're being watched." Ryuu's voice was low enough for only Kai, who was right behind him, to hear.
"Hmm."
Monsters and animals around here didn't follow their prey along, instead jumped directly at them. So, it had to be another group of people. Ryuu couldn't catch the exact number, but there had to be around thirty. He had caught onto this much even before the system notice.
'Are they after the prince or the dragon?'
They couldn't be after money if this was part of the quest. Getting money stolen had nothing to do with the quest. They couldn't be after himself, because, well, he wasn't important. As for Kai, he saw no reason for a mercenary to be trailed.
Whichever they were after, it didn't seem like they were planning to attack in broad daylight, so he chose to ignore them.
As they went about their journey, hunting, teaching, and everything that came along with it, the annoying group didn't give them even a moment of break. Ryuu thought about the cotton back in the southwestern forest that wouldn't even let him do his business in peace. These people were also like that, but a hundred times worse.
After a day's worth of careful hunting and an hour of cooking that disappeared in ten minutes, they hit the hay, well, the one who didn't feel the watchful eyes did.
The others closed their eyes, but couldn't fall asleep.
At such times, Ryuu felt envious of Askr. He was catching z's in a corner just like he had been on that fateful day months ago. Tsk.
"How long do we have to tolerate them?" Kai was perhaps having a harder time, than himself. Ryuu could almost see black lines forming on his face.
"Until they choose to attack, we can't do anything." Taking care of thirty or so people hiding in the dark was morning practice for either of them. But Ryuu couldn't jump at them because this was part of a quest, and didn't let Kai do anything either. "But if they don't do something before I'm done counting to a hundred, I'm attacking." Ryuu too, had little patience.
[Mission will progress in a few minutes. Please do not make any rash movements.]
'Oh, now you appear?'
The people on the other side slowly began to circle them in the dark. At this point, the dragon, who was also awake, took the liberty to wake Askr. As soon as he caught on to the situation, with so many people surrounding them, Askr couldn't help but think this was the end.
The three stood in the middle of the forest clearing, a few meters apart from each other, surrounded by 30-something people. But after another five minutes of no movement, Ryuu began to lose his cool again.
'Should I just kill all of them?'
[Please be patient.]
'Why should I? They're the ones dragging this on!'
[...]
'See? You're annoyed too!'
Can you imagine? An assassin trained to trail people, hunt them, spy on them, had been followed by such a big group of people for a whole day, but couldn't do anything about it.
But those people were dragging this on even more. There's so much patience one could have.
'Just say what you want, goddamnit!'
It is to be said that no words were spoken from the other side; instead, a group of three jumped at Askr with knives. To be specific, they jumped at the blue dragon stuck on Askr's back.
'Called it!'
In the heat of the moment, Ryuu jumped into action before preparing his weapon.
[New universal achievement created.
"How many times can I injure the same limb consecutively before it falls off entirely?"
Requirement: The same part of your body faces injury consecutively before it heals for the nth time.]
Even as blood dripped down from his left arm, Ryuu couldn't help glaring at the screen despite the chaos.
But he wasn't the only one.
"Falls off entirely?" Ryuu looked back at Kai for a brief moment, surprised to hear the same words he had read a few seconds ago. A look of horror took over his face as their eyes met.
[Congratulations.
A player has met the threshold to trigger the first universal achievement task. The task is now available to all players.
Reward: A random reward based on job class.
Penalty: Loss of limbs.
Warning: The system does not recommend attempting the task unless you have regeneration ability.]
'Are you kidding me right now?'
No matter how ticked off he was, Ryuu knew this wasn't the right time to pick a fight with the system.
With an arm out of order, it took a bit longer to deal with the attacker. On top of that, he had to shield Askr, who had turned into a statue from shock.
It took less than ten minutes to take out the ones who had jumped at them. During that time, Kai had taken care of the rest of the squad very efficiently.
'Having help really is great. It would have taken me another ten minutes to clear out the enemy.'
The situation was dire for the other side. Despite being cautious and observing the enemy for nearly a day, they seemed to have miscalculated. Their number was going down rapidly. So the squad leader had no choice but to step in himself.
"I risked my life to get that egg! The dragon is rightfully mine!"
[Sub-mission: Complete.
You have discovered the blockhead who stole the dragon egg from the southeastern mountain. The loophole has been fixed.
There are many who dream of taming a dragon. This is the first instance someone attempted to steal a dragon egg from its parents.
Such—]
'Get to the point!'
[...]
[You may hand the culprit over to the child's parents.]
"Hand over the—" The man shut up under Ryuu's glare.
"You!" I have to endure this unnecessary quest because of your idiocy!
[You have to endure it because of the prince's idiocy.]
'Well, I can't beat him up!'
[...]
"Why are you looking at me like that!?" The middle-aged man, dressed a bit more fancy than his comrades, began to back away as an ominous aura surrounded him. The face wasn't visible in the dark, but the delicate-looking man who kept getting injured all day long was walking towards him with a murderous look in his bloody red eyes.
"Don't worry. I won't kill you." Ryuu actually meant that as an assurance. Not getting killed was good enough in his standard. "I'll only beat you up."
One throughout beatdown from a displeased assassin later...
The man was beaten unconscious, tied up, and thrown to a corner. Askr was sulking in another corner, contemplating his life choices after he realized it could have been him. The dragon who had watched a beatdown for the first time, was busy observing its kidnapper #1.
[Universal achievement triggered—]
'Do you want people to start a continent-wide beatdown? Have some consciousness.'
[...Personal achievement: Beat down an NPC halfway to death and back.
The reward will be added after calculating.]
Ryuu thought that the system had gotten much lenient in the past few days, but didn't comment on it.
"Ryuu, is your arm ok?" Kai's sudden question threw him off track.
"My arm?" He had almost forgotten about it.
[You're only three hits away from achieving
"How many times can I injure the same limb consecutively before it falls off entirely?"]
"Oh, the system says I'm still three hits away. It should be fine." Most of Ryuu's injuries weren't serious; he just accumulated a lot. But it was nothing a few potions couldn't heal.
He felt a chill run down his body. "I thought the South would be warmer. It suddenly feels so cold."
[...
You can't accomplish the main task if you lose an arm. Please be careful.]
Wasn't he being careful? He always tended to his injuries carefully. He didn't even get injured often. "Achoo!"
'Ah, it's so cold.'
***
With the stalkers gone, the journey was now more bearable than before. The hostage—the one who got beaten up—was perhaps too traumatized, so he just followed them as instructed.
Ryuu's arm was also in better shape after bathing in multiple potions and was now in line for twenty hits before death. He had to empty almost all the potions in his stock, so he would have declared an all-out war on the system. But it did work out to some extent. Unless a rare five-headed beast attacked out of nowhere, he was safe.
But problems never seemed to end. One was solved partially, then another one was created without fail.
The vast blue lake was definitely soothing to look at. A soft, cool breeze flowed from the direction of the lake. The water was calm, unlike a sea or river, so clean that one could see under it in places not too deep. A perfect place for relaxation or swimming.
Unfortunately, Ryuu didn't know how to swim. Which wasn't really a problem because they could cross the lake with boats that illegal businessmen had left behind during their ventures. Although he couldn't row either. That wasn't a problem for now.
As always, the system brought up the actual problem. No. The system created the problem.
[Special character-specific quest: Unlocked.]
'Right now? Why?'
The system ignored his question as always.
[Just like waves of water, lost time can't be returned.
But some things can survive the passage of time and remain valuable even after thousands of years.]
'Yeah, time and tide wait for none. Now get to the point.'
[Such a thing was lost in the Lake of Grievance a thousand years ago.]
'Wait. The lake has a name?' This lake was the largest closed-water body of the kingdom, perhaps even the continent, but it was usually called Isle Forest Lake because of its location. It was the first time the real name was mentioned.
Although it had such a name, it was this lake that gave life to the forest, being its largest source of water. In ancient times, the lake water was believed to have magical qualities because the water wasn't salty despite being so close to the sea. To this day, some believe that such a diverse forest couldn't have grown in this kingdom if not for this lake. But Ryuu didn't know that.
[You are to retrieve the 'Key Of Eunoia' from beneath the lake. The lost item can open doors to priceless information.
This is a limited-time unskippable quest. There will be future dilemmas if the quest isn't completed.]
'Isn't that how most of my quests work?' There weren't any 'skippable' quests provided for character Ryuu Aoi in all the while he was here. Even basic training quests came with warnings of disaster. It was as if he was here to hear 'there will be consequences'.
[…]
'And I can't swim. How do you expect me to get the key of whatnot?'
[You do not need to swim. Dive into the designated spot and retrieve the item.]
'And how am I supposed to get out? Oh, something like the body will float up on its own after I cross the bridge?'
[...]
[Quest reward: A legendary grade potion manual of your choice.]
'So, where do I dive?' Bribes worked quite well on him if applied properly.
A location point appeared on the screen, which showed a green mark twenty meters to the north of the shore to the surface of the lake. The mark appeared on the transparent screen he looked through it.
[The system screen will guide you.]
'How convenient! Couldn't you be this convenient from the beginning?'
There were a lot of random locations Ryuu had to go to in the beginning; the system didn't even give him coordinates back then. He had to look it up on old maps. As someone who grew up in the modern age, finding exact spots on the map was close to impossible for him then. This feature could have saved him a lot of time.
[Providing technical support during tutorials would hamper growth. The special features are only available for the main quest.]
'Yeah, whatever. Do I go now?'
[The best time for the task would be after sundown, but you're free to attempt whenever you please.]
'No risk of physical injury, right? My arm isn't 100% healed yet.'
[None whatsoever.]
The two completely ignored the matter of getting out of the water.
The sun was still shining over their heads. Since the attack last night, they had been traveling without much rest to avoid the radar in case someone else chose to tail them. "Let's camp out here for the day and head out tomorrow morning." Askr slumped down on the grass, finally able to catch his breath. In his mind, this short-tempered assassin and the betraying guard were some creatures, unlike humans. It was as if they never got tired.
"Wouldn't it be faster if we left now?" Kai questioned.
"I have a mission here," Ryuu whispered so only Kai could hear him. "So we'll have to stay here for the day. But I was wondering…"
Ryuu walked over to the peace offering and observed him thoughtfully. The man seemed to be aging exponentially. "What do we do with this?" He did drag the thief along to offer as a sacrifice, but didn't really know how to treat one. "Do we feed him?"
"To the beasts?" Tempting.
"No, I mean giving him food and such," Ryuu clarified
"Just the bare minimum, maybe?"
The two who had no experience keeping someone alive after a fight began looking at the supposed villain like a predator scanning its prey. In terms of their behavior, anyone would question who the real villain was if they didn't know the whole story.
"Don't…don't you people have any kindness in you?" The man spoke timidly.
"It's not like your life would be saved if we're kind," Ryuu remarked, "And I don't really see any reason to treat you kindly."
Why would Ryuu look at him kindly when he didn't even treat the nation's first prince, albeit a dead one, with kindness?
Askr was an idiot who picked up the dragon egg from the forest, and although his motive was questionable, he was just an idiot who wanted to get close to a dragon. Everyone wanted to get close to a powerful being if given the chance.
This man, on the other hand, probably wanted to kill the young dragon for materials. It was not only the highest level of crime, it could have put the whole kingdom in danger, but he didn't care about that, and probably planned to run far away with his earnings. There was nothing to pity about a greedy man.
"Little dragon, should we treat him kindly?" Kai asked in his usual unbothered voice.
The dragon had settled down on the collapsed Askr's stomach as if it were its throne. 'The idiot prince has been promoted to the position of a chair. Where's your 'rare phenomenon' notice?'
[...]
The dragon flew up from its seat, circled the man for a minute, then looked at the two. It tugged Ryuu's sleeve and guided them to a bush nearby. Nightshade. Scientifically known as Atropa belladonna. Ryuu had first encountered it while clearing land for farming. The nightshade found in the Ynistia continent was a bit different from Earth's. The black fruit's surface looked like polished metal but was soft. It reflected light, making it shine.
Ryuu remembered what he told the dragon previously. "Do you want me to poison him?" The blue dragon nodded. 'Well, at least we know it understands us now?'
"We can't kill him," He spoke. "But we can feed him one or two of these fruits." The dragon's tail began to sway like an excited puppy.
[You are corrupting the child.]
'Do you think a human can corrupt a dragon at will? Hah.'
[...]
Ryuu picked up a few black fruits and approached the already-petrified man. "You...you said you won't kill me!"
"I won't," Ryuu assured, "The child is curious. See how excited he is? We can't disappoint him. Don't worry, you'll be just fine." He forced the man to swallow the toxic fruit while the dragon observed with anticipation.
[You are beginning to live up to your notorious image.]
'Notorious? Who? Me?' It was just that he was still furious at the man.
Askr pretended to be asleep, thanking god for not letting him end up the same way.
Under the effects of the hallucinogen, the man began to speak utter nonsense. The dragon observed him carefully, as if looking at a research specimen. The man passed out after making a good enough fool out of himself, and the dragon went back to sit on its designated spot.
"Looks like the dragon is appeased," Kai spoke, then glanced at Ryuu, who looked just as appeased. "Satisfied?"
Ryuu looked back with a pure smile that made him look childishly innocent. "Yeah." A smile earned at the cost of the dragon thief's dignity.