Again, she saw nothing but a blur when she opens her eyes.
[ Whe... Where am I...? ] she holds her hurting head as she asks. It was like she just woke up from a long sleep with a painful headache.
She blinks several times to focus her vision and soon that she was able to clearly see, she sat up.
It was night already. She can see two moons in the sky and the many stars scattered around them.
What had happened to her? She wanted to ask, but as he saw the figure of a man sitting and eating near her, she kept her mouth shut.
She can only see his side and she cannot get a full view of him, but his black hair - she can definitely never forget. This must be the person who had saved her.
There, near the bonfire, she sees him, and he had also seemed to have noticed that she had already woken up too.
He faced her, and his plain-looking face was revealed to her - and another that she looks at was the creature on his left shoulder.
[ U-Umm... ]
[ Yea? ] still crunching on his food, he urges her to speak.
She has her gaze focused on the creature on his shoulder, but she decided to ignore it for the meantime and asked him the question -
[ Un... You must be the person who had saved me... ]
[ ... ] with that, he only stays quiet. She doesn't know if he's just thinking of something or he really just doesn't want to reply, but...
She wants to continue the conversation, so she spoke again -
[ I'm Alex, a knight captain from Citrine... ] she says, and there - he reacted.
[ Oh? From Citrine, huh? ]
[ Ah... Right... Are you a traveler? ]
[ No, I'm an adventurer. ]
[ An adventurer? Does that mean you came from the adventurers guild? ]
'Did they send you to rescue me?' - the question almost slips her tongue, but realizing that possibility cannot be possible, she did not. If the adventurers guild will send rescuers at their base, they will gather a large force to do the task, yet - this person is the only one she can see that had come.
But since he had said that he's an adventurer, he must've had only come across her as he travels.
And she can be nothing more than right.
[ If you mean the adventurers guild in Citrine, then not, I'm from a town called Azir and my destination is Citrine. ]
[ Azir? I've never heard of that town before... ]
[ Well, it's particularly small and only a few travelers visit it... Anyway, I'm from that town. ]
[ So you're an adventurer from a small town... ]
She should've guessed so. Many adventurers often go to Citrine to improve their potential and ranks, so this person must be like those people too. She thought so.
[ Umm... The enemy... What happened to the enemy? ]
The wyvern who had killed her companions and destroyed their base. Even if she already knows that it's not here anymore, she still can't remove her anxiousness about it.
[ I've driven it off. I can't defeat it so I used another method. ]
[ Driven it off...? Another method? ]
Is that even possible?
Wyverns are fierce creatures that are known for their persistent nature and their will to never back off from a fight even if you have already cut off their wings, so what is that 'other method' he was talking about? If there is such, then she had never heard of it yet.
But - if he really is able to drive it off, then he must be - nevertheless of the method - a strong adventurer, so she ought to ask:
[ May I ask what your rank is...? ]
[ My rank...? Ah, right... My rank is copper III. ]
[ Copper...? ]
How come? How is it possible? An adventurer with the lowest rank - cannot possibly able to drive off a wyvern by himself.
[ Don't trick me, adventurer... ] she doesn't want to be rude to the person who had saved her, but she can't be more frustrated to have him tricking her. And her face formed an angry look as he spat those words at him.
But then, he only stares at her, and took out something and handed it to her.
[ This is...? Zero... Copper III... ] she whispers what was written in the card he handed her.
[ My name's Zero, I just started my job as an adventurer a week ago, so I haven't really able to rank up yet. ] he introduces himself as such. With his calm and casual demeanor, he was able to calm her angry expression down.
[ Alex... Alex Alexanders... A noble and a knight captain of the knights' company... ] and she introduces herself too.
And with that, Zero holds a hand to her for a handshake.
[ It's nice to meet you, Alex-san. ] and he couldn't be more casual to his words that Alex had trouble replying to him. But nevertheless, she still shook his hand.
[ Umm... Thank you... You saved me. ]
With that, they're back to the start. And Zero replies -
[ I only did what I could. ]
[ Thank you... If it wasn't for you, I would be dead already. ] as she replies that, she was reminiscent of what had happened - The way Zero had saved her. And immediately, her faces brighten up, red.
She was still conscious when it happened, but she really can't do anything about it then, so it was a bit of a shock to her now that she is able to think through it clearly. She might be a knight, but she is still a woman, and no matter how tough a woman is, they will falter if they happen to experience the same that she had.
Of course, Zero was able to notice the change on her and asks:
[ Is there anything wrong? ]
[ U-Umm...! It's nothing! ]
[ Is that so? If you're not feeling well? I still have some potions left. ]
The word 'potion' repeated itself on her head and she can't help but imagine.
'Is he going to make me drink them like that again?' - she couldn't help but ask.
But she can't lose her composure to no one, so she decided to brush the topic off.
[ A-Anyways...! That creature! ] as she can't take the situation anymore, she pointed at the creature that is on top of Zero's left shoulder.
The yellowish creature covered in short scales with wings. It was the first time she had seen such a thing and she can't be more curious about it. And she stares at it, trying to get an answer from its owner.
And so, Zero replies almost immediately - so casually.
[ Oh? This is Zear, a newborn dragon. ]
[ D-Dragon!? ] she repeated the word with a shout.
[ Yes, it is, it just hatched about this morning... ]
[ Thi-This morning... ] she stutters.
[ You took it as an egg? Just how were you able to? And... I've never heard anyone before being able to hatch a dragon's egg... ]
Dragons are a very rare variety of monsters and it's almost impossible to find one in the wild. You can only see them once they attack a city, or if you look for them intentionally.
Finding a dragon's egg is also something that is unheard of. Even if you are able to find a dragon's nest, there is no guarantee that you would find an egg. And Alex also hears that they can be bought in the black market for an impossible prize, but none had really figured out how to hatch them yet.
But here it is now, just a day after it was born.
[ I just found it at the end of a cave in Azir, it seems it's already been abandoned so I took it anyways. ]
[ I just can't believe it... To have a dragon as a pet... Do you know how powerful it will be just after a few years? ]
This question made Zero paused for a moment before he could reply.
The moment it had hatched itself on its egg, he had asked the same question - "Is he prepared to take care of it?" and as he thinks through it, he figured that it's his responsibility to do so. So he accepted the challenge of taking care of it.
[ I've already decided to take care of it. Well, if it grows strong in the future, I'll be able to make use of him, right? ] he jokingly said.
[ That's... That's nothing you should joke about... Dragons can destroy entire cities... ] with a serious face, she said to him.
[ Don't worry, I will be able to control him properly even if he really does grow into a strong dragon. ]
[ How can you be so confident? ]
( I'm a dragon myself... ) he wanted to say, but that would be too dangerous.
If she's this afraid about a newborn dragon, then how will she react to a humanoid dragon like him. Maybe like Richard, she will be afraid, and as a knight, she might attack him because of it.
So all he could do for now is to stay quiet about it.
[ Umm... Anyway, the sun is already rising up... What will you do? ] he brushes off her question and asks back a question instead.
[ I - ] she opens her mouth, but before she could reply, they heard a call from below the small tower they are on.
[ This is the knights' company! If there are any survivors, please respond! ]