The roaring sound of the cheering of the people crowding at the entrance of the kingdom of Satirica resonated throughout. Many of them jumped because of joy while watching the army that had stopped the incoming catastrophic dragon. Flowers flew from all directions and landed on the gray brick road where the army was walking through.
Loki caught one of the red tulips flying around and smelled it. He was marching right in front of the formation and getting all of the attention of the people. He became known as the great commander who defeated a dragon in a legendary battle that demonstrated powerful attacks that could obliterate an entire kingdom.
On the other hand, the dragon that Loki saved was safe inside one of the carriages. The adventurers and knights agreed to his idea of bringing the dragon back to the kingdom—he took full responsibility and none of the warriors of Satirica had any negative notion about it.
While watching him walk, what could be seen on the faces of people were admiration and happiness.
Loki wandered his eyes through the massive crowd of people at the side of the roads, his face showing no emotion—giving off a strict and mysterious vibe aura lurking around him. 'What the shit! I am really popular now!' He screamed inside his head and looked at the army behind him, looking at him with respect in their eyes. "The task is done, go back where you came from and celebrate in your own way," Loki said and walked faster.
"As you command, Sir Loki!" Screamed the massive army.
"Loki!"
"Loki!"
The roaring shouts of the people sounded as Loki passed through.
"Sir Loki! Wave at us!"
"Our hero!"
"Sir Loki! Look here!"
'I am not good at dealing with this great attention! There's a good reason why I declined all the actor offers I had been getting back on Earth!' He screamed inside his head. He shook his head and stared at the smiles of the people continuously shouting his name. "But... It's not bad, I guess?" He said and gently waved his hand.
Then, the cheering became louder.
After several minutes of walking through the road, Loki and the adventurers reached the guild hall. Inside the guild hall, he received greetings and words of admiration from the other adventurers.
Then, we walked up to the second floor of the guild hall. Before knocking on the door, Loki sighed and put both of his hands on his knees. 'Finally... That was tiring.' He thought. He shook his head and walked toward the door. He knocked twice.
"Come in." Rupert's voice sounded inside.
Loki opened the door and found Rupert standing at the side of the window. Upon seeing Loki, Rupert's face brightened with a gentle smile. "Loki Morningwood... the new hero of Satirica."
'Yeah, all I did was to free a cute dragon girl... I didn't expect to come back being swarmed by tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people.' Loki thought.
"I knew you were strong... But I didn't expect you to be that strong." Rupert said and walked toward Loki. "Winning without any casualties—and against the most powerful type of dragon in existence? You made me more curious about you than I already had."
"Don't think too much about it... because I don't think you will find out more about me than you are already seeing. Anyway, I came here to address my concerns about that dragon's fate." Loki replied and sat on the sofa. "Although I am responsible for her because I spared her life, I learned that the kingdom is still the one who has a say on what would happen to her. Am I understanding it right?"
Rupert chuckled. "Not wasting time, I see." He commented. "If you came here to talk about the fate of the dragon... The kingdom is the only one that can decide what will happen to it. If the kingdom believes that it is a threat, the weakened dragon will be executed."
'What the fuck?' Loki slowly nodded. "Just like what I expected, you people are afraid of what you can't control and the first thing you will do at the first sign of being unable to put something under your influence is to eliminate it."
"You can't blame us, Loki, we humans have been through a lot... Dragons, dark lords, calamity, and many more. Eliminating threats before they could destroy us is one of our main ways of survival." Rupert said and a sinister smile emerged on his face. "Unless you have a say about it... You are the hero who saved this kingdom from the dragon and now you have the full support not only of the adventurers' guild but the majority of the people of the kingdom. You have acquired an influence on par with the king... only a suicidal fool would disregard your words."
Loki nodded and revealed a not-so-evil smirk on his lips. "Then... Tell this to them... Hurt the dragon and I will come for them." Loki stood up and stared at Rupert with his blazing blue eyes. "I don't remember hearing her killing anyone. All she did was burn some monsters and trees, which I would gladly take responsibility for if the kingdom wanted to. But killing a person—who was apparently under control by some kind of spell and was forced to cause chaos is something I cannot condone." Loki turned his back to Rupert.
"I will make sure that the kingdom will hear your message," Rupert replied. "Your warning will be heard clearly."
"Thank you," Loki said and walked out of the room. He closed the door and left Rupert alone.
On the other hand, Rupert remained silent for a few seconds, staring at the door.
"Loki Morningwood, your heart is as pure as your name," Rupert said and slowly nodded. "I knew you were a great person since the day I met you." Rupert walked toward the window and stared at the blue sky. "A true Class S adventurer by abilities and heart."