As the altitude continued to decrease, the once thick clouds dispersed beneath my feet, revealing a city in my field of vision, a beautiful city! If my estimation is correct, this is my destination, the city of Malterin.
As the final leg of this aerial journey, or perhaps as a commemoration of it, I took out my water flask and downed the honey-infused concoction inside - my favorite wild bee honey mixed with water. After all, there was no need to conserve anymore. Along the way, I had been drinking sparingly to ensure a constant water supply, so each sip had been quite modest... What? Why didn't I bring a larger flask? Well, this was already the largest one I could find. Anything bigger would have required custom-ordering, and I didn't have the patience to wait for those craftsmen who loved to drag their feet.
The altitude dropped further, and people on the ground became visible. They exclaimed in surprise and scattered, which, while making my landing more convenient, still left me hoping they would come out to greet me. If there had been a welcoming procession, it would have been even better. In my childhood dreams, I aspired to become a court magician, and I imagined having a procession accompany me on all my outings. But, in reality, I've come to understand that this dream had little chance of realization. In the world today, which royal court lacks magicians? And even if they did, they wouldn't entrust a young person with the position. Magicians always gave the impression that the older they were, the more powerful they became. Young lads were just apprentices, at best.
The magic dragon descended with a flap of its wings, raising dust and wind. After it had landed completely, I gracefully hopped off its back, a motion so elegant that even I was highly satisfied with it. I am, after all, a perfectionist, and there are few things that satisfy me.
No one was around, but I could see the residents peering at me through their windows. Being the center of public attention did feel quite good. I'm sure that the graceful jump from the dragon's back had been noticed by many.
The grinding sound of the dragon's teeth made me turn my head. The dragon was giving me a look filled with resentment and gnashing its teeth as if it was about to pounce and swallow me whole. I could fully understand its hatred. After all, I had captured it and forced it to be my steed, flying us here for a whole six days. The poor creature had been flying tirelessly while I enjoyed food and drink on its back. The beast hadn't sipped a drop of water in six days. Nevertheless, had it been captured by someone else, it might have been killed immediately and turned into dragon jerky. I, at least, had spared its life.
The bindings on it were removed as I hopped off its back, and this dragon was free. It just stared at me without any hostile actions. Like all animals, it instinctively knew who was strong and who was weak, who was the hunter and who was the prey. It let out a howl full of sorrow, a sound only someone like me, who cares for animals, could hear. It was truly pitiful. Then, it unfolded its wings and flew up into the sky. While I wasn't sure if it understood, I still waved to bid it farewell. We had spent six days together, so in a way, we were companions.
After the dragon flew away, it took about fifteen minutes for people to slowly reappear in the square. They looked at me with a mixture of fear and curiosity. It seemed that I had left a lasting first impression.
"Malterin City, southern part... The Bear... Inn... opposite the shop..." I took out the note from the package and carefully analyzed its contents. Well, analyzing might be an overstatement, as there was no doubt that the note was terribly written. If the world of written words had a mother, it probably wouldn't recognize these utterly distorted children. I put in a lot of effort and used both deduction and guesswork to barely understand what was written. Back then, I was just too careless. I had set off as soon as I saw the first five words, but now I realized I should've examined the note more closely while on the dragon's back. Nonetheless, I decided to postpone any further brain-racking analysis. Since I had partially deciphered the message, I would first go and see what this Bear Inn was about. After all, I had come this far following the note's instructions without any issues, right?
"Is this the Bear Inn?" I looked up at the sign on the door. The place was true to its name, though I won't say more about it. Just the scent wafting from inside was enough to tell me what type of customers this inn catered to. However, it seemed I had no other choice. Across from the inn, there was a pile of ruins, which had clearly been demolished recently. Even though I was dressed in a new and handsome robe, I decided to enter the inn.
"Handsome sir, what can I get you?" I had barely walked in when a perfumed innkeeper approached. Although her body emanated the clear and cheap scent of perfume - a fragrance that, to me, was more nauseating than all the other odors in the inn combined - I still couldn't help but feel a little delighted. When a woman calls a man "handsome," it's always a little heartwarming. Although I considered myself quite handsome, the mask on half my face meant I rarely received such compliments. Plus, this time, she had added a "handsome" in front of it.
"Just bring me some kind of drink!" I figured I should order something before asking questions; otherwise, no one would bother answering. The girl went off, and I noticed the growing number of eyes filled with inexplicable hostility around me. But I remained composed. My robe was very elegant and expensive, and jealousy from onlookers was inevitable. Plus, I was sure no one here would dare to lay a hand on me. They could probably tell I was a magician from my attire, and picking a fight with a magician was simply foolish. Besides, I still had that half-mask on my face, which gave people an element of mystery. Those who wanted to fight you almost always believed they had figured out your secrets.
The eyes filled with resentment multiplied. As I began counting them, the girl returned with a glass of ice-cold water. Before she could put the glass down, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her into my lap, gazing into her eyes with the most charming look I could muster. Just as I had expected, she let out a giggle and, in one swift move, sat down in my lap. In an instant, there were two-digit increases in the number of resentful eyes around me.
Getting her so easily made me feel uncomfortable, though. I didn't know if it was my real charm or the valuable robe I was wearing that had led her to make this choice. People say magicians are often a bit eccentric, and perhaps I was one of those eccentric minds. My initial attempt at flirtatious conversation was entirely forgotten. The pungent scent of cheap perfume assaulted my nose again, and I couldn't bring myself to take the next step. After a brief struggle of a couple of seconds, I decided to put an end to this affair.