—Do you think there is a lunar veil over us?

That was the question the young man asked me as soon as I poured the drink he asked for. To say young was not the most accurate way to address me, he didn't look much younger than me, but something about him made me express myself that way.

He had a scar over his right eye, being partly covered by a lock of dark brown hair, extending further up his head leading to a somewhat disheveled hairstyle, resembling a duck's tail at its end. He wore a brown leather vest and just above it a gray cloak down to below his hips.

The shoes he had on, as well as his pants were noticeably battered from the extensive walking he must have done. Even with that, I couldn't notice any dirt on his skin or clothes except for his shoes.

—I'm sorry, I don't think I understood, what do you mean," I asked in an attempt to continue the conversation.

—You'll see..." he said bringing his face closer to the drink, "the scholars of the great academies of the kingdom say that very possibly the Moon in the past would have been much closer to the Earth, moving away after some event yet to be explained, leaving in its place a kind of veil that covers the entire night sky making the true nature of the Moon is hidden from our sight... or something like that, more or less that's what I heard, I don't know much about these things.

I didn't even know what to say, did he think talking about it with me was a good idea?

—It sounds pretty interesting, it means a breakthrough in world science.

—Yes but, I don't know, it sounds very unnatural, don't you think it's strange that the Moon itself hides its actual presence and luminous fluctuation. We can barely discern its round and bright silhouette in the sky.

Where did this weirdo come from? He still hadn't grabbed his drink. Why was he bothering to talk to me when he had rushed in earlier?

—Excuse me, I'm a bit exhausted and I'm blurting out unnecessary information to people I don't know... I'm Ray by the way.

—Oh, a pleasure, my name is Fionor, as you can see I'm a bartender at this bar. Where are you from Ray?

The boy looked at me with a lost and nostalgic look:

"I have no idea the truth, I don't know where I come from, nor who my parents are or were. I grew up in Isturia, I could say that's where I come from.

—Isturia? Wow, amazing, an arid region that enjoys great beauty, a great and solid economy and friendly and jovial people, if you ask me it's amazing that they are so well off living in a desert.

Ray looks at me and smiles as cheerfully as I could imagine just from an istur and said,

"I never really thought about it. It's just things that can and did happen. It's a good place to grow up, I have no complaints. By the way... Fionor, I have another question if I may.

—Of course," I answered hoping it wasn't something more about the moon.

—Have you heard in this city or nearby about a dragon?

—A dragon?! Eh... well I wouldn't know, I don't think it's something hard to see, but, since you mention it, there was a fire in the mountain a few days ago, although there was a storm that put it out in time before it spread any further. I think it could have been a lightning strike prior to the storm, the problem is that we didn't hear any thunder or see any flashes.

—Are you saying it could have been the dragon?

—It could be, but shouldn't we have noticed it by now? Besides, why are you asking me this?

—Well, in very simple terms, because I'm here to hunt it, even if I have no idea if there is one in the first place," he exclaimed with a smile.

As soon as he said that I was shocked in several ways. Is this guy crazy?

How confident you must have been to think that a single person is capable of capturing or even killing a dragon. It would take a small army just to subdue it and with any luck, kill it.

That being so, just in case it was a common dragon, if we are talking about Catastrophe class specimens, it would take an entire wizard guild to deal with it, it is said that even the current Demon King rides one of these supreme dragons, taking it into combat making any of his enemies tremble at its presence.

Hence my face reflected disbelief at what he said, something he apparently managed to notice:

—It's okay, you don't have to say anything, I'm just here doing my duty, don't be impressed by how strong I am.

Or maybe not...

—Hehehe well, I think that was enough talk, this is the bill for the drink- I said handing him the paper.

—Of course, here and a bonus for the talk, not everyone takes the time to listen to me. Bye Fionor, it was a pleasure.

—Hey but it's not ne... —As fast as he had arrived he left, leaving me with many doubts. Was he really looking for a dragon by himself? Did he understand how suicidal his mission was?

—Whatever, clients like this I have all the time.

Living in Liorm is a wonderful thing, that was the first sentence I said to myself when I woke up this morning. The weather was sunny and everything was in motion early in the morning.

Undoubtedly the human kingdom was the best of all, nothing to do with the elves, despite their charming traditions there was not much more to do, the region inhabited by the giants was too...gigantic? It is a redundancy but it fits perfectly to what I mean, it is no place for beings of my size.

I never visited the Fairy Kingdom, and for obvious reasons I would never visit the demonic region, although I understand that they are not all monsters without reason and have raised a great civilization, I really don't care.

My name is Ray. Officially no last name, the person who took me in wanted to give me his last name, so I'm Ray Hunt, 18 years old, adventurer of the Hunters guild, my hobbies are watching the clouds, dreaming of being one and floating away being carried by the wind and... who am I telling this to?

—I should move to that mountain, I don't think it's around here- I said to myself-Ha... what laziness, I hope the boss will have mercy on me next time, it's not healthy to move so much from here to there.

I didn't think this would get so complicated, I thought it would be just a misunderstanding, that there was no dragon, that I could go back to the guild soon and ask for compensation for the mistake, ah, I just hope it doesn't end up being a waste of time. Maybe on my way back I should talk to Mei, I love to annoy her when she thinks she's important.

I walked towards the mountain and indeed, I saw a huge open field product of a fire, noticing on the ground the charred remains of trees, the area was large, but smaller than I imagined. I felt no trace of magic, singing to myself the best song of victory that Liorm could offer.

But wishes vanish as quickly as your first reward, I learned that too young for my liking if you ask me. I certainly didn't notice traces of magic, but I immediately saw a large dragon scale the size of a soup bowl glinting amidst all the charcoal, making me say only one thing:

"I'll have to try hard."