Reincarnated as the Strongest Dragon

“I have never met anyone higher than S before. And to think that it’s such a cute girl,” Nadia said as we walked toward the dismantling area.

“I just got promoted.”

“I know. The guildmaster informed us about a new SSS promotion. He also said that you didn’t want to stand out, so we should treat you like normal.”

Is that his way of trying to accommodate me? Maybe he remembers his younger days.

“Oh? How nice of him.”

“I usually work at the B+ counter, so I’ve been hoping to meet you.”

“I… See?”

Suddenly, Nadia's professional demeanor changed. “How old are you? What do you specialize in? Do you have a party? What’s the strongest monster you have defeated?”

“Calm down. I can’t answer a hundred questions at once.”

“I’m sorry. Strong adventurers really excite me. I started working here just so I could meet them.”

So, Nadia's true personality is a fangirl for strong adventurers. I could probably get this one in bed without even trying… I could? Don’t I mean I can? How did my thoughts immediately go to that? I guess I have Liz… Right? It’s not like we have talked about it. For all I know, she will stay in Baruda after we get back. I did ask, but she didn’t really give me an answer. Come on, confident thoughts! I’m not a timid introvert anymore… This is just all so new. 

I wonder what Liz would think if she knew what went on inside my head? It would shatter the image of that perfect being she talked about, for sure. No one is perfect.

As I vaguely answered some questions for the squealing fangirl, I noticed the long line of people at the dismantling counters. Going to the B+ queue was the right choice. We went inside and picked up my materials.

Nadia picked up a clipboard and changed back into her work personality. “About the money for the materials of the behemoth and the other monsters, we would prefer to pay out a maximum of 20% of it and put the rest on your card if that’s okay?”

Does she have a switch to flip or something? It’s almost like encountering a different person. Nonetheless, compared to Saria, who occasionally treats her boss as an intern, and Hanna, who, well, is Hanna, I find Nadia to be the most normal of the bunch I have interacted with so far. It’s good that she is in charge of the B+ counter.

“Why is that?”

“The amount is too large. We need to sell some of the materials first.”

“Alright, that’s fine with me.”

I don’t really care much for the credit card system since I have my [Inventory]. But if I insisted on getting a full cash payout, they probably wouldn’t have a copper left to pay any of the other adventurers.

I got a bulging bag of coins and tossed it into [Inventory]. “I would also like to have a frost wyrm, two yetis, and two wendigos dismantled. Would that be possible? I will be keeping all the materials from these, though.”

“Most certainly, you can put them in the cold storage,” She said and pointed toward the door where I had put the previous batch of monsters.

 

After finishing my business and escaping Nadia’s ongoing questions, I left the adventurers guild, walked into my favorite alley, and returned to the inn. When I came back, I asked them to send up breakfast for two of whatever they recommended and went back to our room.

“Good morning again,” I said as I sat down next to Liz, who was still sleeping. “I ordered breakfast, so how about you get up and eat with me?”

“Mhmn”

“Isn’t it time you woke up now?” I asked and poked her cheeks.

“I’m… Awake…” She said and dozed back off.

There was a knock on the door, and I opened it to find a man pushing a trolley positively heaving with different kinds of food. It seemed when I said breakfast for two, they must have thought I meant two horses. The man put everything on a table and took his leave.

I went back into the bedroom and started poking Liz’s cheeks again. “The food is here.”

Liz didn’t say anything and just pulled the cover over her head.

“I didn’t want to do this, but you leave me no choice,” I said and slid my hand under the cover and pinched her nipple.

“AUW!” Liz yelled and jolted up, now wide awake.

“Good morning sleepyhead. Breakfast is served,” I said with a smile.

“What did you do that for?” Liz squinted at me while covering her chest.

“It was either that or dump ice on you.”

“But it’s your fault I’m so tired!” Liz protested.

“Remember at the guild when I said you were going to get punished?” I asked with a smirk.

“If that's your idea of punishment, then I might have to misbehave more often,” Liz said with a small grin.

“Next time the punishment is withholding it,” I said, caressing her cheek. “Now get up. The food is already on the table.”

Liz reluctantly got up and dressed before taking a seat at the table. However, she perked up a bit after seeing the plethora of food.

“So, how are you feeling?”

“Sore. My back is killing me,” Liz murmured in response.

“I guess I did go overboard a little. I sometimes forget that you are new at this,” I said while pouring some kind of fruit juice into two glasses.

"Don’t forget that I’m also human," Liz said, rubbing her lower back. "Do you think I can get points at the guild for surviving a whole night with a merciless dragon?"

“I won’t do it again since you seem to be against the idea,” I said with a pout.

“I never said that. I just didn’t expect to be this sore afterward.”

I held out my hand over the table and used [Greater Heal]. “Better?”

Liz rubbed her lower back. “Yes, thank you. But I do get worried about the fact that you had to use healing magic on me.”

“Noted,” I grinned. “So what do you want to do today?”

“I want to start training. I haven't done anything for several days now,” She said and picked up a sandwich. “If you keep spoiling me like this, I will become useless.”

“Okay, I have a quest to take care of in the meantime so that works out.”

“What kind of quest?”

“Taking care of two fire wyrms some distance away. Apparently, they pushed out the other monsters from their territories, and it’s making a mess.”

“Where is it?”

“Uhm, somewhere east,” I said and pondered. “Two or so hours in dragon form. I should be done by the time you finish getting accustomed to your increased stats.”

“Speaking of stats. There is something that I don’t understand.”

“Okay? What is it?”

“Why didn’t I get sick from all the stats when you used buffs on me?”

“Would you believe me if I said I didn’t know?”

Liz faked a gasp. “Something involving magic that the dragon queen doesn’t know?” 

"Well, in short, it’s because I only buffed your stamina and intellect. Since they aren’t considered offensive stats, your body doesn't need to get used to them in the same way."

“So I can’t handle casting spells if you buff my mind stat?”

"It depends on the amount of stats you receive. With the 5% buff from me? Honestly, I wouldn’t want to try. You would probably be lucky if passing out was all that happened. But that is part of the thing I don't fully understand. Stat increases from gear and status effects are easier to use without drawbacks."

“What do you mean?”

"For example, if a fighter class with 500 strength gained 300 strength from advancing to another class, he would need time to adjust. But if he got 300 strength from gear or buffs, he would be okay. My best guess is that it has something to do with the magic imbued in the gear and buffs that help compensate. I don’t know the exact logic behind it."

“I guess it makes sense that you would have to ask a dragon about something outlandish as increasing your stats too fast,” Liz said with a smirk.

“But as I said, I’m not really sure. People don’t go around talking about their stats so getting reliable information is hard.”

It’s not like I could experiment on people in good conscience. I almost decided to try it on some bandits in the past, but I chose not to. Can’t remember why. Maybe I should do that the next time I’m in that situation? Death by lightning or death by buff is the same in the end. And it would satisfy my curiosity.

“Was it the same in the past? That people didn’t talk about their stats and skills?”

“It was worse. They even held their class a secret.”

“Why? Wouldn’t it be easy to figure out?”

“Not really. There are lots of different mage classes for example. And they kept it a secret for their safety.”

“For their safety?”

“To hide their weaknesses. There used to be a lot of fighting between adventurers if they met in dungeons. People they disliked or just wanted to steal from were prime targets. It wasn’t easy to prove a crime had been committed without witnesses either.”

“That sounds horrible.”

“Is it better now?”

“I would say so.”

I looked at Liz and raised an eyebrow. “Even considering you were stabbed and left for dead last week?”

“That was an exception.”

“And Mira got kidnapped.”

“That was…” Liz paused. “Maybe it’s not as safe as I thought…”

“Might just be an exception,” I said, trying to change the subject. “Shall we get going? It’s time to train.”

“Well, it’s too late to say no now.”

We finished eating and got ready to leave. 

“What should we do about the room?” I asked.

“We are staying in the capital for a few more days, right? Should we stay here?”

“We can if you want. I feel a bit bad about getting it for free, though. We could do with a room half the size, and it would still be too much.”

“Maybe we could ask for a smaller room?”

“They might complain about the noise then,” I said and grinned at Liz. 

“I wasn’t that loud!” Liz protested.

I stifled a laugh. “Right, let’s just see how it feels when we get back.”