Two months flew by,
At the outskirts of Sixth-city, Azamiki, which was located at the northern border of Kararagi.
SHRIEEK!
A slim ground dragon rushed towards a tall figure, roaring out a battle cry.
Swoosh~
The ground dragon rammed into the tall figure with all its might. However to its shock, its headbutt had no effect at all, the figure remained unmoved.
"Sleep." A cold voice reached the ground dragon, when it saw two golden predatory eyes staring back at it.
As if the ground dragon's soul was pulled out of its body, it dropped to the ground weakly.
'Water magic of this world sure is useful.' Orsted felt slight satisfaction with his growth in magic control.
"Are we gonna eat this one?" Zarestia questioned.
"No, it has an owner." Orsted pointed at the carriage in the distance.
Since dragon blood could promote the growth of [Dragon seed], Orsted had tried eating a few ground dragons and the result wasn't very bright.
'The growth boost from a normal ground dragon's blood is too negligible. I could attain the same result by just practicing dragon slayer magic for an hour or two. I might as well just sell them off if I catch any ground dragons again.'
Most of the ground dragon Orsted ate belonged to bandits.
Zarestia showed her disappointment by pouting slightly. Unlike Orsted, she liked the taste of the ground dragon. None of the hotels she visited so far sold it either - making her more greedy for it.
'...She doesn't even need to eat. What a waste of money.' Orsted sighed internally and led her towards their destination - the Sixth-city.
"Those ground lizards always lose their mind the moment they see you. Being a [dragon god] must be hard!" Zarestia commented and held his hand naturally.
"Yeah...." Orsted didn't let her disturb his train of thought.
'She is getting too clingy these days, like an animal that just found what affection means. Though I get eye-candy a few times when I'm around her, I feel strange seeing how much trust she is racking up towards me.'
In Orsted's case, he couldn't even bring out basic trust against others. He was able to trust Zarestia to a degree only due to their contract.
Orsted treated watching Zarestia's naked body as stress relief, every time he saw her bath in the river or Bath-houses. However it was a rare occurrence, in the end, he liked using his time productively, to not have any regrets.
If Orsted wished so, he could have his way with Zarestia by forcing it a little. But he held off such thoughts and wanted her to take the initiative, he would rather not get cut in half by her, in the heat of the moment. Fortunately, while teaching her stuff, Orsted found that Zarestia was aware of the ritual of mating.
Nevertheless, it was hard being teacher Orsted.
Zarestia's attention span was comparable to a damn bee. While teaching about the complexity of relationships, he had to make her aware of being cautious against others too.
'And her killing urges haven't left her either, no matter how tamed. She still takes pride in being called a 'shinigami' too.' Orsted remembered how Zarestia introduced herself as a 'shinigami' in many places.
"Are we going to reach that Azamiki habitat at last?" Zarestia's eyes shone slightly. According to Orsted, both of her missing limbs lay there.
"Yeah, it should be just beside that mountain." Orsted pointed his chin towards one of the mountains and increased his speed slightly.
Originally, Orsted planned to travel and reach Azamiki within a month from the Ninth-city. However, the consequences of his rather greedy behaviour caught up to him at last.
The League of Cities broke their neutral stance and hired Halibel to kill Zarestia's thief more than a month ago. A decision fueled by the loss of a rare material like magic crystal.
The green lizardman with Zarestia's light sphere was strong, stronger than base Zarestia with only wind element, but he would still be no match for Halibel.
Beside strength, his subordinate wasn't very experienced in hiding his tracks either. A skilled tracker like Halibel could find him immediately.
Because of that, Orsted had to help him a dozen times to escape with [Shadow dragon slayer mode]. He had to slow down his travelling speed and help his subordinate jump from one place to another almost everyday.
'And Halibel still hasn't left his tail. Just what is he using to track that green lizardman? I will have to deal with it quickly....' Though worrying, it didn't make him stressed.
At their current relationship, Orsted was confident that Zarestia would decide to believe him, even if his connection with her thief was somehow unveiled.
It was at the level where Zarestia would support him even if Orsted decided to suddenly destroy a whole city.
Arriving at their destination, Orsted booked a room in the inn for a day. The price of the room was apparently higher than the other cities, which was due to Azamiki's tourist spot - the hot spring.
In the new room, Orsted relaxed and wondered which magic he should practice today.
Knowing it might cause a commotion, it was decided that they would search for Zarestia's limb at night.
And right now, it was still early evening.
"Now that I think about it, I haven't seen you remove that gauntlet even once since you made it." Zarestia naturally sought out his lap, laying down right beside him.
".... It's for protection." Orsted replied.
Already possessing a good sword, Orsted made a gauntlet he could use barehanded. He had a new shoulder guard on, alongside it too.
"You haven't taken off the bracelet I gave you, right?" Orsted asked suspiciously.
Zarestia clicked her tongue: "Of course not, I promised I wouldn't! I haven't taken it off once in the past two months! You are always like this...."
Zarestia showed her slim and pale wrist, which would make many underestimate her strength. In reality, she could kill a normal human with a simple punch.
A bracelet with flowing white marks adorned her wrist - it shone in the darkness of the room.
"Good girl." Orsted patted her head gently.
"Umm~"
Originally, he didn't plan on making protective equipment for Zarestia. But after watching her sleep so carelessly everyday, he had an urge to create one for her too.
'If she dies of her own carelessness, I wouldn't have anyone to blame. And it can save her from anyone who has ulterior motives like her followers too.'
The bracelet was tailor made for Zarestia by Orsted.
In reality, Zarestia didn't have to do anything. The bracelet, which Orsted named [anti-assassin bracelet] only had a single passive magic imbued to it.
[Anti-magical and anti-physical barrier] - it would cover the wearer's body at all times. It was like a degraded version of [saint dragon battle aura] used by the original Orsted. It could easily withstand a few saint-level magic and slashes from skilled swordsmen.
In the world of 'Jobless reincarnation' - barrier magic or protection of magic was divided into anti-magical aspect and anti-physical aspect. However, once barrier magic was mastered to saint level, it was possible to combine anti-magical and anti-physical aspects.
The [anti-assassin bracelet] had capacity to absorb mana from the atmosphere too, so Zarestia didn't have to consciously provide it with anything either. However, it was possible to enhance the barrier if she poured mana into the bracelet.
Knowing that Zarestia wouldn't be able to use any complicated item perfectly, Orsted had created it so.