The streets of Osterburg were paved with blue-gray stone slabs, polished to a shine by countless hooves and soles.
The buildings on both sides were mostly a mix of wood and stone. The second floors often jutted out, making the view of the sky above the street somewhat narrow; sunlight could only cut in at an angle, illuminating the dust clearly.
As the two little dragons walked down the street, their turn-back rate remained a solid one hundred percent.
This was not only because of that impossibly exquisite face, but even more so because the physique was simply too burly, walking with a strange sense of cadence.
Like a mecha that hadn't been properly lubricated.
"Left... a bit more to the left," Caesar's muffled voice emanated from the chest area, audible only to Cecilia above.
"I know, I know, you're so annoying," Cecilia muttered in a low voice, tilting her head slightly to the left, pretending to look at the roadside scenery while actually serving as a mobile periscope for Caesar below.
This "dual-pilot" mode required an extremely high level of coordination.
Unfortunately, their coordination was negative.
They had basically bid farewell to any possibility of starring in "Pacific Rim."
This caused Miss "Hakime" to stop inexplicably from time to time or suddenly shift a step sideways, nearly colliding with passing carriages.
Just then, a crowd gathered around a notice board ahead, pointing and discussing loudly.
Caesar loved joining in on the excitement, especially human excitement, so he controlled the body to squeeze through.
Relying on his 2.2-meter height and broad frame, the civilians in front were pushed to the sides by a great force before they could even react.
"Ow! Who's being so rude!"
The person who was pushed aside was about to curse, but upon turning around and seeing that cloaked figure like a black tower, along with those cold red eyes beneath the hood, they immediately swallowed their curses and made way with a forced smile.
In the most prominent position on the notice board, several guards were brushing on paste and sticking up a brand-new piece of parchment.
The paper was large, and the words on it were written in bold red pigment, carrying a hint of bloodiness.
"...Notice to the entire city: as of today, a bounty is offered for the capture of the vicious Dragon 'blue demon'! This Dragon destroyed the Blackrock Mine belonging to the Rose Chamber of Commerce three days ago, causing significant casualties and property damage. Appraised by the Imperial Secretary, this monster possesses high intelligence and extreme destructive power, and its danger Rank has been increased..."
Relying on his height advantage, Caesar saw the brand-new wanted poster at a glance; the latter was drawn a bit more "exquisitely" than the one he had seen in the border town.
Although the subject was still a blue toad squatting on the ground, this time the artist had "thoughtfully" added a dorsal fin and a shark-like tail to the toad, and its claws were drawn as thick, short fingers. Most vivid of all were those eyes—a pair of golden vertical pupils that exuded a sort of stupidly cute ferocity.
Below the portrait was a line of startling numbers.
"Bounty: 50,000 Imperial Gold Rolands."
Looking at that long string of zeros, Caesar's vertical pupils contracted slightly.
Fifty thousand.
If he cut off his own head and turned it in, his food expenses for the rest of his life would be settled.
"Pfft..."
An uncontrollable laugh came from above Caesar's head.
Cecilia's eyes widened as she pointed at the portrait, her entire head shaking on Caesar's shoulder.
"Hahahaha... Caesar! They actually dare to call you a demon? And they drew you as this... squishy swamp creature?"
The little Silver Dragon laughed so hard she doubled over, tears almost coming out.
She laughed while patting the top of Caesar's head, making "thump-thump" sounds.
"How could they draw you like this... hahaha... so talented... this is way uglier than the real you..."
"Shut up," Caesar squeezed out two words through his teeth.
"I can't... I can't help it... haha... swamp creature..."
The next second, Cecilia's laughter stopped abruptly, turning into a short scream.
"Ow!"
The thick tail hidden beneath the cloak and robe rose silently and struck her thigh with precision and no mercy.
The world became quiet.
Cecilia clutched her leg, eyes teary; she was furious but didn't dare speak, only able to glare at the portrait with a venomous gaze as if she wanted to stare a hole through that toad.
The surrounding crowd also erupted in excitement because of the high bounty.
"Fifty thousand gold coins! My god! Are they trying to catch a Dragon?" a man dressed as a Mercenary exclaimed.
"It says here that the culprit who caused the chaos at the Lordaeron border mine is this 'blue demon'!"
"It looks like this? What kind of monster is it? A new species?"
"Who cares what species it is? Fifty thousand gold coins! That's enough for me to retire and buy a manor back in my hometown!"
Listening to the discussions around him, Caesar also sighed inwardly.
Fifty thousand gold coins—these humans were truly willing to pay a high price.
He was now certain that his "appearance" had already made him public enemy number one in Osterburg, and even the entire Lordaeron border.
"Let's go, business first."
Passing through the narrow alleys, the city's bustle enveloped them once again.
Shops lined both sides of the street. The clanging of iron came from a Dwarf blacksmith shop, Felin's herb shop had dried exotic plants hanging at the door, an Orc-run butcher shop emitted a rich aroma of roasted meat, and Goblin peddlers pushed creaking carts, hawking all sorts of strange trinkets.
Caesar observed all of this through the gaps in his cloak.
This air mixed with sweat, the aroma of food, and the body odors of various races was, to him, the long-lost scent of "civilization."
After being a wild Dragon in the Dragon Spine Mountain Range for a year, he had almost forgotten what human society looked like.
"Business first," Caesar reminded the pendant above who was still sulking. "Find an alchemy shop and buy some Arcane Leather."
Synthesizing Materials was the priority. He was already impatient to use Weather Ball.
The two dragons soon found an alchemy shop with a sign that read "Bottles and Jars."
The shopkeeper was a thinning-haired human old man wearing a monocle. Seeing the tall figure of "Hakime" enter, he only lifted his eyelids slightly.
"Buying what?"
"Arcane Leather," Caesar spoke using his low-pitched ventriloquism.
"None," the old man replied curtly.
"Not even one piece?"
"None in all of Osterburg," the old man waved his hand impatiently. "Starting half a month ago, someone bought up all the Arcane Leather on the market, and the price has skyrocketed. Right now, there's a price but no supply, understand? Don't block my business."
Caesar fell silent.
Cecilia, however, let out a thoughtful "hmm" above his head.
"Buying up basic magic Materials in bulk..." she plotted in a low voice. "In my memories, this usually only has three possibilities: war preparations, a large-scale ritual, or... some clumsy alchemist trying to replicate an ancient creation, and he must have gotten the core of the recipe wrong, thinking quantity can compensate for quality."
"So they're planning something big?"
With Cecilia's head on top of his, Caesar asked at several alchemy shops and armor shops in a row, only to receive the same answer.
Arcane Leather, the basic material for making storage equipment and Elementary magic scrolls, had been monopolized.
This was going to be troublesome.
Without Arcane Leather, he couldn't synthesize the Weather Ball, and his chances of winning against that Charizard would drop significantly.
Even though he had Sandstorm to fight with, what Caesar sought was to crush that old rival without any suspense.
"What should we do?" Cecilia also sensed the severity of the problem and asked in a low voice.
Caesar didn't answer. He stood at a crossroad, his gaze fixed on an exceptionally busy building not far away.
It was a three-story stone and wood structure with a large wooden sign hanging at the door, carved with a crossed sword and staff. Adventurers of all races were coming and going, their clamor audible from across the street.
The Adventurers Guild.
A hub for information, a center for posting quests, and a gathering place for trouble.
Caesar's gaze fell on that building, and an idea had already taken shape.
Since he couldn't buy it, he would post a quest and let others find it. What he lacked least right now was money; the treasures he had looted from the human adventure groups were enough for him to live like a lord for a long time.
"Go there," Caesar drove his body forward, walking toward the Adventurers Guild.
Just as they passed a tavern next to the guild, a rich aroma of ale mixed with the charred scent of roasted meat wafted out from the half-open wooden door.
*Gulp...*
A clear sound of swallowing rang in Caesar's ear.
He glanced down and saw a string of crystalline liquid sliding down the inner wall of the cloak, wetting the scales on his chest.
Cecilia's drool was coming down.
"Wait, Earth Dragon," the Silver Dragon girl's head turned uncontrollably toward the tavern, her eyes flashing with a light of longing. "There's the scent of berries in there... and a faint aura of Moon Well water. That's no ordinary liquid; it's a beverage mixed with magic Materials. inheritance memories tell me it can slightly nourish mana circuits."
"That's alcohol; children can't drink it."
"Oh, but I am a great True Dragon," Cecilia retorted righteously. "inheritance memories tell me that our ancestors loved drinking, especially fruit wine trodden by long-ears!"
"Guild first..." Caesar's mouth couldn't help but twitch. "By the way, those weren't 'proper' dragons, were they?"
"Then let's say it more properly," she changed her tone. "Detected high-concentration unknown fermented beverage aroma, suspected to be a degraded variant of 'elf-trodden fruit wine.' According to Chapter Three of 'True Dragon Dietary Research,' I have an obligation to sample and analyze it to improve the Dragon Clan's information database on lower civilizations' dietary cultures."
Caesar: "...Speak Dragon."
"I'm conducting necessary field research. Aren't you curious why Dwarf beards can be soaked in ale? This is a cultural phenomenon... anyway, let's drink together, then go!"
Cecilia couldn't keep up the act anymore and began begging on Caesar's shoulder. Her petite body erupted with a force inconsistent with its size, making Miss "Hakime" wobble in place like a tumbler doll.
Caesar was also having a hard time holding it together; he felt that sooner or later, he would be driven to a brain hemorrhage by this idiot.
Just then, several ill-intentioned figures exchanged glances in the shadows of a street corner.
Leading them was a Scar-faced Man who licked his dry lips, his gaze firmly locked on "Hakime."
"Boss, look at that chick; her curves are better than Jack's," a skinny, monkey-like thief whispered.
"Curves aren't important," the Scar-faced Man's mouth curled into a grin, revealing a row of yellow teeth. "What's important is that I just saw her casually pull out a ruby at a meat stall."
"A ruby?!" The breathing of the other accomplices grew heavy, their eyes practically spinning.
"Can't be wrong. Don't mind her appearance; looking at that face, she's probably some runaway noble Young Miss. This kind of person is the easiest to target—lots of money, stupid, and cowardly," the Scar-faced Man asserted. "And look at how awkwardly she walks, with no guard around her. She's simply a fat sheep delivered to our door."
"Then we..."
"Follow her," the Scar-faced Man made a gesture. "Wait until she enters a deserted place, and let her know what Oster's hospitality is all about!"
"The five of us brothers will strike together! We'll make sure she can't defend front or back!"
"Heeheehee, the ultimate humiliation?"
"That's right, the ultimate humiliation!"
The several thieves silently vanished into the crowd, turning into a few inconspicuous shadows following far behind the woman.
Heeheehee, tonight... someone's going to suffer—!