Welcome to the Monsters' Guild ~ The Strongest Group Who Did Everything, for a Price ~ Chapter 2

"Monsters are attacking!"

The lookout’s voice echoed from the walls of Dekuch.
Soldiers hurried over, immediately shut the gates and prepared their bows.

"Where are they?!"

No matter where they looked, not a single monster could be found.

"Up there! In the sky!"

Then, a huge shadow blackened the sky.
A cloud pa.s.sing by?
But when they looked at the sky, their hopes were brutally betrayed.

The figure of a huge, winged and horned reptile was blocking the sunlight.
In its eyes sparkled the vivid glimmer of intelligence.

"A-A dragon…"

Every soldier started murmuring the same words.
That was indeed the shape of a dragon, the most powerful and feared beast in the entire world.
The unstoppable predator that struck fear in the hearts of its preys.
Facing one meant that it was impossible to avoid death, even if they tried to flee.

The soldiers, preparing for their death, unconsciously fell on their bottom.

"Excuse me! Could you let us enter the city?"

That voice was so clear that it was totally out of place.
But it was salvation for the soldiers.
They immediately started searching for the source of the voice, but no matter how hard they tried, it was nowhere to be seen.

"I’m up here!"

That mysterious voice came from the sky.
It looked like the absolute epitome of death, who would make everyone tremble in fear, was speaking.
The soldiers kept their eyes peeled.

"h.e.l.lo! Can you let us in?"

Then, they saw someone on the dragon’s back.

"He’s riding it?!"

The soldiers were horribly shocked.

◆

"I-I see, so you’re a tamer…"

Beside him, there was a white horse with a horn sprouting from its forehead.
The soldiers escorting Raiz stayed at a safe distance from him, and the people occasionally sent curious gazes at the peculiar couple.

Raiz asked the guards if they could show him the way to the city mayor’s house.

"Yes. We couldn't find a job since the end of the war, so we decided to open a shop. That's why we've come here."

"A shop…? For the dragon?"

The soldiers didn’t have idea of the kind of shop a dragon tamer would open, so they started imagining the beast selling goods like a shop a.s.sistant.

No, this can’t be.

"We mainly want a home."

"I see… Okay, we've arrived."

The soldier pointed his finger at a house that stood out slightly more than others.

"Thank you for escorting us here."

"Y-You’re welcome… We’ll go back to our positions."

They seemed to flee as they got back to the walls.

"Good grief, did they really leave us alone like this?"

The astonished unicorn sighed looking at them.

"Well, they're just common soldiers, people whose duty is to protect their positions."

His words were soaked in cynicism as he knocked at the mayor’s door.

◆

"h.e.l.lo, I’m the mayor of this town. My name is Dapta."

They were brought to a large room, probably made specifically for receiving guests.
Raiz sat on a chair placed on the other side of the table that divided him from the mayor, a chubby man

"h.e.l.lo, I’m Raiz Tamer."

"So, Sir Raiz, what brings you in my city? Bringing a dragon…"

While terrified at the beast that could be seen outside the window, the mayor tried to probe Raiz intentions.

"Well…"

Raiz gave a sidelong glance at the st.u.r.dy man near the mayor before starting to negotiate.

"Oh, right! This adventurer is Trow, this city’s Guild Master. He also collaborates to maintain public order!"

The mayor happily tried to change topic.

"Feel free to call me Trow, n.o.ble Raiz."

Trow thought that Raiz was a n.o.ble of some sorts, since he introduced himself using his full name, and decided to point it out.

"No, my last name is just a t.i.tle given to me during the war. I'm the first of my generation."

In this world, t.i.tles relative to battle merits are rare. They are mainly for honor.
People who overworked themselves are attributed t.i.tles rather than rewarded with money.
That's the reason part of the army's wages are so low.

That isn’t actually true in the long run, but this is another topic.

"So, why are you here?"

Trow took over the discussion, but Raiz maintained the calm and continued the negotiations.

"You can guess from the dragon that I’m a tamer."

"A tamer?!"

Squealed the mayor.

Tamers were nothing unusual, but someone who tamed a dragon was in a completely different cla.s.s.
That's because to tame a beast of that level, one would need un unyielding spirit and incredible talent.

Why is someone this amazing here, thought the mayor.
Trow as well started to get tense.
He tamed a dragon and even acquired a t.i.tle… If my guess is right, he’s surely…!

"Actually, I’ve come to ask for an available place that can be managed by me for my monsters."

"…What?"

The request was so unexpected that the two of them were completely flabbergasted.