The Walk Back Home
After Kathe left, we started to walk back towards the capital.
Nia and Grulf were not nearly as cheerful as during the beginning of the walk.
Grulf was especially tired.
“Grulf. Are you alright?”
“Grr.”
“What about you, Nia?”
“I’m fine!”
It was an hours walk back to the capital. A completely manageable distance.
But then again, we ran as fast as we could and then killed goblins, so they were likely tired.
Nia and Grulf were still young.
In fact, they seemed to be about the same age.
Lord Gerberga was sleeping in my breastplate.
It was his nap time, I guess. I hoped he had a good rest.
“Grr.”
“What is it, Grulf? You wanted Kathe to take us back?”
“Grrr.”
It seemed that he would have preferred that to walking.
Which suggested he had gotten over his fear of the dragon.
“Grulf. After Kathe shouted so loudly, people will be on the lookout.”
“Yes, that is true. People will see us if we rode on the back of a dragon.”
“Exactly, Nia is right.”
Nia looked a little bashful.
“Still, let me know if either of you are really tired. And then I will carry you.”
“I am fine!”
“Grr…”
Grulf went behind me and put his front paws on my shoulders.
He was fully prepared to take me up on my offer.
“Grulf, how about you try walking just a little more…”
“Grr?”
Grulf was nearly the size of a horse, so I didn’t actually want to carry him.
And so I took him down and encouraged him to walk more.
We passed the western hills on our way back.
Goran and several Adventurers and ten knights were there.
Goran was likely with the best of the guild.
Which meant they would have all been A-ranks.
As for the knights, their armor suggested they were part of the royal guard.
So Eric must have sent them.
Goran noticed me and walked over to us.
“Groof-groof!”
“Grulf. Good boy. I’ll play with you later.”
Goran said as he pulled out some dried meat and offered it to Grulf.
“So, this ‘Locke’ that the dragon was calling was you after all?”
“Yes.”
“I see… I thought it might be.”
“Now that I think of it, I didn’t tell you about Kathe yet, did I?”
“Kathe?”
And so I gave him a short outline of what had happened.
“You should have told me this sooner!”
“I’m sorry. I forgot. It didn’t seem related to the vampires and dark ones at first.”
“Still…”
“I’ll visit you at your house later and tell you the rest. What time will you be back?”
“No, I will visit you when my work is done.”
“Alright. I’ll be waiting.”
And then Goran went back to tell the Adventurers and knights.
Hopefully he could explain to them that there was no danger in a satisfying manner.
It would be hard, since he couldn’t talk about me. I felt bad for him.
I would apologize about it later.
And so we continued our journey.
“Grulf. Do you feel better now?”
“Groof.”
Perhaps it was because of the meat, but he seemed more energetic now.
I would have to remember to bring food with us next time for him to snack on.
We went through the city gates and walked straight towards the house.
We had killed a goblin lord and a Vampire Lord.
It was your duty to make a report about powerful enemies whether you killed them or not.
This information helped the guild understand the distribution, or population of strong monsters.
However, I had already told Goran, so it was probably fine.
Besides, it was not likely that they would believe that two F-rank Warriors had killed a goblin lord.
“Maybe we should buy something for the others.”
“Groof-groof!”
“A gift?”
“Is there anything you want to eat?”
“Snacks…”
“Groof!”
Grulf agreed with Nia’s suggestion.
And so we entered a candy store and bought a lot of cookies.
“Can wolves eat cookies?”
“Groof?”
Grulf looked worried.
He sensed the danger of being deprived of cookies.
“Grulf is a spirit beast, so it should be alright.”
“Really? What a relief, eh, Grulf?”
“Groof-groof!”
Grulf looked happy.
When we reached the mansion, Milka greeted us.
“Mister Locke. Welcome back! That was a very long walk.”
“A lot happened… Oh, we got you all something.”
“Snacks! I’ll put on some tea!”
Grulf wagged his tail excitedly.
“Wait. The snacks can come later!”
Grulf’s tail stopped in mid-air at Milka’s declaration.
“We should have lunch first! It’s mostly ready now, so I’ll bring it right away.”
And with that, Grulf’s tail wagged with a renewed vigor.
Even Lord Gerberga seemed to have been roused by the word ‘lunch,’ as he immediately woke up.
And with a flutter of wings, he popped out of the breastplate.
We had left right after breakfast, and so it was already time for lunch.
As soon as Milka left, Luchila, Serulis and Shia came in.
“Welcome back. Did Lord Gerberga enjoy his walk?”
“Yes. I think he got plenty of exercise.”
“Cluck-cluck.”
Lord Gerberga jumped into Luchila’s arms.
“Mister Locke. Kathe was so loud today.”
“You could hear it from here…?”
It must have echoed throughout the whole city. Damn that dragon.
“Welcome back. I hope that Nia didn’t cause you any trouble?”
“She didn’t cause any trouble at all.”
“That is good.”
Shia gently patted her sister on the head.
And then Milka returned.
“Here’s your lunch!”
“Thank you.”
“Here you go, Grulf.”
“Groof-groof.”
“And this is for you, Lord Gerberga.”
Grulf’s tail wagged.
His lunch was a mass of grilled meat.
Lord Gerberga’s lunch was a bowl of vegetables.
Lord Gerberga ate more than the average chicken.
As we ate lunch, I said,
“Now, let me tell you what happened on our walk.”
And everyone looked at me with interest.