I'm Not an Earthworm, I'm an Earth Dragon

The buildings were generally small. Compared to the cities I had visited before, and even to where I had originally been, they felt noticeably smaller.

Or maybe the massive tower in the center had shattered my sense of scale. A tower so thick that it could house a modest village within its walls distorted my perception.

Without that tower, things might have seemed more normal in size. But with such a gigantic comparison, everything else appeared dwarfed. Not that it mattered anyway. I had no business going inside.

Wanting to set down my luggage, I spoke to Myungho, who seemed to have the same idea, suggesting we find a room first. And maybe sell some byproducts at the adventurer’s guild.

Like the purple stone I had. Or Dalokos’ core. Not that I intended to sell the core. Anyway, since there were things to settle, we headed to the adventurer’s guild.

Adventurer’s guild buildings were all the same. And so were the people inside. They’d be surprised when I showed them my gold tag, then surprised again when they saw Myungho, and then surprised once more when they took a closer look at my tag.

Though I had only seen it three times, I could already predict their reactions.

“I saw the hero just the other day, but… a half-dragon? Is this a disguise… or is it real? I mean, it says so on the tag, so it must be real… but really, a half-dragon? I thought they only existed in legends!”

“Yes, it’s real. Not a disguise or magic. It’s a long story, but could we get a room?”

“Ah, yes. Are you perhaps challenging the Sky Tower? If so, it’s free. If not, there’s a small fee.”

“No, we’re just here to rest. We won’t be going to the Sky Tower.”

“I see. So… two humans, one elf. How do we price a half-dragon… um… half of a dragon plus a human…? Ummm… Ah, whatever. It’s 40 copper. Half-dragons aren’t on the price list yet, so setting a price would be overstepping, right?”

The price negotiation or whatever it was seemed to be over. Myungho took out a few copper coins from his bag and handed them to the receptionist.

“Yes, show this token at the Spire Inn across the street and you can take any room you like. A…and… is the person over there from Goldsmett? I heard rumors that Goldsmett is going through a tough time these days.”

“She only registered there. She doesn’t have any particularly good feelings about the place to begin with.”

I wondered why Goldsmett was brought up. Since we had secured a room, I followed him into a building.

The smell of alcohol permeated the air, indicating it was a tavern, and people were sprawled out everywhere. A very imposing-looking middle-aged woman greeted us.

“Welcome to the Spire. Seeing as you’re here, you’re not challenging the tower? Wise choice. The Hero of the Sun himself is in there now, so even gold ranks should be cautious. Ah, is he coming out soon? My apologies for the chatter. Rooms are on the second floor. If anyone picks a fight, just deal with them and move on.”

Unlike the receptionists, this woman wasn’t surprised to see us. She seemed rather indifferent, and I wondered if it was because she was bold or just that strong.

“The Hero of the Sun… Ugh. That guy is here? Alright… wait. Deal with them? Not just let it slide?”

“If you want to get through to drunks quickly, nothing’s faster than beating them up. Anyway, what race is that lady over there? I’ve seen people with tails and people with horns, but never someone with both.”

“Half-dragon. Yes, not kidding. Honestly, every time I think about it, I wonder how we even get along.”

As I lightly knocked away a drunk trying to touch my tail, Myungho was busy explaining my race again.

I wanted to go upstairs. The strong smell of alcohol was filling the floor, making me feel drunk even though I hadn’t had a drop.

“Let’s talk later, let’s drop off our stuff first. These things are really a nuisance.”

Many didn’t even bother to hide their stares. I mean, it’s understandable with this outfit… but being drunk, they weren’t exactly looking with respectful eyes.

“Ah. Then let’s go up for now, we can talk more later.”

Finally. It took long enough. I went upstairs with Myungho and naturally entered the same room as him. Akash and Yuna also naturally went to the same room.

Seeing the mage and archer constantly bickering, that would never happen. As for Myungho and me…

No matter how reliable a person is, it doesn’t mean you develop romantic feelings for them. Just like the hat seller didn’t fall in love with the bamboo forest where he confessed the king’s secret about his ears.

Hmm. Absolutely not. Myungho is like a bamboo forest. Although he has shown me a lot, and he’s alive… but what do I care. If I say so, then it is so.

“Ah, right. Altera. The things you’re carrying, don’t you want to settle them? Magic stones and such. With the money you have, it might not seem necessary… but there’s no need to carry them around.”

Settlement. Come to think of it, the byproduct pouch had become quite full. Even though I only took what I could carry after hunting monsters, it was still this much.

I should sell them. To empty the sack. So I can fill it with something new. Right now, the sack only had purple stones.

“Shall we? Then you talk to that lady from earlier. I know the word for settlement, so I’ll go alone.”

“No, don’t go alone. I’ll go with you. What if you get scammed? And your language skills aren’t that good.”

That’s true. I wouldn’t be too upset if I got scammed, but considering I need to share with them, it’s better to get the proper amount from now on.

…Well, if it’s really urgent, I can just extract gold ore from the earth. But I’d like to keep that as my special treat.

Following Myungho to the guild, I could definitely feel the air was cleaner. I wondered how that inn had such a strong smell of alcohol even on the second floor.

Unlike the guild, the people on the first floor of the inn were all drunk with dull eyes, slurring and then burying their faces back into their drinks. It was a truly despicable sight.

“Ah, the people from earlier. Do you have any problems? There are quite a few drunkards at the Spire Inn… I can change it if you’d like.”

“No, it’s not that. We just came to settle some things. Altera here has quite a lot.”

– – – –

Magic stones. All she brought were magic stones. Normally, they wouldn’t fetch a high price, but the estimated value was already over 5 gold.

When she poured out a sack full of magic stones onto the table, the receptionist’s eyes widened. It took over 30 minutes just to roughly calculate the value.

People in the guild stared at the reception desk covered in purple stones as if they were witnessing a rare spectacle. I would be amazed too if I saw that many.

“How do you have so many high-purity magic stones? Did you dance with swords in the Zikreu Mountains? Goodness, I’ve never seen anything like this. No matter if you are gold rank…”

“Not a dance with swords, we just walked through. We did fight, but not that much.”

Altera might be capable of dancing with swords, but we are not. If it were the Hero of the Sun, he might really be able to cross the mountains while effortlessly cutting down all monsters.

“As expected of the hero’s party… that much is nothing to you… Then did you perhaps see the kingdom covered in mold with your own eyes?”

“Yes. And thanks to everyone’s help, we were able to clear the mold. I can’t do anything if you don’t believe me.”

I also wanted to find a place to sell the sword given by the heart of that mold. Now that her settlement was done, I thought about going to an appraisal shop.

“No! I’m not doubting you, hero! It’s just… it really exists. Yes, a total of 5 gold and 50 silver.”

It’s not easy to receive this much for just magic stones.

That was my thought as I looked at the shining gold and silver coins. Ever since Altera joined the party, such large sums of money seemed smaller.

Compared to what Altera carried around, it was a small amount, but objectively speaking, it was still a lot of money. Enough to buy more equipment.

But since Altera refused to wear equipment, I couldn’t force her to buy anything.

As I was lost in thought, the outside suddenly became noisy. It was as if a celebrity had arrived, and the excited chatter could be heard even inside the building.

Wondering what it was, I peeked outside and saw him.

That guy with blond hair.

Still surrounded by women, his love for them seemed unchanged. I tried to discreetly slip away, but a voice called out to me from afar, preventing my escape.

In the past, when I was still part of the kingdom, I had only briefly seen him in a foreign delegation. With his usual refreshing smile, he strode towards me.

“Myungho! It’s been a while. When you were chased out of the kingdom… ahem. My apologies. That was thoughtless of me. I was quite worried when I heard you were leaving on a journey, but it seems my worries were unfounded! By the way, who is this lady beside you? May I ask?”

This is why I tried to slip away.