The dragon's harem

An hour later, Mary had come out of her room. Still a bit exhausted but nothing that a cup of coffee can’t fix. Arad had spent the past hour holed up in a room reading the book he had just got, trying to make as much progress as possible.

A nun approached and handed her the book she ordered, never mentioning that Arad had seen it. She then informed her that Arad was waiting for her to wake up so they could head to the hunter’s guild. A messenger had come just moments ago and informed them that the matter of the bear quest was ready to be resolved.

She walked into the church’s tiny kitchen and ignited the flames beneath the old stone stove, boiling a pot of water. She went out to wash her face and on her way back, she stored the special book in her room. When she returned to the kitchen, a nice hot bowl of water was waiting for her, which she used to brew herself a large mug of coffee.

After fully waking up, fixing her hair beneath her coif, and putting back the mug where it was, she headed to check on Arad. Knocking on the wooden door, she got an immediate reply. “Come in.”

She slowly opened the door and walked inside, finding Arad sitting behind an old wooden desk with a massive pile of books, reading through them beneath the faint light coming from the window behind his back.

“I’ve heard you punched the monster bear and tanked a claw swipe. Seeing you sitting like that and reading certainly feels odd.” She approached the desk, “I expected you to act more like a hot-blooded warrior or a raging barbarian than a calm wizard.”

“The whole purpose of me being here is learning magic.” Arad stood, “If you’re ready, let’s go to the hunter’s guild.” He closed his book, making sure to mark the page he was at.

“Wait just a minute, I’ll bring some coats. We wouldn’t anyone to notice us, it may cause panic.”

“Even if it was just interested in us, it’ll slow us down and that’s bad.” Arad nodded, he didn’t want to waste any time if possible.

Mary went out and quickly returned with two large grey coats enchanted with camouflage magic. They mask the wearer’s presence and power, nobles and royals use them a lot when going outside.

The two made their way to the guild, as they walked through the village’s streets, Arad noticed several things that were different from his world. The village was larger than normal, almost half as big as Alina with many people living in it. This would qualify as a small town.

The village’s walls were made out of wood, but they weren’t for protection, just for tracing the city’s borders to make sure people go through the gates and pay taxes. The thing protecting the village from monsters was a massive spherical barrier that was invisible and surrounded it. The barrier’s core was located in the lord’s mansion, probably operated by a powerful wizard.

Fruits and vegetables were available all year round, probably farming is assisted with magic as well. He could spot many people carrying stuff with telekinesis and even the horses were wearing enchanted saddles to allow them to pull the carriages easier.

The two reached the hunter’s guild and Arad already had more questions about this world than answers. The massive stone building looked so huge that Arad almost didn’t believe it belonged in a village. When he was overseeing the world in his castle, he wanted to make the walls from some massive stones but Mira was against it, saying the workers would have no way of safely moving and placing them.

Whatever magic this world has, Arad wanted it to be used in his castle. Mary put her hand on the guild’s door and pushed, but she wasn’t able to open it up no matter how hard she tried. “This is a test…” She stood pushing and looked at Arad with an exhausted face. “It detects magic and strength to determine someone’s power. Weaklings can never enter the guild on their own. I’m only a healer so I can’t fight.”

“Can’t you open it?” He asked.

“I can if I poured my holy magic into it.” She tapped the door, “Want to try?”

Arad looked at the door and grabbed the handle, pushing forward. The door didn’t budge, but it clacked loudly. “It’s stuck.” Arad said, pushing again and again, rocking the door as if he wanted to break it.

“Don’t just use strength it won’t open. Pour your magic into it.” Mary tapped his shoulder, “Even fighters must circulate mana through their body to be able to move at superhuman speed or achieve feats that human strength can’t match.”

“I’m doing that.” Arad was already pouring his magic, but the door didn’t budge.

[I modified the door, now it requires ten times the precision of a normal person to open. This only affects you.] Arad could hear Yog’s voice inside his head. That pesky little goddess was intentionally hindering him. [I must hold you to higher standards.]

Arad looked around, just above the door there were two open windows, a good place for a rogue to get through. If he was a powerful mage, he’d either force the door to open or teleport through.

In the end, he settled on a simple idea. He’ll open the door as if he’s Mira. He lifted one finger, conjuring a nail with earth magic. He didn’t practice a lot with earth magic besides trying to make a Yog’s statue, but he could make a simple shape like that of a nail and make it as hard as stone.

Arad approached the door’s hinges and pushed the nail through with his thumb, removing them with ease. Mary watched with an open mouth as the large double door fell into the guild, smacking onto the ground with a thunderclap. Everyone inside flinched, looking toward the door with surprised faces. They did hear the door cracking earlier and just thought it was an idiot trying to force it open.

From the door, Arad and Mary walked in. To everyone inside they looked like two hooded figures, one massive and the other one relatively small. They approached the guild’s reception desk and Mary spoke first, showing the woman working her ring. “Give us a private room, now.”

The ring was the mark of the church. In this world where Yog is the only goddess, the church holds a lot of power and most people take their religion very seriously.

The receptionist quickly guided them to a room in the back. As the two walked in, she sat with them and finally asked who they were and what did they need.

Mary removed her hood, “We’re looking for Jimmy’s party. We’re here for the monster bear quest.”

“I see.” The receptionist stood and headed out. Moments later she came back with Jimmy and the guildmaster at her side. The guild master was a tall man with a long white beard and green eyes, he looked like a wizard who had spent a decent chunk of his life to the mastery of spells, Arad could already sense the multiple defensive spells he has active.

“So you’re sir Arad, right?” The guild master sat facing Arad and looked at him. Arad removed his hood, “Yeah, it’s me.”

Mary sat beside Arad while the receptionist and Jimmy sat beside the guildmaster, putting a single piece of paper on the table.

“My name is Falmor, a retired wizard who specialized in barrier magic.” He extended his hand to Arad, “My job was to make sure no damage reached my party and now I maintain the

village’s barrier.”

Arad shook his hand, “Arad, an adventurer. It’s like your hunters. I hunt monsters, explore dungeons, and do quests for the adventurers’ guild.”

“So it’s another version of ours hunters’ guild.” Falmor nodded with a curious gaze, “But, for now, let’s focus on what matters first. The monster bear matter.”

“Yeah.” Jimmy looked at Arad, “The guild had reached a conclusion which I think is fair, I

hope you agree.”

“Since Jimmy’s quest was to get rid of the bear, and that is achieved I’ll consider it done and pay them for it.” Famlor looked at Arad, “You can keep the bear’s carcass, sell it for money, or cut it for parts. It’s worth almost three times the quest’s reward.”

“The bear was as tall as me.” Arad looked at Falmor, “I’ll sell everything but I want to keep the hide, make a coat from it.” That monster bear is the first thing he killed in this world and wanted to keep something from him.

“I see, that is possible.” He looked at the receptionist, “Get the monster butcher team to start working. Send the hide as soon as possible to the leather workshop.”

“How about the leather workshop pay?” she asked.

“Pay them from the guild’s funds and then recover the amount from the price of the bear’s parts. We’ll return what remained to Arad with his new coat.” Falmor looked at Arad, “Do you agree? It’s cheaper to get things done through the guild than outside.”

ɅYog, is he lying?^ Arad immediately asked.

[It’s the same price. But the guild can haggle it down.] Yog replied, [He isn’t lying, but isn’t

saying the truth as well.]

“It won’t be cheaper unless you haggle for it, right?” Arad looked at Falmor with a smile.

“I see.” Falmor giggled as he stood, “I’ll take that as a yes. And rest assured, I’ll do my best to get you the best possible price.”

Arad and Mary walked out but immediately heard a man burst into laughter. “Forget it!

You’ve lost. It was the rules, and you agreed to them.”

“Who cares about that you bald fool! Let me go!” A tiny voice, sharp and high-pitched boomed across the room. Arad looked, seeing five men surrounding a small birdcage housing a tiny brown-haired fairy. She growled at the men locking her in, her transparent wings flickering with magic.