"Okay, maybe not completely useless, but still…" Rain threw his black-haired head back, brown eyes gazing at the cave ceiling. "For the most part, I could only stand there and watch you risk your life for us. It felt so bad, you know… I was so guilty. That I could do nothing besides watch. I wanted to help, to fight with you, but I was useless." Dry laughter escaped his throat. "Heh, what was I supposed to do? Tickle it with water bullets, or try and make it slip?"

  "Everyone has their own strengths, Rain." Phac narrowed his eyes, carefully regarding the downcast water mage. He’d always seemed so optimistic. Had he been nurturing regret about his choices?

  "You are not fit for direct fighting. That’s why I’m here. But if we had to do practically anything besides smash things, it would be my turn to watch from the sidelines, and you would be in the limelight. I think you’re a great asset to any team, Rain, and I’m glad you’re on my side."

  "I know all that, but…sometimes, I wish I had taken a different path, you know? It would be nice if I could also stand bravely against the enemies, sticking out my chest and fighting with all I have. I don’t know if I regret becoming who I am, but I can’t help but wonder; was it the right choice? Or was I wrong?"

  "You’ll never know." Phac stood up. Pincer rested on the wall next to him and he grabbed it, placing it in the sheath Shell had for it. "Just make the best you can out of it. Out of being the world’s fastest water mage. Not many can claim that."

  Rain chuckled. "Nobody can. It’s in the definition. But it’s not true that nothing can be done about it. That’s the other good news: I hit Level 25."

  "Oh! Does that mean you’re a Master now?"

  "Pseudo-master. I just need a big enough achievement to push me through, into choosing my Path and evolving my Class. Perhaps, then, I can change some things. That’s why I’m thinking about my Class choices; not because I have nothing better to do. I mean, maybe I could have waited until your head was a bit clearer, but eh. You can handle it."

  "Yeah, that makes sense." Phac agreed. Phew. Dwelling on spilled milk would be so un-Rain-like. "Then, ignore what I said and keep thinking about it. I believe in your judgment. Find what suits you best."

  "That’s exactly what I plan on doing." The water mage smiled again. “By the way…I made a call while you were asleep. Feel free to disagree.”

  “Oh?”

  “We didn’t finish off the dragon.”

  “Oh!?”

  "Yeah. We spoke with the kobolds a bit, and it turns out that the dragon isn’t that bad, just a bit overbearing. Besides, we were the ones trying to rob things, and it—he, actually—didn’t deserve to die for protecting something important to him, even if he overreacted a bit.”

  “Oh, nice. He has an opportunity to overreact again.”

  “It’s not like that. He woke up two hours ago—completely tied up, of course—and we had a long chat. He’s actually a cool dude when humbled a bit. He’s fully acknowledged his defeat too; he no longer tries to kill us, just mopes around like a sad dog.”

  "Two hours? How long was I out for?" Phac was startled.

  "Twelve."

  For a moment, Phac didn’t speak. He turned his head above, as if looking at the ever-cloudy sky through the hill that surrounded them.

  "I see…" he finally spoke thoughtfully. "That dragon is a warrior. I would like to speak with him, perhaps apologize… You’re sure it’s safe, right?"

  "Right." Rain nodded. "However, you don’t need to apologize. In dragon culture, what we did was a challenge, and you won since the dragon fainted first. By dragon law, everything here belongs to us now, including the dragon’s servants and hoard."

  "It wasn’t a duel, though." Phac frowned. "The three of you assisted me."

  However, Rain only chuckled. "Apparently, outside help is allowed in dragon culture. Dragons are too prideful to do that themselves, but also too prideful to accuse anyone who defeats them of cheating."

  "Heh… Sounds pretty stupid to me." Phac grunted as he stood up. Some soreness was still there, but mostly, he felt fine. "Let’s go."

  In the cavern where the battle had taken place, Vainmarius lay coiled on the hard ground, away from the mound of gold. His head was low as he took slow, measured breaths, and he didn’t even turn to look when Phac and Rain walked into the cavern.

  "You are stronger than me," he spoke slowly, and his voice seemed to have lost its strength. "Everything I owned is already yours. Why do you come to humiliate me? Leave."

  "That’s not why I am here." Phac approached the majestic beast of the skies. "I want to apologize for what happened; it may be called a challenge in your culture, but in mine, it was just a plain attempt at robbery. You were right to defend yourself."

  "Hmph." The dragon snorted, and the smoke that came out of his nostrils formed two intertwined, dancing snakes as it ascended toward the top of the cavern. "Sweet words are meaningless. Take everything and go. I cannot fly yet or I would leave myself."

  "I don’t want your hoard." Phac shook his head, and it was only now that the dragon reacted, turning its head so that its amber eyes stared right at Phac.

  "You don’t?"

  "I don’t. My companion might be a bit…impulsive…but we are not thieves. You can have it all: the hoard, the caves, the kobold servants… We just want a ride with the airship, and then you can have everything back."

  Hero is totally gonna kill me for this, he lamented inwardly, but his mind was set. We are not thieves.

  Vainmarius narrowed his eyes, trying to see through Phac. For a moment, neither spoke.

  "You would really give your hoard to me?" asked the dragon, doubtful of its own words. The poor creature couldn’t comprehend this. For dragons, the hoard was everything.

  "Well…" Phac smirked. "After all, winning through outside assistance isn’t really a victory, is it?"

  Hearing this, the dragon snorted in amusement.

  "You are an interesting creature, though you lack scales… I am Vainmarius the Red, and I will forever remember this favor."

  "And I am Phac, the Crab Fighter. Fighting you was an honor."

  Though they’d almost fought each other to the death just a few hours ago, Phac found this dragon much to his liking. Perhaps he wasn’t so obnoxious, after all.

  "Likewise." Vainmarius nodded slowly. "I accept your kindness, human Phac, because declining the kindness of others is not the dragon way. However, you have to accept my gift too. The hoard will be kept, but since you lack wings, I gift my airship to you. Flightless travel is an abominable thought, a misfortune I do not wish upon you, and one that is not deserving of the human who has defeated me."

  Now it was Phac’s turn to chuckle. "Very well. Thank you for your gift, Vainmarius."

  "It pales in comparison to your kindness." The dragon’s head sagged low, as he was still exhausted. Even this short conversation had tired him out. "Now leave, and take care; I need to rest."

  "Farewell, Vainmarius." Phac nodded and turned around. "May our paths cross again."

  The dragon only grunted.

  "Where are the others, by the way?" Phac focused on his hearing for a bit. They should have been inside the caves under the hill, and sounds shouldn’t have trouble reaching his ears. Yet, there was total silence.

  "Oh, they’re above, with the kobolds. Come. I’ll show you our new toy."

  With the kobolds?

  Grinning, Phac followed. An exclamation mark was flashing in the bottom left corner of his vision, but his little godly friend could wait. Airships over gods.

  They went through the small cave system until reaching a steep, inclined path, which they followed. Eventually, light could be seen through an opening, and the two stepped into an open space. They were at the top of the small hill, with visibility stretching endlessly in all directions until it met the haze produced by the heat rising off the ground.

  Right next to them was the airship, and boy, what an airship it was. Shaped like a gondola, and twenty meters long, this wooden beauty looked capable of easily carrying them to any castle they wished. Two hot air balloons stood on top of the masts, and the sails of said masts were rolled up at the top. There were also four lines of rows extending from the ship’s sides, though it was hard to imagine what exactly they would row through. Air? Or could this ship sail the sea too?

  A wooden ramp connected the ship’s deck with the hilltop, and Phac excitedly stepped on it. He wasn’t sure why, but even just the concept of an airship filled him with childish wonder, let alone an actual airship in front of him. And one that now belonged to him, to boot! Even if he still had no idea how he would bring it out of Hell.

  Perhaps he could even be…the captain. For reasons he couldn’t comprehend, Phac was almost touched by the notion.

  Climbing on the airship, he ignored Feraya and the kobolds who were there and began exploring, while Rain explained the situation to everyone. On the deck, there was only a wooden shed, which no doubt served as the captain’s cabin. Following a set of stairs that led below, he found that the ship’s interior was hollow, housing both the hold and four pairs of benches, with a row’s handle extending in front of each bench. Barrels were stacked on top of each other in the space that served as the hold, and Phac had to wonder about the ship’s air-buoyancy. An airship sounded light enough; could it really carry so many barrels?

  Knocking on one of them, however, he found it empty. Weird. What was even weirder was that a gray, muddy sludge seemed to be smeared all over the barrel. A more detailed examination revealed that the gray mud covered the gaps between pieces of wood, all the way from top to bottom, sealing the barrel airtight.

  "Interesting…" He cupped his chin. Why would such barrels be needed?

  "M-m-massster…" A raspy voice from behind him returned Phac to reality, and he turned around.

  He had forgotten about the kobolds. They were the dragon’s underlings, but he hadn’t registered them as threats as they were a bit too weak. Come to think of it, there were a few of the creatures on-deck when he arrived.

  "Master? Me?" He pointed at his chest, and the kobold nodded furiously.

  "Massster," it confirmed. It seemed like it wanted to say something more but was hesitating.

  Phac took the opportunity to observe the creature again. It was a small humanoid, lizard-dog thing, but it wasn’t ugly. In fact, he found it kind of adorable, like a costumed child. It was even constantly rubbing its hands together like a fly. If he wasn’t mistaken, this particular kobold was the older one who had resisted his Killing Intent, the one who had offered to sacrifice itself for its people.

  Oh yes, now I remember. I like this kobold!

  "Speak freely." He smiled. "And don’t be afraid. We won’t harm any of you—unless you make us, of course."

  The kobold took a deep, hissing breath and a step back. "We would never dare, Masssster!!"

  "That’s good," he replied, surprised at the kobold’s apparent repulsion to the idea.

  "You are sssstrong! You defeated bosssss. So, you are Masssster!"

  "Hey, there you are." Feraya popped her head in from above, her long dark hair cascading down the stairs. "You had me worried for a moment. Is everything okay?"

  "I’m fine, but the kobold’s calling me Masssster." Phac pointed at the kobold that was still rubbing its hands.

  "Oh yeah, I suppose you haven’t met him yet," she responded, flipping herself upside down the stairs to land among the rowing benches. "Krof, meet Phac. Phac, meet Krof, the ship’s first mate."

  "The what!?" Phac blinked. Did I mishear?

  "I said, he’s the first mate." She grinned. "We got ourselves an airship, and, apparently, the kobolds are its crew."

  Phac couldn’t help but stare at her. "What?"

  Dragging him upstairs to meet the other kobolds, Feraya and Krof recounted the kobolds’ story.

  Recently, the dragon had ordered his kobold servants to construct a flying ship so they could follow him around and carry the treasure he collected. That was fine with the kobolds, and they were excited about the prospect of creating an airship, so they’d immediately gotten to work. However, when the dragon saw the finished creation, he had become enraged.

  He claimed that the rows were missing, as were the sails! How was this supposed to be a ship!? The kobolds’ explanation of how things worked fell on deaf ears, and they were forced to construct sails and rows for the ship.

  Of course, the rows were useless, as rowing through the air would be extraordinarily slow. The sails would even be detrimental to the ship. There was no wind in Hell, and all they would manage was to slow it down due to air resistance.

  But the boss was the boss, so they did as he ordered.

  Krof, the first mate, attempted to excitedly explain how the ship was supposed to move, but Phac interrupted him. The story was already long enough. He would just see it in action. Apparently, when Vainmarius had gifted him the airship, the kobold crew was included. Otherwise, they would have no way to fly this!

  And so it was that they ended up with an airship and a crew of thirteen kobolds, the most notable of which were Krof, Kod, and Kor.

  Krof was the brave one Phac had already met. He was the leader, the oldest and strongest of his people.

  Kod was the explosives expert. He had discovered that the dragon’s breath was a highly flammable gas, and he had taken to creating all sorts of nasty items using it. He was also responsible for the airtight barrels Phac had found, which were filled with dragon breath, meant to fill the hot air balloons when they took off.

  Kod was also batshit crazy, as Phac could easily recognize. His scales were singed and burned in places, he cackled ominously, and he only had four fingers left on both hands. His right thumb and index finger, and his left index and pinky. He also carried around a belt filled with bottles of various kinds, no doubt a dangerous thing to wear next to your sensitive areas.

  Kor was a historian. Apparently, Vainmarius had decided that someone needed to record his legendary life and had trained this female kobold for the job. That was what they told Phac anyway, because Kor was nowhere to be seen. When he asked, the kobolds said she was downstairs with Hero.

  "Right, Hero!" Phac exclaimed, slapping his forehead. "Is she okay?"

  "She’s more than okay." Rain smirked. "In fact, she has declared that the dragon’s hoard is now hers, as she challenged it and won."

  "She did what now?" Phac’s eyes narrowed. "And how did she say that anyway? You don’t speak Crabbian."

  "Oh yeah, there’s also that. Apparently, the kobolds can communicate with her."

  "What?" Phac repeated as he turned to Krof, the kobold leader and first mate. The captain’s seat was naturally reserved for one of the masssters. "How?"

  "All sssscaled creaturesss can ssspeak with one another, Massster," Krof said, bowing his scaly head and still rubbing his hands. That was a habit of his, apparently.

  "But crabs aren’t scaled creatures!"

  "Kekekeke, silly massster," Kod, the explosives expert, spoke up. "Crabs are ssscaled. They have one sssscale."

  Phac narrowed his eyes again as he turned to Rain. He had the sneaking suspicion that they were making fun of him.

  "Rain?" he said slowly. "Tell me the truth."

  "I know it sounds stupid, but it’s true." The water mage shrugged. "The dragon spoke with her too, didn’t he?"

  "Oh yeah. Come to think of it…" True. That’s what made us fight in the first place. But speaking of that…

  "Hey, can you handle getting us ready for departure? I have something to do."

  "We’re ready anytime, Captain. We were just waiting for you to wake up." Feraya made a wide gesture. "We don’t know what flying creatures Hell has in store for us, so we figured that an awake Crab Fighter would be handy to have."

  "Heh, alright. I won’t take long, then," he declared before walking down the ramp and back into the hill.

  He was looking for Hero, who apparently was in Kor’s room. Of course, he had no idea where that was, but the cave system barely had six rooms, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to find.

  Indeed, it was only a minute later that he walked into a small, room-sized cave filled with rolled-up parchments of paper, most thrown haphazardly at a corner. There was also a stack of papers carefully arranged on an otherwise empty desk, and right next to said desk were Hero and another kobold, presumably Kor.

  Knowing that this kobold was female, he could spot some differences. Her body seemed to be more streamlined than her male counterparts’, with more curves than angles. She was also shorter than most, her tail was noticeably thinner, and the small horns that adorned every kobold’s crest were smaller on her.

  As soon as he entered the room, she bolted upright and took a deep bow. "Massster,” she uttered in deference.

  "Hi." He smiled. "Kor, right?"

  At this, Kor became visibly flustered, and when she spoke, her voice was tinged with emotion.

  "Massster knows my name… Thissss honor can never be repaid! I will record Massster’s legends for eternity!"

  "That’s great and all, though I’m not a legend. Do you think you could go upstairs to find the others? We’re departing in a bit, and I’d like a moment with Hero."

  "Of coursssse, Master! I am at your sssservice for whatever you need!" replied the flustered kobold, not forgetting to shoot Hero an envious look before departing, taking a wooden suitcase with her.

  Removing two small stones from his belt—he’d thought ahead this time—Phac rubbed them together to speak with Hero.

  "You gold… You happy?"

  "Very happy!" Hero replied enthusiastically. "Much gold. Very wow. Hero happy!"

  "Mhm," Phac hummed. "But, Hero… You hasty. Brought danger. That…bad. Must careful. More careful. Think first. Protect me. Protect us. Not endanger."

  Hero’s excited pincer-clicking stopped, and he could feel from their soul bond that she was surprised. Confused. Sad.

  His heart ached, but he believed in what he said, and it had to be said.