Suna

12 kilos. That… is the amount of meat Clairmont alone inhaled. Obviously, the amount would only increase if I were to add the veggies and bread he ate. Like, I knew he is a bona fide dragon but is his appetite is also of that of his dragon body?

“…Clairmont.” My eyes hovered above the empty wooden trays that were originally filled with piles of roasted meat. I then eyed the obviously speechless waitress who was frozen beside our table while holding a tray of roasted meat. I don’t know why… But I feel sorry that she had to witness Clairmont’s gluttony.

Clairmont gave me the side glance whilst chomping on a huge slice of meat, indicating a ‘what?’.

“Are you a pig?” There goes my mouth. I don’t even know how many times have I degraded this dragon, who is supposed to be ‘o greater and almightier’ than me since the time I met him. Apart from our first meeting, he didn’t feel as scary anymore.

“That’s rude, you know?” Said Clairmont, still chomping the meat. Uh, I kinda want the dragon from our first meeting back.

"I am a dragon, if you are still unaware about it.” He then added. Nonchalantly. I praised his blatant behaviour of being able to straight up spill out his race, and the reaction I got from the waitress is also rich, which is somehow satisfying to watch, but problems will arise if I didn’t do anything in this situation.

“Miss,” I spoke to the waitress, breaking her stupor. The waitress slowly turned to look at me, with her face trickled in cold sweat. The effect of Clairmont’s words managed to make her anxious alright.

“My partner here seemed drunk already. Would you mind bringing us a jug of cold water? And two big bowls of beef stew while you’re at it.” I ordered.

The waitress’ frigidly nervous expression calmed down a bit after hearing the ‘drunk’ word. I don’t know what kind of person drinks beer for lunch but I’m glad Clairmont did. At least I get to dust off the fact that he is a dragon as a mere drunken blathering. Still, she did give me that strange look when I asked for the beef stews.

I heaved a long sigh after the waitress went away.

“Why did you ask for water? Tell her to bring more beer if that’s all you want to order.” Clairmont retorted, while chugging down a draft of beer. I may not be a medic student, but I could imagine his liver screaming in pain.

I rolled my eyes. “Look, I had to avoid dangerous situation like just now when you blurted out our race. Don’t you know that dragons are a rare existence? They don’t even mingle with other races, or even eat inside a tavern filled with one. Luckily, the waitress didn’t suspect anything more from what you said. We would’ve been in a serious situation if something wrong happens.”

“What’s the big deal?” Clairmont raised an eyebrow, this time eating some roasted potatoes dashed with some BBQ sauce. “If they found out about us, then we can just destroy them. No biggie.”

I facepalmed myself.

I know full well that I might have the ability to destroy a country, if we were to look at my stats that I wished I hadn’t seen, and that’s what terrifies me. Clairmont might have experiences in destroying a country or some sort, based on his notoriety depicted inside the novel, but that too terrifies me.

“What? Scared that I might destroy this country?” Clairmont taunted with a sly grin.

His behaviour gained a pondering stance from me, which I always do if I am too tired to take people’s bs but had to think about solutions to go through them. “…We’ve talked about this a few days ago, Clairmont. And you said that you won’t do it, remember? So, let’s stick with that.” I just wished that this pig could just finish eating so we could find somewhere to sleep.

After filling our bellies with some food, we toured the surroundings to find a good inn to sleep in. The adventurer guild’s receptionist said that she would inform us if the royalties were to summon us, so for the time being, we’ll need to find a place to stay.

“Which place do you think is comfortable?” I asked Clairmont. We were currently standing at the street for middle-class accommodations, a place that provide inns for middle class people, such as merchants and adventurers.

Clairmont silently eyed his surroundings. Meanwhile, I eyed the portion of his belly which was exposed because I tell you, this Arabic prince-like person is wearing a white silk tank top tailored with several more layers of white and gold silk. I’m not talking about the garment he wore, but the muscles that flashed behind those clothes.

Man, he’s ripped. He’s not bulky but I’ll slave myself away if he pressed those muscles on me. Call me perverted or anything, but I am among those people who giggled while looking at handsome men with muscular body. Being single my whole life rendered me to be able to do just as much.

Even now, I bet I couldn’t even get a guy.

While I wallowed myself in self-depreciation, Clairmont stopped eyeing his surroundings and looked down onto me. "Do you want to sleep in one of these inns? Doesn't look comfortable to me." 

 “Excuse me?!” I snapped myself out and turned to look at him. “This is the only place that I could afford for the two of us if we were to stay long in this city. Plus, who do you think paid for all the food we just ate?”

My mind instantly went back to the moment we finished eating. Clairmont said that he didn’t have any money. The nerve of him to say that after finishing an ungodly amount of meat. It ended with me having to pay a solid ten gold coins in total. Luckily, I still have some balance left from selling things back in the cave so I could afford that much. But because I don’t really know what will happen in the future, I would rather save up in case of emergency.

“I could afford only this much for the two of us.” I told Clairmont. “We did manage to land a promise to meet the royalties, but to be honest, I’m still not so sure if it would go as smoothly as it sounds.” The surroundings toned down a bit. Somehow the sound of people around me became quieter, as if opening a space with only me and Clairmont as it’s occupant. It’s not like it’s bustling or anything, because the sun is almost setting and there were less people out on the streets, but I could really feel the stillness in the air. I gave Clairmont a side glance.

“I just want to be careful; you know? If something were to happen, at least we have some money to use.”

Clairmont stared at me silently until the moment the air between us turned quiet. Suddenly he deeply inhaled, before exhaling loudly as he gaped his mouth a bit, as if wanting me to see the glint of the two pairs of canines among the rows of his teeth.

“You really sound like a human by the way you spoke just now.” Clairmont muttered in a low voice, clear enough for only my ears to listen. He then grabbed my wrist before pulling me away from the streets, towards somewhere I didn’t know of.

“Wai-” I ceased to continue my words. For a moment I thought that I might have said something unnecessary to him, that someone unrelated to the whole situation like him wouldn’t have to listen to. So, although confused, I let him bring me to anywhere he wants.

“I want to buy the whole place.” Clairmont tossed a medium-sized sack filled with gold coins on top of the reception counter. I am not exaggerating when I said the manager came out to meet him, and I am not surprised that he did. What I was surprised was that Clairmont is trying to buy an entire inn.

And not just any inn.

A few minutes ago, the two of us left the street for the middle-class accommodations. I didn’t know where he wanted to bring me so I just followed along. Suddenly we entered the central street, an area where aristocrats and knights of honour hang out in their free time. It is also because it is located closer to the palace. Clairmont walked about and entered the finest looking place he could find, and so, here we are in this current situation.

I couldn’t make sense of what’s happening, so I’ll just keep my mouth shut.

Or was it a wrong move?

“G-Greetings, sire. I am the manager of this hotel.”

Oh, so this is a hotel, not an inn. That explains the lavishness and the nobles filling this hall.

“M-May I help you?” The manager was sweating buckets. I feel sorry and conflicted at the same time. Sorry, that he had to feel nervous in front of Clairmont, and conflicted whether I should help him or not.

“I want to buy this whole place.”

“B-But sir-”

“Can’t do that? Then I’ll rent an entire floor of this hotel. For an indefinite amount of time. Make it quick.” Clairmont tossed another medium-sized sack of gold coins.

With that deal being sealed, Clairmont managed to obtain the topmost floor of the hotel all for himself. Or should I say, for the two of us?

“Pick any room that you like. And if you need anything, the servants will tend to your needs.” Clairmont said after flinging himself onto the fluffy, expensive looking bed decorated with sculptures of exquisite taste. Even I got so wary as to whether I could sit on the bed or not.

“Uh… Clairmont?” I sat down slowly beside Clairmont, who was lying down on his back. There is so much that I had to say to him that my thought process got jammed a bit. Though one thing is for sure…

“Why didn’t you tell me that you actually have money?” Anger slowly rises within me as I said that. That’s right, if he is that rich, he can just give a couple sacks of gold coins just like that, then why did I have to pay for his meals?

Clairmont shot me a lazy glance. While sitting up, he told me to take out a piece of gold coin from my storage. Although confused, I slowly followed his request.

“This is the gold coin that I gave them earlier.” Clairmont showed a gold coin of about 2.5 cm diameter with a design of a dragon head engraved on it. The gold coin that I had, on the other hand, is smaller for about a centimetre in diameter than his gold coin, with a design of a rose engraved on it.

“This coin, compared to your coin,” Clairmont rotated his index finger from his gold coin to mine. “Is 15 times greater in value.”

My jaw hung a bit.

“Do you get what I mean?” Clairmont reaffirmed.

Clairmont, this guy, he is not rich, he is rich RICH!

“Then why didn’t you use that money to pay for your meals?!” I retorted back, somehow feeling slightly embarrassed.

Clairmont huffed smugly. “Some premise, like that tavern we went to, doesn’t accept this gold coin because of fear that they might not have the adequate balance to give back. That’s why this gold coin is only used by the richest among the rich.” He then laid down again.

“Then…” Okay, I get that he has the money, but was throwing away his money like that necessary? If we were to talk about the amount of gold coins that he tossed earlier, I could buy a better house to stay compared to my small apartment room.

“You don’t have to give them that much money just to rent the whole floor. We could negotiate for a fairer price-”

“Suna.” The tone in Clairmont’s voice halted my tongue. It took me a few seconds to look at him, because well, in these many days we’ve been together, I’ve never once heard him using a pressing tone capable of stilting one’s speech.

Clairmont gazed at me quietly. “You sounded just like a human when you speak like that.”

My heart skipped a beat. I’m pretty convinced that Clairmont wasn’t a character who despised humans, but what is this ominous feeling?

Thank you so much for reading!

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(Full story is available on GoodNovel)