Pacing around his now fully furnished home, Umbravor couldn’t help himself. His thoughts kept going back to the young knight named Cedric. The usual three days between each visit had come and gone, yet no sign of him reappearing.

Of course, that could be a good thing. He might be under the protection of the Holy Temple and leading a comfortable life. That would make all his worrying pointless, wouldn’t you think?

Still, he kept an accelerated heart beating while considering using the crystal ball he had taken out of his Spacious Pouch. Umbravor had no clue when it had joined his collection, as he had bought many of his items in massive bulks. Still, he often used it to remember the many sceneries he had encountered over the course of his travels.

But never to look at people. No no, that would be a complete invasion of privacy. Imagine you end up using it when one is on the bathroom or in the middle of an intimate moment (random examples, never happened, at all). And so, he had been avoiding it like the plague, keeping a good distance away from it ever since placing it at the table.

Just as the temptation made its way into his mind another time, the familiar opening of the doors came. Brightening up, the dragon turned towards his visitor.

He looked like shit.

Alright, maybe that sounds too harsh, but his clothes were in tatters, his hair long and greasy, with a leaf here and there and he smelled like he avoided a bath like a vampire avoids a beach holiday. On top of that, Cedric kept a blank stare at nowhere in particular, staring down at the floor with slumped shoulders. He also wore no armor, making him feel a lot smaller and younger.

Manipulating his form to erase all sense of smell, Umbravor approached the dejected male. “So… what happened?”

“Well, I don’t remember much, after the king’s men put that cursed stuff on me. I know I tried to kill you, again, only to fail, again.”

“Right…” The dragon looked away, trying to come up with something to say. “Why not take a seat? You look like you need it.”

“Thanks.” He pretty much crashed down at the closest chair he could find. “When I came to, I was in prison. They said I landed, naked as a babe at birth, right on top of the pope.”

“Oh…” Well, I’m sure we can justify that as an accident.

“Apparently that caused the man to break his hips.”

“Oh…” Alright, that can be fixed with one of my stronger potions, no reason to panic.

“They also detected traces of the curses on me, so they assumed I was under the service of the Demon King.”

“That’s… not great.” Bollocks! But surely this can’t get any worse.

“Some actual cultists in disguise among the Faith tried to release me from prison, causing a massive battle on the Holy Temple.”

“Seriously?” Oh, come on!

“Then the cult managed to summon an archdemon right then and there, causing the cardinals to bring their own celestial summon. Their fight turned the entire city into rubble.”

“Have these people never heard of deescalating a conflict?”

“After all of that, I got the blame for everything and got excommunicated. Now I’m an outlaw on any nation following the Faith.” By this point he started crying. “I can never see my family or anyone I ever cared about. And I must forever be an exile to all that I have ever known! And on top of all that, I have no gold to leave the continent!”

Well… fuck. Umbravor scratched the back of his head, which raced to come up with a proper apology. Just saying that I’m sorry would be too little after all that…

“Say… why don’t you work here?”

He looked at the dragon with a dumbfounded expression. “What?”

“I can guarantee decent wages, accommodations and food, rest days and a few extra benefits.” A contract appears all of a sudden between them. “One of them being transformation spells so you can go see your family whenever you want. If it’s a rest day, of course.”

“You…”

“Oh, but of course, after what I did that might be too little. How about paid vacation and overtime included? How does that sound.”

He looked over the contract with misty eyes. “After I tried to kill you thrice, you would still show such kindness?”

“More like a healthy sense of overwhelming guilt and the anxiety that follows.”

And so, Cedric, the once Bold, became the groundskeeper for the dragon.