“I did it! Another peak was conquered. Hurray… As they say, one small step for man — one giant leap for mankind. Or, as *I* like to say — one small step for me — one giant leap for my greatness. Hehe… yep, still working on it.”

That’s what I thought when I finally climbed up the damned mountain. I was exhausted from the climb — the mud staining my boots was not helping — but whilst at the top, I had the chance to meditate in the sunshine, enjoy the complete and total freedom, and — most important thing of all — think about my slogan. Besides, the weather was absolutely lovely, so it would be a grave mistake not to enjoy it 

…But unfortunately, whatever came to mind turned out to be so over the top: it was too exaggerated, too fake, too… much. Even though everyone I know would probably like some of them, they just didn’t fit.

After resting, I picked up my fully charged rifle that finished charging with solar energy , then I checked the map.

I was shocked to find that I’m already close to the border separating dragonkin and humans.

It was considered an unspoken rule in Aetheria that the two races should never come into contact with each other and should be strictly confined to their separate territories.

Bleugh.

Who on earth came up with that?

Seriously, How deep in the sand can your head be? The key to progress is to keep moving forward into the unknown, isn’t it? You have to try things again even if it didn’t work out the first time, right?

It is said that long ago the two races disagreed, and so instead of talking like adults do  they decided to separate from each other.

“Gosh, that is sooooo backwards ”,  I muttered.

Luckily rules were made to be broken. Which, of course, is what I’m about to do right now! Nowadays, the dragonkin race has become somewhat of a myth : ordinary people don’t believe in their existence or just shun them at the border, while the nobles were so bogged down in bureaucracy that they didn’t care about rumors.

…But, not me! I’m just here to finally find out what’s what, and whether or not they actually exist. And if they do exist… I think they won’t mind if I say, take a few pictures with them (with their consent, of course).

After sufficiently rested, I rose to my feet and was ready to hit the road….

…but I suddenly heard a rumbling in my stomach.

“Uh-oh.”

I might have been  so caught up in my higher purpose that I completely forgot about my basic needs.

Deciding to stay on the hill a little longer to get something to eat, I opened my hiking bag…

But I couldn’t find anything to eat. I even went through it all and checked the other smaller bag, but there was nothing there either.

It’s only now that I discovered how wasteful I’ve been these past few days.

“Not good… I Need to do something about it right now!”

…

For centuries, humans have depended on science and technology to survive and achieve greatness. So I brought along a lot of modern gadgets to make my journey easier.

For example, an energy rifle that fired electrical charges. It also had several firing modes: normal charges, paralyzing charges, fire charges, and even explosive charges which are able to fry the prey on the spot to avoid cooking it later. And, well, its reliance on solar energy to shoot is super handy. 

And that wasn’t the only gadget I brought with me… but as versatile as they were, unfortunately, none of them could create food out of thin air.

…Though I had already traveled quite a distance , I had not encountered a single animal or edible fruit.

The vegetation had changed quite a bit, and at any other time I would have loved to stay here to meditate, but unfortunately, there were other pressing matters right now. So much so that I began to feel panic coming over me.

“Damn, I’d better hurry… before my journey ends prematurely.”

…

I hastened my step and soon noticed a light glimmer among the trees. A light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. As I got closer, I saw what looked like a farmhouse and breathed a sigh of relief: I was saved.

When I finally got out of the forest, I realized that it could hardly be called a farm, but it was not a shabby structure; contrasting with its exterior appearance, the wooden house was surprisingly spacious and grand. Its modest architecture only added to its charm and character, though the sturdy construction spoke of its high quality. The thick oaken beams and intricate carvings gave it a regal feel while still maintaining a rustic charm. It stood proudly amidst the surrounding landscape, a testament to its enduring strength and endurance.

I noticed that, while there was no livestock to be seen, there was a large field of wheat, several vegetable gardens, and beds of…

“Um, actually what is that…?”

I’ve noticed that the vegetables growing there don’t fit any species I know of. How strange.

…But what was even stranger was that no one was guarding all this stuff. Isn’t it just too easy prey for any shady characters who walk by?

Anyway, I walked up to the house and knocked.

I had some money with me, and besides, I didn’t refuse labor in exchange for food.

“I hope the master of this place will be kind enough to help me.”

Not a sound was heard in the house so I knocked some more.

“Yeah, yeah. Coming.”

The voice was so low that I even recoiled in surprise.

And when the door opened…

… I wanted to run away immediately .

A real anthropomorphic dragon stood before me — about four meters tall, green scaled, and muscular. It was just like the ones I’d seen in books… only real!

‘So the myths were true . Ha ha. Ha…’

I saw surprise in the huge, plate-sized yellow eyes. But that expression flickered off his face, and he asked as if it were a matter of course:

“Greetings, traveler. How can I help you?”

My two impulses were either to turn and run or — which was much worse — to pull a stun gun out of my pocket and shoot. It’s amazing how quickly the courage that had been with me an hour ago faded away. But thank the goddess I pulled myself together and got it out:

“Yikes!… I mean… Hello, sir! I am in dire need of help . Could you take pity on me and replenish my supplies?”

In the couple of seconds that the scaly man was studying me, I suddenly realized that I could phrase my predicament a *bit* better, which made me blush. Nevertheless, he replied:

“Of course, come in,” he said, and then returned to the house leaving the door open just like that.

I wondered if it was a trap, but considering I still believed dragonkin weren’t necessarily monsters, I doubt he would behave like that if he wanted to set a trap for me. 

‘And why would he want to anyway?’

In any case, I walked in, trying not to shake in my boots.

Quickly looking around the hut, I found nothing suspicious. On the contrary, it was as simple and tasteful as the outside. A dining table in the middle, a bookshelf in the corner, and doors to some other rooms on either side. It was strange to see such ordinary things in such an unusual place.

“You can leave your stuff near the door, I won't bite,”  he said as he looked out of the other room,  “by the way, what’s your name?”

“Em… Dimitri Alexander!”  I said the name of the first character that popped into my head.

“Hmm.”

Though I was starting to feel safer, I still didn’t know if I could fully trust this creature or not. It was trying to help me, but… the fact that it wasn’t human still made me uneasy.

Nevertheless, I obeyed and left my things at the entrance as he instructed.

“It’ll take a while, you can sit down and rest in the meantime.”

What I didn’t understand was that he was so comfortable leaving an uninvited guest unattended. What if I was some kind of sneaky burglar, for instance?

I sat down obediently on the chair, twitching my legs nervously. It wasn’t easy to relax… when you’re in the presence of a huge, scaly behemoth that was previously considered only a myth.

Finally, a green-skinned dragon dude appeared with a huge sack full of all sorts of stuff.

“Here you go. I put in here some supplies that should be edible to most creatures, including humans.”

“Oh, thank you so much… um speaking about “much”… how much is that?

But the man only waved his hand.

“Nothing. You don’t have to worry.”

“Really?! Come on, it’s embarrassing… I’ve got these over here…”

I pulled a couple of paper bills out of my wallet, but just as I started to reread them I heard the scaly man jingle something and I saw gold and silver coins in his hands.

“We have a different currency anyway,” —  he explained, smiling faintly with his toothy mouth.

I still couldn’t shake off the feeling of guilt and obligation, but before I could offer anything else the one said:

“Although… I can’t help but wonder how you got here.”

“Oh, that… I didn’t notice myself moving into your territory… the map hasn’t let me down like this for a long time, haha…”

“Can I see it?”

“Yes, of course!”

After examining my card, he pulled his own from the bag he had prepared for me.

“Here’s a more accurate sample.”

As I looked closer, I noticed some differences, the most important of which was the red line marking the border between the two continents — ours and theirs. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that I had crossed it just as I was climbing that unfortunate hill!

“If you’d crossed a border at least a hundred steps apart from that place — you’d be enjoying the company of border guards right now”.

“But…wouldn’t I have been able to spot them from afar?”

“We take a slightly different approach to things. Tell me, are you familiar with magic?”

I’d only heard about magic in fiction, and I didn’t know what to believe. It was rumored to be an energy only the Dragonkin could control. If humans had been given the resources to make all these marvelous inventions, then dragons could somehow get everything our science gave us out of thin air.

I am of course exaggerating as we have long ago discovered the law of “equal exchange” — no energy comes from nowhere and does not go anywhere, and therefore it is unlikely that the dragonkin could just use it…

Looking back on it now, I should have probably conducted more proper research.

“Well, instead of burdening ourselves with daily duty, we just set traps. They’re invisible to the naked eye and only become visible when it’s too late. By the time they paralyze you, the guards would have been informed. Whether you cross the border from inside or outside.”

“For real?”

“Yes.”

I couldn’t believe it… I thought only we could pull off stunts like that!

“And… what kind of punishment would there be for me…?”

“Depends on several factors. Sometimes you just get a warning. Sometimes they give you a good, hard whipping to get a lesson across. And in your case? All that arsenal you’re carrying around would certainly raise a lot of questions.”

“Oh my—”

“Uh-huh.”

I felt my optimism dwindling and my enthusiasm waning. Are they really that strict? Is there something else I don’t know about their realm?

As if reading my thoughts, the dragon man continued:

“Besides that, I guess you don’t know about a lot of other things. Our world can be quite harsh: the fruits that grow here can poison you if you don’t know how to cook them, and the fauna is much fiercer and fights for its life.”

I felt myself finding it increasingly difficult to keep my face, but I forced myself to smile nonetheless.

“In that case, would you be so kind as to brief me a little on yours…”

'Wait… What the hell am I doing?!'

I almost slapped myself for being reckless. I was so used to asking people for help that I didn’t even realize how dumb it was to ask now, in foreign territory. Who the hell told me to do that? I should have told him it was an accident and that I’d be out of here as soon as I got here. What if he’s a border guard himself?

I almost bit my nails in frustration, but the dragon man, on the other hand, remained completely unperturbed.

“Yes, of course. Speaking of which, I suppose you’re hungry, and I was just about to have lunch. My treat.”

I pondered the offer for a few moments. There definitely should be a catch.

“You can leave, I’m not keeping you.”

I suddenly felt like I was cornered… which was strange, since there was no way to tell from the outside.

‘How humiliating … to pin an adventurer as experienced as me against a wall! Just  like that! …Okay, stop, this is not how a true adventurer should behave! He must always remain strong in spirit and resourceful!’

Therefore, I concluded that the current situation is just a boulder on the road, by overcoming it I will undoubtedly become stronger.

“Of course, I’d be honored to, good sir.”

“Well, that’s good. It’ll be ready in a couple of minutes.”

“And yet… Are you sure you don’t need any help? It’s just, I don’t know, awkward or something.”

However, the man only waved it away.

“I don’t have to receive anything in return for my services, although I am pleased that you are so grateful. However…”

He suddenly paused and then added:

“Since you want to hear me out, I’d also like to… have some *other* conversation with you, “Dimitri.”

“Oh…okay!”

I didn’t know what else he wanted to tell me, but… if it’s about some kind of human intelligence gathering, I think I can get away with it without putting my race in harm’s way by being… a little more inventive with lies.