I Became a Dragon in the Game (2)

I had meant to take that house back, and then I let it go. Something must have happened to whoever had been looking after the estate. I decided to buy a new mansion instead. Sell the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠most useless thing I owned, and an absurd fortune would come pouring in. More than anything, I had no wish to live in a building planted in the heart of the red-light district.

I would stop at the Central Government Office in the castle first. An identity token that proved one's nobility had to be re-registered at the office whenever its owner changed, and a reappearance after two hundred years was bound to cause quite a stir. But it was still a dark dawn, so I settled on killing time by watching the city.

Boring.

Passing the hours while doing nothing at all was far too dull. At first there had been a novelty to looking at a medieval city, even a flicker of feeling, but that lasted only a moment. It was obvious that gazing at the scales of my true body, or at myself in a mirror, would be far more beautiful and far more moving.

The pocket watch I drew from Sub-space pointed to six in the morning.

A considerable crowd was already waiting in front of the office. Thinking the opening hour must be near, I read the notice posted there, my robe still up.

A whole hour still remained.

No one approached me. Anyone dressed in a robe that expensive at a glance could only be a noble, so I stood blankly in the nobles-only queue, idly rolling a gold coin across my fingers to pass the time. Back in the modern world I would at least have had a phone and the internet.

At last it struck seven. The office doors opened, and people began pouring in. At the entrance reserved for nobles, there was not a single soul besides me.

What lay beyond the door was nothing like the outside: antique furnishings, a marble floor, pieces that still carried a craftsman's touch.

As I moved to go in, two guards approached.

"Pardon us. Please present an item by which we may verify your identity."

Without a word I drew the identity token and a certificate of identity from my pocket. They bowed their heads and withdrew.

At the counter sat a woman who looked quite pretty. She seemed to be a cat beastfolk; the way her ears twitched was cute. When I sat, she rose to greet me.

"Welcome. I am Fer Lipei, Baronet of the Central Government Office of Gemini. What brings you here today?"

"I've come to have an identity token re-verified."

"You've come to exactly the right place. If you would be so kind as to set the identity token and the certificate here."

Fer Lipei received them with the utmost courtesy. Assigned to the nobles' desk, she must meet people of high rank often enough.

Once I had laid the token and the certificate down, she brought over a strange orb.

"This orb will appraise the identity token and the certificate, and complete the re-registration. To register a portrait, however, I will need to see your face..."

I hated showing it to other men, but a woman was another matter. I nodded, and a strange light poured from the orb. After it had scanned the identity token and the certificate, small letters appeared above the sphere.

"Confirmed. Viscount Renium. Your name and portrait must be registered, so please lower the hood of your robe."

When I lowered the hood, large and beautifully curled ram horns came into view. The moment the recognition-disrupting magic faded and the horns appeared, the sight seemed to strike Fer Lipei hard. I showed my face and smiled, and there she was, staring blankly.

"Let's get on with it."

"Ah— ah. Yes, yes. Of course. Y-you are truly beautiful. Now I understand why they call you the Garnet. It is an honor."

I nodded at her praise as if it were only natural, and took back the identity token and the certificate. On the certificate there was a space where I was to write my name. After a brief hesitation, I wrote Croa.

Fer Lipei tilted her head at the name for a moment, then nodded as though something had fallen into place.

"By any chance, do you possess a register of family relations, or a history of the house?"

I considered it, then shook my head. Having such a thing would lend the air of a great house, but I had no particular need of it. Ordinary would do.

She wrote something in a great hurry, then handed me one more identity token.

"This is the identity token of Lady Croa Renium. If you set down the history of the house beginning with yourself, it will surely become a magnificent great house."

She was cute, saying that, so I signed a sheet of paper and added a few lines. The contents were a rough patchwork of famous sayings I had heard somewhere, and I filled the page in an ornate hand.

"If I really do found a great house, this will be worth a fortune. Hold on to it."

With that I drew the hood back up and left the office.

The identity was settled, and I had money to spare. Time to buy a house.

I couldn't resist the smells of food drifting from every street, and started buying this and that to eat. As expected of an imperial capital, the number of dishes was staggering. With no smaller change on me, I spent a single silver coin buying things without restraint and ate my way through them. Perhaps because I was a dragon, the food seemed to digest the moment I swallowed it. There was no such thing as feeling full. Nor, for that matter, hunger.

In exchange, the spectacle earned me a tail. Spending money without end was surely the problem. Even so, because I kept to the main roads, they couldn't make a direct move. It was annoying, but it didn't actually get in my way, so I ignored them and went looking for a real estate office.

I had forgotten that this world was not the modern one. Nothing like a real estate agency existed.

Wondering what to do, I sat down in an open stretch of Central Plaza. A stone statue of the founding emperor stood there, with guards posted around it. Thinking I might ask them, I approached.

"Halt. Come no closer. What is your business?"

A guard who seemed to be in charge stopped me six paces out.

"If I want to buy a house here, where do I go?"

"The Central Government Office."

"Thank you. I'll be on my way, then."

I had offered the courtesy and was about to leave when a guard came up and spoke.

"A moment. Please stop. Identify yourself."

I handed over the newly issued identity token, and the guard snapped to a formal salute.

"My apologies! Lady Croa Renium! Forgive me for saying so, but kindly refrain from recognition-hindering enchanted items in front of the guards whenever you can. Suspicious types have been plentiful of late, and the guards must check each one in turn."

I nodded and turned back toward the Central Government Office. From their side, it would be awkward too. Since I was headed for the office myself, they apparently hadn't checked my face. Maybe it would be better simply to go about with the robe off entirely. The ones who sidled up with wandering hands would only come at the start; if I laid every last one of them out, word might get around.

On the way to the Central Government Office, the tail still hadn't dropped away. If types like that learned where I lived, they would certainly come to steal. I deliberately turned toward a place with few people.

The deeper I went along the alleys between the buildings, the more of them gathered. I had never once fought anyone since coming of age, so I was a little tense. And yet the farther I turned down the alleys, the fewer people there were. When I finally reached a dead-end alley, only ten remained behind me.

"What. Where are the others?"

At my words, two of them went pale and bolted.

"Fuck! See? I told you that one's something! You can tell just from the robe—later, you dumb fucks!"

The remaining eight looked tense, sweat running down them. The biggest man came forward, nerves showing.

"H-hand over everything you've got and get lost!"

I lifted a hand slightly, and they flinched, taking a step back. It felt like I was watching a comedy bit. I had thought I was bored. This would do nicely.

"How many years have you lived here?"

"Like I'd answer a question like that! Shut up and hand over the money!"

I moved my hand and drove it through the dead-end wall. It didn't shatter. A clean round hole opened, and their expressions changed in an instant.

"I asked how many years."

"I've lived here from the day I was born until now!"

"I—I haven't been here long!"

They all spoke at once. I pointed a finger at the one who had lived here his whole life. He was the biggest of them.

"Everyone but you, get out. You're going to be my guide."

Babbling their thanks, they scattered in a blind panic. The fellow's face went a little pale.

"Wh-where shall I take ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you!"

"The office first. You're my attendant. Understood?"

His expression kept changing. When we went in through the nobles-only door at the Central Government Office, the look on his face was a sight to see.

The guards tried to bar him, but at the word attendant they let him through. As expected, there was no one else there. I went back to Fer Lipei and greeted her.

"Hello. I'm back."

"Welcome, Lady Croa Renium. A pleasure to receive you again. How may I be of service?"

"I've come to look at houses. Somewhere nice."

"Then how would this one suit you? This is..."

And so Fer Lipei and I went from place to place in search of a house. The man I had named my attendant followed at my back the whole way.

I contracted a four-story mansion on a street reserved for the upper class. There was a separate annex, and the garden was broad. I asked the man a question.

"You. Your name?"

"Yes! Max!"

"Good. Then where's the most fun place around here?"

"By fun, you mean...?"

"Something to kill time with. Something that isn't boring."

At that he stole a glance at my face, then asked again.

"P-perhaps... you mean the illegal sort of things?"

"Are they fun?"

"Of course. The girls are to die for, there's gambling, there's drink. At midday there's an auction. I know a dog-fighting pit, and a monster arena too. Every place worth playing, I know. There's even an underground arena the noble lords are especially fond of."

Primitive. Primal. Could I, a person from the modern age, actually find any of that entertaining? Gambling, maybe. An arena or a dog pit sounded cruel.

Regardless of what I thought, he kept talking.

"Have you ever seen beastfolk women going at it with orcs? You can't see that just anywhere. Only here in Gemini. And the owner of the arena used to be an elf slave—word is she went in as a sex slave at the start. But across generations they were raped, bore children, and kept devouring the household from the inside, until in the end she became a noble..."

Max's talk was entertaining. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠He knew more rumors than I had expected, and he had a good tongue for them. He seemed to know the underworld well, too.

"Any interest in working as my attendant?"

At that, Max nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Aigoo, my lady. I'm truly a worthless street thug. I hardly know my manners—I might smear mud across your face."

"That doesn't matter. In exchange, you know the fun places well, don't you? Just take me to places like that, and talk the way you are now."

"But..."

"The pay is five gold coins. I'll guarantee your safety, too."

I didn't really know how much I ought to pay, so I handed over roughly whatever came to hand.

"Where shall I take you first? Please look after me well, Master."

The word Master sent a chill straight through me. It was embarrassing, and it made my skin crawl. We were going to be seeing each other for a while anyway.

"Call me Lady Croa. That gives me the creeps."

"Aigoo. Of course, Lady Croa."

I would have to get a bit of proper guiding out of this one.