[July 5, year 1000 of the Lost Era. Dragon Gold City. Clear skies.
My first day in Dragon Gold City.
I became sworn brothers with a guard captain.
I was lucky to meet such a like-minded friend in a completely unfamiliar place.
He was cheerful, hated nobles, loved adventure, and, most importantly, had an interesting soul.
Allow me to briefly recount what happened at the city gate—
After I explained the severity of the beastfolk situation, he immediately set aside his grievances with the nobility, opened the gates, and let Melard into Dragon Gold City.
But he was a man of principle. When I tried to follow them through the gate, he gently pushed me back out:
"Sorry, my friend. You are not a citizen of Dragon Gold City. Please forgive me for stopping you, however guilty I feel about it."
"All right, I completely understand. It is your job, after all."
As I spoke, I pointed at Gravel behind me.
"Can he go in, then? As the noble's bodyguard, he knows some of the finer details."
I saw the guard captain scratch his head and pretend to have a sudden realization as he joked:
"Oh, sorry. There was another one?"]
[Wait.
As I wrote this, something suddenly occurred to me. Perhaps he hadn't been joking—
Was it possible he really hadn't seen him?]
The Slaver Pen stirred Tang Qi's urge to express himself, keeping his pen moving without pause. He imagined that perhaps thirty thousand words a day wouldn't be a problem—
[...The guard captain treated me like his own brother, pulling me aside to tell me all about his exploits:
"I started drinking at three. At five, I drank two gnomes six years older than me under the table. At twelve, booze gave this coward enough courage to