Before There Was Braveheart

Chapter V: The Lake Monster

And so, the two mercenaries started doing commissions together.

Despite their constant arguing and disagreements, they both made a good team. Even the other guild members seemed to think so. Their chemistry was on point, it was as if they were two sides of the same coin. Although they might bicker a lot, they got along quite well. It was a strange but acceptable sight to behold. On some days, they would spend the gold they acquired to drink together at the tavern. The two soon became known as a duo, for if one of them accepted a commission the other would soon tag along.

It looked like Bertram's suggestion did manage to bring them together.

Johann's intention of partnering up with Dom was pure. He wanted the kid to be able to have a mentor, he didn't want the kid to end up as a washed-up man with no purpose in life whatsoever. He wanted to be able to guide the kid on the right path, which was quite ironic because they were in an illegal organization, but who cares?

Meanwhile, Dom's intention was obviously not so pure. He wanted to gain as much information as possible on his target through the former paladin. To be able to do so, he needed to gain the elf's trust, which wasn't as hard as he thought since his sob story managed to make the elf empathise with him. Now, all he had left to do was to try and track down the Long-Lost Princess's whereabouts. He hoped that through the commissions that he took with the ex-paladin, he would be able to find her in due time. Even though he hated talking unnecessarily, he forced himself to be a little bit more talkative with the elf.

A month has passed since the day Dom joined the Söldner's Guild.

Johann and Dom were wandering through Zauberwald Forest, a forest located at the foot of Stadtbergen and near the path towards the capital of the Kingdom of Ambrosia. They had just accepted a commission to take down a lake monster spotted floating through the lake surrounding the capital. Reports had been made saying that the monster seemed like some sort of dragon, to which Johann and Dom decided that it would be worthwhile to check on.

"It's been years since a dragon has been seen roaming through the kingdom," Johann commented, "They're an endangered species since people used to hunt them down for sport back in the day."

"So, we're not killing a dragon today?" Dom asked.

"Absolutely not," Johann replied, "We'll ask it to leave politely."

Seeing the bewildered look on Dom's face, Johann let out a hearty laugh.

"I doubt the creature the villagers saw was a dragon," Johann explained, "The few remaining dragons were sent to Dreki, an island south of Ambrosia, to be protected under the Great Dragon. I bet the creature is just a dragonborn trying to survive during these hard times."

"You mean, those humanoid dragons?"

Johann hummed in response.

They stopped in their tracks once they reached the lakeside.

"Lake Lacroix," Johann muttered, "Still as beautiful as ever."

"Did you come here often?" Dom asked.

"I used to train here when I was a paladin," Johann answered, "Our commander made us run laps around the lake."

Dom shuddered at the thought.

"Let's just focus on finding clues."

The two started to scout the area for signs of the so-called lake monster, trying to look for traces on the ground near the edge of Lake Lacroix.

There were no footprints present, so their only guess was that the monster solely lived in water and didn't set foot on land. Which quickly ruled out the possibility that the monster was a dragonborn in the first place.