The Esper of Algol: Protector

Expositional Conversation and Unintentional Dragon

"Why did you assume I was going to ask you to save my village from some sort of monster?" Alis asked, switching her flash from one hand to the other as they took a corridor to the right and a gentle slope down. "I guess technically I am, but I don't think that's what you meant."

"Oh, that," Noah said. "Um, it actually happened to my master Tajima when I was studying with him. Quite a few times, in fact. And he'd always go and help them, even though most of the time it was something that didn't even require magic of his caliber. Mid-sized monsters that could be handled with brute force or negotiation, things like that."

"Would have been right up my alley," Odin chimed in, a grin in his voice.

"Probably. Problem is, it fragmented my lessons so that it was years before I could even pull magic effectively, let alone cast anything stronger than a breeze. That's part of the reason why I decided to hermit myself in this mountain – no one could possibly find me here."

"Worked like a charm," Myau said.

"Except in order to get access to Naharu cave," Alis added, "you needed a permit from Paeso's governor."

Noah exasperated, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is to be able to see that guy to ask him for something?"

"Yes, actually," Alis replied.

"Oh, right. Well, you live on Palma, so I'm guessing you are used to the back and forth between planets.  But I hadn't been off of Motavia in over a decade, so I had to buy a passport, get on an dilapidated space shuttle, and bop every owlbear on the shore of Baya Malay just to get to that stupid bakery, fight my way through the dungeon slimes to get to the actual store, and give out literally all of my meseta just for one little piece of cake that I had to transport all the way back to Paseo!"

"Yeah we had to do all that, too," Odin offered with suppressed mirth. "But Naula does make the best shortcake, and if fighting through the liches and werebats is the only way to guarantee an audience with the governor, it must be done, I guess."

Noah's head snapped around, bewildered at Odin. There weren't liches or monsters as powerful as werebats in Naula when I went a year ago.

"Minor abuse of power to obtain confection aside," Alis stated irritably," the governor spoke of you like he knew you. Why would he make you go through all of that if you know each other?"

Noah sighed. "I guess you could say he knows me. He was one of the 'commissions' that Tajima took, and he knows my master better than he knows me. His staff were having weird nightmares, and he thought maybe magic could clear up their heads so they could sleep."

Alis slowed her step. "Nightmares, huh?"

Myau whispered to her, but Noah couldn't hear what he had said. Alis slowly quickened her pace again.

"Yeah, well, the day we arrived, the nightmares apparently stopped. Neither Tajima nor I had done anything, but he gave us the credit anyway. Seemed to think we worked some sort of miracle. When I approached him to ask for the permit, he remembered me I guess, and - after downing the cake, of course - said I should be able to handle the dragon and handed over the permit."

"Dragon!?" Odin and Myau exclaimed simultaneously.

"That was the general idea," Noah explained, "secluded exercise and if I could defeat the dragon I could consider myself finished with training."

"There's a dragon in this cave?" Odin's fervor was evident.

Noah looked back at him, exasperated, "He didn't warn you about the dragon? But we're no match for that thing now. I had expected to be here at least another year before having to fight it."