Chapter 158

Lukas got up from his bed around dawn. From his estimation, he had slept for about two hours.

After tidying the bed and washing his face, he put on the clothes that he wasn’t yet used to.

Then, he headed to the first floor of the inn to have breakfast. The item on the menu for breakfast was crispy bacon.

In Lukas’ opinion, this was a bit too much, and something like a salad or bread would have been better. However, the Dragonmen seemed to prefer to eat meat to an almost extreme degree.

When he headed out onto the street after eating, he saw some Dragonmen also beginning their days.

As he looked at them, Lukas couldn’t help but marvel at their different appearances.

Some were practically the same as humans except for the skin and eyes.

Some had protruding horns or tusks.

And there were even some who basically looked like bipedal reptiles.

Nevertheless, they recognised each other as their kin. Of course, this wasn’t to say there wasn’t any prejudice at all, but in a modern sense, it was the same way that humans recognised each other as humans.

This knowledge was also something that he’d obtained from the books.

Without further ado, Lukas passed them, heading towards the ‘Flame of Herui’ that Bargan had mentioned the day before.

The Flame of Herui was one of the tallest buildings in the northwestern side of the city. To speak in modern terms, it was the Heavenly Realm’s equivalent of a skyscraper.

Of course, this didn’t mean that it was incredibly tall. At best, it was only a 10 story building, but when compared to the 1 and 2 story buildings around it, it looked like a mountain jutting out from the ground.

“…”

Lukas looked up at this large building. He could already tell from where he was standing.

The top of the building had been designed to be a kind of landing pad for flying dragons.

Flying Dragons.

Dragonlings who had the ability to fly across the sky.

Lukas couldn’t help but wonder just how big they were. Considering the size of the building, it was fairly likely that they were much larger than he initially believed.

He headed into the building.

The first floor of the building was a large lounge. It had an atmosphere similar to a bar, if not a bit harsher.

The smell of alcohol seemed to permeate every inch of the space, and above all else, it was incredibly noisy.

It was still very early in the morning, but there was already a large number of people sitting in the bar. It was likely that it remained open all day.

“…”

When Lukas entered, the volume in the bar lowered a bit.

The Dragonmen, who had been relaxing in the bar, glanced at Lukas and began to whisper among themselves.

“Is he an outsider?”

“I’m not sure…”

“I don’t think so. Not even the outsiders look so weak.”

“…”

Ignoring them, Lukas headed to the middle of the bar.

Standing there was a man who looked incredibly close to a lizard and had almost no human features.

To put it bluntly, he was more like the ‘Lizardmen’ from Lukas’ homeworld.

The man’s yellow eyes flashed dangerously as he spoke.

“Outsider, what brings you to the Flame of Herui?”

“I’m here to join the subjugation team’s travel service.”

Since the other wasn’t polite, Lukas didn’t try to be respectful either.

After looking at the Dragonman for a short while, he added.

“Bargan should have come to speak with you beforehand.”

“…you are Bargan’s Lord?”

“That should be the case.”

“I don’t believe it.”

The Dragonman’s voice was tinted with disbelief.

“Bargan was defeated by such a skinny outsider?”

“…”

His tone was strangely rough, but it didn’t seem like he was trying to refute him. This was because there was a clear expression of admiration on his face.

It was the same for the other Dragonmen who heard their conversation.

This reminded Lukas of the attitudes of the guards who protected the gates to Herui.

It was at that time that Bargan came down from the second floor. As soon as he spotted Lukas, he walked over at a brisk pace.

“You came early.”

“Should I have come later?”

“No… The preparations are already complete. All we need to do now is wait for approval…”

Bargain turned to the Dragonman Lukas was talking to and opened his mouth.

“How about it, Taotan?”

“Your request has been approved. Did you say it’s just the two of you? Then you can join Igaru’s squad.”

Bargain’s expression brightened at those words.

“Thanks. I’ll remember this favor.”

“What are you saying?”

The Dragonman Lukas had been talking to was Taotan, and Bargan seemed to know him. Although their words were cold and stiff, there was a hint of familiarity mixed into them.

After checking the schedules a few more times, Bargan turned to Lukas.

“Let’s go up.”

“Sure.”

After saying that, he followed Bargan up the stairs. Even though it was still early in the morning, Dragonmen filled every floor of the building. Many of them didn’t seem to be members of the subjugation force. Perhaps they were passengers like Lukas and Bargan.

“If we were a bit later, they might have left without us. There are many more people than I anticipated. If it wasn’t for Taotan’s help it would have been impossible.”

“It seems that the process is very complicated.”

“Not necessarily, it’s just a lot of reading. There are a lot of documents that you need to go through.”

“Documents?”

“Right. It includes things like precautions you should be aware of when moving with others, the risks involved, actions to be taken during an emergency, etc. And you also need to write a waiver stating that, in the event you die, the subjugation team would not be held responsible.”