I Raised A Black Dragon

Sensing that Kyle would take some time, Noah got to her feet and scooted along the edge of the walls to the room marked “Front Office”. No one paid her any mind as she slipped in through the door, which was fortunately unlocked.

The office was as run-down as the rest of the hotel, with dust and cobwebs everywhere. She tore through a desk, opening all the drawers she could reach, trying to find the guest list. This was a hotel for crying out loud. A hotel built for people to basically check-in and sleep. There had to be a guest list somewhere.

But despite having ransacked the entire office, going through all the filing cabinets, she found no trace of any guest list. There weren’t even any keys to give to the guests, nor any hotel staff. She plopped down in the chair behind the desk, and thought about the hotel and what it meant.

If it were a normal hotel, there wouldn’t really be a reason to set up a barrier, which meant this was never a hotel. It was merely a place where the lowest class of society could congregate, and no one cared if any of them died when they were used as test subjects. Nearby, prohibited biological experiments took place, and the resulting wastewater was dumped into the lake. 

Noah groaned. She and Kyle didn’t have to wait for the workers to hand over the magic ore to them, and then head to Tauren Industrial Zone. Their objective was right there.

As Noah slumped in her chair, she heard someone entering the office. She sat up straight, her heart pounding through her chest when she saw who was approaching her. 

“We meet again, long time no see.”

She slowly stood out of the chair, glaring at the mysterious figure. Despite what was going on around them—a stench mixed with white cigarette smoke and a deep lavender scent; gamblers who couldn’t beat their anger and flipped the tables upside down; prostitutes looking for quick money—this man was pristine with a clean-shaven face. His blonde hair was shining underneath the broken bulbs of the chandelier. 

***

The inside of the alley, which was awash with color from the broken paint cans, was in the middle of being painted a new color. However, rather than being paint on the wall this time, it was the blood of the recently deceased. 

There had been three groups of five men who had run to Kyle and Muell. And it had taken less than half an hour to subdue the fifteen assassins. It would have taken more time if they had to be captured alive, but for those with lowercase ‘r’ marks behind their ears, Kyle knew there was no time for hesitation. Out of a group of fifteen, were only three ‘real’ people.

They couldn’t be seen outside of this alley, as Muell had generated a double barrier around him. Kyle leaned on the alley wall and slid down on the ground next to one of the men who was still alive. 

“Will you ever learn? Stop making a big fuss over nothing. Now,” with the tip of his loaded revolver, he tapped the man’s bruised cheek, “I don’t have a lot of time. I have to feed someone.”

The man’s eyelashes were flickering up and down. Kyle lowered the gun, pressing it up against his rib cage on the right side.

“Are you the one who took Largo’s Eye from the Angelic?”

“No… I got it from my master.” The man winced as Kyle pressed his gun in harder. 

“Who is your master?” Kyle said, remembering that one of the Yulem members he had caught on the Angelic call someone that.

The man didn’t answer. Kyle clicked his tongue when he saw the tell-tale imprint under his ‘r’ mark.It was obvious who the replicas’ master was. 

“Adrian Rossinell.”

As soon as Kyle said the name, the man’s eyes bulged out of his skull. 

“So, you do know him. Where is he now?” Kyle asked, pressing the gun further into the man’s ribs. 

“Oh, the secretary, probably in the capital…” The man stammered, trying to move away from the gun. Kyle clamped his hand around the man’s head and pressed the revolver into his temple. 

“Are you sure about that?”

Even while knowing that Eleonora’s body had disappeared, there was no way Adrian Rossinell couldn’t have taken action. That’s what Kyle had been suspicious about all along.

Wouldn’t a man who had stamped this many replicas make one for himself? In a similar way that Lenia Valtalere had done, he could have set up a replica in Tezeba, and the real form could be out somewhere else roaming around. If so, then where was it now?

Kyle tightened his grip on the revolver, and the man looked pale. 

“Harrell…!” The man cried out just before Kyle pulled the trigger. “Tauren District 13, Harrell. Try going there! I can’t say where my master really is, but if you go to the research center then you’ll find out…”

Harrell. The area where Muell had dropped Noah off at. Did he say research center?

Kyle got to his feet and hoisted the man up by his collar. 

“Take him, Muell.”

Muell, who was running around the alley and putting all the bodies into a portal, looked up. Kyle slightly shook the man at him, and when Muell approached them, he threw him into the portal. Now at Kyle’s side, Muell summoned the runes for the teleportation spell. 

“Set the coordinates for Harrell. The same place you and Noah went. Can you do it?”

“Yep!” Muell excitedly bobbed his head. Gold lights flashed and in the next moment, both disappeared without a trace.