The Mad WarDragon of Greed.

Chapter 3: The Grand Canyon.

When he got there, the people camping were battered and bruised, looking as though they had just come from a terrible battle. Their clothes were torn, their weapons were either damaged or lying nearby, and even from a distance, Stravos could see several injuries that had been poorly treated.

They weren't looking too bright at the moment.

Stravos slowed his pace as he approached, his eyes moving from one person to another. His own clothes were tattered, remnants of his own battle, and dried blood still clung stubbornly to parts of his green tunic.

He wasn't any better than them.

Walking curiously toward them, he started waving his hand while approaching, making sure they could see him clearly. He kept his movements slow, especially when he noticed the two armed men immediately straighten their backs despite their exhaustion.

They were two girls sitting on boxes, two men standing guard, and a funny-dressed elderly man tending to their injuries. The elderly man wore strange clothing that made Stravos stare for a moment longer than necessary, though he quickly returned his attention to the two guards.

The moment they noticed him getting closer, they all froze.

The two men reached for their weapons without drawing them, their hands hovering near their hilts as they watched Stravos carefully. Stravos stopped several steps away from them and raised both hands.

“I mean no harm,” he said, keeping his voice calm.

To his greatest surprise, one of the men in armour spoke up.

“...''.....''...”

Stravos stared at him.

The man stared back.

For several seconds, neither of them moved.

“What the hell?” Stravos finally asked, lowering his hands slightly.

The language they spoke was different from anything he had ever heard from the other nine major species. Stravos listened again, hoping that perhaps he had simply missed something, but the strange words continued flowing from the man's mouth without making the slightest bit of sense.

His brows slowly drew together.

He had fought against the strongest warriors of his age, survived battles that could have destroyed kingdoms, and had even faced his own father.

Yet somehow, he had been defeated by a conversation.

The others began talking among themselves, occasionally glancing toward Stravos as though they were trying to figure out what sort of strange creature had wandered into their camp.

Stravos watched them carefully, wondering what exactly they were saying. Their eyes occasionally moved over his clothes as well, particularly his worn-out green tunic.

His dressing was strange, so perhaps that was the problem.

Surely they weren't talking about his clothes, right?

Stravos glanced down at himself before looking back at them.

He really hoped they weren't.

The man dressed in black eventually walked up to him. Stravos watched him approach without moving, but when the man suddenly placed a finger against his forehead, his body instinctively tensed.

His eyes narrowed.

For the briefest moment, the urge to knock the man's hand away flashed through him.

He resisted it.

Whatever the man was doing, Stravos needed answers more than he needed another fight.

After a while, the man adjusted his voice. At first, he seemed to have been speaking some unknown language that even his allies seemed not to understand, but after a few moments, his expression changed.

“Ahh, I think I got it.”

Stravos looked at him awkwardly.

The elderly man cleared his throat and looked him over once again.

“Pardon me, young man,” he said. “Your language was so rare that I had to adjust well to communicate.”

Stravos's eyebrow twitched.

Young man?

He almost looked behind himself to see whether there was someone else standing nearby.

Two hundred years.

That was how old Stravos had been when he died, and this old man had just called him a young man as casually as if he were talking to a child.

If only this bastard knew who he was speaking to, Stravos thought, perhaps he would show a little more respect.

Still, Stravos swallowed the irritation rising in his chest and gave him a slight bow.

“Pardon me, sir,” he said. “I was on my way to the Eldora Kingdom, but strangely, my memories are foggy, and my body is weary.”

It was an obvious lie, but he needed to play the part of innocence for now. He knew almost nothing about this era, and revealing his identity before understanding the situation would only create unnecessary problems.

The elderly man stared at him for a moment.

“Oh, dear me,” he finally said. “How long have you been out here?”

Stravos thought for a short while before answering.

“I don't really know.”

Gus's eyebrows rose.

“Where did you come from?”

Stravos remained silent for a moment before answering, “I don't remember.”

“Were you traveling alone?”

“I don't remember.”

“Did someone attack you?”

“I don't remember.”

“Do you know where you are?”

“I don't remember.”

Gus stared at him.

Stravos stared back.

The elderly man's expression slowly became suspicious.

Stravos maintained his innocent expression, even though a vein in his forehead was beginning to throb.

After a moment, Gus sighed and rubbed his chin.

“So, you don't remember anything?”

“Apparently not,” Stravos replied.

Gus narrowed his eyes at him, Stravos narrowed his eyes back. The silence stretched between them until Gus suddenly asked another question.

“Do you remember your name?”

Stravos's eye twitched.

“Stravos.”

Gus paused.

“You remember your name?”

“I said my memories are foggy, not that it has been erased completely.”

Gus blinked.

For the first time, one of the girls sitting nearby covered her mouth, seemingly trying to hide a smile.

Stravos noticed it but decided not to comment.

The annoying elderly man, whose name was Gus, kept bombarding him with questions nonstop. What part of memory loss didn't this old man understand?

After a while of trying to figure out who and where this strange man came from and getting nowhere, Gus finally gave up. He let out a tired sigh before raising one hand.

“It's the Translator Skill,” Gus explained. “Every merchant has some mastery of it.”

Stravos's eyes flickered.

A skill?

He quietly filed the information away.

There were already too many unfamiliar things about this era, and he had no intention of showing just how much he didn't understand. If merchants casually possessed skills capable of translating languages, then the world had clearly developed in ways Stravos could not yet comprehend.

Gus seemed satisfied that he had finally explained something useful.

“Come,” he said. “I'll introduce you to the others.”

Stravos followed the man slowly toward the group, keeping his eyes on each person as Gus introduced them.

“This is Lila, Iris, Soren, and Caspian.”

The four of them simply waved at him due to exhaustion. Stravos studied them briefly, taking note of their injuries and their weapons before turning his attention back to Gus.

“If you don't mind me asking, what happened?” he asked.

“Well, we were traveling back to the Eldora Kingdom, but we were attacked by monsters,” Gus replied. “We lost some good men, and it's currently blocking our path.”

Stravos's expression changed slightly.

“Monsters?”

The word was familiar, but its meaning seemed different from what he remembered.

In his time, monster was a term used for weak and mindless beings, regardless of species or race. Yet these people had lost several men to whatever they had encountered, and judging by their condition, the creatures were not something that could simply be ignored.

Stravos glanced toward the direction of the blocked path. Then he looked at the injured group, then at Gus.

Eldora Kingdom.

That was exactly where he had been heading.

These people were traveling directly there.

Stravos's eyes narrowed slightly as an idea formed in his mind.They needed someone to get them through and he needed a way into Eldora.

It was convenient.

Perhaps a little too convenient.

But Stravos had learned long ago that when opportunity presented itself, a fool ignored it while a Dragon took it.

He looked at the battered group once again.

“All right, then,” Stravos said. “Hire me as your mercenary.”

Gus stared at him.

The others stared at him too.

Stravos remained perfectly calm beneath their confused gazes, though a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

He had finally found his first connection to this unfamiliar world.

Now all he needed to do was make sure they survived long enough to get him to Eldora.