I Only Tame Dragons

"Good call," Lydia added, helping to sift through the pile. "The potions might come in handy during the competition."

Nyx, who had been lounging on a nearby shelf, narrowed her glowing eyes at Lydia. "What are you doing in the boys\' room, you damn thief? Don\'t you have your own space? And don\'t even think about stealing anything from those bags, I\'m watching you."

Lydia grinned slyly, unfazed. "Relax. I\'m helping sort out the loot. Besides, you could cut me some slack. We\'re all on the same team here, right?"

Nyx snorted, her skeletal frame rattling as she got up. "You can\'t fool me. I know exactly what you\'re thinking. So don\'t even dream of pocketing anything."

With a wolfish grin, Lydia looked over at Horizon and Von. "You wouldn\'t mind sharing some of this with me, right? Just a few items . . . and maybe a little bit of that gil?" she slurred, rapidly blinking her eyes, acting all cute.

"Of course you can! My sweet honey!" Von immediately exclaimed.

"That idiot elf already paid for your meals and your room. And now you want some of the treasure?" Nyx hissed, her eyes glowing an even brighter blue. "I knew it! You\'re just a greedy brat. You\'re lucky I\'m not in my full form right now, or I\'d turn you to ash for even laying eyes on my treasures!"

Lydia threw up her hands defensively, trying to step back. "Okay, okay! I\'m sorry! It\'s just, there\'s plenty of loot here. Sharing would help us out in the competition, wouldn\'t it? Why are you being so stingy?"

Von grinned as he glanced at Nyx, who was now stalking closer to Lydia. "Because Nyx is a dragon. It\'s in her nature to hoard treasures."

Lydia cocked her head to the side, her brow furrowing. "Yeah, I know she\'s a dragon. But isn\'t she just Horizon\'s pet?"

. . .

. . .

The room went silent. Horizon and Von both stared at her as if she\'d just signed her own death warrant. Even Cappy, the little bird who usually fluttered around without much care, darted around Lydia in a panic.

"You\'re dead. You\'re so dead," Cappy muttered in his high-pitched voice.

Before Lydia could blink, Nyx lunged at her, pulling her hair with her sharp teeth. "Pet? I am not a pet! I am a mighty dragon, you insolent brat! If I were in my true form, you\'d be in the seven Hells by now!"

"Ow! Ow! Stop pulling my hair! I\'m sorry! I\'m sorry!" Lydia shrieked, trying to pry Nyx off her.

=== ===

Later that day, Horizon, Nyx, and Lydia made their way to Mappletown\'s bank to exchange the gear they didn\'t need for gil.

The air was bustling with adventurers, traders, and townsfolk, all eager for the upcoming competition.

Von and Cappy, on the other hand, were busy searching for builders to start working on their base — and potentially recruit new members to their team.

Lydia was dragging four large bags behind her, and sighed dramatically. "We don\'t really need to buy too many potions or items. The competition is going to provide those throughout the event. All we really need is top-tier equipment."

Horizon nodded, his eyes scanning the crowd of creatures and people walking to and from the marketplace.

"There are a lot of people here. You\'d better hold tight to our bags, especially in a crowd like this." Nyx said.

"They\'re probably here for the competition," Lydia commented, her eyes taking everything in. "Mappletown is close to Singing Grove and Crown Jade Woods. The woods are just north of the grove, about two days by carriage from here.

"We could also take the Singing Grove route. But it\'s more dangerous. The grove\'s crawling with beasts. Taking the regular road is much safer, and it\'s shorter and we could cut some time."

They finally arrived at the bank, and Horizon hauled the bags of equipment to the counter. "I\'d like these appraised and exchanged for gil."

The gnome behind the counter, barely taller than the bags themselves, adjusted his glasses and stared at the gear. His eyes widened as he recognized the distinct emblems. "A-Are these . . . Radiant Church knight equipment?"

Horizon nodded casually. "That\'s right. We looted it–!"

Lydia quickly clamped her hand over Horizon\'s mouth. "Ahahaha! What he meant to say is, we found them in the Singing Grove."

The gnome clearly didn\'t believe a word she said, shook his head. "I\'m sorry, I can\'t accept these."

Horizon frowned. "Why not?"

The gnome sighed, lowering his voice. "It\'s not that I care where you found them. But I don\'t want trouble here. I heard the Radiant Church is looking for their missing knights this morning. They\'re after a thief."

Horizon and Lydia exchanged a wary glance.

"Knowing the Radiant Church," the gnome continued, "I don\'t want to be on their bad side. So no, I won\'t take these right now. Not when they\'re around."

Lydia forced a smile. "Thank you for the warning. We\'ll . . . take these elsewhere."

As they turned to leave, the gnome\'s eyes narrowed, and he leaned over the counter, grabbing a wanted poster from his desk. He glanced between the poster and Lydia. "You know . . . you look awfully familiar."

He held up the wanted paper, and Horizon\'s heart dropped as he saw the sketch of a girl with golden hair — the exact same shade as Lydia\'s.

"You look a lot like the thief who stole an important relic from the Radiant Church," the gnome said slowly.

Lydia laughed nervously, tucking her violet hair behind her ear. "Ahahaha! You must be mistaken! I\'m just a traveler from the far south, passing through on my way to Crown Jade Woods."

The gnome raised an eyebrow. "Then how did you make it to Singing Grove?"

"Oh, look at the time!" Lydia grabbed Horizon\'s arm and dragged him out of the bank. "We should really get going. Bye!"

Outside, Lydia sighed in relief. "Whew. That was close."

Nyx snickered from the side. "Is that why you\'ve changed your hair with a [Shape-Shifting Potion]? Keekeekee. You\'re a wanted woman after all."

"Shut up. A girl\'s gotta do what she can to survive," Lydia dismissed with a wave of her hand.

Horizon frowned. "What are we going to do now? We need to sell this gear to get the money for our equipment. If Von finds a builder, we won\'t have enough gil to pay them, too."

Lydia\'s grin widened. "Don\'t worry. There\'s more than one way to get gil around here . . . We\'re going to the underground market."