Chapter 13.1 – Dragon’s First Guild Job

Nina's sitting on the couch when I return, and she looks up in surprise as I appear. After a second to process it, she smiles.

"So, how did everything go?" (Nina)

I grin back at her.

"Well, I could tell you now, but wouldn't you rather talk in the bath like I promised?" (Mizuki)

Nina's eyes fly open in surprise, and she begins grinning. I chuckle quietly, then I nod at her.

After removing my gear, I walk over to the tub and spend the next few minutes preparing a warm bath for us. As I'm finishing, I feel Nina kneel beside me and lean on my shoulder, then I hear her voice in my head.

[Hmm…is the bath ready yet?] (Nina)

"Yeah, I think so." (Mizuki)

I look over at her, and she's already removed her clothes. She's looking me in the eye like it's no big deal. That sneaky dragon.

Before I can act, she slides her face closer to mine and presses our lips together. Maintaining the kiss, she reaches toward the hem of my shirt.

Truthfully, I'd feel weird going any further tonight, so I decide that I should put a stop to this.

I grab her wrists and push us apart, and she sighs regretfully as I do. Her face is annoyed.

I cast her an admonishing expression, like 'come on, you know what you did'. She gives me a not very believable look of surprise.

[What? I was just trying to help you get undressed for the bath, Mizuki!] (Nina)

That doesn't even warrant a verbal response. I roll my eyes at her instead.

Afterwards, we both settle into the bath facing one another. Nina is wearing a pouting face, and I can sense disappointment rolling off her in waves.

"Nina, for what it's worth, I thought your technique was flawless. In fact, if it had been another night, I probably would have been fine with it." (Mizuki)

Nina's mood seems to improve modestly at that comment. Then, she looks at me expectantly.

"Oh? Did something happen with your trap tonight?" (Nina)

I can sense mild concern from her. I sigh and sink down into the bath. The water feels nice on my muscles, and I lean my head back against the tub.

"Yeah, I had three adventurers track me into the woods I led them to. Once there, they first tried to intimidate me, then they threatened to kill me. Apparently, they'd done it before." (Mizuki)

Nina smirks and raises an eyebrow at me.

"Fufufu…I pity the people that would try something like that with you. I'm guessing one of them was that brainless human I threw into the door earlier tonight?" (Nina)

"No, actually, it was the guy with the broadsword who tried to recruit you to their party. Apparently, he didn't like taking no for an answer, so he and two of his goons tracked me alone to the woods. First, they tried intimidating me into getting you to join their party, and when that failed, they were going to kill me in the hopes that you'd lose your reason to reject their offer." (Mizuki)

Nina's eyes fly open in surprise at that information. Then she begins laughing.

"Fufufu…fools indeed. I'm guessing you slapped them around a little bit and dropped them off deep in the woods to reflect on their actions?"

I maintain her gaze without laughing, then shake my head.

"No. I teleported all three to your nest in the woods, then executed them one-by-one and disintegrated their bodies and equipment. They'd killed innocent people, probably more than once, and their leader was charming, cold, and calculating. They may not seem like a threat to us in terms of ability, but people like that can find more clever ways to harm you. So, I eliminated them…no exceptions." (Mizuki)

I sense shock from Nina, and she gives me a puzzled look.

"I'm honestly surprised, Mizuki. I thought you disliked hurting people, and preferred scheming to get your way." (Nina)

"When it comes to redeemable people, that's certainly the case. However, I don't make allowances for people like them. Scheming with schemers is dangerous, and they weren't worth the risk." (Mizuki)

Nina seems to purse her lips thoughtfully, and then nods as if agreeing.

"I guess you're right. Well, they won't be a problem anymore. So, on to the other thing that I was curious about! What'd you do in our fight earlier today to grab my arrow? I've never seen anyone move that fast." (Nina)

My sense of apprehension from her about the incident with the adventurers has disappeared, and it's been replaced by strong curiosity. She's staring at me intently, waiting for an answer.

"Hmm…before I tell you, what do you think I did?" (Mizuki)

She smiles confidently, like 'glad you asked'.

"Ha! I think that you made an illusion of yourself where you wanted me to shoot, then hid your real self to the side to wait and grab the arrow." (Nina)

She leans back in the bath and gives me a smug expression, like 'am I right?'. I smile back at her and shake my head.

"Nope, that's not it. However, that is a clever idea as well, and I should think about trying it in the future. Everything you saw with your eyes was what happened. As for how I did it…would you believe me if I said that I learned to slow the flow of time?" (Mizuki)

Nina gets serious, then studies my face as if waiting for me to reveal that I'm joking. When I don't, her eyes go wide, and she shakes her head in exasperation.

"Mizuki, this again!? Tampering with the laws of time is something that most gods don't even do! Don't go telling anyone that you can do that!" (Nina)

"Well, it's not like I'm stopping time, or going back in time, or going to alternate timelines. I'm just slowing it down, which isn't really that much different than increasing my speed. So, it's probably fine!" (Mizuki)