As the carriage rolled through the bustling streets of Orario, Bahamut provided Draco with a brief overview of the meeting.

  Initially, Draco was taken aback by the siderable influehat the dragon gods held in the mortal world.

  However, upon refle, it made perfect sense.

  Dragon kin were created in the image of the dragon gods, so it was not surprising that the gods possessed simir, if not greater, powers, even with their arum sealed.

  In fact, Bahamut could be sidered the stro goddess in Orario, at least with her arum sealed.

  She had the capability to kill any od by herself, provided there was a legitimate reason, and very few adventurers could subdue her.

  This realization shed light on why epsis had chosen to send Bahamut to the mortal world.

  Still, Draco pondered why Io and Aasterinian didn’t just take care of him themselves.

  Clearly as dragon gods, they were more than capable of doing so.

  Why had the responsibility been given to a mortal family? What were their circumstances? Had they already returo heaven? These questions swirled in Draind.

  He couldn't help but wonder how different his life would have been if he had never met his current family.

  Would they still be alive and happy?

  Would he have been spared the deep-seated hatred he felt for the one-eyed bck dragon that resided in a er of his heart?

  “Draco, Draco!” Bahamut’s voice cut through his spiralling thoughts, snapping him back to the present.

  “Huh?” he replied, still slightly dazed.

  “We’re home!” she excimed, a hint of cheerfulness ione.

  “Oh,” he responded, momentarily perplexed.

  He hadn’t even realized they had arrived.

  The horses, it seemed, were well-acquainted with the route, guiding the carriage with an air of fidenbsp;

  “What’s on your mind?” Bahamut asked, her tone shifting to one of genuine .

  “Just some silly thoughts on what-ifs,” Draitted, shrugging off the weight of his earlier thoughts.

  “I see. I thought you had fallen into shock after hearing everyone’s aliases,” Bahamut muttered, a hint of relief in her voice.

  Draco’s brow furrowed as he tried to recall the versation.

  Had she mentioned aliases? His mi hazy, as if he had beeing on autopilot while Bahamut spoke.

  ‘Wait, does that mean that our aliases were bad enough that it could drive a person into shock?’ he wondered but opted to let the thought slide for now.

  “Don’t tell me you weren’t listening to me at all,” Bahamut said, narrowing her eyes at him, a pyful yet threatening glint in her gaze.

  She had noticed his perplexed expression.

  “I’m really sorry, I wasn’t,” Draitted, his voice tinged with siy.

  He decided that it was better to apologize than give excuses.

  An awkward silenveloped them as Bahamut regarded him with a feigned menag look that turned unnervingly serious.

  “I really am sorry,” he reiterated, feeling the weight of her gaze.

  With an exasperated sigh, Bahamut muttered, “You make it really hard to stay mad at you.”

  “Thank you,” he replied, relieved.

  Thwabsp;

  “It wasn’t a pliment!” Bahamut excimed, her tail lightly swatting him as she headed toward the door.

  “What are you doing? Aren’t you ing inside?” she asked, standing at the entranbsp;

  “Not yet, I have to go get the others aurn the carriage,” he replied.

  “Oh, then take your time,” she said, a hint of etion creeping into her expression.

  Draoticed her sudden shift in mood.

  ‘Great, I have more time,’ Bahamut thought, relishing the opportunity to dey the iable versation with the children about their aliases.

  She envisiohe chaos that would undoubtedly follow, and as much as she loved them, she needed a moment to breathe.

  Draco, oblivious to her iurmoil, watched her retreat into the house before he turned back to the carriage.

  Free from the weight of her presence, he climbed aboard and directed the horses toward the western gates.

  He o gather the rest of the family aurn the carriage.

  ………………………..

  As he jourhrough the streets, Draco donned his trusty cloak, grateful for its ability to shield him from the prying eyes of passersby.

  The attention he had received all day was being tiresome.

  To his surprise, he ran into the Astraea familia: Alise, Kaguya, and Ryuu, who were returning from their patrol.

  Of course, they wouldn’t have reized him; he had ged signifitly siheir st enter.

  However, he was pelled to stop wheiced his family—Cir, Vasiliki, Eleni, and Dimitra—walking alongside them.

  ‘What a ce,’ Draco thought, marvelling at the ued meeting.

  Before he could call out to them, Vasiliki spotted him first.

  “Draii! Over here!” she called, rushing toward the carriage and patting the horses, who immediately reized her.

  Alise, Kaguya, and Ryuu perked up at the mention of his name.

  It had been some time sihey st saw him, and the transformation was striking.

  “Wait, is that really your brother?” Alise asked, her eyes wide as she took in his ature.

  He appeared much taller and broader than they remembered.

  “Yes, it’s a long story,” Dimitra replied nontly, no further expnation.

  Without another word, Dimitra, Eleni, and Cir made their way over to him.

  Draaneuvered the carriage to the side, trying to avoid blog the road.

  “Are you girls heading home now?” Draco asked, his eyes sing for the boys, who he soon spotted approag far in the distance.

  “Yeah, we figured it was about time to return. It’s been more than three hours. Are you heading somewhere or did you e to get us?” Dimitra inquired, peeking into the carriage, searg for Bahamut.

  “I came to get you all,” Draco replied, a smile breaking across his face.

  “Oooou, that’s great! I don’t have to walk all the way home!” Eleni excimed, joyfully hopping into the carriage.

  Vasiliki immediately took a seat beside Draco, while Cir and Dimitra settled in the back.

  “Hey, Draco!” Alise called from a short distance.

  “Alise, Kaguya, Ryuu, it’s been a while!” Draco replied, sliding his hood back to reveal his face fully.

  “So this is what you’ve been hiding uhat cloak all this time? What exactly are you?” Kaguya asked, her curiosity piqued.

  Alise and Ryuu were momentarily speechless, taken aback by his striking appearanbsp;

  Ryuu studied him, intrigued by his resembo elves, while Alise was captivated by his charm.

  Many of the Astraea familia girls had ofteed about what y beh Draco's cloak, and now they had their answer.

  “You think of me as a humanoid dragon; the official name for my race is dragon kin,” Draco expined.

  “Oh, I’ve never heard of that before, but it sounds powerful,” Alise remarked, her eyes sparkling with i.

  “Yeah, we are,” Draco affirmed, pride swelling within him.

  Kaguya observed him with keen eyes, her thoughts rag.

  ‘Look at this cheeky handsome boy,’ she mused.

  “That aside, you look a lot taller and muscur than before. What happened?” Alise pressed.

  “I simply grew,” Draco replied, a pyful grin tugging at his lips.

  “Like I would believe that! It’s okay; everyone has their secrets,” Alise teased, ughter dang in her voice.

  “Anyway, we o get going now. We have to switch patrols with the eam. Feel free to join us sometime; oddess seems to be friends with yours, so it wouldn’t hurt to cooperate sometime,” Alise offered, a friendly smile grag her features.

  Draco was taken aback by the ued invitation.

  He had been hoping te a closer retionship with the Astraea Familia but had never imagined su opportunity would arise so soon, especially without any news of their ret level up, which hadn’t been made public yet.

  Although they had shared a misuanding in the past that nearly led to flict, it was far better to have allies than enemies.

  Their assistance could prove invaluable iure.

  They were still young and naive in their cept of justice, but that was going to ge in the ing new year, the evilus would teach them the lesson.

  “Hmmm, I will take up your offer sometime,” Draco replied, genuinely sidering it.

  With that, the Astraea Familia bid farewell and tinued on their path, leaving Draco with thoughts of potential alliances.

  ‘In the end, Ryuu said nothing,’ he noted, intrigued by her tinued silenbsp;

  Shortly thereafter, the boys—Michalis, Nikoos, and Vasileios— caught up and joihe carriage, before Draco resumed the journey home.

  The ride was filled with light banter as they reted their evening adventures, ughter eg in the cool night air.

  Once he dropped off everyone, he headed toward the Nekomata inn to return the horses to their stable.

  Upon arriving home yet again, Draco was surprised by the silehat enveloped Bahamut’s house.

  He had anticipated a lively otion, but the stillness alpable.

  It seemed that after dropping them off, everyone had retired for the night.

  Uandably, the day had beeid they needed rest to be prepared for resuming dungeon activities the day.

  Iingly, they appeared more excited to tinue expl their newly acquired abilities following their level-ups than to ask their assigned aliases from Bahamut, who for some reason was already asleep or preteo be.

  However, Draco suspected they would e to realize the implications of their itles the day when they visited the guild.