Richard gave them a quick look over as he analyzed the adventurers before him. Two vanguards, two archers and a follower of the church.

  The group of adventurers, despite their attempt to remain calm, were shaking a little, as they got on their knee in a sign of respect. Richard quickly surmised this was because he was a dragon, and dragons were known for their short temper and tendency to kill things that displeased them. A smart first move, all things considered, and the trembling likely would have appealed to the tendencies of a dragon. A smart move that increased Richard's appreciation of the wisdom of this group of adventurers.

  The female priest however, did surprise him. Unlike the others, she was quite calm. That didn't stop her from following what the others had done, getting on a knee, and saluting like one does royalty, but she did so without faltering.

  There was something about her that was vaguely familiar, something he felt like he should know.

  Hmm...

  In front of them all was a merchant, a bit plump of a brunette man in his te 40s, who was clearly terrified yet trying to do his best in front of a dragon.

  And beside him, was a young girl, perhaps an apprentice or a daughter of sorts, for she was clearly dressed differently from the adventurers, much as the older merchant was. Unlike him, she was extremely calm, and even sizing him up. Bold.

  But amusing.

  "W-w-e great the g-g-reat dragon, and t-t-hank him for his g-g-generosity. W-w-we would like t-t-t-o-"

  "Ah!" Richard excimed and as he did so the group tensed up, including the daring young dy, except for the priestess, who remained calm.

  He pointed at her, as he recognized her.

  Well, not her, but rather her order.

  "You're a priestess of the order of Hestia aren't you?" he said casually, not to ask, but to affirm. The dragon finally realized why there was something familiar about her.

  Upon her staff there was a small bowl-like object from which fmes emerged.

  Not a bowl though. A hearth.

  The goddess Hestia was the goddess of the Hearth, of the concept of family and unity, serving under Isis, her mother.

  Thus, as a child raised in the church of Isis, Richard had encountered the daughters of Hestia, priestesses who were dedicated to helping others and were often very proactive, bringing the hearth to those who could not seek out the hearth, to be the heart of adventuring teams, and to serve as hearths for those who suffered internal family issues, with divorces often done through or with the church of Hestia present.

  Thus, they often joined drifting adventurer groups to help people along the way, and to provide healing, hence why she was here in this group.

  The priestess nodded. "I am fttered this great one knows of our order."

  Richard responded. "Of course, the order of Hestia is known for their good works, though I am curious; why are you unafraid?"

  Richard was curious. The other was brash, but this one was unfazed, not scared.

  She was assured for some reason, as if she had reason to be assured, unlike before, when the adventurers, her included, were a lot more anxious.

  She smiled upon hearing this, as she answered. "Perhaps the great one does not know, but the blessing of Isis is apparent upon you. Any of the order of Isis or the orders beneath the great Matriarch would know that you've been blessed by her."

  Huh.

  Surprise blossomed on his face, though he did attempt to cover it up quickly.

  The adventurer's as well as the merchants on the other hand did not even hide the surprise on their face before turning their faces down, not even bothering to hide it. Perhaps the idea of a dragon being blessed by a god surprises them?

  That's rather weird, considering the emperor has a dragon as a familiar.

  Actually that girl was already putting on a thinking face.

  And she actually gets up to communicate with him first.

  "Might dragon, we wish to thank you with what little we have currently. For your merciful and good will we wish to offer you the contents of our wagon"

  A smart way to speak. You cannot "reward" a dragon, because a dragon might take offense to such a statement, as reward may imply a retion of sorts. A governor "rewards" a citizen, a king "rewards" a general.

  Though, offer would have its own share of implications as well, Richard acting as a dragon had to appreciate to a certain extent her attempt to use words to ftter him.

  He coughed and ahemed. "Very well. I do not need your cargo, but perhaps there may be something of interest to me. Show me what you have."

  It took them a while to carry out the contents of the wagon, but as they did so Richard had time to gather his thoughts, about the bandits and well,

  his father.

  The man who had abandoned him on the front doorstep of a church.

  It wasn't as if he had ever publicly announced his abandonment of his child, but as a marquis, it's hard to simply ditch a child, because the disappearance of an heir is likely to draw heads, especially when that person is rumored to have angered the goddess of revenge.

  And he, who was dropped on that doorstep, had been cursed by Nemesis with a body constantly weakening, year by year.

  It didn't take much for rumors to spread, and connections to be made between him and his father, who both had the white hair, and the rumors that the marquess had blue hair didn't leave much to imagination.

  He became the poor child in the rumors.

  Some had called him the bastard under their breath, but no one really physically bothered him about it, because they knew he would die young. There was no point pushing around the frail and dying child, as that would only earn one scorn.

  It had never been a question to him though, for he knew his identity from a young age, after he had asked the nun Trenee out of curiosity when he was young, where he received an oracle from Isis herself, though that did little for a frail cursed boy but to give him a target for his hatred.

  He'd almost completely forgotten his father after getting this new body, but the man was still out there.

  Should he just ignore him? Ignore the very bane of his existence?

  What would he do? Confront him? Attack him?

  A tap on his shoulder brought him back to the real world where a squirrel very patiently waited, as did a small group of people.

  All right, father issues can always be dealt with ter, currently he has some shopping to do.

  "And here we have books, ranging from your average up-to-date novel, as well as countless antiques..."

  The younger merchant went on as she dispyed her products, taking the lead from the older merchant.

  Was that smart? Richard thought once more that was reckless. Nonetheless, she was good at selling what she was offering.

  And it wasn't a bad offering for one wagon.

  The jewelry wasn't interesting to him, it had never interested him.

  He did find a few tales to keep, ones that he had been keeping up with before he died, so having updates to those stories was good.He'd probably have to venture into human cities if only to cim the next updates on his novels.

  ... What? He had nothing else to do with such a body.

  He also took a few pieces of dried foods, mostly to have something different out here.

  Weapons? Hmm.

  Eventually Richard decided to take a sword and a dagger, mostly for his own personal usage.

  A few magic stones he'd never tasted, so those would be kept for a fun snack.

  No clothes sadly, but he could probably just buy them from the system for points, and it'd probably be better anyway.

  A few low rank artifacts, magical tools, but what really got his attention was a rather pointless object.

  A giant rock.

  Exactly as it sounds. A giant rock.

  Who would believe it.

  Why would a merchant buy or even carry such a rge rock.

  "can I ask what makes this rock so special that you'd bring this with you?" He asked the young merchant.

  She shrugged. "No clue. We were supposed to bring it to marquis Thorsen on order. Though, now that he, well, y'know?"

  "I know." agreed Richard.

  "I won't be bringing it with me, now that it's nothing short of a hindrance. I was just going to ditch it. You can have it." she hinted, which Richard had a few guesses why she'd intentionally ditch the marquis' desired object with him, a dragon, but he didn't mind as he silently, took the stone, with more curiosity for it than the other objects.

  Why would a giant rock appeal to him so much?

  Well...

  [The *aza**s stone is reacting!]

  [The system recommends using the *aza**s stone on the stone]

  [The system recommends using the *aza**s stone on the stone]

  [The system recommends using the *aza**s stone on the stone]

  [The system recommends using the *aza**s stone on the stone]

  [The system heavily recommends using the *aza**s stone on the stone]

  ... Because it was clearly special in the eyes of the system, this mysterious rock.

  The psychedelics mind frog certainly is... a monster.

  Frankly they're low level monsters that seemingly exist in areas with decent concentrations of mana.

  Their body strength is that of a feral goblin, maybe a hobgoblin if they're older. But ultimately they're not physically strong.

  However, most creatures are inclined to avoid them, including predators.

  You can thank their intense effect from being consumed.

  Even a small lick can be the equivalent of eating a good bag full of psychedelics. It is one hell of a trip. Even dragons have to admit it's quite fun.

  If you actually eat one though, the effect worsens thanks to the intense concentration of mind bst that's delivered, able of putting predators like drakes and wyverns out for weeks at a time, leaving them absolutely exposed.

  Not kill, funny enough. The psychedelics never kill, but being left belly up in this world is as good as being dead. It just takes one opportunistic monster and the intended predator has become carrion.

  As a result, most monsters avoid mind frogs, even the ones that can eat them, usually being saved as a st resort.

  Humans though? Humans love them.

  As noted, the psychedelics don't kill, the frog does. And these frogs aren't against familiar contracts, actually being quite willing.

  As long as you don't approach with violent intent the frog will make no moves.

  So they're easy to catch, highly effective in incapacitating, and are essentially an infinite drug supply.

  In the secret parties that rich people who are aware of magic hold far from the average person's eye its not uncommon for giant evolved psychedelic frogs to just be in the middle of the party for someone to take a good lick of and promptly fall into an acid trip.

  Yup, they are highly valued on the market, but thankfully common enough in the wild that they're often decently priced on the market, worth the price

  And all of their evolutions still produce psychedelic slime that is harmless, but since the frog itself bulks up in power and speed, they do make for decent familiars.

  I'd say its a decent first familiar, though if you're not using or selling its psychedelics, then you're wasting money.

  -Grant, who had fifteen for his own personal parties