A Name

Sparrow took a deep breath and regarded Xander, whose didn’t even look winded after that spar. She couldn’t help but be perplexed by him.

’When he looked at me the first time, he wasn’t surprised or shocked by my appearance. Almost like he was used to seeing people like me. But as far as I’m aware, Avoma is closer to the center of Solvaren. He shouldn’t have had any opportunities to interact with my kind. And there’s his swordsmanship as well...’ Sparrow thought long and hard, but no matter how she thought about it, she came up blank. Never had she ever seen something even close to what Xander had shown off, from beginning to end.

’It almost looked like he was dancing...’ She shook her head, right now, there were more important things at hand.

"Well, then. Seems like you kids aren’t pushovers. One of you, at least." She said aloud, interrupting the group that was conversing with telepathy. At this point, the guys from her squad were all looking at them differently, and the surrounding soldiers who were repairing their stuff from the battle were now giving them curiously glances.

"Good to know." Xander just smiled, idly tapping the hilt of his sheathed sword.

Sparrow sighed.

"Whatever the case, since you guys will be under our care temporarily, you’re gonna have to take a tent near us. Though..." She looked around at the pretty destroyed area. Granted, the damage could have been much worse had Xander and Ragna not controlled their strength, but it was still substantial.

As a result, many of the nearby tents... weren’t nearby anymore.

The group also seemed to notice and looked a bit troubled, but as Sparrow was about to voice a suggestion, Xander shrugged.

"Shouldn’t be a problem. Actually, I anticipated something like this... not the fight but the lack of accommodation." When he said that, he walked to an empty spot about a dozen meters from Sparrow’s tent, then a ring on his finger glowed briefly, and a moment later, a large white tent spawned, fully set up and everything.

’... Why do you just have a tent pre-made in your spatial ring?’ Falael looked at Xander from the corner of their eye.

’I mean, I guessed that accommodations might not be great, so I thought ahead of time.’ Xander glanced at Aubrey as he responded, the girl staring at the tent blankly, clearly reevaluating her earlier comment about him needing to relinquish the comfort of his Gold card.

"Huh... that’s, interesting." Even Sparrow seemed at a loss.

"...? There’s almost no limitation on what can be put in spatial rings, so long as it’s not a living creatures. Why is having a pre-made tent so surprising?" Xander met their baffled gazes with confusion.

They opened their mouths, but on second thought, he wasn’t actually wrong.

"I think it’s the fact you already had the tent up and ready to go that everyone finds odd." Curtis offered, but Xander looked even more confused.

"That makes even less sense. That’s like saying it’s weird to have my sword already made when going to a battlefield rather than carrying the raw materials and forging it when I get there. The hell?" That caused another period of silence.

"... Smart kid." Nash just scratched his head and went back into their tent.

"... Go get settled, then. We’ll meet up in an hour so we can properly discuss this arrangement." Sparrow finally said, choosing to throw the matter out of her mind. With one last glance, she went into the tent. The remaining members of her squad followed, but the swordsman, Bodhi, lingered, staring at Xander with unmasked interest for a few seconds before he finally retreated into the tent.

’That was mentally draining.’ Curtis sighed.

’Agreed. An unnecessarily tense fight where I barely understood what was happening.’ Falael concurred.

’Aw what? That fight was very enlightening. I feel like I was able to grasp a few things when it came to my own combat style.’ Aubrey sounded surprised at Falael’s words.

’That’s like being surprised a chef didn’t understand what a painter did because you are also a painter. Two completely different things.’ Falael scoffed.

At that point, Mary, who had been circling in the air, finally landed back on Xander’s shoulder.

’An excellent display, my Lord.’ Mary spoke using a completely separate telepathic channel.

’Thanks.’ Xander just smiled as he walked into the tent.

The others followed, and they were immediately taken aback.

"I-Is this a tent?!" Aubrey failed to keep her surprise restricted to the link. Granted, it was really surprising, considering the interior.

Inside, the harsh, humid weather of Landor immediately eased, the rays of the sun being reduced to amber glows as the filtered through the layers of canvas. The air no longer smelled of dirt, steel, and sweaty soldiers, but a pleasant woody aroma.

Aubrey, who was the most perceptive of the bunch—excluding Mia and Mary—had her eyes widen.

"No way!" She first ran through one flap, then another, and a few more, then she came back bouncing with excitement.

"Xander, where did you get this tent?! It had rooms for all of us and even an enchanted shower and restroom!" She exclaimed, causing Curtis and Falael’s eyes to go wide.

"Wait what? How big is this tent???" Curtis was baffled.

"No, rather. How expensive was it?" Falael looked at Xander with narrowed eyes, and immediately, the gazes of the three fell on him.

Xander shrugged.

"Like... 20,000 credits. Why?" He sounded genuinely clueless.

"..."

They all stared at him like he grew threw more heads.

In the brief silence, the dragon yawned and opened its eyes, looked around, then hopped off Xander’s shoulder, its small wings taking it to one of the rooms.

"... I don’t know if I should question why you had 20,000 credits or why you used them to buy a tent of all things." The half-elf pinched the bridge of their nose.

"I... don’t think I hid the fact that I had money. Besides, you guys are enjoying it, aren’t you?" He smirked, and they suddenly felt conflicted.

The urge to protest was there, but... feeling the cool air that was no doubt a result of one of the various enchantments of the tent, and the knowledge that they wouldn’t have to share their rooms with anyone. It was certainly appealing.

"W-Well, I doubt the other soldiers or the captain would be happy seeing such extravagance." Falael retorted, and Xander looked straight at them.

"I will follow orders, but anyone who tries to cause problems for us because of this tent will answer to my sword." He said it so calmly that it took them a moment to register the words, then they went pale. But before they could voice their opinions again, Xander had already walked away, entering the room the dragon had snuck into.

With a sigh, he took off his academy jacket, leaving his undershirt which hugged his toned frame snugly, outlining his muscles in a certainly appealing manner.

He then glanced at the bed where the dragon had curled into a ball, asleep once more, and without preamble, he grabbed the thing off the bed, causing it to make a surprised and indignant sound as he held it up and looked down.

"Hm. A male." He nodded, completely ignoring how the thing glared at him. He then held it away from his head when it almost bit his nose and mused.

’Hm. A name...’ He glanced at Mary. ’Do you have any suggestions?’ At that, the bird hopped off his shoulder and transformed back into the maid he was familiar with.

She glanced at the dragon then slowly shook her head.

"I have no right. Not only were you the one that hatched it, creatures as noble and majestic as dragons exist on a higher conceptual level than something like me. Attempting to name it wouldn’t just be disrespectful, it would be actively harmful to me." Hearing that, Xander stared at her blankly.

"... Huh?" Mary opened her mouth to explain, but Xander shook his head. "I mean, I sort of understand, but in that case, wouldn’t me naming it be a bad idea?" He frowned.

"Your blood was used to hatch it. So the two of you already share a connection."

"KKKKHH!" Xander’s whole body tensed up as he unintentionally let go of the dragon, Mia’s sudden appearance by his side startling him, Mia, and the dragon, which seemed to forget its previous annoyance and skittered under his leg.

"... What?" Xander forced himself to calm down, making no comment as Mary took her position at the corner of the room.

"Your blood was used to hatch it. So the two of you already share a connection." Mia repeated the exact same words with the exact same tone.

"... Okay but how exactly does that work?" Xander frowned, but Mia just deadpanned.

"You wouldn’t understand."

’... Somehow, I don’t doubt that.’ He sighed, then asked carefully.

"But in that case, doesn’t that mean the dragon is here against its will? Like a slave?" The notion made him feel uncomfortable.

"No. It can leave or sever the connection whenever it wants. It’s allowing it because it wants to." Mia shrugged.

"Oh, that’s a relief." Xander huffed and picked the baby dragon from his feet.

Both of them locked eyes, and after a moment, Xander spoke. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"I’m gonna name you... Keir."