The interrogation was not to be held at the entrance of the village. Neither the guards nor the priest had the right to hold one—at least according to Krieger, who had rightfully taken it upon himself to diffuse the tense situation in the air—and the Otherworlders were meant to be led to the Chief of the village.

  The village, Blatt, was just as small as Merlin had deduced it to be while running for his dear life as the sandworms chased him down. It was at most a tenth of Prestige Academy’s size, and number as well. The villagers, children and adults alike, didn’t amount to a hundred. In fact, they didn’t amount to much more than fifty in total. Perhaps a bit over seventy, or eighty.

  The village was characterized by silence. Perhaps that was because of the strangers who had wandered in, since the Drachens were all staring from either their huts or corners like Merlin and his crew were rare goods never seen before on display. But, most of all, a good number of them looked malnourished.

  It was the first time Merlin had seen humanoid malnourished dragons, but they didn’t seem that much different from humans in such a state. They had sunken eyes, wrinkled skin, frail limbs, and seemed like they could hardly move without falling on their face.

  He narrowed his eyes as he took in the sight.

  Sure, he had long come to terms with the fact that the Drachens were suffering—there was no way he could go against the thought after witnessing the desolation all around—but that didn’t make it easier for him to soak in. And not especially now that he was seeing what the famine in their lands caused to them.

  For a second there, his mind fell into a spiral of thoughts, considering how he could help them out in any way possible. But he immediately shifted the thought aside. Thus was a simulation. The Tower had long been cleared; he had no obligation to try to help the villagers out, because the ones he was looking at right now, didn’t exist. What he had to be focused on was finding a way to clear the first floor and return victorious. They were in their third day in the Tower, which meant they had eleven more days to go. There was no time to have his mind wander elsewhere.

  Luckily, he didn’t have to try too much to divert his thoughts. Led by Krieger now as guests rather than prisoners, they arrived at the hut of the village chief.

  Krieger curled his three fingers and knocked on the hut’s door as he called out to whoever was on the other side, the words translated in Merlin’s head.

  [Baba], said Krieger. [I, Krieger, have returned].

  There was a brief silence for a moment, Merlin and the rest not saying a word, trying their best not to act in a way that went against Drachen's culture. Then the door creaked open softly, and a dragonman whose frailness was more of old age than malnourishment walked out, stick in hand, and his scales a black tint in contrast to that of the rest of the Drachens.

  [Krieger], the old dragonman hooted. [You have returned]. He stretched a wobbly hand, and Krieger closed the gap to lower his height so that the dragonman could touch his shoulder. [You did well. You did well. Now, you’ll have to tell me all about the success of your mission. I take it that the others are settling in their homes already]?

  Merlin’s heart skipped a beat at those words. He was neither a Drachen or had gone on the mission with the warriors of Blatt, but he was not a stranger to disappointment. And he was sorry that the old dragonman would have to experience it at this moment.

  Krieger’s face turned grim. With his head still lowered, he said, [They are all dead, Baba]. The old dragonman froze, his grip on his stick loosening. [I am the only one who survived].

  The old dragonman took a deep breath and sighed. His expression bore sadness, but his slitted golden eyes were laced with a sense of duty. Merlin had seen such an expression before; it was the kind Headmaster Im Ilseong had worn when he’d paid the man a visit to ask about Nikolai. It was an expression tied to only one who could take on the mantle of leader.

  Mourning the loss of a few subjects was not something to be frowned upon, but too much and a leader risked putting the rest of their subjects in harm’s way. Action was the best course to take.

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  [I see]... said Baba. [That means war, I take it]?

  [Five days we were given, Baba, to leave for the second floor], Krieger explained. [Or they shall attack].

  Baba nodded. It was then that his almost nonexistent eyes, hidden behind tiny eyelids, turned Merlin and the rest’s way.

  [And who might they be]? He asked rather casually, like they were not weird beings in their world. The normal reaction would be how Krieger had reached for his spear at the sight of them, and how the other dragonmen had considered them threats in an instant, or rare relics of some sort.

  Baba’s reaction, though, was completely out of left field. Merlin almost thought that he and the rest now had scales and horns and tails.

  [Otherworlders], Krieger answered. [They found me, treated me, and have decided to help].

  Baba studied Merlin and crew for a moment. Then he hummed. [Otherworlders? Fascinating. Welcome to Blatt, magical beings], said the man as he bowed slightly.

  Everyone reciprocated, despite wearing dazed looks as they glanced at Merlin. He would explain things to them in due time. He didn’t want to interrupt the old dragonman.

  [Ah. Forgive me], Baba said as he straightened the best he could on his feet. [Do they understand my words]? He asked Krieger.

  Krieger glanced at Merlin and pointed a claw his way. [He is the only one who does], said Krieger. [He is different from the rest].

  Baba looked at Merlin—studied him—and hummed once again.

  [Different]? The old dragonman said to himself. [Are you now]?

  Merlin swallowed. “Yes,” he replied, and it was more than obvious from the old dragonman’s reactions that his words had been automatically translated by the System in the Drachen’s head.

  It had slipped Merlin’s mind for a while now, but how was he to explain the fact that the dragonmen could understand him? He had given a lie for him understanding them, but how about them understanding him?

  Okay, this was frustrating, and it wasn’t really something he should be bothering himself with at the moment, regardless, he couldn’t get it off his mind.

  [A Blessed]? Baba hooted. [You are a Blessed]?

  Merlin’s forehead wrinkled. If being a ‘Blessed’ meant being in possession of a System, then, yes, he probably was. But he highly doubted that was what Baba meant, after all, there was no one who could have ventured into the Tower before it was cleared that could have had a System.

  Or was there?

  Countless thoughts rushed into Merlin’s head at that hypothesis.

  Portals served as a gateway to other worlds, which led to Towers, which were in truth, cities of their own. There was a possibility that somewhere in the universe at large, maybe there existed a race that was in possession of the System, and they had paid this Tower a visit once, classifying them as Blesseds?

  And, perhaps, Merlin’s thoughts were simply a reach.

  Regardless, the simplest way to get the answers he needed was to ask. But before he could open his mouth to do that, Senior Sun-Hee tugged at the hem of his tracksuit’s jacket, drawing his attention her way, and her cold gaze.

  He swallowed.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” she asked, obviously unhappy that she, and the rest, had been kept out of the discussion for so long.

  Merlin pursed his lips and bowed in apology. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn't want to be rude by interrupting the conversation between the Drachens at first. And, well, things just went from there.”

  She eyed him for a second longer, then sighed. She then alternated her gaze between Krieger and Baba, who were both staring at her, having no idea of the words she had said, but, perhaps, piecing the conversation from Merlin’s words. That was if the System translated everything he said to the dragonmen, which he doubted.

  Basically, when he was talking to the dragonmen, he was speaking in their language, so they understood him. However, when he was talking to his fellow humans, he was speaking in his own language, so the dragonmen shouldn’t understand him. Although, that notion had some faults. Whenever he spoke to the dragonmen, his mates understood him, so perhaps it was the same with the dragonmen. Whatever the case, it didn’t matter. It was just his own curiosity getting the better of him at the moment.

  What was important was…

  “Whatever it is you and him are talking about,” Senior Sun-Hee continued, “skip it and let’s get to the matter at hand. We have to discuss the coming war and find out if helping them win it is how we clear this floor.”

  Merlin nodded, took a deep breath, and turned back to the old dragonman.

  “Baba,” he said, then pointed at Senior Sun-Hee and Senior Hyunwoo. “These two are the leaders of us humans. They would like to discuss the next course of action with you.” Baba’s brows furrowed in a manner that didn’t produce a frown but a more experienced look. Merlin licked his lips and added, “Do you intend to go to war or ascend to the second floor?”