For a moment, the only sound in the lobby was the faint, imaginary echo of a thousand jaws hitting the floor. Silas looked at Leo as if he had just sprouted a second head. Lyra's expression was one of pure, unadulterated shock, her knightly decorum completely forgotten. To face a being of such ancient power and palpable distress, a figure straight out of the lost annals of history, and to ask about rent… it was an act of either supreme confidence or terminal insanity.
Elara, the silver-haired woman, was the most surprised of all. The desperation in her golden eyes was momentarily eclipsed by sheer, profound confusion. She had been hunted by zealots, chased by mercenaries, and feared by all who sensed her true nature. She had expected to be met with fear, awe, greed, or violence. She had not, in any scenario she could have possibly imagined, expected to be met with a business inquiry.
A small, breathless sound escaped her lips. It was a laugh. It was weak, tired, and tinged with hysteria, but it was unmistakably a laugh.
"Rent," she repeated, the word tasting strange and foreign. She looked around the quiet, safe haven, then back at the strange, serious young man standing before her. "In all my long years, no one has ever been so bold. Or so pragmatic."
She straightened her back, some of the regal dignity flowing back into her posture despite her tattered state. "I have no mortal currency. The treasures of my house were lost to time. My blood is my fortune, my flesh the prize that hunters seek. What I am is all I have to offer."
"That's fine," Leo said with a nod, treating her statement with the same seriousness as if she'd presented him with a financial portfolio. "I don't accept coin anyway. The Inn deals in a currency called 'Value.' Your very being, your knowledge, your unique materials… they all have immense Value."
He took a step closer, his demeanor shifting into that of the master of the house laying down the terms. "My offer is simple. Absolute safety within the confines of my property. No one and nothing can harm you here without my express permission. In exchange, you will become a paying tenant. You will provide a monthly payment of Value, the specifics of which we can negotiate." He gestured to the lobby around them. "You will respect the rules of the house and its other residents. Do we have a deal?"
Elara looked from Leo's earnest face to Lyra's tense posture, then to Silas, who was trying to make himself look as small and non-threatening as possible in the shadows. She had stumbled into a place that defied all logic, run by a man who treated a living legend like any other prospective tenant. In a world that wanted to kill her for what she was, this man only cared that she pay her way. It was the safest she had felt in months.
"You have a deal, Master of the Inn," she said, her voice firm.
"Excellent," Leo beamed. He closed his eyes, concentrating. "Let's get the paperwork in order."
The air between them crackled. Elara tensed, expecting a complex, draining magical ritual. Instead, she watched, mesmerized, as shimmering golden lines of light wove themselves into existence, forming a translucent, floating contract. The script was clean, the clauses clear. It was a form of law magic, but one so pure and direct it was unlike anything she had ever encountered. It was authority given form.
She read the terms. They were exactly as he had stated. Fair, direct, and binding.
With a final, decisive nod, she reached out her hand, not to the document itself, but to the pendant resting on her chest. She closed her eyes.
"My first month's rent," she whispered.
A soft, azure light began to glow from beneath her hand, pulsing in time with her heartbeat. The light grew brighter, and on her skin, just above her heart, a single, iridescent scale shimmered into existence as if pushing through from another reality. It detached itself from her, floated gracefully through the air, and came to a gentle stop in Leo's outstretched palm.
It was cool to the touch, light as a feather, yet felt impossibly dense. It shimmered with all the colors of a twilight sky, and a faint, immense power radiated from it, making the hairs on Leo's arm stand on end.
As his fingers closed around it, the system screen exploded in his vision with a triumphant flash.
[S-RANK MATERIAL ACQUIRED: SCALE OF THE AZURE DRAGON LORD]
[Description: A scale shed from the heart-region of an ancient dragon of the highest order. Contains a fragment of the dragon's soul and immense elemental power. A peerless material for forging divine-grade artifacts.]
[New Tenant Registered: Elara, the Azure Dragon Lord (S-Rank)]
[Monthly Rent automatically deducted from Tenant's intrinsic Value. Next payment due in 30 days.]
The floating contract flared once, stamped itself with Elara's name in glowing script, and then dissolved into harmless motes of light. The transaction was complete.
Leo stood frozen, the scale feeling heavy as a mountain in his palm. Dragon Lord. Not a descendant, not a half-blood, not a title. The system had identified her as the thing itself. A living, breathing dragon from the age of myths.
Lyra let out a small, choked gasp, her mind finally connecting the legendary crest with the impossible truth. Her hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with terror and awe.
Silas simply sank deeper into his shadow, looking as if he was trying to will himself out of existence. He dealt in secrets of men and monsters, not gods and legends. He was so far out of his league he wasn't even playing the same sport.
Leo slowly curled his fingers around the scale, its power a warm, humming presence in his hand. He looked up at Elara, his newest tenant. She looked exhausted, vulnerable, but her golden eyes held a flicker of hope.
He had just given sanctuary to a living legend. And in doing so, he had placed a giant, glowing target on the front door of his quiet little inn for the most dangerous hunters in the world to see.
His business was about to go through the roof. Or get burned to the ground.