Chapter 14: 14: That’s A Lot Of Problems…

Scrunching her eyebrows, Kaitlyn kept walking, her and Dexter moving past the mosaic of the country’s past, “That’s... not good.”

“Certainly not,” Dexter stressed, “But there’s also a few more things to update you on. I think a... month ago? The S-Rank party, Swords of Execution came out of seclusion, making their first appearance since they were fighting in the war with us.”

“Y... You’re not lying to me, right?” Kaitlyn doubted, worry creeping into her voice, “You mean... the 7 strongest dragons... from the dragon village... that Swords of Execution?! What happened to have caused them to come out once more?”

Walking around a statue of the first King towards a garden of flowers where a few benches were, Dexter sighed, “So... you know that piece of shit that was Nero? The ‘nightmare dragon of betrayal’? He reappeared once more, razing a third of the dragon village to the ground before a proper defense could be mounted, then ran away again, disappearing. So they’ve dispatched 6 members, all but the Dragon King himself to hunt Nero down.”

“He’s alive?! Didn’t we rip off one of his wings and kill him when we raided the Demon King’s castle?” Kaitlyn exclaimed, shocked to hear the reappearance of the Demon King’s number one general, “That’s... really not good. But, alright, what else, just get it over with...”

“Honestly nothing much,” Dexter chuckled, patting Kaitlyn on the back, “Just some light territorial disputes, just after effects from the Varis Empire collapsing. But, that does get me to my favor, I'd like to ask. I have a few things I’d like to ask so up to you to choose one, or even choose none.” 

Sitting down on one of the benches that was under the shade of a tree, Dexter listed, “One, you could meet up with the Swords of Execution and help them try and catch Nero, I’m sure they’d love to have you help them out. Two, you could help train the otherworlders, I’m already planning on sort of doing that, but I don’t have much free time. Three, you could go run up to the northern frontier and help Chelsea, though, I don’t know how much help she needs, and if the monster wave will even happen soon. It could be a few years out for all we know. Of course, you could always continue just doing your beat up a ton of bandits quests.” 

“I mean... hmm...” Kaitlyn murmured, stewing in her thoughts, not bothering sitting down on the bench, “I.... Hmmm... I'll take the second. I want to try a little less heavy fighting.”

“And also,” Kaitlyn added, a small smile creeping onto her face like a beam of sunlight peeking through some clouds, “They’ve kind of become friends to me...”

Sitting up straight, stunned, Dexter couldn’t help but tear up a bit from the rush of emotions that overcame him, thinking to himself, ‘How often has Kaitlyn made that type of face... I can only think of a few times... like when we finally beat the Demon King or when she reunited with Marie coming back from the battlefield.’

‘Well, I’m glad she can still make this face... Hopefully the days of practicing the sword for 16 hours a day or the days of mindless cutting through hordes of enemies...’ Dexter hoped, unwilling to voice his hopes for fear of them being cut down by an invisible god. Continuing on, Dexter patted Kaitlyn, congratulating, “That’s great! You don’t know how much we all hoped those words would come out of your mouth! I’ll let you do most of the teaching to the otherworlders then.” 

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“... Which words?” Kaitlyn asked, giving an inquisitive look, continuing to stand in front of the seated Dexter, “I don’t think I’ve said anything that weird, have I?”

“Don’t mind it,” Dexter smiled, spreading his arms out on the back of the bench, ignoring Kaitlyn’s doubtful glance. Looking away and squinting his eyes towards the sun, Dexter changed the topic, “Anyway, I think we can talk a little longer before we should head back, so what would you like to talk about? Feeling any better from your earlier despondent mood?”

Shifting from one foot to another, Kaitlyn deliberated, “There’s not much... Any tips, I guess, for training the otherworlders?”

Enjoying the shade while basking in the afternoon sun, with the light breeze keeping the temperature nice and cool, Dexter advised, making some light hand motions, “It shouldn’t be too hard, they were students before they were transported here, right? That along with the fact that you’re friends with them should keep it relatively easy. I’m sure you have already seen plenty of areas that they could improve in.”

“I mean there are a few...” Kaitlyn agreed, taking Dexter’s hand to help him up, “You’re so heavy, why are you making me help you up... get up yourself you’re still muscular. Anyway, yeah, I guess I’ll just take them on a few quests, do a little bit of training ground practice...”

Dusting himself off with a few light pats and overly grandiose swipes along his clothes, Dexter began walking along, trailing half a step behind Kaitlyn, “See? You’ve already got it all figured out, no need to worry about it.”

Catching up to Kaitlyn with a few larger steps and then matching her pace as they made their way back to where they came from, “Also, if you were wondering, we didn’t miss anything coming out here having that little conversation. The King and Queen were probably answering any questions about the broader world situation they had, getting to know them really, and lastly, telling them how shit hit the fan as well. Though they would’ve glossed over some things and not included others, because some of that is a little... sensitive.”

“Nero?”

“Yeah... Nero,” Dexter confirmed as they jogged through the twisting pathway they came from, “People might try and support him if they find out he’s still around. Some stupid people...”

“True... can’t discount fanatics,” Kaitlyn nodded in agreement as they rounded the corner back into view, slowing to a walk and waving to the now laughing group in the gazebo.