The next day of their arrival, Roran and the First Company set off for the monster subjugation. Entering the first section of the Azureleaf Forest, they made their rounds, tracking and culling monsters as they went. As it was the first section, the monsters were far weaker, only at the Wild Tier. Monsters at this level were the weakest and were easier to deal with. They were left to the Adept Level knights, while the Warrior Level ones supervised. By the end of the day, they set up camp in a safe clearing and rested.

The second day, they slowly made their way to the middle section. The monsters started to get stronger, reaching the Fierce Tier. They were more ferocious and smarter, with a few even stalking and targeting the Adepts, the weakest in their group. The Warrior level knights dealt with them quickly before they could seriously injure anyone.

Truth be told, Roran was having fun. Being cooped up in the office and the training grounds was boring him to death. Having to pretend that he was trying to do things for the first time was slowly getting annoying. When he mastered something quickly, the people teaching him would call him a genius.

Roran had just done a lot of things to find his place in the old world when the Apocalypse happened. Before gaining Hellfire and being dubbed Demon King, he was just going here and there doing odd jobs. He had only reached 30 in his previous world, but he experienced so many things that it felt like he lived 50 more years.

Genius he was not.

He sighed. Maybe he should hire one of those real geniuses as his aide. Work would be easier that way.

I have just the right person in mind. I'll pick him up when I reach the capital. Around this time, he should be in the slums–

"Are you comfortable, Your Grace?"

Roran's eye twitched. That was the fifth time he heard that question since the start of the hour. They had set up camp once more, and he was sitting near one of the bonfires they created. Dinner was being made not too far away from them.

He was having fun, but it was getting on his nerves. Every time he tried to help, at least five people would stare at him until he stopped. He could not help set the tent, he could not tend to his own horse, and he could not carry his own stuff. When he moved with the intent to kill a monster, he would also be stopped.

He was just made to stand and sit somewhere like he was a child who did not know how to do anything.

Rhett's...personality was trying to crawl out from the barrier that was Roran's engrained etiquette.

Luckily, he had learned to control his temper years ago, so he managed to ask them a question calmly.

"Why aren't you letting me help?" he said.

He was sitting with Captain Kaelan and the five squad leaders of the First Company. All six of them froze at his words, especially Kaelan who had asked him if he was comfortable. They were all too stunned to answer so he continued on.

"I know that I have been cooped up in the castle all my life, but I'm not entirely useless."

The five squad leaders immediately looked to their captain, eyes urging him to answer. Captain Kaelan wanted to fight back with his own glare, but he immediately folded in front of the five. After all, all squad leaders were older than Kaelan's 27, and the man seemed to respect his elders in situations outside of command.

"Your Grace, we know how capable you are. You have shown us that the first few days you trained with us before he arrived here."

"And?"

Kaelan pursed his lips and sighed, Roran's ears catching a soft mumble. "Fuck it. I'm a Northerner now too, so might as well be blunt."

"Your Grace is so capable that he masters things quickly, no matter what task," he said. "We are afraid that if You Grace masters all the tasks here, you will not need us anymore and we will become...redundant."

Roran's mouth almost gaped at the ridiculousness of it all. He still probably made a face he usually wouldn't make because Kaelan quickly explained.

"We are your people, Your Grace. It is our greatest honor to serve you and it is also our duty," he said. "Please, allow us to perform our duties towards you."

He rubbed at his forehead as he thought about what to say. Roran eventually let out a small sigh that only a Master Level like Kaelan would notice.

"First of all, just because I want to help out does not mean I am taking your job away. I just want to help," he said. "Second of all, even if I am capable of doing things by myself, I would always ask for help from others. Why on the Gods and Fairies above would I even want a heavy workload when there are people who will willingly make my life easier?"

Kaelan and the squad leaders fell silent. The knights from the bonfires closest to theirs had also audibly become quieter.

"I may be a descendant of a great dragon, but I'm only human," Roran added. "As a human, I can't do everything by myself. I know the virtue of asking for help, and would never hesitate to ask for assistance if the situation calls for it."

His companions remained silent, but smiles were forming on their faces as they gazed at him. There was a weird fervent glow in their eyes, and they seemed to be having a silent conversation with each other. When they still did not say anything more, he prompted.

"So, may I be allowed to help out and make myself useful?"

All six looked like they were about to laugh at the sarcasm in his tone. "Your Grace does not need anyone's permission to do anything. Who would dare to stop you?"

"That's funny. I can name six people who had been doing just that the past two days."

"Who are these people, Your Grace? I have not heard anyone say something about your actions the last few days," Kaelan said, eyes going wide in pretend innocence. The other squad leaders did the same.

Roran paused. No one had indeed said anything now that he thought about it. They would just stare at him until he was uncomfortable enough to stop his task and go back to sitting.

A sigh left his lips, and he stared into the fire.

He raised the white flag in surrender. Tomorrow, he would not stop doing what he wanted even if they stared him down. A Valtoria should never lose a staring match.

All six looked like they knew that they won and were so happy about it that they did not care about him at all.

Roran did not mind. He was glad that the captain and squad leaders were more comfortable with him than before. Things would be easier from here on out.

"I have something to discuss with you later," he said. "It's regarding the increase in monster activity."

All six of them nodded their heads and gave polite bows.

"Dinner!" a shout from the cooking area came.

------

The following day, they continued with the subjugation, moving deeper into the middle section of Azureleaf Forest. Unlike the previous two days, there were fewer monsters. However, they were much more powerful. Dominant Tier was composed of powerful creatures that asserted their dominance through displays of strength and intimidation, often challenging rivals for territory and resources.

Standing on a tall cliff under the noon sun, they watched the beast creating chaos below. A Dominant Tier monster brown bear roared, shaking the very ground beneath its feet. Standing at a terrifying fifteen feet tall, its fur was matted with the blood of countless creatures. Its eyes glowed with primal rage, and its claws were long enough to cleave through trees as if they were mere twigs.

"It does not seem to be fighting something," Roran said.

The Second Squad Leader, who happened to be the monster expert in their group chose to speak up. "I'm guessing that something entered its territory or, since it is female and it is breeding season, it lost its cub."

"Could be both," Roran said, remembering the ritual of the Apex mages. They had a magic circle that would lure any unsuspecting monster, and drain its flesh and blood. Its cub might have been lured into that or simply got devoured by another monster.

"It does not matter. The monster bear should be eliminated," Kaelan said. His hand went to his sword, and he was about to draw it out.

Roran stopped him.

"Step back. I'll take it on by myself."

Eyes turned to him, going wide in shock. It would be the first time he directly ordered any of them to step back from a fight. A gleam of anticipation appeared in their eyes. Roran knew that they were anticipating seeing his Dragon Flame again. He had not used it since the "test" fight he had with Captain Kaelan back in Valtoria Castle.

Too bad he had no plans on using it.

"As you command, Your Grace," Kaelan said.

With that, he took off his cloak and handed it to a confused-looking Kaelan. It left him in his armor. The armor, predominantly colored in deep red and black, did not gleam under the sun like other armor. Each movement he made revealed the intricate, scale-like plates that covered the chest, shoulders, and legs.

The design of the armor was unmistakably inspired by the form of a dragon. The chest plate was crafted to resemble the robust, overlapping scales of a dragon, while the pauldrons, jutted out like the powerful shoulders of one. The gauntlets were layered and angular, designed to both protect and intimidate.

But it was the helmet that truly captured the essence of the dragon. Designed to resemble a dragon's head, it featured prominent horns and a menacing tooth, showing a resemblance to the great dragon Valtarion.

From what Knight Commander Zakan told him, it was fashioned from the scales of the Basilisk, a creature at the highest tier called Alpha Tier. It was killed by the previous Grand Duke and also happened to be the creature that had left a persistent venom that slowly tore apart his body. His aged body and weaker Dragon Flame had been unable to free him from the venom and left him in constant agonizing pain.

It had been enchanted to fit the body of anyone who wore it. He flexed and stretched his body, noting how flexible the Basilisk armor was. It felt like leather, yet he knew that it would harden the moment a certain amount of force was applied to it. Roran was excited to try it out and he began moving closer to the edge of the cliff.

"Your Grace...where are you going?" asked Kaelan.

"I'm going to go see the limits of my body. I'd been holding back all this time to not accidentally break things or hurt someone, so I don't really know how strong I am right now."

They all looked confused for a moment before the First Squad Leader came to a quick realization.

"Your Grace...that would mean you're–"

"Save me if it looks like I'm about to die."

With that he jumped, the wind rushing past his ears as he dropped off the 50-meter-high cliff. Up above, he heard frantic shouts of "Your Grace" and "What the fuck?".

He braced his knees, landing with a loud sound. The ground beneath his feet cracked, throwing up soil, stone, and trees in the process. Due to the armor absorbing the impact, he did not feel any pain at all.

"If it was my previous body, I could only jump from a twenty-meter height. Now, I think I'll be fine if I jump off a hundred or so."

The loud noise caught the Dominant Tier bear's attention. The monster bear roared, the sound reverberating through the forest like thunder. Its menacing black eyes locked on to him, making him the new target of its rage. To Roran, the roar sounded like a challenge, like the bear had recognized that he was capable of taking over its territory. He squared his shoulders and clenched his fists, readying himself for its approach.

With surprising speed for its size, the bear charged. Snow flew in all directions as its massive paws pounded the ground. He crouched slightly, bracing himself. As the bear swung a massive paw down at him, he dodged to the side, feeling the rush of air as the clawed limb sliced through the space where he had been standing.

Using the strength from his dragon lineage, Roran seized the bear's extended forearm. With a grunt of effort, he twisted and pulled, forcing the beast to crash sideways into a cluster of trees. The trunks splintered under the bear's weight, but it quickly recovered, shaking off the debris and growling in fury.

The bear rose to its full height, towering over him. It swiped again before he could move to dogged. Roran blocked with his forearm, the impact resonating through his armor and leaving him unharmed. He countered with a powerful punch to the bear's ribcage, the force of the blow causing the creature to stumble back with a pained roar.

The bear retaliated, lunging forward with its jaws open wide. He sidestepped, driving his elbow into the side of the bear's head. The beast reeled, shaking its head to clear the stars from its vision. Before it could recover, Roran launched a rapid series of strikes to its midsection, each punch landing with the sound of thunder.

Enraged, the monster bear swiped with both paws in a wide arc. Roran ducked, jumped on its paw, and leaped onto the bear's back, wrapping his powerful legs around the creature's neck. His gauntleted fists rained down blow after blow on its head and neck. Each punch was delivered with precision and power, and the bear's resistance grew weaker with each strike. Finally, with a roar of his own, Roran delivered a final crushing punch to the bear's skull, rendering it unconscious and prone on the ground. Snow scattered in all directions.

Seeing it in pain even unconscious, Roran gave it mercy. He had after all used it as a subject to test his body on. Placing his hand over its ear, he sent a small ball of Dragon Flame, incinerating its brain. The monstrous bear finally met its demise.

"Eat or be eaten. I think you know that," he whispered to it.

Sitting on top of the creature, he took off his helmet, noting how he did not sweat at all. He looked up at the blue sky, wondering if the entity that sent him here was watching him. Looking back down at his own hand, he clenched it into a fist. A wry laugh escaped his lips.

I was strong even in my previous world, but I got strong so quickly in this world. It's absurd.

He wasn't one of the main characters. His role was supposedly a mid-level villain, but he was capable enough to solo a Dominant Tier creature. If he had used Dragon Flame from the start, it would have ended in seconds. He figured that he could take on a Prime Tier monster too, but with some difficulty. As for an Alpha Tier like the Basilisk, maybe...he could probably escape relatively unharmed from it.

The male lead and female lead, at the start of the story, had been capable of taking on a Dominant Tier like the bear, but they could not do it as easily as he did.

"Your Grace!" a shout came from his left. He watched as Kaelan came running, likely leaving the squad leader to manage the others. "Your Grace! Please warn me if you're going to do such things! I won't be able to explain anything to the young master if anything happens to you!"

From his seat atop the monster, Roran watched Captain Kaelan groan and gripe about how his heart was always near his throat during the few minutes he fought the bear. Then he proceeded to mention Aleron again, stressing how his little one would be so worried if he found out how reckless he was being.

Roran could not help it. He threw his head back and laughed.

"This is no laughing matter, Your Grace!"

He only laughed harder.

------

Inside his tent, Roran took off his armor and began to clean it up. He glared at the knights who came forward to offer to clean his armor, sending them running to where people were butchering the Dominant Tier Bear.

After the battle, his Dragon Eyes noticed how their admiration and loyalty had increased. Truth be told, it was a little burdensome for Roran, but he shrugged the feeling off and proceeded to act like he did not just solo a Dominant Tier monster in minutes.

Footsteps came closer to his tent, his senses quickly identifying it as Third Squad Leader and Fourth Squad Leader. They had been out since last night after receiving his orders.

"We have returned, Your Grace," the Third Squad Leader said.

"Congratulations on your first kill," the Fourth Squad Leader. "The head of a Dominant Tier monster bear will look good on one of the castle's rooms."

Roran shook his head. "Thank you," he said. A moment later, he turned serious and looked up at them. "The first task I sent you on?"

"We headed for our next camping spot," the Fourth Squad Leader said. His face turned dark. "We did not enter the clearing and remained in the periphery. Usually, there would be Wild and Fierce Tier monsters roaming about, but we found none."

"The forest was too quiet in that particular area, but we could not detect anything wrong," the Third Squad Leader said. "But from my experience, when the forest is quiet and you feel nothing is wrong, then something is definitely wrong. We left quickly."

Roran nodded at them. "The second task?"

The squad leaders' faces turned grim. "We went and found the investigation team as you ordered," the Third Squad Leader said. "When the three mages left their camp, we approached the ten people in the investigation team. None of them responded to us no matter what we did."

"We then followed the mages as closely as possible," the Fourth Squad Leader said. "But when they got close to the river, they just vanished into thin air. We wanted to follow but remembered your orders not to engage. We quickly left the area as well."

Roran stopped wiping his armor. A deep sigh escaped his lips.

"Your Grace...the mages...," the Third Squad Leader trailed off.

Roran stood, slowly starting to put on his armor. The two immediately went to assist him, and he let them.

"Send word to Obsidian Castle about the situation. Then, tell everyone to rest for the entire afternoon," he said. "We're going to catch rats tonight."

"Yes, sir!"