“I see,” Isdis scratched her head, “Find the grass and let the guards handle the rest. I don’t think delicate matters are your strong part,”

Arad nodded, “I much rather have clear work to do,” He smiled. Arad would much rather take simpler jobs.

Void Step ZON! Arad teleported back to the gate, standing beside the horses. “Thanks, I will handle this,” He patted them, “Now, play along,”

He opened his void eyes and looked behind the wall. The merchants and their personal guards were discussing something, but they didn’t seem to be trying to get the wagon out of the way.

With a smile on his face, Arad’s body turned black as shadows consumed him. A black rat stood there beside the horses’ hooves.

The horses stared down, not daring to move. They could see it, feel it, but the humans can’t comprehend it.

Even with the dragons’ incredible polymorph skills, they rarely transform into something significant. You will never find a dragon transforming into a tiger or a lion for one reason, they don’t need to.

A dragon is already an apex predator, he doesn’t need to mimic others for claws or a vicious look.

That’s why most dragons end up abusing their polymorph abilities to look like humans to blend into society, or turn into small animals to deceive people by looking harmless.

A squirrel dancing on the trees, entertaining children. That’s a gold dragon.

A weak and frail-looking beggar, better be careful, that might be a brass dragon.

A stray black cat across the street, one glare at those eyes and you would see the black dragon in disguise.

And now, a black chubby rat, that a void dragon prowling named Arad.

Arad slipped into the carriage by climbing the wheels and squeezed inside. Between the floor’s wooden tiles, he could see a small hole hiding something.

He entered and looked around, patches over patches of ghost grass hidden out of sight. The horses were right, and this amount, it’s strange they are hiding it.

“I better inform the guards about this,” Arad walked out of the carriage and headed to the nearest guard post.

Several minutes later, a whole battalion of guards approached the carriage.

The merchant rushed to greet the guards. “Sorry about blocking the gate sir, we’re trying to get the carriage to move.”

The head of the battalion, named Morris stared at the merchant.

“We didn’t come for that, but for something else.” He nodded to his men to surround the carriage, “I want everything inside out,”

As the men started taking everything out of the carriage, the merchant gasped, “What’s the meaning of this? You’ll damage my goods!”

“Damage the goods?” Morris stared at the merchant with a passive face. “Guards! Tie him and his wife up,” He growled, turning around, “They wait in the cells.”

“You bastard!” The merchant cried as a guard knocked him to the ground. The private guards of the merchants tried to interfere, but they were quickly captured.

“Sir! We found patches of ghost grass hidden inside the carriage. No license though,” A guard shouted.

“And I doubt this idiot is carrying it,” Morris smiled, walking away from the carriage and back to the barracks. He entered his office and saw Arad sitting on his chair with Jack beside him.

Morris bowed, “Sir Arad, we have captured the merchants and confiscated their goods, including the ghost grass.”

“Good work,” Arad smiled, pulling a decree and putting it on the table. “I will be taking the ghost grass as per the royal decree,”

“Of course, We will have it ready in half an hour. We will also register it so it’s not stopped again,” Morris said with a smile.

Arad looked at Jack, “And you heard him. Do what you like,”

Jack smiled, “Sent it to the alchemist guild. I will go with you,”

Morris rushed out to get the grass ready.

“What will you do with it again? Smoke bombs?” Arad stared at Jack.

“Smoke bombs that cause hallucinations. Of course, I would antidote for myself so they are safe to use.” Jack smiled, “I can’t believe you managed to get Isdis to sign a royal decree for this.”

“She said that the grass would be burned anyway. So it’s better to use it as a weapon than just wasting it.” Arad replied.

Jack laughed, “This is why I want people in the royal court,” He looked at Arad, “It won’t be legal for us to have such weapons unless a royal approves, and you’re my ticket.”

“But if it’s just alchemy, won’t people resist it?” Arad asked.

“That’s a good point, magical effects are naturally stronger than alchemy. But there is a catch, you have to detect something for it to be resisted.” Jack smiled as he explained, “Magic effects can be resisted immediately when you sense their magic.”

“Then alchemy the same, but weaker, right?”

“No. Alchemy doesn’t have magic so to be detected, the effect must start,” Jack giggled, “Even if you can resist a poison, you would still take at least one point of damage so your body detects it and starts resisting. Of course, the resistance stays active for weeks after that so you take no damage.”

Arad blinked, “So you’re saying even if someone could resist the hallucination effect of ghost grass, they would still get affected for a brief moment,”

“Yes, even a fraction of a second can create a big enough opening to end a fight,” Jack replied as Arad stood.

“I will head back to Isdis. I still have a lot of work to do. See you later,” 𝘦𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝗇𝓔t

“Don’t let her work you to the bones,” Jack waved his hand, “Or, let her. If her jobs get us such rare items.” He smiled.

ZON! Arad teleported away.

Jack stared around the office with a smile on his face, “From dragged here to get locked away to working with them. How things changed in a few months,” He walked out.

***

Thud! Landed in Isdis’s office, he walked toward a chair and sat with an exhausted face. “Anything else?”

Isdis scratched her chin, “A lot to go,” She pointed at a stack of papers.

Arad sighed, “What do you have?”

Isdis gave the remaining missions to Arad one after the other. From restoring water supplies to carrying medicinal and trying to calm down the raging cattle after the dragon attack.

Each time Arad went and returned, Isdis gave him more missions. But unlike her two maids, her goal wasn’t exhusting him, but getting his name across the capital. She made sure he got known to the guards, soldiers, merchants, farmers, and even the adventurers venturing into the wild.

With each mission accomplished, his name spread across the capital like wildfire.

It wasn’t just rumors of him beating Five or killing a dragon. Even the people who missed those events had to see him in action at least one time.