Chapter 127: A Morning of Chaos

Viktor had brought this doll along as a substitute for Qiu Nuoya, making it appear as though he and Qiu Nuoya were traveling together.

Qiu Nuoya understood why Viktor had made the dolls now. But that did not make them any less creepy!

"Still, you don’t need three of them!"

"You grows every day, you see... These dolls that was modeled after you at different stages of your growth are practically a collection to me. I cannot bring myself to part with them anymore." With that, he gently stroked the doll modeled after Qiu Nuoya.

That’s exactly what makes it so creepy! What do you mean, collecting things that look like me without my permission!?

Qiu Nuoya pulled the doll, which looked remarkably similar to him out of Viktor’s arms.

"Nuoya, what are you doing!?"

"This dolls is confiscated!"

"What!? That’s cruel!"

"Who’s being cruel here!? Don’t make things like this without permission and collect them! If you plan on making any more, I’ll burn every single one right in front of you!"

"No..." Viktor looked utterly devastated. Qiu Nuoya put two of the dolls into his magic bag. He hoped Viktor would understand that leaving him with one was the absolute limit of his kindness.

Even so, these dolls were unbelievably detailed. A closer look made it obvious that they were dolls, but the texture of their skin, the delicate shaping of their fingertips, and countless other details had been crafted with such care that they almost looked like works of art made by a master artisan.

Qiu Nuoya had no idea how Viktor had managed to create such elaborate dolls, but this was truly a waste of talent!

...

His dreams that night were awful.

After shaking off Viktor, who had cried and clung to him, Qiu Nuoya returned to his room and crawled into bed. Perhaps because the sight he had witnessed that day had been so shocking, he dreamed that dolls with faces almost identical to his were chasing him around.

They looked so much like him that he hesitated to attack them. At the same time, having something that looked exactly like himself relentlessly chasing after him was deeply unsettling.

So Qiu Nuoya did nothing but run

.

Thinking that perhaps he really had no choice but to burn the dolls, Qiu Nuoya was suddenly startled awake by the sound of someone knocking on the front door.

It was far too early in the morning. The sun had only just risen, and someone was already pounding on his door. Talk about a terrible way to start the day.

The knocking continued without pause.

"Please open the door! You’re home, aren’t you?"

Early morning or not, was there really any need to make such a racket when visiting someone else’s house?

"All right, all right, all right! Who is it? I can hear you, so there’s no need to make so much noise!" Qiu Nuoya hastily straightened himself up and opened the front door. Standing there was the Tamer’s Guild employee who had guided him around the previous day. Behind him stood several unfamiliar adults.

"Good morning!"

"Ah... Good morning. What brings you here this early?" Qiu Nuoya could not help but recoil slightly at the man’s energetic greeting. How could someone be this lively so early in the morning?

"To get straight to the point, after our Tamer’s Guild staff held an all night meeting, we reached a decision regarding you and your tamed dragon! We’ve come here to report it to you!"

"Wait... Did you just say you had been meeting all night? And what exactly do you mean by ’what to do with us’?"

"Nuoya, who is it this early?" Viktor appeared behind Qiu Nuoya with a distinctly displeased expression.

Warren was standing behind him as well, already fully dressed and peeking out to see what was going on. Warren was surprisingly good at getting up early, and he was quick at getting ready too.

"It looks like they’re employees from the Tamer’s Guild. Come to think of it, where’s Long?"

"I have no idea."

"I heard that after cleaning up yesterday, Long said he was going to have another drink with Igor, so he might be in Igor’s room."

The two could barely communicate with each other, but apparently, they had hit it off over their shared love of alcohol and decided to continue drinking together afterward. Qiu Nuoya could not help but smile a little when he heard that.

The shared stock of alcohol that they had bought for everyone in the house had already been completely used up, but Qiu Nuoya knew that Igor kept a separate supply of alcohol for himself in his room. They had probably decided to break into that stash. If the two had managed to become friends, then that was certainly a good thing.

"Who is Long? Where is your dragon?"

"Long is the dragon’s name. I’ll go check on him." Qiu Nuoya showed the guild employees into the living room before heading toward Igor’s private room.

Igor had always been a heavy sleeper and was not particularly good at getting up in the morning. At this hour, there was a good chance he was still fast asleep and had not even noticed their guests arriving.

"Igor? Igor? I’m coming in~"

The rooms each had locks, but for the most part, Qiu Nuoya and the others rarely bothered locking themselves inside. When he turned the doorknob, the door opened easily as expected. However, the moment he opened it, a strong smell of alcohol hit him, making him frown.

"Igor, is Long in here~?" Qiu Nuoya cautiously peeked inside and immediately spotted a figure collapsed on the floor. He flinched in surprise.

The curtains had been drawn shut, leaving the room dim. With someone lying motionless on the floor, the whole scene looked like something straight out of a suspense story.

"Igor? Long?" The two had similar builds, so Qiu Nuoya could not tell which of them was sprawled across the floor in the darkness.