Chapter 67: A Girl and her Wyvern

Tri-Border Ocean

The Tri-Border Ocean should have been peaceful.

Warm sky. White drifting clouds. Gentle wind brushing across a calm, shimmering sea that stretched endlessly in every direction. It was the kind of view painters liked to capture, and sailors liked to brag about surviving.

But the peaceful scenery had been completely ruined by a massive pillar of white smoke rising from the water like a giant wall.

From the Ravendawn side, twenty wooden frigates slowly detached from the main fleet. Their sails were fully opened while ship-mages stood along the decks, repeatedly casting wind spells to push the ships forward.

Faster.

Quieter.

Into the fog.

The plan itself was simple.

Slip inside the smoke screen while the Dwargonians’ vision was blocked by the towering cloud.

Nice and sneaky.

---

On the deck of the lead frigate stood a young woman.

She leaned against the railing, dressed in a full one-piece dark leather flightsuit. The suit hugged her body tightly from collar to ankle, reinforced with straps, buckles, and padded plates.

Under her arm she held a leather half-helmet with goggles resting on top. The dark lenses reflected the swirling white fog ahead.

Her long ash-brown hair fluttered wildly in the magically accelerated wind as she stared at the enormous smoke wall.

She inhaled slowly.

Then exhaled even slower.

“…How did I end up here…?” she muttered.

She lifted the helmet slightly and stared at it.

My name is Katja.

I’m a wyvern rider.

Never in my life did I imagine ending up in this situation…

She paused dramatically, gazing toward the horizon like someone preparing to deliver a tragic backstory.

The kind of dramatic pause that strongly suggested the audience was about to receive a very emotional flashback.

Unfortunately for Katja, she was still a side character.

Which meant the audience probably wouldn’t remember her name by next week.

---

Bremen Kingdom — One Year Ago

And thus, her filler episode began.

The scenery shifted to bright blue skies and rolling mountains blanketed in deep green forests.

Katja was flying across the sky on the back of her wyvern, Meja. Unlike the sleek flightsuit she wore now, she was dressed in a simple adventurer’s outfit. Nothing fancy. Just practical travel clothes and boots worn from long journeys.

Meja’s bronze scales gleamed under the sunlight as the large wyvern lazily flapped her wings, gliding across the sky with the relaxed confidence of a creature that had been doing this its entire life.

Strapped behind Katja’s back was a wooden box.

I was an adventurer… a wyvern rider from the Bremen Kingdom.

And my wyvern, Meja, was a gift from my father, who was also a wyvern rider.

Growing up, watching him soar across the sky on Meja’s back… it always felt magical.

Meja slowly descended toward a lonely wooden cottage built along the slope of a mountain.

The place looked remote and quiet.

I always believed being a wyvern rider was a blessing. I dreamed of traveling the world with Meja as my partner…

Katja dismounted and walked toward the cottage door.

She knocked politely, and the door burst open immediately.

Standing inside was a female mage whose facial expression could best be described as aggressively unhappy.

“WHY are you so late!?” the mage shouted. “My request CLEARLY said to deliver the ingredients within three days!”

Katja immediately bowed.

“I—I’m so sorry! There were, uh… a lot of griffins around your friend’s magic tower—”

The mage continued scolding her for five full minutes. Without stopping. Without even lowering her volume.

Katja remained bowed the entire time, apologizing repeatedly while absorbing the verbal assault.

But my father never told me the truth…

That adventuring as a wyvern rider basically… sucks.

Later, Meja took flight again. Katja slumped forward slightly in the saddle as she released a long, defeated sigh.

From above, she watched a group of adventurers exiting a nearby cave entrance. They were laughing loudly, carrying heavy bags full of dungeon loot.

Gold, monster parts, treasure. Actual adventurer things. The group looked extremely satisfied with themselves.

Katja sank deeper into her saddle.

We’re useless inside dungeons. You can’t exactly bring a wyvern inside a cave.

And wyvern riders don’t have any special skills for indoor combat either.

She glanced back at Meja’s wings.

On the ground, we’re also useless.

Wyvern firebreath turns monsters into charred lumps… which ruins their parts.

Which means no one wants us helping during actual hunts.

She stared ahead as the wind rushed past her.

So the only quests we can reliably do…

She patted the wooden box strapped behind her.

…are delivery jobs.

Courier quests.

The lowest of the low.

A flying delivery service.

Very heroic. Very legendary.

---

Bremen Adventurer Guild

Katja stood at the reception counter, staring down at her payment. A small pile of coins rested in her palm. Copper. A little silver. That was it.

She counted them again, just in case the laws of mathematics had suddenly decided to be kinder today. They had not. The amount was so small she could barely afford dinner.

Living expenses were a completely different fantasy, and courier quests don’t even pay enough to live. That was the cruel little secret of wyvern riders.

Most eventually gave up and joined the military. The military offered free meals. A bed. Stable income. Of course, there was a catch.

Your wyvern becomes government property the moment you quit.

Or die.

Whichever came first.

Katja stared at the coins again.

Before she could sink deeper into that depressing thought, a sudden commotion erupted near the guild’s quest board. Adventurers began crowding around a freshly posted notice, pushing and squeezing to get a better look.

Katja blinked.

And then, one day… I thought I saw a miracle.

“What are they looking at?” Katja asked the receptionist.

“A big announcement from the Ravendawn branch.” The receptionist leaned forward to peek at the board. “They’re recruiting tons of adventurers for quests in Raven City.”

Katja shrugged.

“Huh. They probably don’t need wyvern riders, though…”

The receptionist squinted a little closer.

“Actually,” she said slowly, “it looks like most of the good quests are specifically for wyvern riders.”

Katja immediately dashed across the guild hall fueled by pure adrenaline and shoved her way through the crowd, squeezing past several adventurers who were at least twice her size.

Finally she reached the board.

And there it was.

A large, glorious poster.

Right in the center was a heroic drawing of a wyvern rider soaring through the sky above the clouds. The rider held their head high while the wyvern spread its wings in majestic flight.

Below the image, shimmering letters proudly declared:

“Wyvern Riders and Beast Tamers – High Priority.”

Katja’s eyes lit up. Brighter than gold.

---

Katja and Meja flew for days.

Across scorching heat that turned the sky into a white blur.

Through bone-chilling rainstorms and through freezing winds that soaked everything they owned.

And so I left Bremen.

It was far.

Very far.

But I didn’t care.

Ravendawn meant hope.

A chance at a better life for me and Meja.

She had no food reserves worth mentioning. Very little money and not even a spare set of clothes.

But she had hope.

And determination.

And desperation.

Mostly desperation.

---

Raven City

Katja gasped the moment Raven City appeared on the horizon.

The skyline was enormous.

Quaint medieval buildings stood beside towering Murican constructions. Titanium, glass, steel, and magic stand next to each other..

Barbarians walked down the street beside businessmen in suits.

A group of bards passed by carrying Starsucks coffee cups.

Katja blinked several times.

This city was… confusing. In a good way.

She landed Meja outside the city gates at the designated wyvern free parking area. After paying the parking fee—something she would later learn was a scam—she entered the city.

Her eyes darted everywhere.

A beautiful mage stepped out of a luxurious hotel called The Helton, greeted politely by a frontman dressed in a pristine crimson uniform.

Katja slowed down to stare.

I was mesmerized.

Only fancy adventurers stayed in places like that.

Further down the street, a druid and a swordsman walked out of a massive Murican megastore, arms overflowing with shopping bags.

Katja watched them pass.

I was jealous.

They were buying everything from that magical shop called Wailmart.

Eventually Katja reached the Adventurer Guild.

Inside, adventurers sat around tables staring at strange rectangular crystals mounted on stands—Murican information screens.

But to afford any of that…

I needed money.

A lot of it.

And I spent all my savings just getting here.

Katja straightened her posture then marched up to the receptionist counter. She placed her registration papers down.

“I’d like to register.”

The receptionist looked up and nodded.

And just like that—

My new life began.

---

Dark Forest

And the quests?

Embarrassingly easy.

Katja sat comfortably on Meja’s back while the wyvern casually roasted a monster below with a blast of fire.

Katja leaned over the saddle and pulled out a strange Murican device.

Click.

A Polaroid photo popped out. She shook the picture a little while watching the smoking monster corpse.

They didn’t even need the body.

Just the picture.

Proof of elimination.

That was it.