The moment the words escaped from his mouth, all Heron could think of was the war flashbacks of his potato field exploding from the earlier collision of Serafina and Alice hitting his planet like an air strike.

  Did that make him a bad farmer if he couldn’t even keep one field together for more than half a year?

  No, surely that was pure coincidence. It was like winning the lottery except without the benefits. Besides, there was no way his potato field would ever be under assault like that ever again. Two dragons landing in his fields? That was already two too many.

  Heron was going to be the best farmer ever.

  The scent of city hall consisted of books, wood, and dust. Someone ought to do some tidying in here, but he wasn’t one to complain. His eyes met Nancy’s and the receptionist stared back at him, her gray hair pulled back in a bun as she adjusted her sharp golden glasses with a pointy finger. The feathered pen floated in the air as it hovered over the paper in front of her.

  Nancy raised a brow as she interlaced her fingers together, nodding slowly in response. “Alright, can you explain or demonstrate your capabilities of being a farmer?”

  Looking over to Alice then back to Nancy again, Heron began reaching into the pocket of his slacks. “Well, I noticed that there were some stalls in the streets that sold goods. The street market would be an ideal location for selling fresh produce, correct?”

  Nancy nodded with some skepticism just as Heron proudly whipped out the very thing he’d been saving for a later snack.

  “How’s this for proof? I grew it myself.” Beaming, Heron raised the potato that he had stuffed into his pockets right before leaving the tiny planet.

  This was true; this potato had been one of the victims that had been ruptured from its hole in the ground when Serafina and Alice had bombarded his field of potatoes. He already felt bad about letting the other potatoes go to waste since he hadn’t had time to properly store them since Alice had insisted on their departure as soon as possible. So he brought this little guy along, figuring that he’d get hungry at some point. Now, it served as the perfect little representation of his true power—potato farmer!

  Adjusting her glasses, Nancy squinted as she leaned over the wooden countertop that towered over the four of them. Alice and Serafina stepped aside to let Nancy have a better look at Heron and his potato. Lucifer remained still in the crux of Heron’s other arm as he lifted his hand with the potato higher so Nancy could get a closer look. She gave the potato a good sniff before leaning back, returning to her seat as she blinked, appearing to be unamused.

  “So you say you grew it. Do you have any proof that you did?” She waved her hand dismissively. “Perhaps you bought it before coming to the city hall. Anyone could bring in a potato and claim it as their own.”

  …Proof!?

  For the first time in a long time, Heron frowned. He was no liar—albeit that terrible awkward lie about forgetting his paperwork, but it was rare for him to be so bold and unrighteous!

  He understood where Nancy’s skepticism was coming from; he didn’t look any part of a farmer. He was kind of a lanky guy while in his mid-30s but probably looked older from all the years of overtime he did. And his diet since he had isekai’d was not doing him any favors—he was literally built from homemade bread and vegetable soup with a rare side of fish from the lake. He placed the potato firmly on Nancy’s wooden desk and turned his palm facing up once more.

  Summoning a second potato.

  Glancing up from his hand, his eyes catch Nancy’s expression which was of… wonder and disbelief?

  What? All he did was summon a potato. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the expression of Alice which was a… look of horror? A deep rumbling came from mini-sized Serafina who had placed its paws over its eyes and snout.

  He. Summoned. A. Potato.

  What? Again, all he did was summon a potato. It wasn’t anything special. He knew this was a magical world. Alice talked about auras and Lucifer mentioned they had mana overloaded which was what knocked them out from the skies which caused them to crash land into the tiny planet in the first place. Him summoning a potato should absolutely be less impressive than him conjuring a fireball or whatever was what magic was supposed to be used for.

  “Did you just summon a potato?” Nancy asked, blinking once at him.

  “Yes…?”

  What was Heron supposed to say? No, this was a magic trick designed to fool all onlookers and it had come out of his—

  Hey, I’m still listening to your inner monologue, ya know?

  Lucifer yawned as it snuggled its nose in the crook of his arm. No kidding, had his friend been asleep during this whole exchange? So much for an emotional support chihuahua.

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  Heron’s eyes zeroed in on the moving, flying pen as it began to jot down more notes on the paperwork that Nancy had been working on this whole time during the provisional citizenship application.

  “Alright then. Can. Summon. Potatoes.” Nancy breathed as she completed the form before looking up. “Your application has been completed and will be filed in the kingdom’s system. Make sure you stop by the Farmer’s Guild for resources on how to set up shop.”

  Staring at the potato on her desk, Nancy flicked her eyes to Heron. “Can I keep the potato you just summoned from thin air?”

  “Uh, sure?” Heron reached over, swapping his old potato with his new one, then shoving the old potato back into the pocket of his slacks,

  Maybe Nancy was hungry—Heron hoped she would enjoy his magically summoned potato. Oh no, was this bribing? Was he seducing a government official with starch and carbs—

  Ugh, why would you think that? Don’t think that ever again. She’s like four times your age. Lucifer snorted in Heron’s mind.

  FOUR TIMES!?

  Yeah, you couldn’t tell? She’s only half-elf too.

  “But I didn't think she was that old!”

  Slapping a hand over his mouth, Heron realized he had protested out loud. Indeed, Nancy might have gray hair but it looked like she had dyed it. She didn’t have wrinkles or anything like that to indicate her age. Heck, she didn’t look a day older than forty even with the hair color.

  Nancy looked unamused as she sniffed once, her hand collecting the magical potato laying in front of her. “Come back tomorrow for your paperwork and registration. I’ll need some time to process and file you into the system.”

  “Come on,” Alice gestured towards the front entrance of the city hall. “Follow me.”

  Heron followed Alice and Serafina before looking back once and giving Nancy a two-fingered salute, “Thanks a lot, enjoy the potato.”

  Nancy didn’t respond, she just continued to review the paperwork in front of her as the feathered pen floated mid-air, dancing from time to time as it scribbled on the paper before her.

  “Where are we going?”

  No response.

  “Are we there yet?”

  No response.

  Heron frowned as he swapped Lucifer from one arm into the other. His arm was getting tired from hauling the white rabbit around like a bowling ball. He wasn’t calling Lucifer fat but—

  Hey, watch it. See what happens.

  Promises, promises. Heron trailed behind Alice and Serafina as they strolled ahead of him on the streets of the kingdom. They’d been walking for over ten minutes now—or at least, what felt like ten minutes. As a group of four, they’d walked down several streets, passing by many different establishments that surrounded the area. It appeared that most of the buildings were grouped together into districts, each of which served a different purpose such as shopping, eating, and even housing.

  During this time, Heron had tried to ask multiple questions multiple times. He found it odd that neither answered him. Serafina had told him that everything would make sense soon but hadn’t said another word to him since. He’d thought about running off but that didn’t seem like the brightest idea. Also he couldn’t stop his brain from thinking and since Serafina could read his mind, he had no idea how far the range was. Maybe she could hear him from across the plaza so him running away would basically amount to nothing if they could just pinpoint where he was.

  Heron simply didn’t know enough to be confident in his decision-making.

  Not that he was a confident guy or even a smart guy, but he was wise enough to not run if Alice and Serafina were technically intergalactic police officers.

  In case you were wondering, I also have no clue where we’re going.

  Huh? No, Heron had not been wondering about that. Again, he wasn’t exactly the brightest cube around.

  They’re both kind of… quiet. Honestly, it’s been a bit alarming.

  Heron had assumed that Lucifer had been intentionally quiet this entire time. Whether it was chowing down on carrots or taking a nap in his arms, he had thought the rabbit was just chilling.

  Yes, yes. I’ve been bored. This whole thing has been a drag. But besides that, those two have no thoughts for me to read.

  Uh, what? No thoughts? Heron blinked as he continued to trail after Alice and Serafina who only continued to walk ahead of him, leading the way.

  I’ve always been able to read your mind. Lucifer’s voice was quiet in Heron’s mind. In fact, it’s been a bit overwhelming since we arrived here. There’s been a lot of thoughts floating around.

  So many people are hungry and thinking about food. A lot of them are tired and just want to sleep. But the loudest thoughts? Always worrying too much. And the happy thoughts? Always too fleeting. It sure is a lot of work reading everyone’s mind.

  Huh, Heron never thought about it that way. His mind alone was already noisy enough. He never expected that Lucifer might be overwhelmed if it couldn’t turn off the voices around it.

  Oh please, I’m not overwhelmed. I am the Lord Greatest of All Time. It would take much more to defeat me!

  Lucifer puffed its fluffy chest proudly.

  If anything, I find it strange that I can’t hear anything from those two unless they’re speaking.

  What did that mean?

  You would think that Serafina can hear us conversing right now, correct? Yet, I cannot hear her. Nor can I hear Alice. I don’t believe Alice can read our minds but Serafina can. So why can I not do the same in return?

  It seemed consistent that the dragons could read and hear people’s minds. So it did seem peculiar that Lucifer did not have the same capabilities as Serafina. Didn’t Serafina say something earlier about how private DMs and Lucifer had been eavesdropping? But if Lucifer couldn’t hear Serafina’s thoughts then that means Serafina had chosen to speak with Heron alone and Lucifer had been eavesdropping via Heron’s thoughts—not Serafina’s.

  There was no way that Alice and Serafina were head empty, right?

  Serafina had mentioned something about Heron being too easy to read and clearly not trained like the criminals they were used to dealing with. What was that supposed to mean? Thought control? Some magical barrier to protect their minds from being read? Or maybe thinking in a different language?

  CLANG.

  Lost in thought, Heron wandered into Alice. She stumbled forward and whipped around, eyes sharp and glaring. Aw crap, that was not good. Straightening up, he stood as straight as a soldier.

  “Sorry—“

  “Heron.” Alice interrupted as she eyed him with her cold, emerald gaze.

  “Y-Yes?”

  “We’ve arrived at the Knight’s Station.”

  “…Okay?” Heron blinked, still holding Lucifer like a duffel bag.

  Lucifer sneezed and Serafina snorted.

  Crossing her arms, Alice raised a brow as her voice rang loud and clear.

  “Now you’re under arrest, provisional citizen of the kingdom of Morningstar.”