Chapter 87: Like a Dragon (1)

Yesterday, a huge dragon suddenly flew to Aubrey Village and offered a ‘deal’.

…Now, first.

I know the first sentence will sound very strange.

A dragon is not some wandering food truck, so you might wonder what it means for one to suddenly visit a human village and offer a deal.

But, in this world, it was a relatively common (?) thing.

Of course, it wasn't that dragons were as common as wild animals you could encounter on the street, but they weren't exactly rare creatures that only appeared in legends either.

Moreover, most dragons could speak ‘human language’.

So sometimes, they would appear before humans and talk to them.

I don't know why they bother to do that.

They're dragons, after all.

Many scholars who study dragons have tried hard to find out the reason for their behavior, but in the end, all they could find out was that they were inherently moody creatures, and their way of thinking was fundamentally different from ours.

It could be simply out of boredom, or there could be no reason at all.

So it's just… a feeling like a natural disaster that sometimes happens.

At least, that's how the people of this world accepted it.

It's just that this time, that disaster had reached Aubrey Village.

Ah, of course, although the reason for their behavior has not yet been clearly identified, there has been some degree of organization regarding the ‘content of their speech’ when dragons visit humans.

Like a kind of disaster response manual.

Or a collection of damage cases.

And according to that manual, the first thing that most dragons who visit humans say is this.

─ Give me your treasure.

This was also the case with the dragon that visited Aubrey Village this time.

Red, blue, yellow, pink, green… just like the heroes in a special effects show, there are dragons of various colors in this world, but their common point is that they all like ‘treasure’.

Of course, every time they hear such a story.

‘Ha! This is why they are inferior beings. Well, I guess the ideas that come from those small brains are all the same. It's a prejudice that all dragons like treasure!’

There are guys who react like this, but the house, or rather, the nest of the guy who says that, always has a personal treasury, and well… it's like that.

It's like kimchi.

It's certainly a prejudice that all Koreans like kimchi, but we have a kimchi refrigerator at home and I ate kimchi fried rice for lunch today, that kind of feeling.

Anyway.

The dragon that had stormed into Aubrey Village this time was also a guy who liked treasure very much.

So, he had threatened to burn the village to the ground if they didn't offer him a ‘treasure that would satisfy him’ within a week, and then flew away again.

At this point, you might say.

What kind of ‘deal’ is that.

But the dragon did make his proposal.

In exchange for a ‘treasure that would satisfy him’, he would give his ‘promise to never threaten this village again’.

In fact, there was already a social consensus among humans to call this kind of thing ‘threat’ or ‘robbery’, not a deal.

I repeat, they're dragons.

Their way of thinking was different from ours.

They probably thought that since they could have just burned everything to ashes with a single breath of fire or by stomping on it on their way, the fact that they had come down to treat these beings as equal conversation partners was already the highest form of courtesy on their part.

So whenever this happened, humans would choose one of three methods.

First, subjugate the dragon.

From the humans' perspective, it was a method with nothing to lose.

(Except for those who actually went to fight, of course.)

And as such, it was also difficult to achieve.

Dragons were fundamentally very high-level creatures, and there weren't many skilled people who could hunt such dragons in the first place.

To hire such skilled people, it was sometimes cheaper to just meet the dragon's conditions.

Although there were existences like knight orders that could be used for free (?), they were currently—for reasons that everyone who knows knows—short of manpower.

Then, second, meet the dragon's conditions.

Dragons, as befitting creatures overflowing with pride, tended to value ‘honor’.

Therefore, once they made a promise, they would very rarely break it first.

So, it was actually much better to just meet the conditions once and receive a promise not to be touched.

But in this case, there was the problem that they had no idea what the ‘treasure that would satisfy him’ that the dragon had mentioned was.

He didn't specify what kind of treasure it was, and he didn't even say whether he wanted just one or a mountain of treasures.

Because they were such self-centered creatures.

It was just a matter of you guys figuring it out.

If they gathered all the valuable items and gold coins in the village, perhaps there would be something he liked among them, or the amount would be satisfactory, and they could somehow meet the conditions.

But our dear Mr. Dragon, who had visited the village yesterday, had added a very tricky condition.

─The one who brings me treasure must be one who can withstand my fire!

In short, he was saying to send someone of the right ‘caliber’.

It seemed that our great Dragon thought that sitting at the same negotiation table with a low-class opponent would tarnish his honor.

So, he would not accept it unless a person strong enough to be fine even after being hit by his 「Dragon Breath」 brought the treasure.

Was it a sense that it was no fun to extort pocket money from kids who seemed to have just started walking?

Well, who knows.

It's what dragons do.

And in the first place, if there was such a person, why would they send him with treasure?

They would just ask him to subjugate it.

For that reason, since they couldn't meet this tricky condition, the people of Aubrey Village had no choice but to choose the last, third method.

To run.

But, who could easily accept the situation of having to abandon their perfectly fine home overnight and become a refugee?

Because of that, the people of Aubrey Village were all in a half-crazed state, and.

“A d-dragon?!”

As a result, it could be said that this mess had occurred.

Miki had just, asked why such a commotion was happening.

And as soon as the story of the dragon came out, he was also surprised and had reacted like this.

But as befitting Miki, who was always faithful to his emotions, his surprised voice was quite loud, and it naturally drew the attention of the people around him.

“Y-You! Are you perhaps a knight?”

To Miki, who was clearly a knight to anyone who saw him.

“What? A knight?”

“The knights have come!? We’re saved!”

Soon, those gazes, naturally, also turned to us who were next to him.

“No, they seem to be adventurers…?”

“They’re adventurers, not knights?”

“What?! Adventurers who can’t even be compared to the knight order have come!? We’re saved!”

Since so many people, and half-crazed people at that, had gathered at once, our answers, which were buried in them, were constantly being distorted and distorted, and by the time they reached the back, they had reached a point where they were just hearing what they wanted to hear.

“U-Um, where are you headed, Sister?”

To the question.

“What? Ah, well, we’re first heading to Tiaria, and then beyond the wall…”

The flustered Lily's answer, which trailed off.

“Beyond the wall!”

“They’re from beyond the wall!”

“Doesn't that mean they’re veterans among veterans!?”

Murmur, murmur.

“If they’re from beyond the wall… aren't they the Demon King's army……?”

“What! They’re people who can even beat up the Demon King's army!? We’re saved!”

As you can see from the fact that it was spreading continuously without any time to correct it.

“Th-Then, by any chance, have you ever hunted a dragon…!?”

“H-Hunting it!?”

“What?! Veteran adventurers from beyond the wall are going to hunt a dragon!? We’re really saved!”

Just say you want to be saved (already)!!

How much do you want to be saved, you reverse Xun Yus.

No, well, I understand how they feel.

At that, Miki, who seemed to have finally figured out what was going on, looked back at us once and then pointed to himself with his finger.

“……We are?”

Yes, we are.

It seems that's how it turned out.

“L-Look at that!”

At that moment, someone pointed at me this time.

“Th-That masked person…! He has both the insignia of Stout and Daian…!”

“What?! He’s an ally of Stout and Daian!?”

“Not just one city, but two…?”

“H-He must be an incredibly great person…!”

Well, this wasn't exactly a distortion or a misrepresentation.

People turned their heads to see the two ‘Insignia of Alliance’ on my collar, and in an instant, the attention of everyone around was focused on me.

Receiving their expectant, sparkling gazes.

“W-Will you really… subjugate the dragon for us…?”

I, filled with an indescribable sense of happiness, slowly raised both my arms.

“──Yes.”

As if to say that your savior has come.

“We will subjugate it for you.”

“Woooow!!”

“Now we, no, this village is saved!”

“The adventurers will drive away the dragon for us!”

With my arms spread wide like that, before I knew it, I was being tossed in the air by the villagers.

As if they were treating me like a hero who had already defeated the dragon and returned.

“You crazy psycho bastard…!”

Slam!

Ibi slammed her hand on the table roughly.

“What were you thinking?!”

The large-scale evacuation plan of Aubrey Village was cancelled.

Instead, the plan was changed to treat the heroes who were going to subjugate the dragon with the utmost hospitality at the village level.

This luxurious dinner, with a table that seemed about to break, was a part of that.

“What dragon, what dragon!? Now we can’t even get out of it, being called dragon hunters, dragon slayers…?!

“What’s the big deal? It’s on the way.”

“The way to hell, you bastard…”

“They were people who were about to become refugees overnight. Let's share some hope.”

“Hey, doesn't this bastard know what a dragon is?”

Ibi looked around as if looking for someone who shared her opinion, and Toric, who had chugged his drink and put down his glass, said.

“…A dragon is not an easy opponent.”

“What, old man. Have you fought one before?”

“Once. I almost died. In fact, many of my comrades retired due to the injuries they sustained at that time.”

“But you survived, didn't you?”

At my words, Toric shrugged his shoulders instead of answering.

“Did you hear that? Even the great Kapers said so.”

“B-But!”

At that, Miki intervened.

“A dragon is, very scary… but I trust Mr. Yubin more than that!”

To that, Lily also added a word.

“You accepted the villagers' request because you thought it was a problem we could handle, right?”

“Well, something like that.”

I felt a little embarrassed by their firm faith in me.

Finally, when even Rine showed her intention to be with me with a silent nod.

“……Haa.”

Ibi, who had finally let out a loud sigh, bowed her head deeply and pressed her temples with both thumbs as if to control a headache.

“Pleease say you have a plan.”

“I do, of course.”

I answered immediately with a grin.

“Alright, then let's hear what that great plan is.”

“To seduce it.”

“──Huh?”

“I'm going to seduce it. The dragon.”

“Is this bastard crazy?”