They were giving off a presence that looked human but clearly wasn’t, and as soon as our eyes met, they clamped their mouths shut, their eyes filled with determination.
Whoa, they all look pretty intimidating.
“Are they really coming this way?”
I thought so, but I said it out loud just in case, and as if they heard me, they started striding over.
Even our Master, along with the other two, openly made faces of disgust, but that didn’t seem to matter to the five dragons who looked like some tacky nouveau riche—they quickly arrived in front of us.
“… Are you Gemma Aurum?”
“I am Gemma Aurum, but what are you suspiciously doing here?!”
“Just as I thought!”
Gemma, unable to contain herself, threw out a comment as the big blue-headed guy in the front said,
“Lady Gemma, the Dragon Lord is summoning you.”
“… Father?”
“Yes, we have come to escort you on the Lord’s orders. He said the playtime is over, so it’s time to return.”
I’m pretty sure McKinto said she’d be okay for a while. Did something change in the meantime?
After hearing that, Gemma seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding, as if she had reached a decision.
“… I see. If Father said so, then I will follow.”
“Then allow us to escort you.”
When Gemma nodded, the other dragons in the back struck a stance and quickly conjured up a warp gate.
‘The Dragon Lord is looking for Gemma?’
That’s certainly possible.
If the Osso worked hard to keep her cooped up in the nest and let her run around outside as she wished, that alone would be over the top.
Five adult dragons had shown up.
It would be unusual for independent dragons to gather like this unless it was the Lord calling.
“This gate is connected to the nest where the Lord resides. Just take a step, and you can be moved instantly.”
Gemma began to move, following the lead of the dragon in front.
As I watched her retreating figure, something tugged at my heart.
What was making me feel this way? I couldn’t quite pin it down, but I wasn’t comfortable with their behavior one bit.
Should I just let her go like this?
Am I perhaps misjudging the situation right now?
After a brief internal struggle, I made a decision.
“Gemma, wait a moment.”
I figured I shouldn’t let her go until I resolved this unease.
Even if it was a precautionary report, it was my responsibility since the Dragon Lord entrusted Gemma to me.
I couldn’t just send her off carelessly, not just based on words and the situation.
“Time is of the essence. Don’t interfere, mortal.”
As I spoke, Gemma’s steps halted, and the dragons displayed their displeasure quite openly.
More than a couple of them scowled at me with visible irritation.
“What’s the matter, Atlas?”
“It feels like a shame to just take her like this. We should at least give her time for a farewell.”
Although it was intended to buy time, it also held a bit of sincerity.
After all, there’s a bond that has built over the two months, and if she just left like this, many would be disappointed.
“I’ll take her immediately after the farewell. I’ll be just as quick, you know that.”
“Right… that makes sense, given the debt we owe to her.”
If the Lord called, it must be at his nest.
The Lord’s nest, built in a sanctuary where Gold Dragons have lived for generations, strictly prohibits outsiders and keeps its location under wraps, but I’ve been there since becoming a Master, so I could go there anytime.
Gemma seemed to waver slightly at this offer.
Of course, the dragons were showing overt displeasure, though.
“Lady Gemma, you seem too absorbed in play. There’s no need to listen to the words of this mortal. You wouldn’t want to keep the Lord waiting, would you?”
At the mention of the Lord waiting, Gemma’s eyes flickered slightly.
Though she rebelled when her father, the Dragon Lord, made no move to send her out of the nest, her respect for him ran deeper than anyone knew.
Caught between being a daughter and a friend, Gemma wrestled with her thoughts.
“It’s possible I won’t see you again, so isn’t a farewell necessary? Everyone will be back soon, just wait a little longer.”
“… Alright. I’ll make it quick so we can leave as soon as possible.”
Perhaps thinking it would just take a moment, Gemma accepted my proposal and reached for my hand.
Because Gemma was loved by many, it seemed everyone felt disappointed that she had to leave so suddenly due to personal circumstances.
But as soon as it was proposed that she should stay for farewells, the dragons’ expressions soured at once.
“This is an urgent matter… Lady Gemma, you must come with us immediately!”
“Uh?!”
The big blue-headed dragon at the front roughly grabbed Gemma by the shoulder and tried to drag her away just as I seized his wrist.
“What’s the rush?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“What are you hiding? Is there something you can’t let slip?”
The dragon looked down at the wrist I had grabbed and gritted his teeth.
“This… Lady Gemma’s trust in me makes you unafraid of consequences!!”
– Crunch!!
The largest dragon among them grabbed my arm and pulled.
I didn’t float away, but when I saw the gigantic dragon’s fist transform in my line of sight, I couldn’t help but let an awkward chuckle escape.
What’s this? Is he actually aiming to punch me?
I had a feeling something was off, but I never expected things to unfold this easily.
– Wham!!!
With a crisp sound of impact, someone soared into the sky.
Of course, it wasn’t me, but the Blue Dragon, who had transformed into a human shape, took a hit to the abdomen and flew about five meters before crashing down like a sack.
Considering what he had just said, there’s no doubt he was the one who attacked, and he was the same one who got sent flying.
It took a few seconds before the other dragons realized that he had attacked and then got countered.
“What the hell are you doing!!!”
“What… this bug!!!”
“This means war!!”
“Chew him up!!”
Seeing one of their own get clobbered, the remaining dragons suddenly switched from polymorph and returned to their original dragon forms.
As gigantic adult dragons, surpassing twenty meters in size, appeared in an instant, a storm brewed in every direction.
“What the hell are you guys doing…!!”
Gemma was shocked to see them revert to their dragon forms and tried to halt them.
I didn’t think it was right to hit one, but the dragons had thrown the first punch.
Gemma told them to stop, but the dragons, already overtaken by fury, would not heed her words.
“Whaaaaaat?! What’s that!!!”
“Dragons???!!!”
Given that we weren’t far from the Academy Main Building, the students screamed at the sight of suddenly appearing dragons.
Determined that if this wasn’t resolved quickly, students might get caught in the crossfire, I surged my aura over my body.
“You’re quite the troublemaker, huh? You purposely provoked them to attack first.”
“But it felt suspicious.”
As I watched the dragons’ sudden reveal, my Master chuckled and walked forward.
“With four adult dragons, it’s like we have four castles here. The one who kills gets the spoils, right?”
Selling off the material from one adult dragon could buy you a fortune; with enough alive, the value skyrocketed even higher.
I had no worries with four adult dragons right in front of me.
“Let’s not kill them; they might actually be the Lord’s subordinates.”
“Is someone starting trouble while assuming they might genuinely be Lord’s subordinates? This is ridiculous.”
[What… the hell are these idiots talking about…!!]
The dragons, seeing us joke casually in their presence, were fuming mad.
They had probably been revered throughout their lives and had never faced such ridicule before.
In other words, they had practically no real combat experience.
I figured it was alright to lower the difficulty of this encounter significantly.
“Looks like they’re in a rush, so let’s wrap this up quickly.”
“Then I’ll take the two on the left, and you take the two on the right.”
“The ones on the left look taller… You didn’t catch them for their scales, did you?”
“Okay, let’s do it!!”
Despite having four dragons who could obliterate a fortress at my disposal, there was zero tension in the air.
After all, we had the two strongest Masters of humanity on this side.
.
.
.
Within five minutes, all four dragons were thoroughly laid out, defeated.
“Gack….!”
The dragons had returned to their forms, all groaning in pain and out cold, with only the one who got hit first regaining his senses.
With scales that could nullify magic below a certain level, muscles that could lift small mountains, claws sharper than any famed sword, and magic they could use naturally from birth—
For mortals, dragons were nothing short of natural disasters they couldn’t resist, but for Masters, adult dragons were merely sturdy and plentiful punching bags.
Still, I had held back a bit against Gemma, but since a wager was on with my Master this time, I hurriedly aimed to finish this quickly, and so the dragons all got laid out flat.
Ah, what a waste.
If I could take them and sell them, that would make a fortune.
“Did you just… do this to my father’s subordinates?! What is wrong with you?!”
Seeing her kin getting clobbered like dogs right in front of her, Gemma looked at me in bewilderment.
Well, since we reached this point, I decided to be honest about what I thought.
“I don’t think they were sent by the Lord.”
I truly didn’t believe these dragons were sent by the Dragon Lord.
“If they were genuinely sent, then what were they trying to achieve?”
“If they’re wrong? I’ll just apologize then.”
