Chapter 102: The Golden Melancholy and the Silver Giant Wheel
——It was something that happened just a little while ago——
“It’s terrible, Golden One! Those terrifyingly strong humans have come to our territory again!?”
Saying such things, a Black Dragon with a face contorted in fear flew into my nest. Incidentally, this Black Dragon is not the individual that was subjugated by the humans yesterday. It’s a different Black Dragon, another dragon.
Good grief, for someone who usually boasted about being feared by humans as a synonym for terror, this is utterly ridiculous. And it’s not just the Black Dragon; Green Dragons, Blue Dragons, Red Dragons, and even those jewel-types who claim to be dragon nobility have come too, haven’t they?
Honestly, even though I just had my scales cleaned, the nest is becoming too cramped.
“What should we do, Golden One!?”
“There is nothing to be done. The opponents are monsters we cannot defeat even if we band together.”
I heard that a group of Green Dragons attacked a weak human in their group all at once, but they apparently couldn’t even tire him out by a hair’s breadth.
“Then what do you suggest we do!? Do you mean to say we should hide in our nests and wait trembling until they leave!?”
“Hmph… exactly!”
Yes, that would be the only correct answer. specifically, I think it would be even better to destroy the entrance to the nest a little so they can’t get in!
“What!? Do you have no dragon pride!?”
Pride? Such a thing was scraped off along with my scales the other day!
“Say whatever you want. I will not move. If you don’t want to die, you should stay still in your nests too. Stay still…”
Now then, maybe I’ll appreciate the treasures I got by defeating the reckless humans who challenged me.
“Hmph, you’ve become quite spineless while I was away for a bit.”
“That voice!?”
Turning around at the voice insulting me, there was the troublesome dragon as expected.
“Silver One… you’ve returned.”
Yes, this one is the Silver Dragon, the No. 2 in our territory.
“Good grief, the one calling himself the King of Dragons is quite weak-kneed. Hmph, did you perhaps fall behind against humans?”
“I don’t recall calling myself King. The others just call me King on their own.”
Dragons are sensitive to hierarchy. And for dragons, gold is proof of being the strongest. Indeed, I am strong. That is why others have called me King.
“Is that so, is that so? Then perhaps I should become King in your stead? In place of the cowardly you.”
“I don’t really mind.”
If you’ll deal with those humans in my place, that is.
“Wh-What!? Do you have no pride as a King!?”
I just said I didn’t earlier. Also, didn’t you just say you’d take over as King yourself? Honestly, this guy has always been picking fights with me since long ago; it’s annoying.
“Eei, what is with that indecisive attitude of yours!? Are you saying you really fell behind against humans?”
“Umu, that is correct. I was defeated by a human just the other day. It happened in the blink of an eye.”
“WHAAAAAAAT!?”
The Silver One looked at me with a face of disbelief. Oh, having lived for hundreds of years, this is the first time I’ve seen such a face on him. Hahaha, seeing this face might make losing not so bad.
“I-I-Im… Impossible!? The Golden One was defeated!? By a human!? By a mere human!?”
The Silver One seems excessively shocked. Hahaha, I was shocked when I lost too. Now, however, the feeling of not wanting to get involved with those humans is stronger than the feeling of defeat.
“Impossible… impossible… Hah!? Could it be that your appearance is also due to those humans?”
Oh, finally noticed?
“Umu, that is correct. That is why I have no intention of fighting those humans anymore. Or rather, I don’t want to get involved, so leave me alone.”
“Wh!? …!?”
The Silver One froze completely in surprise upon learning that my scales became like this because of those humans. Well, I understand the feeling. But well, now it’s a bit quieter.
Now then, let’s return to appreciating my collection…
“D-DON’T SCREW WITH MEEEEEEEEE!! The scales! The dragon scales are gone!!”
“Not just the scales, the horns too.”
“Ts!? T-T-The horns too!?”
Hearing that the horns were also shaved, the Silver One’s face turned bright red. This guy is old-fashioned too.
“…!! Unforgivable! Unforgivable, humans!! In that case, I will personally tear you apart!”
“Is that so, is that so? Well, good luck.”
But I won’t be involved.
“Eei, even though it’s about you, why are you acting like it’s another dragon’s business! Everyone! We’ll drag him to the battlefield if we have to!”
Hah? What are you saying!? I said I don’t want to get involved!? Ah, hey, stop it you guys! Don’t pull!?
“Wa!? STOP! (I will) DIE!?”
“Then I shall show you! What dragon pride is!”
I don’t really want to see such a thing! Let go! Seriously, let go!
“And know this! Know who you truly rely on!”
This is no joke! I can’t stay in a place like this! I’m running away! Somewhere far away where that human can’t chase me! No, I don’t want to be found and attacked, so I’ll hide! Super hide! So let go!
Ah, thinking about it now, I understand well why the Storm One ran away first thing. Anyone wouldn’t want to get involved with such a monster!
“HEAVE-HO!!”
Stop it—! I absolutely won’t go out—!
$diamond$
Drag, drag.
Flail, flail.
“Umm, what is that?”
Honestly, I can understand why Liliera said that. What appeared before us was the Golden Dragon. Probably the same individual we fought before.
However, the reason we were confused was that the Golden Dragon was being forcibly dragged by its fellow dragons. Hmm, extreme agoraphobia?
“G-Golden… Dragon?”
Just then, Ryune, who was beside me, muttered with a pale face.
“What’s wrong, Ryune? You look pale.”
“W-What do you mean, it’s a Golden Dragon!? It’s the strongest dragon!?”
“No, well, that’s true, but that dragon lost to Rex.”
“Eh?”
“Yeah, yeah, it went down in one punch from Big Bro!”
“Punch!?”
“So you don’t need to be scared. It’s like a pet to Rex.”
“Pet!?”
Being comforted by everyone, color returned to Ryune‘s cheeks. Yes, yes, if Ryune calms down, she’ll understand, but even if it’s called a Golden Dragon, it’s just a child. It’s not an opponent to be that afraid of.
“Ah, the Golden Dragon moved.”
When we turned around at Meguri‘s words, the Golden Dragon, which had been dragged by its companions until just now, walked towards us alone.
“Does it want to have a one-on-one fight with its companions as witnesses?”
Mina speculated about the Golden Dragon’s series of strange behaviors. Well, only specialists like Dragon Knights would know the detailed habits of dragons. Should I ask Ryune here? Even though she’s an apprentice, she should have been taught about dragon ecology.
“…”
Thud.
It happened just then.
“Eh?”
The Golden Dragon suddenly lay down on its side, and then rolled over onto its back.
“G-Gruoh?”
Even the surrounding dragons tilted their heads as if to say, What on earth!? And the Golden Dragon sprawled out, stretching its limbs diagonally.
“What on earth is this…?”
Hmm, I haven’t seen a Golden Dragon do this in my previous life or the one before that. What exactly is it doing?
Thinking Ryune might have detailed knowledge about Golden Dragons, I decided to ask her.
“Ryune, do you know anything about that behavior of the Golden Dragon?”
“Eh!? Me!? No, no, no! This is the first time I’ve even seen a Golden Dragon, and it’s the first time I’ve learned they do something like this!”
Behavior that even a Dragon Knight, a dragon specialist, doesn’t understand? Could this be an incredible new discovery? Is it the yet-unknown ecology of dragons that has been researched since the era before my previous life!?
Hmm, this is getting a little exciting. There was still an unknown world spreading out there. The Golden Dragon in this pose showed no sign of moving. Since it didn’t twitch, both we and the dragons waited patiently to see what action it would take next.
“…Or rather, isn’t it just surrendering completely?”
“Eh?”
Then Meguri said something outrageous.
“No, surely not. I’ve never heard of a Golden Dragon taking a pose of total surrender.”
I really don’t think that’s it.
“I see, facing Rex who is outside common sense, it makes sense for the Golden Dragon, who has already experienced defeat, to surrender completely.”
“It’s the form resulting from a monster’s instincts desperately seeking a way to survive.”
Everyone started saying whatever they liked.
“As expected of Big Bro! Making the strongest dragon prostrate itself without fighting!”
“No, no, a high-pride Golden Dragon surrendering completely is impossible no matter what.”
Saying that, I approached to probe the Golden Dragon’s reaction while remaining vigilant. Keeping my guard up to the maximum so I could respond whenever it attacked. I approached slowly until I was close enough to touch it.
Even then, there was no reaction, so this time I decided to try getting on its belly. Dragons are proud creatures, so if I do this, it should get angry and attack immediately. Walking on scales as hard as stone pavement, I reached the center of the Golden Dragon’s belly.
“GRUOOH!?”
Even though the surrounding dragons raised voices of surprise, the Golden Dragon didn’t move a muscle.
“Why isn’t it getting angry? Normally, if I did this, it should try to kill me for the sake of its dragon pride?”
“DON’T DO SUCH DANGEROUS THINGS SO CASUALLY!!”
Ah, I’m sorry. I just did it to check the Golden Dragon’s reaction.
“Hmm, but it’s not moving. Is it really surrendering completely?”
“How should I put it, its eyes are dead…”
“It has an expression that says ‘do whatever you want,’ doesn’t it?”
Meguri and the others commented on the figure of the Golden Dragon, which didn’t twitch even when they did whatever they liked.
Just then.
“GRUOAAAAAAAAOU!!”
The Silver Dragon waiting near the Golden Dragon let out a roar filled with strong killing intent.
“Hii!?”
Suddenly bathed in strong killing intent, Ryune got scared and fell on her backside.
Then the Silver Dragon spread its wings wide and showed an intimidating stance.
“It seems this guy is full of motivation.”
Ah, but seeing a dragon make normal dragon moves like this might actually be a little reassuring.
“D-Don’t say ‘it seems full of motivation’! Doing such a thing to a proud dragon! L-Let’s run away quickly! Otherwise, we’ll be killed! The opponent is a Silver Dragon with power second only to the Golden Dragon!”
Ah, yeah, Silver Dragons are useful for making anti-undead weapons.
“But it doesn’t seem like they intend to let us go.”
Not just the Silver Dragon. The other dragons also started moving, spurred on by the Silver Dragon.
“By the way, Rex? Honestly, with this many dragons as opponents, isn’t it too much for us? Or rather, it looks like we’re going to die?”
“Th-That’s right. If it were two or three Green Dragons, I think we could manage somehow, but this is a bit…”
“It’s okay. This number isn’t many at all.”
“NO, WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT.”
I think with everyone’s ability, it should be fine.
“Then I’ll cast support magic on everyone too. Area High Protection!”
I cast support magic to enhance everyone’s defense. Now then…
“Then, I’ll have everyone deal with the other dragons…”
At that moment, the Silver Dragon charged at me. Not a charge using freefall from the sky, but a magical maneuver using magic power as propulsion. This magical maneuver is troublesome because it can produce the same maximum speed from any positional relationship. Since dragons have a lot of magic power.
“Master Rex!?”
Seeing that scene, Ryune screamed. It’s fine, it’s fine, I have countermeasures for this kind of attack.
“Hmph!”
I lowered my hips, received the charging Silver Dragon’s attack, and used the opponent’s momentum to throw it. Furthermore, at that time, I threw myself along with it.
And the moment the thrown Silver Dragon slammed into the ground and bounced, I controlled my posture with Flight Magic, landed, and threw the Silver Dragon again. And continued to throw it a second, third, and fourth time.
“This is a technique that uses a giant opponent’s momentum to throw them forever, called the Infinite Throw. It’s good to remember this when you need to fight large enemies for a long time since it conserves strength.”
“THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!!”
Eh? I don’t think that’s true.
