A Comical Farce
"So you just scared passing merchants and snagged free meals?"
"Yeees… But it got more and more fun, so I started throwing in some lines — you know, scaring them with a little flair. I mean, I became a dragon. I had to show off a bit! That's cool, right?"
"Fair enough! Ah… I'm so damn jealous. A dragon. If it were me, I'd fly straight to the Imperial Palace and fire a breath attack into the sky!"
"I thought about that too, but then I figured if some really strong person showed up, I'd be toast — dragon barbecue, no escape…"
"Men, I swear…"
And so, at last, came the friendly meeting Tenebrix Nox had longed for. On top of that, the sheer luck of discovering that the people she had found were Koreans in the same situation as herself sent every hardship she had endured flashing through her mind like a lantern show, and tears welled up. Once she finally calmed down, she launched into a rambling account of everything that had happened so far.
"So, what do we do now?"
"Uh… I dunno?"
The two siblings looked at each other.
"We can't just leave her here, so we should take her home, right?"
"It should be fine, right? We're nobles, after all."
"You're both nobles?"
"Ah, introductions are late. We possessed into the Evergarden Count family. This one was my little sister, but now she's the eldest son of the Count family — and I was originally this guy's older brother, but now I'm the young lady of the house."
"Evergarden… Everga… Ah! The villains who pick a fight with the protagonist early on and get their entire family wiped out?"
"That won't happen anymore, but I feel weird about that somehow."
"Wait, hold on — so you were hyung, not noona?"
"Hyung? Wait, don't tell me you also…"
"Huh? Someone's coming?"
Just as Tenebrix Nox — better known as the Black Dragon — felt a strange kinship with Rosaria's introduction and was about to continue, something interrupted them.
Clatter-clatter—
"That's… a carriage… right?"
"Yeah. Some old man in a monocle and butler's uniform is driving a carriage this way pretty fast."
"What? You can see all that from this far away?"
"My eyesight got crazy good after I became a dragon. Whoa… that carriage is huge. Are those all jewels?"
"No, no, that's not the point… Wait, isn't that the head butler?!"
"…I think he's coming to catch us."
The figure driving the carriage that came barreling toward them through a cloud of dust was none other than Gordon, head butler of the Count family.
As if a head butler were some kind of all-purpose tool, Gordon had taken on the role of coachman as well, expertly gripping the horses' reins as he raced toward them.
The two siblings grew anxious, wondering if their secret outing had been discovered, while the Black Dragon simply blinked in confusion, unsure what was going on.
The carriage that had been so far away was suddenly right in front of them, and it came to a halt.
And then—
The door flew open—
"My son… my daughter…? What might you be doing out here?"
"Um… hey, hey… your dad is completely flipping out right now, okay? I don't know what's going on, but just apologize like crazy…"
Freya stepped down from the carriage with elegant, perfect form, landing lightly on the ground and approaching them with a gentle smile. Darian trailed behind her, sweat beading on his forehead as he whispered urgently.
As usual, Darian had just finished his morning exercise and was downing a cool ladle of water when Freya summoned him. He had been dragged along without the faintest idea why — but the entire carriage ride had made it clear that something was seriously off about Freya's mood.
Freya was always mild and soft-spoken, but once she got angry, even Darian — the head of the household — couldn't move a muscle. (This was especially true on nights when he came home late and drunk without calling.)
Even though no major victims had been reported so far, the source of the rumors had never been properly identified, and Evergarden Territory was not exactly known for its excellent public safety. Freya had been fretting that something terrible might have befallen the two of them while they were out — and now, at last, she had a place to pour out all that fury.
"First, let us return home and have a talk. But…"
"Ah, hello…"
"And who is this child…?"
Having loaded the two of them into the carriage and preparing to head back to the estate, Freya noticed a young girl standing blankly between them, staring up at her.
Like her husband and daughter, the girl had black hair — but where their eyes were red, hers were a pitch-black void. Despite the filthy rags draped roughly over her, her skin was remarkably clean and her face strikingly beautiful. Overall, she looked like a pitiful, lovely young girl.
But why did she have horns and a tail—
"Step back, my lady. My lord."
Shing—
"Gordon?"
"Huh?"
Just as Freya was beginning to wonder about the horns jutting from the girl's head and the mysterious tail coiled around her body, Gordon — who had been seated in the coachman's box — was suddenly standing in front of Freya. In both hands he gripped daggers even sharper and more menacing than the ones he had drawn during their visit to the Red Fang, and he shouted.
"A monster… no. Something even beyond that… a being that defies description."
Gone was the easy, knowing grandfatherly smile he always wore. Gordon's pupils shook violently, and cold sweat poured down his forehead as he continued.
At a glance, the Black Dragon's current form looked like nothing more than an extraordinarily beautiful ordinary human girl — horns and tail aside. Most people who saw her Polymorph would think the horns and tail were a bit unusual, but they would not feel particularly threatened.
Gordon was different.
Having crossed blades with countless powerful opponents and stained his hands with more blood than he could count, Gordon's specialty was gauging the relative strength of himself and his adversary. The moment he laid eyes on the being before him, every hair on his body stood on end.
This was no mere strong opponent. This was a level of power so far beyond him that he could not even begin to apply his usual standards of measurement.
And so Gordon was thoroughly rattled. Outwardly a plain young girl — and yet within her, a monster of unfathomable strength. That was the Black Dragon's true nature as Gordon perceived it. He had seen straight through the Black Dragon's Polymorph.
I die. No matter what I do, I cannot think of a single way to defeat that monster.
He had already dropped into a combat stance and drawn the weapons he had used in his prime — blades he only brought out in true emergencies — and still Gordon could not bring himself to strike first. His instincts screamed that the instant he charged, he would be utterly overwhelmed, blaring danger signals at him to run for his life right now.
The being standing before him could obliterate Gordon with nothing more than a casual flick of four fingers.
"On my signal, you must take the young master and young lady and flee as far as possible by any means. As for me buying time… no. I cannot even guarantee I can manage that much."
"……Surely not?"
"Yes. It would seem the rumors were not baseless."
Watching Gordon stand frozen with his weapons drawn, Freya instantly grasped just how grave the situation was. She was an ordinary person who could sense neither mana nor killing intent — but the one being she had encountered in this world and recognized as truly strong was Gordon. That strength had been confirmed beyond any doubt during their encounter with the Red Fang.
This was the same Gordon who had said that, surrounded by a throng of criminals, he could have slaughtered every last one of them on the spot if she had not been present — and now he could not hide his dismay, admitting he might not even be able to buy time.
The rumors of the Black Dragon. The crossroads that was the source of those rumors. Gordon's behavior. Separate keywords slowly locked together in Freya's mind as she rapidly pieced together the present situation.
"Wh-what? What's going on all of a sudden?"
"What the hell? The head butler has this kind of character?"
"That's a real knife, right? Why is he…?"
"Uh, uhh…? Something feels really off about this…"
But the three who had no idea about Gordon's true identity — and the Black Dragon, who suddenly found a blade pointed at her — could only look on in bewilderment. From their perspective, a kindly old grandfather had suddenly pulled a knife from his sleeve with a pop and was glaring at them as if he meant to kill them on the spot.
"Ah wait — is this because of her?"
"Me?"
"H-Head Butler! Sir?! She's not a bad person! So please put the knife down for now…"
At that moment, Felix — who knew the Black Dragon's true identity — identified the source of the crisis and shouted at the top of his lungs to make clear that she was not nearly as terrifying as she seemed. It did not appear to have much effect. No matter what anyone said, all Gordon's eyes could see was a hideous, nightmarish mass wearing a human skin.
"Uh… hey, you go explain yourself."
"What?! Th-that grandpa has a knife! And there's like, an aura? pouring out of the blade!"
"What kind of dragon is scared of a knife?"
"I was a student just a few days ago! Noona… I mean hyung! Would you not be scared of a gun just because you're wearing a bulletproof vest?!"
Rosaria nudged the Black Dragon with her elbow, but the dragon only shook her head vigorously, hesitating.
And then—
"Now, my lady!"
Whoosh—
Giving Freya the signal and throwing himself forward to buy time in earnest, Gordon's form vanished — only to reappear right in front of the Black Dragon, his blade already sweeping toward her.
He was so fast that the Evergarden family felt as though he had teleported.
But—
Whoooa…!
To the Black Dragon, with a dragon's dynamic vision, it looked as though he were simply walking over in slow motion and swinging his sword at a leisurely pace. A gap between species, pure and simple.
If I just knock the weapon away, he'll calm down, right?
Caught up in the feeling of having become some superhero with super-speed, the high school boy grew a little more confident. Right — he was the merciless, terrifying Black Dragon he had been role-playing this whole time. If he could just disarm the guy without anyone getting hurt, maybe he could settle this whole mess. Competitive spirit flared up inside him.
Gently… gently… don't hit too hard…!
Thwack—
In a world where everyone else seemed frozen, the Black Dragon alone moved. She crooked a finger into a flicking posture and snapped it against Gordon's blade.
And then—
CLANG—!!
"Uh."
"…?!!"
It had been meant as nothing more than a light tap — yet the blade Gordon was swinging shattered like glass under the Black Dragon's finger-flick, dissolving into powder with a bright, clear ring.
BOOOOM—!
"Waaaaah!!!"
"M-my eyes…!"
"What just happened?!"
The delayed shockwave kicked up a cloud of dust, and Felix and Rosaria — who had been closest — squeezed their eyes shut against it. When they opened them again—
"…Uh, s-sorry! I didn't mean to break it…"
"…………"
—they were treated to the farcical sight of Gordon staring blankly at a dagger whose blade had been reduced to nothing but a lonely hilt, and the Black Dragon fretting helplessly in front of him.
"…A b-blade forged of mithril… so easily…"
"Mithril?! Is that expensive?!"
Even during his active years, that mithril blade had been prized for its cutting power and durability — and it had been so ruinously expensive that he still only used it as a last resort. Watching it shatter so effortlessly, Gordon completely lost the will to fight. And then there was the Black Dragon, jolting in alarm at the mere mention of the word "mithril."
"…For now, it would be best if we returned home to talk."
Watching the spectacle and no longer entirely sure whether this was a fantasy world or a comedy stage, Freya opened her mouth — and the situation was, for the moment, brought to a close.