Pressure Interview: A Dragon's Guide to Handling Slaves
It's never easy to rule the world. Simply crushing everything with raw power doesn't end the matter. After all, destroying your own possessions with your own hands is the act of a third-rate tyrant. A first-rate tyrant exploits labor in a thorough and sustainable manner. In other words, throwing slaves into the sea is a serious waste of resources that shows a complete lack of economic sense.
"Hey, rabbit."
"Y-yes! Lady Yumitas!"
"You said you'd jump into the sea tomorrow, right?"
The white rabbit's long ears drooped.
"Yes. It's for the tribe. If someone has to do it, then I..."
How pointlessly solemn. And so insolent without even my permission.
"Such barbaric customs end as of today."
"...Yes?"
"Sacrificial offerings, throwing living creatures into the sea. It's utterly pathetic. This body cannot stand to see its slaves wasted in that manner."
The white rabbit girl stared at me with round rabbit eyes.
"Ah..."
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Transparent liquid welled up in her red eyes.
"Hic... Lady Yumitas...! To think you would value the life of this lowly beast so highly!"
Huh. This conversation is heading in a strange direction.
"Don't misunderstand. I simply cannot stand to see my property wasted."
"Hic, sob... Yes, I understand! We will work until our bones shatter as your possessions for the rest of our lives!"
Hmm. If you only listened to the words, it was the ideal attitude for a slave... Anyway, with this I had prevented pointless resource waste and raised the slaves' loyalty to its absolute limit. As expected, this body is undoubtedly born with the qualities of a ruler.
And the next day.
"Hieeeeek!! Lady Yumitas!! Save meeee!!"
In the middle of a sea whipped by savage waves, the white rabbit girl hung limply from the end of a log fishing rod, bound tightly with rope.
Splash. Splash. Beneath her feet, blue waves licked their tongues as if ready to devour her at any moment.
"Stop whining! It's just a quick dip in the sea!"
"You said the barbaric customs were over! You said I wasn't a sacrifice!"
"Correct. You are not a sacrifice right now."
"Then what is this!!!"
"Bait."
I exercised patience and explained kindly.
"A sacrifice is a total loss the moment it's thrown into the sea, but bait is an investment to catch bigger prey. In short, you are currently performing an honorable role as a dragon's tool."
"In the end it's the same as going into Leviathan's mouth!"
"Don't worry. The instant it tries to swallow you, I'll yank the rod up. All you have to do is waft a delicious scent so it shows up! Wasn't this a life you were already prepared to throw away? Just faithfully fulfill your role as bait!"
"Hueeeeng!!"
Using the white rabbit's desperate screams as background music, I fell into thought.
The master of the eastern sea. The dragon that demanded living sacrifices from the beastmen. Its name was Leviathan, if I recalled correctly.
'Foolish creature.'
As a fellow dragon, it was truly regrettable. Instead of thinking about how to systematically exploit the slaves living in its territory, it simply wasted them as a single meal. It was probably a lower lifeform with seriously low intelligence, or else a senile, dementia-addled dragon.
'This won't do. I need to teach it the basics of being a dragon.'
Since we were the same species, this was a special mercy on my part.
Shaaaaa—!
At that moment, a whirlpool began to form in the middle of the sea. Dark clouds gathered and sea winds slapped my cheeks fiercely.
"Ooh."
A water column rose from the center of the waterspout. At last, my target revealed itself.
A long, massive body. Shiny, deep blue scales. Long whiskers dangling from its mouth. It was unmistakably an eastern dragon.
"Greetings, my kin!"
First I reeled in the fishing rod and flung the white rabbit—who was on the verge of fainting—toward the shore.
Thud!
"Hic...!"
Supplies must be used with care.
"So you're Leviathan! I've heard much about you! It seems you've ruled these seas for quite a long time!"
Leviathan glared up at me with gleaming eyes. Its overwhelming size and presence earned a passing grade.
"I shall specially appoint you as my first subordinate! Lower lifeforms must begin as slaves without exception, but since you are a dragon in name, I will show generosity and recruit you at subordinate rank!"
What exceptional treatment. Even a parachute drop couldn't compare. Leviathan would surely shed tears of gratitude, wouldn't it?
"Of course, the dragon organization has strict rules and hierarchy. The first three months are probationary. If you prove your loyalty and competence, I will convert you to full-time subordinate status."
Grrrrr?
An ominous growl rumbled from Leviathan's throat.
"Why that expression? Don't tell me you expect compensation? Ha! What a greedy fellow! It is obviously an unpaid internship. The mere fact of working under this body, Yumitas, is already the greatest reward!"
Tremble. Leviathan's whiskers quivered faintly.
"Tsk tsk. Young dragons these days lack perseverance. You should be grateful simply for the opportunity to build experience! Therefore, work with the resolve to bury your bones here! I am the type who values passion over ability!"
Boom! Leviathan slammed its tail against the water's surface.
Shaaaaaak!! The whirlpool swelled, waves surging upward into a massive tsunami.
Why was it suddenly getting angry? This reaction was unexpected.
"Aha."
But since I am a genius, I immediately grasped the situation. So this fellow was actually quite an ambitious talent.
"The subordinate rank doesn't satisfy you? An excellent attitude. I like your spirit."
I curled the corners of my mouth.
"Very well. Then prove yourself through skill. The pressure interview begins."
I hopped lightly into the air. Using dragon speech, I froze the seawater to create a small surfboard.
"Dragon Wave Riding!"
Shwaaaaak! I rode the hundreds-of-meters-high wave, gliding forward.
"Not bad as a surfing course! However, the destructive power is lacking!"
Leisurely slicing through the waves, I leaped toward the top of Leviathan's head. As an interviewer, thoroughly inspecting the applicant's condition was the most basic of basics.
"Let's see. Impressive size, but... no wings?"
A dragon that couldn't fly through the sky and could only paddle in the water. Minus ten points.
"Moreover, it's been spurting nothing but water this whole time... Can't you breathe fire? A dragon without breath?"
Minus thirty points. A serious deduction. Breath is a dragon's romance, after all.
"And... the most important thing."
I examined its head thoroughly.
"The horns..."
Huh? No matter how I searched, the horns that symbolized a dragon's nobility were nowhere to be found.
"It has no horns!!!"
No wings? I could overlook that. Eastern dragons were originally like that.
Can't breathe fire? I'd concede a hundred times and call it a water-attribute specialist.
But.
No horns was on an entirely different level. Horns were a dragon's identity. The crown permitted only to supreme beings.
A dragon without horns was red bean bread without red beans, gimbap without kim, ramen without noodles. Its very existence was a contradiction.
"You..."
I pointed at it with a trembling finger.
"You're not a dragon, are you?"
[...]
"You're a snake, aren't you?"
This body was genuinely excited. I had been truly happy at the thought of meeting a fellow dragon. I had offered to take it as my subordinate and even generously granted it an internship opportunity.
But.
It turned out to be a snake. A mere snake that could neither fly nor grow horns. Minus one million points!!!
"Failed!!"
This body's voice thundered across the sea.
"Dragon interview—final failure! You were an eel, not a dragon!!!"
Betrayal boiled in my stomach.
"You wretch! You dared impersonate a noble dragon just because you had a few scales!? You trampled on the mercy of this body, who thought you were kin and even offered you an intern position???"
KUOOOOO—!
Leviathan shook its head to fling me off and opened its maw wide toward the sky. Inside its mouth, an ultra-high-pressure water cannon of deep blue light began to condense. The water pressure was enough to distort the surrounding space itself.
But the desperate flailing of a counterfeit could never work against a true dragon.
Chaos Breath of Destruction
"Pathetic! Chaos Breath of Destruction!!"
Floating in the air, I took a deep breath and unleashed it without mercy.
KWAAAAAAA!!!
A pale pink flash erupted from my mouth. It collided head-on with the ultra-high-pressure water cannon Leviathan had fired. The outcome was decided in an instant. The pink beam evaporated Leviathan's water column and struck it squarely in the jaw.
Kieeeeeeek!
With a scream, Leviathan's massive body staggered backward. Its eyes rolled back and it foamed at the mouth—an utterly ridiculous sight. It floated on the water in a groggy state.
"Now, shall we finish this."
Polymorph was originally a technique used to shrink the body for infiltration, but if one could shrink, naturally one could also enlarge.
Polymorph Giantization
Uuuuung— The girl's form collapsed, revealing the majesty of the chaos dragon. This time I did not stop there. I swelled my body until it could cover mountains, part clouds, and finally until Leviathan's massive form fit in a single hand.
"Giga Yumitas, descend."
Grab!
I stretched out both front claws and seized Leviathan's body as it floated on the water.
Lift. I raised it high into the sky.
"This is the true power of a dragon! If you're a snake, then crawl on the ground like one!"
I poured strength into both front claws.
Crack!
"Tear in half and die."
Crunch—!!
Leviathan's body was ripped apart. I slammed the bisected eel straight onto the sandy shore.
Kugugung—!
"As expected, the pinnacle is a lonely place. In this world, the only great dragon is me, Yumitas."
It was slightly disappointing not to have found a true kin, but since it had proven this body's uniqueness, it was a rather satisfying conclusion.
Meanwhile, on the coastal sandy beach.
The beastmen gathered around Leviathan's bisected, blood-soaked corpse.
"I-is this the master of the sea...?"
The black lion spoke first.
"It wasn't a god after all. In the end, it was nothing more than a large beast."
He stared at the miserable remains of Leviathan for a long time.
"The strong stand above, the weak are eaten. That is the absolute law of this world. A dragon is truly the pinnacle of the food chain...!"
Then the white rabbit girl, who had staggered over, stared blankly at Leviathan's corpse before kneeling as well.
"Lady Yumitas...!"
"What? Are you going to start wailing again?"
"Every time the full moon rose, members of our tribe were thrown into the sea."
The white rabbit's voice trembled.
"My mother, and her mother before her... all of them were swallowed by that sea. We believed it was an inescapable fate..."
Drip. Drip. Teardrops fell onto the sand.
"But the divine dragon has severed that yoke in a single stroke."
"Ah, no. That's not it—I was simply punishing an imposter—"
I was beginning to have an ominous premonition.
"Moreover."
The white rabbit lifted her head.
"Leviathan grew stronger with each passing year. It demanded more sacrifices every year. Our ancestors said that if things continued this way, someday that monster would shake the entire sea and drag the whole continent beneath the waves."
"......"
"The divine dragon has prevented the catastrophe that would have swallowed the entire continent! Oh. Don't tell me..."
"The savior dragon who saved the world...! It is the savior dragon, Lady Yumitas!"
The white rabbit shouted. As if on cue, the beastmen who had been frozen in place all embraced one another and began to sob.
"It's over! We're finally free from the yoke of living sacrifices!"
"You saved the world from Leviathan!"
"Praise the savior dragon, Lady Yumitas!"
The sandy beach was engulfed in a wave of praise.
"I just punished an impersonator!!!"