Surely There's Someone

Surely there's someone.

A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠duel is, by nature, a sacred thing.

Whether it be a clash between knights, a dispute among nobles, or even a scrap between mercenaries…

Okay, maybe not that last one.

At any rate, a duel was sacred, and over the course of my three hundred years of life I had accepted countless challenges.

The reason was simple.

I was a dragon.

You fiend! Dragon! Your wicked deeds end here!

How dare you oppress and torment the village folk!

Young heroes who firmly believed in stories straight out of some ancient fairy tale, marching up to deliver their challenges…

Heh heh heh. Just one of that thing's scales and I'll be rich.

While I draw its attention, you lot raid the treasure vault— GYAAAAAH!!

There were also those who came lusting after my flesh, or my hoard.

A dragon's body was occasionally used as material for fine equipment or magical tools, after all.

I couldn't deny it made for excellent material — but it would be nice if people considered the dragon's feelings on the matter too.

How would you like it if someone decided to carve pieces off your body?

Truth be told, those earlier examples could hardly be called sacred. But I had never treated a duel as a joke.

Anyone who issued a challenge to me did so because they had the confidence to back it up.

"A duel, huh. Fine by me."

Among the challengers, there were even those who simply wished to test their strength against mine — pure and honest.

People of small stature and meager power, daring to challenge a mountain.

No matter how much of a hassle it was, I always respected their will to fight.

"Ready?"

"…Hold on."

The clearing of my nest.

My nest consisted of a vast open yard large enough for my true dragon form to sprawl about, and a cozy den further inside.

In the clearing, my polymorphed self and Rebun stood facing each other.

Haring, who had arrived early and been put through some rough training, was watching from the inner entrance of the nest.

Yong-ba still hadn't shown up… well, I'd given him permission, so he'd get here on his own.

I rolled my fists in loose circles, finishing my preparations.

This should be fun.

It had been nearly fifty years since anyone last challenged me like this.

"Shall we start?"

"We're not fighting with you as a dragon?"

"Nope. That'd be over instantly."

One stomp, one breath, and he'd be dead.

That couldn't be called a duel.

Of course, the gap was so vast and the whole thing so bothersome that ending it that way wouldn't really matter. But this was a contest of martial prowess. He wasn't some thief who'd snuck in last time — I ought to put in a little effort.

So I waited with a bright, cheerful expression for his signal to begin. But Rebun only stared into empty air, hesitating, not moving at all.

I tilted my head.

"What? Getting cold feet already?"

"No… why isn't this popping up… Hold on a sec, chat."

"?"

"Hey! Just promise me one thing!"

"Promise what?"

A promise?

"That if I achieve meaningful results in this fight, you'll grant me a reward."

"…? Why?"

"Because you're a great dragon, aren't you! Even if I only manage to deal a certain amount of damage, you ought to acknowledge me."

"What?"

"I can't defeat you. The difference between a human and a dragon is clear. But if I produce the greatest results a human possibly can, then you must recognize me, and…"

He'd challenged me to a duel for that?

I felt my enthusiasm go cold in an instant.

Not for a pure duel — just to scrape up some fame and a reward.

I'd thought he was a bold, amusing little thing for an Apprentice Hero.

The interest and anticipation that had filled me for the first time in ages drained away completely.

And in their place settled a crushing boredom and irritation.

"…"

"Well then, I'll begi—"

"Start."

FWOOSH!!

The moment the word left my mouth, I launched myself forward.

And one hit.

CRAAACK!!!

Rebun's head caved in.

"Boring. What an idiot."

"Gone again."

Having crushed the Apprentice Hero's head, I turned away without a shred of lingering attachment.

Was this the Goddess's power too?

He'd transformed into blue crystal fragments and vanished, as if being teleported somewhere.

"Haaah."

I'd finally gotten interested for once, only for it to go completely cold — and now the laziness hit twice as hard.

He can live or die on his own for all I care.

Whatever the case, Rebu-whatever-his-name was out for good.

If you're going to duel, do it properly. If you get scared halfway through, just quit cleanly.

Achieve results and get recognized and blah blah blah?

"I don't like it."

I really, truly did not like that behavior.

Even those thieves from last time were better than this. What a joke.

I gave the ground a few idle kicks, then turned and headed into the nest.

Before the duel, there had been a fair number of Apprentice Heroes lingering near the nest. Now nearly all of them had vanished.

Apparently the little spectacle just now had been quite the shock.

"Maybe I should've done this from the start?"

Instead of just making noise, if I'd actively threatened them from the beginning, I might have driven them all off…

Whoosh! Whoosh!

"Two thousand forty-six… Ah! Lady Fire Dragon!"

"Haring."

"I've been working hard just like you told me!"

Haring was swinging her sword exactly as I'd instructed.

When learning anything, the fundamentals were what mattered most.

She'd already run three hundred laps around the nest, so now it was time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to swing a sword ten thousand times.

Of course, in proper training you'd need a hundred thousand swings rather than a mere ten thousand, but…

She's just an apprentice.

She wasn't even a real hero — just one among hundreds — so this much was plenty.

Whatever she lacked, that old hag could fill in herself.

I walked past her and into the nest.

"Where's Yong-ba?"

"Uh, not sure? I think he said he had something to do."

"That so?"

He'd show up on his own eventually.

I flopped down onto the fluffy down bedding.

I'd cleared out all the nuisances, so I should have been able to sleep soundly — and yet, for some reason, sleep wouldn't come.

Had I gotten my hopes up too high after all?

Well…

Heroes or not, they weren't even proper ones.

If there were real heroes out there, they wouldn't be loafing around in a place like this.

The genuine ones were probably fighting on much broader battlefields, weren't they?

They might not surpass the glory of the previous generation, but they'd be faithfully following in their footsteps…

…Right?

Surely there's someone.

"Haring."

"Two thousand twenty-seven… two thousand twenty-eight… huff — yes?"

"Are all the heroes these days like this?"

"Like what?"

"Are there no proper heroes?"

"Hmm… if you mean the advance party, there are some."

"See?"

Right. Of course there were.

No matter how thoroughly senile the Goddess had gone, there had to be two or three real heroes at least.

People who could take down a Demon King's legion commander without much troub—

"But they probably wouldn't be that different from Yong-ba, y'know? Gear aside, their stats should be about the same."

"Huh?"

"That Rebun guy you saw today was treated like an ace over there, so… ah, well, not anymore?"

"???"