The Irresistible Allure
Dragon's Allure stacking effect: The targets can no longer defy you (provided favorability remains at the worship stage).
These targets may even offer their entire Dragon Hearts for your sake.
Everyone was devouring the shaved ice with gusto when the system messages suddenly appeared. At first I thought they were just ordinary favorability increases. What the heck is this? But the contents were completely different from favorability messages. Far more intense declarations were written there in bold.
Both of them had fallen under Dragon's Allure at once? I couldn't help but pause in surprise. I had half-expected something when Eros applied her ability to the shaved ice, but I never imagined both of them would be charmed twice over. And to the point where they might hand over their entire Dragon Hearts…?
Just from eating it, the allure activated? But wasn't Eros the one who cast it? How was I reaping the benefits? The revelation was nothing short of shocking. The stacking effect was already surprising enough, yet they had fallen under the charm again? The unexpected outcome left me flustered.
Still, thinking about it, Derke's special trait "Dragon's Hand Taste" had also been solely for my benefit. Maybe Dragon's Allure worked on a similar principle. In the end, the one who used Gourmet Feeding to create the dessert received the rewards.
Anyway, that's that…
—Clink, clink…!
—Crunch, crunch…!
The two kept sucking down the shaved ice, practically burying their faces in the glass bowls. They looked ready to lick the bottoms clean. A reaction worthy of a five-star dessert. At this rate the ice water would go straight up their noses. Eating something this cold so fast could cause trouble, but since they were dragons, maybe it didn't matter.
Both Sonya and Eros had thrown themselves into the mountain of shaved ice, surrendering their bodies to the coolness and refreshing sweetness.
—Clink! Clink!
Their hands and spoons moved without pause. It looked like they were shoveling snow. The tiny spoons scooped up ice like miniature snowplows.
"Haaah…?! It's way tastier than I expected! It's a little disappointing compared to Teacher's rich flavor, though…"
"Th-this flavor is dangerous!? My head feels fuzzy but I can't stop—♡"
The two finally reacted while melting the shaved ice and fruit on their tongues.
"Huh? But what's this black sauce? It's thick and sticky, yet sweet and delicious. The more I chew, the nuttier it tastes…"
"Khh, fruit actually goes well with ice?! How cheeky♡ This Eros will take care of all of it—!"
Their reactions alternated back and forth. Sonya, with her ice attribute, stayed relatively calm, while Eros made a huge fuss with every bite. Still, watching them eat so happily lifted my mood. Sonya seemed to be regaining her energy too. Plus she appeared to like the red beans, which put me at ease.
This… has pretty good value for a five-star dessert, doesn't it?
It really hadn't been that difficult to make. All I had to do was top the ice with red beans and fruit. In a way, it was all thanks to the special ingredients. Four different kinds of rare fruit had gone into it, after all. The red bean paste had helped too, of course…
—Scrape, scrape, scrape…!!!
While I was musing over these thoughts and watching them contentedly, a rough scraping sound suddenly reached my ears.
"Khh—?! Already finished? I didn't think it would melt this fast in my mouth…"
It was the sound of spoons scraping the bottoms of the glass bowls. Both of them had emptied their shaved ice in the blink of an eye. Even Eros, who had declared she would never eat red beans, had polished hers off completely and now wore a regretful expression.
"……"
Sonya, on the other hand, remained calm. Her lips, which had been offering praise, had fallen still. She simply held her spoon loosely while staring down at the empty bowl. At first I thought her ice attribute made her reactions dull, or perhaps she was simply used to cold desserts with ice in them.
"…Haaauuuu?"
"Hm? Sonya?"
But my assumption was completely off the mark.
—Clatter…!!!
With a weak groan, Sonya dropped the spoon she had been holding. After cleanly finishing the shaved ice, she suddenly let her head droop forward.
"S-Sonya?! What's wrong all of a sudden? Are you feeling unwell?"
"Huuuugh……?"
I hurried over to support her, but Sonya kept letting out pained moans, her entire body trembling faintly as though she had caught a chill. For a moment I wondered if an ice dragon actually couldn't handle cold things.
"Sonya…? Pull yourself together! Should I warm up some water for you?!"
"Haaau? B-Breeder teacher…? Rather than that, please look at me…"
Having finished the shaved ice, Sonya suddenly met my gaze with intense eyes, as if she had been waiting for me to hold her up.
"Aah? Sonya? Those eyes…?"
Her pink pupils had transformed into clear heart shapes, as though she were wearing special contact lenses. It was the exact same reaction she had shown earlier when the Love-attribute Dragon Heart had activated Dragon's Allure.
"Huuu—♡ T-Teacher? Once your shift ends, would you please accept my Dragon Heart as well……♥"
It seemed the allure effect had only activated after she finished the shaved ice.
"Sonya? More importantly, are you all right? Your condition looks serious—"
—Thud…!
"…Aah? Sonya just fainted like an idiot?!"
"Sonya…?!"
After showing a thoroughly dazed expression, Sonya collapsed just as Eros said, crumpling powerlessly like a puppet with its strings cut—right into my arms, face-first.
At first I thought it was intentional, that she had thrown herself at me on purpose.
"……"
But Sonya was genuinely unconscious. Only her faint breaths tickled my chest. She had probably lost her mind to the power of the five-star dessert. I had seen this kind of reaction often enough to be used to it.
"Eek…! I want a hug too♡ It's not fair if Sonya gets one all to herself—!"
Meanwhile Eros, who had already formed a Love Pact, seemed to have built up some resistance and looked relatively fine.
—Rustle…!
"Ah, Eros?!"
Correction—forget "relatively fine." Eros's pupils had turned into hearts as well. She fell under her own ability twice in a row…? At this point "Love Dragon" suited her less than "Clumsy Dragon."
—Thump…!
Having two fully armed girls cling to me at once turned out to be heavier than expected.
"Cough—! Eros? I can't breathe. Could you get down, please?"
"Hehe♡ Hey, Teacher? Once we get down from here, I'll contact my family. Since I've found my lifelong partner, let's hold a grand wedding!"
"A wedding? More importantly, are you even listening to me?"
"Why are you so surprised? If we've formed a Love Pact, holding a wedding is only common sense, isn't it?"
Well, she wasn't wrong about the common sense part. But a wedding with Eros? Sorry, but that was never going to happen. Forget the wedding—we would probably need to prepare a funeral on the same day. That was how many dragons were currently targeting me.
"Eros? I don't think that's the most pressing issue right now."
"What? Breeder teacher? D-don't you love me……?!"
"That's not it… Can't you feel it? The surroundings have suddenly gone quiet."
"Huh? So what? It's quieter, so it's less noisy and nicer, right?"
I tried to create a serious atmosphere by dismissing her casual remark, but Eros simply tilted her head in confusion.
"Nice?! This is a serious problem! When Sonya collapsed, her extreme cold barrier must have disappeared!"
"Eeeh—?! I-is that true…?!"
—Boom! Boom! Boom!!!!
—Rumble…!
The moment Eros asked, a tremendous roar shook the ground.
「Kihyeeeeeeeeeek—!!!!」
Even the monster's cry could be heard clearly from nearby. It still sounded eerie and spine-chilling, like a scream. But something felt off. When I glanced outside the window, the barrier was definitely gone. Yet why hasn't anything happened…?
Only the monsters' roars and crashing sounds could be heard from outside. For some reason the outpost itself remained intact. If the monsters were truly vicious, they should have charged straight at the outpost by now. This was far too strange.
"Eros, please watch over Sonya for a moment! I'll head up and check what's going on!"
"…Aah? T-Teacher?!"
I left Eros behind and dashed up the spiral staircase of the observation outpost.
—Tap, tap, tap…!
The stairs wound upward, but I climbed all the way without stopping once. Thanks to the Dragon Heart I had received from Eros, I didn't feel tired at all.
—Bang!
Finally reaching the top of the observation outpost, I stepped onto the wide-open terrace.
「Kuaaaack……!!!!」
"Wh-what is that…?!"
An astonishing sight unfolded below the terrace. Monsters lay sprawled across the pure white snowfield like rags, unable to move.
—Rumble…!!!
They were pinned beneath the feet of a dragon whose entire body was covered in brilliant golden scales.
"Aah? Th-that, is that perhaps Sofia…?"