Midnight Encounter in the Ruined Barn
The request from the barn’s monstrous entity, Erdin, had me heading toward the barn well past nine o’clock. By eight in the evening, every light in the academy during vacation was extinguished. The mana stones in the streetlamps along the patrol routes had cooled to a cold glow. It was only natural. There was no reason to illuminate an empty campus. Only the crimson full moon and starlight lit the night sky.
The dormitory was no exception. The surroundings were pitch-black. It felt like an abandoned school left to rot, the kind of place that could easily pass for a haunted spot. During the semester, light from inside the dorms would have spilled faintly onto the streets, but since today was still vacation, I had no choice but to rely on a single small lantern.
—Rustle, rustle…!
‘What on earth is that? A wild beast?’
Something kept moving and making noise among the collapsed remains of the barn. On top of that, a pair of green glowing eyes, like will-o’-the-wisps, kept staring straight at me. That unidentifiable gaze was enough to freeze me in place. My body refused to move easily from the sudden tension.
—Gulp!
I swallowed dryly and continued the standoff with the unknown creature. From my military days, I knew that when facing a wild boar, the most important thing was to stay calm. Any sudden movement or turning your back to run was practically suicide.
—Rustle…!
My stiffened body began to move again. No matter what, I had to avoid provoking the beast. Once my body was fully recovered, I planned to slowly back away. At the same time, I shone the lantern forward. Escaping safely was the priority, but I also wanted to see the face of whoever had reduced the barn to this state. If I ran away now, I might save my skin, but I could easily be accused later of neglecting my duties as a servant. That could extend my period of servitude or, just as Erdin feared, earn me a scolding from the dragons.
‘Damn it, the light doesn’t reach far enough.’
The lantern only illuminated the area around me; it couldn’t light up the distance. All I could make out was a faint shadow moving slowly. Not being able to see its form clearly only heightened my fear. A chill ran down my spine. Anxiety crept in—what if it wasn’t an ordinary wild animal?
Stay calm. It’s probably nothing. This island had been home to dragons for a long time; there was no way a ferocious beast could live here. At worst, it was probably just a stray tiger. I reassured myself as I slowly stepped backward.
But that reassurance didn’t last long.
‘Wait a second. If that’s the case, then who trashed the barn like this? There’s no way a mere stray cat could have done this much damage…… Something doesn’t add up.’
—Step, step, step…!
While I stood frozen by the contradiction in my own logic, a dark silhouette emerged from the rubble, revealing its full outline. It was definitely larger than a cat. A thick, long tail swayed gently. Something I had never seen before approached me on all fours.
‘What do I do? Why is it coming toward me……?’
This body had no combat skills. Only Beast Taming, perfect for barn management. My only real talent was judging the perfect amount of water for coffee by eye. My physical strength was average at best, though I was confident in my running. If it charged, my only option seemed to be throwing the lantern and making a run for it.
Just as I was forming an escape plan in my head—
‘I-it’s coming!’
The unknown creature made a steady thud, thud sound and finally stepped out of the shadows. But its appearance was anything but threatening. If anything…… it was almost endearing? Completely unexpected.
“Wh-what……?!”
When the creature that had been walking on all fours stepped into the lantern light, it stood up on two legs. It was no longer in the shape of a beast. Standing before me was a small girl.
Silver hair tied into twin tails. Sparkling green eyes. A petite frame around 150 centimeters tall. She looked exactly like a little child.
“Hah? Heh? Hueh…?”
The girl wore a tattered black robe and tilted her head while emitting that green glow from her eyes. She kept making little sounds of wonder.
“Wh-what? A little kid……?”
For a moment, I wondered if I was dreaming. Or maybe I was hallucinating from overwork. I had never experienced sleep paralysis in my life, yet I rubbed my eyes anyway. The girl in front of me didn’t disappear. She was real, standing right there.
It was hard to accept, but at least it was a relief.
“Hey, little one…? Who are you?”
“Ah! I’m Derke-desu-yong!”
“Derke……?”
The girl answered my question, proudly declaring her name in that peculiar way. There was no hostility in her voice. If anything, she sounded happy that I had spoken to her.
“That’s right-yap! My name—! Derke-desu-yong! Are you a human by any chance-yap?!”
Her jumbled way of speaking left me momentarily stunned. I even pinched my cheek to check if I was dreaming, but the sting confirmed this was real.
“Y-yeah. Derke…? It’s dangerous here, so how about coming over this way?”
I couldn’t stay dazed forever. Now that I knew she was human, there was no need to stay on guard. I didn’t know why such a small girl was here, but I had to get her away from the collapsing barn as quickly as possible.
“A kind human’s words…! There’s no harm in listening-desu-yong!”
—Tap, tap, tap…!
The girl who called herself Derke stepped lightly over the wooden planks and approached me. Her movements were surprisingly agile for a child. As she drew closer, her innocent expression came into full view. She hopped over the rubble with a bright smile that never faded, as if she found it all incredibly fun.
Soon she stood right in front of me. She looked about mid-teens. Like me, she had rare silver hair tied in twin tails, and her eyes glowed an eerie green.
“Hehe♪ What’s your name, big brother-yap?!”
Derke stared at my face, lips curled in a mischievous grin as she offered her right hand for a handshake.
“Ah, my name’s Breeder. I’m the dorm supervisor here at the academy.”
I introduced myself simply and extended my hand. There was no reason to rudely refuse a handshake from a child.
—Grab!
Her small hand fit perfectly into my palm. It was such a tiny, adorable hand. Still, how did this little girl end up all the way out here?
“Big brother Breeder! Please take good care of me from now on-desu-yong!”
The moment Derke took my hand while saying that—
New target successfully bonded!
Command over a supreme being established!
Successfully tamed a prideful existence!
Beast Taming proficiency increased due to successful bond: C Rank ▶ S Rank
Rank increase greatly boosts bonding success rate!
All slots unlocked!
Current available slots: 3 ▶ 6
“Wh-what is this……?!”
A flood of system windows appeared in an instant, filling my vision with unbelievable messages. It was shocking enough that Beast Taming had jumped to S Rank, but taming a supreme being out of nowhere?
‘Could this be……?’
A sudden possibility flashed through my mind. I quickly closed the system windows. When I did, Derke’s bright, innocent face came back into view.
“Hehe♬”
Now that I looked closely, I noticed a small fang peeking out from between her smiling lips.
“Are you…… a dragon by any chance?”
“That’s right-yap! I’m the last descendant of the Death Dragon who governs death-desu-yong!”
“Good grief……”
So that’s why she spoke with “desu-yong.” Sometimes characters with extreme concepts showed up like this—using dialects or repeating certain speech patterns. Normally, just reading that kind of text would have drained my patience, but seeing this little girl smiling so brightly and moving around right in front of me, all I could feel was how cute she was.
“Um… so, did you do this to the barn?”
“Yep! I left early so I wouldn’t be late for the entrance ceremony, and I only just arrived-yap!”
“And you messed up the landing because it got dark?”
“Smart-desu-yong! Correct-yap!”
Derke nodded repeatedly, maintaining her usual energetic tone. Now I understood why my Beast Taming rank had skyrocketed in one go. It wasn’t just any beast—I had successfully bonded with a dragon.
‘Derke…… Derke, huh.’
I stared at her face, repeating the name in my mind, but it didn’t match any SSR-rank character from my memories. Reaching max rank on Beast Taming was great, but I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. Coming all this way and not getting even one SSR-grade character……
—Grrrrrrowl…!
“Huh?”
While I was studying Derke’s face, her lively expression vanished in an instant. She clutched her stomach with a gloomy look and gave me a pitiful gaze.
She looked less like a dragon and more like a lost kitten. She even tugged at my pant leg as if choosing me to be her butler.
“Ah, if you’re okay with it, want to eat this for now?”
I pulled out the cookies I had been saving as a late-night snack back at the dorm. They were homemade, made with ingredients I had gathered from various places.
“Waaah…!! Thank you so much-desu-yong!”
“Whoa, wait a second……!”
I had only meant to hand her a few cookies, but Derke snatched the entire pocket.
—Crunch! Crunch…!
Before I could stop her, she devoured every last cookie in a frenzy.
The bonded target’s favorability has greatly increased!
‘What now?’
Another system message popped up. Unable to contain my curiosity, I opened the bond list.
Remaining slots: 5
“??!!”