The Death Dragon's Bond
Desu-yong—! Derke—! ◆Taming Success List◆ [Derke (Lv.201 / None) – Absolute Trust Relationship] […5 slots remaining…]
“??!!”
I froze for a moment after checking the list. The contents had changed from before. On top of that, Derke’s name had been added. The system window had already informed me that I’d tamed a supreme being, but seeing it listed like this made it finally sink in. In other words, an ordinary human like me had tamed a dragon. No wonder my name wasn’t just any title—it was Breeder.
‘That aside, what’s with this ridiculously high level? And “Absolute Trust” relationship?’
A level and relationship indicator I’d never seen before. The more I looked, the more questions piled up. Did handing out a few cookies really create an Absolute Trust bond? Before, the best I’d managed was a Favorability relationship. Of course, there had also been Wary relationships. I’d never gotten along with the rooster that ruled the coop. It seemed the favorability stages with targets were far more varied than I’d realized.
[You have discovered a new Favorability Stage.]
[Would you like to view the complete Favorability Stage Chart?]
The complete Favorability Stage Chart? A message I’d never seen before. Maybe some features had unlocked now that Beast Taming had reached S-rank. The sudden notifications were overwhelming. I didn’t know where to focus first. Meeting Derke had been like a storm. With the entrance ceremony approaching, the stopped hands of fate’s clock seemed to be moving again, and changes too heavy to process all at once kept coming.
‘Show me.’
I accepted the system window’s prompt in my mind. Whatever was going on, any information was precious right now. I might have to start adapting and surviving in earnest from tomorrow onward.
◆Favorability Stages◆
[(Hostile) ??? ← ??? ← Wary ← Normal → Favorability → Absolute Trust → ??? (Friendly)]
[Stages marked ‘???’ will unlock upon achieving certain accomplishments.]
A simple, clear chart appeared before my eyes. With Normal as the center, the left side showed hostile relationships while the right showed friendly ones. Right now, Derke and I were in an Absolute Trust relationship. Just as the word implied, it was an extremely amicable bond. If I filled the favorability gauge to the end, I’d probably see the final friendly stage. Conversely, if things went sour, I’d be able to check the hostile favorability stages too. But I had zero desire to make an enemy of a dragon—especially not a Death Dragon who governed death itself.
“Breeder Oppa—?! I ate the cookies all up, desu-yong—!!”
“Huh? You finished them already?”
While I was busy examining everything, Derke’s lively voice reached me. She seemed to have recovered her energy quickly, probably thanks to devouring every last cookie. Ah, maybe offering those cookies was what raised her favorability this much? Usually each character had their own specific items for raising favorability. Thinking of making cookies might have been a stroke of luck.
“They were so delicious, desu-yong—! Did you make them yourself, eyap—?!”
Derke asked with emerald eyes sparkling like stars. The way she kept tilting her head while studying my face looked nothing like a terrifying dragon. At any rate, her gaze was so full of life that it was hard to believe this was the same sulky hatchling from moments ago.
‘Of course they’re delicious. I spent over half a day making them.’
I wanted to say that, but in reality…
“Yeah. They weren’t anything special, but I’m glad they suited your taste?”
I hid my true thoughts, worried they might affect Derke’s favorability, and put on the friendliest smile I could manage.
“Yes—! They were overwhelmingly tasty, eyap—! Thank you so much, desu-yong—!”
Apparently satisfied with her meal, she beamed and clung tightly to my pant leg. They were just cookies made from flour, eggs, milk, salt, and sugar, yet she liked them this much. Seeing Derke’s genuinely pleased face made me feel oddly proud inside. On the other hand, my own stomach was practically glued to my spine…
“By the way, Derke? Can I ask you something?”
“Of course, eyap—! I’ll tell the kind oppa who gave me delicious cookies anything, desu-yong—!”
Perhaps because she’d been forced to receive the cookies, Derke nodded vigorously. The Death Dragon, Derke, had granted me permission to ask my question.
“How old are you, exactly…? Two hundred and one?”
“Huaaht—?! How do you know my age, desu-yong……?!”
“Ah, I just had a feeling you were around that age.”
“Waaah…! You have amazing intuition for a human, desu-yong—! That’s pretty good, eyap—!”
Just as I thought. The level in the taming success list represented the target’s age. The “None” next to the level probably indicated their attribute.
‘So I’m not “oppa” after all…’
She looked exactly like a little girl, but by age alone she was a whopping 175 years older than me—a noona. Anyway, if age equaled level, did that mean older dragons were simply more powerful…?
……
I fell into thought again. The taming list felt strangely empty. Right now, only Derke’s name sat alone on it.
“Ah, right. What happened to all the animals in the coop?”
Come to think of it, it had been quiet for a while. How could that be after all that commotion? Ah, wait—don’t tell me…
“Ah, you mean the animals that were here, desu-yong—?”
“Yeah! Derke, did you happen to see the livestock? Did they run away when the coop collapsed, or…”
The coop building itself could be repaired with help from the maintenance department, but the livestock were another matter. It would take a long time to bring new animals over by ship from inland. That was why, pushing aside my uneasy premonition, I could only hope they were safe.
“When I landed earlier, they all went to the other side together, desu-yong—!”
“What—?!”
But the Death Dragon cheerfully trampled my desperate wish with a bright expression. Her face looked exactly like a child who had accidentally stepped on a bug while walking. She didn’t seem to care at all about the animals’ deaths. Maybe dragons really did see other living beings as nothing more than insects.
‘Haah, I’m already screwed before the entrance ceremony even starts…’
“Aah…?! Um, Breeder Oppa—?! I have something to show you, eyap—!”
Whether I was lost in worry or not, Derke cheerfully called my name.
“Now’s not really the time…”
“Don’t say that—look over here, desu-yong—!”
—Thud!
Suddenly, Derke held out her small hand toward me. She spread her palm wide open as if she had something to show.
“Huh…? What… what is this…?”
“Were these your friends, oppa, desu-yong—?!”
—Float, float…
Surprisingly, inside the palm Derke held out, cloud-like things were floating while maintaining animal shapes. They were miniature models shaped like rabbits, chickens, and goats.
“Don’t tell me these are… the coop’s…?”
“Yes—! They’re the souls of oppa’s friends, eyap—!”
“Th-that can’t be…?!”
She really was a Death Dragon. Treating harvested souls like toys? More importantly, this was a huge problem.
‘They’re not going to pin the blame on me just because the livestock died, right?’
By the way, when was Erdin coming back after going to call for help?
“Um… Breeder Oppa……?”
“Yeah? What is it now?”
Maybe because I couldn’t hide my shocked expression while looking at the animals’ souls, Derke tugged on my sleeve again with an even more downcast face.
“I’m sorry, eyap……”
“Ah…? It’s okay. It’s not like you did it on purpose.”
Still, she wasn’t completely without a conscience. She knew how to feel sorry and apologize. Maybe the arrogant dragons from fantasy novels were just a deeply rooted prejudice…
“But still…! I want to do something for you, eyap—! If you want, I can send you to be with your animal friends too, desu-yong—?!”
“What……?!”
“Everyone becomes happy once they’re freed from their physical bodies like this, eyap…!”
So much for prejudice. Cancel that. She wasn’t considering other races’ perspectives at all.
“No, I’m good. I’ll pass.”
I waved my hands in refusal. Was her favorability really that high? Derke kept smiling brightly while offering, “Want to try dying too, oppa?”
‘Still, one thing’s clear now.’
Even in this grim situation, I’d figured out how to reset the taming success list. It could only be deleted if the registered taming target died. What this implied was obvious. I had to fill the remaining five slots carefully. If I formed the wrong bond with a dragon, I might never escape it for the rest of my life—unless I grew old and died first. And since favorability stages existed, failing to maintain an amicable relationship could actually become an obstacle instead.
“Sniff sniff—! Ah, come to think of it, Oppa…!”
“Hm?”
Looking disappointed by my refusal, Derke had been silently pacing around when she suddenly grabbed my shirt hem and buried her nose in it.
“You smell familiar and nice, eyap—!”
“What? Smell?”
Suddenly saying I smelled familiar? Did I have a particular scent? At most it was probably just dust from cleaning or the smell of coffee…
“…Ah, maybe you like coffee or tea too—”
“Daddy…!!!”
“Eh?”
“You smell like Daddy, eyap—!!!”
—Whoosh!
“Hey…! W-wait! What are you doing……?!”
The hatchling in front of me suddenly shouted “Daddy” and wrapped her arms tightly around my waist. What on earth was this kid saying?