Same Heart: Pride
Pride. It was the pride of transcendent beings. In essence, it also meant self-esteem or self-respect. After all, the other races around them treated dragons like gods, so it was only natural for dragons to hold themselves in high regard. To maintain the dignity befitting their supreme status, dragons were always mindful of their conduct. Pride could be interpreted in many ways. It might manifest as elegant grace, or depending on one's actions, it could turn into arrogant recklessness. As such, pride always carried the risk of leading to an inflated sense of self. That was why most dragons clung to needless pride, often giving other races the impression that they were fierce and savage.
This pride had originally been a noble ideal that distinguished the short-lived races from the supreme dragons. But that noble ideal had long since faded. It was only natural—living for thousands of years with power close to that of gods, most dragons inevitably became intoxicated with arrogance. The lofty self-respect of the dragon race had, at some point, twisted into mere conceit. Of course, a dragon's pride had never originally carried such negative connotations. The greater the transcendent being, the more it should respect rather than belittle others. Following the will of their ancestors and protecting the inhabitants of the Drango Continent—that was the true meaning of pride. Though that meaning had long since grown dim… there were still dragons who tried to uphold its noble essence. The Dawn Clan was a prime example. Among them, Sofia, the last of her bloodline, stood out. She remained humble before everyone. True to her clan that served the will of the Primordial Dragon, she was far from arrogant or reckless, always striving to lower herself and treat everyone equally.
Of course, Derke, whose nature was pure, was no different. These two dragons were quite kind and generous toward the short-lived races—especially toward the human servant named Breeder. Sofia always maintained her noble dignity, while Derke remained innocent and cheerful. Neither of them was the type to let emotions get the better of them.
"Just who the hell is this woman?!"
But that image of theirs ended today. Both of them glared at the mark on Breeder's cheek, seething with indignation. One rival they could tolerate. After all, both had formed pacts with Breeder. Well, to be precise, the relationship between Sofia and Derke had not yet been fully defined. They had been on the verge of clarifying that ambiguous bond through conversation when… another intruder appeared at a moment like this? Sofia and Derke were utterly dumbfounded. For a while, neither could find words. They simply stared at the vivid red lipstick mark on Breeder's cheek.
"H-how dare she mark Breeder's face like that…? And with lips that reek of a thick female scent…?!"
"Another woman's trace on Oppa’s face—?! I-I can't believe this-desu-yo…!!"
The two girls erupted in fury a moment later, their voices thick with bewilderment. The shock was all the greater because they had trusted Breeder.
"Derke? Do you have any idea who it might be? Has there been anyone lately who's been trying to seduce Breeder…?"
"Derke doesn't know-yo…! I just trusted Oppa… Turns out he's a playboy after all-desu-yo!!"
"Haah, this won't do. Derke, if you notice anything suspicious from now on, report it to me immediately. I'll use my authority to make sure no one else can approach him!"
"Got it-yo! Derke will stay by Oppa's side whenever I have time-desu-yo!"
The two, who had been busy keeping each other in check, now united their wills as one. Rivals had become temporary allies. What was done was done, but they could no longer tolerate any woman besides themselves. Before more rivals appeared and complicated the hierarchy, they had formed a fleeting alliance. Of course, they had not sworn a love pact or confirmed their feelings for each other, but that did not matter. Both of them held Breeder deep in their hearts.
"In any case, this vulgar and filthy mark must be purified at once."
Sofia looked down at his cheek with cold eyes and spoke in a solemn voice. Her gaze and tone were as frigid as if she were facing a heretic.
"Aah…? Can Senior's power fix it-desu-yo?"
"Of course. That aside, just how rough was that kiss to leave such a blatant mark…?"
"I don't know who it was, but… too much…! Absolutely…! Infuriating-desu-yo!"
"Haah, at least the rest of him seems fine. We need to deal with this quickly."
—Srrrk…!
Sofia frowned and stepped closer, as if inspecting the traces of some profane monster. She raised her hand and positioned it above Breeder's cheek. She intended to erase the kiss mark with her unique ability, Light's Purification.
—Hwaaaaaaaaah…!
A pure white light soon radiated from Sofia's palm. Mana imbued with a gentle, warm power of light. The moment Breeder's cheek touched that sacred glow, the mark began to slowly fade. The vivid red lipstick stain grew fainter and fainter. Just as it was returning to his original smooth skin—
—Kiiiiiik…!
"……?!"
Yet another uninvited guest was carefully pulling open the door to the night-duty room.
***
2.
"Khaaaam—! Those good-for-nothing woodkin bastards…! They always botch their work, so how can they act so high and mighty…?"
—Thud, thud, thud…!
In the dead of night, a massive, furry figure grumbled. And it was walking upright. Even so, the creature ambled toward the dormitory building with the stride and gait of a wild beast.
"They want me to take the night shift at this hour? No matter how short-staffed we are, where do they get off saying something so ridiculous…?"
Still muttering in an aggressive tone, the furry figure entered the dormitory. Every time he grumbled in irritation, a fierce growl like "Grrrng…!" echoed down the hallway.
'Still, the young ladies might wake up, so I'd better stay quiet from here on.'
The person who had entered the dormitory was Berman, the head of security. Scratching his matted lion's mane after several days of overnight work, he moved his steps carefully.
'Hm? No one's in the hallway? That's actually a relief.'
A bluish gleam flashed in the white lion beastkin's eyes. The reason he had come to the dormitory was obvious. He intended to dump his work onto Breeder. The cause of the incident was always the same: the academy's chronic shortage of personnel. A sudden staff reassignment had left the main building's night-duty post empty for two whole days. That was why the Academic Affairs Department had sent a request for night-duty coverage to the Security Department, the most convenient target. Even at this late hour. If there was anyone left in Security, they were to stand in for the main building's night watch. If there truly was no one, then the department head himself was to come and take the shift.
As this case showed, relations between departments were far from good. Among them, the General Affairs Department and Facilities Management Department had relatively few conflicts. The Security Department, run by beastkin, was always stuck handling odd jobs, so they were prickly toward everyone—yet they still followed orders without much complaint. On the other hand, everyone disliked the Academic Affairs Department, which was run by woodkin. Today's incident was a perfect example of how outrageously they handled things. Whether it was because woodkin had no brains or because they had professors backing them, their work was always high-handed. In truth, woodkin personalities were eccentric as well.
—Tap, tap!
"Sorry, Breeder, but you'll have to suffer for two days."
Berman was about to dump the work that Academic Affairs had dumped on Security onto Breeder instead. It was what they called "passing the buck." Breeder had not been working long, and being human, he was the easiest target. Moreover, since he had been dragged here as a slave criminal, Berman felt even more comfortable exploiting him. That was why even they treated Breeder with contempt.
'I feel bad waking someone who's asleep, but… I have to survive first, don't I?'
Breeder was quick on his feet despite being human, and his work was decent enough, so he was perfect as a substitute.
—Kiiiiiik…!
With a light heart, thinking he could easily shake off the troublesome task, Berman pulled open the door to the night-duty room. He wanted to dump the work and go home as soon as possible.
"H-huh…?!"
But what greeted Berman inside the night-duty room was not a human at all.
"Another wom— I-I mean, who are you?!"
"Even if you're a senior, Derke can't hold back anymore-desu-yo!!"
Before Berman stood two dragons burning with inexplicable jealousy.
"Th-th-th-that is…!"
"Haah, a beastkin? You look like you're from Security. What brings you here?"
When the startled Berman froze without any reaction, Sofia calmed her agitated voice and asked. She seemed relieved that he was not female.
"W-well… I came to pass on some work to Breeder, but… why are you young ladies in such a shabby place…?"
Berman's thoughts came to a halt. It made no sense by any standard. Dragons taking interest in a human was an extremely rare occurrence.
"…That work you mentioned—was it originally Breeder's responsibility?"
Sofia asked, shooting Berman a cold glare.
"N-no, it wasn't. Actually, we're short-handed, so we came to ask for help—"
"Then be quiet. Breeder is not someone you can treat so carelessly."
"Pardon? Pardon…?"
Sofia's low voice cut Berman off like a blade.
"If you try to dump any more trivial tasks on Breeder from now on, your life won't be safe. So while I'm still being nice, get lost."
She was warning Berman in a voice filled with killing intent. If he valued his life, he should never even think of dumping work on Breeder again.
"That's right-desu-yo! If you don't want to see what a beastkin's soul looks like with your own eyes, disappear right now-desu-yo!"
Ah, and of course, the Death Dragon standing behind Sofia was also leaving behind a stern warning.