Who's Going to Complain?
Who's going to complain, anyway?
Shwaaaaaa!
With a sound that split the open sky, Sre shot even higher into the air, an expression of pure glee on her face.
The place we were currently flying over was the heart of the Empire — the capital, Imperidium.
I was technically an enemy of the Empire, and I hadn't sent word ahead of my arrival, so after a brief moment of consideration, I decided to cross into the capital openly and without apology.
A barrier of fairly advanced magical construction spread across the capital's sky, but that was no concern of mine.
The barrier's countdown — though for her in her 4th-advance state, dismantling it piece by piece would be no trouble at all.
In my 4th-advance state, a barrier of this caliber was barely worth a thought; partially dismantling it would take no effort at all.
Anyway, having entered the capital without shedding a drop of blood, it was time to go meet Duke Hwangyeolgong...
"Wooooooh!!!"
Perhaps the flight after so long had gotten her worked up, because Sre wanted to swoop around every corner of the capital, and I decided to indulge in a bit of flying myself — consider it a riding session.
Every time Sre popped in and out of view with a whoosh!, the residents below let up a cheer.
'This is kind of fun.'
It felt completely different from streaming. In the past, whenever a dragon appeared, people fled in a blind panic, too busy running for their lives to do anything else.
Villagers — not even players — cheering and celebrating like this was something I had almost never witnessed before.
'Then again...'
One blast of Sre's breath could wipe every single one of them out. Wasn't she being a little too relaxed about safety?
She wasn't just any dragon — she was the heir of the Frost Dragon King himself.
"Kuuuu... Ahk! What is it?"
"Your breath is leaking out."
Not that I had any intention of telling her off — Sre was still growing, and she hadn't yet learned to control her power with any real precision.
Mouth open as she flew around, breath naturally dribbled out of her. It was a form of mana and divine authority, but at such a tiny scale that no one would be harmed — and I hadn't come here to cause harm anyway.
She had no intention of hurting the residents either.
Zzzt.
"?"
Mana suspended in midair hardened into a single line and shot toward me. It was a pure transmission, carrying no trace of hostile intent.
I currently had a protective barrier raised, and dragons being the wellspring of magic itself, most spells were simply unable to touch me. No matter how harmless the transmission was, no message could reach me through the barrier.
'Hmm.'
Maybe I'd open a crack in it for a moment.
─ Damn it all! The comms won't go through in the first place! Why is it only the airspace around her that's like this?!
─ It's similar to a mana-dead zone! Unless one of the Eight Swords comes personally, there's no way to punch through!
─ Magic doesn't work on her! We'll have to approach her directly and speak in person...
─ Approach THAT sky? Are you insane? You want to take a breath attack on the way up?!
─ Then what do we do?! If we let this go on, our lives are...
─ Channel 16!!
─ Connected! Communication orb number 16!
"What seems to be the problem?"
They looked very busy. Bang! Even through the mana-linked transmission, I could feel a great commotion on the other end.
Following the noise, I peered into the space where they were all staring up at me. Roughly fifteen people were managing several dozen communication orbs. Orbs lay arranged in neat rows, and here and there large slabs of mana stone hung suspended in the air.
In modern terms, it was something like a control room.
People darted back and forth through the control room, and in front of orb number sixteen sat a man who looked to be the one in charge.
─ Ahem. C-can you hear me? I am Esther, commander of the Grand Empire's Magic Barrier Corps.
"Lily Elbrit here."
"Wyaang."
"And this is Sre."
I stroked Sre's back, which was fitted with the Saddle of Circulation taken from the Demon Horse. Sre nodded contentedly and gazed toward where they were with her round, soft eyes. As expected of a dragon — she had pinpointed their location without being told a word.
─ Yes, I know you both, of course. If you have the time, might we host you somewhere proper so we can speak in person?
"We can just talk here."
Weren't we already talking just fine?
When I said it with a playful lilt, sweat beaded on the man's face even through the orb.
─ W-well, yes. But is this not a poor setting to receive the sovereign of the Grand Duchy — the Queen of Elbrit...? Please, allow us to escort you somewhere worthy, and conduct your business there.
"Hmmm..."
I thought it over. I could have said it didn't matter, since I'd come to talk in the first place — but I had arrived prepared to take at least a few hits.
The Empire was my enemy. They had lost the war against me, along with their territory and two of the Eight Swords. It stood to reason they'd hold hostile feelings toward me, and from the moment I crossed the barrier I had my shield up, ready to activate my 4th-advance state at any moment.
But instead of attacking, these people were bowing low and scraping before me, practically groveling to make a good impression.
'He really is shrewd.'
Having come this far — from the messenger bird he'd sent, to this — I was becoming steadily more certain of Duke Hwangyeolgong's thinking. As long as I didn't move to kill, no one on this soil would raise a hand against me on his order.
─ If that is truly unacceptable, then...
"Fine, let's go."
"Thank you!"
The man beyond the orb bowed his head in a hurry.
"A-ah, please, have a seat."
"Thank you."
Escorted by Esther, the commander of the barrier corps, I arrived at a reception room of considerable splendor. The table alone was solid gold, and from the smallest piece of tableware to the wallpaper, the floor, and the furniture, everything was of the finest quality.
Fitting for an empire known as the Golden Empire.
"...Well, you live and learn. Never thought I'd be served a meal in a room like this."
Though Esther, the man actually in charge of the Empire's security, seemed to be experiencing it for the first time himself.
"As I couldn't know your tastes, I instructed the royal chefs to prepare as wide a variety as possible."
"Thank you."
"And the meal for the dragon who accompanied you — that is, for Lady Sre — has been set over there."
A large red carpet sat a fair distance from the table, and atop it rested an enormous covered plate. Esther gave a light gesture, and the servants standing respectfully at attention lifted the lid — a plate bigger than their own bodies.
On it was meat, cooked to a mouthwatering perfection. The portion looked to be about a third of Sre's size, even with her shrunk down to that of a bear.
"Meat!"
"It is a steak crafted with the full devotion of the Empire's finest chef, slow-aged alongside an Imperial vintage wine a century and a half old and cuts of the highest grade, selected for their marbling and depth of flavor—"
Chomp! Gulp!
"So goodd!!"
"...Cooking. Wow."
"She's bigger than you'd think, isn't she."
Shrinking her body didn't shrink her appetite. If anything, her transformed state burned even more energy, so she needed to eat far more than in her true form.
"You can just give her the meat raw — please just bring lots of it."
She'd digest anything anyway, even meat laced with poison.
"...U-understood."
Esther, his soul visibly departing his body, quietly passed word to the servant beside him. Then he muttered something along the lines of 'that single slab of meat costs as much as a house in the capital...' before pulling himself together and returning to his seat.
Anyone would have been forgiven for losing their composure, but it seemed the title of commander was no empty thing — his face snapped back to its usual bearing.
"Please, eat at your leisure."
"Then..."
Clink.
I too took a bite of the same meat Sre was devouring. It certainly lived up to its reputation.
The finest dish, made from the finest ingredients by the finest chef in the Empire. It was a meal of superlatives stacked upon superlatives — and yet, even as I ate, my mind wandered to a different dish entirely.
'Nothing beats the Heavenly Skewer.'
The Heavenly Skewer — a Mythic-grade consumable I'd pulled from a gacha draw. I'd dismissed it as a useless item, but it possessed a flavor extraordinary enough to move an ancient monster and the players it had once tested.
It was cooking so delicious it had made even my head swim for a moment.
Lately, whenever I had spare time, I'd been trying to recreate it — but perhaps because it was a kind of divine authority, it never came out right.
'It's definitely not mind control or hallucination... but somehow it's just that delicious.'
If it had been something like that, I would have noticed — I'd met more than my share of demons over the years. It was nothing of the sort.
If anything, the Heavenly Skewer was a food far closer to the celestials than the demons. Celestials possessed almost no abilities relating to mental domination at all.
"How is it?"
"It's delicious. I guess they don't call it the best for nothing."
"Haha. Naturally. Though of course, it falls short of Lily Elbrit's own cooking."
"Oh, does it?"
"Of course it does!"
Esther flattered me with everything he had, pouring his entire being into it. And yet he kept glancing sidelong at the servants, as though waiting for something.
Waiting for word from above, was he?
Clink.
"...If it isn't too much of an imposition, may I ask what brings you to the Empire?"
"Hmm... well, it's a fairly simple reason. But before that, may I ask you something?"
"Speak freely."
Clink.
I set my cutlery down as well. I'd eaten enough; it was about time we got to the main subject...
Chomp chomp.
Time to get to the main...
Chomp chomp chomp chomp chomp.
"......"
She was eating well. No, really — no matter how much energy she'd burned flying, wasn't this a bit much?
'She's already past her twentieth plate.'
Esther's face began to leak tears of despair.
"...Hahaha! What a healthy appetite. Say — bring more meat over here."
"Those are for the other Grand Dukes when they arrive—"
"Now, now! Didn't I tell you to bring them at once? Quickly!"
At Esther's sharp command, the servant scurried out of the reception room.
Whether the Empire's finances went under or not, Sre beamed innocently and buried her face in her plate.
Incidentally — I'd asked for any meat at all, so why did they keep bringing over premium cuts completely uncooked? They could've just tossed her a whole cow or pig.
"Shall we have the bill sent over?"
"...That won't be necessary. This much is... ahem. Nothing worth mentioning."
Really?
Weren't we at like, twenty houses' worth of property vanished by now?
It might look cheap next to the Empire's prestige, but land in the capital of the continent's self-proclaimed hegemon would never come cheap. The bill would blow past a thousand gold without breaking a sweat.
"Just buy the Finance Minister a drink and call it even."
"Will that be enough?"
"...It should be."
Who's going to complain, anyway?
Once the Finance Minister saw this scene with his own eyes, he'd accept it and move on without a word.
So thought Esther, letting out a small sigh.
Thud.
"All done eating!"
"...Shall we bring one more plate, then?"
That day, Sre ate a grand total of thirty-seven plates of the Empire's finest meat.