Chapter 12
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Julius Caesar (4)
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Muscular man searching for stories related to monsters...
Judging by the old scars all over his body, I could roughly guess who he was.
Probably.
"Ah! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Serephin, a hero from the A-rank hero party Night Sky!"
Hero. Right on the money.
Though, his name was overflowing with estrogen a bit.
His visuals were peak tetonam...
And for him to come straight to me like this...
"By any chance, the Hydra—"
"Hahaha! Exactly! Thanks to you, author, I've saved my life three times! Without it, I'd be rolling around somewhere in the Demon Realm as monster chow!"
Yep, nailed it.
The GOAT of sales normalization!
I tried to grab the hand he extended in greeting nice and tight.
"Ulysses! I declare once more. Become my servant!"
Suddenly, the blonde chuunibyou jammin kid wedged himself between us and shouted another bizarre declaration.
What?
Is he a little off in the head?
Before thanking the hero, I needed to deal with this tiny thing first.
"Haha..."
The hero was breaking out in cold sweat.
And Gilford was avoiding my gaze entirely, merging with the wall.
What?
What are they implying?
"This one's name is Esthea Golden Lintberryus! I shall grant you lowly short-lived one the honor of serving me!"
"Golden Retriever?"
"Esthea! Golden! Lintberryus!"
Her fur was golden, and with all the arf-arf woof-woof, she totally seemed like a golden retriever.
As I was about to toss in one more joke—
"N-Noble one? It seems the author is misunderstanding..."
Noble one?
This jammin kid?
"Hmph, then open your eyes wide and behold!"
With a line that screamed "don't tell anyone"—
The golden retriever flashed a haughty smile.
The next moment.
A pair of horns sprouted from her head.
And a lizard-like tail from her butt.
"Allow me to introduce myself once more! This one's name is Esthea Golden Lintberryus! Of the great Gold Dragon lineage! Worship me duly, you lowly but somewhat useful short-lived one!"
It suddenly reminded me of right after possession.
Back then, too, seeing a dragon flapping wings in the sky, I'd wondered if this was some Skar■rim world.
Of course, there were no winzard towers here...
.
.
.
After somehow holding off with the hero as pseudo-lizard Esthea went on about servants and such, trying to kidnap me like some modern slave—
"Ooh! This development here...!"
I pushed together two sofas in the reception room, half-reclined, and tossed her my unpublished backlog to buy some breathing room.
And then.
"...Hero. Have you ever hunted dragons?"
"Hahaha... No. And if that dragon says it's true, it probably is, but Gold Dragons aren't evil dragons. Quite the opposite—benevolent beings."
These days, benevolent beings barge into publishers to kidnap authors?
"So there are evil dragons too, then."
"Ah, yes. By human standards, anyway. I've heard Red Dragons and Black Dragons live in the Demon Realm, but legend says all dragons agreed to stay out of interspecies conflicts as much as possible. Lucky for us."
"Balance patch, huh."
"Balance...? Equilibrium, hmm. Not wrong. Anyway... it might sound weird, but I came to consult you on something."
Consult me?
Someone who's never set foot in the Demon Realm?
Still, I couldn't play dumb with a hero who'd made time to come all this way.
"I might not be much help... but go ahead."
The hero scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
"Lately, this massive metal giant blocked our advance. It doesn't break under my holy sword, reflects all magic— not just us, other heroes are struggling too. Any ideas?"
Physical immune, magic immune.
What the hell, that's scary AF...
"...Can't you go around it?"
"Seems like a guardian weapon, protecting something like the monsters' origin point... Can't bypass it."
Hmm.
Metal giant.
Guarding something.
It tickled...
Memories started surfacing.
Definitely, when the Argonauts stopped in Crete, there was that first robot-like weapon they fought.
"Might sound weird, but..."
"No, any clue helps. Thoughts?"
"Like people, giant machines have a core running through them. Could be heart or head... but I'd bet on the ankle."
Despite my out-of-context suggestion, the hero furrowed his brow, recalling.
"Ankle... Yeah, we haven't tried that. Focused on head and heart first. No damage, though."
"If it has a power source, easier to maintain in the lower body than upper, right? Probably... the heel?"
"Hm, novel approach. Worth checking."
After noting it down, the hero grinned and offered his hand again.
As I grabbed it, he leaned in to whisper in my ear.
"Gold Dragons... are greedy. Hope you don't get kidnapped, and we meet again."
"...Thanks for the advice."
Glancing at the lizard still munching on my manuscripts appreciatively.
I harbored baseless hopes that maybe I had dragon lord blood.
.
.
.
After the hero glanced at me and left.
"Bring the next chapter! No, bring it all!"
I faced off against Esthea, who was starting to throw a fit like she was about to breathe fire.
Somehow, the reception room was now just us—no Gilford or anyone.
Pure one-on-one.
"Phus, ro da!"
"...You crazy?"
Unfortunately, I lacked dragon-slaying talent.
Time to shelve dreams of a dragonborn slaying the evil jammin dragon.
"So, wanna be my servant? Or my prey?"
Her slit pupils, lizard-style, glared sharply.
Earlier, Gilford nearly pissed himself staring into those eyes, trembling like a leaf.
...Weirdly, I wasn't scared at all.
Was Hector's Courage empowering me?
"They say creation is a chain of suffering."
"So, chain suffering on you, and creation comes out?"
Are you nuts?
What kinda doctor line is that?
"I carve away at my soul every day to write. But it's from my own free will... If kidnapped by Dragon-nim to write, my creative drive would wither. Writers are free spirits, after all."
"No way, you contracted with a dark mage or something?"
....
This jammin kid's communication was a bit off.
"Of course not. But... appreciate how tough creation is. Being your servant would be an honor, but... I'll pass."
"Why! I'll feed you, let you sleep! Breakfast, one chapter; lunch, one; dinner, one. That hard?"
"...Kill me instead. I'll die right here."
Resigned, I closed my eyes, spread my arms, exposing my chest.
Of course, calculated.
How far had our dragon jammin peeked into my backlog?
Early on, facing Sulla's proscriptions, using wits and connections to survive.
Then dodging purges by enlisting as an officer, building fame.
Heroics in Mytilene, earning the oak crown—the officer's highest honor—returning to Rome after Sulla.
...Then pulling political aggro with a taboo "Sue you!" ultimate, backfiring into exile in Rhodes.
Right after.
- If you're pissed, try killing me, you pirate bastards.
Ending with him kidnapped by pirates en route to Rhodes, showing balls of steel.
If she'd been immersed up to there?
Of course it'd overlap.
Cracking an eye to peek.
"Ugh...!"
Tail wagging nonstop like a puppy.
Eyes sheepishly rounded.
Fingers nibbling anxiously.
Worked.
This was short-lived grit.
After the storm at the newspaper office.
I trudged home, utterly drained.
Wanna get home quick and rest...
Swaysway.
"..."
Flapflap.
"..."
Not even hiding anymore.
That crazy dragon jammin from earlier.
Esthea was tail-wagging, stalking me.
Dragon tail, but wagging like a dog's. Why?
Was she a dog in her past life?
She could hide, but with that tail, how does she sleep?
Can't lie straight; side-sleep? Or mod the bed with a tail hole?
Shaking off useless thoughts, I turned around.
Shh!
As our eyes met, body hidden but tail sticking out comically from the corner— I sighed at Esthea.
"Why are you following me?"
To my blunt question.
"...As a noble one, shouldn't I know where my future servant lives to save face?"
"...?"
Esthea declared unabashedly she hadn't given up.
Persistent one.
"And your tail's visible."
"Eek."
.
.
.
"There, confirmed? Be on your way, great dragon."
"Cheeky for a servant candidate! This one will handle it!"
In the end, the dragon followed me to my lodging.
Pathetic human woes.
Now stalked by a lizard, of all things.
Whatever.
"I shall specially grant you the chance to offer tribute to this great one—"
"Thanks for your trouble. I'm heading in."
Ignoring Esthea puffing her nonexistent chest, hand on hip, triumphant—
I quickly unlocked the door and dashed inside.
Sweet home sweet home unfolded.
The study welcomed me.
『Welcome home, Yul-nim. Dinner first? Bath? Or—』
"Strip."
『Output halted.』
....
Why'd I train her with that prompt?
Self-loathing washed over me.
But I'm a positive guy.
Pygmalion's Obsession suited Historie like no other, no matter how I thought.
Before that...
Just train her thoroughly beforehand, right?