Oyakodon and the Lizard
Alright, I'll take attendance. Arkhis?
"Yes."
"Lee Jinwoo."
"Yes."
"Elia."
"Yeeesss!!!!!!"
"...Speak quietly, dear."
Before first period, during homeroom.
Professor Bajina called out names while glancing sideways to make sure every student was present.
"Ryushia?"
- ...
Only the transfer student who swept in like a storm was still nowhere to be seen.
"Ugh, she told me to go ahead..."
Jinwoo found it suspicious. She had said she would follow later, so he should head in first. Just what was she up to that she kept disappearing like this?
Tap tap tap tap tap!!!
- Late! I'm late!
Ah, that light footsteps and cheerful voice. Looks like she finally showed up.
Slam!
"Yes~!"
Just as I thought, the classroom door burst open and a black-haired girl appeared with a carefree smile.
"You're five minutes late."
"Yeees..."
Of course, her face immediately turned gloomy.
"Everyone, take your seats. Today's lesson is climbing the Tower of Trials up to the third floor."
"Ooh...!! It's finally unlocked!"
"What is that?"
I narrowed my eyes in satisfaction now that our source of goods had increased, while Jinwoo, still a newbie who had barely taken his first steps, had no idea. So I explained it to him step by step.
"You can think of it as a weekly-resetting dungeon for farming diamonds."
The place Professor Bajina mentioned was a type of challenge content.
For first-year academy students, only up to floor twelve of the Tower of Trials was initially open. Clearing those floors for the first time gave generous rewards.
Of course, you couldn't clear them again after that...
Once you fully cleared the Tower of Trials, the Tower of Adversity would unlock. That was where the real intermediate content began, full of time attacks and record-breaking runs.
"And get this! Clearing the third floor means the 4-star character Iflata will transfer into our class!"
"Hmm..."
On top of that, it gave a useful 4-star fire-attribute dealer as a beginner-only clear reward. Pushing through early would be a huge help.
"Still, isn't it weird? Characters you pull from gacha are sitting in the classroom the very next day. You have no idea what they were doing before, yet here they are taking normal classes with the rest of us..."
"Mr. Jinwoo, it's just one of those game things. Let it go."
The newbie was nitpicking the wrong details again, but I brushed it off as gameplay allowance.
For now, I needed to throw together a party for the tower climb.
.
.
.
"I will only be observing. I'll handle my own share, so the rest of you will have to take care of everything else."
"Yes..."
I gathered the party members in front of the tower and began the briefing.
The lineup was me (melee dealer, 5-star), Saint Elia (melee dealer, 5-star), Lady Arkhis (melee dealer, 4-star), and Lee Jinwoo (melee dealer, 5-star).
Looking at it now, we were all melee fighters?
Once I obtained Iflata, I'd have to drop Jinwoo, unfortunately.
Honestly, the default 5-star protagonist character had too many flaws, so most people stopped using them later on.
"Or maybe not? Since this is reality, even the protagonist should build real combat experience."
I set that thought aside, finished organizing the party, then handed out decent 3-star weapons to everyone.
Synthesize five duplicates of these and they actually become pretty usable.
"Oh right, Ryushia. Don't you need a weapon?"
"Me? I already have a 4-star weapon, so I'm fine."
In truth, this single-edged blade had been issued by the Redanis side, but I was making frugal use of it.
Its performance was decent enough, and the 20% attack power boost was genuinely helpful.
If I ever got a 5-star exclusive weapon later...
No, it would be better to let a different performance character have it. Pulling a standard weapon as pity from a limited banner would be an absolute disaster.
"Ah! Miss Elia, you've done your breakthroughs, correct?"
"That is correct."
Anyway, since Elia was a proper 5-star character and the next-best dealer after me, I advised Jinwoo to invest resources into her.
Level: 40
Health: 5600
Attack Power: 295
Critical Hit Rate: 10%
Critical Hit Damage: 60%...
"This should be no problem."
I nodded after checking her specs. They looked adequate.
As for skills... well, she had probably leveled them properly on her own.
"U-um...? My level is also a bit..."
Of course, Lady Arkhis, who had been dragged along against her will and was now all sullen, cautiously raised her hand.
"You're a rich young lady, aren't you? Handle your own breakthroughs."
"Yes, I'm sorry."
I shut her down immediately.
We were already short on resources. There was nothing to waste on a 4-star.
No way was I letting her suck the newbie dry!
"Cheh... dragging me here after you caught me..."
"What was that?"
"Nothing at all."
There were a few minor complaints, but everything was resolved somehow.
"Then, shall we slowly..."
"Stop right there!!!"
"?"
Suddenly, people appeared and blocked our path.
"Ahem! Her Highness the Princess of the Dragon Empire is passing through! No one may pass until her speech concludes!"
"What the..."
The ones blocking us were dragonkin in human form, complete with horns, tails, and wings.
They belonged to the Dragon Empire, which held sway over one corner of the continent. Truthfully, although the lizards called it an empire, it was basically a global nuisance.
To the point that, without the villain syndicate Redanis, the dragonkin might have become the public enemy of the world.
"Aish, seriously, we need to get going quickly!"
"No way!!!"
Just like these annoying lizard bastards blocking our path right now.
- Waaaaah!!! It's Her Highness the Princess!!!
"Should we sweep them all away? We could massacre the lot of them...!!"
"C-calm down, Sia."
Reptile hatred surged through me and strength flowed into my sword hilt, but Jinwoo and Arkhis clung to my body with all their might to hold me back.
Clack.
Clack.
Then, at the sound of dress shoes on the carpet, every dragonkin's gaze turned.
"My loyal soldiers!"
Flash!!!
Soon the princess finally appeared on the platform and shouted before her subjects.
Crimson eyes like blazing flames and long black hair styled in twin-tails.
An elegant white military uniform covered her modest chest, while smooth thighs peeked between her short skirt and garter belt.
"Princess Esmeralda..."
The 5-star fire-attribute character with a face full of charisma had appeared right before my eyes.
"I ask you all."
"Huh?"
Her first line seemed rather shocking. Jinwoo stared with his mouth hanging open in a daze.
"No matter what hardships may come, will you believe in and follow our progenitor dragon?"
"Will you gladly carry out even the most difficult battles!!"
- Ya!!!!!
Another nickname players used for Princess Esmeralda.
It was...
"Oh, it's the Mustache Princess."
A character who suspiciously loved total war and possessed tremendous ambition.
Her ultimate goal was to destroy the Kingdom Alliance and every other non-dragon nation, then unify the continent under dragonkin rule.
She was the leader of the enemy forces that clashed with us constantly throughout the story.
Her performance was certainly strong, but whether she would become playable in the current state was uncertain.
Instead, she would probably be an obstacle for us.
- Hail Esmeralda!!!
"Just look at how those things talk! You can tell they'll die of acute lead poisoning in a bunker!"
"C-calm down."
Any veteran of Genesis hated the Dragon Princess.
Her ignorant, bizarre patterns and trash personality were infamous. The Four Heavenly Dragons serving under her actually had better public images.
"Well, the sheer volume of her dark fanart is insane... It's the kind of face that makes you want to dish out some discipline, you know?"
"I didn't want to know that."
Clack clack.
While we were exchanging trivial chatter, the princess finally began to move, her subordinates trailing behind her.
"The Four Heavenly Dragons..."
And standing to the left and right of the princess were dragonkin with distinctive appearances.
The supreme warriors of the Dragonian and direct subordinates of the Dragon Princess—the Four Heavenly Dragons.
"I shall escort you, Your Highness."
Earth Dragon — Earth.
"Today's schedule includes breaking through to the sixth floor, followed by a get-together for the Dragonian class."
Machine Dragon — Magnus.
"Looks like she's only brought two of them today."
Earth was a middle-aged man with short brown hair.
A spearman with an absurdly large build and innate combat sense. His personality was extremely taciturn and serious, though he secretly enjoyed fighting strong opponents.
...For some reason there was a suspicious amount of Ts fanart of him.
Magnus was a beauty with a cold impression and blue hair tied in a ponytail.
Wearing glasses and an office-style suit, she served as one of the princess's staff officers.
The generous volume straining her shirt was especially striking.
And...
"Oh my? Who are those people standing over there...?"
Princess Esmeralda must have felt our gazes. She suddenly turned our way.
"Excuse me? Could you please move along faster? Your lackeys keep blocking the path and we can't get through."
"...Sia?!"
Thinking this was perfect timing, I gave a light greeting.
"How rude!!"
The dragonkin subjects turned pale and shouted, but...
"No, you all stay out of this."
"Y-Your Highness!"
Esmeralda, however, looked at me with an interested gaze.
"Ryushia... was it? I heard you were the heroine who defeated the irregular monster Ogre that appeared at the gate. With that strength, you even brought Saint Elia under your command, correct?"
"Yes."
The princess seemed to know quite a bit about us.
This was probably information gathered by the empire's intelligence division. It looked like we had already been flagged as persons of interest.
"How would you like to join us? While our empire believes in dragonkin supremacy, we would always welcome the defection of an outstanding mercenary such as yourself..."
She extended her hand as if bestowing generous mercy.
"No thanks. I've already told you four times to get out of the way."
"..."
I cut down the princess's proposal with a single stroke.
Lizard bastards who committed every atrocity from racial discrimination to international disputes? Hard pass.
Besides, I already knew exactly what this crazy warmongering, immoral woman would do.
"...Hah."
Rumble rumble rumble...
Esmeralda clearly hadn't expected me to reject her proposal. Her face twisted in displeasure as she glared at me like she wanted to kill me.
On top of that, the Four Heavenly Dragons flanking her began emitting magic power. The atmosphere froze in an instant.
"Hehe, shall we settle this right here?"
Of course, I had zero intention of losing.
Grip...
I gave them an icy smile and tightened my hold on the hilt so I could draw at any moment.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!!
Moonlight magic power coiled around my hand. A rush of exhilaration and killing intent surged through my body at the same time.
Please don't die in a single blow.
"Hehe, a holy war, is it?"
"Gulp..."
The saint standing behind me began clenching her fists with an eager grin. Arkhis gripped her sword while breaking out in cold sweat.
...Jinwoo simply looked at me with worried eyes.
"Enough!!"
The one who stopped the imminent clash was Iflata's mother and magic professor, Lamia.
Hmm. Her chest is enormous today as well.
"Everyone cease this at once! Both classes will immediately stop all hostile actions... Dragonia class, save your speech for later and enter quickly. You are inconveniencing the other students."
"Yes, Professor."
At Lamia's firm intervention from the center, Esmeralda turned away with a bored expression.
That flat chest looked like it still wanted to have a go with me.
Still, ignoring the words of Lamia—an important figure in the Kingdom Alliance and an academy professor—wasn't wise in this setting.
"Thank you, Professor."
"Student Ryushia, I understand you are upset, but attempting to fight is not the proper solution."
When I bowed my head in gratitude to the one who had mediated the fight, Lamia quietly admonished me in a gentle, motherly tone.
Even her scolding carried a maternal atmosphere.
"Professor Bajina! Make sure to check the schedules properly next time so there are no conflicts."
"The magic herbs have bloomed..."
Of course, scolding our completely clueless professor was included as a bonus.
"By the way, Professor Lamia, don't you have a class to supervise? Why are you here...?"
"Ah, actually Iflata disappeared saying she was going to train. She never showed up at our appointed time, so I've been searching for her. I've looked everywhere, and this was the only place left..."
Hmm, as expected.
Now I understood why Iflata, the clear reward for the third floor, had been inside the Tower of Trials.
If we found the hidden girl, she would naturally join our class.
"Yes, we'll help you look for her."
"Really?! Thank you so much!"
Jiggle.
When I offered to help, Lamia brightened and bowed her head deeply.
...The cleavage visible in that moment was incredibly provocative.
Soon the conversation ended and Lamia left. Only our group remained.
The dragonkin had already entered the tower and disappeared.
"Mr. Jinwoo."
"What?"
"Do you like oyakodon?"
"...It's not what I'm thinking, right?"
"Huh? I was simply referring to the Japanese rice bowl dish. Pervert! You didn't just imagine something obscene like a mother-daughter bowl with Iflata and Lamia, did you?"
"Ryushia, can I hit you just once?"
"Kyaaa! The pervert is attacking!"
Anyway. After wrapping up the conversation appropriately, everyone picked up their weapons and stepped into the tower...
Uuuuung!!!
The moment we passed through the stone gate, blue light enveloped us.