209. I Told You Not to Name the Ship Like That
209. I Told You Not to Name the Ship Like That
An incredibly awkward cohabitation between dragons and humans began.
On the human side were Academy students, with an elf and a half-elf mixed in, but I'll just call them all humans.
And on the dragon side was Gemma Aurum, the Gold Dragon who raided the Titanic in the middle of the night.
We were forced to take in the leader of the thieves who attacked us without punishing her, solely because she was the Dragon Lord's only daughter.
It was a deeply unpleasant situation, but well, what could we do.
She was a Gold Dragon who had wronged us, but we had no choice but to leave her punishment up to the Dragon Lord.
In any case, the Dragon Lord's only daughter, Gemma Aurum, was incredibly rude.
"I am bored. Someone, liven up the mood."
"If you're so bored, why don't you dance or something?"
Suddenly, she was telling people to put on a talent show,
"Ugh, tasteless. You dare serve me this?! Bring out the top-grade honey!"
"Eat it and be grateful. I won't let it slide if you leave leftovers."
"Ugh... uuugh...."
When the head chef here had worked hard to cook and serve her, she threw a tantrum and called it tasteless.
I really wanted to see the faces of the parents who raised her like this.
Ah, I know who it is, don't I?
That crazy doting old man, acting so solemn on the outside—just how the hell did he raise his daughter?
"Don't indulge her tantrums. Considering what she did, stripping her naked and hanging her from the bow wouldn't even be satisfying."
"Hieek?! Y-you would strip this body's clothes off??"
"Your subordinates are already decorating the bow—do you have no sense of responsibility?"
In fact, the wyvern that actually committed the act was tied to the bow.
But Gemma was not restrained.
"Is that not a matter of course? It is a great honor for a subordinate to take responsibility for their master. It is not something for me to concern myself with."
She probably wouldn't have listened even if we asked her to release them. Gemma roamed the Titanic freely, as if it were her right.
I didn't like it.
That attitude—the kind most noble children had these days—irritated me immensely.
She roamed the ship in no time, chatting with various people.
Many believed that since we had placed a seal on her to prevent her circles from functioning properly for exactly three days, actually restraining her would be too harsh.
Personally, I wanted to shackle her neck with chains and lock her in a room, but a Lord's daughter was a being more precious than a nation's princess. Perda insisted that doing so would be excessive, so I had no choice.
"Anyway, we're handing her over to the capital in two days, so don't indulge her."
The Dragon Lord's only daughter would be taken to the capital and handed over to the Imperial Palace.
She was a being we couldn't easily handle, but the Imperial Family could.
The Imperial Palace possessed the means to contact the Dragon Lord and had met him at several summits.
We would leave it to the Emperor and have him deliver the news to the Lord.
However, the moment I mentioned that plan, Gemma reacted violently.
"I refuse."
"What did you say?"
"I said I don't want to go back!!"
When told she would be sent back, she started throwing a wild tantrum.
My head throbbed.
"I will absolutely... absolutely never go back to that stifling old house!!! Even if I throw myself off and die, I absolutely refuse!!"
"... Don't tell me you ran away from home?"
"That's right!!"
She had run away from the Dragon Lord's lair. My head throbbed even more.
Thinking about it as running away from home made it even more absurd.
If she ran away, shouldn't she be lying low? Instead, she used her minions to rob humans?
I was dumbfounded—what would she have done if something truly terrible had happened?
"Don't throw a tantrum like a brat! You old hag who's already lived over a hundred years!!"
"An old hag..?? Did you just call me an old hag!!"
"Yeah, you're an old hag who's aged without gaining any sense!! That's exactly why the Lord was so anxious he locked you away in that house!!"
"Ugh... uuugh...."
On the verge of tears, she jumped into Lucia's arms.
Lucia seemed a little awkward, but she found the cute Gemma, who showed her goodwill, endearing.
"Uwaaaaang, Lucia... that... that Gremlin-like thing is saying mean things to me...!"
"Haha... haha, Atlas, don't be so harsh. She's pitiful, you know."
Lucia stroked Gemma, who was nestled in her arms, and laughed.
Pulling a jar of honey from seemingly nowhere, Gemma sucked on it noisily while still in Lucia's embrace, shooting me a glare.
"Her mouth and actions are a bit rough, but she's cute."
"I don't get it."
Perhaps charmed by the fact that she was a tomboyish young lady naive to the world, the girls liked Gemma quite a bit.
It was true that if she just kept her mouth shut, her appearance was outstanding.
It was said to be a form transformed through Polymorph, but since it was substituting her Idea as a Gold Dragon into human shape, her original form would certainly look attractive among dragons as well.
Whenever she turned her head, her golden twintails shimmered, her golden eyes sparkled like Riber did when the moon was full, and though her chest was large enough to burst her top, her waist was slender.
Her face held the innocence of a child, but her body was that of an adult; the gap between the two was immense.
But so what? Her outward appearance was beautiful, but her insides were utterly empty, with not a shred of etiquette—she was like a pearl necklace on a pig.
"Yeah, always resorting to violence! So small on the inside, that's why you're so short and tiny!"
-Ppajik!
"Ah."
Hearing the NG words spoken in succession, Lucia stopped stroking Gemma, who was acting spoiled in her arms.
She seemed to anticipate catching sparks if she got involved for no reason.
"You damn little brat!"
-Peok!!
"Uwaaaack!!! You... you hit me again!! When I meet my father, I'm going to tell him all about this!!"
-Peok!!
"Take one more!"
"Uwaaaaang!!"
"So the moment running away becomes a disadvantage, you look for the Lord!"
I smacked her head and stretched her soft cheeks.
"Ugaaaaaack!!"
Gemma screamed loudly, making it look like I was being overly harsh, but everyone who knew me knew the truth.
How much I was holding back, that is.
If she weren't the Lord's daughter....
.
.
.
.
"That... you held back well."
"It was the first time I've seen Atlas hold back like that."
Emy wiped my forehead with a towel.
I couldn't see it, but if someone held up a mirror right now, I was sure my face would be flushed red as a carrot.
"I'm not letting that damn thing get away with this."
"At this rate, I feel like a really big accident is going to happen, so I wish you'd hand her over to someone else...."
Seeing me seething with barely contained rage, Riber worried.
Just a few hours of observing Gemma Aurum demanded tremendous mental fortitude and stamina.
Every time I saw her whining endlessly and trying to throw her weight around without manners, I wanted to discipline her, but I was desperately holding back.
Instead, I would take it up with the Dragon Lord.
Telling him to discipline his kid properly, that is.
"The others just get pushed around by her, so it won't work."
Therefore, this was my role.
The others were far too soft on Gemma.
Her background was one thing, but if she so much as teared up with that cute face, everyone fawned over her and let her be spoiled.
If you messed up, you should be punished and correct it, but that kind of indulgence was exactly why she never improved.
"Here."
"...Is this what I think it is?"
Out of the blue, Riber spread his arms wide.
As if telling me to come into them.
"You must have been stressed... and you held it in well, so I'll give you a hug."
"Don't treat me like a kid."
"So, you don't want it?"
I did want to be held, but I was hesitating, wondering what to do, when Emy crept up from behind.
"Here goes!"
"Whaaat?!"
Emy pushed me into Riber's arms and hugged me.
I ended up sandwiched between the two of them.
"Since it's just the three of us right now, let's not have those troublesome worries at least, okay?"
"Yeah. We're in such a nice room for a change, after all."
That might be true, but with a ticking time bomb roaming around outside right now, I couldn't exactly feel at ease.
—————————
Gemma Aurum, who had gained a few more lumps on her head, was enjoying a lavish spread of drinks in the dining hall.
"Hmph, you have proper posture. Unlike that tiny creature, that is."
"Hahaha, if you find anything uncomfortable, please do not hesitate to speak. We of the Perda family shall serve Lady Aurum with all our sincerity."
"Yes, yes, that is very pleasing to hear."
The one hosting her was the owner of the Titanic, Nivas Perda.
While Atlas was away, Perda secretly approached Gemma to curry favor.
Even though she had threatened their lives, the other party was the only daughter the Dragon Lord cherished most.
Even if she was currently a runaway, treating her well would surely be beneficial.
Since she seemed to like sweet things, he chose top-tier desserts and honey as snacks, and selected ice wine with high sugar content for her drink.
Did his hard work pay off? Gemma was eating what Perda prepared with satisfaction.
"You need not worry. As you are Lord Aurum's daughter, you may request anything you desire."
"...."
Suddenly, Gemma's expression turned icy cold.
She set down the wine glass she was drinking from and rose from her seat.
"My spirits have soured. I shall take my leave now."
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
Nivas was flustered by Gemma's sudden change in attitude; just moments ago she had been excitedly guzzling drinks.
Had he made some slip of the tongue?
But as Gemma headed out the door, she held a jar of honey in her hand.
——————————-
As for her home... that is, the Dragon Lord's lair from which she had escaped, Gemma Aurum's feelings for her father, the Dragon Lord, were complicated.
She certainly respected him, but she hated the fact that he didn't let her take a single step out of the lair for her own safety.
She found herself in a strange situation: respecting him yet also hating him.
She didn't like it when others spoke ill of her father, but she also hated when others saw her as merely a stepping stone for a connection to the Dragon Lord.
Her complicated thoughts refused to sort themselves out easily.
After receiving Perda's hospitality, Gemma wandered all over the Titanic, carrying a container full of chocolates in one hand.
She hadn't made it hers yet, but she calculated that since she was buttering up the owner, Perda, it would fall into her possession soon enough.
"I just need to be careful around that violent b... I mean, human."
Gemma was still afraid of Atlas.
She thought that if they clashed properly one more time while she wasn't off guard, she couldn't be sure of the outcome, but he showed intense anger toward her, which was rare, so she was wary of him.
Gemma judged that most people fell for her charm—and that was correct.
When captured, she had been afraid of what might happen, but except for that single individual, everyone served her well.
They were good enough that she wouldn't mind making them all her subordinates.
The humans she had taken as subordinates before flattered her well, but they were thieves, so it left a bad taste; these ones, she had no such worries about.
As she explored deeper into the ship, a strange room caught her eye.
"Engine Room?"
She didn't know what kind of room it was, but an immense amount of mana was surging from it.
Her interest was piqued.
——————————-
-Kwaaang!!!
"What was that sound?!"
Around sunset, the hull of the Titanic shook violently.
There had been no sign of anything outside, so what the hell was going on?
"Hey, Perda! What is this?!"
"I'm trying to find the cause right now!"
"Whoa~ it's shaking, it's shaking~"
"Nina..!! Stay still!"
When I stepped into the hallway, everyone, startled by the shaking hull, had rushed out.
"What's all the commotion? The engine?!"
The two things that powered the airship—the synthetic mineral Icarotite and the Orion Engine—were both housed in the engine room.
But from that engine room, thick black smoke was billowing out fiercely.
"What the hell is this..!!"
"Did the engine explode?? We're losing buoyancy!"
When we entered, there was a face I truly hadn't expected.
"It... it's not my fault!! This stupid machine exploded on its own, I tell you!!"
Aurum was inside the engine room, covered in soot, panicking as she touched the instrument panels.
It was you, damn it!
"... Ugh... damn it, the Icarotite has completely burned up!! We're crashing!!"
If only the engine had exploded, we might have been lucky, but it seemed the Icarotite that kept the ship afloat was ruined.
The hull of the Titanic, which had been magically slicing through the sky, began to shudder.
We were crashing, just like this?
I was fine.
Even if I fell from this height, I was confident I wouldn't die.
But what about the others?
Nina? The ship's head chef? Could they survive?