New Subordinate and the Overbearing Boss
“……A monster.”
From afar, Gaster had been watching everything unfold, popcorn forgotten in his hands. He had known Albert was monstrously strong. But his opponent was a thousand-year-old adult dragon—a black dragon, one of the most powerful among their kind. An absolute existence whose strength Gaster, still a hatchling, could never hope to compare with. He had already experienced Whydra’s power firsthand.
‘Even that monster of a human wouldn’t be able to win easily…… I thought.’
“He toyed with me completely.”
A shiver ran down his spine. A thousand-year-old adult dragon, a black dragon, had been subdued as if Albert were merely playing with a child. What was even more astonishing was—
‘He didn’t even draw that sword.’
The sword he had used against Gaster remained sheathed. Albert grew stronger when he wielded it. The sheer pressure and intimidation Gaster had felt facing that blade was beyond imagination. Yet here he was, beating a dragon with his bare fists without drawing it? Was that even possible?
‘He didn’t draw it because there was no need…… No, because it wasn’t worth it.’
Whydra was still being pummeled by Albert’s fists. Perhaps realizing its massive draconic form was ill-suited for this fight, the dragon had reverted to human shape to resist, but it was futile. Albert’s punches shattered spells, pierced dragon scales, and struck with bone-rattling force. Every blow shook the dragon from the inside out.
Gaster’s lips curled upward.
“This feels so refreshing.”
Watching Whydra get beaten to a pulp filled him with immense satisfaction. How much had he suffered because of that dragon? It had mocked him as a half-breed, a mongrel, and looked down on him with contempt. Seeing the creature that prided itself on its strength now forced to submit was pure joy.
‘Hit it more!! Hit it harder!!’
While enjoying the spectacle like an action-packed educational film, Gaster instinctively reached for more popcorn. Watching had never tasted this good before.
“Huh? What? The popcorn……?”
His hand grasped empty air. Looking down, he saw the popcorn had vanished without a trace.
“Om nom nom, it’s delicious!”
“As expected, our benefactor is strong!!”
“So cool!!”
“But there’s no more popcorn?”
“We ate it all! Hing! We want more!”
The fairies had devoured every last kernel. Gaster clicked his tongue in disappointment. Just then, Elena, standing beside him, offered her own bag of popcorn.
“There’s plenty more. Have some.”
Seeing her smile while extending the bag, Gaster turned his head slightly.
“……Th-thanks.”
“It’s nothing. There’s lots.”
“Right.”
When Elena pulled out the popcorn, the nearby fairies’ eyes sparkled.
“Popcorn!!”
“Give us popcorn!”
“Popcorn! So good!!”
“Hehe, eat as much as you want.”
Elena shared the popcorn with the fairies too. They stuffed the kernels into their tiny mouths, cheeks puffing out like squirrels.
“Om~ Nyom nyom nyom~ Melting it in your mouth is delicious too……”
“Hehe, so happy.”
Turning her gaze from the happily munching fairies back to the battlefield, Elena murmured,
“It looks like it’s almost over.”
Whydra had been certain it would never break. It was a great dragon. No matter how strong its opponent might be, even if its body were to yield, its pride and draconic spirit would never bend.
‘I am a black dragon! Whydra! I will not submit to a mere human.’
Whydra had resolved to die rather than submit. But it didn’t know one crucial fact: Albert was an expert in this particular field. Even the most highly trained assassins became docile lambs before him.
“I won’t kill you. I’m just going to beat you.”
What followed was a merciless beating that hammered Whydra’s body. Albert’s fists showed no mercy, as if releasing every pent-up frustration.
“Kugh! Kyaaaaak!”
Yet, true to its nature as a black dragon, Whydra refused to go down without a fight and charged at Albert. But it was all meaningless. Its magic, its punches, its razor-sharp claws—none of it worked against Albert. The more it resisted, the harder the beating became.
“Kugh…… You think I’ll submit just from this…….”
“I am the great black dragon, Whydra!”
“Something like this……”
“W-wait…… P-please, stop talking……”
“Ugh! Kugh……”
Albert’s fists moved with the meticulous care of a professional masseur greeting a long-awaited regular customer—thorough, attentive, almost professional in their dedication. Time passed.
“S-stop!!”
“Stop? Your speech is too casual.”
“P-please stop!!! I beg you!”
In the end, Whydra’s lofty draconic pride crumbled before the pain. At the same time, Albert’s fists, which had been raining down like thunder, stopped abruptly.
“Cough……”
Whydra coughed up black blood. Every inch of its body ached; there wasn’t a single spot that didn’t hurt. It had never experienced such pain since being born a dragon. It was the agony of having its pride forcibly broken.
“Now then.”
Albert crouched down to meet Whydra’s eyes. When those sharp black eyes focused on it, Whydra flinched involuntarily. Its pride was wounded, but the rising fear overpowered any attempt to assert it.
“So, how are we going to settle the compensation?”
“C-compensation?”
“Yeah. The cost of repairing the territory you destroyed, the water pipes you smashed so spectacularly, plus medical fees for our kids and repairs for my personal taxi.”
Albert’s face transformed into that of a merchant, his eyes gleaming with a strong light—the light of greed.
“You got money?”
“Eh?”
“I asked if you have money. Dragons are supposed to live hoarding gold and treasures in their lairs, right? You too?”
Whydra was dumbfounded. This guy was actually trying to extort money from a dragon. One wrong move and it might become the first dragon in history to be mugged by a human.
“……I have no interest in such things. A gold dragon might, but……”
Albert openly displayed his disappointment. He had caught a black dragon and had hoped to squeeze a good amount out of it.
The dragon’s disposition seems different.
Black dragons aren’t interested in that sort of thing, I suppose.
Albert clicked his tongue.
‘Can’t get compensation out of it, then.’
If possible, he had planned to raid the dragon’s lair to help cover the territory’s repair costs. Of course, there were other options.
“If you don’t have money, you’ll have to pay with your body.”
A dragon’s body was the finest magical material. That was why people hunted dragons. Eyes, bones, hide, scales, heart, blood—every part of a dragon was top-grade magical material. The dragon heart, in particular, could turn someone with no magical talent into the greatest mage if consumed.
Whydra’s already dark expression grew even darker.
“……Are you planning to kill me…….”
“No, I’m not going to kill you. That would be a waste.”
“Then……”
“What I want is your body.”
“……”
A chill ran down Whydra’s spine. It had heard rumors before—about certain humans with peculiar fetishes. Some got excited by monster body parts. ‘Could this human be one of them……?’
Whydra felt a fear it had never experienced before. A crisis of chastity. But the thing Whydra feared never came to pass.
“Sign here.”
“What?”
“Sign it.”
Albert brazenly presented a contract he had somehow prepared. He was saying, ‘My goal is your body. More precisely, I need your labor.’ Since what he wanted was labor, any perverted thoughts could scram. At the very top of the contract, the words “Slave Contract” were boldly written.
No intention of hiding it anymore, huh?
Why bother? Against this guy?
Albert had no intention of treating Whydra as a regular worker. Considering the damage the dragon had inflicted on the territory—the destroyed buildings, the shattered water pipes—it was nothing short of a terrorist. Normally, it deserved death, but its usefulness kept it alive. A black dragon, a thousand-year-old adult dragon, would have plenty of uses.
‘Thinking about the future, I’ll need even this guy’s hands.’
The territory is always short on talent.
Indeed, a black dragon would have its uses.
If it had been useless, he would have stripped it to the bone and sold it off. Whydra should thank its parents for giving birth to something valuable. They had saved it from human trafficking—or rather, dragon trafficking.
“……May I read it……?”
For a dragon, contracts were extremely important. Great power came with great responsibility. For dragons, a contract was akin to an oath, an unbreakable pact. More than one dragon had suffered from signing carelessly. Lord had always been strict about it.
‘Such things probably won’t happen, but if you ever do make a contract, read every clause before signing. Understood?’
Read the entire contract before signing. Albert grinned and nodded.
“Read it.”
Enduring the pain throughout its body, Whydra rolled its eyes over the contract. There were several clauses, but four stood out:
1. Lernia Whydra shall absolutely obey Albert Legrian, Elena Legrian, and Ilaia [Nanny] from now on.
2. Lernia Whydra shall immediately come running whenever Albert Legrian calls, no matter where it is.
3. Lernia Whydra shall never threaten any being connected to Legrian Territory, regardless of circumstances. (However, this clause does not apply to those banished from the territory or those who have harmed it.)
4. The contract duration continues until Albert Legrian’s death.
“This is……”
A literal slave contract. Signing it would make Whydra the guardian dragon of the Legrian family for as long as Albert lived. It was mortgaging not just its life, but its entire draconic existence. A contract that should never be signed—one so outrageous even Satan would applaud and hand in his resignation. There was no salary either. For someone from the other world, this was unpaid labor! A perfect case of passion pay. No weekends, no vacations.
“……What kind of contract is this! I!”
“Why? Don’t want to sign? Then there’s no choice. Let’s just kill you.”
Whether it read the contract or not, the outcome was already decided. Sign or die. The signature could very well become its cause of death.
“Kuk……”
Whydra gritted its teeth. If it could, it would punch that infuriating face and blast it with poison breath right now. But it couldn’t. Albert’s eyes were sparkling. Go ahead and try if you dare.
“Why? Angry? Feeling wronged? Then what are you going to do? You said it yourself, didn’t you? If you’re angry and wronged, prove your worth with strength.”
Albert smirked and stepped on Whydra’s head as it struggled to lift it. A humiliating position. The dragon felt an immense sense of disgrace at being trampled by a human it had always looked down upon. Albert continued slowly while Whydra remained pinned.
“How does it feel? Having the power you trusted so much shattered so meaninglessly. Experiencing forced submission to a stronger being for the first time. Feels fresh, doesn’t it? You acted so tough in front of the weak, but now what? Are you the type who’s only strong against the weak?”
Weak-strong, strong-weak. Someone who was strong in front of the weak but endlessly weak before the strong. A classic example was anger management issues. Anger didn’t flow upward—it cascaded downward like a waterfall, always directed at those weaker.
“You strutted around like you owned the world with that pathetic power, and now look at you. Pathetic.”
Albert pressed down harder with his foot, making Whydra realize that while it might have been king in its own little kingdom, outside it was nothing. A frog in a well playing king was still just a frog.
“If you don’t want to die, sign. If you want to keep that pride until the end, die right here.”
“Kaaak, I-I’ll do it! I’ll sign!!”
“Your speech is still too casual. How do you think it feels for someone weaker than me to speak informally? What if I get annoyed and accidentally kill you?”
At this point, I’m not sure who the villain is.
If anyone saw this scene without context, they would think Albert was bullying Whydra. To any observer, Albert was clearly the villain.
“I-I’ll sign.”
“Good.”
When Albert eased the pressure, Whydra signed the contract. Collecting it, Albert called out to Elena and Gaster in the distance. With a flash of teleportation light, they appeared.
“Brother, is it over?”
“Yeah, it’s over.”
Albert looked at Gaster and grinned.
“Congratulations.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’ve got a new subordinate now.”
“Subordinate?”
“You’re Taxi No. 1, and this guy is……”
Albert turned to Whydra with a meaningful smile.
“Taxi No. 2.”
Gaster mulled over Albert’s words. Then it hit him.
“I see. So you’re Taxi No. 2 from now on?”
A deep smile spread across Gaster’s face—one Whydra had never seen before. Seeing that smile, Whydra trembled.
‘Why…… does it suddenly feel cold……?’
Whydra had no idea what kind of hellish senior hazing awaited it.