The Dragon's Claim
“First. Surrender all the treasures of your lair.”
“Understood.”
“Second. Offer the oath of new allegiance.”
“Understood.”
Second Disciple, Moneygrubber, arrived with a signet ring forged by spell. The emblem upon the ring was a grey crow. In most regions it was regarded as a cunning and ill-omened beast, yet in certain lands it stood as a symbol of wisdom.
“I, the Black Tyrant Karvenalore, swear to the Grey Sage Tellorian. I shall be your loyal vassal, obeying your edicts and standing against your enemies. This is the covenant of dragons.”
At this, the liege answered.
“The Grey Sage Tellorian calls upon Lore as witness and swears to repay your service as follows: loyalty shall be met with protection, fidelity with trust, and betrayal with death. Thus our contract is sealed.”
No additional magical enforcement was performed. Yet both parties respected the sanctity of their promise. That was enough.
“Does this put your mind at ease?”
“Thank you for sparing me, my lord.”
“From now on, answer my questions.”
“Understood, my lord.”
He asked.
“Why did you surrender?”
“Because I wished to live.”
“Did you believe you would die if you fought me?”
“Without question. I would not have died cleanly; my body would have been torn to shreds and sold at auction.”
…He possessed the power to glimpse the future, [Foresight]. Thanks to it, he had anticipated such an outcome, though he had judged the probability extremely low.
“Where has the pride of dragons gone?”
“Does pride guarantee survival?”
“…”
“Every living being has a duty to continue its life. To do so requires the wisdom to act according to time and place.”
The Black Tyrant’s words made the Golden Prince’s eyes waver. She was among the strongest active dragons. He had always believed she upheld the pride of her kind…
[Research Progress: The Last Dragonlord]
[The specimen has learned a new survival strategy!]
[Research Clues 5/10]
[EXP +10]
[Inheritance Points +1]
[38 levels remaining: 90/100]
[Inheritance Points: 17]
“A fine exchange. My knowledge has grown thanks to you.”
He had unconsciously assumed that all dragons were arrogant. Based on past knowledge, that assumption had seemed close to truth.
‘Yet even truth changes with the passage of time. Just as some elves have chosen to mingle with humans and entered a renaissance, dragons who set aside their pride may yet find new opportunities.’
Thus the expedition to the great mountain range achieved its original goal. The mountain orcs would no longer invade the kingdom, and he would gain notoriety as [the mage who subjugated a dragon].
“Then what is your third demand, my lord?”
“Raise and educate my fourth disciple.”
“?!”
The Golden Prince, who had been silently observing, blinked. A dragon who had threatened to raze the kingdom unless her child was handed over was now being asked to raise someone?
“Understood. But I have a question as well.”
“Ask.”
“Are you familiar with the customs of dragonkind, my lord?”
“I am.”
“Then why entrust the upbringing to me?”
Dragons never allowed another dragon into their lair. There were only two exceptions: offspring who had not yet reached adulthood, and…
“Raise him as you would your own son.”
“The Golden Prince is not my son.”
“Which is why I said ‘as your own son.’”
Karvenalore wore an expression of profound bewilderment. It was not the look of defiance or rebellion, but of someone confronted with a concept she had never considered.
“If he is not my son, how am I to treat him as one?”
“Dragons by nature swear loyalty to no one. Yet you have sworn it to me. Why?”
…It had been for survival.
“Accept it in the same way now.”
“I will obey if it is an order… but I do not know if I can properly raise the Golden Prince. A hatchling would be one thing, yet he is already a drake.”
A drake referred to the stage of a dragon’s life cycle corresponding to human adolescence.
“That is precisely why I entrust him to you.”
“I would like an explanation.”
“The Golden Prince spent his youth among humans and does not know what it means to live as a dragon. Therefore he must learn the dragon way of life beside an exemplary adult dragon.”
In this era, dragons had become synonymous with treasure hoards. To have built a stable lair and earned the epithet [Black Tyrant] meant she had lived a successful draconic life.
“Is corporal punishment permitted?”
“Of course. Only injuries that would cause death or permanent disability are forbidden.”
Karvenalore nodded in acceptance. Tellorian turned to the Golden Prince. Tessarion’s face was filled with questions.
“I grant you permission to speak, Tessarion.”
“…”
For the golden dragon raised among humans, this was the first time meeting one of his own kind. His human parents had strictly warned him never to encounter other dragons before reaching adulthood.
“What do you think of my father?”
The young golden dragon asked.
“You mean the previous lord?”
“Yes.”
Tessarion’s father had been a Dragonlord. In human terms, he resembled [a reformist king of a fallen nation]. He had desperately cried out that his declining kin could not continue living as they were, only to meet a tragic end at the hands of the very people he sought to save… or so Tessarion believed.
“My father always said that our kind must learn to live alongside other races. That is why he incurred the hatred of his kin and did not live out his natural years.”
Dragons remained the strongest mortals. Yet this was an age when even the great demon of destruction could not withstand adventurers.
“That is why I was raised by the humans my father called friends. But the longer I stayed with them, the more I felt…”
Nevertheless.
Dragons could not help but sense the difference.
“I am not like them.”
“…”
“Humans are fragile creatures, both in body and mind. They die from being struck by a carriage, and collapse, unable to rise, when they lose a child.”
The Golden Prince had grown up splashing in water with human peers his age. They all adored his strength and beauty. In his earliest memories, he had even carried friends on his back in flight.
Yet.
They were weak.
And they aged so quickly.
“Was my father truly right, after all?”
“…”
“Perhaps we truly are superior to other races. If so, then to restore our great glory, we may need to act contrary to my father’s words.”
Tessarion’s serpentine eyes gleamed.
“Black Tyrant. What is your opinion?”
“I have been listening to you for some time now…”
Karvenalore answered with a puzzled expression.
“I do not understand what you are saying.”
“…What do you mean?”
“I do not understand the point you are trying to make. Whatever the dead lord claimed, what does that have to do with you? A lord’s life is a lord’s life. It has nothing to do with you or me.”
Reptiles—
especially dragons—were solitary creatures.
“Likewise, whether dragonkind declines or not has nothing to do with me. I feel no hesitation about devouring weaker kin, and other dragons once targeted me in my youth. So why should I concern myself with the lives of other dragons?”
The Golden Prince felt as though he had been struck on the head with his own tail. Among his kin, the very concept of [kin] either did not exist or was extremely faint.
“But the previous lord was unusual in feeling a special bond with his kin. He tried to force that same bond upon other dragons as well. That is why he was killed.”
From the indifference toward kin, the Golden Prince realized something. Dragons had never experienced a racial golden age. Therefore they had never experienced a racial decline either. There had only ever been the individual lives of dragons.
“But my father was a Dragonlord, was he not? The king of dragons who held authority over all dragonkind.”
At this, Karvenalore tilted her head.
“Your father was the strongest dragon.”
“…”
“That is why he always held the advantage in territorial disputes and could choose the finest female during mating season. He also served as mediator in conflicts. That is why he was called lord, but he had no authority to command other dragons.”
…Having grown up among humans, the Golden Prince had associated the word [lord] with a leader or sovereign, yet the lord of solitary creatures was not the same as the lord of pack animals.
“The strongest dragon of that era.”
Then Tellorian, who had been watching, interjected.
“Just as the mercenary king is not a king, a Dragonlord is not a lord. It is merely a title given to a dragon powerful enough to be called one.”
The Golden Prince fell into deep thought with a grave expression. With such fragile leadership, there would be no way to save a declining race.
“Karvenalore. Please help me.”
“Very well. I shall raise you.”
“No. Simple upbringing is not enough.”
The Golden Prince asked with intelligent golden eyes.
“I wish to persuade my kin and unite dragonkind as one. I want to show the world that we are no longer a declining race…”
Karvenalore firmly shook her head.
“If they gather in groups, they are not dragons.”
“…Pardon?”
“I am only interested in expanding and enlarging my lair. And a lair is a space created solely for myself. The only exceptions are males who visit during mating season and the hatchlings I personally bear.”
She frowned.
“So why should I concern myself with other dragons who have nothing to do with my lair? I cannot understand it at all…”
Tessarion felt as though he could not breathe. This was not the kin he had dreamed of.
“Black Tyrant! Think about it! If all dragons in the world gathered, even the exalted Sun God would be wary, and the sovereigns of the Abyss and Hell would tremble. We possess more than enough power for that.”
“Hmm.”
She nodded.
“So how does that help my lair?”
“If we reclaim dominion over the world—”
“And then the Sun God strikes us with lightning?”
“…”
“Even the gods could not withstand the combined might of united dragonkind. But a middling dragon like me would be killed easily.”
Dragonkind—
possessed far too strong a sense of individual self.
“Therefore, the wisest choice for me is to build my nest in the great mountains beyond the reach of the gods and protect this place. Why would I answer your call?”
…Tessarion found the Black Tyrant’s answer disappointing. Yet the truly disappointing fact was that the answers of other dragons would likely be the same.
“I have one more question.”
“Your chatter is long.”
“It is the last question.”
“If it is the last, I shall allow it.”
Gulp.
He swallowed and asked.
“Then why did you demand me?”
“?”
“You threatened to invade the kingdom if I was not handed over. Was it not because you opposed my father’s stance?”
At this, Karvenalore burst into booming laughter and revealed her true form. A fully grown black dragon descended—a monster capable of destroying a nation alone.
【You have a talent for absurd delusions, little one.】
…
Little?
One?
【Every living being is fated to meet death someday. Therefore we have a duty to bear offspring and cheat death.】
Crunch!
Karvenalore’s massive claws snatched up the Golden Prince. The boy belatedly shone with golden light and revealed his true form, but a mere drake like the Golden Prince had no way to resist a black dragon close to a wyrm. The size difference alone was four or five times.
【I have always wanted my children to have beautiful scales! Now let us go!】
The Golden Prince let out a roar of protest, but Karvenalore paid no heed and took to the skies. Tellorian watched them with a satisfied expression.
“Master! What is the meaning of this——!”
“For a mage, experiencing service to an older member of the opposite sex during youth is an important rite. Only by learning the transience of physical pleasure at a young age can one focus, upon reaching adulthood, on the joy of accumulating intellect…”
[Research Progress: The Last Dragonlord]
[The specimen has been provided with the finest guardian]
[Research Clues 6/10]
[EXP +10]
[Inheritance Points +1]
[Level Up!]
[39 levels remaining: 0/100]
[Inheritance Points: 18]
Now then.
The fourth disciple had been sent for foster education.
It was time to enjoy peace.
＊＊＊
The mountain range expedition returned amid the thunderous beating of drums. The citizens sincerely welcomed the heroes who had annihilated the man-eating orcs, and the soldiers excitedly recounted their exploits with a touch of bravado.
‘But we didn’t really do much, did we?’
‘We escorted the Grey Sage, didn’t we?’
‘We even planted flags in the occupied territories!’
‘That’s right! We didn’t get a free ride!’
The soldiers set aside their conscience and inflated their achievements. Thanks to this, stories of Tellorian’s destructive spells did not spread as widely as expected… yet those who gathered information had grasped the full situation.
“A single spell wiped out the mountain orcs?”
“Yes, Bank President.”
“And the dragon bowed and swore loyalty?”
“Yes, Bank President.”
…Tellorian was a powerhouse who completely transcended common sense. If so, the way of dealing with him had to change as well.
‘I suppose I’ll have to recover at least the principal.’
Yes.
At the very least, he had to secure his investment.
Without taking any unnecessary risks.