Shall We Be Friends? (1)

The sudden, unfamiliar words that echoed across the lake made me turn my head to locate the source, even though the battle was still raging.

“Did you just say that?”

“Uh… it wasn’t me?”

“Then who?”

It was a booming voice, yet surprisingly high-pitched. The only living creature currently in my line of sight—other than the white-haired woman standing uselessly behind me—was a single being.

-Hiiik!

The creature flinched and shrank back the moment our gazes landed on it.

“……It can talk?”

I muttered to myself and glanced at the rabbit, just in case. But it seemed just as clueless as I was, and judging by the look on its face, asking it wouldn’t yield any useful information.

‘A dragon that speaks human language…’

According to what the rabbit had told me so far, the higher the Status, the more capable a being became of rational thought. The monsters I’d encountered until now—tutorial dummies and zombies—had attacked purely on instinct, while the white-furred monkey, the earth lord, and the orcs had all shown signs of actual thinking. So if this creature possessed a Status similar to a Helper… it wasn’t impossible for it to speak.

Sssst.

“Hey! Why are you dispersing your mana?! What if that thing attacks?!”

The rabbit cried out in panic as I scattered the mana I had gathered with Breath of Fire and stepped out of my Flame Transformation state. It clearly hadn’t expected me to withdraw my power before the fight was truly over.

“Doesn’t look like it’s going to.”

“You never know!”

“Well, let’s at least try talking first. That’s what it suggested, right?”

I sheathed my nameless sword at a casual angle and looked at the dragon. Its eyes, which had been glistening with tears, now sparkled as it stared down at me. Those eyes looked like they could burst into sobs at any moment. Naturally, I didn’t trust it one bit. That was why I hadn’t yet stored Breath of Fire or the nameless sword back into my subspace pouch. Still, lowering its guard was necessary if we were going to talk.

-So… the fight’s over now, right? Right?

“If you don’t attack me anymore.”

-R-really?

Its massive eyes began scanning me up and down. I had put away Breath of Fire, but it still radiated heat, and a single sword still hung at my side. The moment I sensed it trying to evaluate me, I reached for my blade again.

“I don’t want to use force either, but if you keep coming at me, I won’t hold back. Killing you feels like it might trigger some kind of response from the Tower.”

-W-wait! What did I even do?!

“Nothing. Honestly, I just hate the way you keep sneaking glances at me.”

-You crazy human…!

“What?”

-Um, ah, uh.

The creature looked flustered, avoiding my eyes and fidgeting. When I responded so firmly, it began waving its stubby ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠arms wildly and shaking its head in desperate denial. I kept a safe distance and spoke again.

“Come over here first. You were the one who suggested we stop fighting, so show some trust.”

Depending on how you heard it, the words could sound quite threatening. I’d tried to coax it with simple language, but it seemed the dragon had enough intelligence to catch on.

-N-no way! How do I know you won’t attack the second I get close?

“Huh? You don’t trust me? Fine, forget it. You said fighting would be easier than struggling to speak human language, so let’s just do that.”

But in this conversation, the one holding the reins wasn’t the dragon—it was me. The creature had surrendered the instant I pulled out Breath of Fire. If we hadn’t started fighting, I might not have known, but after exchanging a few blows, its behavior revealed a critical weakness: fire. I had been sent flying by its tail, true, but judging by its current reaction, that attack hadn’t been intentional.

-Ah! No! That’s too much!

“I said it’s fine if you don’t want to.”

-Ugh, seriously! Ah!

It looked terrified but clearly didn’t want to do what I asked. I could understand why. If our positions were reversed and it had told me to throw away my weapons and step into the lake to talk, I would have drawn my sword immediately. The problem was—

“Your tone is awfully short, isn’t it?”

-……Yes?

“Just saying. I can tell your weakness is fire and that you’re not very good at fighting, but the way you’re acting so cocky about it… doesn’t feel great.”

The foundation of combat is momentum. And momentum begins with the cards in your hand and the ability to bluff with them freely. In other words, the dragon had already shown all its cards. It no longer had any way to overpower me with sheer presence.

-W-what should I do then?

“I should?”

-Ah, no. What should I do…?

“Do…?”

“……sir.”

“There we go.”

It really did have high intelligence. The dragon quickly became obedient.

“Mr. Kim Siin, is this how you usually are?”

The rabbit, who had quietly sidled up beside me, spoke up. Its tone sounded disappointed, but the face it was making said it was having the time of its life. It seemed the rabbit had also figured out how timid this dragon was.

“What, if you don’t want to come over, should I go to you?”

-Ah, no! I’ll come! I want to come!

When I pulled Breath of Fire from my pouch again, the dragon took a step forward with an expression that looked like it was about to cry. Its gait was an exaggerated waddle—perhaps it had grown unused to walking after spending so much time swimming or flying. Seeing it like this, I finally understood why it had been so reluctant to leave the lake.

-I’m here now… You really won’t attack me, right?

“As long as you don’t attack first, I won’t.”

The creature, whose lower body was clearly overweight, hesitated before opening its mouth. Its body was still leaning slightly backward, ready to dive into the water the moment I seemed threatening.

“Hmm.”

-……

“Hmmmm……!”

Instead of continuing right away, I slowly looked the dragon up and down. Its enormous frame and tough scales were undeniably intimidating. Just from a glance, I could tell it was overflowing with mana. If we had fought seriously, the damage would have been catastrophic.

‘Of course, that’s only if it hadn’t been scared of me.’

It was a meaningless speculation now. While I was lost in thought, the dragon—true to its cowardly nature—was desperately trying to read my intentions.

-Ahem…! Is something uncomfortable…?

“No, nothing like that. I was just thinking that up close, you’re even bigger than I thought.”

There was no deeper meaning behind my words. I had simply found it fascinating that its size felt even more imposing than when I first saw it. But the dragon overinterpreted my comment, which allowed both me and the rabbit to witness something we would never see again.

-Y-you should have said so sooner! It must be hard to look up at me, right? I wasn’t paying attention!

It lifted its slightly lowered head and closed its eyes. The instant I sensed mana gathering around the dragon, I tensed and reached for my sword. But—

Oooong. Oooong.

The feared event never occurred. The mana that had seemed ready to explode was quickly reined in. Then light began to radiate from its body, and its massive form started shrinking.

“Ooh?”

The rabbit, watching the transformation beside me, let out a gasp of admiration, eyes sparkling. The mass of light, which had been closer to a giant building, continued to shrink. Smaller than the hill beside us. Smaller than the trees in the forest.

“Magic that reduces size. So it can use magic too.”

“Honestly, I thought it was weirder that it was only fighting in close quarters. Dragons are supposed to be the race of magic, right?”

“Huh? There were dragons on Earth too? I don’t think so.”

“There weren’t any in reality. But there were.”

“What does that even mean?”

I exchanged pointless banter with the rabbit while quietly observing the change. But the dragon’s size continued shrinking far longer than I expected. Only when it had shrunk all the way down to my eye level did the transformation finally slow.

“……What the?”

Yet what truly caught me off guard was something else entirely.

-Kwaaaang.

The creature stretched and let out a soft growl. But the most dramatic difference from before was that its current form was no longer that of the lizard I had been locked in a bloody battle with moments ago.

“……? I didn’t see this coming.”

“Me neither.”

At the rabbit’s puzzled remark, I let out a dry laugh and stared at the dragon, which had transformed into a ‘human’ in the blink of an eye. Mystical, beautiful features peeked out from between strands of sea-blue hair. The creature, now wearing a long, flowing blue dress, slowly opened its eyes. The blue pupils within sparkled for a brief moment.

-…Ta-da?

It awkwardly raised both hands and offered an awkward smile. Sharp fangs lined its teeth in rows, and its eyes were slit vertically with a piercing sharpness. Seeing it desperately trying to appear harmless with that appearance completely killed any remaining desire to fight.

But then—

Unexpected messages began appearing before my eyes.

The wording was subtly different from the usual achievement messages. And the explanation that followed triggered a change I had never experienced before.

A sudden mission. The beautiful blue figure smiled brightly at me.

‘This could have been dangerous.’

The reality of the -13% intimacy. I felt like I’d been tricked, but considering what I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had done, I couldn’t exactly complain.