Chapter 83 – A Duel and a Sky Dragon

Author’s Note: The second half of the last chapter was slightly revised. Please see “Activity Report and Supplement (11)” for details. The general flow of the story has not changed. (ED: As in, back when the chapter was originally published in Japanese)

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Day 4 of our stay in the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area. Today I got woken up in just the worst way possible.

“Oi, move it! Are you trying to interfere with the duel!?”

“Jin-sama is still sleeping. I won’t allow you to wake him up for such a trivial reason.”

“What!? Are you calling our duel a trivial reason!?”

Looks like it was that stupid bug’s shouting that woke me up. …Should I just kill him now?

It would appear he came uninvited first thing in the morning, and right now Maria is in front of the mansion barring him from entry. I quickly put on my clothes and headed towards their voices. Dora was still asleep, but Sakura, Mio and Sera’s futons were empty.

Looking at the map, they are with Maria at the entrance, along with the Chieftain, that stupid bug, and 5 other dragon newts. Since one of them is the current first chieftain candidate, Hisui, the other 4 should also be from the same branch family.

A: That’s correct.

In other words, this time that stupid bug even brought his family along for support, when he came to pick another fight with me. That’s just way too pathetic… His evaluation just dropped all the way to the bottom. …Not that it ever ticked up mind you.

“You finally came out, huh!? Duel me! I won’t let you run away any more!”

As expected, as soon as Stupid Bug saw me, he challenged me to a duel, his eyes filled with hatred.

Looking at everyone, following the Chieftain’s example, Stupid Bug and the branch family members are all wearing simple clothing this time. Well, if he had come here and challenged me while naked, I would have killed him on the spot. I’m already doing my hardest to hold back right now. The branch family members behind him are also glaring at me like I’m their enemy. Or, to be more precise, all of them except Hisui are…

On that topic, Hisui herself appears to be around 20 years old with light green wavy hair that looks very soft and fluffy. She’s a beauty with a gentle, warm, and comfortable atmosphere around her, and her breasts are pretty big to boot. She’s even waving at us in a friendly manner, totally ignoring the tense atmosphere around her. Is her head all right? If not, then that would explain the Chieftain’s previous words about her being ‘unfit for the job’.

Maria, who had just been talking to Stupid Bug, walked up to me.

“My apologies, Jin-sama. I wasn’t able to silence him without killing him.”

“Don’t worry about it. More importantly, Chieftain, what’s the meaning of this?”

“My apologies… I told them that I had failed to persuade you yesterday, and this morning they suddenly came and tried to barge in. I think they got a bit carried away…”

If you thought that, then you should have stopped them! …The fact that the Chieftain let them be despite knowing all this means he’s just as culpable. Well, no matter. I was already expecting Stupid Bug to come, though, I still would have preferred if he had at least waited until after breakfast…

“Sounds troublesome… Though, truth be told, it’s also convenient in a way.”

The fact that everyone related to the duel has shown up also means that they’ve saved me the trouble of having to go and look for them myself.

“I’ve talked it through with my companions yesterday, and if you agree to my conditions, I’m willing to accept the duel.”

“Really!? Then, what are your conditions?”

“If I win, I will bring 5 dragon newts other than Dora with me when I leave the Hidden Area. Obviously, on the condition that they accept the taming. We will decide who to take, but if the person themself doesn’t wish to go, we won’t force them.”

“What are you running your mouth about!? I won’t allow such a thing!”

Stupid Bug snapped at me again.

…It’s seriously getting annoying. Just by being here he makes it virtually impossible for us to have a proper conversation. As such, in order not to waste any more of our time (plus, it’s not like he would listen in the first place) I’ll just ignore him from now on.

“If you can’t accept our conditions, we’ll just take all the dragon newts we’ve tamed so far and leave the Hidden Area immediately. Naturally, we will kill anyone who gets in our way.”

I coldly declared to the Chieftain, while doing my best to ignore Stupid Bug. 

I’m sure the Chieftain also understood that the free pass has already become useless. While I’d prefer not to take anyone away against their will, they just wouldn’t take me seriously if I hadn’t said it this way.

“Haah~, it can’t be helped. We accept your demands. If you win, you will be allowed to take 5 dragon newts out of the Hidden Area.”

The Chieftain sighed, but ultimately gave in.

“Chief, what are you doing!? We don’t need to listen to these huma-”

“Then, Chieftain, please explain the rules for the duel.”

Stupid Bug kept shouting, so I talked over him to advance the conversation. No need to pay attention to every single insect’s buzzing.

“You bastard! How dare you ignore me-”

“How about it, Chieftain? If you don’t intend to hold the duel, I can always just take the tamed dragon newts and leave.”

“W-wait, I’ll explain right away. Akatsuki, shut up!”

“Gah…!”

The rules for the duel, as explained by the Chieftain, once he finally silenced Stupid Bug, were as follows:

Killing your opponent is forbidden. You can’t use a proxy. The duel ends when either side faints or surrenders. Weapons may be used. Dragon newts may also transform. Loss of body parts is acceptable, as long as no one dies.

The important parts are as I’ve heard from Alta, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

And thus, the duel between Stupid Bug and me came to be.

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There’s a training ground in the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area, that doubles as both a training place for the dragon newt warriors, and a designated spot for having duels. For me, this is a totally forgettable event, but in order for the Dragon Newts to properly recognize it, we’ll be using a proper venue.

Since I didn’t want to spend any more time than necessary in Stupid Bug’s company, I told him and the branch family members to go ahead, and we’ll follow after them.

“Well then, let’s have breakfast.”

“Ah, that’s right. I’ll get things ready.”

“I’ll help.”

“I will help as well.”

“Then, I’ll go wake up Dora-chan…”

Mio, Maria, and Sera went to prepare our meal, while Sakura, who just like me is of no help in the kitchen, went to wake up Dora.

“…Are you not going to the training ground?”

The Chieftain, who had also stayed behind, asked. I’m sure the look of shock on his face was just my imagination.

“There was no exact starting time specified for the duel, right? More importantly, since all this shouting woke me up, I haven’t had breakfast yet. …Or, is Chieftain telling me to go fight a duel on an empty stomach?”

“Hmm, I wouldn’t say that…”

There’s no way a duel with Stupid Bug would take priority over breakfast, right? It’s only obvious that we’d only go after eating.

Plus, it’s not like we’ve set a specific starting time for it. All we said was that we’ll follow after them, and since we never specified how long after, it’s not like they’ll have any reason to complain if we’re a bit late…

Well, they don’t have clocks in the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area in the first place, so it’s not like they’d be able to tell the exact time anyway…

A little after that, Mio came out, carrying a tray of rice bowls.

“It’s before a duel, so it’s Mio-chan’s katsudon special! Please win the match, okay?” (ED: katsudon – deep-fried pork cutlet-topped rice bowl; katsu – win)

“Somehow, you sound like a grandma.”

“Grandma!?”

Mio was quite exaggeratedly shocked when I tsukommi’d her good luck charm.

“What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing. I’m only 8 years old. It’s not like I mind…”

Could it be that Mio is conscious about her age? Thinking about it, she is the oldest member of our core group (24 years old in total).

“Here you go Sakura-sama.”

“Um, Mio-chan, could I have a little less, please…?”

Sakura requested of Mio, who had somehow already revived and continued serving everyone.

“Ah, now that you mention it, katsudon certainly is a bit heavy for breakfast. I’ll make Sakura-sama’s portion half-size.”

“Thank you very much…”

“I will eat the rest.”

“Kyu! Dora too!”

“Okay, okay. Then, pass me your bowls. I’ll split Sakura-sama’s portion.”

Our resident big eaters, Sera and Dora, both asked for Sakura’s remaining food, as if it were only natural. You two eat quite a lot in the morning, huh…?

“Itadakimasu!” x5

“Kyu! Masu!”

After the food was served, everyone said their thanks, and we began to eat. Because it’s before an important duel (lol), I made sure to chew my food extra thoroughly. There’s no problem if we take a bit longer because of that, right? 

“You really are in no rush at all…”

The Chieftain, who had been nearby all this time, said in an exasperated voice. Well, that’s because I could eat that stupid bug for breakfast. Oh wait, I am in the middle of eating breakfast right now.

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After I finished eating, and waited for a sufficient amount of time to let my meal settle, I flew us over to the training ground with Nosferatu [Wings of The Immortal]. Moving around right after eating could give you a heartburn so there’s really no helping it.

The aforementioned training ground is just a 1km-wide empty patch of land located at the northernmost edge of the Dragon Newts’ village. The ditch surrounding it is probably some kind of a countermeasure against roaming monsters. There is also something that looks to be the seating areas for the audience, though, naturally, there isn’t anyone here right now. Whether Stupid Bug wins or loses, a forced duel is nothing but an embarrassment for the branch family, so nothing good would come out of spreading the word about it.

“You’re late!!! Chief, what the heck took these damn humans so long!?”

As soon as we arrived at the training ground, Stupid Bug started complaining.

“They were having breakfast. Because you came first thing in the morning, they hadn’t had a chance to eat yet.”

“T-the hell!? They prioritised breakfast over our duel!? And Chief, you were also there, and you just let them do it!?”

Stupid Bug kept being indignant, but I’d like to ask, did he come here without eating?

A: He has eaten.

Oi, not cool!

“Obviously. Rather, are you trying to force him to fight you on an empty stomach? If the duel is rigged to the point of one side having such a clear disadvantage, I will have no other choice but to stop it altogether, according to the rules, won’t I?”

“Gah, …can’t be helped. You, hurry up and get ready, you bastard!”

Seeing as Stupid Bug didn’t want our duel to get cancelled, he reluctantly gave up and urged me to prepare. 

The Chieftain guided us to the centre of the training ground. My companions made their way to the seating area on the west side, since the members of the branch family have already occupied the one on the east side. It would be troublesome if they sat together, given how they are openly hostile towards us.

“Go get him, Master!”

“Master, you can do it~!”

I could hear Mio and Dora cheering me on. Since the audience’ seats are 500m away, their voices wouldn’t reach me, so they were using telepathy instead. Unfortunately, that also meant that Stupid Bug wasn’t able to hear them either.

“Jin-sama, excuse me if I’m being too forward, but please don’t let your guard down.”

“Yeah, I’ve got this, Maria.”

Honestly, if I were to fight Stupid Bug normally, I don’t think I would physically be able to lose. Still, it’s always a possibility to randomly get defeated by someone weaker than you by getting caught off guard, so let’s increase my status for the first time in a while. With this, I won’t lose, even if I were to get careless to the point of the proverbial hare, from ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’. Well, one could also argue that I’m letting my guard down in a way by doing this…

“Maria-san, you really are a worrywart, aren’t you? I can’t even imagine Master losing to that.”

“I also don’t think there’s even a slightest chance of him losing. However, if by some chance, be it a 1-in-a-hundred-million one, he were to take a slight injury, after the duel ends, I would just…”

Sera and Maria’s treatment of Stupid Bug seems to be mostly the same. So, if I were to get injured, that would automatically mean it’s Stupid Bug’s funeral, huh?

I arrived in the centre of the training ground, just as my companions took their seats in the west side seating area. Stupid Bug and I were now standing about 10m apart from each other.

“I’ll finish this quickly, so just take it easy and watch the show.”

“Okay” x4

“Beat him to death~!”

Woah! Who taught Dora such inappropriate language!?

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“…Though I’ve already explained, I’ll say it once more. Killing is strictly forbidden.”

The Chieftain went over the rules once more, while Stupid Bug and I faced each other. In particular, the part about us not being allowed to kill each other was reiterated three or four times.

“Yeah, I got it. Basically, it’s fine as long as he’s not dead, right? Half-dead, just barely alive, whatever, as long as he’s still breathing, there’s no problem, right?”

“That’s a pretty extreme way to put it…”

“……”

Taking my light-hearted joke way too seriously, the Chieftain titled his head while making a bitter expression. As for Stupid Bug, he didn’t reply to the Chieftain’s repeated ‘no killing’ statement in any way, and just stood there silently, staring daggers at me all the while. Yeah, I can pretty much tell what he means by that.

“Now then, it’s finally time to start the duel. Akatsuki, are you going to remain in your human form? You do know you can transform into your dragon form before the duel begins, right?”

“No need. I don’t need to use my dragon form for the likes of a human.”

Even though I’ve been repeatedly told not to let my guard down, the heck is it my opponent doing, doing exactly that all of a sudden? And where is his confidence even coming from? It’s not like Stupid Bug had anything good happen to him ever since we came to the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area…

Well, whatever. If he wants to act all carelessly like that, that’s fine by me.

“Are you also ready?”

“Yeah, no problems here.”

The Chieftain asked me, so I nodded to confirm. I’ve already finished my preparations for this fight. This time, my weapon of choice will be… my fists! (my strongest weapon in a sense)

“Hmm, both contestants are ready. Then, we will now begin the duel between the dragon newt Akatsuki, and the human Jin-dono.”

As he said this, the Chieftain raised his right hand.

“Then… Begin!”

“Die, huma-blargh!!!”

As soon as the duel started, Stupid Bug tried to cast his ‘Draconic Magic’ at me, but I used my ‘Flash Step’ and ‘Acceleration’ combo to approach him, and then fed him an uppercut to the face before he could even react to what was happening. His body bent over backwards as he soared through the air, but he wasn’t dead, thanks to my use of ‘Estimation’ skill. …Or, at least he shouldn’t have died from that.

As expected, if you’re going to punch someone handsome, it’s got to be in the face (stomach punch is a close second). See? His jaw is shattered, he’s spewing blood, and his eyes have completely rolled back. With this, his good looks are but a tale of the past now. Oh, by the way, the ‘Draconic Magic’ he was about to cast ended up exploding inside of his mouth, so his face is surely in an all-around terrible state right now..

“T-that’s enough! Match over! The winner is Jin-dono!”

And with that announcement from the Chieftain, my victory had been safely decided. …Haah~, talk about an uneventful duel.

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Once the duel ended, the branch family members rushed over in a panic (except for the easy-going Hisui), and carried Stupid Bug away somewhere. With how beat-up he was, they were probably going to feed him a bunch of healing potions. By now, they surely must have known that we’re capable of using ‘Recovery Magic’, but they likely judged we would refuse them if asked. Obviously, they were right.

A little after that, my companions also approached me.

“Jin-kun, you fought well…”

“Expertly done, Master~!”

“Congratulations.”

“Kyu~! Good job~!”

They all congratulated me on my victory.

“Jin-sama, I’m glad to see you aren’t injured.”

“Yeah, there weren’t really any chances for that in this fight.”

I took Stupid Bug down with a pre-emptive punch to the face, so it’s only natural that I wouldn’t even get scratched. Not that it mattered, really. For example, even if he had actually managed to hit me with his opening ‘Draconic Magic’ strike, it still would have dealt zero damage. Plus, the Nosferatu that I’m wearing is of a legendary grade, so he wouldn’t have even damaged my clothes, now that I think about it.

I actually thought about this before the duel, but just how far would I even have to lower my guard in order to lose to that stupid bug? I’m kind of getting curious now.

“Now we can take some dragon newts with us when we leave! Master, you said I could take two of the kids I’m teaching how to cook, right!?”

“Yeah, I don’t mind taking whichever two Mio picks.”

“Yay~!”

I already promised Mio to let her take two of her pupils (and possibly a third one, depending on the circumstances) with us. This way, she’ll be able to properly teach them back in our Kastal mansion, and finally complete her Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area’s food culture hazard.

“Then, Chieftain, it’s fine if we take some tamed dragon newts with us, right? You won’t suddenly go back on your word, will you?”

Just to be sure, I decided to confirm with the Chieftain, who also came over to us.

“Hmm, naturally. I have no issues with your victory in today’s duel. Though Akatsuki’s injuries were severe, that fool is still alive, so… As promised, I will grant you permission to take five dragon newts outside of the Hidden Area.”

And with that, we can now legally take some of my dragon newt monster followers with us when we leave. Most of the people we’ll be taking have also already been decided on.

First is Mikazuki. She’s not here right now, but when we talked about taking people outside earlier, she desperately pleaded that we bring her as well, so I decided to give her one of the spots. She seems to have had a somewhat important position in the Hidden Area, so she’s absent today on account of passing over her duties.

Second and third spots are for the aforementioned cooking apprentices, so I left them up to Mio. They will be working under her to learn the cooking techniques of the outside world, and then bring them back to the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area. 

Fourth is a part of my hobby.

Fifth is either our ‘lethal one’, or possibly another cooking apprentice. If they keep making things unpleasant for us after this, I will pick the former.

“Now then, I think we’ll head over to fetch one of the people on our list, but if possible, would you come with us Chieftain?”

“Hmm, do you need me for something? Well, I don’t really mind.”

And thus, together with the Chieftain, we went to visit one of the dragon newts (the fourth one) we’ll be taking out of the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area.

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We arrived in front of a building at the southernmost edge of the Dragon Newts’ village.

“Why here of all places…?”

“Isn’t it obvious? There’s someone inside we’ll be taking with us.”

“But, inside here is…”

The Chieftain was hesitant to even say it, but I headed inside without minding him. We came here as a pretty big group, so it was only Maria and the Chieftain, who followed me inside

Because the Dragon Newt’s Hidden Area is built on top of a dungeon, the buildings here have no basements. As such, all the things you would usually put underground had to be built above ground instead. I continued walking through the dimly lit building, until finally coming upon the dragon newt we were here to meet.

“I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.
I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.
I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.
I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.
I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.
I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.
I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.
I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.”

The hoarse voice that kept muttering these words belonged to the former chieftain candidate, Tenri. Her beautiful sky blue hair had become messy, and her clear blue eyes had turned hollow and lifeless, and were now surrounded by dark circles. She was sitting on a cell floor, and was, naturally, still naked.

As a side note, this place is the sole prison of the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area. Or, should I call it a jail, since it’s just one room. It seems like it hadn’t been used at all during the past one hundred years, but ever since we came to the Hidden Area, it has already housed both Stupid Bug and Tenri, one after the other, for whatever reason…

Nevertheless, her face looks terrible. Won’t she just die on her own, before even being handed her punishment, like this?

“I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t wa-…huh?”

Once we got closer, Tenri finally noticed us. As she stared at me intently, her face gradually became dyed in anger.

“Aaah! It’s you! Because of you, I-*cough*, *cough*!”

Tenri’s eyes filled with tears, due to the pain in her throat. Well, If you kept muttering to the point of your voice becoming hoarse, and then you suddenly started shouting, of course your throat is going to hurt.

“Huff…, huff…, what? Did you come here to gloat? To ridicule me, who self-destructed like an idiot, and is just waiting to die now…”

Even though she had just been on the verge of exploding with rage, it seems like the coughing fit deflated her fury somewhat. Tenri’s face barely showed any signs of life any more. Well, I actually brought you some good news this time around.

“I wouldn’t waste my time like that. I’ve come here to give you an offer.”

“As expected, this is what you meant…”

The Chieftain must have already had a vague idea of what I was planning, but he finally became convinced once we came here.

“An offer? At this point, what could you even offer me…”

“If you let me tame you, I’ll make you my mount. How about it?”

It’s something I heard from Alta, but it seems that Sky Dragons are among the best mounts. And since Tenri is the only Sky Dragon in the entire Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area, I’d like to make her my mount if possible.

“What kind of stupid thing are you even saying. Let you tame me? Even if I were to agree to that, I will still be killed in accordance with the Hidden Area’s rules. There would be literally no meaning to it…”

I see. So that’s why she kept muttering ‘I don’t want to die’ over and over again. She seems to have already given up, not a glimmer of hope remaining in her eyes.

“Well, yeah, if that were the whole story, then there really would be no point in doing that. However, it just so happens that the Chieftain has granted me permission to take several of the tamed dragon newts outside of the Hidden Area. I can give you my word, that if you let me tame you, I’ll bring you with me when I leave. And with that, you’ll also escape your punishment.”

“Eh…?”

As she listened to my words, she suddenly froze with a stunned look on her face. Once she started moving again, she looked to the Chieftain who reluctantly nodded in response.

“H-hmph! If you beg me for it, then I suppose I might agree to let you tame me!”

Tenri said, as she promptly stood up and swept her hand through her long hair. Are you seriously going to add a tsundere character trait at this point? Well, if I’m unlucky she might actually go all ’tsun’ on me, so just in case, let’s make sure there’s also some ’dere’ in there. (ED: tsundere – aloof when lovestruck; tsuntsun – aloof; deredere – lovestruck (in this context))

“Well, I tried. There are other candidates-”

“Please tame me! Be it as a mount, or anything else! I’ll do whatever Master says and fully devote myself to you!!!”

Before I could even finish my line, Tenri did a dogeza on the spot, and begged to be tamed. What a splendid reversal. Although, I feel like she just skipped over the ‘tsun’ part, and went straight to the ‘dere’ bit there. Still, it looks like taming her will give me various benefits (and plenty of new joke material).

In all honesty, she was so prideful the last time we met, I was actually worried she might straight up refuse to be tamed. But then again, I didn’t think someone who doesn’t want to die to the point of saying it aloud over and over again, would brush away a helping hand like that, so from the moment I entered the room, I was already pretty confident in this outcome.

“Well, that’s that then. Chieftain, I’m going to tame Tenri and take her with us when we leave the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area. You don’t have any complaints, right? Not that I’ll actually change my mind, even if you do.”

And with that, we now have our fourth person, also known as our “Sorry, but we’re taking Tenri, who broke the rules and was sentenced to death, with us” plan. As a side note, is seems that Tenri’s accomplices were spared the death penalty, and were instead sentenced to hard labour.

“Haah~… From the beginning, this was your objective, wasn’t it? That’s why you phrased it as ‘on the condition that they accept the taming’, so that you could take someone you will tame even after the duel.”

Well, yeah. I didn’t want to needlessly limit my choices to the people who were already tamed at the start of the duel, since there was always a possibility that we would tame someone else afterwards.

“And while you certainly stopped taming people with food, you didn’t use it to tame her, so you technically didn’t break your promise. Brilliantly done…”

I never said that ‘I won’t tame any more dragon newts’, just that ‘I won’t tame with food any more’. My late grandfather told me that if you’re going to put conditions on something, you should always try to minimise the restrictions as much as possible.

“I guess this is fine then. Tenri, If you agree to be tamed by Jin-dono and leave the Hidden Area with him, I will revoke the death penalty. However, I will not allow you to set foot in the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area ever again.”

“I understand.”

Thus, in exchange for being tamed by me, Tenri was able to escape capital punishment.

Next, I used my ‘Monster Taming’ skill on her.

> A Sky Dragon has been tamed.
> Please give it a name.

Naturally, she didn’t resist, and was instantly tamed, and as usual, I was prompted to give her a name. Should I leave her with her original name, like the other dragon newts (who we tamed with food), or should I give her a new one.

“Hmm, Tenri. I’m being asked to give you a name, now that I’ve tamed you, but what would you like? If you want to keep it as ‘Tenri’, I’ll leave it as is.”

“Master, I would like you to give me a new one, please. Tenri, who was the chieftain candidate, will die here, and I will be reborn as Master’s monster follower, so I want Master to give me a new name.”

She said such a heavy thing without even hesitating.

It seems one of the reasons why Sky Dragons are considered to be the best mounts is because, although they’re unmanageable at first, once they recognize someone as their master, they fully devote themselves to them (although there are too few confirmed cases of this, to form a proper basis…).

Also, since they are dragon newts, they naturally have varying personalities, but it seems that they all tend to have tsundere-like character traits.

Well, for now, let’s see the possible choices, as usual.

> Name it ‘Blue’
> Name it ‘Tenshi’
> Name it ‘Misora’
> Name it ‘Yukari’

‘Yukari’ is back, to no one’s surprise…

‘Tenshi’ is no good, so it’s out. ‘Misora’ feels a bit too Japanese. Honestly, since I first saw Tenri, she gave off a strong impression of the colour blue, so, though it might be a bit simplistic, maybe ‘Blue’ would actually work.

“Alright, your new name is ‘Blue’!”

“‘Blue’… Understood. My name is ‘Blue’. Please take care of me Master!”

“Yeah, nice to have you.”

And thus, Blue has joined my subordinates as my personal mount.

“Then, Master, what should I do now?”

Tenri, no, she’s called Blue now, asked.

“Right. Chieftain, since Blue is going to leave the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area with us, is it okay if she accompanies us until then?”

“While I would originally refuse… It’s a bit late for that at this point. Fine, as long as you supervise Tenri-”

“It’s ‘Blue’. Please don’t get it wrong.”

Blue flatly corrected him. It seems she has already become attached to the name I gave her.

“…So it is. As long as you supervise Blue, I will allow her to stay with you. It would be good if she could commit some final images of her home town to her memory.”

Saying that, the Chieftain opened the cell Blue was in.

“I understand. Thank you, Chieftain. Then, Master, shall we…, ah…”

“What is it?”

Just as she was about to walk out of the cell, she suddenly stopped. After glancing at her own body, her face suddenly turned red.

“My body is all dirty so it’s super embarrassing! Geez, don’t make me say such things!”

“Well, it’s not like you had time to do anything about it. ‘Clean’.”

I haven’t actually mentioned it, but Blue’s body really was dirty. In a sense, it’s only natural, given how she was way too scared of dying to go use a toilet properly. As such, I just used ‘Clean’ on her without paying it any mind.

“…Ah, thank you. Then, once more, shall we go?”

And so, the four of us: Maria, Blue, the Chieftain, and I, left the Hidden Area’s prison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh! It looks like you managed to safely tame her. Congratulations Master!”

“You’re the ladies who were with Master yesterday, right? What are your relationships?”

Blue asked, seeing Mio and the others approach us, so let’s introduce them in order.

“All of them are my subordinates. The one who followed me inside is Maria, and the ones here, starting from the left, are Mio, Sera, Sakura, and Dora. It’s not ‘Shirayuki’, it’s ‘Dora’, alright?”

“Kyu~. Dora is ‘Dora’, so please don’t get it wrong~.”

Blue’s expression clouded once she saw Dora.

“Dora…”

“Kyu~? Un~?”

“I know it’s probably too late to apologise now, but I’m sorry for ousting you.”

Saying that, Blue lowered her head towards Dora in apology. While Blue removed her fellow chieftain candidate, Shirayuki, from the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area because she thought of her as a nuisance, she never actually wanted to kill her. And while it’s certainly true that there was a high probability of Dora dying when left alone outside, it seems that she still prepared a few-days-worth of food for her at the Dragon’s Gate, so, all things considered, it was thanks to that that Dora was able to make her way to a nearby village (and then get caught by bandits).

“Kyui~. Kyu~. Don’t worry about it~. Thanks to that, Dora was able to meet Master~.”

“Yeah, that really makes me jealous… By the way, is Dora also a mount? Am I, …a spare?”

Blue asked, while sounding a little sad.

“No. Dora is my pet/hug pillow. I have no intention of riding her into combat. And with how strong she is, it’s much better to let her fight on her own anyway. Plus, she’s way too small for me to ride on her to begin with…”

“Kyu, Kyu~! It’s a shame, but Dora likes being a hug pillow too~!”

“I see, (…thank goodness).”

That ‘thank goodness’ part at the end there, was really quiet, but I still managed to hear it. According to Alta, Sky Dragons are both very obedient, and very jealous. It’s fine if it’s in a carriage, but if you ride directly on a horse, not to mention on another dragon, they will become seriously disgruntled.

“Oops, what am I doing, only introducing one side. This is Blue. As everyone knows, she used to be named ‘Tenri’, but after I tamed her, I gave her a new name.”

“Is it like, ‘Blue’ because she’s blue? That’s way too simple!”

When I introduced Blue, Mio commented with a shocked expression.

“But, I think it’s still better than that time Jin-kun named Tsukiyo-san and Tokoyo-chan…”

“That’s true. I don’t think it’s even possible to beat that one.”

“There’s absolutely no way to dispute that…”

On that topic, while I ultimately left Tsukiyo and Tokoyo (the two Golden Foxes that Sakura mentioned) with their original names, I was originally going to rename them to ‘Croissant’ and ‘Raisin’. It seems that there are quite a few hazards lurking within my naming sense.

“Also, Blue will have to accompany us until we leave, so I think we should go around the Hidden Area one last time for her sake. Blue, is there anywhere you would like to go?”

“Yes, I want to say goodbye to my family. And, if it’s alright, I’d like to fly a circle around the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area with Master on my back.”

“Oh yeah. I’ve finally got a mount. It would be a waste to not ride it.”

“What kind of reason is that… Well, it’s fine, please hop on.”

While a little taken aback, Blue still changed into her dragon form. As expected, Sky Dragons are beautiful blue-coloured dragons. Just like in her human form, she has clear sky blue eyes, but her wings aren’t feathered like Dora’s, but leathery, like a bat’s. It almost seems as if the light would shine through them, if you looked at the right angle…

“Jin-sama, please use this.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Saying this, Maria handed me, …a saddle and stirrup, I guess? Simply put, it’s a chair with pedals for riding large animals (that’s a rather poor explanation). Still, it also has handles (I said it was a poor explanation).

A: Lucia arranged for it when she heard you were getting a Sky Dragon as a mount. It was made by the world’s finest craftsmen, with the full support from the Chamber of Advanced Commerce’s, and their extensive trade network.

Yep, I had a feeling that would be the case. Of course, I’m really grateful and all, but still I feel like they’re overdoing it a bit. I attached the riding equipment to Blue, and tried mounting her.

“Hmm, I’ve never had anyone ride on me before, but it feels rather nice.”

Blue was in a good mood, as if her Sky Dragon’s inner instincts were being stimulated. Or so I thought, when suddenly her body collapses. I hopped down from her back and inquired about her condition.

“What’s wrong Blue?”

“Huh…? Ah, my stomach is empty… I haven’t eaten anything in a while…”

Apparently she couldn’t muster any strength on account of being too hungry. Since she kept muttering deliriously all this time, I could see how she didn’t really get a chance to eat anything.

“I could just feed her some food pills, but somehow that feels a bit mean, so, Mio!”

“Roger!”

In this situation, using ‘Energy Pill’ to give her the needed calories and nutrients would probably be the easiest, but it felt a little sad feeding it to her right after she’d been tamed. Since it’s her first meal with us, I want her to eat something super delicious. Well, I won’t be the one cooking it though…

“Here! One extra thick steak with a bang!”

“It does make an impression.”

“Kyui~! So big~!”

What Mio brought out, and the other girls commented on, was a huge, thick piece of steak. With over 30cm in width, and being more than 5cm thick, I don’t think a normal person would be able to finish it in a single sitting (except for Sera, who isn’t a normal person anyway). 

“It looks delicious. May I also have one later?”

“No problemo~.”

She must have grilled it right before being put into ‘Inventory’, as it was still sizzling atop an iron plate, releasing a delicious aroma into the air.

“What is this… I can’t stop drooling.”

Looking at Blue, it was as if a dam had broken inside her mouth. Well, she is a dragon newt after all. Next to her appetite, her self-control is pretty much non-existent.

“Here, Master, Take it.”

“What?”

Mio passed in front of Blue, who was already covered in drool, and handed me the plate with a steak.

“It’s Master’s mount, so Master should be the one to feed it.”

“I suppose.”

I don’t think she meant I should feed her myself every time, but I should at least do it the first time. As such, I stabbed the steak with the large fork Mio handed me, and held it out for Blue.

“Alright, you can eat it Blue. It’s hot, so be careful.”

“Yes!”

Blue said before biting into the steak. It disappeared into her mouth in a single bite, but I didn’t really get a chance to comment on it, as I was too busy dodging the drool flying every which way, as she kept chewing reverently.

*************************************************************************************************************

At the same time, the others were…

Midori: Jin’s monster follower, Dryad.
The level of her ‘Special Medicine Compounding’ skill increased, giving her a bit more leeway. She is worried about an increase in quota.

Potechi: Mio’s monster follower, useless dog.
Lacking skinship, due to Mio being away for several days in a row. He’s surprised to feel lonely for the first time ever.

Yurika: Resurrected, amnesiac.
C-rank adventurer. Known by her nickname: ‘Plant Killer’.

Midori: Here… shade… my favourite…

Potechi: ”zzzz… *whine*…”

Yurika: “Ah, a plant monster… No wait, that’s an ally…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kastal’s adventurers group: 8 slave adventurers, aiming For S-Rank.
All of them have passed their exam, and are now respected A-rank adventurers.

Coco: “That A-rank exam was probably the hardest thing we did so far, since we couldn’t challenge it as a party.”

Knot: ”Yeah. Even so, there seem to be a lot more A-rank monsters than I initially thought.”

Iris: “No, of course not. Are you stupid?”

Yuria: “Indeed, it’s unusual to have eight A-ranked monsters appear at the same time like that.”

Roro: “You too, Claude. Good job taking on an S-rank monster on your own. It’s always like that with you.”

Sicily: “You were tasked with escorting Cheria-chan back to her home town in Gashas Kingdom, right?”

Adel: “You said the people around you suddenly became unable to move…?”

Claude: “Yes, I was able to resist it, but it seems to have been an effect of some weird skill called ‘Sloth’”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucia: Jin’s slave, Second Believer, former Queen’s Knight.
She passed on her duties as the head maid to her successor, in order to be able to fully devote herself to her work as the head of the Chamber of Advanced Commerce. She is by no means no longer busy.

Romarie: Regressed to infancy, demoness beauty.
Under Lucia’s guidance, she is steadily growing up as a fellow believer. Perhaps it’s due to her actual age, but her mental growth is much faster than that of an ordinary child.

Shion: Mysterious little girl. (ED: Previously translated as ‘Zion’)
In training to become a maid. For some reason she gets along really well with Romarie.

Lucia: “I’ll have to get someone to take over babysitting one of these days.”

Shion: “I’ll take care of Roma-chan!”

Romarie: “Uuu~!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mira: Vampire, formerly human.
Has become accustomed to working as a maid. Spends her spare time playing music.

Fiyu: Formerly noble’s daughter, musician.
As always, she devotes almost all of her free time to music. Doesn’t mind working as a maid. She’s being solicited by nobles.

Mira: “Recently, the requests for performances from the nobles of Estia Kingdom have been increasing, haven’t they?”

Fiyu: “I suppose so.” (Written on paper. She’s the type who doesn’t use telepathy)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Estia’s explorers group: 4 slave explorers, aiming to conquer the dungeon with their own power.
They are currently challenging the 34th floor (cemetery area).

Cynthia: Assault type hero, bludgeoning type hero.

Kate: Genius, devout believer.

Karen: The red twin.

Sora: The blue twin.

Kate: “Thanks to Cynthia-chan’s weapon being enchanted with the Light attribute it was a lot easier this time.”

Cynthia: “I’m not too keen on it… I barely feel anything when it hits…”

Sora: “How stubborn, …right Karen-chan?”

Karen: “How pigheaded, …right Sora-chan?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sakuya: Queen of Kastal, -noja loli (when in official setting only)
While she’s busy with her official duties as the Queen, she still finds eating at Jin’s mansion the most soothing. She’s a little lonely without Jin though.

Cattleya: Princess of Estia, famous for her transcendent beauty
Lately she’s a little concerned about her arms getting flabby. She’s eating too much.

Rouge: Princess of the Crimson Empire, a proper lady who’s prone to make verbal slips. 
She received permission from Jin to eat at the mansion. Instantly fell in love with it. Oh, she’s also challenging the dungeon.

Nino: Slave maid, head chef, believer.
She is itching to hear about the food situation in the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area from Mio.

Sakuya: *munch* *munch*

Cattleya: *chew* *chew*

Rouge: *munch* *munch*

Nino: “The number of royals has increased again, yes…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monster Girls mercenary group: 3 of Jin’s monster followers acting as mercenaries.
They defeat the monster bearing the ‘Wrath’ curse mark.

Tiramisu: Dinosaur little girl, hodgepodge of moe elements.

Maple: Female Great Sea Serpent, excessively humble.

Chocolate: Harpy Queen, leader of the Harpies.

Chocolate: “What a tough opponent, even for this mistress.”

Maple: “Indeed. This servant was already prepared to die there.”

Tiramisu: “The fact that you don’t use pronouns really hinders our communication, you know ☆”

(ED: I didn’t really capture the way they speak well, since they were some of my first chapters, but I’ll be going back to redo them at some point.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tsukiyo: Foxy vixen, beauty that toppled a kingdom.
In charge of fluffing in Jin’s mansion. Can’t forget the petting she received from Jin.

Tokoyo: Little fox girl, shy.
Also in charge of fluffing in Jin’s mansion. Has begun to turn into a woman under the influence to Jin’s petting.

Tokoyo: “I want Master to pet me again.”

Tsukiyo: “Yes, let’s get him to pet us both next time.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carro: Chief Dungeon Keeper, an orphan picked up by late Azuma.
Now that all dungeon keeper positions have been filled, she has started renovating the hidden floors, as requested by Jin. (ED: Floors 51-60 that are inaccessible to regular explorers)

Aisha: Monster tamer, teasing material.
She’s struggling to find new monster followers. Her only follower at the moment is a slime.

Aisha: “Why am I together with Carro-san, who’s almost completely unrelated to me?”

Carro: “No reason. Seems like we’re just extras, pyon.”

*************************************************************************************************************

Author’s Note: 

Dora: Pet/Hug Pillow
Blue: Mount = Vehicle

They’re not being treated as proper humans! Well, they’re monsters. Also, the Seven Deadly Sins keep decreasing in the background.