A Dragon's Curiosity

The [Bronze Fleece Sheep] stood closer to Nisha’s group. It eyed both parties and then snorted. Floating around the elf were several fireballs that had enraged it, even a monster recognized that much. The crowd of followers next to Declan cried in astonishment and fear. Even they could recognize the strong vitality exuded by powerful aura coming from the bronze coloured sheep. While they longed to earn more contribution points and to take down as many monsters as possible, this was not just any creature. Indicated by the golden specks, this individual was about to break through and evolve into a [Golden Stone Sheep], the rulers of all monsters in this domain. Similar to a king their power was simply beyond the students.

Tranquility only reigned for a mere moment. The monster eyed the two groups and was about to take action when Nisha released her spell. The remaining four [Fireballs] flew out and crashed towards the ground in a straight line, evoking an explosion of dust and dirt. Standing behind the young noble, his group did not think much either and started their attack. Several arrows,flying knives as well as an [Earth Bolt]— which had been hidden by a dual cultivation student similar to Nisha— soared straight at the [Bronze Fleece Sheep] with great vigor.

It was only then that their leader Declan figure out there was something wrong.

“Stop! Don’t attack it!”

Sadly it was already too late and his suspicion proved to be true. The elf had never aimed at the monster in the first place and her spell made much noise but dealt no damage. His group’s attack, on the other hand, pelted the sheep and angered it even further.

While it bellowed in rage and turned to engage with Declan’s group, Nisha pulled her two friends and vanished into the forest while the cloud of dust covered their retreat. Between the onslaught of a monster close to breaking through the third aura rank and the victorious smirk the elf flashed him, Declan felt close to spitting out a mouthful of blood from anger.

Behind the trio the sound of battle erupted. With her deception, Nisha originally wanted to create a cover screen while they presented themselves as the harder target. As a beast she knew the [Bronze Fleece Sheep] would not press them too hard in case it had a better option to vent its anger. Combined with the sudden attack by the other group, her plan worked even better than expected and her silver bell-like laughter sounded through the forest as she dragged Unico and Lisa along.

The youth with the purple hue on his skin shimmering took it in stride and ran along, despite twitching his hand from time to time as if he wanted to retrieve it from her grip. Lisa on the other side of Nisha stumbled along and had a hard time keeping herself upright.

“Wait, wait, don’t pull so hard. I will really fall down!”

She was seriously flustered by the sudden arrival of a monster combined with their sudden escape.

Only after passing several clearings and changing directions multiple times did Nisha finally stop and release their hands.

Like magic, Accalia appeared and lay behind her owner as she was sitting down, acting as a soft and furry cushion.

“Let’s take a break, things have gotten hectic after all.”

It seemed like the dragon decided to pretend nothing out of the ordinary had happened. A simple sentence sufficed to explain everything, according to her.

Unico had a wry smile on his face after hearing this, yet he held back saying anything. An even larger storm was brewing as a certain girl had been driven to her breaking point.

“How can you say it like that! First you face off against nobles and talk us into a fight against a whole group of warriors, then you lure over an even bigger monster and almost make it chase us to death! This is not just inviting a tiger to chase off a wolf, you almost got us killed! What is going on in that head of yours, are you thinking about your actions at all? I don’t want to die yet, do you know how scared I was?”

Compared to the usual compliant and somewhat shy girl, Lisa spoke out all the grievances she held in her heart and ruthlessly blamed Nisha to the point where even the dragon had to admit that her methods were too much without an explanation. Under her accusatory pointing finger, the elf cleared her throat and avoided looking her in the eye.

“Ah, that … okay, I’m sorry. It must have looked really scary, right? Let me explain first.”

“Explain what exactly? Where did I misunderstand something? When you offended a bunch of nobles to the point where steam came out of their ears from wanting to tear you apart, or maybe when you lured over a monster on the verge of breaking through to the third aura rank at any moment? No, wait, I got it. It definitely has to be the part where you hauled us through a forest infested with monsters everywhere, running without checking for a path or making sure we don’t run into something even more perilous. That must have been it, right? What are you going to explain?”

Her entire face flushed red like an apple and her determined gaze nailed Nisha in place. This time the elf had thoroughly angered her and she demanded an explanation.

The nonchalant attitude after committing wrongdoings only infuriated her further.

Faced with such a burning hot stare, even Nisha had to agree that she used a somewhat extreme measure.

Slowly, the dragon blinked and raised her hands in defeat.

“You are right, the [Bronze Fleece Sheep] was indeed strong, and it is close to breaking through, but at the time I simply had no time to explain at all. I’m sorry for that.

Would you really have liked to submit to that guy though? I wanted to reason it out with him, yet they tried to attack us again and again. Anyway, this should not excuse me, but I think we got away in the end and that counts for something. In the future I will try to communicate my intent better.”

Normally Nisha would have argued and shown her point of view, in particular in case someone accused her with such vigor. However, Lisa’s red-rimmed eyes and teary expression wore down her defenses and made her yield.

Unico watched the whole scene without interfering, torn between amusement and solemness. He had faced more danger in the past and was not particularly affected, but he also felt for the girl who went out of her comfort zone and made this trip.

The agitated girl also calmed down after getting an apology and backed down slightly, sitting on the root of an ancient tree and hugging her knees. Now shock set in and she went through the experience in her head again. While terror still remained within the memory, Lisa also recognized how they got away through luring over a monster. Not that it sat any better with her.

“To be honest, I’d save you from the [Bronze Fleece Sheep] as well if I had to. While it looks scary, it is not a third aura rank creature yet. A monster on that level should be manageable when we work together. Unico is rather skilled at the middle of the second rank and you could break through any time now. So I think we have a good chance to take it down with our team.”

The dragon filled the following silence with her words.

As long as no one is around, I can even take care of a [Gold Stone Sheep], fighting with my limbs instead of relying on this spear. It’s barely at the second rank and might break if I use too much force.

She did not say her thoughts out loud, otherwise the other two and any student nearby might be angered to death. They already admired the academy for taking so many weapons of the second grade out for a warrior trip yet the elf complained about it.

Nisha was spoiled by her own [Taurith Short Swords] she commonly used when hunting for rations inside the Dungeon.

“Hard to say. Running away might not be a problem though. Should we look for a recently advanced second rank sheep and try to fight it?”

Unico apparently agreed with her evaluation and toyed with his daggers. He was left with a bad taste in his mouths when he had no choice but to remain silent after confronting Declan. As a man he was taught to take action and protect women, but he had to agree that Nisha currently was more powerful than himself. He also avoided attention this way and let the elf stand out more.

“Why did I agree to form a team with the both of you, I must have been struck by a fever. We just got away from one monster and you are already looking for the next one.”

The fighting spirit of their team failed to encourage Lisa, who rolled her eyes in annoyance. Her previous anger had yet to fade away, but she agreed to go with them after a short rest.

“Now that I think about it, won’t that noble come and find trouble with us? We unloaded a difficult monster on his group. This might come back and be a real problem.”

Before she stood up, Lisa suddenly thought about the previous encounter. During all the time the young girl lived in the capital, she always observed the noble offspring coming from the various houses and developed a profound fear of them, especially due to the urging of her parents to never argue with them. As wealthy merchants, they had the capital but not the prestige to contend with them. Their long standing wish was for their daughter to mingle with high society and make a name and gain a title for herself.

Now their group offended one noble directly and placed them in a perilous situation.

Nisha pondered and wondered how to respond. Personally, she feared none of the nobles who attended the academy. Even without her identity as the adopted successor of a Duke, her personal capabilities were enough to contend with any of them. If they ever set sights on her friends, the dragon was ready to rain hell on them. And she intended to protect her friends.

Unico replied first though and solved that worry. He seemed really amused as well.

“You got it half right and half wrong. In reality, I would be extremely surprised if we ever heard of this encounter again. At most, we have to endure some unfounded boasting, but that’s all.

If you worry and think about consequences, you cannot see it clearly, however the small dispute we had with them is much more inconvenient for Declan Cawane. As a noble there are inconveniences we cannot imagine.”

The last part seemed especially ironic, considering that he came as part of a foreign delegation, to attend a [Royal Academy]. If he was not a noble character in the twin kingdoms, he should be at least closely related to a blue-blooded family or house.

“What do you think is worse, running from a group of armed fighters who had the numerical advantage, or getting tricked and beaten by a trio of students who had no remarkable background?”

Most youths had a high opinion of themselves. Without any chances to experience the harshness of life or any significant setbacks, these young men believed themselves invincible and would never debase themselves even so much as verbally. The youth with the violet-hued skin had no problem whatsoever with joking about himself.

“Well, that does sound bad. I mean, I can’t say I understand why exactly it is worse to lose to a weaker opponent but I have seen similar instances in my parent’s shop before. Nobles put their pride and face above everything else.”

With this simple explanation, the remaining worries Lisa had dissipated into thin air. As a commoner she certainly valued her life and survival more than face, but if they liked it, she would not argue with them.

“What about you, Unico? Are you concerned about your pride as well? It does not seem that glorious to hang around with two common girls. It must be hard to face your landsmen after accompanying us.”

Similar to this youth, the elf put herself down as well. Contrary to Unico’s nonchalant way, Nisha spoke in a more natural manner though. Even with her outer appearance as an elf she seemed especially attuned to nature. The two others completely believed in her backstory, a rural child coming from the countryside after a fortuitous encounter. Saying it like that rather raised her status.

“You must be kidding, the [Royal Academy] advocates equal standing among the students. As long as we are enrolled, no one is above the others. How can I suffer in such lovely company?”

Like a true statesman, the youth with the violet-hued skin easily deflected the question and sent a red flush to Lisa’s cheeks.

Naturally this did not escape the dragon’s perception, she monitored their surroundings constantly with her [Spirit Sight].

A trivial reaction like this roused the vitality coursing through Lisa’s entire body and congregated a small concentration of aura along with her blood in her facial tissue.

The unremarkable skill never ceased to amaze the dragon.

“Enough idling around. It’s time to get serious and work hard. We won’t get another chance so soon to earn easy contribution points. I guess the next outing will be especially hard to put a damper on the winners from this time. The academy will never hand out anything for free.”

Under Nisha’s urging, the trio prepared their weapons and set off into the forest again.