-- that was a while ago --

'My God, golden!　Those terrifyingly strong humans have come to our territory again!

　As he said this, a black dragon with a grimace of fear ran into my den.
　Incidentally, this black dragon is not the one that was defeated by the humans yesterday.
It's another black dragon, another dragon.

　Oh dear, the habit of bragging about how he is feared by the humans as a synonym for fear is bordering on the ridiculous.
　It's not just black dragons, green dragons, blue dragons, red dragons, and even the jewels that have been coveting the dragon aristocracy.

　I'm sure their scales have been refreshed, but their nests are too small to fulfill.

What will you do with the gold?

Not much. This is a monster we can't defeat even if we were together.

　I heard that the green dragons attacked the weaker humans in their crowd in a bunch, but they were still only able to give them a hair's breadth of fatigue.

It's a good thing that they're not just a bunch of people.　Do you want us to cower in our cave and wait for them to return?

Huh....that's right!

　Yes, it's the only way to go.
In fact, I think it would be even better if we could destroy the entrance to the den so that no one could get in!

What?　Have you no pride in your dragons?

　Pride?　Something like that was scraped off the other day, along with the scales!

"Say what you will, but I will not move. I will not move. If you don't want to die, you'd better stay put in your cave. Be still....

　Well, I'll just admire the treasures I won by defeating the humans who challenged me recklessly.

"Well, you've learned a lot while you've been gone for a while.

''What's that voice?!''

　I looked back at the voice cursing me, and as expected, there was a troublesome dragon.

''The silver ... you're back?''

　Yes, this is the Silver Dragon, the number two in our territory.

"My goodness, a man who claims to be the King of Dragons is so weak-minded. Huh, you've fallen behind the humans?

I don't think I've ever called myself a king. People call me a king when they want to.

　Dragons are sensitive to pecking order.
　And gold is the mark of a dragon's strength.
　In fact, I am strong.
　That's why others have called me king.

"Oh, well, I'll be king instead of you, then, won't I?　Instead of you being a coward.

I don't mind.

　Only if you can take care of those humans for me.

"What did you say?　Don't you have any pride in being your own king?

　I just said that you're not proud of being king.
　And now you're asking if you can change the king.
　That's the problem with this guy, he's been bothering me for years.

I don't know what's the matter with you.　Have you really fallen behind the humans?

Yes, you're right. Not long ago I was defeated by a human. It happened very fast.

''What?!''

　The silver one comes looking at me in disbelief.
　Oh, in hundreds of years of living, I've never seen this guy's face like this.
　Hahaha, if you could see this face, then it's not so bad that you lost.

''Buh-bah-bah...............................Stupid?　The golden one lost?　By a human?　It's only a human?

The silver one seems to be in quite a state of shock.
　Hahaha, I was shocked to lose too.
　It's not just the fact that we lost, but the fact that we don't want to get involved with those humans.

"Stupid....stupid....hahaha!　Is that appearance also because of the humans?

　Oh, you finally noticed.

"Yes, you're right. "Yes, you're right, I don't want to fight with those people anymore. In fact, I don't want to get involved with them, so please leave me alone.

What?　Huh.........?

　The silver one completely stopped moving in amazement to find out that my scales were turned into this by those humans.
　Well, I know how you feel.
　But, well, now it's a little quieter.

　Now, let's get back to admiring the collection...

'Huh, don't be silly, ministry scales!　Dragon scales...

Not just scales. Horns, too.

Tsutsuki?　Tsutsuki horn was shaved off too!

　Hearing that the horns were shaved off too, the silver one's face turns bright red.
　I'm not going to be able to get away with it.

I'm not going to allow you to do that!　I won't forgive you, humans!　I'll tear it out of you in person on this one!

Yeah, yeah, well, good luck with that.

　But I do not know.

"Yes, you're the one I'm talking about and you're somebody else's problem!　All of you!　I'll drag you to the battlefield, even if I have to drag you out!

　Huh?　What are you saying?
　I don't want to get involved!
　Hey, knock it off, guys!　Stop pulling.

BAH!　No!　You will die!

Then I'll show you!　It's called dragon pride!

　I don't want to see that.
　Let go of me!　Seriously, let go!

"And you will know!　It is who you truly cling to!

I'm not kidding!　I'm not staying here!
　I'm getting away!　Somewhere where that human can't follow us!
　No, I'm hiding because I don't want to be found and attacked!　Super hiding!
　So let me go!

　Yeah, now that I think about it, I can see why Arashi's was the first to flee.
　Nobody wants to get involved with a monster like that!

""Sore!"

No!　I will never leave!

You're not going to be able to do that.

　Zuri zuri zuri.
　Jiggle-zaggle-zaggle.

"Uh, what the hell?

　Honestly, I don't understand why Liliella-san said that.
　The one that appeared in front of us was a golden dragon.
Probably the one we fought before.

But the reason we were confused is because that golden dragon was forcibly dragged by a fellow dragon.
Hmm...extreme indolence or something?

Go, Golden a dragon?

　At that time, Leune, who was beside me, muttered with a blue face.

'What's going on, Mr. Leune?　You're blue in the face?

A golden dragon!　She's the most powerful dragon in the world!

Yeah, well, yeah, but that dragon is as good as Lex.

What?

'Oh yeah, that was a blow to my brother's punch!

Punch?

So you don't have to be afraid. We're all just pets to Mr. Lex.

''Pet!?''

　Everyone hushes me, and a blush returns to Rhune's cheeks.
　Yes, yes, if you calm down, Ryune, you'll see that this guy is a golden dragon, but he's still a child.
　He's not someone to be scared of.

''Ah, the Golden Dragon has moved.''

　When we turned around at Megri's words, the Golden Dragon, who had been dragged by his friends earlier, walked over to us alone.

''Do you mean to tell me that you want to make my friends the witnesses and fight them one-on-one?''

　Mina speculates about a series of strange behaviors of the Golden Dragon.
　Well, only expert dragon knights know the detailed habits of dragons, right?
　Maybe I'll ask Ryune here?
　Even though I'm an apprentice, I'm sure I've been taught about the biology of dragons.

".........

　thumping
　And that's when.

'Huh?'

　I thought the Golden Dragon suddenly laid down, but it just turned its body around and lay on its back in a gurgling heap.

''Grrrrrr?''

　The dragons around them are also wondering what the hell is going on!　They were craning their necks as if to say, "What is going on?
　And then the golden dragon stretched out its arms and legs at an angle and laid down on its side.

''What in the world is this...?

　Hmmm, I've never seen a golden dragon do this in a previous life or two, have I?
　What the hell is he doing?

　I decide to ask Ryune, thinking that he might have some detailed knowledge about the Golden Dragon.

''Ryune-san, do you know anything about that behavior of the Golden Dragon?''

What?　Me?　No, no, no, no!　This is the first time I've ever seen a Golden Dragon, and I've never heard of them doing this before!

　Even the dragon knight, an expert on dragons, doesn't know what to do?
　Could this be a tremendous new discovery?
　I wonder if this is the kind of thing that has been studied since the time of the previous generation, the still-unknown life of dragons!

　Hmmm, this is getting a bit exciting.
　There's still a whole new world out there, isn't there?
　This posed golden dragon showed no signs of moving.
　It won't move, so we and the other dragons wait and wait to see what in the world it will do next.

''I mean, isn't this just a normal, all-out surrender?

What?

　Then Mr. Meghri started to say something outrageous.

''No, no way. I've never heard of a Golden Dragon striking a pose of total surrender.

　I don't think that's true, do you?

''I see, in front of Lex-san, who is outside the norm, I can see why the Golden Dragon, who has already experienced defeat, would surrender entirely.

'So this is the result of a demon's instincts doing everything in their power to find a way to survive?

　People are starting to say whatever they want to say.　

That's my brother!　How dare you make the mightiest dragon bow down without a fight!

''No, no, no, no, no, no, a proud Golden Dragon can't just surrender in full, no matter how much it takes.

　With that said, I'm cautious while approaching the Golden Dragon to see how it reacts.
I'm going to be on high alert to deal with any time they attack, so be on high alert.
Slowly approaching and getting close until I can touch it.

Since there was still no reaction, I decided to try riding on my stomach this time.
　Dragons are prideful creatures, and if you do this, they will get angry and attack you in a heartbeat.
　Walking on scales as hard as cobblestones, I reached the middle of the Golden Dragon's belly.

''Guru-oooo!''

　The surrounding dragons shouted in surprise, but the Golden Dragon didn't move a bit.

''Why aren't you angry?　Normally, if I did this, they would try to kill me for my dragon pride?

""Don't be so quick to do something so dangerous!"

　Oh, I'm sorry.
　I just did it to see how the Golden Dragon reacted.

''Hmm, even so, it's not moving. Is it really a total surrender?

I don't know, his eyes are dead...

You look like you're about to say, "Have it your way.

　That's how Megri and the others described the Golden Dragon, who didn't twitch even when he did what he wanted.　

　And that was the time.

''Grrrrrrrrrr!

　The Silver Dragon that was standing near the Golden Dragon let out a strong, murderous roar.

''Hee!''

　Suddenly the strong killing qi was showered on her and Leune was frightened and fell on her buttocks.

　Then the Silver Dragon spread its wings wide and showed a threatening stance.

''It looks like this guy is very motivated.

　Ah, but it might be a bit of a relief to have a normal dragon move like this.

'Yah, it's not like you're all up for it!　You did that to a proud dragon!　Let's get out of here!　Or else you'll be killed!　The other party is a Silver Dragon that is second in power to the Golden Dragon!

　Ah yes, a silver dragon is useful for making weapons for anti undead, isn't it?

''But the other side doesn't seem to be willing to let them get away with it.

　It wasn't just the Silver Dragon.
　The other dragons also began to move as Silver Dragon caught them.

'By the way, Lex-san?　Honestly, with this many dragons to deal with, I'm afraid that we burdens are going to win too much, or rather die?　

''Yes, yes, I think we could handle a couple of Green Dragons or so, but this is a bit...''

Don't worry. There aren't too many of them at this level.

" " " " " " "No, we have a problem.

　I think everyone's abilities will be fine.

''Then I'll put auxiliary magic on everyone too! Area High Protection!

　I'll cast a supplementary spell to bolster everyone's defenses.
　Now, then .....

'Then I'll leave you all to deal with the other dragons...'

At that time, the Silver Dragon charged toward me.
It wasn't an assault using free fall from above, but a magical maneuver using magic power as propulsion.
This magical maneuver is tricky because the same fastest speed can be achieved from any positional relationship.
Dragons have a lot of magic power, too.

''Master Lex!''

Ryune, who was watching the scene, screams.
　It's okay, don't worry, there are proper countermeasures for attacks like this.

''Phew!''

　When I was attacked by the Silver Dragon, which charged at me from the waist down, I used my opponent's momentum to throw him away. And in doing so, I was thrown away as well.

　And the moment the Silver Dragon that was thrown away hit the ground and bounced, you controlled your body's posture with your flying magic, landed, and threw the Silver Dragon away again.
　He continued to throw it twice, three times and four times more.

''This is a technique that uses the momentum of a huge opponent to throw forever and is known as the Infinite Throw. If everyone learns it when you have to fight a large enemy for a long period of time, it's a good way to conserve your strength.''

" " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " "

　Huh?　I don't think so.