"There are so many different kinds of dragons, it's hard to say.

　With that preamble, Ruri spoke up. In the first place, if the dragon was dominated by that 'Sounding Needle of Domination', he couldn't do anything about it as Ruri. However, he said that if he became a higher dragon, the so-called Old Dragon, or Elder, species, he would probably not be dominated because he had a strong mental strength.
　Rather than growing up, the dragons evolved and became adults. They range from the young dragon, the young dragon, the young dragon, the adult dragon, the old dragon, the elder dragon, and even the old dragon, the ancient dragon, at a higher level.
　However, only the top-ranked dragons become the elder, and lower-ranked dragons, such as the wyvern, never evolve.
　There is a great difference in intelligence as well, with young dragons (the black dragon I defeated was one of them) understanding human language but not speaking it. Only the old and ancient dragon types are unaffected by the "Echoing Needle of Domination". So then, are quite a few of them dangerous?

''There aren't that many dragons in the first place, so there's nothing to worry about?''
I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work. That's why they don't have to produce as many young as you weak beasts. And even if there aren't many of you, there's still a good number of them. It would be a fool's errand to leave them alone.
What did you say?

　Ember and Ruri start arguing again and I think about it, disgusted.
　It's bothering me, apparently. That wyvern, but it didn't really feel like he was being manipulated, or something. It was like he was acting out of his own will........ No, lower dragons aren't that clever, so maybe he was just moving according to his instincts.

Anyway, let's go hear what's going on. I heard there's a red dragon in the Mismid's sanctuary or something.''

　The red dragon seems to be an old dragon 《Elder》, so it wouldn't have been affected by the 'Echoing Needle of Domination'.
　For now, I take Ruri with me and transition to Mismid. As it is, we fly with a 'fly' towards the place called the sanctuary.

"As I recall, the entire forest that stretches out from there, centered on the mountainous area in the center, was a sanctuary?

　If that's the case, we've already entered that sanctuary. Oops, let's get this over with.
　We stop in midair. I saw a huge red dragon coming towards me from the other side. That's the red dragon we met when we killed the black dragon.
　Ruri, who was beside me, returns to her original size. The red and blue dragons confronted each other in the air.

''Congratulations to you, Ao-Tei-sama, on this manifestation.''
"It's just that the reason we were called up is to clean up the mess of your household. So, do you know why we're here?
Ha. "I'm very sorry for what some of you have done to deserve this.

　The red dragon closes its eyes and hangs its head. As it was, we went downstairs and decided to talk to the red dragon on the spot.
　Initially, it was the young dragons that were running wild. This part is the same as the black dragon we defeated. Dragons are pushovers, strong and smart. However, this is sometimes manifested in arrogance.
　That we are stronger than anything else, and that we are the pinnacle of evolution. Even though they live in a sanctuary, some of them seem to bounce back and descend into human territory to do bad things. To call it a youthful mistake would be too much of a blow to us, but there are stragglers in every world who defy adults.
　That has happened before, and this was one of those so-called rebellious times, so we didn't think of it as a problem.
　But this time, it seems that the trigger for this was from that black dragon I defeated.

"What, what is that?
''Although that black dragon was a subordinate among the young dragons, he still couldn't keep quiet after his own people were killed. There were calls from the young dragon that they should retaliate immediately.''
What are you talking about? They were the first ones to come out of the sanctuary and burn the village down?
'Of course, only some of the young dragons suggested such a thing, and I admonished the others not to start a dispute with the humans. The rest of them backed off, albeit with a grudging disapproval.

　However, the story didn't end there. Apart from the dragons that lived in the sanctuary of Mismid, there were several regions in the world where dragons lived.
　One of them was southwest of here, beyond the Great Sea of Trees. It was a small island called the Dragoness Island, just in the sea between the Kingdom of Sandra and Lyle.
　One day, a messenger dragon came from Dragones Island to the sanctuary. The dragon of Dragones became the servant of the Dragon King. From now on, there was no need to interfere.

The Dragon King? Oh, isn't the dragon under Ruri's control?
'If it was a normal state of affairs. So it wasn't a normal state of affairs. I'm the one who decided that we should not have unnecessary conflicts with the humans in the first place, and I've never been so blatantly opposed to them. I don't think I've ever been so blatantly defied before.''
''It's been thousands of years since the reign of Emperor Soh-Emperor. Some young dragons don't even know he exists.

　Amber and the other so-called divine beasts manifest themselves in this world once every few decades or hundreds of years. It seems that being summoned by a human this time is an event that is not very common, though. Well, it was a coincidence when it was Amber, but after that, it was a cheating call.
　Among them, Ruri, the dragon's divine beast, didn't seem to have manifested in a long span of time. Well, dragons are long-lived.

''So, who is this 'dragon king'? You mean one of the Ancient Dragons, the Ancient Ancient One?
It is said that he is a man of the dragon race. I have heard that he came to the Dragoness Island and killed all the "old dragons" on the island as soon as he arrived there. And I have heard that he even subdued the remaining adult dragons by force.

　Dragon Men. There's no doubt about it. He used the Needle of Control to control the dragons on the island. He used the same dragon to kill an old dragon, the Elder, who was not under his control.

When they heard that the Dragon King would be given power beyond his limits and freedom not bound by law, the young dragons who were dissatisfied with our sanctuary went to the island in droves, and when they returned, they gained a power that we could not control. Only a few of them are back here now, but soon they may start to rampage around here as well.

　The dragons are already running amok in the town of Riflet and the Kingdom of Sandra. The young dragons must have already begun their rampage. Those black dragons that rampage through the city where the humans live, trying to kill people without a care in the world.

''What a shameful story. In just a few thousand years, my family members have become so stupid.''
"I'm at a loss for words...
I see..... The main culprit is the "dragon king" or something like that, but the dragons are starting to fight with the humans of their own accord. So you don't have a problem with dispatching them?
''A dragon that forgets its pride is no better than a lizard. By the words of the Emperor, they are no longer dragons. I will obey your wishes no matter how you dispose of them.
Pride and arrogance are not the same thing. From the moment we look down on others because we are too proud of ourselves, it becomes arrogance. I've only recently been hurt myself.

　Ruri looked at me and said that. It may be unreasonable to ask a dragon to do this, but it doesn't look like it's going to be 'an ear of rice that hangs down its head enough to bear fruit'.
　But even the humans are not stupid. It's a good idea to have a group of people working together to fight the dragon, no matter how strong the dragon is. I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work. If you have an advanced wizard with the wind attribute, you can even drag the dragon to the ground.
　But even so, it's clear that the damage is still significant. As I recall, I heard from Captain Garun of Mismid before, it takes 100 warriors to hunt one of them, right?
　The results would be different though, if there were wizards or skilled warriors or something. There is no problem in the royal capitals and big cities, but unfortunately there are not that many in small towns.
　If you're lucky, there might be some great adventurers or something, but even then it will be difficult. It's enough to earn the title of "Dragon Slayer" if you defeat the dragon with a party of five or less.

Now, it's doubtful that the 'user's psyche is burdened with the needle of control'.

　Apparently, it's more like he's letting the dragons do as they please rather than connecting and controlling his spirit.
　By driving this needle into them, they must be getting power beyond their limits as a dragon, but I wonder if they know about the side effect of having their lifespan cut down.
　Maybe it's a trivial thing for a dragon that lives for thousands of years.

The quickest thing to do is to do something about this 'dragon king' thing. What? But even if you defeat that guy, what can you do about the rampaging dragon?

　It's not like if the Dragon King dies, the dragons will die too. On the contrary, it's just to escape from control completely. Well, it would be the same even if they were being ruled. Either way, we can't just leave them alone.

"Let's see what the dragon does for now.

　I'll call up the map and search for a dragon. There are quite a few of them! That's right. No matter how few there are, there are a good number of them, right? This doesn't make any sense. Let's narrow it down a bit. A dragon that is being shot with a dominant resounding hook....
　The dominant resounding needle is shaped like a fishhook. The head of the needle is exposed externally, and you can probably search for it because you can identify it externally.
　I was able to search for them as I thought I would, but they're still pretty much there.... They seem to be scattered all over the world, doing whatever they want. As expected, there are a lot of controlled dragons on Dragoness Island. Hmm?

What is this...?

　Ahead of a group of quite a number of people who seemed to have taken off from Dragoness Island and were heading straight for it. What was there........

''These guys are aiming for Brunhild!

　What do you mean? You're not going to slay the Black Dragon, are you? But how did he know about me?
　Did this "Dragon King" teach you how to do this? The "dragon slayer" who defeated the black dragon in Mismid. If you try to find out, you'll find out soon enough. If that's the case, the purpose of this group is........

Ruri. We're all in danger. Let's go back for a while.
"As you wish.

　The dragon's revenge? Very good. Dragon or not, don't think you can mess with my country and get away with it for free.
　I'm going to crush your hubris.