Wicked dragons loved to brag. From the moment Lance said that there were two kinds of black dragons and two kinds of wicked dragons, Lucia had felt that Wicked Dragon Lance loved to brag.
A wicked dragon who loved to brag surely also liked being praised by others.
When she praised the wicked dragon for being handsome, the wicked dragon bared his teeth. That should have been a sign that he was happy.
Then, for some reason, the wicked dragon suddenly became unhappy. He said she didn't know what handsome meant and even asked her to praise him for being amiable and approachable.
No matter how she thought about it, it seemed impossible to describe a wicked dragon as amiable and approachable, right?
Fortunately, she was a little far away from the wicked dragon. Otherwise, she definitely would have been beaten.
Lucia secretly reminded herself not to casually speculate about the wicked dragon's thoughts in the future. The wicked dragon wasn't bad; he just liked beating up young dragons a little too much. "Lance, can't you transform into a human? Why didn't you turn into a human during the projection call? Why did you face the humans in the form of Old Man Dragon?"
She had thought she would get to see what the wicked dragon looked like as a human. She hadn't expected him to remain in his shrunken dragon form and face the humans in his original wicked-dragon appearance.
The members of the Bronze Guild seemed to be used to the wicked dragon's appearance. None of them seemed suspicious of Old Man Lance.
"Facing humans doesn't mean you have to communicate with them in human form. A dragon-human form works too. The human world today is different from thousands of years ago. The current human world is very tolerant. Members of other races can walk openly through the towns and cities of the human world.
"Even some Demon Race species that aren't particularly dangerous can appear in human towns, such as Succubi and weaker Vampire Princesses. Outside of wartime, humans aren't particularly hostile toward other races. Of course, if humans and other races come into conflict, human law enforcement agencies will still side with humans.
"There's one more thing. Female members of other races are more popular in the human world, but they're also more likely to become targets for villains. Quite a few female members of other races are kidnapped by humans and turned into slaves.
"Remember, when you go to the human world to play in the future, if you meet any humans who mean you harm, beat them to death. I'll cover for you if anything happens."
Lance had no intention of letting the youngling he had picked up become a human slave.
"As a Dragon Girl, you also have to watch out for handsome and attractive human men. If a good-looking human male uses sweet words to praise you, do what I said—beat him to death. Ahem. You can go a little easier on this kind. Just beat their faces until they swell up, or break one arm and one leg."
He had worked so hard to raise the youngling he had picked up into a dragon. Anyone who dared to deceive and harm the dragon he had raised, he dared to cripple.
From time to time, he would instill this idea in his dragonling.
When she grew older and went to the human world to play, if she encountered handsome human males, she might instinctively cripple them.
A human male who ran away after being crippled once clearly wouldn't truly love the youngling he had picked up.
A human male who didn't run away even after being crippled countless times might truly love the youngling he had picked up.
Even so, he still didn't want the Dragon Girl he had picked up to marry a human.
Humans had short lifespans. He couldn't just watch helplessly as his future youngling became a young widow while she was still so young, could he?
If possible, he still hoped that his future Dragon Daughter would marry a Pure-Blooded Dragon with good morals and good Dragon Character. "Th-this... this doesn't seem right, does it? Wouldn't that be too cruel? Beating up bad people isn't cruel, but people who don't mean me any harm... handsome human males... If they praise me for being pretty and I beat them up too, wouldn't that be a little cruel?"
If she truly listened to the wicked dragon, it wouldn't merely be cruel. It would be downright brutal and unreasonable.
Imperial Daughter Lucia could never bring herself to do such a thing. It wasn't that she couldn't bear to hit handsome human males. Rather, she couldn't convince herself to hurt someone who harbored no ill will toward her.
The etiquette of the human world and the Imperial Daughter's upbringing also forbade her from doing such a thing.
"You're still too young. Remember this: handsome men are the best at deceiving people. Even clever, graceful girls who often interact with human males can be cheated out of their money and taken advantage of if they aren't careful, let alone a young dragon.
"Think about it. When you transform into a human, can you guarantee that you'll be prettier than the beautiful girls in the human world? Can you guarantee that you'll be richer than the noble ladies of the human world? You can't, right? You can neither guarantee that you'll be prettier than those beautiful human girls nor guarantee that you'll be richer than those noble ladies. Think about it. You have no money, no looks, and no family background. Why would those human males approach you? Why would they praise you? Why would they pursue you? They must have ulterior motives. What could they possibly want from you?"
"W-what could they want from me?"
"What could they want from you? Naturally, they want your Dragon Blood, Dragon Meat, Dragon Tendon, Dragon Bone, dragon horns, dragon scales, Dragon Eye, and Dragon Tooth. Every part of a dragon is valuable. After harming you, he could claim to the outside world that you were a wicked dragon. He would gain both fame and fortune and become a Dragon Slaying Hero. Then guess how many uninformed human girls would be attracted to someone like that? How many would admire him, adore him, and fall in love with him?"
Lucia's emaciated dragon body trembled faintly, and fear appeared in her vertical pupils.
No, no, no! She didn't want to be dismantled. She didn't want to fall in love.
Sob, sob, sob. She never wanted to fall in love with human males again. It was too frightening for an Imperial Daughter. How could people be this evil?
They were awful.
The wicked dragon was right. Someone who praised her might not sincerely be praising her. He might be trying to win her favor so he could harm her later. Falling in love... she, she, she... Wait, that wasn't right. She wasn't really a young dragon, so why was she so afraid? Could she, an Imperial Daughter, really remain a young dragon for her entire life? She was an Imperial Daughter!
Who would dare harm her?
Harming her would be rebellion.
The wicked dragon's attempt to stop the young dragon from falling in love was far too frightening.
Hmm. To be safe, she should still be more careful when she fell in love in the future. Forget it. If she returned to the Imperial Capital and became the emperor, it wouldn't matter whether she fell in love or not.
She would become a good emperor devoted to her country and its people.
Love? Love would only interfere with governing the country. It definitely wasn't because the wicked dragon had scared her into not daring to fall in love.
"Wicked dragon, is this why you don't fall in love with princesses?"
"What reason?"
"Because you're afraid of being dismantled by a princess? You don't fall in love with human princesses because you're afraid they'll dismantle you after you fall asleep?"
"..."
Oh no. After hearing the youngling he had picked up put it that way, he seemed to be afraid of falling in love with human girls too. No, wait.
He didn't even have any intention of falling in love, so what was he afraid of? Besides, to dismantle him, they would first have to get through his defenses. "That's right, that's right. You're right. That's why I don't fall in love with human princesses. As the saying goes, the prettier, more beautiful, and smarter a girl is, the better she is at deceiving people and dragons. After all, we giant dragons are all very innocent and easy to trick."
"..."
I don't believe a word you say.
Other wicked dragons might have been easy to trick, but Wicked Dragon Lance had more cunning than all the suckers on the countless tentacles of a Deep Sea Siren. Anyone who tried to trick him should consider themselves lucky if they weren't deceived by him and robbed of both their money and chastity.
Before you continue