Dragon

Hermione went home, but she remained dazed the entire way, overwhelmed by all the information Josh had given her.

"An imperial prince from another world? And also a lord? That world is called the Muya Continent? Its technology is so backward that it is basically still a feudal society, yet its magic and martial prowess have developed to their peak? He plans to stabilize the gateway to that world and bring some trustworthy people over to help build his territory?"

Hermione felt as though she were listening to—or rather, reading—a fantasy novel. Josh was the protagonist of the story, complete with the identity of an imperial prince. Unfortunately, this novel did not seem to involve the prince reclaiming his rightful throne, nor was there any sleeping princess to awaken.

"The Muya Continent... I'm really looking forward to it."

Hermione murmured to herself aboard the train home. This intensely curious girl had been deeply drawn in by the Muya Continent Josh had described. She was incredibly curious about what other worlds were like, especially Josh's homeland.

But she quickly came to her senses. Why am I thinking so much? I should just work hard. Didn't he say he'd choose a few trustworthy students to go with him? And he plans to stabilize the spatial gateway, so we won't have to worry about not being able to return. Come on, Hermione Granger. You'll get to go someday.

Josh had no idea what Hermione was thinking. Even if he did, judging by his personality, he probably would not care. After all, whether someone could accompany him to the Muya Continent would be entirely up to him. What he needed to consider was how those students going with him would explain it to their families.

"If they leave without informing their families, then even if the flow of time starts moving again after the world passage opens, time on the Muya Continent still seems much slower than it is here. By the time they return after a few years over there, decades may have passed here. That would be a human tragedy."

The Christmas holiday lasted for more than a month, and Josh planned to make good use of it. His routine days had begun to bore him, and he considered exploring the so-called Forbidden Forest. After all, many of the novels he had read about this world claimed that the Centaur tribe hid treasures within it.

However, when he mentioned this idea to Dumbledore, Dumbledore's eyes widened so much that he nearly spat out the drink he had just swallowed.

"Where did you hear that?"

"Hmm, records from many traveling wizards, of course, as well as some novels and other places. What's wrong, Albus?"

"Have you been reading Lockhart's novels?" Dumbledore rubbed his hat in frustration.

"Lockhart? Oh, that guy named Gilderoy Lockhart? No. Although I've heard his novels are excellent, you know I'm not from this world, so I can't judge. Besides, now that even Magic elements have appeared, who knows whether he's telling the truth?"

Of course, Josh knew that man was a fraud, but he had not exposed him. This semester, he had killed Voldemort in advance and dealt with Professor Quirrell as well, making the semester so boring that he had to find something to do.

"I've been waiting for Garen to improve his strength. Though I've been improving too, I'm obviously nowhere near that guy. Still, it's too boring. I might as well keep Lockhart around and watch his performance. But should I bring that werewolf Lupin over in advance?"

Fine, he was simply too bored. Thinking back carefully on the events of second year—his memories had gradually become clearer as his spiritual power kept increasing—second year seemed to be the story of a narcissistic Lockhart and a Chamber of Secrets, along with one of Voldemort's soul fragments and a snake.

For someone like Josh, who was essentially max level in this world, it was all far too easy. So it was perfectly normal for him to seek a little amusement amid his tedious training.

"Perhaps. I think so too. And I'm planning to hire him as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. What do you think?" Dumbledore had no idea what Josh was thinking. After considering it briefly, he spoke to him.

"Whatever. I can't teach the students much about Defense Against the Dark Arts anyway. Severus has been handling all that. You'd better tell him, or he'll definitely be annoyed."

"Don't worry. He came to me himself and said he hoped I would find a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, so he would have more time to spend with and study his House-elves."

"House-elves? What are those?"

"Oh, sorry. We all call Magic elements House-elves. They're so adorable, aren't they?"

"They? Adorable?"

Josh's mouth twitched. Fine, it seemed people in this world cherished Magic elements to an almost unimaginable degree. And Snape was no longer interested in being the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? That was completely different from Josh's memories. It seemed Josh really had changed this world too much.

"Fine, whatever. By the way, you still haven't told me what exactly is in the Forbidden Forest. Don't I remember some big guy guarding it?"

"Well, there's actually nothing in the Forbidden Forest that would matter to you. There are only some creatures that look quite dangerous, as well as a Centaur tribe living inside. The big guy you mentioned should be Hagrid. He has giant blood, and he loves magical creatures very much, so the Forbidden Forest is not frightening to him."

"So, the Forbidden Forest is basically a zoo?" Josh stroked his chin, finally coming up with a fitting description after thinking for a long time.

"Uh, if you want to put it that way, I suppose there's nothing wrong with it. It's just a little impolite." Dumbledore stood there with his mouth open for a long while before finally managing to say that. A zoo? Well, to you, it really was not much different from a zoo. Though, now that he thought about it, perhaps it was not that different for him either?

"Ugh, how boring. I thought there might be some treasure, or perhaps the inheritance of Merlin, the legendary god of magic in your world."

"If such a thing really existed, would it still be around today?"

"That's true." Josh lost interest. He turned and glanced at the iron cage beside Dumbledore's bookshelf. He seemed to remember that there should have been a phoenix in it, but there was nothing there now.

"A phoenix?"

Suddenly, inspiration struck Josh. That was right! This world was basically an amusement park to him, but it was also incredibly magical, because it had not only wondrous creatures like phoenixes, but dragons as well! Yes, dragons—though dragons that were incredibly weak!

Josh did not know why the dragons here were so weak, but he knew they were huge enough and intimidating enough! He seemed to remember that in one of the later stories, Harry Potter had been set up and forced to participate in some sort of tournament, where there had been a dragon that looked terrifying but was not particularly intelligent.

"If I can get a dragon like that and train it, could I make it into a Void Dragon Knight? Or have Garen get one too and raise it slowly, then turn him into a dragon knight as well?"

Josh could not help but think of it. This dragon knight was not some character from a martial arts novel who made countless people jealous; it meant literally riding a dragon through the skies. The main reason Josh had this idea was that the dragons in this world were weak enough.

If this were the Muya Continent, and you wanted to cross the Wasteland, enter the Infinite Sea, approach Dragon Island in the Land of the Gods, and find a dragon to use as a mount... well, the image was too beautiful to imagine. Even if you really made it there, a single deep breath from one of those dragons would probably reduce you to ashes. After all, you were not undead—you could not turn into ash, stand back up, and link the fire again.

"If this works out well, could I build an entire force of dragon knights in my territory on the Muya Continent?"

The more he thought about it, the more explosive the idea seemed, and Josh revealed a faint smile. Just imagine how spectacular it would be to travel everywhere in the future with an entire group of dragon knights. Besides, his study of this world's spatial technology had not been without results. Shrinking a creature like this would not be difficult for him. How exciting would it be if he could bring a dragon with him wherever he went in the future?

"Albus, are there dragons in your Forbidden Forest?" Josh's face flushed with excitement as he asked eagerly.

"Dragons?" Dumbledore was somewhat at a loss at Josh's question. How could there possibly be dragons in the Forbidden Forest? "Of course not. If there were such creatures in the Forbidden Forest, every other creature inside would have become dragon fodder. Dragons are extremely dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Josh rolled his eyes and said directly, "Let's be honest, Albus. I plan to get some dragons and train them as mounts for myself, Garen, and my future army. Do you have any way to make that happen?"

"What?"

Dumbledore was left speechless by Josh's rather insane idea. He instinctively wanted to persuade him otherwise, but immediately fell silent. Was it truly impossible? Up to now, yes. Josh was not the first person to have such an idea; many had tried before, but all had failed.

Although the dragons here were not particularly powerful or intelligent, their pride was just like that of the dragons in legends. They were exceedingly difficult to tame. But the young man before him was different. Both his martial strength and his magic were unbelievable. It might be a good thing if he gave it a try.

If he failed, it would not matter. Dumbledore might even be pleased, since Josh would finally experience some setbacks. If he succeeded, that would not be a problem either. Dumbledore would also be pleased, because he could at least learn how to make a dragon submit.

So he immediately changed his tune. "No problem. Britain may not have a place that keeps dragons, but other places do. If you're interested, I can go with you!"

"No problem. By the way, Albus, would you like to visit the Muya Continent someday?"

Sorry, sorry. I got carried away playing games and lost track of time. -0-