Miss Black Dragon Refuses to Be a Mount

Likaro did not reply, and Ailolin continued, "Have you ever liked anyone before?"

"No." Likaro answered honestly. Ever since childhood, many nobles had tried to arrange engagements between her and their children, but not one of them had caught her eye.

Ailolin took several deep breaths, then asked, "Do you like me?"

"Uh! I-I..." She had not expected Ailolin to be so direct.

"You know what kind of like I mean."

"..."

Likaro fell silent. She felt that this so-called liking might have been nothing more than an illusion, since she had only known Little Black Dragon in her human form for two days.

If she had fallen for her after merely two days, then it could only be explained as love at first sight.

But did she really like Little Black Dragon? And did she really like girls?

It was the first time Likaro had faced such a question, and she truly did not know.

At that moment, Ailolin regretted renting a couple's room. This sort of environment really made it easy for her thoughts to wander.

She was attracted to girls, and Likaro was so cute and beautiful, with such a likable personality. No matter how she looked at it, Likaro fit her idea of a perfect girlfriend.

Could her friendship toward this good friend have changed?

Ailolin knew that romance between girls was taboo. If Likaro also liked women and liked her, then she... she really could accept it.

She had never sought a partner before, but if it were Likaro, she could accept it.

Provided that Likaro liked her too.

"I only feel friendship toward Little Black Dragon. I haven't developed any romantic feelings." Likaro gave her answer.

She believed that the blushing and racing heartbeat she felt whenever she interacted with Ailolin were simply because she had not yet adjusted to seeing Ailolin in human form.

Maybe it would get better after a few days.

After hearing Likaro's explanation, Ailolin said she understood.

Perhaps she was only reacting this way because she had never been physically close to another girl before. It might not necessarily be romantic love.

The matter should have ended there, but Likaro suddenly had an idea.

"How about we conduct an experiment..." Likaro suggested.

"An experiment?"

"Mm, to confirm whether our relationship really is just friendship."

According to her thinking, if all they had was friendship, then they should feel nothing about things couples did.

After all, many of their earlier intimate actions had happened unintentionally. If they did those things deliberately, would they feel resistant to them?

So the so-called experiment was for Ailolin and Likaro to spend one day together as a couple after they completed their revenge.

Ailolin felt that Likaro's idea was a little crazy. Was it really reasonable?

She could hardly believe Likaro was the one who had suggested it.

"F-for the sake of properly facing our friendship, this is the only way."

Likaro sounded somewhat lacking in confidence, because the test did indeed seem strange.

"All right. I agree."

After hesitating, Ailolin agreed to Likaro's suggestion. She did not want to keep overthinking things either. When the time came, they would deliberately do things couples did and see whether either of them felt anything...

If they felt nothing, then everything that had happened before had simply been a misunderstanding.

And if both of them did feel something, it would not necessarily be a bad thing.

If she really ended up with Likaro, Ailolin felt that she could accept it.

She just did not know what Likaro thought.

"Let's sleep. We still have things to do tomorrow."

"Mm."

For now, they needed to complete their revenge. Everything else could be set aside for the time being.

It seemed that after Likaro proposed the idea, the restlessness in their hearts gradually calmed.

They would settle this properly after the revenge was complete.

Likaro soon drifted back into sleep. This time, she seemed very well-behaved and did not cross over into Ailolin's side at all.

That allowed Ailolin to fall asleep peacefully as well.

Morning arrived, and noisy sounds drifted in from the streets outside, reaching the room even through the closed windows.

Today was the day of the Tournament. The streets had become lively early in the morning.

When Ailolin woke up, Likaro was still asleep, so she began considering today's assassination plan.

The Tournament was held in two parts. The first was the Commoner Tournament, where the lord would sit in the high stands and watch. The second was the Noble Tournament, which the lord might participate in as well.

The Tournament was a nationwide event. Nobles from other regions had also been invited, so security for the Tournament was extremely tight.

Fortunately, Likaro still remembered what that lord looked like. Otherwise, finding him among dozens of nobles in the stands would have been rather awkward.

Although Ailolin had never directly fought humans, the elder members of Dragonkind had shared some of their experiences with her during her travels around the world.

Ailolin was still underage, but even if she had reached adulthood, she would not have been able to face the defenses of an entire human city alone.

Dragonkind was not as invincible as people imagined. In fact, before the large-scale war machines of humans and other races, dragon defenses could be quite fragile.

Powerful human warriors and mages could both injure dragons. In history, there had also been humanoid races that had slain dragons alone.

Therefore, Ailolin could not simply transform into her true form, wreak havoc, and then leave unharmed.

The elders had said that most of Dragonkind remained neutral toward other races. Unless necessary, she should not casually provoke a racial conflict.

Participating in the Commoner Tournament might be a good method, because the Tournament allowed contestants to cover their faces and supported anonymous participation.

Those who ranked highly in the Tournament would have a chance to meet the lord.

And that would also be an excellent opportunity for an assassination.

PS: You might think using the way couples interact to verify friendship is unreasonable, but I believe it can work. runs away

Calamity Descends: Buying a Staff

The Noble Tournament was an honorable duel between knights, so crooked methods like magic were absolutely forbidden.

But the Commoner Tournament had far fewer restrictions. Participants could even use their own weapons and equipment.

Of course, the Tournament was still only a competition. Anyone who deliberately killed an opponent would be arrested on the spot and sentenced.

Ailolin felt that she could participate as a mage. Avoiding close combat would reduce the chance of exposing herself.

But before that, she needed to buy a staff from an equipment shop in the city.

The mana crystal in a staff could make up for Ailolin's lack of mana, at least allowing her spells to return to their normal power.

And if the mana in the staff ran out too, Ailolin could simply go up and fight hand-to-hand. In terms of strength, no human could compare to her.

Likaro had woken up by then and was getting dressed beneath the blankets.

Ailolin told her about her plan.

"I see. How about I participate too?"

"Uh, what if you get hurt?"

"..."

Likaro found Ailolin's words rather amusing. She was not as delicate as Ailolin imagined, and she had experienced plenty of fighting.

The Commoner Tournament did not restrict identity. Even though Likaro was wanted, it would not matter, since her robe could cover her face.

She also wanted to compete as a mage. As a human with the Magic Spring Constitution, if she used the mana inside her solely for casting spells, it was practically infinite mana.

Ailolin could not help feeling deeply envious.

"Come with me to buy a staff first."

"Mm."

After arriving at an equipment shop in the city, Likaro reminded her, "Try to get a good one. Don't worry about the money."

"Okay."

Ailolin walked over to the display case and picked up a staff made from an unknown material to examine it.

The shafts of different staffs were engraved with different mana patterns, each with different functions. Some could increase mana recovery speed, some could boost the caster's spell power, and some could increase casting speed.

The mana of a staff was stored in the mana crystal at its tip. That was the truly important part of a staff.

If Ailolin's mana were quantified, her total mana would be one unit, while even the worst staff could provide five units of mana.

That was enough to show how pitifully little mana Ailolin possessed. She did not even have as much as many human mages.

Ailolin looked around for a long time but never found a staff she liked.

"Wouldn't these wooden staffs be too fragile?"

"Most staffs aren't sturdy to begin with..." Likaro, standing beside her, could not understand. No one used a staff as a weapon, did they? A staff's main purpose was to provide mana.

"What about this one?" Ailolin read the description beside it. The staff in her hand was engraved with [Fortification Rune], which was specifically used to reinforce the staff's durability.

Likaro was shocked. Did anyone really enchant a staff with that kind of rune?

At that moment, the equipment shop clerk walked over and said apologetically, "Sorry to make you laugh. I was actually responsible for enchanting that staff, but due to my mistake, I ended up enchanting it with a Fortification Rune. It still hasn't been sold."

"How sturdy is it exactly?" Ailolin swung the staff in her hand, making whooshing sounds.

"It's sturdier than standard military weapons. It would have absolutely no problem being used in close combat. And the mana crystal in this staff stores quite a lot of mana, so it can be used for multiple purposes."

The clerk began explaining at length. Although it was the result of a failed enchantment, he still had great confidence in his enchanting ability.

"It's just that... because of the Fortification Rune, this staff is very heavy."

When the clerk had seen Ailolin casually swinging the staff earlier, he had known that this young lady was no ordinary person.

Sure enough, Ailolin did not find that a problem at all. Instead, she was very satisfied. "Then I'll take this one. How much is it?"

"Three hundred gold coins."

Likaro poked her from the side. "Are you really buying this? Our money could easily buy a staff that stores much more mana."

"I'll take this one."

Ailolin sensed the mana stored in the crystal. It was probably around twenty units, twenty times the mana she could store herself.

Even so, it still could not compare to Likaro. But Ailolin was already quite satisfied.

"All right, then."

Likaro took out money from her backpack to pay. She was in charge of their funds now, and after spending those three hundred gold coins, they would have almost nothing left.

Fortunately, ranking in the Tournament came with prize money.

After leaving the equipment shop, Likaro wanted to try Ailolin's staff. When she took it, she was shocked to discover that it was even heavier than a two-handed greatsword.

"It's so heavy, yet you can wield it so easily..."

"I am a dragon, after all." Ailolin lowered her voice. "Still, I'm also very envious of how much mana you have."

"I'm just an exception. Oh, do you know how to use a staff?"

"Mm."

Put simply, a staff was a tool for storing mana, used to make up for the caster's insufficient mana reserves.

Once the mana in the mana crystal set into a staff was depleted, it would slowly recover over time, though the process was very slow.

But Likaro said there was no need to worry about that. "If Little Black Dragon runs out of mana in her staff, I can replenish it for you."

"Huh? How?"

"I just pour the mana in my body into the crystal. But only people like me with the Magic Spring Constitution can do that."

Ailolin remembered what Vidian had said before. "Uh, didn't you say it needs to be handed over... cough, cough."

She suddenly realized something was wrong and hurriedly stopped talking.