There Definitely Won't Be a Next Time

Inside a cave, Zheng Yichen returned with a pile of loot and lightly hooked a claw against the wall, adding another stroke to an unfinished tally mark. He counted the completed marks. Thirty-one.

Sitting on a rock with his chin propped on one dragon claw, he found himself staring into space. He had been in this world for half a year. Apart from the language barrier, he had more or less adjusted to life here. He was growing as if someone had fed him miracle fertilizer, shooting up by the day. All those claims in novels and games about dragons taking ages to mature had been thoroughly disproved in his case.

The downside of growing so fast was that Zheng Yichen had to expand the cave he had dug every so often.

A few months earlier, he had worried that his status as a "dragon" would bring a band of genuine dragon slayers down on his head. He had fretted over it for ages, only to encounter a crowd of self-styled "dragon slayers." Their most notable qualities were their lousy skills, excellent equipment, and money!

He rummaged through today's loot. Hmm. There was some jewelry that gave off strange pulses. After seeing someone throw a fireball a while back, Zheng Yichen knew this world was hardly ordinary. An ordinary world wouldn't have dragons, either, would it? These were probably magic items, but he had no idea how to use them, so he tossed them aside.

The other spoils were armor and weapons, followed by coins of gold and silver. And finally... Zheng Yichen fell briefly silent as he looked at the two pairs of "little **" dangling from his claw. How had he grabbed these while robbing them? Maybe he was only human... No, a dragon.

Maybe he should follow the example of dragons in all those stories and kidnap a princess or two to brighten up the place? He shook his claw and tossed the garments onto his bed. They could serve as a mattress!

He looked down at his claws. On second thought, he would keep hiding here for now. If some formidable hero showed up to dispense justice, he would be the one in trouble. He flicked a claw against the black stone beside him. Sparks landed on the tinder he had prepared, and the firelight illuminated his dragon face.

In a town below the Tot Mountains, the residents no longer batted an eye when a bedraggled "dragon-slaying" party returned after being robbed. Earlier on, it had happened seven or eight times a day. Thanks to that young dragon, the remote town was gradually growing lively.

"Um, Bina, do you think no one will want to marry us now?" Judy, walking a little awkwardly, tugged at the girl ahead of her. Her face was bright red, and Bina looked much the same. They both regretted the rash decision to come here and challenge the dragon. Just as the rumors said, he did not kill people, but...

"Shh! Keep your voice down. Only the two of us know about this!" Under the puzzled gazes of Sander and the noblemen and noblewomen, Bina clapped a hand over Judy's mouth. "I've decided. Once we get back, I'm going to train hard. When I kill that lecherous dragon someday, no one will ever know what happened to us."

"But... can we beat him?" Judy remembered how the pitch-black dragon had flicked a finger and brought down the elite guards they had brought along. The thought weighed on her. "Maybe we should let it go. It was only a piece of underwear..."

"This isn't about a piece of underwear. It's about honor! We can't just let it go." Bina gritted her teeth, mortified and furious. Watching that wicked dragon hook away her underwear was a memory she could never forget. At least he had shown them some consideration by taking the two of them elsewhere to do it.

"Then... do your best, Bina?" Judy said meekly.

"You? No! If this is going to stay a secret, you have to help too!" Bina plainly wasn't leaving room for argument.

"The experience may not have been pleasant, but you've come out of the forest in one piece. That completes our commission." At the entrance to the Mercenary Guild branch, Sander cleared his throat. "Let's work together again if we get the chance!"

Judging by how badly they had been frightened, Sander knew there definitely wouldn't be a next time!

Sander took his badge to the reception desk and turned in his assignment. Then he lowered his voice and asked the receptionist, "Is that dragon really a hatchling?"

"Of course. He's definitely a hatchling."

"...How old is that information?" Remembering the size of the dragon he had seen today, Sander felt a stab of frustration. A hatchling? What kind of hatchling was that big!?

The receptionist pulled out a booklet and checked it. "Five months old. Given the growth rate of the Dragon Race, that information won't be outdated for another five years."

"But the dragon I met today looked more like an adolescent..."

"Someone has already reported that. We're investigating it. Of course, you could take the related investigation commission and help speed things along." Sander studied the job sheet the receptionist handed him.

Besides confirming the young dragon's exact stage of growth, the commission had another objective: anyone who could find his mother's location, or even establish whether she existed, would earn five times the fee! After all, although everyone had assumed the young dragon was secretly protected by his mother ever since he appeared, that supposed mother had yet to show herself even once.

Was there really a mother dragon protecting him?

"No. I need a couple of days off." Sander set down the job sheet and shook his head. This was nothing like escorting a bunch of rookies to pay tuition to the young dragon. People might die. With the hefty fee he had just earned, taking that risk was hardly worthwhile. At the very least, he would wait until he had spent most of his money before considering such a long-term commission.

"Oh? What are they looking for?" Zheng Yichen crawled out of his lair and carefully concealed the entrance. From a secluded ledge, his keen eyesight picked out several furtive figures moving about not far from his cave!

He shifted the wings on his back. They remained a sore point for Zheng Yichen. As he had grown so quickly, they had become broader and stronger, and every beat could stir up a fierce gust of wind. But he still couldn't fly!

Even when he flapped them with all his might, the best he could manage was a glide. In the end, Zheng Yichen had concluded that flying probably required some kind of knack. He had a human soul, so he couldn't bring that knack out... Whether or not that was true, he could at least tell himself it was!

He glanced back at his lair. It was his most important hiding place. If it was discovered, he could already picture crowds of "dragon-slaying" parties yelling outside his front door all day...

After silently putting some distance between himself and the cave, Zheng Yichen charged at the furtive figures with a furious roar.

"Rooooaar! ...Hic."