Departure

A year after his magical abilities awakened.

By the river, Jose stood at the edge of a pool, studying his reflection in the water.

He was a Juvenile Red Dragon as long as a truck. His head bore a pair of symmetrical, backward-sweeping spiral horns, with three rows of smaller horns between them. The rows extended all the way to the top of his head like a king's crown.

The end of his horned crown connected to a backward-sweeping, fin-like crest. The translucent dark-red crest began at his head and ran along his spine to the tip of his tail. Combined with his clearly defined, powerful muscles, it made him look imposing and domineering.

"Oh~, I've gotten more handsome again."

He snorted, and sparks flickered from his nostrils. Having only just entered the juvenile stage, he still could not fully control the sudden surge of power, causing energy to leak out.

"Three years, and my body length has increased by 3.3 meters. Based on the normal growth rate of Red Dragons, Jin Ke La's growth boost is around ten percent. Not bad," Jose muttered.

Thinking back on the past three years, he felt deeply moved.

Everything had gone according to his plan. The lingering intimidation of the Red Nest Matriarch had kept powerful Extraordinary Beasts from entering the Karakoram Mountains, buying the two Dragon Hatchlings two peaceful years.

However, starting in the third year, extraordinary creatures had been drawn by the relatively safe hunting grounds of the Karakoram Mountains and gradually migrated in.

Fortunately, none of the newcomers were particularly powerful species, and Jose had awakened his spellcasting ability early. The two Dragon Hatchlings could handle them.

Jose had thought that after growing into Juvenile Dragons, he and Kashi would be better able to defend their territory and perhaps even expand it, but an accident disrupted his plans.

At that thought, he looked gloomily toward the river. Broken pieces of wood floated on the surface—the wreckage of a small boat.

Human adventurers had rowed into their territory.

However, the adventurers had not come to slay dragons. They had never even imagined they would encounter any.

The unprepared adventurers had encountered the Juvenile White Dragon lurking underwater. The outcome was obvious. Kashi had overturned the boat from below and torn it into pieces. The adventurers who fell into the water were even less of a match for the White Dragon.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

The five-meter-long Juvenile White Dragon raised his head from the river, gripping two drenched human adventurers in his Dragon Claws. After three years of growth, Kashi had improved somewhat and no longer stuttered when he spoke.

"Boss, I listened to you and left two alive." As he spoke, Kashi tossed the two men before Jose.

The moment they hit the ground, both sprawled on the riverbank and vomited water violently.

Since escaping the Red Nest, this was Jose's first time encountering humans. He observed the two men: one blond, one red-haired, dressed much like medieval Westerners from his previous life.

He had no sense of belonging toward the humans of this world. He even harbored vigilance and mild hostility toward them, because he was a dragon—and a Five-Colored Evil Dragon at that. The vast majority of groups specializing in hunting underage Five-Colored Evil Dragons were formed by humans.

He patiently waited for them to stop retching. "Gentlemen, are you finished? If so, it's time to discuss serious business."

Their legs trembled as they stared, pale-faced, at the amiable-looking—terrifying and ferocious—Red Dragon.

"Don't be afraid. I'm different from ordinary dragons. I'm reasonable. I just want to ask you some questions."

The blond youth swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing. Gathering his courage, he asked in Common Tongue as well, "Will you let us go after we answer?"

"Of course... not."

If Jose had been an Adult Dragon, it would not have mattered whether he let them go or not. But now, he did not want them returning alive and spreading news of him everywhere.

"Survival is impossible, but if you cooperate, you'll have a more peaceful death. All things considered, cooperation is better for you." His calm tone stated a fact unimaginably cruel to the two men.

The red-haired youth's face flushed. Thinking that death was inevitable anyway, he shouted, "Didn't you say you were reasonable?! What kind of reason is this?!"

"Might makes right! I'm strong, so I'm right!" Jose spread his dragon wings, their shadows engulfing the two men. At the same time, Dragon Might erupted.

The drenched pair immediately felt as if their hearts were being clenched tightly in someone's hand, and they collapsed to the ground.

Jose smelled a stench and saw pale yellow liquid spreading beneath them. He raised an eyebrow.

For this sort, direct intimidation was more effective.

"Now, I ask, and you answer. First question: why did you come here?"

"..."

Adventurers frightened into wetting themselves by a Juvenile Dragon's Dragon Might were hardly tough. Under relentless pressure, they confessed everything.

It turned out they were not adventurers at all, but private soldiers of House Tagule Viscount. Their master intended to open a smuggling route through the Karakoram Mountains, connecting the Northern Great Plains to the human kingdoms, and they had been sent to survey the canyon waterway.

"So that's how it is," Jose said in realization.

With the Karakoram Mountains and the Gloomy Forest acting as two impassable barriers, there were only two routes between the human kingdoms and the Northern Great Plains. One lay along the western edge of the Karakoram Mountains, where there was a narrow mountain pass. The other was a sea route, sailing around the Gloomy Forest to reach the eastern side of the Great Prairie.

Horses, gold, and local specialties from the Northern Great Plains flowed into the human world through these two trade routes, while humans transported grain, cloth, and other goods to the Great Prairie. This exchange brought enormous profits to everyone involved.

But one route lay in the west and the other in the east, leaving the central kingdoms in an awkward position. Such a huge piece of meat lay before them, yet they could not take a bite. The frustration was easy to imagine.

Greedy kingdom nobles turned temptation into action. For centuries, they had tried to open a route through the Karakoram Mountains, but with its towering peaks, dense forests, and numerous Extraordinary Beasts, they had never succeeded.

During the era when the Red Nest Matriarch ruled over the Northern Lands, the Karakoram Mountains had been an even deadlier dragon's den. But now, greedy human nobles saw hope...

Extraordinary creatures were returning, and human nobles had also meddled in matters. There was no longer any point in staying in the Karakoram Mountains.

With that in mind, Jose asked his second question. "In recent years, have you heard any news about the Red Nest Matriarch?"

"No. We only know that Savannah has never appeared again since that great battle three years ago."

Jose lowered his head in thought. There was a ninety percent chance Savannah had escaped. If the dragon slaying had succeeded, the human nations would have cut off her head, hung it from their city walls, and boasted about it everywhere.

"Third question: what major events have happened recently? No rush. You can take your time to think..."

From the accounts of the two captives, the two dragons learned of several major events that had recently occurred across the continent.

As long as one lived in the world, one could not detach oneself from it. Blindly hiding away would only make one increasingly narrow-minded and out of step with the world, causing one to miss the opportunities brought by the progress of the times.

Of course, Jose, still in his juvenile stage, did not yet have the ability to seize such opportunities. But knowing more about current events could never hurt.

After asking a few more questions, Jose felt he had learned enough. Without warning, he breathed Dragon Flame, turning the two men into charred skeletons, then threw the skeletons into the river.

"Kashi, we need to move."

Kashi fell silent. He was also a true dragon with a complete inheritance, and he understood the history of his ancestors.

All Five-Colored Evil Dragons that survived long enough to reproduce shared one trait: while young, they stayed far away from intelligent beings. The farther, the better.

"Boss, where are we going next?"

Jose had long since planned out his life as a dragon. He took out the map of the Northern Lands given to him by the Black Dragon and pointed to the region where the Karakoram Mountains, Gloomy Forest, and Northern Great Plains met. "Here."

One trade route lay in the east and the other in the west, so the central region of the Great Prairie was sparsely populated, with native monsters roaming unchecked.

By age, the two dragons had also reached the stage of beginning to gather followers and build their own power. Those not-so-powerful native monsters would make excellent targets.