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The Golden Rose Queen Dragon launched a kick at us. Even if that hit, it wouldn’t even itch, much less hurt, and since she shouldn’t be able to destroy this room in her rage, it likely wouldn’t be an issue. But for the time being, I stopped her from moving with psychic magic.

“Phew… I wonder, why did she attack us¹?”
“Hm, maybe she flew into a rampage, since you just brought her back to life…?” Mika guessed.

The resistance of the dragon, who had been trying to break free for some time, gradually weakened. After it reached a certain point, I released the psychic magic.

«Gah… Where are We?»

It looked like the dragon had properly regained her consciousness, and she looked at her surroundings, without trying to rampage. Finally, her large eyes caught hold of Mika and me.
Just like Mika predicted, right?

«Hm… The lasses who defeated Us…?»
“Yep, it’s been a while!” I tuned to the dragon and waved at her.
«Aye… Lass with red hair… Thou didst say… ‘See thee later’. Alas, that time hast come.”
“That’s right.”
«Art thou talking to Us in a lighter voice now?»
“Well, I defeated you, didn’t I?”
«Hrm…»

Looking at her, hanging her head dejectedly. I couldn’t help finding it somewhat cute.
As I thought, this dragon is a bit unusual for a magic beast, isn’t she…? I don’t know for sure, but maybe all dragons are like this.

“Oh, right, two months have passed, since we defeated you, you know.”
«Oh ho… We see… so? By what manner and for what reason didst thou bring Us back to life?» the Golden Rose Queen Dragon asked, after sitting (?) down in place, in what looked like a seiza².
“As for the method, I merely used an incredible potion. Regarding the reason, we wanted you to aid us in an experiment.”
«An experiment…?»
“Right.”

I took out the two skill cards from my magic pouch. On one hand, the “Familiar Contract”, and on the other, the “Humanization”.

“We want to try out the effects of those skills.”
«We see…»

“…Huh, you’re no trying to resist?” Mika asked her, maybe since she thought it strange, for the dragon to be so obedient.
«Hear me, lass with green hair,» the dragon replied, «We did not understand it then, having lost Our calm, but… pondering it now, ye defeated an SS-Rank subspecies in the blink of an eye. Alas, even should We resist, it would do Us no good. To speak true… thou art monsters³.»

We were just called monsters by a monster.

Sure, we probably have monstrous strength, but… that is upsetting, isn’t it? Even so, Mika and I are girls of peerless beauty… Well, maybe a dragon wouldn’t see us as beautiful?

“Monsters, you say…?”
«Oh… Our apologies. From thine appearance, We’d think thee supremely lovely… But in true strength…»

Huh? How unexpected, a dragon called Mika and me ‘lovely’, even though we’re human. I thought she wouldn’t understand it.

“Do magic beasts also think that humans may be beautiful?”
«Magic beasts with a certain intelligence do, like Us dragons. We do not know about others.»
“Still, how can you think us beautiful compared to others, when you were always in the dungeon, Miss Dragon?” Mika interjected. “Though it does make me happy to be evaluated as such.”
«Because We were bestowed that knowledge by Mother Labyrinth.»

Mother Labyrinth… that’s the dungeon, right? On second thought, everything I’m doing from now on is all based on things I obtained from that dungeon. It was probably on the higher end. I simply didn’t notice, since I am too strong.

That said, our talk strayed too much. Let’s move back to the main topic.

“Then… as for what I was saying at the start.”
«Hrm… We are also a living being. We do not care for pain. Go easy on Us.»

She doesn’t like pain? That’s true for everyone, but still… this dragon is interesting, after all.

“Alright, I don’t think it will hurt. Then, I want you to choose which of those two experiments to participate in. We will perform the one you want to do.”
«Oh ho… Thou art going to let Us choose?»
“Yep, should it succeed, I’ll either be able to summon you with magic… or turn you into a human.”
«Didst thou say… turn Us into a human!?»

The dragon oddly focused⁴ on the prospect of turning into a human.

“Oh… Do you not want to become human?”
«Nay, on the contrary… If thou maketh Us choose, We would prefer that one.»
“For what reason?”
«…Humans talk, laugh, and love. We, who have always been by ourselves, are envious. Well, We were mostly asleep, but still…»

She wants to talk, laugh, and love… does she? Gotcha, so she chooses to become human…?
I should consult with Mika for a bit.

“Understood, please give us a moment, then.”
«Aye.»

“Hey, what should we do?” I asked Mika, after bidding the dragon to wait. “She says she’s fine with being human.”
“In that case… Why not make her human?”
“Would you be fine with it, in the unlikely case she were to live in this house afterwards?”
“As long as she doesn’t get in the way of our relationship, I don’t mind.”
“Okay.”

I turned back to the dragon.

«Didst thou finish thy discussion?»
“Yep, we’ll be starting the experiment now, alright?”
«Aye.»

I stored the Familiar Contract skill card away, and held up the Humanization skill card at the Golden Rose Queen Dragon.

TL notes:
That ended surprisingly peacefully. Though, as the dragon says, trying to fight wouldn’t have done her any good. I severely cut down on the usage of “Golden Rose Queen Dragon” in this chapter, which was used extremely often in the original, since it’s way too long.

Again, if there are any mistakes in my attempt at Shakespearean English, feel free to correct me in the comments.

1. Gee, maybe because of what you did to her last time?
2. Can a four-legged creature even sit down in a seiza? I guess elephants could, since they have four knees, but I don’t think a dragon’s legs work that way.
3. Someone finally tells it to them straight.
4. The original is 食らいつく (“to bite at”, “to get one’s teeth into”).