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“Let’s go to the next job,” Gabutu said.

After handling a number of frogs, Seletina finally bid the room goodbye.

The team of people left to handle the frogs was quite sad to see her go, but there was nothing that could be done. Besides, the room really did stink. Seletina was thankful to Gabutu for helping her out.

There was nothing better than having to do another job.

Frowning at the strange smell on her clothes, Seletina followed Gabutu’s broad back.

“……”

Gabutu, on the other hand, was not calm at all. He had kept Seletina in that room to cause her embarrassment, but this had only made her more appealing. He’d assumed Tieck was just a slender man with nothing more to him but his looks, however, that was apparently not the case.

(Damn it…)

It was Vivicy’s modest smile that flashed through his mind.

Gabutu couldn’t stay away from the thought of that smile being directed at another man. His immature, boyish infatuation had been further fueled by his immature, abusive feelings.

(That said, what should I do now… I should find a way to make everyone know that Tieck is nothing but a spineless coward…)

Gabutu was, by nature, an honest and good sort of child, but at that time, he had been entangled in shallow jealousy. The flames of jealousy had been searing and scorching him.

“I know!” Gabutu came up with a very nasty idea. It was a pure stroke of luck for him.
“What happened?” Seletina had no idea what was going on and asked Gabutu what was happening.
Gabutu, on the other hand, hid his smile and turned to look at her. “Can I ask you to do one more thing?”

◇◇◇

It was a well-known fact that dragons were the noblest creatures in the world. They were the oldest, the most powerful, and the most knowledgeable. Therefore, they were difficult to handle.

Some dragons were mild, while others were vicious. Nevertheless, the common perception of all dragons was that they looked down on humans.

The Belbed Caravan had two dragons accompanying them. This was because none of the two had in fact been tamed by the caravan. What they had was a give-and-take relationship. In spite of that, it was commendable that they were able to enter into a contract with the dragons on equal terms.

The white-scaled Somme was beautiful. Its smooth, streamlined body evoked a ladylike figure. Two horns protruded from its head, gleaming jade green. If those two horns could have been cut off, they would have fetched an unimaginable price.

Somme twisted its snake-like, glamorous body and gave a small sigh.

The black-scaled Godala was spectacular. Unlike Somme, its body, with its prominent straight lines, evoked a rigid male. The single, spiraling horn on its head was as black as blood. The air around it that made one hesitate to even touch it was completely different from that of Somme.

As Godala yawned, its huge mouth filled with uneven teeth came into view.

Two dragons could live on nothing for hundreds of years. They didn’t need to eat and slept only once every few decades. However, there were many dragons who enjoyed eating and sleeping for entertainment.

The Belbed Caravan provided these dragons with food and peace. Dragon Stone, one of the three major minerals, was a favorite food of dragons and could also make them more energetic.

This item was of great value, and even with the connections and resources of the Belbed Caravan, it was extremely difficult to obtain a sufficient number of it. However, it was precisely because the caravan could provide it that Somme and Godala lent their assistance to the caravan.

Seletina held two Dragon Stones in her arms. Each was as big as a watermelon but surprisingly light, almost weightless even.

“So I just need to feed these to them?” Seletina asked, looking at Gabutu.
“Just bring it up to their faces and they’ll eat it by themselves. Thanks.”
“That’s it?”
“What?”
“No I mean, I thought it would be something more important given how you wanted me to take care of it.”
“Oh, that… It’s just that I’m no good with dragons…” Gabutu said.
“I see…”

Seletina laughed nervously, feeling somewhat strange. She wanted to help with whatever she could, however, she couldn’t help thinking that just about anyone could do this job.

Gabutu was aware of that as well.

However, he’d thought that if he’d asked Seletina to do this, she’d tuck tail and run just by the mention of dragons. He had never seen anyone who wasn’t intimidated by the idea of being asked to get up close and personal with such a huge and visually vicious creature.

(Could he have seen dragons before? He handled those Nigabuli Frogs better than I thought… Maybe he really is just that amazing…)

Gabutu pondered. With a Dragon Stone under each arm, Seletina walked to the foot of the towering Somme and Godala. The two dragons were strikingly large. If they were to swallow Seletina they wouldn’t even need to chew.

Gabutu looked on with an extremely bored expression as he watched Seletina’s back, seemingly unconcerned.

“Hey… That’s…”

Some distance away someone exclaimed. They’d grown concerned after seeing Seletina. Just that one little murmur turned into a great wave.

“Hey… That’s… Who’s in charge of the Dragon Stones today?” the person asked.
“Should be Lil Gabu.”
“Hey, wait a minute! Isn’t that Tieck?”
“Stop him right now!”

The commotion quickly escalated and soon became an uproar.

“……?”

Gabutu didn’t understand what was going on. He’d thought Somme and Godala were mild-mannered dragons. They were benevolent and understanding of people.

Gabutu had a hard time understanding the caravan members around him who made a fuss as if Seletina was trying to touch something she was not supposed to touch, a place she was not supposed to step foot into.

Gabutu was a fairly recent addition to the Belbed Caravan. He was not only new to the caravan but was also young. So he didn’t know.

He wasn’t aware that Somme and Godala, the two noble dragons, were only benevolent to the humans in their territory. Only to the members of the Belbed Caravan. And that they would perceive every other human as a threat¹.

1. Silva: Oh, she’ll be fine~ She’s the great Orthus after all.