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Only a handful of people understood the real meaning behind our exchange.

But still, the gloomy aura on the first floor started to lessen, perhaps due to satisfaction from seeing Mansel trembling on the spot.

“Then, please come.”

Once we reached the third floor where there were no longer any unrelated people in the vicinity, I turned around.

“Oh, yes,” I addressed Mansel, “this child isn’t a dragon’s, but the dragon god’s child.”
“——!!”

Mansel stiffened with a despair-filled expression as the delegation members grew restless.

“I will abstain from questioning what that research entails, but I would advise choosing your words better.”

Once I was done, he completely sank to the floor.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. And to people who flounder the (King’s) authority, a (Dragon God’s) authority. It seems he wasn’t stupid enough to not realize that this would reach the Dragon God.

Though in reality, I didn’t plan to tell him as it was a bother, from his standpoint, it was basically a death sentence so I thought it’d teach him a good lesson, and it worked better than I expected.

Ignoring the living corpse (Mansel), I knocked on the reception door.

“Branch head, Lord Ector; the delegation members are here.”
“Please enter.”

There were four people other than Frank in the reception room. They were the representatives of high-ranking parties, and people who worked as guards for the delegation this time.

I didn’t want to breathe the same air as that f̲u̲c̲k̲i̲n̲g b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲, so I excused myself, no questions asked.

I then shut myself in my room and pampered Haku for a while.

Now, as much as I wished for that idiot to just fade out as is, things seldom turned out as you wish.

“Good morning, Caron.”
“Oh, morning, Illya. I’m sorry for the sudden visit.”

A few days had passed since the delegation visited, and the weird atmosphere that the aforementioned idiot had left behind had scattered already. Caron visited me so early in the morning that the union branch wasn’t even open yet.

He looked unusually flustered so I braced myself for the news.

“It’s an emergency. It seems that a group of wyverns is heading for the capital.”
“…A group?”
“Yes. Several villages already suffered harm from them, and the castle and union headquarters are currently thinking of countermeasures.”

Wyverns… They had the least amount of dragon factor, and were closest to animals among the lower-ranked species of wind dragons. That said, they were the strongest among the creatures aside from monsters, so a group of them was the same threat as the calamity-class monsters.

Their territorial awareness was strong like the other dragon species, but conversely, they didn’t leave their territory unless something major happened. Them traveling as a group already showed that it was an abnormal situation.

“Do we know the cause?”
“…Dragon’s egg, it seems.”

I was speechless.

Caron couldn’t endure seeing me like that and continued.

“It seems that the delegation found it during the investigation and carried it back.”
“…Without even hunting the parent?”
“Yes. The guards apparently suggested it but they thought it was too risky and didn’t listen.”

I kept calling them idiots, but I didn’t know they were actually such idiots.

Even if they were your source of revenue, you guards really should’ve refused or at least hunted it yourselves.

“…What’s the plan? You’re not going to tell me it’s to return the egg, right?”
“That’s exactly what it is.”

…

I couldn’t even speak due to exasperation.

“They aren’t actually assuming that the capital is being targeted because the egg is there, are they?”
“You’re correct again! The villages that were harmed are in the vicinity of their nests, and the wyverns aren’t showing signs of heading straight to the capital. But they seem to be searching for something and they reach the conclusion that it can only be the egg.”

…As someone in charge of Haku, I really want to help the wyverns.

But if they reach the capital, the wyverns will get annihilated… It depends on the group, but I guess the capital will be partially destroyed.

…Oh crap, I started thinking from the wyvern’s standpoint.

“…And why did you come for me specifically?”
“It seems that they want to hear your opinion. It was a direct order from the king and the head of the main branch.”
“I don’t have to go there myself. If they’re searching for the egg, just return it.”
“Is that a good idea?”
“The reason the delegation wanted an egg was to advance the monster research, right? But dragon species aren’t monsters, so that’s pointless. If they want to learn dragon ecology, they should instead negotiate with the Mythrilage Kingdom.”

Caron nodded in understanding. Wait, my assumptions were all correct?

My expression apparently revealed my thoughts and Caron gave a wry smile.

“I heard that the delegation chief acted hastily in pursuit of glory. He apparently thought that if Haku was born from an egg, monsters were also born from eggs. Monster ecology is mostly a mystery, after all. He thought that if he unraveled the mystery he would manage to avoid the execution.”

So it was that guy…!

Idiots really liked doing unnecessary things! Just stop troubling people!

“Just tell them to absolutely return them if they wish to avoid needless damages and expenses.”
“Gotcha. So, how do they return it?”
“I will secure the personnel for that. I will prepare the commission paper too, so please let me confirm it first.”
“Okay, good. I ran too much so I’ll take a little nap for now. Good night.”
“Good night.”

Once I sent the unsteady Caron back, I summoned two people.

They were Bard and Cathy.

“I have a commission for you two.”
“Why are you acting formal all of a sudden?”

Bard acted dodgy like he used to previously. I guess he just disliked the tense atmosphere.

“I would like you to return a wyvern’s egg to its nest.”
““!!””

The two swallowed their breaths.

Couldn’t blame them. Sending a few people to the nest of the dragon species was basically like telling them to die. These two would most certainly die too if they faced more than three wyverns.

“…Why now, after all this time.”

Bard muttered while clenching his fists. Cathay next to him also had a sad expression.

“Because this is a punishment for you two.”
“Wha?!”
“Huh…?”
“If you finish this commission, you will be acquitted. You will become free.”