CH 86

One More Dragon

“Pecola, you came up with something pretty good, considering you’re just doing whatever you want.”

“As the demon lord, I have the duty of making sure the world is at peace after all.”

Pecola seemed rather proud of herself.

“That’s quite different from the demon lords that I know of… If I had to say, they were on the side of bringing harm to the world.”

“That was the case a long time ago, but they seemed to have gotten tired of scheming to take over the world at some point. They realized that it was meaningless, since there wasn’t a way that they could’ve managed all of that land if they did.”

It’s true that continuously expanding wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

“Now then, would you like to help guarantee that the blue dragons won’t stir something up, onee-sama?”

She still had something up her sleeve?

“Please rub Furattorute’s horns. I’ve been told  that blue dragons only allow those that they have completely submitted themselves to to rub their horns.”

Pecola let out a grin. It was an adorable smile, but I’ve been starting to find that hidden within it was an indescribable darkness.

“Eek! N, Not the horns… I’d be very troubled if you did that…”

Furattorute retreated back.

“The demon lord sure is merciless,” Leica said, as she looked at Furattorute with eyes full of pity.

“Is having your horns touched that bad?”

“It’s a peculiar custom of the blue dragons. Having it done to you means absolute submission. If they are to go against that custom then they’ll be put to death — which is why even we red dragons have decided not to touch them during out battles.”

I couldn’t really relate with that considering I didn’t have any horns.

“There were once adventurers seeking to make a dragon their own by touching a blue dragon’s horns. It was said to be the cause of many lost lives. That’s because almost all of them were done in with a blast of frost breath before they could touch them.”

Oh yeah, I’ve heard stories about knights who rode dragons. They were blue dragons though, huh.

“If Leica, who was a red dragon, were to touch them, then that would symbolize the blue dragons’ absolute obedience to the red dragons. That would be pretty unpleasant right? Which is why onee-sama, the witch of the highland, is the perfect choice. So this will be one more layer of insurance on top of all of the other ones.”

Pecola was truly a schemer.

Maybe that was precisely why she was the demon lord.

“I guess I’ll touch them then, in the name of peace.”

“D, Do whatever you want…”

Despondent, Furattorute hung her head.

Now then, time to touch those horns.

They were quite hard, almost like touching a stone.

“Oh ancestors… Furattorute has submitted herself to a witch… Please forgive me for falling into such disgrace…”

I finished rubbing her horns, thinking that Pecola was quite savage letting this happen in front of the whole crowd all the while.

“Good work. Now then, this marks the end of the awarding ceremony. Let’s begin the banquet.”

With this, I’ve successfully received the medal of honor.

However, the strange problems just kept on continuing.

I was being constantly followed by Furattorute.

“Um, what do you need?”

“F, Furattorute is… now dominated by you, the witch of the highland so… I’ll remain behind you to serve you…”

I had a bad premonition.

“Is this going to be that cliché development where you follow me home, by any chance…?”

“It indeed will be…”

Furattorute said that with her face reddened in humiliation the whole time. She looked just like any other normal girl, so it made me feel like I did something terrible.

And on the other end was Leica who was vexed in her own way.

“Azusa-sama, our house in the highlands doesn’t need two dragons. I, I alone am more than enough… Order Furattorute to just go back to her blue dragon hometown.”

Her words were quite right. I’d feel bad for Furattorute if she were forced to move to where we were. It’d probably be best to “command” her to live back home.

“According to the blue dragons’ customs, if I were to stray apart from my ruler, then I must commit suicide… I must stay beside and protect my master through thick and thin.”

“Those customs are extreme!”

I made eye contact with Pecola who was a short distance away.

Onee-sama I’ll leave this Furattorute girl under your care, alright — was what was written on her face.

“Pecola, you knew everything and still made me touch them, didn’t you! You have such a cute face, but you’re such a little devil!”

“Azusa-sama, she is not only a devil, but the ruler of them.” Leica gave a jab.

“Seriously… Demons sure are scary…”

Then Beelzebub came by. Upon approaching me, she lowered her head.

“Demon lord-sama loves to play tricks you see… She’s not a bad person by any means, and she’s very smart, but sometimes she comes up with and does some silly things… I apologize…”

“Well, I’m not especially bothered about it, so it’s fine.”

Beelzebub was displaying the tribulations of being in middle management, and was just being led around by her boss, in actuality.

“Um… I’ll do anything you want, so please take me with you…”

Furattorute kept her head down, crestfallen.

“It’s fine, it’s fine, don’t worry about it and raise your head.”

“Yes highland witch goshuujin-sama…”

If she stays in her human form, then it shouldn’t be a problem, considering there were plenty of rooms to spare.

“You were just caught up in some pretty bad machinations, but don’t worry I’ll take you in. Also staying at my place isn’t exactly a punishment right? I’ll be sure to also go your hometown once in a while so you can follow along to visit.”

“Thank you very much!”

She knelt down on the spot.

It felt as if I had become some really huge big shot, and I’m really not used to it…

“Be glad that the benevolent Azusa-sama decided to pick you up.”

Whew, Leica gave out a breath of relief. They were sort of frenemies, so she might not be all that dissatisfied.

“Leica, I won’t lose to you!”

But Furattorute suddenly shot up her head.

“W-What do you meant by that!”

“Make no mistake, the only one that I’m serving is goshuujin-sama! I have no intention of serving you!”

“You’re being pretty rude to me, your senpai!”

“This has nothing to do with senpai or kouhai! You’re not goshuujin-sama!”

The two snarled at each other and began to quarrel.

This looks like it’s going to become another troublesome matter…