Chapter 130: Cheer Up, Dorothy! (2)

The common image most people have of dragons is “a creature perfect in every way, with its only weakness being slow and sluggish movement.”

But this is only half true. The part about their weakness, specifically.

It is true that dragons, regardless of age or gender, from hatchlings to ancient dragons, tend to lack agility.

However, this is only in terms of reflexes or finesse and is unrelated to their actual movement speed.

In fact, dragons that have grown to a certain level can swing their tails or limbs at speeds invisible to the naked eye, like a massive mace.

This is a feat made possible by their uniquely elastic muscles, which only dragons possess.

Additionally, dragons are aware of their weakness in agility and make many efforts to compensate for it.

The most representative method is the magic of haste.

By accelerating the time within their bodies, it dramatically increases their physical movement and thought speed.

Although their massive size means the mana consumption is astronomical, dragons are born with such enormous mana reserves that it hardly matters, rivaling even the greatest archmages.

Moreover, Dorothy currently takes the form of a human—a delicate, slender young girl, no less.

Though her physical strength has been significantly reduced to match her form (still far beyond human standards), her agility has greatly increased as a result.

In her current state, Dorothy might even be able to break the sound barrier when flying at maximum speed.

That’s how astonishing her speed is now.

Which explains this:

“Alright, that’s the twenty-sixth one!”

It’s not surprising that, within just 20 minutes of starting, Dorothy had already annihilated all the monsters in the forest.

In fact, from Dorothy’s perspective, this was her holding back somewhat, as there were teachers observing her through their crystal orbs.

If she got too carried away and acted recklessly, revealing her dragon nature, it would be a disaster.

Thus, Dorothy carefully adjusted her strength to avoid exposing her identity, and as a result, she had already earned 470 points within 20 minutes of the competition starting.

Considering that the total points of all monsters in the forest were roughly 5,000, she had already claimed 10% for herself.

It was, quite literally, a “massacre.”

-“Philia, how’s it going on your side? What’s his status?”

Dorothy whispered after snapping the neck of her twenty-sixth unfortunate victim.

There were no maids nearby since it was still class time.

However, thanks to the spell Telepathic Bond, she could easily communicate over long distances within 1 kilometer.

Dorothy used it to converse with Philia, stationed outside the forest.

Philia’s mission was simple: monitor the movements of the Hero from a distant tower using a telescope.

-“There’s no notable movement yet. It seems he hasn’t noticed your rapid progress, Dorothy.

Despite your far superior hunting speed compared to the other participants, he doesn’t seem to think he could lose to anyone and is taking it easy.”

-“Is that so~?”

If Sion were to truly participate in the hunt seriously, even Dorothy couldn’t predict the outcome.

Her strength was renowned across the continent.

But Sion had no idea Dorothy was desperately collecting necklaces.

That made a huge difference. Without a proper competitor, one naturally lets their guard down.

Sion was likely thinking, “As long as I gather around 1,000 points, winning should be easy.”

In fact, past winners’ scores had hovered around 1,000 points.

Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have been a wrong assumption.

But this time, things were very different.

Dorothy’s strength wasn’t just in her power or speed; her greatest asset was her razor-sharp dragon senses.

When focused, her keen senses could detect even the sound of a needle dropping from miles away.

Using those senses, finding monsters wandering the forest was a simple task.

By detecting nearby creatures, running to their location, and delivering a dragon punch to their jaw, Dorothy had already subdued twenty-six monsters.

Not a single one had withstood more than two punches.

Truly, even a dragon past its prime was still an apex predator.

-“From an observer’s perspective, it might feel a bit underhanded. It’s not exactly a fair competition; you’re just exploiting his carelessness.”

-“Who cares? In a fight, there’s no such thing as being unfair.”

Her mentor, Sien, always said, “No matter how underhanded the tactics, the one who stands victorious over their opponent’s corpse is the winner.”

Dorothy was merely faithfully applying what she had been taught.

-“So, roughly how many points has he accumulated so far?”

-“Well… based on my estimates, it’s about 200 or 300 points?

But it’s just a rough guess. Even with the telescope, it’s hard to confirm the exact points written on the necklaces.”

-“Fufu, that’s fine. That’s more than enough.”

Even at the highest estimate, his score was barely half of hers. And the gap would only widen as time passed.

By the time he realized the situation, the difference would be too vast to close.

The limited number of monsters in the forest meant encounters would decrease as the competition progressed, slowing everyone’s point accumulation.

Dorothy couldn’t help but feel elated.

-“Fufu, hahaha! Ahahahaha!!

Good, very good! This time, I’ll make sure that arrogant fool is beneath me!

And I’ll prove it! That we dragons are the true ruling species of the Elpidion continent!”

Dorothy laughed like a villainous noble, raising her hands in triumph.

Her wicked laughter echoed through the entire forest like a haunting chorus…

And then, about two hours later.

-“Master, Master.”

-“Yes?”

-“If you head in that direction, you’ll encounter the Hero. They’re quite close.”

-“Oh, really?”

The paths of the two individuals wandering the forest as if it were their backyard finally overlapped.

It wasn’t an especially rare coincidence.

As the number of monsters decreased, competition for the remaining necklaces naturally became fiercer.

In fact, during previous tournaments, most conflicts between participants tended to arise intensively in this latter stage.

Of course, Dorothy and Sion had no reason to fight.

They hadn’t established a particularly hostile relationship, and above all—

-“Philia, how many points does the Hero have so far?”

-“The current total is 1,200 points.”

-“Is that so? Hehehe.”

Dorothy chuckled while fiddling with the sack containing her collected necklaces.

So far, her total score was 2,070 points, approximately 40% of the overall total.

In theory, it wasn’t impossible to be overtaken, but that was only if the other 100 students had completely given up and turned into mere bystanders.

They, too, would have been gathering necklaces as they roamed the forest, and it was unlikely they would give those away.

The possibility of the gap being closed was practically zero.

At this point, celebrating her victory wouldn’t be punished, right?

-“The Hero is approaching, Master,” Philia briefly reported as she watched Sion from a distance.

And just as she said, Sion emerged from between the trees, stepping forward confidently.

“Hmm? Oh, it’s Dorothy! We met before, didn’t we? How are you?”

“Hello, Hero Sion.”

Dorothy waved leisurely with a smile that brimmed with self-assuredness, fully immersed in the certainty of her victory.

Unaware of anything, Sion tilted her head at Dorothy’s attitude.

“You seem to be in a very good mood. Has your hunt been successful?”

“Well, you could say that~.”

Dorothy giggled, fiddling with her sack full of necklaces. It was the kind of smile Isabella would have found irritating.

“Shall we share scores? How many points have you collected so far?”

“Me? I haven’t counted precisely, but it should be around 1,200 points. How about you, Dorothy?”

“Me? Not much, just… a modest 2,000 points?”

“…What?”

Sion widened her eyes in mock surprise.

“That much? How did you manage that? Truly impressive! I’ve been working hard, too, but you’ve collected twice as much as me.”

“Well, for someone like me, this is easy.”

Dorothy shrugged smugly, her shoulders rising and falling in delight.

For some reason, being praised by Sion felt good, almost nostalgic, as if she had returned to her childhood 500 years ago.

Though, of course, Sion’s personality was entirely different from that “other person.”

“Don’t believe me? Should I show you the necklaces I’ve collected? I can share them if you’d like.”

“Hmm…”

Sion hesitated, glancing at the sack before shaking her head.

“No, if something happens to them later, I might get blamed. I appreciate the offer, though.”

“Alright. Not that I’d sweat over a mere 100 or 200 points, but if you say so.”

Dorothy shrugged again.

“Then, keep up the good work!”

“Thank you. I wish you all the best in the remaining time as well, Dorothy.”

With that, the two parted ways.

For a meeting between the first and second place participants, it was surprisingly uneventful.

If it had been Salem versus Espera, it might have turned into a bloodbath.

Even so, Dorothy expected a bit more jealousy or frustration.

While it was a relief that no conflict arose, she found it slightly disappointing.

‘Well, knowing Sion’s personality, it’s more natural for her to bless the first place than to obstruct them.’

Sion was that kind of person—a girl with a spotless and upright character, someone pure and noble.

Even if someone else ranked higher than her, she would genuinely congratulate them without any resentment.

At least, that was how she was known publicly, and Dorothy fully believed in that image.

“Anyway, I think I’ve made my presence clear enough… Now I just need to climb a tree, nap until the bell rings, and then turn in this sack—”

Dorothy patted her waist with a satisfied smile.

And then—

“Huh?”

The next moment, she realized something was terribly wrong.

It was gone. Completely gone.

The heavy, overlapping sensation of hundreds of necklaces piled together—there was no trace of it.

All that remained in her grasp was a single, empty sack.

“Wh-what?!?!”

Panicking, Dorothy lifted the sack and peered inside.

She found it—a large hole at the bottom of the bag, big enough for necklaces to slip through without her noticing.

“What… what is this?”

Questions swirled chaotically in her mind.

Why? Since when? Where?

More importantly, how had she not noticed such an obvious hole?

Even in her overconfidence, missing something this glaring seemed impossible.

No matter how much she tried to reason it out, no answers came.

The only thing she knew for sure was—

“Could it be… I’ve lost all the necklaces I collected…?”

From 2,000 points to zero in an instant, Dorothy sat on the ground, her face frozen in shock and despair.