chapter_0228

229 – Max Will Repay This with His Body

229 – Max Will Repay This with His Body

Nikki opened the door and saw a space that was completely different from the cave she had known.

“Is this home?”

It was a house built inside the cave.

A house crafted with exquisite skill, as if made by a refined artisan.

The space was carved out of stone.

“It’s all carved from stone.”

“That’s not something that can be done normally.”

“Indeed, this is the place.”

“I can feel Max’s energy not far from here.”

Everyone sensed Max’s presence and looked in the same direction.

A large door connected this room, which appeared to be a living room.

They all walked toward the beautifully decorated door.

The space was thick with Max’s energy, or rather, his scent.

“This is it.”

“That’s right.”

“Max is inside… Why is it so quiet?”

It was strange.

If Max were really fighting a dragon here, there should have been an overwhelming presence of his energy.

As confusion swirled in everyone’s minds, suddenly—

Bang!

The door burst open from the inside.

With a loud noise, the door swung wide.

There stood Max.

His hair was slightly damp, as if he had been sweating, but he appeared before them in a surprisingly neat outfit.

“Max, you’re safe.”

“Are you okay? We thought you were kidnapped…”

“What happened? You just disappeared. I was really worried.”

“Brother…”

“Max, we were waiting for you.”

They all rushed to him, worried.

But then—

“Huh?”

Everyone’s eyes caught sight of something out of place.

There was something that shouldn’t be next to Max, standing boldly.

White hair.

A small stature, not even 160 cm.

A large chest.

And red eyes.

A woman was hugging Max’s waist, blatantly pressing her chest against him.

She was gazing at Max with a loving look, sticking close to him.

“Who are you? I never invited any intruders!”

Everyone’s gaze turned to her white hair.

Dragon lair.

Specifically, the lair of a White Dragon.

It couldn’t be a coincidence that a woman with white hair appeared in the beautiful lair of a White Dragon.

That meant—

“A dragon?”

Nikki shouted.

At her horrified voice, everyone’s attention shifted to the white-haired woman.

“Hmm, you all know, huh? Yes, I am a dragon. So everyone, get out of my house!”

She had a face that looked terrified.

There were even traces of tears and redness around her eyes.

But they focused not on the white-haired woman’s face, but on something else.

Her voice.

The cutesy tone of a woman in love in front of a male.

The dragon before them was standing not as a dragon, but as a woman.

Nikki looked at Max.

His wet hair.

His strangely intact body.

But there was a light sheen of sweat on his nape and skin.

And there was a girl in love too.

This could only mean one thing.

Max had enchanted the dragon with illusion magic.

Yes.

It was something to celebrate as a hero.

A missing comrade had, it turned out, single-handedly defeated a dragon.

How joyous that was.

However, Nikki’s expression was not bright.

Because she knew better than anyone what kind of illusion Max used.

She understood well what the woman who experienced Max’s illusion might have gone through.

Nikki was shocked not that Max had overcome the dragon, but that he had spent time with another woman.

She looked at Max.

She knew he had been in trouble after being kidnapped, but she also knew he had acted to survive.

But she didn’t feel good about it.

No, she felt bad.

It meant he had shown his illusions to another woman.

Was it okay that he had done so to others?

That wasn’t the issue.

What he had done for them was merely a guest and host relationship.

It was something that could be overlooked as a professional matter.

But the dragon right in front of her—

“Max, is this person perhaps one of your companions?”

She had eyes completely in love.

Whatever had happened inside, there was only one reason she had that look.

She had done it.

Not in an illusion, but in reality.

And it seemed the other women thought the same.

Everyone’s eyes sharpened.

How busy they had been trying to rescue him until now.

And the person in question had been giggling with a dragon?

“No. Max did his best to survive.”

I know.

I know, but what can I do about being angry?

Every time she saw the dragon—who looked like a girl—making that expression, rage welled up inside her.

That expression was one I should be making.

Nikki slowly contained her rising anger.

“Max.”

There was a chill in the voice of the hero Nikki.

The contained anger turned into a cold fury that pressed down on Max.

“…Yes.”

Even the great Max trembled slightly from the thick chill.

“Did you do it?”

“….”

“Can’t answer, huh?”

Her gaze turned icy.

And the other women felt the same.

They were the ones who had been busy searching for him since his disappearance.

They had strategized not only on how to defeat the dragon but also on how to overcome the traps in the lair. They had even planned how to find the lair.

Logically, one could say that Max had found the lair thanks to his confrontation with the dragon, but they were not in a state to think logically right now.

“While we were suffering like this, you were enjoying yourself with another woman?”

“Th-that’s not it….”

Max shook his head urgently, but it didn’t reach them.

“It’s okay. It’s not Max’s fault.”

Nikki’s eyes, Yuris’s eyes, Eileen’s and Reina’s, and Aurora’s eyes.

All turned toward the dragon standing next to Max.

“That girl is the bad one. She must have kidnapped and seduced Max.”

“Are you all Max’s companions?”

It’s okay.

After all, the hero party had come to subdue the dragon.

If they killed the dragon, wouldn’t all this be over?

Dragons, like the Demon King, were beings that threatened humanity.

Leaving them alive was a concern for future troubles.

You never know when or how they might wreak havoc on the empire.

“Max, step aside. Let’s kill this dragon and go back.”

Nikki said through gritted teeth.

She wanted Max to step aside immediately.

“I’m sorry, but that can’t happen.”

Max shook his head and stood before them.

“Max?”

“This dragon, Monica, isn’t a bad dragon that needs to be subdued.”

“What? What do you think about the testimonies of people? Haven’t you heard that the dragon threatened them into fleeing?”

“I have.”

“Then why…?”

“That’s exactly why. If Monica were truly a bad dragon, the rumors wouldn’t have spread. Would she have threatened them to leave? She would have killed and eaten them on the spot.”

“….”

Nikki fell silent at Max’s words.

He wasn’t wrong.

If a true dragon were an evil being, rumors about having seen a dragon wouldn’t have spread.

Everyone who saw it would have been dead.

But even knowing that, they had come to subdue it.

Dragons were a potential danger.

“But still, we can’t. How do we know when or how the dragon might change?”

“I assure you. This dragon is fine. And….”

“And?”

“She has decided to work in our shop from now on.”

At those words, no one could speak.

A dragon working in a human shop?

That dragon?

“I-I will work hard. I want to change, so….”

Monica spoke in a shy voice, and everyone, including Nikki, had expressions that questioned whether this girl was really a dragon.

“W-well….”

Nikki was a woman before being a hero.

She couldn’t resist something cute.

Her heart softened, but jealousy still lingered.

Max approached Nikki.

He was enveloped in a strong scent of male pheromones.

He completely overwhelmed the scent of the unfamiliar woman’s perfume with his unique male smell.

The scent of a dominating figure who captivates women.

Nikki was startled by it without realizing it.

Max threw out an irresistible line to her.

“Are you not going to give in?”

“….”

This time, it was Nikki who fell silent.

How could she say anything?

With Max, who was exuding the scent of a male so close, Nikki, just a mere female, had no choice but to submit to those words.

Just as she always had.

Max brushed his hair back and whispered in her ear.

“I’ll make you scream even more than you couldn’t before.”

It was a statement that gradually calmed the anger and jealousy that had arisen because she was a woman.

“Really, is that true? Can I really believe it?”

“Of course. I’ve tamed her properly.”

At those words, Nikki nodded.

However.

“You won’t put her to sleep. And that goes for everyone else too.”

“I’ll forgive you. But you must be responsible for all five of us.”

“You will be compensated for the time we worried about our brother.”

“The anger of the inferior species and elves is more poisonous than you think.”

“I am a good girl who listens to anything Max says. So I will do as Max says.”

The five women, including Nikki, did not seem willing to let it go easily.

“Max, you will repay this with your body.”

Max took a deep breath and nodded.

“Of course.”

Before the hero party entered Monica’s lair.

After finishing the cleanup from my activities with her, I sat her beside me.

“Why were you alone?”

“Th-that’s….”

Now, it was hard to tell who was the dragon and who was the human.

The dragon Monica spoke to me formally while I spoke to her informally.

“I-I lack social skills… I’m a bit shy. So….”

After the illusion ended and the relationship concluded, there was now a Monica who stammered and was embarrassed.

Even in a situation filled with the scent of soap, she hesitated and blushed.

It was amusing how the dragon, who had been so proactive during sex, had changed like this.

“You spoke so well during sex, though?”

“Th-that’s because… I didn’t even realize….”

“That’s enough. Because you’re shy, talking to others feels awkward, and that leads to spending a lot of time alone, and then you get so engrossed in a piece of work that you create illusion magic and even made a model based on Brave, right?”

“H-how do you know that so well?”

“I got into illusion magic for a similar reason.”

Of course, this wasn’t a story from this world.

There had been a time in the world I originally lived in when I first encountered adult videos and spent a lot of time alone.

Back then, meeting other people was a hassle.

That wasn’t a bad thing, but my social skills weren’t great.

I had even been afraid to go out until I found a job later.

“A dragon who uses illusion magic well….”

I thought of Nikki and the hero party, who were probably still looking for me.

If they were looking for a dragon now, they would likely want to kill and hunt it immediately.

‘That’s troublesome.’

If they asked if I had developed feelings for her, I would shake my head.

The reason I was troubled was that this dragon was a capable dragon that shouldn’t be killed.

A dragon that hadn’t spent much time with others and lacked social skills because it had spent time alone.

A dragon that had seen many human literary works and had little aversion to human society.

A dragon that could polymorph at any time and change.

It would be too wasteful to just kill such a dragon.

Rather.

‘It would be better to use her as an excellent employee.’

For example, as a member of the development team for an illusion magic shop.

While it would be impossible for her to deal with people like a succubus, having her help develop magic circles alongside me would be beneficial in many ways.

With my master, me, and even Monica.

When many people gather, better ideas will come together.

So I needed to persuade her.

This dragon was tamed by me.

So don’t worry about the hero party.

“You’re in polymorph form right now, right?”

“Y-yes.”

“Can you go back to your original form?”

“Ah, o-of course! I can do it. Just a moment?”

Monica, with her hands tightly clenched and lips pursed, closed her eyes and focused.

“Ugh!”

“……?”

Nothing happened.

“Uh, uh? Huh?”

Once more.

“Ugh!”

Again, nothing happened.

“Uh, uh?”

“Is it not working?”

“Dragons are a species sensitive to their physical state. I’ve heard that sometimes, if their mind leans too heavily toward another species, they can’t transform.”

Monica said in a sulky voice.

“I can’t go back to being a dragon?”

She nodded.

“W-what should we do?”

“It’s okay. Even if you can’t return to being a dragon, you are still a dragon.”

“Uuuh.”

“Actually, this is a good thing.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“How about trying to work in our shop this time? It’s a shop that specializes in illusion magic.”

“…Illusion magic? Can I be with Max?”

“Of course.”

“Then I want to do it!”

She nodded vigorously and hugged me.

It was then.

I sensed a presence approaching from outside.

I opened the door, feeling the presence coming this way, and found myself facing the hero party.

“Max, you will repay this with your body.”

Would it have been better if I had transformed into a dragon?

A word from the author (author’s note)

Thank you to Cloudlink for the 200 coins of support.

I truly appreciate the generous support! You asked about Max’s appearance; it has been mentioned occasionally, but I haven’t focused much on describing it.

He has dark brown hair and chestnut eyes that give off a black vibe, and he stands over 180 cm tall.

He works out regularly, so his body is muscular, unlike a typical wizard. He diligently goes to the gym, giving him thick forearms and biceps.

He isn’t exceptionally handsome, but he has an attractive (likable) appearance that makes the heroines fall for him through the illusion buff.

I hope this answers your question, and thank you as always.