chapter_0230

231 – Who Becomes Whose Employee?

231 – Who Becomes Whose Employee?

“So…”

The Empress looked at the girl the Hero and his party had brought.

“This large-chested woman is a Dragon? The White Dragon who appeared in the Ice Mountain Range and instilled fear in people?”

“That is correct.”

White hair and red eyes.

Fair skin and a physique under 160 centimeters, contrasted by unbelievably large breasts.

And this ordinary girl, who was even shy and hesitant after arriving in the capital, is a Dragon?

The Empress couldn’t believe what she had heard from Nikki’s report.

Even if Dragons could transform into humans through Polymorph, she never imagined it would be like this.

According to records, Dragons were a race with far greater pride and stubbornness than Elves.

Therefore, they usually transformed into someone more beautiful and noble than anyone else.

So beautiful that they were difficult to approach.

But the girl before her didn’t give off that feeling at all.

‘Not that she isn’t beautiful.’

The girl standing before her looked too fragile to be called a Dragon.

Unable to believe her appearance, the Empress looked at her again.

The Eye of Truth emphasized once more that this girl was indeed a Dragon.

“A real White Dragon…”

“Ah, hello?”

She bowed her head shyly.

The Empress smiled lightly at her greeting, which showed a complete lack of knowledge of human customs.

“It is an honor to meet you, great one. Please forgive me for greeting you from such a high place. It is merely human custom.”

Even as the ruler of humans, the Empress showed some respect to the Dragon, the leader of all things.

“Ah, yes…”

“I have heard why you appeared in the Ice Mountain Range. As Empress, I apologize on behalf of the residents in the area who were noisy.”

“Ah, no. It’s, it’s okay. Th, that’s… I, I was also at fault.”

She treated her carefully, lest she offend the Dragon.

If the Dragon got angry and suddenly transformed into her Dragon Form and rampaged, there would undoubtedly be enormous damage.

Of course, the Hero and the Saintess, Yuris, and the rest of the Hero’s party had already assured her that such a thing would not happen, but one never knew.

The Empress had to prepare for everything and act accordingly.

It wasn’t as if the empire would collapse if the Dragon went berserk, but the fight itself would be a great loss to the empire.

The Empress felt that this girl was more timid than she had expected.

It was as if…

She was having an allergic reaction to talking to others.

It felt like she was uncomfortable with the act of talking to people itself.

‘How could someone like that have come all the way here?’

It was a ten-day journey from the Ice Mountain Range to the capital, even by horse.

Even if she took a teleport that could cross space in the middle, it would still take three days.

She looked like someone who had never left home in her life and was going out for the first time in a long time.

“Your Majesty, may Hero Nikki speak?”

“Speak.”

“It is true that the Dragon, Monica, threatened the residents of the nearby villages, but considering that there were no actual casualties and that the area in question was the Ice Mountain Range, where it is difficult for humans to live, I believe there are parts of this incident that can be sufficiently taken into account.”

“That is a valid point. There were no casualties caused by the Dragon.”

If there had been, if the damage had been great, the Empress would not have been able to stand idly by.

“However, the fact remains that Dragons themselves are dangerous. Is that not so?”

“That is correct. Dragons are dangerous beings.”

She had said that she wouldn’t go berserk, but there was a chance, however small.

Leaving a threatening being like a Dragon unattended was like planting a bomb inside.

“U-um, excuse me. I have something to say.”

Monica carefully raised her hand and said.

“I, I don’t think you need to worry about that part.”

“What do you mean?”

“I, I don’t have much wariness towards humans. I don’t intend to fight either. I just…”

She leaned slightly against Max and said.

“I can work with Max.”

“Work together? What does that mean?”

As the Empress tilted her head, Max spoke instead of Monica.

“I plan to hire Monica at our store.”

“Hire?”

“Yes.”

The Empress couldn’t believe her ears.

Who was hiring whom right now?

Max, a human, was hiring Monica, a Dragon?

At his store?

“I didn’t mishear what I just heard, did I?”

“That’s right. It seems the Dragon has considerable knowledge of Illusion magic, so I’m thinking of working with her.”

What came to the Empress’s mind was the illusion she had seen when she visited Max’s store.

Her imperial palace was on fire.

Max was standing at the center of it all.

She realized why everyone guarding the palace had disappeared.

Because he had a Dragon under his command.

Even though she knew it was an illusion, she felt the possibility of that illusion becoming reality increasing because of the Dragon’s existence.

The clear emotion rising in her chest was not fear.

Anger?

There was some of that mixed in.

But more than anything, what filled the Empress’s chest was a strange sense of anticipation.

It was an emotion she couldn’t understand herself.

‘Am I looking forward to such a future?’

Did she want to be deprived of her throne, treated like a slave, and subjected to all sorts of humiliation?

No.

She had only enjoyed it because it was just an illusion.

It was a completely different story if it happened in reality.

“Max.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Are you ignoring me?”

“Pardon?”

“Did you think I would grant your request to dare to take a Dragon under your command?”

The surroundings fell silent at the Emperor’s rebuke.

The knights’ eyes were filled with tension, and the Hero’s party, including Nikki, also looked at the Emperor in surprise.

“The things you are worried about will not happen.”

“What do you mean? Are you saying you can properly control the Dragon? Do you not know that that is only making your rebellious intentions even stronger?”

It was then.

“U-um, that’s…”

Monica raised her hand and said to the enraged Empress.

“Y-you don’t have to worry.”

“What do you mean?”

“I, I can’t go back to my Dragon Form.”

“…”

“I won’t suddenly transform into a Dragon and destroy this city… probably.”

The Empress closed her mouth at her words.

A Dragon who couldn’t transform into her Dragon Form.

It was as good as a secret that should never be told.

Even if she couldn’t transform into her Dragon Form, she was still a Dragon.

She was probably strong enough to fight on par with the Hero.

The Demon King was much better suited for the Hero, so Nikki could win, but Dragons were a little different.

Nevertheless, not being able to transform into her Dragon Form was a major weakness for a Dragon.

It meant she couldn’t take out her most powerful weapon.

The tough scales that ordinary steel could never penetrate, the huge body, and the Breath that froze everything.

The fact that she said that here meant that she wanted to be with Max that much.

It meant that she relied on him a lot.

The Empress realized.

The reason why a Dragon who seemed so shy and lacking in social skills had come all the way here.

It was all thanks to Max.

His existence was a tremendous support to that Dragon.

That meant it was virtually impossible to separate the two.

It would be possible by force.

If she ordered the knights to separate the two right now, she would have to be prepared to fight that Dragon.

Even a Dragon who couldn’t transform was still a Dragon.

“I didn’t expect this.”

The Empress sighed.

A place that was only meant to praise the Dragon subjugation had become more complicated than she had expected.

“I, I promise to share some Magic knowledge if you want. I can’t guarantee that I won’t cause any trouble at all, but I can still exchange knowledge as far as I know.”

At Monica’s words, the Empress looked at Max.

What on earth had he done to make a Dragon declare that she could make a promise with her own mouth?

The Empress, who knew what a promise meant to a Dragon, was silent for a moment at the offer.

‘The Hero was like that, and so was Yuris. From what I can see, the Saintess, Reina, and even Aurora, the head of the Life Magic school, are all charmed by Max.’

He was a man with unbelievable power.

Every woman he met was completely charmed, struggling that she couldn’t live without Max.

‘The secret is Illusion… I guess.’

She herself was the same.

She was deeply in love with Max and clinging to the illusions he showed her.

The illusions that Max showed were a power that could not be easily dismissed.

It was an illusion that fulfilled only the best desires of a person.

The pleasure of scratching an itch.

She knew.

The Empress also knew.

That once you experienced that man’s illusion, it was not easy to escape.

‘I didn’t know it would work on a Dragon.’

What should she do with that man?

That man who attracted so many women just by existing.

Even she herself was subordinate to Max’s illusion and only waited for it.

What should she do?

It was virtually an offer she couldn’t refuse.

The Dragon’s existence was a variable, but if she could control it, the empire’s Magic would develop much more than it was now.

That was the rational thing to do.

The Empress had always made such choices.

But today was a little different.

She was jealous.

She was curious about what had happened on that expedition that she wasn’t on.

What had happened to make her do that?

Jealousy and envy seeped into the Empress’s mind.

“I understand. I’ll consider it a little more. However.”

The Empress looked at Max and continued.

“I think I need to talk to Max, the person in question. Everyone else, please leave.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Everyone left the room except for the bodyguards guarding the Emperor.

“Bodyguards, leave too. I want to talk to him alone.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Everyone left, and only the Empress and Max remained in the audience hall.

She rose from her throne.

And slowly went down the stairs.

Stairs that she would not go down unless it was a special occasion.

She moved her body herself to ask Max questions.

The Empress’s body, slowly descending, drew a beautiful curve.

The Empress, one of the most beautiful beings in the empire, stood in the same place as Max, making the sound of her heels clicking.

As she came down, Max knelt down and bowed his head.

That was the proper etiquette.

When she reached close to Max.

“What happened?”

The Empress asked.

“I don’t know what you’re asking.”

“I’m talking about that child. The Dragon. I asked what happened between you and Monica.”

“…”

“Answer me. If you really want to bring that child into the empire’s society.”

After hesitating for a moment, Max opened his mouth with difficulty.

“I showed her an illusion.”

As she thought.

She knew it.

There was no other way to explain it.

“It must have been the same as what I saw.”

“…It was similar.”

“I see. While I was working hard on state affairs alone, you were flirting with a Dragon… Is that what you’re saying?”

“Uh, that’s…”

“Of course, you spent time with the other members of the Hero’s party as well.”

“Your, Your Majesty?”

“I understand. It’s not like I didn’t know and sent you out. I understand everything you do outside the castle.”

The Empress said, as if spitting out this strangely boiling emotion.

It was the first time.

That she had lost her temper and spoken so quickly.

“So you will have to take responsibility.”

“What do you mean?”

“Are you clueless? Or are you pretending to be?”

“…”

“Show it to me too.”

The Empress put her hand on Max’s chin and lifted his head.

“I will praise your merits. Show me your illusion.”

“Are you serious?”

“Didn’t I tell you? That I would visit again.”

“…”

Desire was dripping from the Empress’s eyes.