episode_0036

“Ahhhh!”

“Hmm… I remember the first time you entered this mansion. I think I was still trying to hold back my screams at that time…

I still have a question… What on earth were you thinking when you accepted the request to assassinate the master? Was it just overconfidence in your own skills?”

-Crack.

“Aaaah!”

With her question, the tail tightened around her already broken ankle and didn’t even move, no matter how hard she punched it and scratched it until blood flowed from her fingernails.

In constant pain, she asked herself, her superiors, and her comrades who had died before her the same questions she had asked herself.

What on earth was he thinking when he accepted the request to assassinate the head of the Catenis family?

Putting aside issues such as the repercussions of killing the man who virtually monopolized the slave trade for the entire empire, how could the head of the Katenis family be killed in the first place?

Even the wrath of the dragons that shook the empire had failed, so why on earth did they believe that it could be done with just a few poisoned daggers and that there would be no problem as long as they stabbed him while he was sleeping?

Not asking herself that question sooner was a fact she regretted every waking moment.

Of course, if you were to calmly describe her inner feelings, it would be like that.

As the tail wrapped around the broken bone tightened even more painfully, there was no significant difference between the screams coming out of my mouth and what was in my head.

Just like on the day when he attempted to assassinate Katenis, when ‘that’ who killed her colleagues first broke her ankle as she tried to escape, wrapped her tail around the broken ankle, swept the floor, and dragged her in front of him.

“…You know. Tia. Still, I quite like you.”

With those words, the tail released his ankle, and the enslaved assassin hurriedly crouched down and wrapped his legs.

In the meantime, I somehow had to keep my ears open and listen to what was said. It had to be that way, as long as I remember what happens if I don’t.

“The owner, who had been bored for a while, became quite interested… but more than anything, Tia reminds me of my old self.

Even though we are of different races, don’t we look quite similar to each other?”

The woman who was her tormentor but also her manager and owner, called ‘Lia’, said with a blush on her face as she tangled her tail and covered her face with both hands.

At first glance, it was cute to see a beautiful woman like her with long red hair and her hands on her face looking embarrassed.

This would have been the case if several torture instruments, covered in blood and sweat, had not been placed around her.

“There was a time when I was lying here like that… The owner dealt with me personally.”

Tia, who was once an assassin, trembled as she watched Lia talk about her memories of being tortured as if it were an ecstatic experience.

Even more so because I knew who the woman named ‘Lia’ who was talking like that was.

Two broken and severed horns exposed on the top of the head, a tail extending behind the waist and hips and shaking, wings folded behind the back, and traces of scales remaining on the face.

She was clearly a dragon in human form, which showed that the story that Tia herself had once thought was just a rumor was true.

A long time ago, Catenis, who was amassing enormous wealth through the slave trade, did something that would incur the wrath of the dragons.

They began to enslave the dragons who served them and sometimes inherited their blood, even young dragons, and sold them in the market.

The enraged dragons flew into the sky to burn the empire, and the greatest among them stepped forward to judge Catenis with flames.

Concordia, the guardian of harmony.

If there was anyone who could be called the Queen of Dragons, it would be her.

Although she had the greatest power among dragons, she mainly used that power to mediate conflicts that arose between clans and with other races, and was respected by many dragons.

Concordia was normally very gentle, but as much as she cared for all the children of her race as if she were her own, she could not help but be extremely angry towards Catenis.

As her fierce fury, with the wind from her wings and the flames from her mouth, drew closer and closer to the city, even Catenis’ private soldiers abandoned their master and fled.

In the city where the dragon was approaching, the only human left was now Katenis.

It is said that he placed a chair at the highest point in the city, held the window tightly, and waited in silence for the dragon to come.

And as the city began to burn in front of her flame, Cathenis stood up holding a spear to greet Concordia, threw the spear, and began the battle with the dragon.

A few days later, when the fire that had nearly burned the city subsided with the rain, some of those who had run away returned to the city.

I was hoping that if I could at least collect Catenis’ remains, I would be able to get some of the compensation for it, or that I would be able to salvage something from the ruined city.

But what they witnessed was something none of them expected.

In the middle of the city that had been reduced to ashes, Catenis came alive to greet them.

Even though the armor he was wearing had melted and stuck to his skin, and his entire body was covered in blood, he still got up from where he was sitting and faced the returning soldiers.

However, what surprised those who returned most was what the owner, who they thought was dead, was sitting on and what he was stepping on to stand up.

At the feet of Catenis, who had stood up, Concordia was lying with her wings torn off and one horn on her head broken.

The legions of the Empire could barely deal with dragons that required dozens of ballistas. Among them, the one who was considered the greatest dragon was defeated by a single human and fell.

And her death broke the morale of the dragons that were rampaging throughout the empire, causing them to finally retreat in defeat.

That was a clearly confirmed fact that Tia also knew.

Rumors circulated a different story.

In fact, Concordia, who fell, did not die at that time, but was captured and taken away by Catenis while still alive.

It is said that Catenis, who drank the blood of the fallen Concordia, healed his wounds and became immortal.

It is said that Concordia, who was taken away, completely surrendered to him and became Catenis’ slave after all sorts of torture and training.

At one point she scoffed at the stories.

Because I thought they were all just tall tales that people would use as snacks in a bar.

However, when he encountered a red-haired female slave at the mansion he had infiltrated after receiving an assassination request to kill the head of the Catenis family.

And when her colleague quickly reached out to cover her mouth, he was thrown back by her tail and landed against the wall.

When another colleague who tried to run away was burned to death by flames spewing from her mouth.

Even if she didn’t want to believe it, she had no choice but to accept the stories as true.

Maybe that’s why she was the only one who survived.

While I was dragged away by my broken ankle, and now while I was facing that crazy dragon right in front of me again, I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing.

What on earth would have to happen for someone who was once respected by all dragons to fall like that, and what would happen if something like that happened to him?

I was shaking because I felt like I was going crazy with fear, but I couldn’t stop thinking.

And as if trying to answer those questions, the dragon, who had fallen both physically and mentally, continued speaking while picking up the tools one by one.

“This is… the saw blade I used to cut off my horn. Still, it would be inconvenient without a handle, so I only cut off the end.

But Tia doesn’t have horns… so I’m wondering what to cut instead? Do you have any thoughts?”

The enslaved assassin was shocked and answered the enslaved dragon’s question.

“Please… I was wrong. I will never again rest without my master’s permission. Please-”

“Hehe. Just kidding. The owner was quite tired of that place. Tia is just a human, so managing her can be a hassle.

Hmm… how about this? It was used when they drew my blood.

After confirming that pulling it out while in human form had the same effect, we usually used this to pull it out.

And lastly, this is my teeth-”

“Lia.”

Her expression, which had been happily talking for a while, became distorted at being interrupted, and the dragon in human form turned its head to the soldier who had interrupted.

“…What’s going on? I would have told you not to disturb me unless it was important.”

“When the master calls-”

Before the soldier even finished speaking, she had already passed him and ran, or rather flew, through the mansion.

To respond to the owner’s call faster than anyone else.

“A lowly slave meets his master.”

The place where the head of the family resides in the Katenis family mansion is no inferior to the imperial palace in the archipelago.

In front of Catenis, who was sitting in the center of the gorgeous room, the defeated dragon knelt down, bowed his head, and said.

“Why did you call me?”

Katenis, who was looking at ‘Lia’, slowly answered her question.

“…I have something to catch. If possible, the hunter the Empress will send, even before my son.”

“Do you want me to visit in person?”

“No. There were children who happened to be nearby. Just give instructions to those kids.”

“Ah… Just give me your orders, master… What should I tell the children?”

She asked, unconsciously caressing her teeth that had been pulled out and had grown back.

“Tell them to catch the undying monster beyond the barrier. It doesn’t matter if you kill everything that gets in your way.”

“What about your son?”

To that last question, the matriarch only gave a short answer, and the slave did not ask the master any more questions.

Just follow silently.

Soon the dragon’s horse rides the wind and heads somewhere across the sea. With the answer given by the owner.