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We entered the village, but we didn’t receive much attention from anyone.

The Dragonkin seemed to have little interest in us, making it awkward to identify as fellow Beastmen. In fact, they were admiring their own bodies like bodybuilders post-workout, and I couldn’t help but wonder if their self-love was a bit excessive.

We, in turn, were indifferent to the Dragonkin. There was something far more eye-catching.

“Luke, that thing… no matter how I look at it…”

“It’s a hut.”

The Dragonkin’s homes weren’t brick houses or wooden houses—they were huts made of straw. I mean, is this prehistoric times? The buildings I had just seen in the Beastman Kingdom were all made of bricks, and even the Dwarves displayed a futuristic image of building with iron.

Why had they regressed in civilization? They were practically ostracizing their own progress.

‘Is there no one in the Dragonkin who can think?’

They stood alongside the Dwarves, who built kingdoms using just their wits.

“If their houses are like this, won’t the Dragonkin be cold?”

“Our robust bodies feel no cold! We take pride in our steel-like defense!”

Isn’t that just ignorance of what cold actually is? At that moment, the guard who was guiding us spoke up.

“You are lucky! In a few days, you’ll have the opportunity to see the Dragon God in all His glory! Consider it a privilege!”

No, I just said I was aware of this, you idiot. If these guys are really related to the Ice Snow Dragon, I can’t help but wonder if the dragon is as brainless as them.

I heard from the World Tree that they had some reasoning, but it seems to be minimal at best.

“You’ve arrived! Go inside! This is where you’ll be staying!”

Like all the other buildings, our place was also a hut.

Since we couldn’t sleep outside, we had no choice but to enter the hut. Just bending down to get in was a max inconvenience.

Inside was an empty hut with no one around. Seeing the lack of human traces, it seemed that we wouldn’t be sharing this place with anyone, which made sense given how much labor and materials would go into building a hut.

The only thing inside the hut was a small campfire. I couldn’t understand why they made a fire if they didn’t feel the cold.

“Luke, do we have to sleep here…?”

“Don’t worry. We always carry something for situations like this.”

For me and Yui, who dislike camping, that meant always having something in the inventory.

That something was a bed. I took the bed out of the inventory and placed it in a corner. No matter how stupid the hut was, with walls, a ceiling, and a bed, I could catch some sound sleep.

“W-What’s that, human?”

A surprised Dragonkin pointed at the bed.

“It’s a bed. You use it to sleep.”

It seems they found my ability to pull items out of thin air unremarkable, but the bed astounded them. Given their ignorance about something as basic as a bed, it made me wonder just how long they had lived separately in their own little world.

“Ahem…! I will check it first in case there’s poison!”

What would it even matter if there was poison on the bed, you crazy fool? And why are you checking it when I’m the one who’s going to use it? The guard flopped down onto the bed, claiming it might be poisoned. But due to the wings protruding from his back, he couldn’t lie down properly.

“Ugh…! This is how stupid humans make things uncomfortable, huh?!”

The angry outburst from the guard as he shot up from the bed. As always, the problem lies not with the tools, but with the user.

‘If it was useless, we would have killed it long ago.’

Today I realized just how long a person’s life can be if they’re deemed useful. Otherwise, there would be no reason to spare such societal pests.

Moments later, the guard turned to head for the hut’s entrance.

“I must go stand guard, but if you have any foolish thoughts, I suggest you let them go! For our Dragonkin, you would only need to use the strength of your fingernail to kill you!”

I don’t even know how many times I’ve heard that line since arriving.

“Yeah, yeah.”

After confirming that the Dragonkin had disappeared, I turned to Luna to ask.

“Luna, what do you think about finally seeing the Dragonkin that you’ve only heard rumors about?”

“I really wish I had never known…”

True that.

*

There wasn’t much to do in a place with no attractions, just an overly narcissistic Dragonkin and a hut.

During our stay of a few days in the village, preparations for the Dragon God’s festival were being made diligently. What could there even be to prepare, but the Dragonkin moved about busily. Most of it was just them going back and forth without carrying anything at all.

Nevertheless, a large tree was erected in the center of the village for the festival. They seemed to know what a bonfire is, at least.

And on the day of the festival, all the Dragonkin, including us, gathered in the center of the village. In the middle stood an old Dragonkin, leaning on a staff, who appeared to be the elder.

Alongside him stood a long line of Dragonkin, each placing the food they had brought neatly on the ground. I guess they don’t even use plates for food meant for their god; they just lay it on the floor.

“Human! Offer up the food you brought!”

Then it was our turn. Given we had entered the village under the pretense of offering food, it was only natural.

I placed the meat I had prepared earlier amidst the pile of food.

Once the offerings were finished, it was time for the bonfire. They lit a huge fire that could be seen even by the Ice Snow Dragon, and the elder began to recite prayers with his eyes closed.

At that, all the Dragonkin in the area prostrated themselves on the cold ground. Of course, I had no interest in such things, so I kept my eyes wide open and my back straight.

As I waited for the moment to arrive, it wasn’t long before I heard a fluttering sound and a powerful gust of wind blew in from above. Soon, a large shadow loomed in the sky.

-Kraowwwwwwww!!

The distinctive cry of a dragon was an added bonus. The moment I heard that, I thought to myself that it had finally arrived.

The Ice Snow Dragon, a fantasy staple resembling the western dragon. With scales so blue they were almost white and a long neck, adorned with three pairs of horns, it was certainly a dragon.

With great wings flapping, the Ice Snow Dragon Skana landed proudly before the bonfire. At that moment, snow began to fall from the sky.

The Dragonkin watching in awe didn’t dare to speak, but their eyes were filled with reverence and respect. Taking advantage of the chaos, we stealthily slipped behind the hut.

Then Luna raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t we here to catch the Ice Snow Dragon? Why are we hiding…?”

She seemed to think I would charge in without hesitation.

“You’ll understand when you see.”

Unlike the excessive interest of the Dragonkin, the Ice Snow Dragon appeared entirely indifferent to them. It inspected the offerings laid out for it with a disinterested gaze. Then, slowly, its mouth opened.

[Do you truly think so little of me?]

I hadn’t expected it to speak so fluently. The one closest to the dragon, the elder, looked completely taken aback.

“Y-Your Divine Dragon, what do you mean by that…?”

[Seeing your ridiculous behavior, I let you be free to act as you please, but you have no gratitude and are planning to poison me.]

Nonsense. If they had truly received grace, these idiots wouldn’t have grown up so foolishly. I don’t get how every year’s offering from these idiots is just a collective waste of food, and yet they feel proud about it.

“Poisoning!? That’s utterly absurd!”

[Do you think I would die from such poison? I, who have lived for centuries!?]

I knew it was impossible, but I still felt a bit sorry for them.

“Wait a second. What is happening right now? Poisoning?!”

“Oh. That was me who prepared that.”

There’s no way they would attempt to poison the god they had worshipped for decades. Naturally, it was all my doing. At that line, all three of their gazes turned toward me.

“…Huh?”

“…What?”

“…Eh…?”

“Why waste expensive meat on someone who’s about to die? I don’t even have enough for myself.”

The meat I had shown them a few days back was something special I had cooked, while the meat they offered was loaded with poison from the Sea Serpent.

“…Now I see why you were giving the meat away so freely.”

Nothing in this world is free. If something goes out, something must come back. This was, in a way, a somewhat planned move.

I knew the Dragonkin revered the Ice Snow Dragon like a god, but could that god really look after them? That question was the catalyst for my actions.

Of course, the result was just as expected. I’ve never heard of a human praying to a god and receiving blessings in return.

-Kraowwwwwwww!!

While I was lost in thought, the Ice Snow Dragon roared. The wind pressure sent the pile of food in front of it scattering in all directions. The elder, frightened by the sight, pleaded fervently.

“Great Dragon, please calm your anger!”

“Calm your anger!”

As the elder begged, the Dragonkin echoed his words in unison.

“Hey, I’ve always wondered, who came up with the idea that dragons roar like kraowwwww? Isn’t it a bit cliché?”

Dragons are a common motif in the world I used to live in. The idea is so overused that it’s almost mundane. Even though it might seem fitting to hear it in real life, reading about it destroys any swagger those dragons have with that kraowwwww roar.

“To us, it just sounds terrifying…”

“Well, you guys might think so.”

While we were talking, it seemed the conversation on the other side had progressed to a certain point.

“Dragonkin! Raise your weapons! The Dragon God seems to be controlled! This is our chance to repay the blessings we received from the divine!”

Luna and Riche’s mouths dropped open at the elder’s words.

“I-I didn’t just hear that, right…?”

“I don’t think I imagined it either…”

The way to appease the wrath of a god (physically). It seems that because they never received grace to begin with, they intended to return vengeance instead.

“That’s genuinely madness.”

“So that’s why you let them live…”

“Of course.”

Otherwise, there’d be no reason to leave such idiots alive, right?

I didn’t think these fools would self-destruct, but it was an expected outcome, so here I was hiding.

Today, the Dragonkin were destined to vanish from the continent.

 

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