“Wow, Sir Rensher really is something. I wouldn’t be able to stand so confidently like that. The pressure must be immense.”
It seemed like the assistant professor was disappointed not to hear the voice, hesitating for a moment before excusing himself and squeezing through the students to enter. I was curious why Raiden was here, but it wasn’t the right time to ask, so I turned away.
I should have gone to Building 3 where my research lab was, but for some reason, when I tried to pass Building 2, my feet wouldn’t move. After hesitating several times in front of the main gate of the building, I went to the dragon enclosure.
Even though Raiden had come, the important thing was that the dragon keepers who were preoccupied about Chamber Jewelry were having a conversation slightly away from the enclosure.
It seemed like they were talking about Raiden. Despite being in an enclosure, the dragons were lying lazily on the grass, as the enclosure was designed to provide as much comfort as possible for the dragons, so the area was more crowded than usual due to the large dragon bodies.
The school managed over thirty dragons, most of which were common Ina Dellaf species.
Used to seeing dragons of average size, about 15 to 20 meters, it was cramped to see dragons that were basically 30 meters.
Perhaps because of Raiden’s visit, classes seemed to be suspended, and I saw Heim Wyler knight sharpening Gold Schumann’s claws near a small stream.
I watched the knight for a few minutes, speaking to the flapping Gold Schumann, before unconsciously turning inward.
Chamber Jewelry, clearly isolated due to its sensitivity and venomous nature, lay in a pit with a furious expression, spreading venom on the sand.
There seemed to be no way to resolve it, so the knight and the dragon keepers decided to leave it alone until its anger subsided.
Since I was in school, I sometimes saw trained dragons, so I wasn’t particularly scared of dragons, but most people were afraid of them.
Moreover, if the dragon was angry enough to spit venom, the dragon keepers must have been even more frightened.
Honestly, I’m a bit cowardly, so if it had been any other time, I would have turned around and run away immediately.
However, staring at the large blue eyes fixed on the sand, I couldn’t easily move my feet.
“Ugh, I must be crazy.”
I muttered quietly and cautiously approached, using my bag to protect my face in case venom was sprayed at me.
Fortunately, the dragon just watched me approach without spraying venom or trying to attack.
After watching its eyes for a few minutes, I cautiously removed the venom-soaked sand with my foot and sat down. The dragon looked at me and blinked slowly.
“Hello. Was your name Zeze? Don’t answer. I don’t know why I’m here, but I don’t want to be bitten.”
The dragon made a low, quiet sound and raised its head to nuzzle my head. It made a new sound, like a sigh, and relaxed, seeming to act pitifully, but after a while, it seemed more like it was trying to be cute.
“Kyu.”
“Where does it hurt? I’m a doctor, but my major is a bit different, so I can’t help.”
“Kyu kyu.”
The big eyes that looked like they might fall out rolled around, seeming pitiful. It was like the gaze of Raiden as a child, coveting my chocolate.
“Okay, what’s wrong? Tell me.”
Of course, due to the structure of its mouth, the dragon couldn’t speak human language.
The dragon continued to make sad sounds, as if it were saying something to me. But somehow, I could vaguely guess what it meant.
I moved my bag aside and stood up, looking where the dragon was pointing its head. The saddle was now removed, revealing the scales on its back.
There didn’t seem to be any problems with the light gray body of Chamber Jewelry.
“Why? Is there a problem here?”
The dragon continued to make noises and kept pointing to its back.
Upon closer inspection, there was something irritating. It seemed to be the part that would rise when the saddle was placed, but when someone sat on it, it would press down due to the weight. Without looking closely, it would be hard to notice that one scale was different from the others in direction. It was a saddle sore.
“Is this why you’re like this?”
The dragon nodded as if in response to my question.
If it had reacted sensitively and snapped its jaws, the dragon keepers might not have noticed.
In fact, I was a little unsure. It seemed that the change in size caused the saddle to rub against the sore spot that hadn’t been touched before.
Anyway, I couldn’t do anything about this issue.
“We should call the dragon keepers and knights. If possible, also call the veterinarians.”
The dragon seemed to indicate that I shouldn’t leave, looking at me with a pitiful expression and tugging at my clothes.
Once again, even though it was a smaller dragon, it was much larger than me, and I couldn’t resist.
Balancing, I tried not to fall and stepped back, inadvertently stepping on the bag I had left on the ground.
As I fell backward, the dragon seemed more surprised than me. Then, a scream erupted in the distance.
“Elly!”
Even as I fell back, I confirmed the approaching figure with long, black hair.
Raiden, with a solid and urgent expression, ran towards me. Raiden Rensher, the hero, covered a long distance in an instant, almost flying, and carried me, who was about to fall, to a place far away from the dragon. If he had a sword in his hand, he would have cut off the dragon’s head.
I was surprised, but Chamber Jewelry seemed equally surprised, flapping its wings and moving its body backward.
The Dragon seemed to instinctively realize that he was dangerous, so she didn’t spit venom.
But then, if Raiden became dangerous, the dragon would also become very dangerous.
“Are you okay?”
And I found myself in a situation where my comfortable life was in danger. I glanced around at Raiden’s people, who were watching us.
The knight rider of Chamber Jewelry, upon seeing Raiden and me, marveled, realizing the rumors about us were true. I turned my head to avoid an awkward situation.
“Oh, yes. Thank you for helping. It’s an honor for the hero to recognize me. How did you know my name?”
Raiden quickly caught on to my gaze urging her to be discreet and sighed, putting me down. Chamber Jewelry was whimpering and approaching the knight who had come running, seeming surprised.
“I heard from a another knight.”
The knight of Chamber Jewelry shook hands with me, introducing himself.
“I’m Rohan Joseph. I told him we met while I was treating a student’s injury. He seemed tough.”
“Oh, really? He’s tough, but Sir Raiden…, can’t be compared. It’s embarrassing.”
Even in this situation, Raiden tried to find out if there was any venom on me.
“Thank you for your concern, but I’m fine. I stumbled, that’s all. By the way, I was just about to come and see you. Sir Joseph, there’s a saddle sore on Chamber Jewelry’s back where the saddle touches. That’s why he’s been so sensitive lately.”
“Really?”
Sir Joseph’s expression, which had been keenly interested, suddenly hardened, and he called over the dragon keepers who were watching nearby. One of them ran off to fetch the veterinarians.
“It seems like no one, including safety equipment, got close to the sensitive dragon without a reason.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Raiden seemed a bit annoyed.
“Especially since it’s Chamber Jewelry, a venomous breed.”
That was certainly a mistake on my part. Without making excuses, I nodded in agreement. In fact, this time, it was my fault. It was not polite to approach a dragon without a partner or supervisor, especially a dragon that had been isolated due to being dangerous.
“Let’s go somewhere else for now.”
As more people gathered around, they gestured towards the inside of the building. Fortunately, the keepers of Sir Noah’s Dragon quickly ushered the crowd away. The excuse that dragons are sensitive and should not be disturbed worked well. It was partly true, of course.
With Raiden, I entered the building used by the professors. Some members of the press were preparing to return to the Heim Wyler Knights now that they understood why Chamber Jewelry was so sensitive. Joseph approached me, leaving the side of the dragon, to discuss what to do next.
“Thank you so much. Thanks to you, we’ll perform surgery as soon as we return. It’s hard to find the area where the saddle is placed even for experienced keepers, and accidents resulting in death often occur if it’s touched incorrectly. How lucky we found out before Zeze grew larger. Is she angry?”
“No, not really. It was quite rude of me to approach without permission. Fortunately, Jewel didn’t seem to get annoyed… rather, she seemed to be teaching me about the area where the saddle is.”
Joseph looked at me as if he couldn’t believe it, then, noticing Raiden’s signal, said he would express his gratitude soon and returned to Jewel’s side.
Chamber Jewelry wagged her tail happily towards me. One of the keepers near her tail screamed and dodged. It was a sturdy tail, and one wrong hit could send a face flying.
Zeze turned around apologetically and, as Joseph approached, bumped her head against his.
Then Raiden led me to a chair, and I sat down to listen to his nagging. Raiden, dressed up as usual for the Knights, felt particularly difficult to approach.
“So what? You felt like you had to do it for some reason? Because of the dragon’s gaze… pretending to be so pitiful? Her?”
Raiden pointed to the dragon spewing venom as if spitting on the floor. Glancing out the window, I quietly shook my head.
“She must have been enchanted by my scent, too. Am I that enchanting? Surely Zeze was also captivated by my beauty and intelligence.”
“I’m not in the mood for jokes. And if you really became lenient because of your scent, never go to Heim Wyler during mating season. Especially the male ones.”
“I have no intention of going to Heim Wyler anyway. And the dragon was a male? Not female? It’s such a feminine name.”
“It’s a nickname. His real name is Rosy Naphze.”
“Oh… right. That’s, uh, quite a fancy name.”
“Still, Zeze is better than Rose.”
“How did you know where I was and come here? No, did you come here by chance? Is the merchandise from Chantal so good that you even came up to the vice-captain?”
“I had a feeling you were up to something dangerous.”
Raiden glanced at me briefly, claiming it was intuition. Although I had experienced it several times, the intuition of a hero being was almost like reading the future.
