Chapter 10

It was decided that the Duke’s dragon would be looked after separately. If it turned out to be gentle around other dragons, that would be something to be thankful for — but if it wasn’t, a major accident was just waiting to happen.

On top of that, an Agrix dragon was a precious creature. Not that any dragon wasn’t precious in its own way, but if I mismanaged this one, I might end up worrying about my own neck in the most literal sense.

“Hm. Well. I understand the reasoning, but……”

The Director seemed to be being cautious to a fault. Even so, wasn’t putting it in a pen meant for breeding stock going a little far?

The training center didn’t just handle training — it also oversaw breeding. Given how much value a dragon carried, there would always be people looking for an even better one.

And the training center doubled as a convenient place to turn up outstanding dragons while handling other training requests besides.

“Sigh…… I don’t even know anymore.”

As long as it didn’t run into the other dragons, it would be fine. Still, someone might get confused, so I should put up a sign just in case.

I wrote <UNDER SPECIAL CARE — HANDLER: LITIA> on a placard and hung it by the door. Then I gathered its feed and went over to the dragon.

“Were you good while I was gone?”

Beyond the bars — made of a special alloy and treated with magic on top of that — a pair of eyes glimmered gold shot through with red.

“Grrrrrrr.”

The Agrix dragon, Kazen, let out a low growl and thumped its tail against the floor. At the blatant display of displeasure, a wry laugh slipped out of me on its own.

It had only been a few hours since the Duke left it with the training center, and already it was reacting like this.

Ugh, this is going to be a long road.

Feeling a chill creep down my spine, I opened the pen door and stepped inside.

“The sudden change of scenery got you anxious, didn’t it? I’ll be the one looking after you until His Grace comes back.”

I kept my tone slow so as not to excite it, then set down the feed I’d brought.

“Hah, this is heavy.”

Half a cow per meal, a basket each of cabbage and apples, and a whole block of cheese on top of it. Meat I could understand, but the cheese was a bit of a surprise.

Watching the food pile up, Kazen snorted in excitement, nostrils flaring. I planted myself in front of it as it looked ready to lunge at any moment and called out.

“No. Wait.”

“Grrrrrrr!”

Black steam curled up from the dragon’s nostrils. With its scales half-raised in open displeasure, it looked plenty threatening, but if I let a reaction like that cow me, I had no business being a trainer.

“No.”

At my low, firm reply, Kazen slammed its tail against the floor with a thud. The ground trembled faintly, but I held its golden eyes steady and said it again.

“No. Wait.”

Its scales rose and settled, rose and settled. It let out a discontented growl and spat a few sparks from its nose in warning, but I didn’t move.

“……Grrrrr.”

After a long staring match, it finally looked away. The moment its aggression eased off, its scales lay flat again.

“Good.”

At Kazen giving up its stubbornness, I stepped aside. The dragon blinked, looking puzzled, then lowered its head and glanced up at me, checking for my reaction.

“Good job. Eat.”

I nodded and stepped back a little further, and only then did Kazen open its jaws and start eating.

Watching it crunch through half a cow, bones and all, I read back over the note the Duke had left behind.

“Walks, twice a day. It says flying would be good too, but I’m vetoing that one for the other dragons’ safety……. Scale care has to be done every day. Mm-hm.”

The Duke wasn’t asking for much — just the basics. That much, at least, was a relief.

“I can probably do the scale care after the last walk. Once it’s done eating, I should take it to the training ground.”

I watched Kazen chewing on an apple for dessert. And it struck me that of every dragon I’d handled so far, this Agrix dragon was by far the most beautiful.

Its sleek, streamlined body was built perfectly for flight. Two pairs of wings and lean but powerful muscle came together in an exquisite balance.

Its scales, which seemed to shimmer red even standing still, were thicker than they looked, and its long golden horns gleamed as if gold itself had been melted and poured over them.

“An Agrix dragon, huh.”

A puff of hot breath hit my face, and I shook my head.

“All done eating?”

“Grrng.”

“Then shall we go for a walk? Lower your head for me.”

Apparently satisfied with a full stomach, Kazen lowered its head without protest. I fitted the reins over its head and opened the pen door.

Kazen drew in a long breath through its nose. At the look of it, ready to take off at any second, I yanked the reins and said sternly,

“Wait. Not here.”

“Grrrrrrrk.”

Watching Kazen shoot me a look of protest, I could already guess.

You were spoiled rotten growing up, weren’t you.

Ah, even just looking after it, the urge to actually train it kept bubbling up inside me.

Patience. Patience.

Get involved and I’d only end up with a hook through my nose. I was going to feed it, walk it, and do its scale care — that was it. End of story! No more than that!

Steeling my resolve, I headed for the training ground. However dangerous a spoiled dragon could be to a person, I couldn’t train it unless the Duke actually asked for that. And I had no interest in volunteering for it, either.

“Get tangled up in this and I’m the only one who bleeds for it.”

I had to avoid becoming its exclusive trainer, no matter what. No matter what!

“Taking good care of him, I see.”

“Oh, Your Grace.”

I was just finishing up smoothing down the scales on its tail when the Duke showed up. Glancing outside, I noticed it was already late afternoon, the sky slowly turning red.

“I’ll be done as soon as I finish the tail scales. Please wait just a moment.”

“I will.”

With the Duke’s permission granted, I finished off the tail scales. I worked camellia oil into the brush meant for scale care and brushed the scales through carefully. Once they gleamed, I wiped them down with a dry cloth, and that was that.

“No cracked scales, and he’s well-nourished too.”

Out of every dragon I’d ever handled, this one ranked among the best cared for.

“He’s clearly loved.”

I patted its neck to let it know I was finished, and Kazen spread its wings, stretching its long body out in a full-body stretch.

“I’d like to fly on Kazen. Is that possible?”

“Of course. He’s Your Grace’s dragon. I’ll get the saddle and reins ready.”

Snorting hot breath and nudging his head toward the Duke, Kazen watched him out of the corner of its eye while I gathered the reins and saddle.

……So the Duke makes that kind of face too.

It wasn’t the cold, composed, wall-up expression he wore in front of the trainers.

“Sorry. Running a little late, was I?”

“Grrrrrrng.”

The gentle curve of his mouth and the warmth and affection in those blue eyes were almost unfamiliar to see.

Well, that’s usually how it goes between a dragon and its owner.

It was a sight I’d seen plenty of times before, so it didn’t surprise me all that much. Though it was a little unexpected, that so much warmth could seep into a face that cold.

“Excuse me.”

I fastened the saddle and reins. Since Kazen was busy enjoying the Duke’s touch, fitting them on was easy.

“Where should I go?”

“I’ll guide you there.”

I led the Duke and Kazen, who mounted the saddle with a sharp, practiced motion. Since Kazen’s pen was in the space set aside for dragon breeding, the training ground had also been set up right beside it.

“There’s a magical barrier set up out to a certain range. It glows blue when you get close to it, so you shouldn’t have any trouble telling where it is.”

“Understood.”

With that brief reply, the Duke pressed lightly against Kazen’s body with his heel, and the dragon spread both pairs of wings and lifted off, light as anything.

“……Wow.”

A sound of admiration slipped out before I could stop it. Flying with a body beautiful enough to rank among the finest I’d ever seen, caught in the glow of the sunset, the dragon looked as if it had half melted into the sunset light itself.

Sometimes flowing like water, sometimes burning like fire, its scales flashed as the dragon flew fast and graceful. I pulled out my spyglass to watch them, a habit worked into my body as a trainer.

The Duke never wasted effort tensing his body or yanking hard on the reins. As though he were still standing on solid ground, he gave the dragon its commands through a relaxed posture and the barest minimum of movement.

And watching Kazen move almost the instant the Duke gave a command, as if it had already read his mind, I murmured to myself.

“I think I can see what kind of training he needs.”

Between the Duke and the Agrix dragon, Kazen, everything was perfect. Their rhythm matched so well it could be called man and dragon moving as one — no, man and mount moving as one.

But what a noble’s dragon needed wasn’t just being in sync with its owner.

“……Hah. If I become the exclusive trainer, that means leaving the Ashar Training Center, sure, but it also means leaving for the capital.”

That part, I wasn’t thrilled about. To give the Duke the training he wanted, I’d have to live in the duchy. Which meant I wouldn’t see the Matron or my siblings for months at the very least — maybe years.

“Maybe I should write to the friends who went off to other training centers and ask around.”

If I could just find another trainer that Kazen actually liked, I wouldn’t have to be the one training it myself.

“……The amount the Duke’s offering is incredibly tempting, but……”

Still, this wasn’t just about money. With the Director, I could squeeze out bonuses and hazard pay as compensation for the stress of cleaning up Thompson’s messes, but doing the same thing with the Duke felt like a different story entirely. Even a cow needs a hill to rub against before it tries rubbing.

“Still, he does look pretty amazing.”

A dragon like glowing coals, and a blue-eyed, black-haired duke. If someone told me this place was really the world of some novel, webtoon, or game, I might actually believe it.

“Not that I’d know which world it is, even if it were.”

Damn it. There’s no dream and no hope waiting for me in this world. I’ll just keep living small and quiet as an ordinary nobody, same as I did in my past life. Better not to get tangled up with someone who looks like the lead of a story like that.