Chapter 19

“…..”

I felt cold sweat trickle down my spine under the weight of all the eyes turning my way.

What on earth am I supposed to say here?

I was used to dealing with people — a trainer needed the knack of handling clients too.

But the apprentice trainers gathered here had belonged to the previous exclusive trainers. What was I even supposed to say to them?

“I’m Litia, and as of today I’ve become House Albarant’s exclusive trainer. I look forward to working with all of you.”

I offered the safest possible greeting. The apprentice trainers nodded at that. Except for a few of them, I’d already gotten to know most of their faces on the way to the duchy.

“Trainer Litia will be in charge of your training going forward.”

The moment the butler — who’d accompanied me here on the Duke’s orders — said that, the trainers began to murmur among themselves.

“Quiet.”

His voice was quiet but carried far, and silence fell in an instant.

“I imagine you have plenty of questions, and plenty of complaints as well… but there is one thing I want you to keep firmly in mind.”

The butler pushed his monocle up with a slow motion as he finished.

“That Trainer Litia is someone His Grace the Duke personally selected.”

He said that short but weighty line, then turned to look at me.

“Please, speak at your ease, Trainer Litia.”

“Ah — thank you.”

Thanks to him, the traffic had been cleared rather nicely.

I looked the trainers over. The ones meeting me for the first time showed surprise; the ones who already knew my face showed wariness and open resistance.

Thinking that their attitude was only natural, I took a short breath.

“On His Grace’s instructions, I’ll be teaching you all about dragon training from now on. But—”

There was something I needed to make clear first.

“I don’t know a single thing about this place either. The people who know the dragons of House Albarant best aren’t me — they’re all of you.”

Holding a trainer’s license didn’t mean you understood and could handle every dragon there was. The people who knew a dragon best were the ones who’d spent the longest time at its side.

“I’ll teach you what I picked up earning my license and working at the Ashar Training Center. In return, I’d be grateful if you’d teach me about the dragons here at House Albarant — and about the Agrix breed in particular.”

At that, someone raised a hand.

“Go ahead.”

“As far as we know, the Agrix dragon is Trainer Litia’s responsibility. Is there really any need for us to tell you anything about it?”

The hostility mixed into the voice was so blatant it was almost refreshing. The trainer giving me that challenging look seemed to be the oldest of everyone gathered here.

“Aren’t you capable enough that His Grace personally offered you an exclusive contract? What if some apprentice trainer meddles and ends up provoking the Agrix dragon?”

A few of the other trainers chimed in at that.

“That’s right. I nearly got burned once from bringing the wrong feed.”

“I nearly got my arm torn open by its claws.”

“It’s His Grace’s dragon, sure, but honestly, it’s terrifying. Practically impossible to handle, too.”

Listening to the apprentice trainers’ muttering, I could feel a vein throb at my forehead.

No — if you know that, all the more reason to share information. What kind of nonsense was this?

“If that’s the case, isn’t that all the more reason we should be sharing information with each other?”

I said it to them with a bright smile, and they flinched and shut their mouths.

“I think everyone here understands perfectly well how dangerous a dragon can be — which means you also understand how valuable information about a dragon becomes, the more dangerous it is.”

“…..”

“So that’s why I’m asking you to share what you know. None of you wants to die at the hands of the very dragon you’re caring for.”

The trainers didn’t answer, but I could feel their momentum falter.

“The training His Grace asked of me was to get the Agrix dragon along well with the other dragons.”

Their faces stiffened at that. They seemed to understand exactly what I meant.

“If the trainers here and I fail to properly control the dragons we’re each responsible for, it will end in disaster.”

“…..”

“So I’d really like your cooperation.”

“Still, we’re only apprentices who haven’t even earned our licenses yet…..”

Someone muttered it under their breath. I answered without even needing to think.

“Whether or not you hold a license, don’t all of you here care for your dragons? I’m asking as one person who cares about dragons, to another.”

The murmuring grew louder. I bowed at the waist toward them.

“I ask for your help.”

The butler was one of the people most worried about House Albarant’s current situation.

No exclusive trainers at all.

Having devoted so many years to the ducal house, he knew exactly how precarious things were now. He knew the apprentice trainers were barely managing to keep the dragons under control, with no real progress being made. He knew that at this rate, restoring the territory would take an achingly long time.

So when the Duke said he’d personally chosen an exclusive trainer, the butler had felt half hope and half worry. He couldn’t help wondering just how capable this trainer the Duke had brought in would be, and whether she could really blend well with the apprentice trainers who’d been caring for the dragons until now.

He couldn’t help worrying whether she’d be able to handle the apprentice trainers, roughened as they were from dealing with such enormous dragons. Even visually, the gap between an apprentice and an exclusive trainer was stark.

That worry seemed to have been needless. At least as far as the butler could see, the first step had gone well.

Though they shifted on their feet in discomfort, the apprentice trainers bowed their heads all the same, and watching that, the butler let out a breath of relief. He felt he could return to his own duties now with an easy mind.

Ah, fuck.

I felt the urge to clutch my forehead and stared blankly at the sight in front of me.

“As you well know, Trainer, the best way to understand dragons is to look after them yourself, isn’t that right?”

….. So it seemed they’d only bowed their heads so obediently because the butler had been standing there. The moment we reached the dragon enclosures, here they were, needling me already.

“…So you’re saying I should feed the dragons here?”

“It’s the most basic thing there is.”

I wanted to crack open the smirking skull of the apprentice trainer in front of me. What on earth did you have to be thinking to make a demand like that?

In front of me, the dragons’ feed was piled up like a mountain. Literally a mountain.

Right now there are about thirty dragons at the ducal house, not counting the Agrix dragon.

That count included the dragon steeds, but thirty animals wasn’t some neighbor’s kid’s name you could just toss around. And what those thirty animals ate in a single meal was…..

The oldest apprentice trainer was smirking. There was a glint of anticipation in his eyes.

He’s underestimating me. The bastard.

If I said I couldn’t do this here, he’d use it as an excuse to run his mouth. I’d rather die than let that happen.

I smiled, deliberately bright. At that, the trainer’s face — which had been full of mockery — stiffened for a moment.

“So all I have to do is feed them?”

“Th-that’s right….?”

“Easy enough. The rest of you, go attend to your other duties. As the apprentices here pointed out, I need to get a feel for the dragons by handling the basics myself. From now on, I’ll take full responsibility for feeding them. The rest of you focus on training.”

“Uh, ah, yes…..”

“Why are you all still standing here? Helping with something like this would only get in the way, so I’d like you to clear out.”

At that courteous order to leave, the apprentice trainers hesitated before shuffling off, half of them practically chased out.

“Right, now that I’ve driven off those lunatics, I suppose I should get to work.”

I gave a small laugh, looking at the mountain of feed. At least they’d had the decency to leave behind a notebook with the feed amounts written out for each dragon.

“Tch. Did you really think you were the first ones to try and dunk my head in the water?”

It seemed like they’d thought feeding duty would break my spirit — how laughable.

“Perfect. Let’s see you choke on this for a change.”

I was someone who’d been ground down working at the Ashar Training Center, full of its characters, with that cancer-of-a-man Thompson on top of it all. Dumping a pile of work on me all at once? You think I haven’t been through that before?

I grinned as I filled the cart with the proper amounts of feed.

“I’ll make you regret ever putting me on feeding duty.”

No matter how tedious or exhausting it was, I’d make them understand, with their whole bodies, exactly why a trainer fed the dragons personally.

I called out warmly to a dragon that had its head stuck out, drooling as it stared unblinkingly at the feed cart.

“Were you hungry? I’ll get you fed right away.”

“Grrrrrrrr.”

Mixing the feed in well as the dragon grumbled low in its throat, impatient, I looked the creature over.

“Grr…..”

“Hm. Your scales are missing their shine. Weren’t you getting enough food?”

“Grooooooo.”

“There, there. No wonder you were eating so frantically.”

A dragon was a living creature. You couldn’t just feed it strictly by the manual. The amount of feed needed adjusting according to its physical condition, its mood.

I quickly brought over some extra feed and added it to the trough of a dragon stomping its feet against the ground, crying out anxiously. Only once it started eating, satisfied at last, did I scratch its snout and smile.

I’d only meant to put them in their place, but seeing the dragons’ condition like this, I couldn’t just stop at that.

“So this is how you’ve been looking after these dragons, while trying to break my spirit?”

I’d have to pound the basic mindset of a trainer into their heads from the ground up. Honestly, these people were making me furious.