Chapter 23

“Hmph. So, what exactly is going on here?”

No one dared speak at the sound of the Duke’s voice. No — every single trainer gathered there had gone pale as paper, heads bowed, trembling without daring to look up.

However he’d found out, the moment the dragon steeds had been herded back into their pens, he had arrived with his knights, and the chill rolling off him was something none of them could withstand.

“There was a small disturbance, but it’s been handled.”

Everyone except Litia. She alone met the Duke’s eyes, steady and unflinching.

“Can you call it a small disturbance when an entire herd of dragon steeds ridden by this house’s own knights broke loose, all at once?”

At that, the trainers’ faces drained from pale to something closer to violet.

Now that the Duke knew, they were finished. For any noble house to let its dragons — not just one, but two-thirds of them — slip loose and run was a serious matter.

“The dragon steeds are back. And it seems the one who acts as leader among the ducal house’s herd is quite capable — it even brought along a few wild dragon steeds and folded them into the group.”

The green eyes meeting that cold, gleaming blue head-on still held nothing but confidence and composure.

“Can’t you overlook it, given that?”

“Overlook the trainers who made such a grave mistake?”

“The outcome turned out well, in the end.”

Bruce and the other trainers stared wide-eyed at Litia’s back. She was standing up for the very people who’d started a pointless power struggle with her.

“Besides, it would be inconvenient if the trainers left right now. Feeding the dragons is manageable enough on its own, but training them is another matter entirely.”

“…..”

“An untrained dragon is dangerous. And even though they’re only apprentices, filling the gap they’d leave behind isn’t something you can do overnight. They know the dragons of this house better than anyone, Your Grace.”

The Duke fell silent. Every time his sharp, piercing eyes swept over the apprentice trainers, they flinched as if struck by an electric current.

“…I left the training of the apprentice trainers in Trainer Litia’s hands.”

He broke his silence.

“Since Trainer Litia cleaned up the mess the apprentice trainers made, I won’t punish them as the rules would dictate. However.”

His gaze passed over the apprentice trainers once more.

“The apprentice trainers will have their pay cut for the next year. If, after that year, you haven’t proven your worth, I intend to dismiss you outright. Keep that in mind.”

“Understood, Your Grace.”

The apprentice trainers answered with deep bows. This outcome alone was a stroke of fortune.

If Trainer Litia hadn’t been here…

It wouldn’t have ended here. However valuable trainers were, the Duke had wealth and influence to spare. If he set his mind to it, filling the gap left by a few apprentice trainers — who weren’t even exclusive hires — would have been simple enough.

Bruce watched Litia’s back as she let out a sigh of relief. She was uncorking a potion bottle and downing it in one go.

“Ah, that was brutally exhausting.”

If I’m honest, some part of me wanted to just take the Duke up on his offer to fire the whole lot of them. But if that happened, I’d end up dying young. Cause of death: overwork.

I’m already struggling to stay alive as it is — no need to speed up my own funeral.

Working as a dragon trainer meant your life was on the line more often than not, but dying from overwork? Really? And not even some noble cause — working myself to death like a dog because of “we’re firing you for incompetence”?

I was silently vowing to avoid that fate at all costs, chewing on a candy, when they came.

“Trainer Litia, thank you. And… I’m truly sorry for everything up until now.”

The apprentice trainers came crowding over and bowed their heads deeply. At the front of them stood the older apprentice trainer who’d been the first to pick a fight with me. His name was Bruce, wasn’t it?

“I only covered for you because I’d die of overwork without you around. You already know better than anyone that I have no reason to think well of you, right?”

They stood there in silence, heads bowed. Fair enough — arguing with that would have taken a complete absence of shame.

“Well then… I’ll tell you how much feed each of them needs, so skip training for today and focus on getting the dragons fed first.”

“Understood, Trainer.”

“You’ve probably just been feeding them whatever the senior trainers told you to, but the overall amount has been too little. As for why… I’ll explain once I’ve had some rest. I’ve been pushing myself for over a week straight, and even potions have their limits.”

I covered a yawn that slipped out before I could stop it, then pulled out the sheet of paper where I’d written down our numbering system, each dragon’s condition, and how much they should be eating, and held it out to Bruce.

“This is…”

“You do know which pen number your assigned dragon is in, don’t you? Go find them yourselves. And feed them exactly as it says here.”

Ah, I was so sleepy I could die. Must be the tension finally breaking now that the dragon steeds were back.

I pulled out another candy, unwrapped it, pushed it into my mouth, and let out a long sigh.

“Some of them will probably still be rattled, so be gentle with them. Since you haven’t been feeding them directly this past week or so, they might act a little prickly, but if you coax them while feeding them, they’ll calm down soon enough. Well then, I’m going to go put Kazen back in his pen.”

I walked over to Kazen, who was now thumping his tail against the ground to express his displeasure. I could see the apprentice trainers each taking a sheet of paper and reading it over.

“Kazen, lie down.”

As if he’d been waiting for exactly that, Kazen dropped down at once, and I climbed onto his back. The moment his warm scales started heating my body, a drowsy heaviness crept over me, pulling me under fast.

No.

Falling asleep on a dragon’s back is basically the same as falling asleep at the wheel.

I bit the inside of my cheek, and the faint metallic taste cleared my head a little. I glanced over at Kazen, who was watching me, and patted his neck lightly.

“Let’s head back. On foot.”

“Grrrrrrrk.”

Kazen obeyed without complaint. He flapped his wings a couple of times, as if he’d wanted to fly now that he had me on his back, but then settled into a slow, heavy-footed walk instead.

“Haaaaaaah…”

I was sleepy. Impossibly sleepy. Even with nothing but feeding duty and potions downed like water, handling the feeding alone for over a week had been insane.

“Still, I suppose things worked out well enough.”

I’d knocked the wind out of the apprentice trainers’ pride and made them feel they owed me one at the same time. They’d probably learned their lesson about picking fights out of pure ego after this — it was worth the exhaustion.

We’re going to be seeing each other’s faces for a long time to come. It’d be exhausting if we kept growling at each other every time.

So this worked out. It really did.

“Kazen.”

“Grrrng?”

“Let’s sleep together for a bit later.”

Your scales are so warm, it’s like having a heated stone floor built in. Lying against you while I rest my tired body would be perfect.

His tail wagged so hard it cut a sharp, whistling sound through the air. Feeling my body rock side to side with the motion, I patted his neck, and Kazen snorted roughly through his nose and quickened his pace toward the stables.

“…Hm.”

The Duke looked at Litia, who was fast asleep with her upper body leaned against Kazen’s face as though it were a bed, utterly dead to the world.

“Why is she sleeping here?”

“Grrng.”

At the Duke’s muttering, Kazen let out a short cry. His golden eyes gleamed with pride, as if to say because she likes me, obviously! — which left the Duke more than a little exasperated.

“That’s hardly it.”

“Kkrk!”

Kazen protested, though without raising his voice much, and the Duke let out a short huff of a laugh as he looked at Litia.

Truly, she was a woman whose mind he couldn’t read.

As a person, she surely resented the ones who’d dumped all their work onto her — and yet she’d stood up for them, right there on the spot. Did she simply prefer doing things the difficult way?

The Duke studied her tired face for a long moment, then stepped into the pen.

“Grrk?”

Then, he lifted Litia into his arms. Startled by the action, Kazen jerked his head up and glared.

Meeting that protesting stare, the Duke replied calmly.

“This place may be comfortable for you, but it won’t be for your trainer.”

“Grrrrrrrk!”

“You wouldn’t want your trainer to end up too sick to come see you, would you?”

Kazen froze. Rolling his gold-and-red eyes for a moment, he let out an irritated snort through his nose, then turned his back to the Duke and curled up where he lay.

With his tail thumping the ground in sullen little taps — as if telling him to hurry up and take her while he wasn’t looking — Kazen’s gesture drew a faint laugh from the Duke as he walked away.

“Your Grace, I can take her—”

“No need.”

She was a trainer Kazen had taken a liking to. Even now, with all of Kazen’s attention fixed on her, if he handed her off to someone else, there was no doubt the dragon would smash straight out of the pen and raise havoc. It would be no different even done out of his sight — the creature could track a scent with uncanny accuracy.

Maybe that was a little much.

A person’s true nature shows itself when they’re cornered. He held no particular trust in the ability of any trainer combined with faith in their character — but understanding Litia mattered. Being talented and being trustworthy were two separate matters. Still, perhaps the method he’d used had been a bit excessive.

And on top of that, even though he’d told them not to interfere, standing by and letting the dragon steeds escape in the first place had probably also gone a bit too far…

“Tell the butler to prepare a place for Trainer Litia to rest. And call for a priest as well.”

“Understood, Your Grace.”

“She’s the only exclusive trainer in the whole duchy, so make sure you all give her special care.”

“We will keep that in mind.”

That he was carrying her himself, like this, was proof that she had shown herself to be a talent not easily replaced.

He’d originally meant to ask her, once she woke, why she’d covered for them. But he decided that conversation could wait.

Not only had she brought back the escaped dragon steeds, she’d brought in wild ones along the way as a bonus, all while flying skillfully on Kazen’s back — a dragon trainer who had thoroughly dispelled any doubt that she might hold the certification without the actual skill to back it up. A responsible, invaluable talent.

The Duke looked down for a moment at Litia, sleeping so deeply she had no idea who was even carrying her, then shook his head.

That her eyes had kept shining, unbowed, even while meeting his pressure head-on — and that he wanted to see that again — the thought struck him as an odd impulse. This whole affair must have left quite the impression on him.

Thinking that, the Duke clicked his tongue inwardly.

It couldn’t be helped.

Kazen had let someone other than himself ride on his back, and she’d brought back the entire escaped herd of dragon steeds. If he hadn’t seen it himself — Kazen carrying Litia, with the herd grown larger than before — he wouldn’t have believed it.

Telling himself that was simply why his eyes kept drifting toward her, the Duke shook his head slowly. It was almost strange, how someone who’d pulled off something this spectacular the moment she arrived could have gone unnoticed at the Ashar Training Center.