Chapter 49

"Well, what are you going to do about the requests?"

"I see... Let me think for a moment."

I thought for a bit and then answered Rose.

"Sorry, but if it's going to be like this, I'll have to be picky about the jobs I take."

"Yeah, that's better. You're not the same as you were back then; you don't need to undervalue yourself."

"No, that's not what I mean."

"Hmm? Then what do you mean?"

"These are requests that come to the Dragon Knight Guild, right? They assume that dragons will be involved."

"Right. Well, in this form, it feels like 'We can't afford to be left behind!' But there are some that don't involve dragons."

Rose shrugged and said with a slight smile.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, they really want to establish a connection with you. There should be a fair number of nominal requests that have nothing to do with dragons."

"Really?"

So that's how it is.

"Even back when you were a beginner, you would take cases from nobles, even if it meant working for free, right?"

"Yeah... I see what you mean."

I nodded in agreement.

I understood what she meant.

In fact, the case with Mademoiselle Catherine paid less than others, but I still took it.

Even if the immediate reward was small, I would take it if it meant establishing a connection.

So, I had reached the position I had been aiming for back then.

Thinking about it, I felt quite nostalgic.

"Well, that aside, usually you would use dragons, right?"

"Right, usually."

I brought the conversation back to the main point, and Rose nodded.

"We can't overwork the dragons by taking every request."

"I see."

Rose chuckled.

Rose was deeply involved in the establishment of the guild, Dragon First.

She was the first person to understand my principles in this world.

"That's a good reason."

"It's a matter of principle."

"Whatever the reason, I agree that you should be selective about the jobs. What do you want to do? Do you want to go through them and pick some? Or do you want to turn them all down for now?"

"Can I see the contents?"

"Sure."

Rose stood up, opened the door behind me, and called out.

She kept the door open.

After about a minute, a man came in through the open door.

The man was carrying a stack of papers.

He placed the stack of papers on the table in front of me.

After placing them, he asked Rose.

"Is this okay? I haven't done the detailed sorting yet."

"Yeah, leave the rest to us."

"Understood."

The man nodded and left the room.

Rose closed the door and sat back down in front of me.

"These are the request forms. By the way, it seems there are 27 more now."

"Really?"

I picked up part of the stack of papers.

The format was the same as the request forms I often saw on the bulletin board at the hall, so I could understand the content at a glance.

Most of them were legitimate requests, but some were as Rose had said.

"There are really some trivial ones mixed in, huh?"

"Haha, that just means we're popular."

"I'll pass on those."

In terms of give and take, it wouldn't be good to receive one-sided gifts from them.

I picked out the legitimate requests and looked at them.

"..."

My hand, which had been quickly sorting through them, stopped.

I stared at one of the request forms.

Rose leaned in to look at the request form.

"Rescue a baby dragon that can't get down from a cliff—interesting, we often get requests to rescue cats in similar situations."

"Yeah."

I nodded.

Occasionally, there are requests to rescue cats that have climbed up cliffs or trees and can't get down.

For humans, it's a difficult task, but for dragon species with flight capabilities, it's easy.

That's why such requests often come to dragon knights.

The reward is usually low, so not many people take them.

This request was the same.

Rescue a baby dragon that can't get down from a cliff, with a success reward of only 5 reals.

"I'll take this one."

"Are you sure?"

"A baby dragon is in danger; I can't ignore it."

"You're so true to yourself. Well, do as you like."

Rose said this, shrugged, and smiled.

Her words sounded exasperated, but her smile was warm.

☆

I headed to the cliff where the baby dragon was stuck with Louise.

We went with Louise because the area was close to where we had rescued the princess before, and Louise had been there before, which would help us get there faster.

I rode on Louise's back as we headed there.

"So, I'll be the one to help again, right?"

"It depends on the situation. If Louise can help, I'll ask you, and if it's difficult, I'll do it."

"Can you do it, Master?"

"If I transform into a dragon person, yes. The rescue won't take long, so I can transform quickly and get it done."

"I see. By the way, what kind of baby is it?"

"That's one of the reasons I brought you. According to the requester's description, it's probably a Baraul species."

"I see. Then I have to help."

Louise seemed a bit more motivated, probably because she was helping a member of her own species.

We arrived at the destination smoothly while riding on Louise's back.

It was only a few dozen meters from where the princess had fallen.

There was a small protrusion on the cliff, and from a distance, I could see something small and dragon-like.

"It's trembling... poor thing."

"Can you do it, Louise?"

"Hmm, there's no foothold, and it's small, so if it struggles..."

"I see. Then I'll do it."

"I'm sorry, Master..."

"Don't worry. You can do what you can, and you can't do what you can't. There's no need to feel bad about it."

"Thank you, Master."

Louise seemed a bit relieved by my words.

I headed towards where the baby dragon was.

"Transform..."

I muttered and transformed into a dragon person.

I felt energy rapidly leaving my body, but it wasn't a problem.

I kicked off the ground.

In less than a second, I leaped to the top of the cliff dozens of meters away.

Before the baby dragon could recognize me or start struggling, I scooped it up.

Then I kicked off the cliff face and returned to where Louise was standing.

It took no more than three seconds.

"Master, that was amazing! I couldn't see anything!"

"Phew... thank you."

I returned to my human form.

Even though it was only three seconds, I had used a considerable amount of energy.

I realized I couldn't overuse this ability.

I put the baby dragon on the ground.

From the top of the cliff to the ground in an instant.

The baby dragon looked confused, not understanding what had happened.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Because it was a member of her species, Louise spoke in a gentler tone than usual.

"Who are you, big sister?"

"I'm—wait, what?"

Louise, who was about to introduce herself, stopped, realizing something.

"What's wrong, Louise?"

"This isn't a Baraul."

"What?"

I quickly looked at the baby dragon.

The newborn dragon was about the size of a puppy, sitting there and looking up at us.

At first glance, it looked like a Baraul.

"It's an original species."

"An original species... you mean, THE one!?"

"Yeah, THE one."

Louise nodded.

I was surprised and looked at the baby dragon.

The dragons with the dragon knights are "cultivated" by human hands.

Of course, there were once dragons that humans couldn't handle.

Such dragons are called "original species."

They are extremely rare, with only one in ten thousand dragons being an original species.

"It's a Baraul Original."

"Baraul Original."

The first original species of dragon I had ever seen looked up at us with a cute, bewildered face.