Chapter 20

【20】

『Rhett, how’s your human transfiguration going?』 Alex kept rubbing his two front claws together, and his wings opened and closed. His fluttering tail touched the cave rocks, making them fly all over the place.

『Since there are red-hair humans, I am luckier than you. My appearance should be good to go, but I have difficulty maintaining my weight when I get excited.』 Rhett laid on his back and glumly placed his tail into his mouth. The more he bit on the tail, the more frustrated he felt. So he tossed his tail aside, grabbed Alex’s tail, and started munching.

『I can’t change my hair color other than blue, but can’t I just wear a wig?』 Alex said, 『Rhett, the situation is getting so severe. We don’t have that much time to get those certificates! I just passed Human Language II, but you haven’t even passed level I! At this rate, when will we be able to pick Slair up? I checked the Wild Human Protection Act ; if a pet human has successfully adapted to wild human life, has its own social circle, does not develop any psychological or physical problems, and has the ability to support its own life without depending on others, then it is considered successfully rewild– this is a more subjective method, there is a more simple way– three years. If it can survive in the wild human world for three years, it is considered a wild human.』

『What if he’s been held captive for three years?』 Rhett jumped up and spat out Alex’s tail,『 That’s not fair!』

『Save that for His Majesty! Rhett, we must consider getting a fake permit.』

『Alex, you were the one against this idea,』 Rhett bit his claw,『 Our current human form would easily be exposed.』

『What if Slair is judged as a wild human? 』 Alex said fretfully, 『 To claim a successfully rewilded pet, the pet itself had to be the one request to come back, and without any coercion!』

『 What’s the problem?』 Rhett puzzled,『Once Slair saw us, he would jump into our arms and beg us to take him home.』

『The problem is “without coercion”! It needs to be verified by a professional dragon! This verification is nearly impossible because we, as “dragons,” are nature coercion for humans. Would you be foolish enough to protest if His Majesty tried to take you out of your cave?』 Alex turned around and stared at Rhett. His gaze showed an unshakable determination.

『I think I might…』 Rhett said weakly.

『I have read a few so-called success case studies operated by those professorial. They acted like humans and performed tests on those former pets.』 Alex sighed,『And they look like a bunch of scammers; our Slair is so intelligent, he will never believe a word they said.』

『So…』 Rhett concluded,『If Slair is considered successfully rewild, he will never return to us.』

『Yes, and how things are going, we can’t legally bring him back. Rhett, are you willing to let Slair live the rest of his life among wild humans. When he is hungry, no dragons will bring him food; When it’s cold, no dragons will blanket him. He has to farm with his delicate hands and possibly encounter all sorts of dangers… Ah, God, whenever I think about what life Slair will face, my heart shatters into pieces!』

『I will go find which dragons could help us get fake permits!』 Rhett rushed out.

Slair and Grieve purchased some necessities in the village. They also bought a carriage as a storage and a resting place. Choco refused to pull the carriage, and Slair tried many ways to convince it and failed. Finally, Slair engraved a simple wind circuit on the carriage. Choco found it was much easier to pull the carriage than let them ride on it, so he happily accepted the change.

「Wow, magic can be engraved on objects?」 Grieve was amazed and asked,「Could it be engraved on weapons?」

「Possibly」 Slair said, 「I never thought it could work…」

The local priest knew about Grieve’s injury. Since he did give Beton that “ priest’s guidance”, he felt responsible and sent many twin lotus seeds over. Slair was not a fan of those bitter seeds, but Grieve gladly accepted them, and every time he ate it, his face glowed with joy.

「Grieve,」Slair saw him enjoy those seeds many times, and finally, he couldn’t help but ask worriedly,「Is there something wrong with your tastes?」

「The bitter taste is a gift from god, Slair,」 Grieve said,「It is packed with life force and it’s perfect for restoring the body. However, the effect will reduce dramatically if it is old. You couldn’t feel it at Wall because people saved the seeds on them for a long time, and it was not as fresh.

Slair picked one up curiously and carefully probed it with magic. He found that the lotus seeds actually contained magic. If it is said that magical beastes can use magics because their ancestors could trace back to the dragons, where did the plants get their magic from? Surely there were dragons with no bottom lines mated with plants, but it was impossible for them to have offspring, right?

He was so focused that he didn’t even notice when Grieve got close. Grieve quietly reached out and pushed that lotus seed into Slair’s mouth.

「Grieve !」 Slair grimaced with bitterness, even though he found that eating it had a slight magical boost- but it was so bitter!

「This is good stuff!」 Grieve hopped off the carriage and ran wildly, with Slair chasing after him menacingly with a stick.

「Eh… excuse me, you two,」 that’s what the village chief saw when he escorted Beton over,「I heard you are leaving soon, and I would like your opinions on how to deal with Beton.」

「Oh, that’s right, I forgot about this」Slair smiled grimly,「How do you usually punish this sort of crime? 」

Beton’s daughters trembled in fear and shorted:「Brave warriors! Please forgive our father! He is so old that if he was thrown into swarms of vipers for just a little while, it would be impossible to save his life!」

「I see.」 Slair said,「He is why my companion got bitten by a venomous snake. It is only fair for him to suffer the same pain.」

But a look of sympathy was shown on Grieve’s face. This family’s life was hard; what would happen to the sisters if they lost their father’s protection?

「But,」the older sister cried,「You have accepted our reparations, which is the most valuable thing in our family. Why won’t you let my father go?」

「Reparations?」 Grieve asked Slair, 「What reparation?」

「Ah, that thing, I almost forgot.」 Slair took out that wooden box. To him, it was a small object made purely out of gold– You could see gold everywhere when you lived with dragons.

「 Dissipative bitches！ 」 Beton shouted,「My death is nothing compared to a dragon’s gift. You can exchange it for a lifetime of good food and drinks if you keep it. Why give it away to outsiders! Now what are you going to do? Sell yourself to the circus and get laughed at for the rest of your life?」

「Father, how can we watch you die and not do anything?」 With tears streaming down her face, she raised a kitchen knife to her wrist,「In that case, I will cut off this hand so my sister could marry someone.」

「Wait!」 Grieve grabbed the knife「 Since I’m fine, I have no interest in taking the elder’s life. Chief, can you write what Beton has done on a sign and put it on his chest so no one will get tricked by him again? I have no other requests.」

「Thank you, merciful warrior!」

The sisters were delighted, but Beton was reluctant: 「Let me die! I am an old man and nothing more. I only wish folks in the village would pity my daughters and take care of them.」

Grieve poked Slair and signed him to return the wooden box. Of course, Slair was not happy about it– It was from the dragons, and although he didn’t know what it was, the magic circuit inside was very complex. Its worth is more than a piece of gold and should be studied rather than hidden away as a life-saver. He thought about it and waved to the sisters,「Come here.」

He took the sisters’ inseparable hands, closed his eyes, and a burst of golden light emanated from his hands. An indescribable feeling flowed through the girls’ bodies. When Slair released his hand, their hands also separated.

They looked at each other in amazement, touched each other, and separated again. Beton was shocked, excited, and remorseful. His lips trembled, and he couldn’t speak a word. He fell to the ground sobbing.

「A miracle! This is a miracle!」 The villagers looked in awe at the young man with black hair and green eyes– Eh, a Slair with black hair and green eyes, a Slair could use god-like power!

「The Dragon God above! An envoy of the gods has come to our village! Slair the dragonmaw. It’s Slair, the dragon’s child! 」

「Looks like we’d better get going.」 Grieve got Slair onto the carriage before the crowd surrounded him and patted Choco’s butt. The scaled horse immediately took off on his hoof.

「I have a bad feeling about this,」Slair sat on the carriage and looked anxiously at the reveling crowd behind him 「There is going to be another strange rumor about me.」