The Dragon Who Knows Humanity, The Dragon Who Gathers

“Gulp. Ahh, mmm. The scent and taste of a very, very old human… So very, very old and fermented. …Ahh, Homo sapiens who eat anything, what history did you weave to acquire such terrible eating habits…? It smells so rich.”

A flush spread across the woman’s sickly white skin.

Her porcelain-like throat swallowed.

“Huh.”

Tooyama could not take his eyes off that sight. One word slipped out.

“Huh?”

Still lying on her back, the woman tilted her head.

“She’s a perveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeert?! Lazaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!! She’s a pervert! A pervert grew out of the carpet?!”

She was lying on the carpet while a dangerous woman with a strange laugh kept drinking his blood.

She was nothing other than a pervert. Like an ordinary person who had encountered a suspicious stranger in the middle of the night, Tooyama started shouting, even forgetting that his arm had been chopped off.

“Calm down, Naruhito. It has not been decided yet that she is…”

Lazaar soundlessly moved about five steps away from Tooyama, then thrust both hands out and nodded. It was a very him-like move to properly secure a safe distance.

“Supupu, delicious… I feel as if Tooyama-kun and I are becoming one… What wonderful inspiration!! Ahh, I feel like I could make the finest doll now.”

The exchange between the two men did not bother her at all.

The woman once again grew enraptured by Tooyama’s dripping blood and let out a sweet cry.

“She was a pervert. This is a notice. Of a pervert. It was certainly possible. The possibility of a pervert.”

Lazaar nodded as if giving up. While weaving together words received from some strange signal, his eyes were gentle.

“What does that mean?! What context is that?!”

Tooyama shouted at Lazaar, who had already entered other-people’s-problem mode.

“Naruhito, it is all right. Your arm was cut off, and a woman lying down is drinking the blood dripping from it! …Is this the bottom of Fallen’s Cauldron?”

“Are you trying to say hell?”

After that, a subtle silence flowed between Tooyama and Lazaar.

They exchanged glances, each trying to push the handling of this thing onto the other. Unfortunately, no matter how one thought about it, this was clearly a Tooyama-related matter.

“I-isn’t that a bit cruel? I am doing this, gulp, so the centrally tailored carpet does not get dirty, you see, gulp.”

The woman, who seemed to have noticed that she was being treated as a nuisance, began lining up excuses. But she did not stop drinking the dripping blood, gulping and swallowing in ecstasy.

“Stop drinking my blood! What are you, a vampire?!”

“Hm, how rude. Please do not lump me together with monsters that can only live in the dark night, behind the world, and inside humans. Gulp.”

“I told you, stop drinking my blood! …Ah, crap, I lost too much blood, and shouting made it…”

It was like trying to push down a hanging curtain with one’s arm. No matter what he said, she brushed it aside with her unique timing and atmosphere.

But for some reason, despite this supposedly being their first meeting, Tooyama found himself shouting at the woman without restraint.

Since he had kept energetically shouting while his arm was cut and he was bleeding, he grew dizzy and his legs tangled beneath him.

“Oops, careful.”

Catch.

No one could perceive it. By the time anyone noticed, the woman had circled behind the falling Tooyama and gently embraced him from behind.

“U-ugh.”

How did you just move? The current Tooyama did not even have the strength to ask that.

Along with the blood, a burning pain seemed to climb from his arm through his whole body. The wound was hot, yet his body grew colder and colder.

“…Whoa?! Tooyama-kun?! Oh no?! I got too distracted by your body’s information!! There we go. Is this all right?”

The woman began panicking in a fluster. What she held in her hand before anyone knew it was Tooyama’s severed right arm. She suddenly placed it against the wound.

“Huh? There we go, you say… No way.”

He could not understand what had happened. By the time he realized it, the pain that had been running through his whole body had vanished.

Thump, thump. With each heartbeat, sensation returned to his fingertips.

The bleeding stopped, and what should have been there was properly growing where it belonged.

His severed right arm was back to normal.

The woman, the Dragon of Human Knowledge, had reconnected Tooyama’s right arm.

“Are you all right? Does it hurt? I connected the muscles, nerves, and bones all at the same time, so I think you should be able to move it right away. Supupu, it is your body, after all. I know it well. This much is easy.”

The woman wiped the blood smeared around her mouth with the hem of her black robe.

Sickly white skin, shoulder-length hair that reflected no light, and eyes darker and blacker than the bottom of a night lake.

The wiped blood looked like rouge, making her lips appear bewitching.

“…Ah, yes.”

Still embraced from behind, Tooyama was showered with words. All he could do was nod.

Huh? No, what is this? There is really no blood or pain at all. Do wounds heal this easily?

Huh?

There was nothing wrong with his right arm. But still unable to believe the phenomenon, Tooyama continued staring at his right arm for a while.

“…It is your body. I know it well. I am a super-smart dragon, after all. When it comes to the human body, especially your body, this much is easy.”

“Huh? Why did you say the same thing twice?”

The woman’s scent was right beside him.

The smell of soap and a faint scent of blood.

“…It is your body. I know it—”

“A third time?! What is this? She is scary?! Lazaar, what is this?!”

The woman repeating the same words was creepy. Tooyama sought help from Lazaar—

“No, I do not know anymore. Please stop. I have also had enough of that kind of thing for a while. Mmm, delicious. One more cup.”

Gulp. Lazaar, who seemed to have stopped looking at reality, put a hand on his hip and drank directly from a silver pitcher.

“Do not drink honey water! You cold-blooded lizard!”

He had been abandoned. Lazaar was already forgetting everything and gulping down honey water.

“Supupu, a Lizardonian, is it? Hmm, so the rumors are true. The dragon slayer has a Lizardonian as his companion. …Hmm, there is a nostalgic scent… I see, even if the transfer is incomplete, there are still things that remain in the five senses.”

“Ugh, even her monologues…”

“Hmm? Tooyama-kun, aren’t you treating me a little coldly? …Huh, what is this? But I do not really dislike this feeling. Those eyes of yours, are they frightened? …Supupu, aha, not bad…”

The woman with sickly white skin placed her index finger against her cheek and murmured while looking at Lazaar.

More terrifying than beautiful, more dreadful than terrifying.

That was Tooyama’s impression of the woman. Trembling, Tooyama spoke.

“Eek, a real genuine one… Ah, thanks for the arm. It really does seem totally fine.”

However.

No matter how dreadful or terrifying she was, the facts did not change. The fact that the woman had healed Tooyama’s arm did not change.

Killing intent was answered with killing intent, hostility with hostility, and favor with courtesy.

Tooyama honestly conveyed his thanks to the woman.

The woman’s eyes widened in surprise, and she stared at Tooyama.

“! Honestly, that part of you is unfair. Holding fear and normalcy at the same time and not flinching—that attitude tickles a dragon’s heartstrings the most, as everyone says. There.”

The scent of soap grew even stronger.

The woman pressed her head against Tooyama’s face with a firm, squeezing motion.

She smelled unbelievably good, yet the definite scent of blood mixed into it was frightening.

“Mmph?! L-Lazaar, she is pressing her head against me. What is this? Having a woman lie on her back and gulp down blood flowing from my arm, then having her reattach the arm and put me in a full nelson while pressing her head against me—what is this? A dream?”

“Ah, there is no mistake that it is a terrible nightmare, Naruhito. Smooth going down.”

“You bastard, you are completely in other-people’s-problem mode. I told you, stop drinking honey water!”

“…Mmm, you are strangely close with the Lizardonian, aren’t you? Supupu, I am a little jealous.”

The woman, the Dragon of Human Knowledge, narrowed her eyes as she watched the exchange between Tooyama and Lazaar.

Her dark eyes slid toward the honey-water lizard.

“Eek.”

Only then did Lazaar stop drinking the honey water with a small scream.

“Supupu, do not be so frightened. Ah, but the Lizardonian body interests me too. Now that I think about it, they are lives left behind by that ‘Tooth.’ Supupu, I wonder whether they fall under the covenant…”

Slick.

The woman’s black eyes grew even darker and gloomier.

A pitch-black darkness that hid even deep karma looked at Lazaar with interest.

“Hey, black-haired woman.”

“Hmm?”

Tooyama’s switch flipped.

His explorer’s boiling brain was extremely sensitive to the malice of others.

“Do not lay a hand on my companion. I am grateful that you healed my arm, but do not touch that one thing.”

Tooyama glared straight at the woman.

Tooyama’s brown eyes were not reflected in the black eyes. But the Dragon of Human Knowledge was clearly looking at Tooyama Naruhito’s face.

“Supu… Ahh, that sends shivers down my spine… There, there.”

Shivering, the Dragon of Human Knowledge hugged her own slender yet strangely sensual body.

Then she once again pressed her head hard against Tooyama’s face.

“Mmph, she is pressing her head again?! What is this, seriously?!”

Her hair pressed against his cheek, and some of it entered his mouth, but Tooyama did not stop resisting.

But she was still a dragon. Even when he tried to push her away, she did not budge. Her strength was ridiculous.

“…It is your body. I know it well, and I am the one who healed it, though.”

The dragon repeated the same words again.

What is this? What is she trying to say? What does she want to do?

Tooyama seriously could not understand the dragon’s actions.

“…Ah, could it be? Naruhito, this one—no, this esteemed person may want you to praise her…”

Lazaar murmured timidly.

Silence gathered in the room. No one moved. Everyone other than Tooyama was pressed down by the dragon’s pressure and had all they could do just to breathe.

Tooyama was simply locked in a hold and unable to move. For some reason, the dragon did not move.

“Huh?”

“…Supupu.”

The dragon’s face was lowered. However, the white ear peeking through her black hair had turned slightly red.

“…Seriously?”

“Supu… Lizardonians are clever.”

Still pressing her head against Tooyama’s neck and face, the dragon muttered with her face lowered.

Seriously, this thing.

Tooyama sent a look to Lazaar and the members of the Inquisition asking for help, but no one met his eyes.

After thinking a little, Tooyama timidly reached an arm around and stroked the dragon’s head.

“Ah, then, thank you very much… Wow, so silky…”

Her hair was so translucent it felt as if his hand were exposed to flowing clear water.

Tooyama stroked hair so silky it went beyond simply being smooth between his fingers.

“…Ah… Phew… Supupupupu, ahh, do not mind it. This is the relationship between you and me, is it not? It was worth hurrying here.”

The dragon’s body shuddered greatly several times for some reason.

Then she raised her face and smiled. A faint flush colored her cheeks, and a thin sweat seeped across her porcelain-like skin.

That face drew close to Tooyama—

“Impossible?! Why has the Omniscient Dragon entered the Church?!”

The voice that rang out belonged to Deputy Commander Messa.

The moment the dragon’s pressure weakened, she let out a loud voice almost like a scream.

“…Hmm, you are… Hmm, a reincarnated body. How rare. A fragment of a familiar from an empty seat. Cherry-blossom eyes and that beauty… Ahh, perhaps around Dite of Beauty and Woman? Well, I suppose you are valuable personnel to the Church.”

The dragon, the Dragon of Human Knowledge, looked at the source of the voice with deep weariness.

“Y-you, how did you get through ‘Magician Killer’?! There was no reaction from the barrier network!!”

One of the Ten Swords around her seemed to have escaped the dragon’s pressure as well. He raised his sword, stood in a position where he could protect Messa, and raised his voice.

“Supupu, ah, that thing? Those ‘magical formulas’ you people handle while calling them divine arts. Well, how should I put it, you see, I am the ancestor of magic. It is only natural that an adult can rebuild a two-year-old child’s block tower without the child even noticing, isn’t it?”

Letting out a sigh, the Dragon of Human Knowledge stood up. The knights were all rendered speechless by her absurd actions and the abnormal power befitting a dragon.

“Well, the idea itself is not bad. You crushed people possessed by familiars and extracted only their authorities, right? Did you use some kind of grave good capable of soul eating? Ahh, now that I think about it, you people were also trying to make grave-good imitations from the familiar-possessed. Perhaps this is an application of that?”

“…Ah, haha, impossible…”

Messa murmured weakly. The half-smiling face no longer had the composure or sensuality from before.

The result they had devised by staking history and sacrifices.

The defensive mechanism they had absolute confidence in as a countermeasure against their hostile force, the Academy, had been completely useless.

There was far too little time to accept that.

“Th-that is the Omniscient Dragon… N-nyaha, she’s a monster.”

Even the Second Knight Brena, one of the strongest among the Ten Swords, could only falter.

Because she had a certain level of skill, she understood it. The overwhelming difference in performance between them as living beings.

“Sniffle. How cruel. Did you hear that, Tooyama-kun?! That masked child called me a monster! Say something to her for me!!”

“Gweh?! My neck, my neck!! Your strength is insane! I just had my arm cut off, so stop it!”

In response to Brena’s words, the Dragon of Human Knowledge clung playfully to Tooyama.

No one could view it as something heartwarming.

It could only be interpreted, even favorably, as a terrifying monster playing with its prey.

“Oops, that is right, that is right… Hmm? I lost myself for a moment when I saw your blood, but now that I think about it, why were you hurt?”

“Ah, that is because the masked woman over there cut me—”

Because the woman was far too casual, Tooyama had forgotten.

Because the woman had blended in with his companions far too naturally, Lazaar had also forgotten.

They had forgotten that the woman had called herself a “dragon.”

A superior being—

“Huh?”

The dragon tilted her head and opened only one eye wide.

““…?!!””

Though that killing intent was not directed at them, Tooyama and Lazaar, for one instant, truly forgot how to breathe.

Their diaphragms spasmed, and their noses twitched. They clumsily opened their mouths to take in air, but ahh, they could not even remember how to breathe—

“Hah—”

“Eek.”

“…Aha, ha, this is…”

And the knights toward whom it was directed, without exception, turned either pale blue or white.

The dragon’s eyes, like the night darkness stirred together and only the darkest part scooped out and poured into them, merely watched the knights.

“Calm down, Tooyama-kun.”

“Hah, hah.”

“Yes, slowly. Look at me. Hee, hee, hoo. Hee, hee, hoo. Come on, copy me.”

“Gah, ha, th-that is Lamaze breathing!!”

“Supupu, good, good. If you can retort, you are fine. Now then, now then.”

And the three who had not forgotten anything—the bishop, the saint, and the covert operative—were desperately, desperately enduring while gripping each other’s hands.

They were enduring the sticky pressure released by that woman—no, that “dragon”—which made even breathing painful.

“…Ah, you are—”

“No, Bishop-sama. You must not speak to her.”

Kanosa instinctively spoke, but Svi, who had remained unbothered even when blown away by the musclehead, stopped her. Svi stepped forward as if to shield Kanosa.

“Supupu. Hmm, so you are the current bishop. You are a girl, just like the first one. I know of you, Kanosa Tier Field. That intellect of yours, what sort of brain structure and synaptic circuits compose it? I very much want to see.”

“H-hiee, p-please jest not… Distant, legendary dragon. To think that you truly existed…”

“Supupu, even at the Academy, few humans still know me, so there is no need to be so afraid. …Hmm, I just noticed. You are not only the holder of the Archbishop’s Order, but also a ‘Prophet,’ aren’t you? Since I do not remember you, hmm, it seems the memory transfer truly only concerns Tooyama-kun.”

The Dragon of Human Knowledge stared intently at the frightened bishop.

She looked like a cat that had found a favorite toy.

“…If you lay even one finger on Bishop-sama, I will kill you even if I must die with you.”

The saint glared at the smiling Dragon of Human Knowledge.

Trying to protect her master, she let killing intent seep from her small body.

Likewise, Tossle trembled and raised her fur, standing in front of the bishop with her tail standing upright.

“Supupu. A saint, is it? Do not worry. I have no intention of fighting you. It would be troublesome if you got serious and became an immune system. …Tch, what a shame. So, Tooyama-kun, are the saint and the bishop your enemies?”

“…No. They are my allies.”

To the dragon’s words, Tooyama answered briefly and accurately.

“Supupu, I had that feeling from your positioning. You always unconsciously stand in front of your allies. You are wonderful even when taking such an unprofitable role.”

After receiving those words, the Dragon of Human Knowledge looked away from the bishop and the others. She replied somehow happily.

“Who the hell are you, really?”

“Mm, I told you I am the Dragon of Human Knowledge, didn’t I? Ah, I see. Do you mean my name? Do you want to know my name?”

“…………”

With a face that said, “This is already a pain,” Tooyama looked at Lazaar.

“…!!”

Lazaar shook his head furiously as if begging him not to look over.

“““…!!!”””

The bishop’s group repeatedly gestured by nodding vertically, telling him to just honestly nod.

The hearts of the Inquisition members were one.

They were warmly telling him, “You do something about this.”

“…Ah, yes. I want to know.”

Receiving instructions from his warm-hearted companions, Tooyama reluctantly nodded.

“!! Supupu, ahh, very well.”

Tap, tap.

Leaving the dumbfounded knights behind, the black-haired, black-eyed woman clad in a black robe took one step, then another.

“I am the Dragon of Human Knowledge, the dragon who knows humanity. I am the protector of those who reveal the unknown of this world, laugh at the unknown, kick through tragedy, and continue advancing, and I am an eternal seeker.”

One step, two steps. For reasons no one could understand, the Dragon of Human Knowledge bounced upward and floated into the air, as if climbing transparent stairs.

“My name is Ai. Ai Kelbrem Doctustail.”

With a full smile directed only at Tooyama Naruhito, she walked through the air as if dancing.

“It is nice to meet you, high-rank explorer, Tooyama Naruhito-kun.”

There was nothing happier than this. There was nothing more joyful than this.

The eternal seeker had finally arrived here. She directed an overflowing smile toward the human who had turned her into the Dragon of Human Knowledge.

“Huh? Why do you know about explorers…?”

Explorer. That dragon had indeed called Tooyama Naruhito an explorer.

“Hehe, you like mysterious women, don’t you? That is still a secret. …Now then, Tooyama-kun, which one cut off your arm?”

The woman gently descended beside Tooyama.

The dragon, with her distorted intellect and fearsome seeker’s eyes, searched for prey.

“Uh, ah.”

Brena, the Second Knight, reflexively backed away.

The Dragon of Human Knowledge had found her prey.

“Hmm, that one, is it… I see, I see. I am starting to grasp the situation. Were you dragged into an internal Church dispute? Or were you the cause of the internal dispute? Well, either is fine.”

A miracle that was not a sacrament, one that distorted this world.

The Dragon of Human Knowledge was the ancestor of magic, the one who had brought to this world the art by which humans deceived and falsified the world.

“H-hey, you.”

Tooyama wavered.

“If they are your enemy, then they are my enemy.”

The Dragon of Human Knowledge smiled and narrowed her eyes.

She twisted her mouth into a crescent.

“You are right-handed, aren’t you?”

With that, the fate of the knight chosen by “Murder” was already decided.

“…Nya, ha. Th-the Omniscient Dragon… The real ancestor of magic, the Church’s archenemy… Haha… I-I will not go down for free—”

Plop.

An arm. Where the Second Knight had been, a human arm rolled with a stupid sound.

“I am the Dragon of Human Knowledge. I would like you not to get that wrong.”

“Huh? Huh? B-Brena?”

The musclebound oaf’s eyes went white and black. No, not only the musclebound oaf.

No one could understand what had happened, nor even perceive it.

“Supupu, ahh, relax. Unlike Alice-chan, I am a moderate dragon. Even if I get a little angry, I will not burn you to a crisp.”

What they could understand was that the Second Knight was no longer in this room.

The remaining arm, a right arm wrapped in silver knight armor, had an armband strangely identical to the one Brena had been wearing.

“Wh-what did you do to Brena?! A-answer me! Omnisci—”

“I keep telling you, I am the Dragon of Human Knowledge. That is already my old name. As for the masked child, I transferred everything except her right arm to Herel’s Tower♪ I am kind, aren’t I? She still has a chance of surviving, after all.”

The Dragon of Human Knowledge laughed as if it were nothing.

Leaving only the right arm here, she forcibly transferred a human to a different location.

Just hearing it made one’s head hurt.

“T-teleportation…? Impossible… Unless it is a great divine art performed by over a hundred divine artists or a grave good, teleportation is…”

Teleportation itself was not impossible. There were very limited examples, such as the Return Seals issued by the Church, but it was within the range of human technology.

However, the cost involved was completely different.

“Supupu, well, it is a formula I thought of yesterday and completed a little while ago, so I cannot guarantee its stability. Ah, amazing, it finally started bleeding. A part from one of the Ten Swords, and a person possessed by a familiar of Murder. It looks interesting, so I will take it.”

The Dragon of Human Knowledge casually picked up the remaining right arm and stuffed it into a pouch at her waist, which had appeared from who knew where.

The sight of her handling a human body resembled a dreadful religious painting of devil worship.

“N-ngh?! You sent Brena to the Tower?! Impossible?!”

“Hm? Hmm? There are marks on Tooyama-kun’s face where he was punched. They match the size of your fist. …Ahh, so that is it.”

Ignoring the shouting musclebound oaf’s words, the dragon noticed something.

The wound on Tooyama Naruhito’s face, the bruise mark, and the size and shape of the musclebound oaf’s fist completely matched.

The next prey was decided.

“Do not underestimate me! Ancestor of magic! Leader of the heretics who twist the world created by the angel! I will crush you here with my Chariot!”

“What an active mouth you have… There we go.”

The swelling muscles, the sacrament of “Chariot.” That man, blessed by the angel, was sometimes so strong that he was treated as a single unit of the Empire’s military power—

“Fwa, fwoh?!”

However, that had nothing to do with a dragon.

The dragon looked at the musclebound oaf. With only that, the dragon’s magical formula invaded the world.

A magical formula: a heretical art that pasted the practitioner’s hypothesis onto the world and twisted the rules.

The dragon’s heresy invaded the Chariot.

“Ha, gagaga, wh-what did you dooo?”

His face was strange. Ears grew where eyes should have been, a nose grew where his mouth should have been, and eyes grew on the side of his head.

Only the arrangement of the musclebound oaf’s facial parts had been rewritten into a mess.

“Lucky Laugh. It is an ancient Japanese toy for children. Hmm, I do not have talent for Lucky Laugh. Well then, bye-bye.”

“You bas—”

Snap.

The woman snapped her fingers again. With only that, as if it were a lie or some kind of mistake, the musclebound oaf who had become a Lucky Laugh disappeared.

“Well, it would not be fair otherwise. I sent him to the same place as the masked one. If they are Ten Swords, they might return alive if they try hard enough.”

“Ah, haha… You are a monster, Omnisci… no, Dragon of Human Knowledge.”

The one left behind was the Deputy Commander.

In the blink of an eye, the whole board had been overturned.

They had prepared and taken countermeasures. But this was different from what they had expected, something they could not have predicted.

The darkness of history, said to be half a fairy tale, was now certainly here.

The ancestor of magical formulas, the patron of the Academy, the Church’s great enemy.

Before the Dragon of Human Knowledge, the angel’s swords were on the verge of annihilation without being able to do anything.

“Supupu, I find it offensive to be called that by a reincarnated body. Neither human nor familiar, an irregular who belongs to nothing. Now then, what should I do with you?”

Lick. The Dragon of Human Knowledge showed a vivid red tongue that evoked bright red blood, in contrast to her sickly white skin.

The dragon, the strongest predatory creature, was selecting her next prey.

“…Is there no way you can let me go? The moment you appeared, we had already lost. If you tell me what you want—”

At that instant, the Deputy Commander abandoned all her plans. Even so, she did not give up on survival and tried to negotiate with the being before her—

“How about this? An object made from a foolish woman who pretends to be composed and cannot throw away her pride even while begging for her life. I would want that.”

Apparently, the dragon had no interest in that.

“…Ahaha, did I do something to make you hate me?”

With no choice but to laugh, Messa nevertheless continued the conversation without losing control.

Messa did not know.

She did not know whose man she had laid a hand on.

She did not know what kind of man she had marked with her own scent—

“Did you think you could hide it? You are reeking so strongly of an aroused female. …Hey, let me ask you, why does Naruhito-kun’s mouth smell of your female stench?”

It was a voice so dark, cold, and terrifying that the voice of the dead echoing from the幽玄 would sound like a lullaby.

Drip. Messa was shedding tears of fear without realizing it.

Even so, she desperately put on a fearless smile suitable for the familiar of Beauty and Woman, the reincarnated body.

“…Ahaha, thank you for the meal.”

“Suffer.”

“Ah—”

Geeeeeeeeeeaaaaaah—

Could a human really make such a sound? It was a scream and cry of agony like that.

No trace of her lovely figure remained. Messa writhed, scattering tears, snot, and various other fluids.

“Bye-bye.”

Snap. Fingers rang.

The scream of agony, the words of resentment, and the writhing woman were no longer anywhere.

While she was at it, the dragon snapped her fingers again. The knights who had fallen due to the Church Order vanished in the same way.

“Th-they disappeared… Again.”

“Supupu. Well, I am kind. I did not kill them. I did not. I merely rearranged the positions of all the organs in their bodies, did various things to their pain nerves, and then sent them to the Tower.”

“That is brutal.”

“Supupu, but you do not dislike it, do you?”

Well, that is true. Just as Tooyama almost nodded at the Dragon of Human Knowledge’s words—

“““Uooooooooh!!”””

“Oh crap!!”

The remaining three swords. Though they did not reach Stolu, Brena, or the Commander, they were all powerful figures counted among the Ten Swords.

They lunged at the Dragon of Human Knowledge all at once.

“Do not worry, Naruhito-kun.”

“““Wah.”””

Clatter.

Twitch, jerk.

Ahh, they still could not reach her. Without her showing any movement, the knights’ human bodies were also invaded.

They no longer had legs, arms, or anything else.

They were swords.

They pulsed red-black, and human eyeballs decorating the hilts moved around.

The material for those swords was, of course—

“You people are called the Ten Swords, are you not? Supupu, ‘names reflect the body,’ as the old Nihon saying goes. How fitting.”

The dragon laughed coldly. It was obvious just by looking; one could understand after sharing only a little time with her.

She was evil. An unmistakably evil existence. Evil itself, delighting in scattering her own karma and harming others.

Wickedness—

“Is that not too grotesque?”

Tooyama muttered. He neither grew frightened nor angry, simply looking at the swords that had become amusing objects.

“It is my hobby. Well, if you dislike it, then here, here, here.”

Snap, snap, snap.

Her fingers snapped pleasantly. By the time the three sounds that rang out at once ended, the knights transformed into flesh swords had also vanished as if they had been a lie.

“Supupu, have a good adventure. Swords of the Church.”

Everything was over.

The knights who had driven Tooyama and the others so far into a corner had not been opponents at all.

“Seriously?”

It really was an adult versus two-year-olds. The knights, who had been so troublesome and had truly driven him into a corner, were already nowhere to be seen.

Everything in this place had been settled by a power whose mechanism and laws he did not understand at all.

“Hm? Supupu, do not stare at me like that. It is embarrassing.”

The woman placed a hand against her cheek and grinned loosely.

The Dragon of Human Knowledge. In other words, a dragon. This was a dragon.

Conflicts between humans were truly child’s play to beings like them.

By merely snapping fingers and looking, humans, those inferior creatures, had their fates scattered by powers outside the rules.

“…Dragon of Human Knowledge.”

“Supupu, yes?”

The irrational, and evil, yet lovely, she smiled.

She ran up to Tooyama with a grin and held his hand.

“Supupu, that name. You were the one who made me the Dragon of Human Knowledge. But you do not know anything, do you? Still, that is fine. Even if you do not know, I know.”

Black eyes. Dark eyes.

They stared at Tooyama.

“What are you saying…?”

“Ai.”

The Dragon of Human Knowledge interrupted Tooyama’s words.

“Huh?”

“Call me by my name, Tooyama-kun. I will not be coy anymore. I will not hold anything back. My affection level has been maxed from the start. So call me by my name. Please.”

The Dragon of Human Knowledge trembled slightly. Twitch, twitch. Like a young child frightened of being scolded.

“…………”

““““…!!!””””

Tooyama sent an exasperated look toward the Inquisition members, but all of them answered with only their eyes.

Do not look this way!

No good. Those people were useless.

Tooyama gave up and faced the woman before him, who had made herself small and kept glancing at him.

“You know me?”

“…Unfortunately, I do not know everything. I do not know your favorite stories, favorite songs, or favorite scenery. That is why I want you to teach me. That is why I want you to tell me. Let us talk. Let us spend the same time together. I am sure that I was born for that.”

“…I do not get it.”

“That is fine. For now.”

The dragon smiled a little.

That smile seemed somehow lonely.

“Now, call my name, Tooyama Naruhito. Strong, frightening, and beloved human.”

But in the next moment, that fragility vanished. What appeared in its place was madness.

Obsession and fixation directed toward an absolute being.

Tooyama thought. Now, how should he answer so everything turns out nicely?

“I…”

That answer would decide everything.

Would he be swallowed by the passion of the eternal seeker that could even entangle greed, or would greed once again swallow the seeker’s passion?

If they advanced separately, their paths would never be compatible. But if they walked together, the Dragon of Human Knowledge would protect humanity.

At times as a cruel trial to be surpassed, at times as a reassuring ally. The Dragon of Human Knowledge had been deeply involved with humans.

Humans and the Dragon of Human Knowledge. Approach one another, or kill each other. There were only two choices.

“I—”

“Tooyama-kun, ahh, supupu. How ironic. You are indeed a little similar to that thing too.”

The Dragon of Human Knowledge lowered her eyes a little. Her voice dropped slightly, as if she had remembered something and feared it—

Tooyama tried to return an answer to the Dragon of Human Knowledge. But—

The Dragon of Human Knowledge’s scent, the smell of soap and blood, was overwritten by another scent.

Citrus and fragrant olive—

“I will not allow stealing, especially not by you.”

Golden flames appeared in the room.

Golden flames tore through space and blazed fiercely.

From within them, she smoothly emerged.

Dragons always appeared suddenly.

“Huh?”

“Oh my.”

Whoosh. Flames flickered. At the same time, the left hand that the Dragon of Human Knowledge had been extending toward Tooyama fell from the wrist.

The Dragon of Human Knowledge’s wrist quickly burned and turned to ash.

However, she did not lose composure at all.

“Move away from Naruhito. My spear would strike him.”

Between the wavering flames, a tall blonde woman emerged from the heat haze that had appeared in the room.

“U-ah, the D-D-Dragon Shrine Maiden… It’s over.”

“Bishop-sama! Please stay with us!”

Her golden hair was like a blazing solar flare, and her single deep-blue eye reflected a clear place in the deep sea. Her long, drooping bangs hid the eye he had gouged out.

“D-Drako…”

Golden flames already flickered on the great spear held in her hand, and black, sludge-like mucus clung to various parts of her body.

Even so, her shining beauty did not dim.

“Well, well, well, well, well, well. I thought I smelled a musty, moldy, gloomy odor. Omniscient Dragon, that burnt and decayed stench cannot be hidden by any perfume.”

The Hoarding Dragon, Alice Dral Flaretail, emerged from between the wavering flames.

“Supupu. My, my, my, my, my, my, my. And here I wondered why it smelled of milk, fire, and smoke. You arrived faster than I expected, Alice-chan. Perhaps you have grown a little? Even if it was only my imitation, to escape another world in such a short time is quite something. After all, a little over fifty years ago, you ultimately had to be saved by your beloved grandpaaa, didn’t you?”

Opposing her was dark beauty. Even the brilliance of the Dragon of Hoarding could not illuminate those black eyes.

The Dragon of Human Knowledge, Ai Kelbrem Doctustail, looked at her severed wrist and instantly regenerated it.

Black tentacles grew from the wound and formed a human hand in the blink of an eye.

“Huh.”

Tooyama Naruhito’s danger sensor shot straight into the red zone.

“Heh, kahahaha! Good. Chirp once more. I will dissect that head of yours and investigate whether you are truly the dragon who knows everything.”

The golden flames laughed.

“Supupu, well, I do not think you could. Even if you saw the contents of my head, I doubt little Alice would be able to understand them.”

The black water likewise sneered.

“Do not worry. We will know once we try.”

“The fact that you have to try to know means you are an idiot, though. Well, because you are an idiot, you do not understand that.”

Dragon and dragon.

For some reason, both of them were smiling.

But for living creatures, a smile was originally nothing but an act of intimidation.

The smiles worn by beings called dragons overflowed with sculptural beauty and were equal to the grandeur shown by nature. And yet why was it that watching them made his trembling impossible to stop?

“…Hey, everyone. Heeeey…”

Tooyama, caught between them, sought help from the Inquisition and his new companions with the tension of about a two-year-old.

Because he was a two-year-old, he thought they would help him—

““““We do not know anymore.””””

The adults did not help the twenty-seven-year-old.