403 Tiger God (1/2)

Nobody expected for Roland's army to appear to settle down here after arriving in the Dragon World.

They built houses, planted crops and constructed tall walls more than ten meters high. Iron buildings went up everywhere, and they had even built mage towers and biology experimental laboratories. It was obvious they were here to stay.

As for their agreement with the dragons?

”We agreed to slow down the rate at which the Titan Giants' seal broke, didn't we? I've already established a new Earth Elemental God, which is helping balance the Elemental Tide in the Dragon World. Doesn't that mean I've done my job? I didn't even ask you for any payment yet. As for the next step, completely sealing the Titan Giants… do you think that they'll obediently allow us to strengthen the seal on them? At the very least, we need to have the ability to defend ourselves. Let's not even mention the Titan Giants' true bodies. Even their few incarnations running around outside can easily kill us all.”

That was the excuse I intended to give the dragons' messenger. As for whether or not the dragons believed me? Who cared? This world never belonged to them in the first place. Could they really do anything about me?

Alright then, with this logic, I did sound a bit like a bastard. But sometimes bastard logic would be the most effective. When negotiating with dragons, only the most powerful would have the upper hand.

”You're thinking too much into things. The dragons won't care if you build some houses here. They could care less about the activities of short-lived species like humans. Even if there's a dragon who's bored enough to care, with how a typical dragon views time, that dragon would probably remember this matter after a three-hundred-year nap. And…”

However, when Evelyn arrived, she told me that things were quite different from what I thought.

”…Is it really that ridiculous? And?”

”And Fourth Sister is doing her best to cover things for you. The dragons think you're working hard to balance the four elements, so why would they come looking for you? Oh, right, since you've already accomplished part of the task, you can speak up now and ask for payment.”

This was a true ally. Even if I didn't say anything, she was thinking about and working for my benefits.

But one week later, a dragon still ended up descending from the sky. When I looked closer, I saw a familiar figure on the dragon's back.

”Hey there, isn't this my good old friend and classmate Kaid? What made you come over here to find me? Could it be that—”

”Haha! You still remember your task? It's exactly 'could it be that!'”

He played with his beard, enjoying playing at being an elder. His clean and puffy snow-white beard made me really want to pull on it.

”—could it be that you came all the way to another plane to return the money you owe me? You're truly such a nice person!”

”I'm not here to return your money! No, wait, I don't owe you money to begin with! Can you stop reusing this old joke! Are you not tired of it yet? Because you bring up this topic every time, all my disciples keep guessing how much money I owe you! Besides, you were clearly the one who owed me money!”

”Tsk—you actually remembered.”

”Ahhh! You really did do it on purpose! Thankfully, I spent a huge amount of money, hiring an illusion magic grandmaster to cast Memory Recovery on myself!”

”Paha! You actually did such a thing? It must have been fun to have someone else messing around in your head. I've heard that Memory Recovery is a nine-circle advanced spell that will place a tremendous burden on your body, with possible side effects, such as causing multiple personalities. Are you still the same snot-nosed brat from before? Hmm? I think I might have misremembered. You were a bedwetting brat?”

”Snot-nosed? Bedwetting? I—I—I'm going to kill you!”

From a certain standpoint, it was amusing to anger the white-bearded old man, especially since he was clearly younger than me but always loved to play at being the elder. If I didn't prank him, wouldn't I seem to be lacking liveliness, like an old artifact?

”Hmph, I'm still quite young. Go ahead and tell me, young Kaid. What are you here to talk to me about? Don't even think about asking to borrow money from me. It will only hurt relationships between friends to talk about money.”

*Huff* *Huff*

Kaid's veins were bulging as he went on a rampage. He randomly swung his staff at me in a way with which he probably couldn't even kill a fly. After he finished his rampage, he could only lower his head and pant for breath, treating his mage staff as a walking staff.

”Besides, I'm clearly of the warrior job class… and pure mage like you wants to try me in physical melee combat? If you die just like this, due to a shortage of breath, I'd feel quite bad about it. Yep, I'd feel bad for about a minute.”

Kaid brought out a dark green potion and gulped it down. He then rubbed his heart for quite a while before he glared at me and spoke again.

”…You bastard, you want me to die of anger that badly?! Forget it, you've always been like this. No wonder everyone always tells me not to take anything you say seriously. Let's get to the real issue now. You should know what I'm here for.”

I picked my nose with my index finger and then lightly flicked the booger away…

”I don't know.”

”…Do you still have some sort of grudge against me? Will you ever mature? You were the one who first told everyone that I'm a pervert who likes little girls. Why else would I tell everyone about how you proposed marriage to Amelia in public? I was telling the truth, wasn't I?”