“*(I’ve flown over here while out for a stroll a few times before, but even on my latest visit, there wasn’t anything like a village, much less a city, here.)*”
Ignoring the shocked Dora for now, I made the park land near the village.
“We’re here, Dora. Welcome to our village.”
“M-mhm…*(oh no! I was so preoccupied with the size of their village, I didn’t notice that we’ve already arrived. Still, I must find a way to escape…!)*”
“Oh, and you see that tower-like thing in the center of the village? That’s where I live.”
“T-that one…?”
Dora looked up at the palace and opened her mouth wide. I didn’t know what she was thinking at that moment, but after a while she began to talk in a competitive tone.
“…n-not bad. It’s a little tiny compared to my nest, of course, but it’s not bad.”
“Oh, as to be expected of a dragon. If you don’t mind, how about we visit your nest next time?”
“I don’t object…*(next time? So they’re not going to eat me now? No, no, it must just be some kind of ploy to make me lower my guard.)*”
Selen then cut into the conversation.
“Drop it, Luke. Going to a dragon’s nest is like offering yourself up as a meal.”
“Ahaha, now that you mention it, yeah.”
“*(Isn’t that exactly what I’m doing now!? Are these people making fun of me!?)*”
After that, I entrusted the hunters with handing over the wyvern we captured to the village’s chefs and brought Dora inside the palace.
Dora, being a dragon, was probably not used to a large crowd of people. So, I thought of giving her a reception in my home with only a few people.
“Alright, I’m going to use teleportation now.”
“…teleportation?”
I brought Dora, Selen, Selius-kun, and Philia-san along with me to my home in the highest floor of the palace.
“!? The surroundings changed all of a sudden!?”
“Yeah, I teleported us. Please take a look outside the window. Over there, that’s where we were just a moment ago. You can even see the wyverns there.”
We could have returned from the mountains through teleportation, but I asked myself where the fun was in that.
“*(So you’re telling me it was impossible for me to escape from the start!? Hiiiii!? He doesn’t look it, but this boy is frightening!)*”
I had no idea why, but Dora’s body began trembling.
“Are you feeling cold? When you take on that form, can you feel cold like we humans do?”
After a long winter, spring was finally coming to the wasteland where our village was.
That said, the days here continued to be cold. And since we flew back here, we obviously felt colder than usual.
“Actually, why don’t we get in the bathtubs and warm ourselves up until the food is ready?”
“Bathtubs?”
“Hmm, how do I put this? Do you dragons also clean yourselves using water?”
“Clean ourselves? We do, but only very rarely.”
“Well, just replace the normal water with hot water and you’ll pretty much get the ‘bathtub’ I mentioned.”
I didn’t want to say it out loud, but it felt like she hasn’t cleaned herself in a good while…in other words, she kinda smelled…
It wasn’t so bad when we were outside, but in a closed space like this where air flows much less, it was hard not to notice.
“Millia, can you please guide her how to do it?”
“Yes, leave it to me, Luke-sama.”
Through Satin’s telepathy, I had asked Millia in advance to come here and lead Dora to the bathroom. She should have the place ready by now.
“Well then, Dora-sama, follow me this way, please. *(when I heard there was dragon who has assumed a humanoid form, I didn’t expect to see such fine little girl…ahh, I’m drooling. That being said, her charms doesn’t come close to Luke-sama’s.)*”
“*(W-what? What just happened? I suddenly felt a chill down my spine…is it because of this girl? I knew it, people here want to devour me…)*”
When Dora was about to leave, I observed that her face was a little pale.
She must have been really cold, huh. I hope she’ll take her time and warm herself up properly.