Blessing from the Goddess and Transfer to Another World! ~No Thanks, I Don’t Need a Special Ability~

Chapter 78 – Treasures and a Barbecue

After defeating the Abyssal Dragon, we were guided by the Chieftain to the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area’s village. He and Dora both flew in their human form (plus wings), while I carried the others with Nosferatu [Wings of The Immortal]. While the entire Hidden Area is over a hundred kilometres in diameter, there’s only a single large settlement in the middle. As I’ve heard from Dora, the Dragon Newts don’t use their human form often, and prefer to stay in their dragon form for most of the time. (ED: Previously mistranslated as ‘hundreds of kilometres’)

“Let’s go! Now we can go sightseeing in the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area!”

“But there doesn’t seem to be much of a food culture… at least, based on what we’ve heard from Dora…”

“Eh? Seriously?”

Mio was super excited to stay in the Hidden Area, so Sakura’s comment made her freeze.

“Let’s see… she said they mostly hunt wild monsters for meat. And they just roast it over fire…”

“What the heck!? You mean there are no speciality dishes in the Hidden Area!?”

“That’s a shame, I was also looking forward to it…”

The foodie duo [Mio and Sera] got disappointed. Now that I think about it, they weren’t with us yet, when we learned about it.

Back when I tamed Dora, she enjoyed eating human food so much that I asked her about what she used to eat before we met. According to her, Dragon Newts don’t have a habit of cooking, and they just hunt monsters (dragons excluded) that wander inside the barrier for food. Apparently they roast some of them, but it isn’t to the point where you’d call that actual cooking (is what I recall).

“Kyu, Kyui~… Mio, you do it…“

“You betcha! We’re going to cause a food-culture hazard in the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area! Once I’m done, they won’t be able to go back to living without it!

“The scary thing is, Mio could really do it…”

Can a person who never ate decent food in their life, suddenly eat food prepared by the world’s best chef (provisional), Mio, and still keep their sanity? I’m already really looking forward to it.

“Well, there’s more to sightseeing than food-tasting, so I’d still like to take a look around.”

“I will follow Jin-sama.”

“I figured as much, Maria-chan, but this time it might be better if we all go together…”

Mio proposed to act as a group. I guess there might still be people who don’t want us here, besides Akatsuki [Insect Bastard].

“I guess so. If we split up, we’ll be more likely to stir up some trouble.”

“Would you mind if I came along…? Jin-kun…?”

“Not at all. Then, let’s all go sightseeing together this time. Well, we’re the only tourists here anyway…”

Since it’s not much of a tourist destination, the plus side is that we can take a look around freely without having to worry about running into crowds or some uncouth individuals. But, at the same time, we have to pay attention not to behave rudely ourselves.

“Kyukyui~! Dora will guide~!“

“Oh! Thank you, Dora.”

“Kyu! Un!”

Now, let’s see what kind of places my little Dora will guide us to. Now I’m really looking forward to it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a five-minute-long flight from the Dragons’ Gate, we reached the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area’s village.

“Yep, just as I thought, it’s quite primitive.”

“They lived in hiding for a long time, so it’s only natural…”

Just as Sakura and I muttered involuntarily, the people of the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area seem to live pretty simple lives. Most of the houses in the village are simple buildings primarily made out of straw. What makes them stand apart though is their size, big enough to accommodate multiple people even in their dragon form.

“Only that one house looks to be more solidly built.”

“Kyu~ That’s Dora’s house.” 

“As expected of a princess.”

The sole exception is a huge stone mansion in the middle, which looks a few levels more advanced than the straw houses around it. Somehow, it reminded me of the Dragons’ Gate, so maybe it was built by the same people.

“There are hardly any people here. Have they been evacuated?”

“Yes, they were. They took refuge in the mansion, since it’s the sturdiest.”

It was the Chieftain who answered Maria’s muttered question. Looking at the map, most Dragon Newts indeed took refuge in the mansion. Due to space limitations, they are all in their human form.

On that topic, we learned that during peacetime, the Dragon Newts mostly remain in their dragon form, with only 10% of their time being spent in their human form. So, pretty much only when they perform some delicate tasks.

Upon entering the village, we were greeted by the Dragon Newt residents, almost all of whom looked like macho young men and women. One of them, a young woman with a slightly-less-muscular body, stepped forward. She is quite pretty, with her short red hair. …and, she’s completely naked. Apparently her name’s Mikazuki (ED: Crescent Moon​).

“Chief, welcome back.”

“Mhm. More importantly, I see you’re all safe.”

Oh, I didn’t notice at first, since they are in their human form, but there are some of the people, who fought the Abyssal Dragon before, here. They must have returned after regaining consciousness. Looks like they chose not to hide inside the mansion, and protect the village instead.

“…We were no match for the invading dragon and ended up showing you something unsightly. We have no excuse.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. I’d say it couldn’t be helped against such a powerful opponent. Still, I see that everyone but Akatsuki is back. I’m glad you’re all safe…”

“When we woke up, there wasn’t even a single wound on our bodies. Perhaps, did you do something…?”

Most Dragon Newts, including Mikazuki [the woman] turned towards us.

“Mhm. I’m sorry to say this, but I had to ask these people for help. Just with healing, at first… But then, also to subdue the dragon.”

“S-surely, you don’t mean they killed the dragon, right!?”

“That’s a joke, right!? Humans subdued the dragon!?”

“Not only can they use ‘Recovery Magic’, they can even slay a dragon!?”

The gathered Dragon Newts all protested loudly.

“Be quiet. …It’s no wonder you wouldn’t believe it, but I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

“Is that why you brought them to the village?”

“That’s right. They’re the benefactors of our Hidden Area. It’s only natural that we should entertain them, don’t you think?”

“Well, if that’s how it is. Then, we should probably let everyone know the dragon’s been defeated.”

“Please do.”

At the Chieftain’s remark, several Dragon Newts, who were likely previously chosen for the job, instantly ran and flew away. Looks like despite giving off this ‘cool-headed beauty’ kind of vibe, this woman, Mikazuki, is actually very attentive to detail.

The dragon has been defeated, so there’s no need to stay underground any more. Plus, it’s a good idea to let everyone know that we were the ones who defeated it, to avoid unnecessary confusion. …I mean, saying that ‘Humans have saved the Hidden Area from crisis’ is bound to cause some confusion anyway…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After that, we were led by the Chieftain (plus Mikazuki) towards the stone mansion, which is also Dora’s former house. The Dragon Newts who were evacuated were still there, but so were the treasures we’ve been promised, so we had no choice but to go.

As we reached the mansion, Dragon Newts coming out of its basement started to appear. …naked. Looks like they have already been told about us, as they are directing their gazes filled with a variety of emotions towards us. There’s embarrassment, suspicion, gratitude, respect, jealousy, irritation, and so on.

Most people seem either confused, or suspicious towards us. Then again, we don’t really look like we’re capable of taking down a dragon, so I guess it’s only natural. Not to mention, it was the second-youngest among us who actually did it.

The next most-common reactions are gratitude and respect. Of course, there are also those who flat-out didn’t believe it, but number-wise, they mostly look grateful for our help. Well, to begin with, we have the Chieftain to vouch for us. Also, the older they are (mostly 500+ years old), the more grateful they appear. They are probably those old enough to remember the previous two attacks. (ED: They previously mentioned that dragons of this rank usually only attacked every 500 years or so, but there was another one a couple of years ago. The one that killed Dora’s parents)

As for the rest, they gaze at us with a variety of negative emotions like jealousy and irritation. They are likely thinking things like: that we are human invaders; that the Dragon Newts should be left alone; that we shouldn’t have been allowed into the village in the first place; and so on. Looking at their age, they are mostly the younger ones. We should probably keep an eye on them for the time being.

A: Please leave it to me. I will notify Master if anything happens.

Leaving the spectating Dragon Newts to the side, we entered the mansion. Since it’s supposed to house people in their dragon form, its scale is obviously much larger than in human houses, but the general layout doesn’t differ by much. Unsurprisingly, there are no doors. Most Dragon Newts vary in size, when in their dragon form, so, adding their human form on top of that, it was probably impossible to come up with a single uniform size.

“Here we are. This is the treasury. Please choose from among the things inside.”

“Wow! There are so many treasure-like things in here!”

“Well, it’s a treasury, so it’s only natural, right?”

Just as Mio said, the room the Chieftain led us to is filled with various treasures. There’s everything from gems to weapons inside. There are even some magic items in here. It looks pretty promising, …but still.

“Even though it’s a treasury, it doesn’t even have a door. Isn’t that a bit too careless…?”

“Well, there are no strangers in the Hidden Area, you see. Plus, most people already know what’s inside. Not to mention, that, until your visit, the only other visitors we got were invading dragons, so…”

“I see. So, it’s like, even if you steal it, there’s no way to sell it…”

“Well, that’s how it is.”

There’s not much point protecting your valuables, when there are no intruders, and there are only relatives around.

“By the way, how many treasures can we pick?”

“We didn’t really specify that, did we? Let’s see… How about up to six, so, one for each of you, including Shirayuki?”

“Okay, up to six it is. Then, everyone should look for what they like.”

“”Yes.””

“Kyui~ Yes~”

Dora, Mio and Sera replied cheerfully. What about Sakura and Maria?

“I don’t need anything, Jin-sama. Please choose one more instead.”

“Jin-kun… if you want, you can have mine as well…”

“…I see. Thanks, you two.”

As they didn’t desire anything, the two passed their rights onto me. I mean, I’m grateful and all, but can you please be a bit more assertive?

“Then, I’m sorry, but I have to go explain to everyone. I only told them the bare minimum before. Plus, there’s also Shirayuki’s case on top of that, so… As for the treasures… you can ask Mikazuki here.”

The Chieftain said, as he turned around to leave the treasury.

When we first arrived at the Dragons’ Gate, one of the gatekeepers went back to the village, to bring over the Chieftain, so the people here must have already heard that Dora, aka Shirayuki, returned to the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area (or ‘came back home’, to be more precise).

However, in the end, she chose to come with me instead (obviously). As such, only a few people, including the Chieftain, actually knew about it. Plus, there was this whole thing with an invading Abyssal Dragon right after that, so, as a result, most people here must have misunderstood that Dora is here to stay.

“On that topic, is there a reason why you didn’t touch on that when we entered the village?”

“Hmm, I thought it was only going to cause further confusion if I mentioned Shirayuki back then. It would be better if we took care of that after they hear all about how you saved the Hidden Area. And if I bring you along for that, they will likely get really emotional towards you.”

“…Oh, so you’re gonna take care of it while we’re browsing through the treasures.”

“That’s the general idea.”

I see, so the Chieftain already took all of that into account (even if it does seem a bit rude of him to do so). If that’s the case, I guess we can choose without much hurry.

After the Chieftain left the treasury, we took our time looking around, and these are the items we chose!

Dragon Horn Flute
Note: A flute made from dragon’s horn.

Infernal Dragon’s Fang
Note: A fang of an Infernal Dragon, a high-rank dragon species with a fire attribute.

Infernal Dragon’s Jewel
Note: A beautiful red jewel. Very rare and valuable.

I chose a Dragon Horn Flute, an Infernal Dragon’s Fang and an Infernal Dragon’s Jewel.

The flute is a gift for one of my slaves, Fiyu. She’s a musician, so maybe she’ll enjoy a rare instrument.

I also had a pretty good reason as to why I chose the other two. The Infernal Dragon’s Fang is, so to speak, a body part of an Infernal Dragon. And the Infernal Dragon’s Jewel is actually not a jewel, but a polished magic stone of said Infernal Dragon. In other words, now I have both the magic stone and a body part of an Infernal Dragon for Tamo-san to be able to transform into one. By the way, the Infernal Dragon that these came from was a high-rank dragon that attacked the Hidden Area 500 years ago. It was of the same rank as the Abyssal Dragon from earlier…

Dragon Ball
Note: A beautiful rainbow-coloured jewel. Very rare and valuable.

It was Dora who chose this one. Unlike the Infernal Dragon’s Jewel, it’s just a pretty gem. Something about it must have struck a chord with Dora, who’s usually not one to go for shiny things.

Dragon’s Treasure Dagger
Class: Dagger
Rarity: Legendary
Note: Freshness Recovery, Detoxification

Mio chose a legendary weapon, the Dragon’s Treasure Dagger. …Yep, it’s a kitchen knife. I guess she’ll use it for cooking. Also, when she found it, I heard her mutter: “Maybe I should collect all eight…” Probably some manga reference I don’t know about.

Dragon Horn Spear
Class: Large Spear
Rarity: Legendary
Note: Extra damage to dragons, Hit correction when throwing

Looks like Sera chose the Dragon Horn Spear. Her sword and shield are already of legendary grade, but her spear is just a mithril one. Maybe she wanted to complete the set.

We chose six treasures, all of them related to dragons (even if Dora’s didn’t look like it). Of course, there were other interesting things in here, but there’s no point choosing regular items when we’re in the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Chieftain returned to the treasury 10 minutes after we finished picking our rewards.

“Hmm, are these six the ones you chose?”

“Oh, is there some kind of problem with them? Is there something we can’t take?”

“No, I already told you to pick from the items inside. Just, I didn’t mean you had to pick right away. You can have these if you wish.”

“All right, thanks. Then, that completes our contract… By the way, how did explaining to your people go?”

Looking at the Chieftain’s complexion, it didn’t seem to go that bad.

“Mm, I handled it.”

“Meaning, there was something to ‘handle’?”

“Well, you get the idea.”

“Pretty much…”

He wouldn’t say he ‘handled’ it, if there was nothing to ‘handle’ in the first place. In short, there must have been some opposition in Shirayuki’s, or rather Dora’s case. Nevertheless, if he says he did, then I guess it’s already been taken care of.

“Oh, and we’re going to throw a feast to celebrate the dragon’s subjugation. Well, even if I call it that, we will just have some sake and roasted monster meat.” (ED: Sake – Japanese alcohol made from fermented rice)

“Oh, you have sake here…?

“Well, we do. Quite a lot, actually.”

To think they would have sake, even though they don’t know how to cook. Come to think of it, dragons did have an image of booze lovers. I guess it’s not much different for the Dragon Newts…

“This time especially we need to celebrate, since thanks to your help, there were no casualties. It’s pretty much a miracle, considering the strength of the dragon that attacked this time around. Well, it also means we have to hold one regardless of whether the one who actually defeated the dragon happened to be, let’s say, a human visiting the Hidden Area…” (ED: I guess no one died after all, I’ll go and correct that later)

“Did you decree that?”

“I did. So, I’m sorry, but it would be helpful if you agreed to also attend. Even if you are outsiders, we can’t very much have a party without our guests of honour.”

I weighed the pros and cons of going.

“I have one more question: how do you see us now?”

“You are our guests, and benefactors who saved the Hidden Area.”

“Your guests, huh…? Then, what would you do if some Dragon Newts were to attack your guests?”

“You’re saying there might be some who’d ignore my orders and come after you…”

The Chieftain seemed to understand what I meant, so his face turned bitter. There’s already the case of Akatsuki [Insect Bastard], so it’s not like it couldn’t happen again in the future.

“If someone does something to you, you are free to respond in kind.”

“If someone tries to kill us, can we kill them back?”

“I’d like to believe there are no such fools, but… Please stay your hand, if possible… Even if they are fools, they are still our relatives, and the people of the Hidden Area…”

“I’ll take that into consideration.”

“I hope nothing like that happens…”

That’s impossible, right? It’s me we’re talking about.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Afterwards, a feast was held by the Dragon Newts to celebrate the defeat of the dragon.

There are about 2,000 people (monsters?) in total living in the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area, and around 1,500 of them, so, about 75%, came to the party, while the remaining 500 did not. They likely had various reasons not to come, but I’m sure that for more than just a couple of them it was due to negative feelings they harbour towards us.

By the way, everyone attending is in their human form, and most of them are nude. According to the Chieftain, they don’t feel any shame from being naked in their human form.

Back when they came to meet us at the Dragon’s Gate, the Chieftain wore trousers though. Seeing as they usually stay naked, that seemed a bit unnatural, but when I asked him about it, he said that a human traveller who got lost and ended up entering the Hidden Area by chance in the past, taught them that it was common sense among humans to wear clothes. Even if it only happened once before, apparently they did prepare some clothes in case more humans visited in the future. But, obviously, they didn’t have enough for everyone, so most of them are still nude.

On the table in front of us, there are plates filled with meat skewers that the Dragon Newts roasted using their own fire breath, and an unusually large amount of alcoholic beverages. The feast started with a greeting speech by the Chieftain, who wanted everyone to at least see our faces, but it wasn’t that interesting, so I’ll omit it.

Of course, we are the focus of everyone’s attention, however, despite being curious, it looks like no one was brave enough to approach us on their own, so they all just ended up standing there (naked) and watching us.

“Don’t be so tense, Maria.”

“Yes, Jin-sama. Though even if you tell me so…”

For Maria, who’s my self-proclaimed bodyguard, it must be pretty hard to feel at ease in this situation.

“It can’t be helped, so just don’t think about it. Let’s eat something for now.”

“Jin-sama, Sakura-sama, I think you should avoid eating any fool here.”

“Hmm? It’s not poisoned, right?”

“Did you learn something from the map…?”

If there was any poisonous food, I would get an alert from the map, plus, Alta would warn me about it beforehand. But, just to be safe, Maria volunteered to test my food for poison whenever we eat outside. …She’s so overprotective.

“No, it isn’t poisoned or anything. Just that… I don’t think it will fit Jin-sama and Sakura-sama’s tastes.”

“That bad, huh…?”

“That bad, is it…?”

“I can eat it just fine, but I wouldn’t call it tasty even if I were being generous.”

Being a slave, Maria ate some of the worst food possible in the past. It’s probably better than that, but still not something she’d want us to experience. Feeling a bit curious, I picked up a piece of meat from the table and took a bite.

“”Ah…””

By the time Sakura and Maria exclaimed, it was already in my mouth. *chew*, *chew*, *swallow*.

…Yep, it’s pretty bad. It’s not seasoned at all, not to mention it’s unevenly cooked, with different parts of it being undercooked and burnt at the same time. …Even the texture’s horrible.

“…Yeah. Let’s not…”

“Jin-sama… I was too late…”

“Jin-kun… that’s why you are just…”

Honestly, it was hard not to be curious after Maria’s comment. In the end, my curiosity got the better of me, and I had to take a bite.

“Ah! I’ve had enough! Sera-chan, don’t eat that! Give it to me!”

“What are you going to do? Can you even improve meat that’s so disgusting?”

“I’ll cook it again! At least I’ll make a proper meal out of it!”

As we were talking, Mio who was sitting next to us suddenly cried out. Apparently, the sheer existence of such terrible food was something she couldn’t tolerate any longer.

She used the Dragon’s Treasure Dagger she got earlier to cut the burnt parts off the meat skewer. She dropped them back on her plate, but she probably wasn’t going to eat them later. Next, she adjusted the taste with some seasoning that she took out of the Inventory [Infinite Storage], before cooking it more evenly with ‘Fire Magic’. Finally, she took out a small plate and poured some special sauce onto it.

“Okay, it’s done. You can add this sauce if you like.”

“Thank you. It’s delicious.”

Sera, who bit into it right away, exclaimed in admiration.

“Oh, can I have one too?”

“Kyui~ Dora wants some too~“

“I would like one as well…”

“Yes, yes, wait a minute. I’ll make some for you next.”

Saying that, Mio started re-cooking the meat skewers for the rest of us. The one she handed me was so delicious, I couldn’t believe it was the same one I tried before. I don’t know what kind of monster meat it is, but the quality of the meat itself doesn’t seem that bad, so it tastes totally different with just some seasoning added and being properly cooked.

“Delicious…”

“Kyuu~! Yummy~!”

“It’s delicious. Thank you, Mio.”

“Well, you’re welcome. As our party’s designated cook, I can’t let Master eat something like that.”

Mio declared, while proudly sticking out her (barely existing) chest. However, her face quickly changed to a look of worry.

“But I think I might have overdone it a bit…”

“Right. It did turn a little… tense.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We got surrounded by Dragon Newts, who are clearly interested, but can’t seem to muster the courage to come and talk to us. The Dragon Newts have no cooking culture to begin with, so they must have never eaten delicious food. Did they notice the enticing smell coming off our meat skewers, while eating poorly made ones themself?

We are currently surrounded by a hundred (naked) Dragon Newts staring at Mio’s re-cooked meat skewers with drool coming out of their mouths. …Yeah, they’re weirding me out.

“What do I do, Master? Should I make some meat skewers for them as well?”

“No, that wouldn’t solve anything. To begin with, we would have to summon the maids to do that, since it would be impossible for Mio alone. Well, unless you were being serious when you said you wanted to cause a food-culture hazard. If so, I won’t stop you…”

Feeding everyone here would be difficult, unless we called on the maids for help. Plus, if we do feed them some good food, it will no doubt mess with their current food-culture.

“No, I don’t think Mio-chan would do something extreme like feeding them all at once, unless she was forced to… She was probably going to set up food stalls and spread it bit by bit. I think that’s much more like her…”

“That’s surprisingly well planned…”

“That’s right. I wasn’t joking about causing a food-culture hazard…”

Maria and Sakura looked surprised by her comment. Oh, she was actually serious about that?

“If that’s what Mio wants, then, can’t we just leave this place…?” 

“Of course. So, what do you want to do, Master?”

“To begin with, we can just ignore them and keep eating, seeing as they haven’t asked us to share with them or anything.”

“You’re right… They just keep watching us…”

“Well, they might not have said it, but they obviously look like they want some.”

There’s this saying: “Your eyes say as much as your mouth does”, though, in their case it’s their entire bodies, rather than just their eyes. However, the world is not so nice, that you can get the things you want just by looking at them, without even having to ask. …Or, at least, I’m not so nice.

“No matter what atmosphere they give off, I won’t be intimidated by people who won’t even come up to me and ask… Then again, if I completely ignore them, it might sour our relations with the Dragon Newts, and affect our ability to do some sightseeing tomorrow.”

“So, basically, it’s about Master’s good image as a tourist. Or, a traveller, was it?”

Right, I’m Shindou Jin. High-school student, traveller, and dungeon master. Nice to meet you.

“Mio and I were also both bought by Jin-sama, to support him during his journey.”

“Oh yeah, I guess that was Master’s original reason…”

“Eh? Then, why did you buy me…?”

“I didn’t buy Sera for any particular reason.”

“Eh!? Isn’t that terrible!?”

Back when I bought Mio and Maria, I was looking for someone with ‘Cooking’ skill. When I bought Sera later, I did buy her because of her ‘Hero’s Proof’ skill, but I didn’t have any particular purpose for her in mind. Even saying it was to improve our combat strength, would probably be a stretch, right? We were already capable of taking on S-rank adventurers at the time…

“Going back to the main story, it’s not that uncommon for travellers to help the locals, you know. Though, in such cases, there’s usually a price involved.”

“Saying ‘price’, Master usually has rare skills or magic items in mind, right? But we just got the magic items, so… are there any interesting skills…?”

“Unfortunately, that’s a miss, Mio. The correct answer was: if you want me to feed you, let me tame you first.”

“What happened to caring for your good image!?”

I got poked at by Mio.

“Pets [tamed monsters] tend to have a pretty good impression of their masters, right?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“If they don’t want to be tamed, they can always just say no. I’m not going to force anyone. I’ll just make them an unreasonable offer, and give them an incentive that they’re unlikely to refuse. Though, I guess one might argue whether that’s any better…”

I won’t let them eat Mio’s meat skewers, until they let me tame them.

“Won’t that destroy your good image pretty fast?”

“That’s right. But since it’s bound not to last anyway, wouldn’t it be better to take this chance to try and tame some of them?”

“I feel like I get it, and don’t get it at the same time. So, going back to my question, I should go with the option that helps us build good relations, so… I should feed them?” 

“I’d say no, since that would be too one-sided.”

There’s no point in having good relations, if it’s contingent on us doing stuff for them for free. If that were the case, it wouldn’t be worth staying here any more, so we might as well just leave.

“We’ve already received what we’ve been promised, so, at worst, we’ll have to forego tomorrow’s sightseeing and leave earlier. And since we’ve got nothing to lose, we might as well take this chance.”

“Well, if Master says so, then I won’t stop you. There is no good food in the Hidden Area anyway, so I don’t really have a reason to stay…”

“Me neither, I’m not really interested in places with no good food.”

Mio and Sera stay dedicated to their passion. Well, it’s also the reason why the culinary repertoire of our mansion keeps increasing, so it’s not like I’m gonna complain…

“How about you, Dora? Do you want to stay overnight…?”

“Kyu, Kyukyu~ U-un, Dora will follow Master~.“

“I will also follow Jin-sana. Time and time again…”

It was unanimously decided that “In the worst case, we can just leave ahead of time”. I guess the overall evaluation of the Dragon Newts’ Hidden Area was pretty low, all things concerned…

“Speaking of which, Dora, do you mind if I tame other Dragon Newts?”

I thought I’d ask if she had anything against it, ahead of time. It’s pretty unlikely, but maybe a couple of them will agree to be tamed. If that were to happen, generally, I would welcome them with open arms.

But if Dora were to say “Please don’t tame other Dragon Newts”, then the whole ‘Operation Meat Skewers’ would immediately be cancelled and there’d be nothing more for us to talk about. 

“Kyu~, Kyu? If Master tames them, how Master treats Dora won’t change, right?”

“Of course. Dora will always be my favourite pet and body-pillow.”

“Kyui~! Then, it’s okay~!”

I guess she’s fine with it as long as her position isn’t in danger.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With that, I approached the nearby Dragon Newts while holding a couple of meat skewers re-cooked by Mio. Of course, Maria is following close behind me. As I approached, they seemed to get even more restless. Their wide-open eyes kept staring at the meat skewers in my hand.

When I moved my hand to the side, all of their eyes followed. …Now, isn’t this interesting?

Oops, it’s not really a good time to keep fooling around. I raised the meat skewers in my hand and declared. 

“If you want a re-cooked meat skewer, pledge your allegiance to me and agree to be tamed!”

Naturally, there was an uproar among the Dragon Newts. They looked at each other with troubled faces, murmuring things like “What do we do?” or “Mmmm…” (ED: Struggling to decide). …Is it really that hard!? Just make a decision already!

The very next moment, the Dragon Newt woman, Mikazuki, stepped in between us.

She was the one who talked with the Chieftain as a representative, after the fight with the Abyssal Dragon, so it looks like she holds a pretty high position in the Hidden Area. So, after all, I guess I overstepped the boundary by trying to tame them. She’ll probably ask us to leave the Hidden Area. It‘s a shame that I didn’t manage to tame even a single person… Well, I guess it can’t be helped.

While I was thinking that, Mikazuki kneeled in front of me.

“I, Mikazuki, pledge my allegiance to you. …please give me a meat skewer.”

“Eh…?”

I thought she was a cool-headed beauty, but I guess she’s just another glutton after all. Now that I had another look, surprisingly, she’s also drooling. It’s dripping on her voluptuous chest.

“…Okay. Then, accept to be tamed.”

“Yes.”

I cast the ‘Monster Taming’ skill on her.

> You tamed the Crescent Dragon.
> Please give it a name.

Yep, she agreed to be tamed without resistance. It’s amazing what some people will do for some good barbecue.

Let’s have a look at her status.

Name: Mikazuki (ED: Crescent Moon, as previously mentioned)
Level: 73
Gender: Female
Age: 195
Race: Dragon Newt (Crescent Dragon)
Skills: <Draconic Magic LV3> <Body Strengthening LV4> <Flight LV4>

Again, how very subtle…

“Then, here’s your meat skewer, as promised.”

“Yes!”

After I said that, I handed a meat skewer to Mikazuki, who started to devour it with tremendous momentum.

“*bite*, *bite! *chew*, *chew*! *swallow*! *catching breath*…”

“How was it? Was it really that tasty?”

“Yes. It was delicious… I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.”

When I asked her that, once she was done, she replied with a face beaming with happiness. Watching her eat, the other Dragon Newts’ patience also reached its limit.

“I-I want to be tamed too!”

“M-me too! Please give me a meat skewer!”

“Me too, please!”

“Quickly! Give me a meat skewer!”

Having reached their limit, the Dragon Newts agreed to be tamed one after another. From what I can see, there’s about 50 who want to be tamed. Of course, I don’t have that many meat skewers in my hand.

“Mio, prepare more skewers!”

“Yes! I’m already on it!

I asked Mio, who started to re-cook the skewers, several at once, at a much higher pace than before.

Now, it’s going to be a lot of work to tame them all one by one. Hmm, thinking back to when I tamed the harpies, didn’t I tame multiple ones at the same time back then? I wonder If I can do something similar…

A: I recommend using an area-of-effect ‘Monster Taming’.

What’s that?

A: It’s something that becomes possible once you reach level 7 in ‘Monster Taming’. It allows you to set a ‘taming area’. If a monster accepts to be tamed while in the area, it will be successfully tamed. The area will remain active for 10 minutes.

Wow, I didn’t know that was a thing… Well, let’s give it a try. I immediately cast ‘Monster Taming’ on the area in front of me.

“Anyone who wants to be tamed, you should agree to it after stepping inside this taming area.” 

The people who applied before, followed my instructions and got tamed one after another. For a while, ‘> You tamed…’ announcements continued to flow through my head.

By the time the taming area disappeared, 53 happy-looking Dragon Newts had all successfully been tamed.

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Author’s Note: Meat that you just roast over fire is not a dish. A tomato in a flowerpot is not a salad. (If you don’t know that reference, search for ‘supreme salad’ (至高のサラダ))