My fame had apparently been skyrocketing lately. The reason was simple — it was all Solomon's doing. (Or was it his blessing?)
There were quite a few documented cases of Taming dragon-type Monsters in the past. However, the vast majority involved lower-rank dragons... and among those, wyverns accounted for over ninety percent. The rest were different dragon species, but they were still all lower-rank dragons.
There were also vague accounts of someone who had supposedly subjugated a mid-rank dragon while it remained unidentified, or a legendary individual known as a Dragon King — but none of it was verified.
Incidentally, wyverns were said to be every Tamer's dream. Their Guild subjugation rank was B, but Taming one was said to be harder than subjugating an A-rank Monster, and their abilities surpassed those of an average A-rank.
So why was their rank only B? Because the act of subjugating them wasn't all that difficult relative to their strength.
The method was simple: scatter bait on the ground, then attack the wyvern once it descended. A wyvern could only display its full potential while airborne — once it landed, its threat level was said to drop to less than half.
Still, if a Tamer was controlling it, such openings were unlikely to occur. And above all, the ability to fly with a rider on its back was incredibly appealing.
Just imagine it: a Monster with wyvern-level combat power charging at you, with a mage riding on its back, able to execute a hit-and-run strategy. That went beyond threat — it was sheer terror.
What's more, even a small adult wyvern exceeded three meters in length, yet they were surprisingly light eaters — a real bargain.
I'd been meaning to go after one myself someday, but after Taming Solomon, wyverns just didn't seem that appealing anymore.
By the way, Solomon was
currently
classified as a lower-rank dragon, but if he kept growing like this, he'd undoubtedly become at least a mid-rank dragon.
So it was practically a foregone conclusion that I would officially become the first Tamer to have a mid-rank dragon as a Familiar.
That was why I was drawing so much attention. And Solomon was wildly popular with women and children alike.
The moment I looked away, he'd be surrounded by people cooing over him. Naturally, there were also those who tried to snatch him, but they'd end up roasted by Solomon, bitten by Shiromaru, and mobbed by the surrounding crowd.
Whenever Solomon got tired of flying, he'd land on Shiromaru's back to rest his wings. Lately, he'd also taken a liking to coming over to me and riding on my shoulders like a shoulder ride — apparently that was his new favorite way to rest.
Today's plan was dungeon exploration. I'd already cleared up to floor 28. Apparently, it normally took a four-to-five-person party one to two years to reach that depth, and some adventurers were even suspicious that I was cheating somehow.
On top of that, from floor 20 onward, the floors became drastically wider, and the danger level shot up accordingly. Once you got close to floor 50, it wasn't uncommon for clearing a single floor to take over a year.
Today, before diving into the dungeon, I planned to swing by the Guild and see if there were any quests worth picking up.
By the way, I sometimes received requests from Amy too. The content was always the same: caterpillar capture.
Since Amy was a former student, she sold them at a bargain price of 10G each with no commission. That said, the only time I took on these requests was when I felt like eating caterpillars, so it was mostly just tagging along.
So, I'd come near the Guild, but a crowd had gathered. At its center was an Ogre. Even surrounded by people, its massive frame—over three meters tall—was visible not just head and shoulders above the crowd, but all the way up to its chest.
Skipping back a little in time, Marquis Samons and his son had entered the streets of Seigen, heading for the Guild.
"Geiri, I expect you understand this, but this trip is also a working mission. Make sure you conduct yourself befitting a noble."
The purpose of the Marquis's entourage this time was to inspect Dungeon City, observe measures and training against Monsters, and, if possible, recruit capable adventurers to his territory.
That said, it wasn't as though they could bring soldiers in units of a hundred for something called "training." So participation was capped at 50 people total: 30 new recruits assigned to attend, plus around 20 volunteers.
However, bringing all 50 along at once would be cumbersome for various reasons. So it was decided that the Marquis and his son, the Ogre that was the Marquis's Familiar, five new recruits, and five veterans would head to Seigen ahead of the rest to arrange lodging and pay courtesy calls on the city's influential figures.
"I don't need to be told that, Father."
Geiri's reply came quickly, but Carlos noticed that his tone clearly belonged to someone who didn't truly understand. Still, the boy was at least nominally a noble, so he figured Geiri could manage that much.
"We're heading to the Guild next to pay our respects."
After visiting several key individuals, their next stop was the Guild.
However, as far as Geiri was concerned, he couldn't understand why nobles like them should have to go around making courtesy calls, and he was growing irritated. The idea that nobles should bow and scrape to others was inconceivable to him. But this Seigen was a territory directly governed by the royal family, and in a sense, it enjoyed a kind of extrajudicial autonomy. Because so many adventurers lived here and a Monster-filled Dungeon existed within it, this was a city where raw ability dictated one's standing. And those who stood atop this city were, for the most part, genuinely powerful people—so no matter one's noble rank, they couldn't be treated lightly. Geiri didn't understand this.
Yet as they drew closer to the Guild and adventurers grew more numerous, some of them began staring—captivated by the Ogre accompanying them—and Geiri's mood steadily improved.
Of course, those glances were directed entirely at the Ogre, but in Geiri's mind, the Ogre's master was his father, so he was essentially the master of this Ogre too. Therefore, these gazes were practically directed at him as well. Under this forced logic, he busily stroked his own ego.
Upon arriving in front of the Guild, a few soldiers were sent off to find lodging while the rest headed inside first. Carlos turned to Geiri and asked:
"Well, I'm going into the Guild. What will you do, Geiri?"
To that question, Geiri thought for a moment and gave his answer:
"Father, I'll stay here and watch over Garibar."
Garibar was the name of this Ogre. Geiri claimed he would keep watch so the Ogre wouldn't cause any trouble, but to Carlos, Geiri himself was the more worrying one. Still, if indulging the boy's pride here would keep him quiet for a while, he figured it was worth letting him be. And so he consented… At that very moment, from the opposite direction, something approached that made the Ogre look utterly insignificant by comparison—
Without realizing that something was approaching…
Tenma didn't approach the guild until some time after Carlos had gone inside.
Even for Tenma, the chance to see a living Ogre up close was rare, so his interest was piqued.
And when he approached that crowd,
"Hey, a dragon just showed up!"
One person on the edge of the crowd noticed Solomon clinging to the top of Tenma's head.
Before long, the people abandoned the Ogre and swarmed toward Solomon, and in the blink of an eye, Tenma was surrounded.
The people knew better than to touch them — they understood both Tenma's strength and the power of Solomon and the others — but they kept a certain distance while crowding around to gawk at Solomon.
To a person, they were marveling at something they would normally never get to see in their entire lives—
a dragon—
and praised Tenma for having tamed Solomon.
This didn't sit well with Geiri at all. Just moments ago,
he—
had been receiving all the admiring stares, but now that praise was being snatched right out from under his nose by some random, unidentified kid who had appeared out of nowhere.
With a pride as fierce as Geiri's, there was only one thing to do.
"Hey, you over there!"
"What is it?"
Geiri pushed through the crowd and called out to Tenma,
"Hand that dragon over to me!"
New
Pride
He tried to get it, but...
"You can save your dreams for when you're asleep... Be gone, you're in the way."
"Hyii!"
Hit by Tenma's killing intent, Geiri let out a pathetic sound and crumpled to the ground. From the surrounding area, laughter erupted again, just like before.
For several seconds, Geiri's thoughts had come to a standstill, but when he came to his senses, his face turned bright red.
"Don't think you can get away with making a fool of me, a noble! Do it, Garibar!"
To think he would actually,
try to sic an
Ogre on him. But the Ogre in question, Garibar, seemed unable to decide what to do.
Feeling irritated by this, Geiri
"What are you doing! I told you to beat him into a pulp! Listen to me!"
shouted, issuing his command again. Garibar reluctantly approached Tenma and raised his arm, but upon receiving an even stronger killing intent from Tenma, he froze mid-motion with his arm still raised.
At that moment, Garibar probably realized it in an instant. If he brought his arm down, he would certainly die. Not only that, but Geiri would be killed as well, and in the worst case, his master inside the building would also be killed.
Once he realized that, he couldn't move.
"What are you doing, Garibar! Hurry up and kill him!"
In the end, Geiri said something he shouldn't have. In this situation, if he said that, he couldn't complain even if he were killed. Furthermore, anyone witnessing this situation would side with Tenma. That was the kind of remark it was.
Tenma slowly closed the distance between himself and Garibar. Garibar retreated back for every step Tenma took forward.
For a time, it was just that repetition, but Garibar had been standing in a bad spot. Behind Garibar was the guild's wall, and eventually, he could no longer retreat any further.
However, there was someone aiming at Tenma from behind while he was facing Garibar—Geiri. Geiri drew his sword and slashed at Tenma, who had his back turned... but
"Fufublaah!"
He was sent flying mercilessly by Tenma's backfist. And just then—
"What's all the commotion?!"
Two men came out from the guild... Carlos and the Guild Master.
The moment Carlos appeared, Garibar collapsed as though his legs had given out.
What Carlos saw when he emerged from the guild was his
Familiars
cowering against the wall, a boy radiating killing intent in front of Garibar, and sprawled several meters behind—
his son.
That was the scene laid out before him.
Carlos and the Guild Master had no idea what had happened. However, one person approached the Guild Master and whispered something, and—
"Hey! Somebody tie up the one sprawled over there!"
he ordered the adventurers standing around.
"What are you talking about?!"
Carlos confronted the Guild Master, but the Guild Master said in a calm voice,
"If we don't, that boy will kill him."
pointing at Tenma, and told Carlos what Geiri had done.
After hearing everything, Carlos's face went pale and he trembled. It was because of the sheer gravity of the crime his son had committed.
In this situation, Tenma bore absolutely no fault. Geiri faced charges of attempted robbery, attempted murder, and a penalty for unleashing his Familiars in the city—enough that being sent straight to the execution grounds would have been beyond reproach. His crime was judged so malicious that even his noble title held no sway.
Just as Carlos was thinking there was no way to save Geiri, an unexpected voice spoke up.
"Guild Master. You can let him go, you know."
This came from Tenma, the victim himself. When the Guild Master asked why,
"He's just a cocky kid who threw a tantrum. Let's let it go just this once."
His lighthearted words drew laughter from everyone around.
"Are you really sure about this?"
The Guild Master pressed for confirmation one more time before ordering Geiri's release. No matter how malicious the act had been, the fact that the primary victim, Tenma, had forgiven him meant that Geiri's offense would be limited to the penalty for attempting to unleash Familiars within the city. Since no significant harm had resulted from that either, it fell within the Guild Master's discretion to determine an appropriate punishment—falling short of outright acquittal, but far from the severe sentence that could have been handed down.
While the Guild Master and Carlos discussed the details, Tenma ignored them and approached Garibar, studying him up close with fascination.
Garibar, for his part, was no longer trembling as he had been before—since there was no killing intent radiating from Tenma now—but he still looked tense.
The Guild Master was talking with the man who appeared to be Garibar's father about something, but I didn't really pay it any mind. Rather than such trivial matters, I was simply enjoying looking at the Ogre called Garibar right in front of me. That was when someone called out to me from behind.
"Got a moment?"
The one who had spoken was the father of the man called Geiri, and his complexion had improved somewhat from before.
"I'm terribly sorry for the trouble my foolish son caused this time. And I'm deeply grateful that you forgave his transgression."
He delivered a very formal apology.
"You're a noble, I hear—might I ask your name?"
I actually already knew from secretly running an Appraisal, but it was better to hear it from the man himself.
"He went and did even that… I am truly sorry! My name is Carlos von Samons. I hold the title of Marquis, bestowed upon me by His Majesty."
"Forgive my lapse in etiquette. My name is Tenma. I'm a C-Rank adventurer."
When I returned the greeting, the Marquis's eyes went wide upon hearing my name.
"Could it be… what Duke Sanga spoke of—that person…"
It seemed he was on close terms with Duke Sanga. From what I gathered, this Marquis Samons belonged to Duke Sanga's faction, and they were well-acquainted, trusted allies. Through that connection, he had apparently heard about me.
The conversation then shifted to our Familiars. We had mutual acquaintances, so we had already warmed up to each other to some degree. Moreover, we were both Tamers.
The first topic that came up was Solomon. The Marquis had apparently never seen a Dragon before, so he was a little excited. I was also interested in Garibar, so when I asked him to tell me more,
"Garibar was found about ten years ago, gravely injured and on the verge of death."
At first, the Marquis had thought it was dangerous and intended to deliver the finishing blow, but upon getting closer, he realized he might be able to make it his Familiar, so he tried—and succeeded. After that, he hurried to treat its wounds.
As Garibar served as his bodyguard and stayed nearby, the Marquis discovered it was more intelligent than a regular Ogre, obedient to his commands, and had grown remarkably attached to him.
As the conversation was flowing along like that,
"Ugh, gagh, ah—"
A voice interrupted as Geiri came to. The moment Geiri saw me,
"Bemme, hore hoi hon'aho di te, hahehufu mou houhihou—"
I couldn't understand a single word. It looked like his jaw was dislocated or a bone was broken.
Geiri, who had been screaming loudly moments ago, was rolling around in pain.
Seeing him like that, I felt sorry for him and decided to cast a healing spell in Geiri's direction.
"Aqua Heal."
It was a water-attribute healing spell. It was slower to heal than light magic, but in exchange, it could restore injuries involving broken bones back to a reasonably normal state. With light magic, the healing amount was greater, but in cases of fractures, the bone could knit together in a misaligned position, so caution was needed.
The pain must have subsided considerably, because Geiri glared at me once more and said,
"You!
A nobleman
doing this to me—do you think you'll be allowed to get away with it?!"
He tried to lunge at me,
"You damn, colossal fool!"
The Marquis's strike fell on Geiri's head.
"I am truly sorry about this... I'll have a word with this idiot myself, if you'll allow me..."
The Marquis forced Geiri to his feet, held his head down, and made him bow in submission.
"Very well, I understand. Then, if you'll excuse us."
With that said, he hurried off toward the Dungeon. Given the circumstances, he clearly had no intention of entering the Guild.
When he turned his body toward the Dungeon, Shiromaru—who had already evacuated at some point—came up alongside him with Solomon riding on his back.
We broke into a jog, entered the Dungeon, and warped from the zone to the twenty-eighth floor.
Meanwhile, in front of the Guild—
"Father! Why did we have to bow to that kind of scum?! He laid hands on me!"
Hearing those words, Carlos let out a deep sigh.
"I never imagined you could be this foolish..."
Carlos's words sent Geiri into a fury.
"What are you talking about! That man—"
"Be quiet for a moment."
With an intensity that brooked no argument, Carlos cut Geiri off.
"In this place, a noble title is nothing more than an accessory. In Dungeon City, anyone with strength is praised—even if they're a child—while anyone without it is mocked, even if they're royalty. Furthermore, in this particular case, all the blame lies with you. If he hadn't been willing to forgive you there, you could very well have been sentenced to death."
Then, slowly surveying the area around them:
"As long as you remain in this city, you'd better be prepared to be whispered about and laughed at behind your back from now on."
At those words, Geiri frantically looked around and saw that everyone was whispering to each other while looking at him.
Apparently, he couldn't tolerate that either, because Geiri opened his mouth to shout—
"Don't go making a bigger fool of yourself. If you still think of yourself as a noble, that is."
Carlos stopped him.
Carlos then apologized to those around them and headed off toward the inn with the soldiers.
Not wanting to be left behind, Geiri hurriedly chased after them.
Completely unaware of what was going on back there, we continued our dungeon conquest at a brisk pace.
Around the twenty-eighth floor, the monsters that appeared tended to come in groups — High Orcs, Kobolds, Skeletons, and Hobgoblins. We deliberately avoided using magic, instead relying solely on physical attacks to practice our coordination as we cut through the enemies.
I thought it might be tough for Solomon, but he actually performed surprisingly well. He mainly flew around above the monsters, crying out to draw their attention, then Shiromaru would pounce on the openings that created.
And when it came to Skeletons, he would swipe their skulls off one by one, scattering them around to throw the enemies into confusion.
However, he didn't have much stamina, so if he flew around too much, he'd get tired and slow down. He took a few hits during those moments, but being a dragon even as a child, his injuries were nothing serious.
As for loot, the High Orcs yielded meat, the Kobolds gave furs, and the Skeletons provided bones — usable for fertilizer or equipment — in addition to Magic Stones. The Hobgoblins, on the other hand, had no use beyond their Magic Stones. That said, a few of them had been equipped with knives that looked like they'd been stolen from adventurers, so that was some consolation.
The types of monsters didn't change when we descended to the twenty-ninth floor. If there was any difference, the Skeletons had increased slightly.
So we decided to take a rest at a suitable spot. Just like before, we found a dead end, blocked it off with a wall, and created a makeshift small room.
Inside the small room, we brought out one High Orc, butchered it, and started cooking barbecue. Once it was nicely grilled, I shared some with Shiromaru and the others and we began our meal. Today, Slarin unusually wanted some barbecue too, so I divided it into five portions and placed them on plates —
"Shiromaru…! Solomon is going to copy you, so eat more slowly!"
One of my recent worries is that Solomon imitates the way Shiromaru eats. It might not matter in the wild, but Shiromaru has been ever since he was born —
a tame wolf
— or so I'd want to call him, but his eating habits are something else. And by "something else," I mean he basically chews a few times and swallows everything whole, refuses to eat vegetables, and tries to shove his face into other people's plates whenever he sees an opening. So far, Solomon is only at the "shoving his face into other people's plates" stage, so I absolutely need to train him out of it.
If anything, I'd rather he learn from Slarin. Recently, Slarin's table manners have improved even further, to the point where he now distinguishes between knife, fork, spoon, and chopsticks. Whether he actually needs to use all of them is questionable, but…
And so the meal went on, and afterwards we took our usual post-meal nap.
I pulled out my bed and slipped under the futon — Shiromaru settled at my feet, Slarin plopped down on top of my head, and Solomon curled up beside me inside the futon. When sleeping in the dungeon, for some reason each of them always has their own designated spot… even though when we sleep in a room, they just sleep wherever they want…
After resting for about an hour, I felt considerably refreshed and in good spirits.
This time, sure enough, I didn't find any side passages, but in exchange, when I broke through a wall, a pack of over a dozen High Orcs was right there to greet me. They must have been drawn by the smell of their comrades being cooked.
I was still groggy from waking up, so I didn't bother coordinating with anyone — I just pulled out my Adamantine sword and started cleaving them in two, one after another. Today we've got a mountain of meat!
Incidentally, Kobold meat is tough and stringy, and no matter how long you stew it, the gamey taste only gets worse, so it's something I'd rather not eat unless it's an emergency.
These High Orcs were carrying matching weapons — swords. But they were horribly rusted, chipped in places, and had an edge that was practically nonexistent. Still, I picked them up and stashed them in my bag.
After that, I made it all the way down to the next floor without encountering any Monsters.
However, once I reached the 30th floor, the atmosphere changed completely.
How to describe it — the air felt fresh and clean. It's a strange thing to say inside a Dungeon, but the air genuinely wasn't stale the way it had been before.
After descending the stairs and turning at the dead end, I found the ground wet with water. It seemed like water was seeping up from somewhere. There were even plants growing on the walls.
But the wet ground was a hassle. Every step I took produced a splash, splash sound. And in places, it was slippery.
I was proceeding with even more caution than usual, but naturally, that was precisely when Monster encounters started piling up, one after another.
High Goblins, High Orcs, Kobolds, Slimes, and worst of all, insect-type Monsters.
Those things scurried toward me on multiple legs — well, that's just what insects do — and they made almost no sound as they approached.
Shiromaru nearly got bitten by a spider-type Monster, but she dodged the attack with a nimble backstep and crushed it with a bite of her own. I'd better wash Shiromaru's mouth later.
But it wasn't all bad news. Thanks to the insects, I discovered the key to conquering this floor! It was so obvious once I realized it — all I had to do was float!
Using a levitation spell, I hovered about ten centimeters off the ground and proceeded forward at a leisurely pace. The trigger for this was when I was startled by a G-like Monster lunging from the side and reflexively flew up to dodge it. Of course, I dispatched the G with magic. I remembered the rule of thumb that if you see one, expect thirty more, but apparently that didn't apply here, because I never spotted another one after that.
Spiders, caterpillars, centipedes, praying mantises — the deeper I went, the more insect-types there were, and correspondingly, the fewer Goblins I encountered.
On the rare occasions I did spot them, they were either being devoured by the insects or already reduced to bones.
After about an hour I found the stairs and was about to descend, but the moment I stepped onto them, a centipede more than twice the size of any I'd seen before came wriggling out.
As a deterrent, I hurled one of the rusted swords the High Orcs had carried at the centipede leader, but
"Gyiiii! Click click click click!"
The centipede didn't appear to have taken any damage. The sword that had struck its head had been deflected and snapped in half.
Perhaps enraged by that last blow, the centipede reared its body back and forth as it charged straight at me.
I fired a Fire Bullet at the centipede in a counter-like fashion, but unbelievably, the shot ricocheted off the armor plate on its head and was deflected harmlessly to the rear.
Distracted by that, my dodge came a fraction too late.
I hurriedly tried to leap over the centipede, but one of its fangs grazed my right leg and sent me flying.
I slammed into the wall with the momentum of being launched, and my vision went blurry.
The centipede didn't let that opening slip—it lunged at me to deliver the killing blow. I drew Kogarumaru from my bag on pure instinct, preparing to cut it down, but—
*Kyiiiiii!*
Solomon breathed fire at the centipede. It didn't seem to do much damage, but since the flames hit it square in the face, the centipede halted its advance.
Seizing that opening without hesitation, a single streak of silver-white light pierced into the centipede, severing its head.
The arrow embedded itself in the wall with its remaining momentum, then once again turned its body into an arrow, this time aimed at the centipede's torso.
The second strike cleaved through the centipede's body. Though the creature was still writhing, its menace had been extinguished.
"Damn it! I let my guard down. Thanks, Shiromaru, Solomon—saved my life!"
I patted Shiromaru and Solomon on the head, and both of them narrowed their eyes in contentment.
"Man, this thing is huge... and it's got some seriously potent venom in it to boot. Better use an antidote just in case."
I cast the healing magic "Antidote" on my leg. The moment I did, the faint numbness I'd been feeling vanished.
"This poison... if it's effective on me, then anyone without abnormal-condition resistance could die if they don't treat it immediately..."
Muttering to myself, I stared at the centipede that had finally stopped moving.
Its total length had to exceed four meters. It was about fifty centimeters wide and roughly just under twenty centimeters thick...
I picked up the severed head, and I could see fangs nearly ten centimeters long growing from its mouth.
There was no way this thing was edible, but the centipede's carapace was extremely hard and seemed to possess resistance to magic as well. I couldn't pass up the chance to take it home.
I stuffed it into my bag and headed down the stairs again, where I managed to find a warp zone along the side of the staircase.
After a moment's hesitation, I decided to call it a day and headed back to sort through the contents of my bag.
On my way out of the dungeon and back to my room, I spotted Ami surrounded by unfamiliar men. I hurried over and successfully wedged myself between Ami and the group.
"What do you want with her!"
I shouted at the men while positioning myself so I could fight them off at a moment's notice.