This time, while confronting the dragons, there were two strange points.
One was that the dragons openly turned away a guest who had come to see the Throne Lord, simply because the Lord wasn’t present.
And when they said that I should hear what was meant for the Lord, they just accepted it without objection, as if it were nothing unusual.
If you consider the tempers of dragons, it’s easy enough to accept that they’d refuse visitors to the Heavenly Palace, but once the Lord was mentioned, they should at least have checked.
If you let information meant for the Dragon Lord slip by carelessly, who knows what that Lord might do to you in retaliation.
Based on this, if someone said I should hear something meant for the Lord, normally they’d either shut their mouths or change the subject, telling me not to speak nonsense.
After all, from the dragons’ perspective, it was common sense that only the Lord should hear such things.
‘But they’re not even following something that basic? And no one pointed it out?’
Are these really the dragons I knew?
No, come to think of it, if the dragons were like this, why were they perfectly normal when I met them in the future?
‘…Wait a minute.’
Now that I think about it, why am I so sure these dragons are normal?
Come to think of it, I’d never actually had many conversations with dragons.
Whenever negotiations or dialogue were needed, Ryuk always handled it like a ghost.
…
‘…No way. Did that bastard Ryuk do this?’
Did he keep me from talking to the dragons every time things might have gone wrong, knowing I’d raise hell if things went off track?
“W-wait a minute!”
As I was getting a bit serious, a familiar voice suddenly rang out.
Not just the dragons, but I, too, turned my gaze toward it.
One of the young dragons I’d seen recently was flying toward us.
“Stop fighting! It’s the Lord’s command!”
“……”
“…What?”
At that moment, the dragon whose abdomen had been pierced, along with the others nearby, showed clear agitation in their eyes.
It wasn’t just surprise that the Lord had intervened directly.
It was more like a look of disbelief, as if they couldn’t accept reality.
‘Suspicious.’
There’s no reason dragons should make that face. Why?
But more important than my suspicions was that a dragon who seemed capable of communication had appeared, so I sheathed the Holy Sword and gripped Thrall’s hand even tighter.
“Lead the way. I’ll follow.”
Leaving the silent dragons behind, I followed the young dragon into the depths of the Heavenly Palace.
How far had we gone, following the young one?
Deep in the central cavern of the Heavenly Palace, countless magical barriers blocked our way.
I was considering whether I should just smash them all with the Holy Sword when the young dragon shouted,
“Lord! I have brought the human you spoke of!”
At that moment, all the magical barriers in front of me vanished.
A thunderous voice echoed from within, enough to make my whole body tremble.
“Enter.”
The young dragon stepped aside and said,
“Please, go in.”
“…Aren’t you coming?”
“The Lord called for only you two.”
“…I see.”
I kept hold of Thrall’s hand, the Holy Sword in my other, and slowly entered.
A space far larger than what I’d seen from outside came into view.
It seemed some sort of spatial magic had been used; and, being the dragon with the greatest mana capacity, it was no surprise that it was nearly as vast as a plain.
And at the center of that plain sat an enormous Old Dragon, gazing at me with unfocused ashen eyes.
“A strange energy you carry. Strong, too.”
“…Can’t see, can you?”
How odd.
Something about this Dragon Lord was different from the one I knew.
As I tilted my head in puzzlement, the ashen eyes of the Lord gained the vitality I remembered.
“Do not worry. I simply keep them closed most of the time.”
‘…Why do something so troublesome?’
“It helps with foresight.”
The dragon’s soft growl rumbled faintly.
Even that was enough to send tremors through the ground.
The Lord’s gigantic head moved in to fill my whole view.
“I understand you have business with me. State your purpose.”
Without hesitation, I glanced at Thrall beside me and spoke.
“I will be taking this one with me. It’s better than letting him be ostracized as a traitor among the dragons. Still, if the others use that as an excuse to make trouble, just thinking about it exhausts me. I would appreciate it if you could issue a proclamation, Lord.”
“Hm, I understand your request.”
The Lord’s head slowly lowered to the ground.
His massive eyes met mine directly.
“But as I am now, I cannot control the dragons.”
“…What?”
Wait, what on earth is this?
The Lord… the ruler of dragons says he cannot control the dragons?
“This may take some time to explain… will you hear it?”
I shook my head. I’ve always had a rash when people talk too long.
“Make it brief.”
“So be it.”
The Lord nodded and began without delay.
“At the moment the world was created, we dragons were confined here in the Heavenly Palace. The Supreme Deities who created this world made us too perfect.”
…If only I didn’t have to hear their trademark arrogance right from the start.
The Lord’s demeanor was serious, so I couldn’t object.
“But, perfect as we were, we had to fulfill the duty set by the Supreme Deities when we were far too young, and so our self-esteem hit rock bottom.”
“Wait, wait.”
It was going well, then suddenly went off-track, so I asked,
“Your self-esteem hit bottom because you had to fulfill a duty set by the Supreme Deities? What does that mean?”
The Lord replied casually.
“Have humans ever told a newborn baby, not even a day old, to guard the house, and then never returned?”
The content, however, was anything but light.
“That was the environment the first dragons faced. Born solely to carry out the command to guard the house, without learning anything else, permitted only to wield strength, and not allowed anything else—a perfectly isolated environment.”
“……”
“Even the Heavenly Palace is focused solely on the survival of dragons. We have no need to learn to hunt, no need to build shelter, and are born having already mastered all magic, with nothing left to achieve on our own.”
With his eyes closed, the Lord asked,
“And that baby, less than a day old, had to fight invaders that attacked the world the very next day.”
“…What?”
What kind of nonsense is that?
You’re saying that barely a day after being born, they had to fight those who invaded the world?
“What was the result?”
“We lost.”
“…Hah…”
Honestly, that’s no surprise.
No matter how perfect, how could newborn dragons, not even aware of themselves, stop monsters invading the world?
It’s like expecting a baby to fend off a burglar just because he’s told to guard the house.
But… if the dragons lost then, how is this world still standing?
“The Supreme Deities themselves drove out the invaders. In our own recorded history, they say the Supreme Deities sacrificed considerable power back then.”
“…”
“The dragons were shocked. To have to rely on the Supreme Deities’ help for something we should have done ourselves—this was a deep wound for those who prided themselves on their perfection. And it was our first failure.”
I frowned.
“Was there ever a time you actually succeeded?”
“If we have everything from birth and still fail, isn’t that even stranger?”
“…”
By human standards, maybe not—but dragons’ standards are different, so I held my tongue.
Especially since the Lord’s reference point was the mindset of baby dragons, not ancient thousand-year-old elders.
“…Well, at least I understand now why dragons had such low self-esteem.”
Dragons who were supposed to succeed at everything experienced failure at birth, and the shock ruined their self-worth.
If the Supreme Deities who created them had treated them like parents, perhaps things would have been different.
But they simply created the dragons and left them, so naturally, there was no care for the dragons’ mental health.
The first dragons, in the chaotic early days of the world, were proud and arrogant guardians—but at the same time, they were nothing but self-conscious infants forced to hide their weakness.
The Lord’s gaze turned bitter.
After that, the dragons, to protect their own self-esteem, developed a single ideology to govern all of dragonkind.
“…An ideology?”
Somehow, this felt ominous.
When arrogant fools who believe the world revolves around them start talking ideology, ridiculous logic is never far behind.
It was something Ryuk always warned about, and despised.
“We call it the Perfectionism and Unity Ideology.”
“…What does it entail?”
“We are born perfect, so for the prosperity of our race, anything imperfect must be eliminated. We must unite all dragons as one, and as guardians of the world, eradicate every outside threat without exception.”
“…”
On the surface, it sounded entirely wholesome.
But this logic was riddled with flaws from the outset.
Thrall standing beside me was proof of that.
A young dragon born unable to use magic, branded a traitor by his entire race.
And… it was the Dragon Lord’s own foresight that had branded him as a traitor.
The Lord gave a satisfied smile.
“Hoho, I see from your face that you’ve already found the problem. This will make things easier.”
“…Continue, I need to judge for myself.”
“Yes, of course. Anyway, thanks to the Unity Ideology, the dragons gained courage. Even though it was shaky at first, we fulfilled the Contract of Genesis made with the Supreme Deities and succeeded in defending the world several times. But…”
The Lord’s expression noticeably darkened.
“…The threats that appeared far exceeded our power. They were too great for us to handle alone.”
“…The Demon King.”
“That is what humanity calls it, so they do not lose courage.”
“True. But its real identity is… the Demon God is a far more fitting title. I see you know more than I expected.”
“…”
Just remembering that nightmare again, the Lord quietly continued.
“An outside threat we could not face. Yet the ideology that brought us here demanded perfect dragons unite as one. In the end, dragons realized there was a flaw in our own logic and ideology.”
“Then you should correct it, shouldn’t you?”
The Lord gave a hollow laugh in reply.
“If we could correct it, wouldn’t I be in control of the dragons right now?”
“…Don’t tell me.”
The dragons had chosen comfort. For so long, they’d soothed themselves, thinking of themselves as near-perfect beings. To admit now that they weren’t perfect would destroy all the self-worth they’d built up as the world’s guardians. They could not bear it.
“One truth that applies to all races is that an ideology built for oneself is like a drug.”
Once it has sunk into your body and soul, the withdrawal when it’s gone is unimaginable.
When your entire world is denied, it doesn’t just bring depression—it can even lead to suicidal urges.
“We dragons live lives almost infinite in length. Even I myself have lived tens of thousands of years.”
“…”
“The others may not be as old as I am, but they have lived for thousands of years. The poison of the Unity Ideology, accumulated over that time, is not easily removed.”
“Hoo…”
The World Tree warned me to prepare for the dragons’ rampage.
‘Who would have thought it meant an ideological rampage?’
If the dragons discover Thrall is acting outside, what will happen?
I’m sure they’ll do whatever it takes to bypass the Contract of Genesis and stir up all sorts of trouble.
After all, Thrall, even if he’s branded a traitor, is still a dragon, and the young dragons who attacked the Elf Kingdom were dragons too.
So, not just young ones, but even elders might try to come out by circumventing the rules.
I took a steady breath, considered a few side effects that might arise from the Unity Ideology, and quietly asked,
“Lord, I’d like you to tell me everything you know about the ‘poison’ of the Unity Ideology.”
“And why is that?”
“Are you going to try to back out now?”
I had clearly stated my intent to take Thrall.
And the Lord said he could not control the dragons.
“Isn’t what you want to say that, unless the issue of the Unity Ideology is resolved, you cannot grant my request?”
That meant, if I could enable the Lord to control the dragons, there’d be no obstacle to me taking Thrall.
‘That must be how Ryuk got close to the Lord, too.’
When I met Ryuk again in my previous life, he was already friendly with the Lord.
Considering his alienation from the dragons, he must have resolved this incident himself at the time.
But he was destroyed by the Dragon King of Destruction.
In that case, there’s only one conclusion.
By the time the dragons’ ideology lost its poison, Thrall was already preparing to become the Dragon King of Destruction.
But…
‘That’s not the case now.’
I looked at Thrall, whose hand I was still holding tight, and said,
“I will take this child with me, and I won’t let anyone get in the way.”
“…So you will.”
The Lord nodded, and projected the ‘poison’ of the Unity Ideology before me in a magical vision.
[Move faster! Faster!]
[At this rate, you’ll never become a perfect dragon. Once more!]
[M-master, I can’t… I’m running out of mana…]
[Tsk, take him to the Correction Room. Keep shocking his Dragon Heart—his survival instinct will make his mana grow.]
I watched the dragons in the vision and the young one whose face I recognized, and asked,
“What is this?”
The Lord replied,
“The Training Room for Perfect Dragons.”
Looked more like a torture chamber to me.
“I’ve seen that young one before. Why is he in there?”
“He failed to cast Nine-Tier Magic when facing you. Since it was a spell that should never be failed, it was judged he needed correction to become perfect.”
Watching that scene, I answered calmly.
“What a mess. These insane beasts…”
For a moment, I thought perhaps the Dragon King of Destruction wiping them out was for the best.