A few days had passed since the strange incident. Safur was in deep thought, genuinely troubled. Rika had completely stopped speaking to him.
Safur was a boy who struggled to put himself in others’ shoes. Faced with Rika’s freezing up and fleeing without a word, he could do nothing but shock after shock. He had absolutely no clue what the cause might be. Rika felt that she had assaulted him on a whim, and now that she was facing the reality of it soberly, she was too ashamed and terrified to look at him directly, but Safur simply couldn’t imagine how someone else would feel. However, he couldn’t confide in anyone either. There was no close friend or relative who wouldn’t be shocked if he openly detailed what happened with Rika. Within his own mind, he hadn’t even sorted out what that incident meant to him. It seemed time would be the only solution.
But then.
“Safur… or should I say…”
“Huh? What— oh!”
One day, unable to get Rika to stay and having no other entertainments for himself, Safur was aimlessly wandering outside the city limits when someone called out to him.
As he turned around dazedly, a pair of massive breasts and a crotch appeared right in front of him. Being roughly 130 centimeters tall, if a tall, naked woman stood close by, her chest entered his field of vision before his face did.
It was a completely naked woman.
“W-wait… what the hell?!”
“Why are you panicking? Do you have something to hide?”
Hearing the calm female voice, Safur took a few steps back, stumbled over his legs, and fell backward onto the ground with a thud. Being a dragon, he took no damage from the fall. When he got up, he saw that the naked woman was Airri of the Brood Dragons.
“W-why are you in the buff… This isn’t a bathhouse, and it’s broad daylight?!”
“Hmm. Is it okay at night? …Now that you mention it, neither humans nor elves can see clearly in the darkness of night. That is indeed better.”
“What do you mean by ‘that’!?”
“Weren’t you questioning whether I should be naked or not?”
“That’s not it… No, it is, but! Seriously, what is going on?!”
Confused, Safur pointed at Airri.
Airri displayed her large, soft, slightly drooping breasts boldly to the summer sunlight, looking down at Safur with little change in expression. She wasn’t wearing sandals, yet there was no dirt on her feet; perhaps that was one of the mysteries of dragon skin.
“Our clan originally has no custom of wearing clothes inside the palace. We sometimes wear armbands, anklets, or necklaces when participating in rituals, but as a general rule…”
“No, I thought you were with Andy’s group! ? Doesn’t Andy tell you to put on clothes when walking outside too?!”
”…Please consider it an oversight. It is somewhat troublesome. I seem to be quite clumsy; if I make even a slightly rushed movement, my clothing tears immediately. Leaving it as such worries people, and repairing it requires effort that makes me wince.”
“I can understand that part.”
Safur’s pants crotch or shirt armpits often tore when he moved seriously too. Also, when using fire magic from his breath, if he wasn’t careful with the scale, the flames would ignite his clothes and leave them in tatters.
With current tailoring technology, clothing strong enough to withstand a dragon’s full-power movements was rare; it depended less on basic technical skill and more on finding needles or fabrics that were compatible. Even sturdy and flexible clothes made by Northern Elves could be dangerous if worn with unrestrained movement.
In this regard, the Ace-knight-class girls around Andy were very careful not to put stress on their clothing, limiting the range of motion of their joints even when sudden movements were required.
For human women, that would be natural, but for dragons who originally possessed strength and flexibility beyond common sense, altering their movements for the sake of clothes was a subtle but significant source of stress.
Still, that didn’t mean going around naked was acceptable.
“W-well, just put something on! It’s weird!”
“It is not proper for a boy to react like that upon seeing a woman’s body. It might be fine with someone my age, but young girls will be hurt if they are shouted at unreasonably just for showing skin.”
“Why do you say that?!”
“If I receive such a reaction as if looking at something filthy, I would come to think that my nudity is merely unpleasant to the other person.”
”…Is… is that really true…?”
「That’s just how it is. Look at the men in this town. None of them react with pretentiousness when they see a woman naked. The old cobbler was on his knees, trembling in a prayer-like pose, grateful as hell for the sight.”
“That’s not exactly boosting your self-esteem, though?”
Safuru couldn’t fully understand human feelings, but he did possess a basic sense of common decency.
No, but. Safuru thought to himself. Could it be that things with Rica got messed up because of my own attitude?
“…Hey, can I ask you something real quick?”
Safuru dropped his gaze from Aeril and muttered under his breath.
“I mean, hypothetically speaking… If you get close enough to a girl to do some naughty things, and then she suddenly starts avoiding you… could that be the result of some kind of… what’s it called? Weird stimulation or something?”
“It would not be proper for me to offer advice on such a matter from my lips.”
Aeril said solemnly with her arms crossed. The motion lifted her breasts, emphasizing their presence.
Safuru wanted to snap back that she was being pretentious, but the sight of her tits stole his momentum, forcing him to look away again. He couldn’t stare directly at them. He was very interested, though.
As for Aeril, she had no trouble knowing the correct answer to such an unrefined question.
She had heard everything. Naturally, she also understood how far Safuru and Rica had gone.
Furthermore, regarding Rica’s mental state, despite a dragon’s lack of shame, her intelligence was high enough to imagine the situation within the bounds of normal human standards.
But she would not give them that correct answer, nor would she be so foolish as to resolve their own agitations on their behalf.
The process of searching for that misunderstanding and the right answer while caring for the other person might feel like torture for those involved, but it is not something where an external party should just toss in a solution and move things along.
If they slack off on trying to connect their feelings, things may work out temporarily, but the actual relationship will never mature.
…Such consideration would likely come across as patronizing and snobbish if Safuru were to do it—the nature of an arrogant dragon.
“I knew you’d say something like that. …I regret even asking.”
“Don’t sulk, boy. If you wish to build a good relationship with the other person, you must find that correct answer on your own. You cannot let others help you. There are answers only you can find and answers only she can find.”
“You clearly know the answer and you’re dodging it. I hate that about dragons here.”
“It is true that we do not provide excessive aid beyond what Lady Maya requires us to in this town, but this is unrelated to that matter. You are a dragon, after all. This is not a story about the dynamic between dragons and humans, but between an old woman and a child who has just started to understand love.”
“It’s not just about me. If I get involved more deeply, Andy will surely be happier, too.”
“Probably so. But we must maintain our distance. So that people do not misunderstand. Only Lady Maya knows the weight of using a dragon’s power and how it is received. No one else should casually touch upon it. What if the townspeople, thinking they can use our power, relied on it to scheme against the Northern Forest or the Kingdom of Trot?”
“Just don’t lend them the power then.”
Even if we pull out, the conflicts that expected us will remain. Either way, people die. Just because we are here… Do you think that is acceptable?”
“It’s just saying ‘don’t make such a stupid choice’…”
“Humans are connected to one another. As time passes, someone becomes someone’s ally, and eventually someone’s enemy. If one tries to manipulate not just power, but the bonds between people for the sake of that power, it is the vice of strength.”
“…You’re talking in complicated terms just to escape dealing with human feelings, aren’t you?”
“It may still be too difficult for you as a child. But do not have the attitude of seeking answers from others. Think for yourself.”
“Ahh.”
The dragon’s ethics and his personal relationship with Rica. Safuru had tried to mix both topics together, hoping for a concession through childish cleverness, but it did not work on Aeril.
“If there is one thing I can tell you, it is that the one running away is not me. It is you and her.”
Swinging her large scaly tail, Aeril departed with an air of gracefulness.
Watching her go, Safuru chewed over the meaning of her words… and only after Aeril’s skin had shrunk into the distance did he suddenly snap back.
“W-What do you mean?!”
Aeril simply raised one hand, offering no answer in return.
Safuru heard a strange combination of an ogre and a human nearby saying something like “Do you see what I mean?” to Aeril, but he cut off his sensory concentration as he had no interest in what came next.
What did she mean?
Safuru sank into the marsh of contemplation.
The next day.
In the end, Sahru couldn’t figure it out, so he kept scratching his head while continuing to wander around the outskirts of town.
It was only now that it became apparent why he stuck to the edges: staying in the city center meant the local kids, who were exactly his height and build, would uninvitedly drag him into games, or the cat-beastkin daughters would start treating him like a plaything. Sahru had told them he was over forty years old, but nobody seemed to believe him.
Physically, he could have played with them for as long as they wanted without breaking a sweat, so it shouldn’t have been an issue, but he simply wasn’t in the mood for games. He had a difficult problem to confront.
Unaware that his aloofness was only deepening Rika’s realization of what she had done.
If Sahru had simply moved on and started playing with the other children as if nothing happened, Rika might have played along and let it go. But because he blatantly dwelled on that brief moment for days on end, she found herself increasingly unable to find a way to wash the incident away.
“No… Damn it, I don’t get it…”
And so, Sahru tried to imagine various scenarios, but having absolutely no reference material for how women’s hearts worked, he could only picture Rika’s face no matter how hard he thought. He couldn’t come up with a single reason why she had made that expression.
Moreover, he had no idea whatsoever why she had suddenly done something so intimate.
It was a waste of time, plainly put, but since he had been told to think for himself, Sahru thought. Despite his high intelligence, he remained a child at heart.
Just then, Baron Polka Duran Goud passed by, carrying a bucket, soap, and a hand towel, impeccably dressed in noble attire and a mantle despite it being summer.
“What’s wrong, boy? …No, you were a Dragon, weren’t you?”
“Are you the… Baron?”
“Yes, I am the Baron. Though for a Dragon, that title is merely one of many names, I suppose,” he laughed.
”…Could you just leave me alone? I need to think about a serious problem.”
“Oh? A difficult problem. If it’s one a Dragon takes on, it must be quite something.”
“It’s not… exactly… well, maybe it is. But I’ve been told I have to solve it myself.”
“Indeed. But wandering around here and scratching your head will do you no good. Why don’t you think about it while soaking in the bath?”
”…Doesn’t that just change one thing for another?”
“No, it changes everything,” the Baron asserted.
“When your values become rigid, most problems hit a dead end. After receiving new stimuli, when you reconsider things, you often realize, ‘Is that all there is to it?’ Above all…”
“Above all?”
“Have courage, boy. You are a child. Children are permitted to challenge anything.”
The Baron strongly extended his hand to the boy.
And then.
”…Wait, hang on a second!?”
“Then have a pleasant stay, ladies,”
The Baron bowed elegantly to Polka’s wives, still holding the bath set. He had dragged Sahru into the women’s bath.
“What is going on with you!?”
”…Courage and good luck.”
The Baron muttered in a cheerful smile before heading off toward the men’s bath. Only Sahru, the Dragon, would have heard that murmur.
“Having the Baron casually come into the women’s bath is quite troublesome, but I do agree that it’s questionable to make him wash the child,” one said.
“We’ll make sure to scrub him nice and clean today, so don’t worry.”
“Eh? Ehhhh…”
The Baron had walked straight to the entrance of the women’s bath with Sahru in tow, just as some of the town’s wives happened to pass by. With a bright smile, he had announced, “He seems to have come from a cultural sphere where baths are scarce and doesn’t quite know how to wash his body. Could you please give him a proper lesson on how to bathe?”
It was true that in the human town where Sahru was born, or the Dragon Palace where he lived, they belonged to a culture of quick washes; it was customary to hop out before their bodies grew cold after removing some grime.
The wives who grabbed Sahru and pulled him into the women’s changing room called themselves “aunties,” but in Polka, they were relatively young, in their mid-thirties. They were the age group with children around Sahru’s size. While not yet at an age to blush before a flower, thanks to the beautifying effects of the spirit spring, they looked like ordinary twenty-year-olds.
In other words, they possessed physiques fully capable of hardening Sahru’s small member, yet they stripped off their clothes in front of him without hesitation.
It was a huge problem. As usual, Sahru tried to look away, but even in that direction, he could see perfect, blemish-free buttocks, which made things even worse. The wives were a trio.
“Come now, little one. Look, I’m going to wash you, so take off your clothes.”
“Ah, um, n-no, never mind, I’d rather not.” “If you’ve come to Polka and don’t even know how to use the hot springs, that won’t do. There aren’t any other good spots around here anyway.” “W-well, if I have to go in, then in the men’s bath…” “Boys shouldn’t be so shy about it. Don’t worry, we all have sons, so we’re used to seeing penises.”
The ladies were of varying sizes, but ultimately, they exposed their beautiful breasts as a matter of course and surrounded Sahuru, stripping him down collectively.
Looking at his erect penis, they exchanged glances with one another.
“How cute.” “I wonder if I can still handle myself at my age?” “This isn’t your business now, is it? Isn’t she the one with the smallest breasts?” “Just say we have good figure. Besides, when it comes to our butts, we won’t lose.”
Although they laughed casually, none of them hid their bodies from Sahuru’s gaze. On the contrary, some struck a light pose and asked, “Well? How do I look?”
Sahuru had thought the Trot people were stricter about sex, but perhaps not so much, he blushed as he thought. If Masagaki was actively trying to sexually harass him, that was one thing, but there was no way they would gawk over the erection of a nervous child.
And so, stripped bare, Sahuru was dragged by the ladies into the bathing area. First came the tutorial on how to wash. “Before you get in the water, first rinse your body. Try to remove as much dirt and grime as possible beforehand. Since it’s a flowing spring, even if the water gets a bit dirty, it’ll flow away right away, but still, as for manners…” “Yes, rub off that grime properly. It accumulates quite a bit behind the ears, you know.” “Shall I wash your head for you? Is this your first time washing with foaming soap? …Oh my, oh my, do you really like breasts so much? How energetic.” “S-stop, p-please don’t look at me!” “Even trade, even trade.”
A lady reaching out from head-on to wash Sahuru’s hair. Telling him not to look at the trembling breasts would be cruel beyond measure.
As they went along like that, another group entered the women’s bath.
“Oh my, looks like there’s a boy here~” “Oh, the kittens. The Baron said he wanted to show you how to wash your bodies.” “Can I wash him too~?” “Why not? Since we’re at it, let’s thoroughly wash from between his fingers all the way to his anus.” “Eh, s-seriously, all the way to my ass!?” “Just kidding~♪ Now, close your eyes.”
The kittens had joined the Sahuru Washing Squad.
“W-Whoa, I’m a man here… why is everyone so casually naked and swarming me…” “Masagaki’s got it all going for him. We’re not scared of being threatened by that pinky-sized thing.” “H-It’s at least the size of my ring finger!? Obviously!” “Let me wash him too~. Our colony doesn’t have any boys, so I’m curious!” “I want in too~. Oh, it’s much smaller than Master’s.”
The cat girls kept piling on one after another; they were no longer washing Sahuru so much as treating him like a toy.
And then, right at that moment.
“It’s noisy over here… oh” “Huh?”
When the foam was rinsed off and Sahuru lifted his face, Rika was standing there naked.
……Silence descended.
(To be continued)