A few days after the strange encounter, Safuru was genuinely troubled. Rika had stopped talking to him altogether.
Safuru wasn’t very good at seeing things from another person’s perspective. Whenever they met, she would stiffen and run away without saying a word. All he could do was feel shocked by this behavior. He couldn’t figure out what the cause of it was. Rika had attacked him on impulse, and now that she’d cooled down, she was too embarrassed and scared to face him properly. But Safuru couldn’t imagine how she felt at all. And there was no one he could talk to about it. He didn’t have any close friends who would listen without judgment to the details of their encounter. He hadn’t even figured out for himself what that encounter had meant. It seemed like only time could solve this problem.
“But.” “Saffur. …I think I said that.” “What? What… oh my!” One day, Saffur was aimlessly wandering around the outskirts of town after being unable to escape when he ran into Rika and not having any fun on his own either, when someone approached him. Looking back absentmindedly, Saffur found himself face-to-face with a huge pair of breasts and pussy. Being only about 130 centimeters tall, the sight of a naked woman towering over him filled his vision. She was completely naked. “What… what is this!?” “Why are you so flustered? Do I have something to be ashamed of?” While hearing the calm voice of the woman and stepping back a few steps, Saffur tripped and fell backward onto the ground. As a dragon, he didn’t get hurt from the fall, but when he got up, the naked woman turned out to be Blue Dragon Aeri. “What are you doing naked… this isn’t even bath time or anything! It’s broad daylight!”
“Hmm. So it’s okay at night? …Now that you mention it, the darkness of night makes it hard to see people or elves. Indeed, that might work.”
“What are you talking about!?”
“Weren’t we discussing whether or not I should be naked?”
“No… well, yes! But what the hell!”
Safur pointed at Aeri in confusion.
Aeri was proudly displaying her large, sagging breasts under the summer sunlight with no change to her expression. She wasn’t wearing sandals and there were no signs of dirt on her feet, perhaps due to the mystical nature of dragon skin.
“Our clan doesn’t have a habit of wearing clothes inside the palace. We do wear bracelets, anklets, or necklaces during rituals, but generally speaking…”
“Wait, aren’t you from Andy’s place!? Doesn’t Andy tell you to put on clothes when going out!?”
”…Can we just pretend I forgot? It’s quite bothersome. Apparently, I’m a bit of a rough person and my kimono tears easily if I move too quickly. If I leave it as is, people get worried about me, and fixing it takes up other people’s time.”
“I understand that.”
Saffir’s clothes often tear at the crotch or armpit when she moves seriously. Also, if she uses fire magic derived from her breath without considering its scale, her clothes will often catch fire and become tattered.
At present, it is rare to find a garment strong enough to withstand a dragon’s full strength movements due to the lack of advanced sewing techniques. It was more about whether one could encounter skilled tailors or suitable fabric rather than basic technical ability. Even tough and flexible clothing made by northern elves would be at risk if they moved without restraint.
In this regard, the ace knight level girls around Andy were very careful not to put unnecessary strain on their clothes even when sudden movements were required, such as limiting joint movement ranges.
It was natural for human women to do so, but for dragons who originally had extraordinary strength and flexibility, it was a subtle source of stress to change their movements just because of the clothing.
That said, she couldn’t go around naked. “Come on, put something on! That’s weird!” “You shouldn’t react like that when seeing a woman’s body, boy. I can take it as an old lady, but young girls would be hurt if they were yelled at just for showing their skin.” “What the hell?” “If you give them a reaction like looking at dirty things, they’ll think your nakedness is unpleasant to them.” “…I see…”
“That’s how some people are. Look at the men in this town; none of them react to a woman’s naked body. Even the old cobbler kneels and trembles with gratitude in prayer position.” “But it’s weird that they get their self-esteem from that, right?” I don’t understand human emotions but I do have some common sense. But wait… maybe Rika suddenly avoiding me has something to do with my attitude? “Hey, can I ask you something for a second?” Safur turned away from Aeri and muttered. “Well, like, if you become close enough to a girl that she lets you do some naughty stuff together, but then all of a sudden she starts avoiding you… is it because you did something weird or shocking?” “I don’t feel comfortable giving advice on this topic.” Aeri crossed her arms and said solemnly. Her lifted breasts emphasized their presence. Safur was about to say “That’s your attitude?” but lost his nerve when he looked directly at them, turning away again. He couldn’t bear to look at them for too long, even though he found them very interesting.
And as Aeri knew the correct answers to even the most pointless questions.
She had heard everything. Of course, she understood how far Saffur and Rika had gone. And despite her dragon’s lack of shame, she was intelligent enough to understand Rika’s psychology on a human level.
But she wasn’t foolish enough to tell them the answer and solve their own problems for them. Telling them the answers and solving their misunderstandings would be like throwing cold water on the process of understanding each other, which is torture for those involved.
If they didn’t make an effort to connect with one another emotionally, even if it worked in the moment, their relationship wouldn’t mature.
…That kind of consideration was a show-offy, annoying trait of arrogant dragons like Saffur.
“I kinda thought you’d say something like that. …Guess I should’ve kept my mouth shut.”
“Don’t get all sour, boy. If you want to have a good relationship with someone, you need to find the answers yourself. You can’t let anyone else help you. There’s your answer and there’s their answer.”
”…You know everything but try to hide it. I hate this about dragons.”
“We haven’t offered more help than what Myia’s Master requested, which is true. But that’s not the point here. You’re a dragon too. This isn’t about dragons and humans; it’s about an experienced woman and a young boy who just started falling in love.”
“It’s not just me. If you got closer to Andy, he’d be happy too.”
“Perhaps so. But we should keep our distance. To avoid misunderstandings… The weight of using dragon power and the way it’s received is something only Myia’s Master understands. Others shouldn’t touch it lightly. What if the townspeople, thinking they can use our strength, plotted against North Forest or Trot Kingdom?”
“Just don’t lend them your power.”
“Even without us, the conflict would continue. People will die either way because we’re here. Is that okay with you?”
“It’s just a matter of not making that choice…”
“People are connected to each other. Time passes and someone becomes another’s ally, then an enemy. If one tries to manipulate people’s relationships for power, it’s the evil side of strength.”
”…You’re just dodging reality by talking in circles.”
“You may find this hard as a kid. But you’re not even trying to hear others’ opinions. Think for yourself.”
Airi’s talk about dragon ethics and her personal relationship with Rika didn’t get through to Saffur, who mixed the two up in a vain attempt to gain some concessions.
“If I could give you just one piece of advice, it would be that it isn’t me running away. It’s you and her.”
With her large naked ass swinging back and forth, Airi left with a brisk pace. Saffur watched her go while trying to make sense of what she said. And once Airi’s skin tone had faded from view, he suddenly snapped out of his thoughts.
“W-What the hell does that mean?!”
Airi merely raised one hand in response and didn’t give an answer. Saffur heard Orga and a human making some weird comment about “seeing through it” to Airi near town, but since he wasn’t interested in what came next, he cut off his sensory concentration.
What did she mean?
Saffur fell into deep thought.
The following day.
Saffal still couldn’t understand and was wandering around the outskirts of town, twisting his head in confusion. Even now, he wondered why he was at the outskirts—when he was in town, kids with similar builds would randomly try to play with him, or cat-people girls would pester him to play with them. He had already said that he was over forty years old and they still didn’t get it.
Physically, he could have played with them all day long, but right now wasn’t in the mood for playing. He needed to deal with a difficult problem. …And his attitude only made Rika feel worse about what happened.
If Saffal had immediately forgotten about it and started playing with other kids, she might have been able to pretend that nothing happened. But since he was still dragging up that moment days later, she didn’t know how to act around him anymore.
“Ugh… damn it, I don’t get it…” Saffal tried imagining what could be going on in Rika’s head, but had no idea about the workings of a woman’s mind. All he could think about was her face and why she made that expression. He also couldn’t figure out why she suddenly did something so intimate.
So even though thinking about it was a waste of time, Saffal thought about it because Rika told him to. Despite his high intelligence, he still had the mind of a child. And then Baron Duran Gout passed by with buckets, soap, and towels in hand, dressed in noble attire complete with a cloak even though it was summer.
“What’s wrong, boy? …No, wait. You were a dragon, right?” “You’re… Baron, aren’t you?” “That’s correct. I am the Baron. But to a dragon, my title is just one of many names, isn’t it, hahaha.” “…Can you leave me alone? I have a difficult problem to think about.” “A difficult problem, eh? If a dragon is tackling such a challenge, then it must be quite something indeed.” “Well… not really… maybe. But someone told me that I need to figure this out on my own.” “I see. However, standing around here and scratching your head won’t get you anywhere. Why don’t you think about it while soaking in the bath?” “…Isn’t there no difference?” “Yes, there is.” The baron stated firmly.
“Most problems are solved when you’re willing to reconsider your values. After receiving new stimuli, I often think that it wasn’t such a big deal after all. Above all…”
“Above all?”
“Be brave, boy. You’re still young. A child is allowed to take on any challenge.”
The baron extended his hand strongly towards the boy.
And then. ”…Wait just a second!?” “And now, ladies,” he said as he took a bath set and elegantly bowed to Polka’s wives. He had led Safur into the women’s bath. “What’s going on here!?” “Bravery and luck…”
Baron smiled and walked off to the men’s bath. Only Saffur had heard his words. “His Lordship would be a bother if he came into the women’s bath, but it is also true that troubling him by having him wash the children wouldn’t do either.” “I’ll make sure to clean you up properly today, my lady friends will.” “Eh…?” Baron led Saffur straight to the entrance of the women’s bath and said with a smile to the ladies he happened upon: “He seems to come from an area where bathing is not common. He doesn’t know how to wash his body well. Would you mind teaching him how to bathe properly?” Indeed, both Saffur’s birthplace in human society and the dragon palace where he lived were places with a water bath culture, but they would usually take a quick dip and get out before their bodies cooled down. The three ladies who caught hold of Saffur and brought him into the women’s changing room were actually only in their thirties. They had children around Saffur’s age and weren’t old enough to be blushing at flowers, but because of the beauty effects of the sacred spring water, they looked like they could pass for twenty. They had ample bodies that would easily make Saffur’s little penis harden, yet they quickly undressed in front of him. Saffur tried to look away as usual, but even then he saw a flawless, beautiful butt and was very troubled. The ladies were three in number. “Boy, you have to take off your clothes if I’m going to wash you.”
“Eh, n-no, it’s okay.” “You came all the way to Poruka and you don’t even know how to take a bath? There’s nothing else good here anyway.” “I-I guess I can go in but… in the men’s side…” “There’s no need for boys to be so shy. It’ll be fine, we’re all mothers and used to seeing penises.” The wives each showed off their various sized breasts as they stripped down while gathering around Safuru, who was still wearing his clothes. And when they saw the erect penis, they looked at one another. “He’s cute.” “Maybe I can still do it too?” “This isn’t yours, is it? You have the smallest boobs.” “You should compliment her figure. And her butt isn’t bad either.”
She casually smiles and doesn’t hide her body from Safur’s gaze. In fact, she poses a bit and asks, “How is it?” Safur blushes as he thinks that Trottes are supposed to be more conservative when it comes to sex, but maybe not. He wouldn’t scold an anxious kid for getting hard anyway, even if the brat was trying to sexually harass him. Then Safur gets stripped and dragged off by the wives to the bathhouse. First they give a lecture on how to bathe properly. “Before you get into the hot water, rinse your body first. Try to wash away as much dirt as possible beforehand. It’s running water so even if it gets dirty, it’ll flow out quickly, but still, it’s good manners.” “Yes, scrub well. Dirt tends to accumulate behind your ears.” “Shall I wash your hair for you? Is this the first time using soap bubbles? …Oh my! You like breasts that much? How lively of you!” “Hey, don’t look at me!” “Tit-for-tat, tit-for-tat.” A wife reaches out to Safur and washes his head right in front of him. Not looking at her shaking boobs would be cruel. While this is going on, another group enters the women’s bath.
“Ah, there’s a boy over here.” “Oh, hello kitty cats. The baron asked me to teach him how to wash his body.” “Can I wash him too?” “I don’t see why not? We’ll make sure to clean everything from the space between his fingers all the way down to his butt hole.” “What?! You’re going to wash my butt hole?!” “It’s a joke~♪ Close your eyes now.” The cat brigade joined in with the washing. “Hey, wait a minute! I’m a guy here… why are you all coming over so casually and stripping naked?” “You’ve got such a small dick for someone who acts tough like that.” “My dick is at least as big as my ring finger! Come on!”
“Let me wash you too! There are no boys in my colony, so I’m really curious!” “I wanna wash him too! Oh, he’s a lot smaller than Master.” The catgirls kept coming one after another. They were treating Saffur more like a toy to play with rather than someone to clean.
And then, “Looks like it’s pretty lively here… huh?” “Ahh…” When Saffur raised his head from the soapy water, Rika was standing there naked. ……Silence fell.
（To be continued）