Ristia Alschient, Dragon domain, 5810 U.C.

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“From this moment on you’re exiled from this land. Leave and never dare to come back!”

“Fine.”

I turn around and go as told, my hands restricted by two guards. We’re heading to the nearby cliff. Surrounding us there are warriors wherever I look. If I try something funny, I’ll just die. Maybe I could manage to take a few dozen or so with me, but it’s not worth it. There are too many of them. Well, I don’t care anyway. It’s such a pain.

“Don’t show your face here ever again!”

As the guard told me that from behind, I felt a heavy blow on my back, and I fell from the cliff. However, it’s not a big deal though. Not like falling from the tallest mountain here can kill me. I don’t even need to transform into my dragon form. It’s not worth the trouble.

But the question is what to do from now on? I didn’t think about that yet. Sleeping for around a hundred years or so sounds good, but after I wake up, I’ll be in the same spot. I won’t be able to return after that anyway.

For now, I should go to a forest and hunt for some food. The problem is I don’t know how to process meat. I can eat it raw, no problem. But it doesn’t taste as good. Ehhh, I’ll miss my regular meals. My servants always took care of me. I wonder how I’ll be able to survive now.

Strolling through a forest, I encounter a giant bear. Yea, he’ll make a good snack. Ohh, he isn’t running away. That’s interesting. I must have gone far enough from the mountain, that animals here must think I’m a regular human. Well, I look like one It’s a more convenient form for a leisure walk or some precise movement.

Dragons usually hang out on the opposite side of that mountain range. Too bad for that bear, he thinks he just found a weak human to prey on. Hmm, human. That’s right, I can go to a human village and blend in. As I think all that, my meal tries to charge at me, but he got his head cut off before even realizing what had happened.

So now, it’s time to eat! Ehhh, I miss cooked meat. I could just fry this using my dragon breath, but last time it didn’t go well. I have trouble controlling it. Even if I tried very hard to weaken the force, I would just burn everything in front of me to ashes. That’s not a desirable effect. I know that there are other ways to create fire, magic is one way to do it, but I never really bothered to learn it. I can brute force it. But I would just explode everything surrounding me.

Okay, I need to find human settlements and force them into submission to cock and take care of me. That’s the plan. Hmm, wait for a second, it would be a problem if I assault them. Even if it’s only a small village they would probably dispatch an army or something to take me down, also my cover would be blown. I could easily defeat them, but it’s too annoying. I’ll think about what to do on the spot. No point in worrying about it now.

It’s dragon time. Let’s scout some terrain from the sky.

I have been flying for a few days and the sun is already setting down, but I managed to spot a small town on the horizon. Villagers will probably freak out if I show myself like this. Guess I’m going on foot for the rest of the road. Not that I mind or anything. Most dragons, especially the lower class hate human form, but I’m very fond of it.

I won’t make it there before night, but it’s not a problem. Just another day under an open sky. I’m used to it by now. I’ll settle on the edge of the forest for today. A little further from the road, so I can’t be spotted by a regular passerby. Weather isn’t an issue for me, so even though it’s objectively speaking cold outside, I’m completely fine. It isn’t very comfortable, and I’m always terribly dirty in the morning, but what can I do? I lay under a tree and slowly doze off.

"Hey, hey look over there. We got lucky Hehe."

"We sure are, boys. Damn what a cutie! Wonder if she's used."

"Of Course, she is, you moron! Look how dirty she is and completely naked. Most likely runaway slave. I almost feel bad for her owner haha. It's our lucky day. Let's take her and have some fun."

"On it, boss! Hahaha sorry girly, but you're going to service us until you breathe your last hahaha!"

I hear some idiots talking next to me. Eh, I wanted to sleep some more. I slowly open my eyes, only to see my view obstructed by five disgusting-looking men. What a troublesome bunch. The guy in front extends his hand toward me while licking his lips.

"Oi, we woke her up. You're coming with us, miss! Huh?!"

"Hey, she got guts, usually, at this point, they just start crying. It will be fun!"

I grabbed this nasty man's hand. It seems like my actions stunned him for a moment. He tries to use more force, but it doesn't matter. I hold it still and slowly sink my fingernails into his flesh.

"Wha…. guaah. It hurts... ghua, you bitch!"

"Now you've done it, we'll take our time killing you, you damn slut!"

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

While I tear the first guy's flesh, and blood starts pouring on my hand, the one who looks like their leader shouts some bullshit and the other three are closing in to restrict my movement. Too bad for them. I quickly crush his hand which now barely holds to the rest of his body with multiple strings of skin and toss it together with its owner to my right where he bumped into two of his friends, who had short swords pointed my way. Now they lay on the ground with him on top, their swords pierced his body, blood gushing onto their clothes. The other two to my left just stayed there petrified with fear. I smiled lightly at them.

“She’s a Monster! Run, quickly we don’t stand a chance!”

They dropped their weapons and started running for their life. Hmm, should I let them go? If I do, they’re probably going to talk about me to the townspeople. I can’t have that. I picked up two tiny stones under my foot and flicked them with my thumb. They flew at high speed and hit their marks. Straight into skulls piercing their heads. Now two are left pinned down by their dead comrade.

“Hmm. What should I do, I wonder?”

“Plea… Please, don’t kill us! We’ll do anything you want! Everything we have is yours! Please spare our lives!”

How troublesome. But they might be useful. For instance, I’m in dire need of clothing. I forgot that humans wore those. Since dragons don’t feel cold, we didn’t need them, but if I show up like that in town I’ll be at the center of attention. I don’t want that. I could just take clothes from them, but those don’t match me, so they would be incredibly uncomfortable to wear. The other issue was money, but I feel like the problem has just been solved by itself.

“Follow me! One misstep and you’re dead. Drag these corpses with you. Understand?”

The bandits nodded in unison with fear in their eyes. Great. I lead them to the nearby lake. My whole body is covered in blood mixed with dirt. I need to clean myself right away. They follow me obediently all the way there. Meanwhile, let’s collect some information.

“So, who are you guys?”

“…. We are C rank adventurers.”

“Adventurers?”

“Yes, we take jobs from adventurer’s guild, like exterminating monsters in the area.”

“So, you have money?”

“… Yes.”

They immediately take pouches from their pockets and hand them to me. I must say it pleases me how obedient they are.

“And how much is it worth exactly?”

“Typical family of three can live off from this for 1 week.”

“So, tell me, how long are you traveling together?”

“Around eight years now.”

“I see, you must have many adventures together then.”

“…. Y… Yes.”

“You see it was only self-defense on my part, don’t you agree?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, you baldie, take money from these corpses and go buy me clothes. And don’t even think of telling anyone about me or running away. I’ll find you wherever you hide. Also, if you don’t show up here before noon you can say farewells to your friend here. You know what’s best for you, don’t you?”

“B… but it isn’t enough time!”

“You’re wasting your time!”

“Guaah!”

I turned around and lightly kicked him in the balls. He collapsed on the spot, and after a short while collected money and run towards the village. The other one, let’s call him pest number two, covered his crotch, his legs trembling in terror. After a short walk, we arrived at the lake. I jumped in without thinking. Ahh, it feels so good.

“Say, you think pest 1 will come back?”

“For sure! He won’t leave me alone! He won’t! Who are you exactly?”

“Does it matter to you? Hmm?”

Silence. I made a little gamble allowing him to escape. If he has a loose tongue, I guess I’ll have to give up on this place. On the other hand, if he returns it would solve my clothing problem, so it’s worth a try. Well, he shouldn’t be coming back if he values his life. I’m not planning on letting them live. Their lips must be sealed forever.

“Hey, can I enter that town without a permit or something like that?”

“It’s a small town, so it shouldn’t be a problem, but if you want to go to a bigger city, you need something to confirm your identity.”

“For example?”

“Adventurer’s guild card should be good enough. Wi… Will yo…. You kill us?”

“Depends on pest 1”

I feel refreshed after bathing. Now as we wait, I have yet another matter to think about. Mainly what to do about corpses? I could eat them I’m a little hungry and I’m a little curious about how humans taste. Yeah, let’s go with that. I can’t just leave them lying here after all.

“Undress them and throw everything into the water!”

“W… Wh. Why?! Guahh! Please don’t, I’ll do it”

I took a tiny stone and threw it at his feet. It penetrated his shoes and sunk into flesh, spilling out blood. After that, he didn’t hesitate anymore. Good. When he finished, he just took a step back and sat on the ground-hugging his knees and casting his eyes downwards still trembling. Well, I’m not blaming him for that.

I can’t eat them normally in this form. Human mouths are so small. But I have a solution for that. I take one guy and crush him in my hands forming a meatball. Blood is gushing from him like crazy. I’m careful not to get it on my skin. My meal is slightly bigger than a human brain in this condensed state. But it’s still too large to eat him in one go, so I just sit leisurely on the rock and consume my meat piece by piece.

One thing I can say after finishing, human meat is disgusting. Maybe if I roasted it first it would be better, but still, even some monster has tastier meat. What a waste. I glanced at pest 1. He fainted and pissed himself. If meat wasn’t enough disgusting, I have this sight. Ugly man in his 40s with gray oily hair and wet pants. How pitiful.

Not much time has left. I hope he will show up. I’m going to kill the time by disposing of these corpses. I won’t just leave them be.

I look up at the sky. It’s almost time. Guess he’s not coming huh. Mr. wet pants woke up a few minutes ago. I turn towards him and smile gently. Fear is visible on his face. I slowly walk up to him, taking my time making every step on the way. He’s so terrified that he can’t even stand properly. He crawls backward but soon enough hits a tree with his back. With no way to escape, he losses strength in his arms and legs. I’m now a hand away from him. Looking down at him I stare straight into his eyes. He can’t even muster a word. All he is capable of are some incomprehensible sounds. I gradually lower my head to match his height. Just when I was about to cut his head off, I heard someone screaming in a distance. Turns out pest 2 came back. Unfortunately for him.

“Please wait, ….. don’t ….. kill him. I brought ….. you ….. clothes.”

He tries to catch his breath while saying that and hands me clothing. Simple white-yellowish underwear and a plain dress that covers up to my knees. It looks like something a slave would wear. At least it doesn’t stink. However, I’m truly disappointed.

“Plain. It looks terrible.”

“I’m sorry, it was all I could find in that shor…..”

His head fell off his neck before he finished his sentence. These pests served their purpose. I don’t need them anymore. I killed the other one shortly after. Let’s dispose of them like the others and head to the village myself.