Gloria stared at the screen of light in front of her. Not only could she see an image from far away, but she could also hear the sounds the people on the screen were making. Her gaze shifted onto the goat standing on her brother’s head, and she couldn’t help but think of her own summon. Daniel was fluffy and cute and perfect to hug, but his ability didn’t seem to be as useful as Kozabokget’s. In fact, she hadn’t even tried it yet. Her grandma told her Daniel could shake the earth; however, Gloria didn’t want to startle anything by doing that.
“As I thought, these people are up to no good,” Ramon said and bobbed his head up and down.
Thanks to Ramon’s comment, Gloria’s attention was once again drawn by the screen. Wagons were setting off from the boat, and sticking out from some of the wagons were sharp-tipped objects—large sharp-tipped objects, the kind that could poke a hole in a dragon. Along with the humans talking about hunting a dragon, it was quite obvious what this group was planning to do. “If one of those things hits us, it’ll hurt a lot.”
“Just don’t get hit,” Ramon said and rolled his eyes. “You have wings and legs. Use them.” He cleared his throat. “Mr. Light, can you show us the humans who are traveling separately from the large group?”
The screen didn’t budge. Ramon rolled his eyes up to look at Kozabokget. The pink-eyed goat shrugged. “Try giving it mana. Since the light knows you can give it mana, it’s definitely not going to do anything for you for free now. It’s almost like a person that way.”
Ramon cast a heal spell at the screen. As soon as the heal dispersed, the image shifted. It showed two humans, a man and a woman, walking around, seemingly, with no goal in mind. “There,” Ramon said and pointed at the screen while speaking to Gloria. “We’re going to capture those two humans.”
Gloria tilted her head. “And then?”
“What do you mean?” Ramon asked. “Once we capture them, we’ll take them back to Grandma, and she’ll realize how strong I am, and I won’t have to study anymore!”
“I don’t think capturing two humans will prove how strong you are,” Gloria said. “If anything, Grandma will probably scold you for playing around. You already have proof that humans are hunting dragons; you can show her this screen.”
Ramon furrowed his brow. “You think so?” he asked. Although he didn’t want to admit his sister was right, she did know their grandma better. “Then, I’ll have to capture all the humans, not just those two? It’s a bit harder, but if I bite off their legs, they won’t be able to run after I catch them.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“They can crawl away,” Kozabokget said. “You should bite off their arms too.”
“Oh, that’s a good point,” Ramon said and nodded. He pointed at the screen. “We’ll start with those two humans first.” His gaze shifted onto his sister. “Are you ready?”
“Do we have to bite off their limbs?” Gloria asked and made a face. “Mommy says we shouldn’t eat humans.”
“You don’t have to swallow their limbs, dummy.”
“But Vur said humans taste bad,” Gloria said and made a face. She mumbled to herself, “Is this why Grandma keeps making us study? If we learn how to seal evils, we won’t have to bite them.”
“You can always rip them off instead,” Kozabokget said. “No one says you have to put their limbs in your mouth to remove them.”
Gloria furrowed her brow. Although the pink-eyed goat made sense, for some reason, the cursed dragon couldn’t help but think Kozabokget was a bad influence. She wasn’t quite sure why though.
***
Keith looked around at the bleak landscape. Everything was brown and gray, and there weren’t any distinct landmarks in sight. “How are we supposed to make a map of this place when everything looks the same?”
“We don’t have to make a map,” Danielle said with a frown. “We just have to find a suitable location for an ambush.”
“Easier said than done,” Keith said and snorted.
“That’s why we’re doing it,” Danielle said and glared at Keith. “Why are you always whining?”
“Because it’s good for my health,” Keith said. “Haven’t you heard? Bottling up your feelings can cause you to die at a younger age. If something happens to me that’s worth complaining about, then you can bet your ass I’m going to complain.”
Danielle shook her head and raised her head. A frown appeared on her face, and she lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the sun. “Do you see that?”
“Huh?” Keith glanced at Danielle before following her gaze. He frowned as well. “Yep. I see that. Two dragons? They look a bit small though.”
“One of them is a cursed dragon,” Danielle said. “Do you think that’s the one Mary is targeting?”
“There’s no way Grimmoldesser, a dragon that destroyed a continent, is smaller than the ones we killed,” Keith said. “Some things don’t follow the rule of bigger means better, but dragons do.” He raised his hand, shielding his eyes from the sun as well. “Is it just me, or does it look like they’re flying towards us?”
“It does seem like that,” Danielle said, a deep crease appearing on her brow. She reached down and gripped the hilt of her dagger with her left hand. Although it wouldn’t be very useful against a dragon, it still brought her a sense of security. She looked around before taking in a deep breath. “There’s nowhere to hide.”
“Should we run?” Keith asked. “If they’re really targeting us, we won’t get very far, but we might confuse them if we split up.”
“There’ two of them,” Danielle said and shook her head. “Splitting up won’t do anything.” She dropped to the ground and rolled around in the dirt, digging at the ground with her hands.
“What are you doing?” Keith asked but copied her actions before receiving an answer.
“Making myself as unappetizing as possible,” Danielle said. “If they get close, play dead. Maybe it’ll work.”