34 Dragon-chan’s S rank promotion ceremony

AN: Haaa... I'm finally done... this chapter was a real pain to write and rewrite (because I wrote myself into a corner four times) and eventually I went and rewrote several sections of other chapters to make it work, then I had to reread the entire thing several times to make sure I didn't create any inconsistencies or plot holes, and then I went and scrapped a portion of my plan for the future of this fic to put it in here, because I spent almost an entire month trying to make it work and it just wouldn't, so... yeah, that's annoying. Now then, yay, we've reached the end of arc three... wait... I forgot to finish writing the... bit about making the Dungeon tower thing... I... UUURRRRAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH... You know what, screw it, I'll make that be in arc four, because I am so fed up with this damned chapter and arc... orz. (Also, exactly 6900 word chapter lol/wtf)

------------------------------------

The big day came, and everyone, all 34000 of them, gathered on the plains, as I watched from the skies while riding on Lapis, the both of us concealed by magic. I saw Douglas waiting with the King of Erufanica, the Queen of Ordesia, and other VIPs in an area next to the large open space, one that people were probably wondering about the reason why it was so large. Exactly two hours after dawn, the King moved to the front of the open are, which I'll call the stage, and delivered a short formulaic speech about the reason everyone was gathered, as if people didn't already know why.

After that, he stepped to the side, my cue to remove the magic on Lapis and myself, and we began our descent as he pointed us out and then listed off many of my titles and accomplishments, before stopping when Lapis was about to land. As she did so, there were a few small gusts of wind and a slight tremor in the ground.

"And now, I'll let the person herself finish off her introduction. Nene, if you please?" (King)

"Very well. I'll keep this short, because I'm a bit on the hungry side. I was too nervous to eat breakfast, and I'm still nervous now. In addition, I've never been good at making speeches, so, there's that... Now, I think everyone has heard the supposed rumors about how a D rank newbie adventurer who was only 12 at the time won Erufanica's Tournament, and I'm here to say that that rumor is true, though she is now an S rank at 13. That girl, of course, is me. That's the same for the announcement of an S rank who dealt with a large horde of monsters half a year ago, and the nameless person who turned back Regulus's fleet when they declared war on us soon after that event. This didn't seem to make it into the rumors, but I'm also the one who turned back their land-based army, again, with no casualties besides a few hundred swords and several soldiers' underwear... well, maybe also a few who got trampled in their haste to escape... it's not my fault, right?" (Nene)

I got a large laugh at that, but I just kept moving onwards, as I really was rather hungry.

"Now, I would list my other achievements, but we don't have time for all of them. A few, however, include creating an area that spawns limitless numbers of Golems that can't leave the area, including ones made of valuable metals such as mithril and orichalcum, which, for all of those adventurers strong enough to deal with Iron Golems and looking to get rich, could be a good opportunity. I even made it be such that they won't kill people, and the stronger ones, the ones made of orichalcum, are being constantly thinned out by my Dragons. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I have a large number of Dragons at my command, enough that I, as you saw, ride them at times, and others I have cooking in my shop in Crimonia. There was the incident with the seal on a strong spirit sealed near the capital of Ordesia coming loose and me dealing with that, but there may be some sensitive information in that story, so I'll let Her Majesty, the Queen of Ordesia, tell that to you" (Nene)

The aforementioned Queen walked to the front where I stood next to the King of Erufanica, and introduced herself to everyone, before starting on the story of the spirit.

"To start off, the evil spirit of darkness known as Ashdoll had been sealed inside a mountain near the capital for as long as Ordesia existed, and the seal had to be renewed every fifty years, a task that could be done only by a single clan. Sadly, that clan got wiped out by some fanatics who worshipped Ashdoll, meaning that we couldn't renew the seal, and thus, it would break free. Fortunately, Nene was in the country and had made a name for herself by defeating a, frankly, unimaginable number of strong Golems... what was it, around 1500 Iron Golems, 300 Mithril Golems, and 60 Orichalcum Golems, in addition to an Adamantite Golem? All in a mine, meaning that she had to take care to not destroy the mine she was fighting in. With that, I had reason to ask her to meet me, and I got her to agree to take care of Ashdoll. She managed to do so, while using what we would call Mythical or Unique magic to weaken it, and then compressed it to cover her fist as she punched the spirit to death. I still find it funny that she managed to punch an incorporeal being to death. It just goes to show how much of an abnormal existence she is, which is all the more reason that she deserves to be an S rank. In addition, she dealt with our shameful problem of a Duke engaging in illegal slave trading, and managed to win against the S rank adventurer that he'd hired through some unknown means. It wasn't with gold, that's for sure. Even he wouldn't have had enough to hire him for long, so it was probably blackmail. Nevertheless, Nene beat Arthur, the S rank, without killing him, and exposed the Duke's crimes. For that, I must thank her" (Queen)

After that, Douglas stepped forward, and spoke his praises of me.

"I think it is now my turn. You probably have heard about me, I am the S rank [Impartial Flame] Douglas, and one could say that I've been a friend of Nene's for over seven years, since she first registered as an adventurer in the Drachen Empire, where we hail from. In the Empire, one can register at any age, so long as you are strong enough to defeat a Goblin, a Wolf, and defeat or escape from an Orc. However, when she first entered the guild, she wasn't even tall enough to reach the handle of the door, so nobody expected that she could be strong enough. Therefore, my party leader picked a bit of a fight with her, and she wound up beating him and me with our own specialties, namely, my leader's fistfighting, and my magic. Keep in mind that she wasn't even six years old at the time, I was a B rank while my leader was an A rank, and that an A rank in the Empire was about as strong as an S rank here. So, considering what she was able to do, there wasn't any problem with her getting up to A rank within a year... actually, she got to be S rank after about a year, and soon after, I asked her to make me her disciple, a request which she accepted. Then, when the Empire was destroyed by a natural disaster a year ago, the two of us were the few lucky survivors, and we came here. Of course, she couldn't really expect that anyone would believe that she's an S rank at age 12, but a D rank would be barely doable, despite the age minimums here, so she got a second card at rank D" (Douglas)

"And then, using that card, I entered the tournament and won it after dealing with a monster horde containing a powerful Dragon. After that, I subjugated several Kraken, tamed a few Dragons, and more. Most recently, however, I made that Dungeon, half-finished another one, and am planning to make more of them, but before that, I dealt with a Death Knight and a Union of Bones, and I caught the necromancer controlling them" (Nene)

"Uh... Nene? Speaking of bones... Wouldn't that be a Union of Bones there?" (Douglas)

He pointed, and I saw a massive Dragon made of bones. The shock of seeing it made me forget about the fact that there was magic amplifying my voice such that it could be heard by everyone.

"No, that's far too big. I think it's a Bone Castle... Wait... There're more... Four... Nine... Ah shit... Well, it looks like we found the 'great master' the necromancer spoke of. I can see why he came here, however. We do have a gathering of several thousand people, providing plenty of materials and souls for necromancy, however, he picked the wrong place. A Bone Castle is a monster on par with a God Dragon, so I only have a couple dozen Dragons who could take one on, but I myself can deal with them pretty easily... relatively easily, that is" (Nene)

"Nene, you do realize you can still be heard by everyone here, right?" (King of Erufanica)

"Oh... I forgot... Still, everyone, there's nothing to worry about. I'll have several Ancient Dragons and God Dragons protecting you all, while a few of my God Dragons and I deal with the monsters. Please do not panic, and instead come this way. I'll... Oh no... That's a Bone Fortress and a Rotting Juggernaut. I... Well, I was going to reveal it in a few years, but I guess I have to do so now if I want to protect everyone here" (Nene)

"Nene, are you sure?" (Douglas)

"Without doing so, that Bone Fortress will spawn an unlimited amount of those Unions of Bones, and the Rotting Juggernaut could defeat even Lapis most of the time. I have no other options that protect everyone, and that's more important that hiding that fact for a few years" (Nene)

"You're still being heard by everyone, you know" (King)

"It doesn't matter. Everyone, please, do not be alarmed at what you see, I'll explain everything after I defeat those damned undead monsters" (Nene)

At that, I took off my cloak, jumped into the air, and shifted into my Dragon form, and then I flew off towards the largest of the Skeletal Dragons (The Bone Fortress) and the massive humanoid Undead (the Rotting Juggernaut) next to it. I didn't care about people being shocked at me turning into a Dragon, nor about how my Dragons, Astra, and Douglas were faring against the Bone Castles and the various Unions of Bones. All I focused on was the two undead in front of me, and how I could fight them with minimal civilian casualties. I started off by blasting them both with Dragonflame, to no effect. I figured it wouldn't do anything, but it was worth a shot. After that, I attacked with {Draconic Invite: Genesis} which... I mean, it did well against them, but considering that it was boosted by my being in Dragon form, it was rather underwhelming.

How else... Hmm... I wonder... It's risky, but I have no other choice. If it fails, I'll be drained of my mana, and need to recover in a defenseless state, but if I don't use something with enough power to break this deadlock, I'll end up losing due to a lack of stamina. First, I have to slow them both down a lot, though it only needs to buy me a minute at most. I'll use {Draconic Invite: Ouroboros} to flood the area, making the ground they are standing on into a deep mud pool... Then, I'll freeze them in place with {Draconic Invite: Cocytus}, and prepare my finishing attack. I've never tried to use it before, but I heard that it's a technique that even a Gold-bordered Silver Dragon would have trouble pulling off. Well, here goes nothing, I guess.

"Nene, please finish quickly, we need your help!" (Douglas)

"I assume that Nene is riding that Gold-bordered Black Dragon?" (Astra)

"No, she is that Gold-bordered Black Dragon" (King)

"WHAT?!" (Astra, and probably almost everyone else in the area. I did show off my transformation, right?)

"Please be quiet, I'm trying to concentrate here! OK, so... {Draconic Invite: Ouroboros}... Let's see... They've sunk a few meters into the ground now... Now then... {Draconic Invite: Cocytus}" (Nene)

"Well, if your goal was to stop them from advancing, you accomplished that. Now what?" (King)

"Now, I hit them with an attack, a spell of a magnitude that hasn't been used in several thousand years, not since the original Drachen Conquest, I think... First, we cast and hold {Draconic Invite: Genesis}, then... urgg... this is already tough... do the same for {Draconic Invite: Inferno}, and... arrgh... this hurts... so much... finally, {Draconic Invite: Mjolnir}. GNNRRGHH... This is so hard... it feels like my brain is going to explode... Meld... Strengthen... Compress... And now... {Draconic Invite: Divine Wrath}... Hah... hah... I think... I am barely able to stay conscious... but that won't be... for long... I'm sorry... I said I'd explain... but... I won't be able to... for a few days... at least... and that means... you all... will be stuck here... until I can use {Gate} again..." (Nene)

As soon as I spoke those words, I almost completely ran out of mana. As is expected of casting three consecutive Unique magics, and then combining three more at once... I should mention that combining spells, in other words, melded magic, costs far more mana than casting the two spells on their own. Specifically, combining two spells costs about eight times as much mana as casting them both individually, and combining three costs about 81 times the base cost. Combining four... I don't even want to think about that. Based on the pattern, it'd be about a thousand times what the four would normally take, so... yeesh. In any case, it comes down to me having spend as much mana as if I had cast 84 Unique magic spells. Considering that a single one would need a few orders of magnitude more mana than a single court archmage might have, I'd say it's impressive that anyone besides a God could pull that off... well, I guess that I'm close enough to one that it's less impressive in that regard, but... that means that I'm close to being a God, which is impressive in and of itself. Anyways, back to the fight.

I was running on the last dregs of my mana as I watched a large magic circle appear over the two massive undead that were still stuck in a frozen bog, and then a hail of fire and lightning rained down from the circle, all of it imbued with the power of light, and so massive chunks of flesh and bone were obliterated with each hit. The circle, however, continued to release more and more fireballs and lightning bolts onto the undead, and they gradually were reduced to nothing at all, save for some massive magic stones. As soon as I'd confirmed that, I sluggishly flapped my way back to the main area, and asked for someone to catch me with wind magic, because my Dragon form wouldn't fit anywhere. When a few mages said they would, and I saw them cast the spells to do so, I shifted back and fell into it, and got lowered down to the ground as I fell asleep. I do get the feeling the "great master" will be back later, but... I can't be bothered to care right now...

I woke up in the castle at noon a few days later, and learned from Eleanora that there were no deaths on our side, but there were several hundred people with injuries that would take a long time to heal. The invading army of undead was wiped out, and the hundred or so necromancers, living and dead both, were either dead or captured and held in cells that prevented the use of magic. Everyone was still waiting for me to take them home, and to explain my being a Dragon. Douglas and the King had explained to everyone about my being a part Dragon, part Changeling, mostly humanoid mix, and thus able to shift into Dragon form at will, and they also said that there's a reason why I was certain that I was the only one who could do so, which I would be the one to explain, due to it being a bit personal.

"Uggh... I'm not looking forward to that explanation... I was expecting to have time to draft a speech or something, so to have it be this sudden..." (Nene)

"You know, I honestly don't think it matters if you say it in the most elegant way or not, as you have been asleep for three days and then some, and you'd drained yourself of every last bit of mana to protect everyone. Well, not quite. The A ranked [Goldeneye] Nico looked at your mana, and he saw that you were indeed left with less than a thousandth of a percent of your max mana, but you still had more left in you than anyone he'd ever seen before had as their max. Even so, that's still approximately nothing compared to your max mana, so fainting isn't the worst thing that could have happened... most people would faint when they went below one percent of their max, or a tenth of a percent at most" (Eleanora)

"I know... but still... the problem at hand is the speech... not the amount of mana I have. Also, my max mana is reduced several orders of magnitude when I'm in any form besides my normal one, my Dragon form" (Nene)

"Uh... Why don't we keep that a secret... if people knew that the mana of a court magician was a billionth of your mana as a Dragon, I doubt that they'd stay conscious... So, I guess it's about time you go and make that speech, right?" (Eleanora)

"It's not like I have a choice here... Fine, I'll go..." (Nene)

I went with her to the plains, and people cheered at the sight of me, though I did see some who were looking like they weren't sure what the right thing to do was. My mana control was still a mess, so I couldn't use much magic besides shapeshifting, and thus, I had Douglas cast the voice amplification magic for me.

"Greetings, everyone. I'm sorry for not being able to return you to your homes when we'd hoped I would be able to, nor even being able to give this speech, but I'm here now. I still can't use much magic at all, so for those wanting to kill me, now's your chance... just kidding, I have plenty of guards, and I can still use my shapeshifting and Dragonflame. Speaking of, I'll give you the explanation for what you saw when the undead attacked. First, a bit of other information, to put that all into context. My name is Nene Drachen, and I'm the Empress of the Drachen Empire. Well, I guess the Empire is no more, as of less than a year ago, due to a natural disaster that wiped it off of the map... though, from what I learned after I came here, it's been off of the maps for a few centuries. Anyways, the Imperial Family has had some Changeling blood and Dragon's blood in it for several generations, so you could say that I'm part Dragon and part Demon, but I'm mostly human, with a bit of elf, dwarf, and beastkin thrown into the mix. My natural form, however, is that of a Dragon, Gold-bordered Black. What you see here is just a body I made after some trial and error, and doesn't reflect much of anything besides my preferences. If I wanted to, I could appear taller, shorter, change my hair, eye, or skin color, or even my race, if I wanted to. If I really wanted to, I could probably make myself look like a male, but I have no reason to do so, and besides, I like this form, I'm not going to change it, save for my age. It's also somewhat tiring to change forms, and it's rather problematic to try to move in a body that's suddenly ten centimeters taller, for instance. I mean, imagine if you grew that much overnight, and then tried to run in a race, fight with a sword, or even do a bit of farm work. You'd be off balance, and you'd be moving farther than you intended" (Nene)

There were some people who looked like they were probably wondering how I might look as a male, and more than a few who I could tell were thinking about what it would be like to have a wife that could and would change herself to suit her husband's desires. I won't do that for you or anyone but Yuna, thank you very much. I'm not interested in guys, nor am I wanting to think about my love life in regards to anyone but her at the moment. Of course, I'm not going to say anything like that here, but...

"I have a few other things to say. First off, Dragons like myself do, in fact, change rank as they mature, despite common beliefs that I've encountered. I myself was born Gold-bordered Purple, but I ranked up to Gold-Black a few months ago. Now, most of the time, a Dragon will first rank up after they reach 40 or higher, and the earliest recorded rank up was at 27. Based off of the pattern that these kinds of rank changes follow, I'll either end up capping out at Gold-bordered Silver in 25 or so years, or I'll end up reaching the domain that we Dragons call our Gods, the Dual-bordered scales. I'm not going to say that the name of God Dragon should have what it refers to changed to reflect that, but Dragon God and God Dragon are two different things. If I become a Dragon God, it'll be when I reach 75 years old or so, and I'd end up reaching Dual-bordered Red, give or take a rank or two, depending on how the pattern holds and other factors. Any questions?" (Nene)

A large man with a massive sword on his back moved to the front to ask his question after I pointed at him when he raised his hand.

"Uh, yeah, I have one. I thought Dragons were monsters like Wolves, Orcs, and so on? Don't they dislike humans and such, and attack on sight?" (Man)

"No, not quite. While we are monsters, magic stones included, we have the ability to reason and communicate, and so we don't eat or kill people or their livestock, at least, those who don't attack us, with the exception of when we go mad with age, which rarely happens, or by the effects of a curse or someone's control. I guess you haven't been to Crimonia in the last half year or so, have you? I have a shop there where Dragons and humans work together. I think I mentioned it in my first speech, but... whatever, I may have forgotten to, or maybe some people didn't remember it. It was a bit of information that wasn't very important in a long speech, which I am sorry about. It's like the author of this story wants to pad his or her chapters or something, because I normally wouldn't make a speech this long. I do have some... what's the word... stage fright? Social anxiety? Whatever the term, I dislike speaking in front of large crowds. Any other questions?" (Nene)

"Yeah, are you currently single?" (an ikemen I found rather creepy with his lustful expression)

"Yes, but it's none of your business, and you don't have any chance whatsoever, whoever you are" (Nene)

"So, does that mean there's a guy you like already?" (Noblewoman from Ordesia)

"No, it doesn't" (Nene)

"Then, does that mean-" (Lustful ikemen)

"I'm not going to answer any more questions in regards to my romantic affairs. When and where I grew up, it was rare for people to marry before 16 or so, so I'm not thinking about that now. Now, any questions on the subject of my heritage or my time as an adventurer, or other things like that?" (Nene)

"On the subject of your heritage... What are your plans on passing on your imperial bloodline?" (Ikemen)

"Excuse me... I think that I forgot to take out the trash this morning. I'll go fix that" (Nene)

I jumped into the crowd, picked the guy up by the neck, and jumped out of the crowd.

"Amber, please sit on this idiot... gently. If he tries to annoy me again, I wouldn't mind it if you gave his arm a light burn or a scar or something like that" (Nene, perfectly aware that I could be heard by everyone)

"You... do realize... that that's Count Ferdinand's son, right?" (King)

"I didn't realize that, but it wouldn't change how I deal with him. He asked a rather personal... or perhaps the better word is private... and irrelevant question twice, even after I had explicitly said that I wouldn't answer questions like that. How would you feel if someone was asking Flora if she had someone she was wanting to marry while in front of a group of thousands of people from all over the continent?" (Nene)

"... I see your point. Count Ferdinand, please do something about your errant son's conduct later" (King)

"Understood... Also, Nene, you seem to have a great deal of familiarity with His Majesty... Is that because of your being an Empress or because of your being a strong adventurer, or something else?" (Count Ferdinand)

"It's more due to my dealing with a monster horde because they were in my way as I was passing through... and then winning the tournament... and then the hour-long war with Regulus... and then a few other things happened, and him taking a liking to my food. My mother was right, the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach, not that I'm into married men several times my age" (Nene)

"You didn't have to add that last part, you know... I like good food, that doesn't mean I want to marry every good chef that comes my way. You're probably the same" (King)

"I was just making a joke. It's a habit of mine, where the more stressed I am, the more I make jokes in situations that shouldn't normally be humorous... sorry... Though, there is one great chef I like in a romantic way, though I don't know her feelings, and it's not really because of her cooking at all" (Nene)

Oh shit. That... that just slipped out... hopefully nobody noticed those pronouns, or if they did, they thought it was just another joke... please tell me that that's the case... though, considering the looks on some people's faces... I think more than a few noticed and didn't think I was joking. Crap. Why did I have to make a speech about myself in front of a large crowd while still not thinking well due to overexertion and such? Oh yeah, because the author decided I should. I really hate this author... can I get a different one, please?

"It's fine, I... wait... I... Well. Uh... That explains more than it doesn't..." (King)

Please don't say any more on the subject... please... I'm begging you...

"Anyways, where were we... ah yes, my familiarity with the King. It's not like I ask him to, but whenever I show up to play with Flora, that is to say, the Princess, or to give her some food or something - both of which she likes and I have permission to do, by the way - he seems to pop up out of nowhere. It's impressive how fast he does so. Even when I use {Gate} to enter the hallway outside of her room, and then instantly slip into said room, he shows up within two minutes. Every. Single. Time. He's not getting word that I'm coming from the gatekeepers or the servants, as there've been several times when I was sure that I got there without being seen, but he just seems to have a sixth sense for my proximity or something" (Nene)

"No, there's just some magic on the castle that lets me know when someone with a large amount of mana who isn't registered enters the castle, and where they are. With that, the more you try to hide it, the more I know that it's you. Now, how about we get back to more people's questions?" (King)

I swear, if someone draws attention to my using "her" for the person I like, I wi-

"So, Nene, tell us about that woman you like. I think that we'd all like to... uh... I, um... I think I have somewhere else to be right now... or something..." (Man)

He shut up and ran because I released enough bloodlust targeted at him to make a Dragon pause, and the others in the crowd noticed a bit of it. I think I may have overreacted, but... I did explicitly say - TWICE - that I didn't want questions about my romantic affairs... Ah, I have an idea...

"For those wondering, I was making a joke when I said that I had someone I like, including the pronouns. As to why he ran, I think he was reminded of Count Ferdinand's stupid son and how he was treated when he asked about my love life or lack thereof. Now, do we have any serious questions?" (Nene, emphasizing "serious")

"Uh... So, we saw some incredible magic when you destroyed those undead... what was that spell? Also, how did you get to be so good at magic at such a young age?" (Template Mage)

"That spell, was magic that is known as Unique magic, or Mythical magic... Well, actually, it was three of them individually followed by three more that were melded into one spell. You remember how my max mana was estimated to be a million or so times the highest that [Goldeneye] Nico had ever seen? Those spells all took out almost everything that I had, even with the thousandfold cost reduction that my Dragon form has for Draconic magic, which is what those all were. In other words, casting a single one of those spells would take the mana of a hundred million or more people who could be called exceptional mages. That's how strong they are, which is why I've used them... well, I think this was the fifth day I've used a single one, and it was definitely the first time I used more than one in a day or melded any of them together. Now, as for how I got to be so good at magic, I... uh... Well, I have no clue, honestly. I've never not been able to use a spell that I wanted to use, until today, when I ran out of mana... So, I can't help anyone with that. I can do what I did for Douglas, which is demonstrate spells and offer pointers on how they could be improved, but that's about it for what I can do to teach magic. I know, it's not fair, but the thing is, it means that I have almost no control over my mana, meaning that I waste far more mana on any given spell compared to the average mage. If one considers a {Fireball} as costing, say, ten mana for a normal mage - one who has a good amount of control, the level that one would normally have once they could use B ranked magic - I would use more like two hundred mana on the same fireball. I have absolutely atrocious fuel consumption as compensation for my talent" (Nene)

More questions were asked and answered, and two more people joined the Count's son in enjoying a great view of a Dragon's tail, as well as one who enjoyed some time riding a Dragon (lashed to his back, actually) while he did some incredible tricks, rolling and looping in the air at breakneck speeds for the rest of the day. What did he do, you ask?

"So, I have a question... What are your three sizes?" (Stupid Idiotic Perverted Ass)

"I have a question for you. What possessed you to make you think that was a good idea to ask that question, and that there might be any chance of me answering it? In addition, what made you think you wouldn't get a worse punishment than the three idiots before you? I hope you enjoy this. I know I wouldn't, despite being a Dragon myself. It's always easier not getting carriage sick if you're the one driving, right?" (Nene)

The guy ran, but I caught him after a few seconds. I didn't care that he was a Duke from Ordesia, nor did his Queen.

"If he were to have asked me that, he wouldn't live to see another day, or at the very least, he wouldn't have had any children, nor kept his title of nobility. You're letting him off lightly" (Queen, said with a vicious smile)

"If he were doing this for a minute or two, yes, but he's going to be doing this until sunset, and whenever he faints, he'll be awakened with magic instantly, and any injuries will be healed if they get bad, but he'll keep the pain. He'll hover between life and death, wishing he could die. Of course, if you still think that's not enough, you could punish him when he gets back to Ordesia. He did ask that question of an S rank adventurer, one with the Seal of the Ordesian Royal Family, and is also an Empress. It's up to you..." (Nene, smiling the same way)

"No, I think that's worse than the worst punishment I know of... I love it. Mind if I ask you to do this for someone every now and then? Only for assassins, corrupt nobles, and so on, of course" (Queen, still bearing that smile)

"Sure thing. Plenty of my Dragons would love the chance to stretch their wings like this every now and then, so I think they'd be fine with it too. By the way, I may as well answer the pervert ass's question, because there's not really any reason not to, now that I think about it. My three sizes are 0-0-0, because this body is just made due to my imagination, so if I wanted, I could have whatever sizes I wanted. Of course, that's not the information that he was looking for, but it's the truth. Even so, I dislike that kind of question. Now, I think that's about enough for now... I'm going to try to rest enough to send you all home soon" (Nene)

A few days later, I had gotten my disorganized mana back under control, and so I was able to send everyone home. Some people were mad at me for taking so long, while others were grateful I protected them, even though it meant that they'd get home later... as if I hadn't, they wouldn't have gotten home at all. Then, there was a group of adventurers who I had met twice before, once when they were perving out over my oppai-loli body, and a second time when they were freaking out over my Dragon body. This time, they were trying to hide the fact that they were still interested in my body, so...

"Well, I have something to ask of you guys... have you fixed your impure desires in young girls as I told you to when we met on the road a while back? No, you obviously haven't... Well, I guess I should roast you if I wanted to always keep to my word, but... Ah, I don't want to be a murderer or anything like that if I can help it, and you are valuable as A ranks. Well, I guess I'll say that that Gold-bordered Black Dragon hasn't had a face-to-face meeting with you, so it isn't 'when next we meet' as it said yet... try to fix that though, or, if you'd like, I'd be happy to use some flames that won't burn you, but would inflict a lot of pain... your choice" (Nene)

As I spoke, they started to tremble, and then one of them ran through the {Gate} and the others soon followed in his footsteps. Well, I guess that answers that question of which choice they're going for. Later, I returned the Queen of Ordesia to her palace, and had a short chat with her there.

"Nene, thanks for being the trigger for me to look into this idiot's misconduct. I'm sure it's not limited to asking your three sizes, but... I hope that I won't find that he's been doing as the former Duke Allstream did, kidnapping young girls to make his sex slaves, nor even pressuring people to have their daughters become his maids and unofficial concubines, as I found one of my Earls did when investigating the Duke. I think you'd be happy to know that the Duke is currently serving as a slave in the household of one of the Baronets whose daughter he'd made his slave, and she has been returned. Sadly, it seems he has over a dozen children by his slaves, so this is a problem we're sorting out as we speak... The children can't have inheritance rights, and the girls have to be compensated... any ideas?" (Queen)

"Well, you could ask the girls old enough to be mothers if they want to raise their children themselves, or if they should be given to an orphanage, and the rest would have their parents or other relatives decide, if there are any. If not, the girl and their children could be taken to an orphanage as well, and raised until the mother decides she wants to raise the child or have the orphanage take care of them. In addition, those who were affected could be given some money as compensation, as well as some to help raise the child" (Nene)

"That's a good idea... The problem is, where would we get the funds for all of that?" (Queen)

"You could take them from the Duke's assets, as part of his punishment... though, that would be punishing his heir more than him directly. Speaking of, has the issue of his succession been resolved?" (Nene)

"Yes, his only child by his legal wife, his daughter, is the heir, with me as an advisor as she's only six" (Queen)

My guild card is as follows. Again, things in (parentheses/round brackets) are only visible to guildmasters, things in [brackets/square brackets] are only visible to guildmasters of a country's capital and to rulers of entire countries, however, I decided that I wouldn't hide them, save for War Deterrent, considering that everyone has now heard about most of them. In addition, the guild added a section for highlighted titles, a perk of the Title Mainiac title, and another section, splitting seals and certifications from notes. I also learned how to see things such as the age at which I joined and reach given ranks, so I'm adding that in. Newly added titles and such are in italics, because there's a lot of them... enough that the author couldn't keep track of all of them, because they are still new to the whole writing thing or something, I don't know. I'm just a character in this story, what do I know about my own author? I've never met them...

Name: Nene Drachen

Age: 13

Occupation: Draconic Fighter

Adventurer Rank: S (Age joined: 5, Age at reaching current rank: 6)

Commerce Rank: E (Age joined: 12, Age at reaching current rank: 12)

Titles (35?): Wyvernslayer, Kraken Killer, Dragontamer, Worm Wringer, Behemoth's Bane, Wolf Wrecker, Viper Eviscerator, Goblin Gutter, Orc Obliterator, Golem Grinder, Chimera Crusher, Godslayer, God Tamer, Goddess of God Dragons, Title Mainiac, Adamantite Annihilator, Spirit Shredder, Horde Halter, Hobgoblin's Hell, Undead Banisher, Dungeon Master... Hero of the Drachen Empire, Hero of Alayzard, Hero of Erufanica, Hero of Ordesia, Victor of Erufanica's Tournament, Dark Horse of Erufanica's Tournament, Empress of the Drachen Empire, True God Dragon, Shapeshifter, [War Deterrent]

Highlighted Titles: None at the moment, but I'll add them as the situation calls for it.

Other notes: The Drachen Empire had no age restriction on adventurers.

Seals and Certifications: Seal of the Drachen Imperial Family, Seal of the King of Erufanica, Seal of the Ordesian Royal Family, Certified User of Unique Magics, Certified Master Summoner, Certified One-Man Army

Arc 3: Trips, titles, promotions and more fin