The Red Dragon Just Wants To Do As It Pleases
Chapter 53 - 52: Number 3

Chapter 53: Chapter 52: Number 3

While they were chatting, another dragon fell for the trap.

It was as if fate was slapping them in the face, repeatedly and hard, after they had captured only one dragon despite half a month of toil.

But to fall for it when they were so close—how incredibly greedy and utterly stupid must it be?

David hadn’t even caught sight of the dragon yet, but he was already starting to despise it from the bottom of his heart.

The triggered Dragon Cage was less than two hundred meters away. David and his group of dragons hadn’t even had time to discuss whether they had caught another Red Dragon, or perhaps still a Red Dragon, or maybe, just maybe, another Red Dragon, when the answer was revealed before them all:

A Brass Dragon that had been so startled by their arrival that it jumped on the spot, then huddled in a corner of the cage, all limbs in the air, frantically clawing and baring its teeth at them.

"ROAR!... GURGLE GURGLE GURGLE," it bellowed at David and his fellow dragons, opening its wide, flat mouth in a show of intimidation. Unfortunately for it, its inner fear was betrayed by the fluid continuously shooting from its cloaca. Due to the angle and gravity, this fluid described a parabola before landing right back in its open mouth—effectively recycling its own fear-induced discharge.

"..." David and his dragons were dumbstruck by the absurd spectacle before them.

"Damn, that’s impressive, bro, AW!" exclaimed Mofei, an inexperienced White Dragon, only to be smacked on the rear with a whip by his keeper, Kraidian.

But David noticed more details:

The Dragon Bait in the cage, which David had prepared, hadn’t even been touched before it was crushed into a pulp with a single step.

Combining that with the captive’s identity as a Brass Dragon, a preposterous but true answer immediately presented itself.

This adolescent Brass Dragon hadn’t fallen for the trap out of hunger. It was purely because it was passing by and decided to eavesdrop on their dragon gossip... It got so engrossed trying to get a peek at the ’crime scene’ of ’The Evil Young Red Dragon and His Three Hundred Elf Lackeys Abducting a Female Dragon in the Woods’ that it carelessly stepped into the Dragon Food bowl, triggering the trap.

David, looking as disgusted as if he’d spotted a maggot in a toilet, waved his tail rather speechlessly and gestured for everyone to return to camp.

They hadn’t planned to mess with these troublesome Metal Dragons in the first place, especially not one with a big mouth like a Brass Dragon.

Seeing itself being ignored so thoroughly, the once terrified Brass Dragon suddenly bristled with indignation:

"Hey! Do you see my dazzling brass scales gleaming under the sunrise?"

"I am a Brass Dragon, you know!"

"And an adolescent one at that!"

"Don’t you feel the slightest bit moved?"

"No way, seriously! Are you really just going to let me go?"

As the Brass Dragon realized none of the dragons or Elves would give it the time of day, it became outrageously furious and played its trump card:

"Aren’t you afraid that I’ll turn today’s events into a ballad and spread it throughout Northland?"

"By then, you might not catch a single dragon!"

"I, Fulatimir..."

Before the Brass Dragon could finish, David, in his Wrath, stopped in his tracks and flicked his tail.

"Damn it! Teach this foul-mouthed thing a lesson. Gag every orifice it can make a sound from, then take it away."

It wasn’t that he was truly afraid a puny Brass Dragon could ruin his plan with mere words. Rather, it was the incessant, grating noise. He felt he wouldn’t find peace unless this dragon, who had practically delivered itself to their doorstep, was taken back to camp for some... re-education.

"Yes!" A group of Elves, already eager to act, immediately turned in unison and moved toward the foul-mouthed Brass Dragon.

"No! What are you doing? WAH! Dragon murder! The Red Dragon is colluding with—MMMPH...MMMMMPH!"

Before long, David’s procession of dragons included a Brass Dragon with a bruised face, watched over by dozens of Elves.

The Elves’ most important task was to prevent the talkative dragon from complaining. It was still attempting to do so through ventriloquism, despite all its air passages being tightly stuffed. The Elves stopped it by hitting it with wooden stakes or prodding its backside with spears.

This was indeed a strenuous job.

Fortunately, the other female Red Dragon captured at the same time actually completely agreed with David’s far-fetched game. Throughout the journey, she needed no vigilant escort and obediently followed the team.

Even as time passed, she began to initiate conversation with Tania, who was also a ’victim dragon,’ and casually asked how Tania, being a Silver Dragon, was captured by David.

This put Tania in a difficult position. Several times she sought help from her brother David with her eyes. However, she only received a look that seemed to say, Dealing with someone so clueless is easy. Just spin her a tale. The thought made her so nervous that she almost cried as she lied:

"I... I was just really hungry at that time and followed the scent of food. I ended up in... no, not my brother’s, but in the Red Dragon’s lair, stealing the food he had stored."

As a Silver Dragon, Tania certainly understood that one lie would require many more to cover it up. However, at that moment, she could only imitate her brother David by turning the truth upside down.

Her words stunned Lizrite, who was also a Red Dragon. She pressed up against Tania’s neck and, somewhat excitedly, followed up with the question, "Did you succeed?"

"Yeah."

"And you went back?" Lizrite seemed to have already imagined the outcome.

"Yeah..." Tania answered every question, like a nervous top student cornered by a tough older girl from the school’s delinquent crowd.

"How long did you do it before he found out?"

"...Five years. I stole food for five years." Tania provided an answer that would shock any dragon to its core.

Even the Elves around them, who were oblivious to the truth, began to believe this version of the story...

Lizrite was stunned for a moment. Then, as if imagining herself in the same situation, she burst out laughing, slapping Tania’s flank repeatedly with her tail and exclaiming, "Well done, you! You’ve got guts that could match us Red Dragons!"

Out of curiosity, she continued to ask, "And in the end, how were you discovered?"

Tania, as if resigned to her fate, glanced at David’s back and sighed. "The last time, I stole too greedily. As it happened, he was hungry too. In his sleep, he mistook me for food and bit down on my head..."

Lizrite was taken aback at first, then seemed to picture a scene almost identical to her own experience earlier that day of biting down on another’s head and refusing to let go.

"...PFFT! HAHAHAHA!" She burst into laughter, rolling on the ground and thumping her tail.

The progress of the entire team came to a halt because of this.

Lizrite no longer wanted to see that ’Unhappy One’—David—giving her that sour look, as if she owed him treasure. She felt as if her entire being had truly come back to life. She nuzzled the somewhat bewildered Tania with her dragon horn and whispered, "What’s your name, sister?"

"...Tania. Yunikasha Tania Patricia Sederponga." Tania, bewildered, gave her full name.

But this was taken by Lizrite, who was at the lowest point in her dragon life, as a sign of trust.

"Tihanadora Lizrite Annastasia Shalonia..." In that instant, she even thought of her siblings. Despite being calculating, they had supported each other to survive. She couldn’t help but reveal her true name, her eyes welling up with tears as she said, "Tania, I really like your candid personality. How about you hang out with me from now on? As long as I, Lizrite, am alive, that lecherous dragon won’t even think about touching a single Dragon Scale of yours."

"...Okay, Sister Lizrite." Tania, looking at David’s tail twitching uncontrollably in front of them from sheer speechlessness, couldn’t hold back her laughter and casually agreed.

And that single word, ’sister,’ went straight to Lizrite’s heart.

Before the return journey was over, the team had acquired a pair of Red Sister and Silver Sister...

"So... if you don’t mind, I, Fulatimir, will be your brother, how about..."

"No!" / "Shut your foul mouth!" Tania and Lizrite retorted in unison.

The Brass Dragon, nearly driven mad from being gagged, had been physically silenced by the Elves.