Volume 5 Chapter 26 Don't Think You Can Handle the Foolish Princess Just Because You're the Hoardspirit Dragon!
Ferl, the Jeweled Ice Sea Domain, has a shipbuilding area at its entrance. Beyond that, everything is sea. Unlike typical dungeons, where you progress through areas one by one, this map is circular. You must conquer the outer areas to move inward, and each time you do, the difficulty of the inner areas decreases.
Put simply, if your ship and crew are skilled enough, you can go straight from the pier to the final boss area.
Since everything is sea with no land, there's nothing blocking the path between areas. Normally, dungeons require you to defeat the boss of an area to proceed, but here, you can move deeper without defeating them.
This demands considerable skill—an undeniable fact.
Now, what happens when Horace, arguably the world's most skilled engineer, builds a ship? Well, it's not just "easy"—it's downright ridiculous.
"Whoooooa! Whoooooa! Mghyaa! You did this, you jerk!"
The inner seas, where difficulty hasn't decreased, are filled with huge waves. Of course, the *Jolly Roamer* pirate ship isn't so fragile that it sinks.
Plus, it barely rocks.
However, some monsters' attacks do cause the ship to jolt.
When that happens, the excited Lucia tumbles over in the stormy sea, flips out, and blasts the monsters with her rocket launcher.
"Yikes... that's rough."
"What are you saying, Ms. Nousa? A lively child is the most precious thing there is."
"I was stupid to ask Ms. Ellie about this."
"Affirming everything about a child... I don't get it."
"Little Deus, you wouldn't understand, would you?"
Nousa, Ellie, and Deus stood on the deck, watching Lucia's antics.
Still, Ellie, being a lolicon, was delighted, Nousa's cheeks twitched, and five-year-old Deus seemed too young to grasp the concept of lolicon.
Deus's thinking is based on Horace's knowledge, but it'll take time for him to understand "fetishes."
...Well, it's not good or bad—just classified as "something awful."
"...So this kid is a descendant of *that guy*. Is this the way of the times?"
"""!?"""
A voice reached the three of them.
When they turned, Hoardspirit Dragon Zeth Halcon was flying toward them.
"You're... Zeth Halcon."
"Not a fragment. Could it be the real thing!?"
"..."
Ellie and Nousa were stunned, while Deus remained silent.
"Hm?"
Perhaps sensing the mood, Zeth Halcon looked at Deus... and smiled faintly.
Wrapping his dragon body in magic, he transformed into human form and landed on the deck.
"...What do you want?"
"Ah, I don't plan to fight. I just want to join you for a bit."
"Join us?"
"A 'shut-in acquaintance' of mine is in charge of the final boss of this dungeon, and I just want to visit him."
"I see... We don't sense any hostility, so it's not a lie. Still, it feels odd."
"What's odd about it?"
"Why do you know the final boss of this dungeon?"
"He's usually sealed in the same 'building.' But he's a shut-in there, rarely coming out. I can only talk to him during times like this."
There's no reason for Zethar to lie now. Normally sealed in Cross Palace, he can only leave under special exceptions. Considering he's acting as a normal being, not a dungeon boss, there must be an exception tied to being the 'Four Source Maidens' Keystone Dragon'...
In any case, the person he wants to meet is definitely deeper inside.
"Huh! Who are you!?"
Lucia noticed Zethar.
"Hm? Ah, I'm Zethar, the real Hoardspirit Dragon Zeth Halcon. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Lucia, the Chaos Stone! ...Hmm, I remember a dragon with the same name causing trouble in the Treasure Capital! What's your business now? If you're giving out sweets, I'll take them without hesitation!"
"What kind of logic is that?"
This is truly Zethar's fault. Just because another individual caused trouble doesn't mean they'll bring sweets. It's not like they're delivering a box of sweets as an apology.
"Hmm... but the atmosphere feels different from last time."
"True. Last time was──"
"More of a 'Uooooh!' vibe, but now it's like 'Ahhyaaahahaha!'"
"Someone help me..."
Even explaining it, they don't quite get it.
"Huh, it's strange. 'That guy' should've been a bit more understandable. No, I know bringing up someone's ancestors from a thousand years ago is pointless, but what's causing this?"
Zethar groaned, clutching his head.
Judging by his groan, he seems to have met Lucia's ancestor, a Chaos Stone Dragon from a thousand years ago... no, it wasn't called that then, but anyway, he's met Lucia's ancestor.
And since he says 'it was a bit more understandable,' that ancestor was probably pretty terrible too.
However, even Zethar, who's lived for many years, can't comprehend everything.
Yes, like a princess who's so loved she doesn't understand what anyone's saying.
"..."
Watching this exchange, Deus said nothing.
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