Chapter 86

At night, at the Perseron base.

All the guild members were gathered, except for Jeanne, who had returned to the castle.

Louise, Colette, Emma, Chris, Yui, Rea, Chanel, and the newcomer Patricia.

Everyone was gathered in the dragon stable.

Incidentally, Patricia alone took up as much space as all the others combined.

I thought, I should build a dragon stable for Patricia soon.

In the midst of this, I turned to Colette and explained the situation.

"So, you'll have more work... Is that okay?"

"How should I do it?"

"I'll deliver the dragon tools I produce in Perseron to Shadowroll in Boarsel. The rest is the same as with the minerals, unload the cargo, receive the payment, and come back."

"Okay, then it's fine."

Colette nodded and accepted it.

"Ah, and one more thing. I want to make new dragon tools for Colette, just for appearance."

"Why?"

"I was also surprised when I heard it from Enrique in Shadowroll, but Colette has become quite famous."

"Huh? Why me?"

"Hahaha, it's like the saying, 'Only the person involved is unaware.'"

"You know about it?"

"Of course. Considering the rise of my dear friend, it's easy to imagine."

"Chris, you're as perceptive as always. I didn't notice until you mentioned it."

"Hahaha, my dear friend is still as oblivious as ever when it comes to herself."

"Maybe so."

I smiled slightly, and Chris laughed even more.

Due to the digression, Colette pouted and bit Chris at the speed of light.

"Stop laughing and explain."

"Hahaha, alright. You understand that my dear friend is now a person of the hour, a celebrity, right?"

"Okay, so what?"

"Her dragon, trained by my dear friend, can handle jobs alone. A dragon that can work without a dragon knight—this has made my dear friend's skills, and you, the dragon she trained, quite famous."

"Really?"

Colette stopped biting and looked at me.

"Yeah, it seems so. But Chris, I don't think you should use the word 'training' so much."

"It's just what people around us think. Besides—"

"Huh? Besides?"

"Some might even be happy with the term 'training.'"

"——! Grrrrr!"

Reacting to Chris's words, Colette bit even harder than before.

If it were a clumsy beast or human, they might have been torn apart, but Chris, being immortal and invincible, was unaffected and laughed heartily.

This is a familiar scene at our home, 'Dragon First,' and usually, everyone would just think, "Here we go again."

"Um... Shouldn't you stop them...?"

"Huh?"

Turning around, I saw Patricia flustered.

I understood. She, the newest addition, wasn't used to this interaction yet.

"It's fine, it's just play-fighting."

"R-Really?"

"Despite appearances, they're good friends. It's almost like lovers' affection."

"——! N-No—because of you, grrrrrr!"

Colette, who was about to argue, suddenly bit Chris even harder, tears in her eyes.

"Hahaha, you're a troublemaker."

"Uuuuuu!!"

"Alright, alright."

I could have left them alone, but since Patricia was still getting used to it, I separated the two and stopped Colette.

"Getting back to the point, because of this, Colette is now the 'face' of our guild."

"Me... the face?"

"Since you'll be seen, I thought it would be good to have appearance-focused dragon tools to look stylish... What do you think?"

"About that... well, if that's the case, I can do it."

"Okay."

I smiled.

I was going to stop if Colette didn't like it, but this seems fine.

"So, do you have any ideas about what kind of outfit you want? I think you know from the dragon tools I made with Emma, but I can make them with quite high precision according to your order."

"Hmm, what should I do..."

"Hahaha, I have a good idea."

"Good idea?"

"Yes, how about a crest? The guild's crest."

"Hmm."

That makes sense, the guild's crest.

I was a bit worried about the direction of the conversation, but a normal suggestion came up.

"It would look like this."

Chris, lying down in a lazy old man's pose, which is uncharacteristic for a dragon, used fire to create a crest on her belly.

She created the Dragon First crest on her belly with fire.

"Interesting, it might be good."

"I think it's good too."

"That's Dad's mark? Then I want it too."

"I want it too, a little."

Emma, Rea, and Chanel said this.

Most of the girls, except for the sleeping Louise, were enthusiastic about Chris's suggestion.

I wondered if dragons liked it, and then I noticed Colette staring at Chris silently—no, with a slightly scary face.

"..."

"Colette?"

"Hey, put a disguise on that one."

"Huh? Disguise... as a human?"

"Yes."

"Hmm, I don't get it, but... okay."

I nodded and cast the disguise skill on Chris.

Chris, a phoenix-type dragon, transformed into a glamorous woman.

On Chris's lower abdomen, there was the crest from before.

"There's no way I'd put a crest there, grrrrrrr!!"

Colette bit Chris for the third time.

"Hehe..."

I couldn't help but smile wryly, not having noticed the crest on the lower abdomen.

"Hahaha, if everyone has the same mark, it won't be scary."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! There's no way I'd put that on!"

"Mark?"

"It's cool, I want it."

"Me too."

Everyone except Colette was enthusiastic, and I was a bit at a loss about what to do.