Chapter 103
“This is paradise,” the Storm Dragon Su-chan leaked out with a sigh .
“Right?” the Land Dragon Ra-chin voiced his agreement right beside him .
The place Su-chan and Ra-chin were currently taking it easy at was the large bath inside Lily Garden . Three tubs had been set up in a row with Pi-tan on the far right followed by Ra-chin and Su-chan . They were each being washed by Claire, Ellis, and Reeve respectively . Because of Pi-tan’s hard shell and Ra-chin’s scales, Claire and Ellis had to use a towel to scrape away any dirt or grime . Su-chan however had no scales . That’s why Reeve was able to clean him with just the palm of her hand .
“Great answer . ”
Su-chan suddenly leaked out those words with half open eyes .
“What is Su-chan?”
“Ah, I was just thinking about how I chose Reeve . It was a tremendous victory . ”
Reeve was a little confused .
“What do you mean?”
“Reeve’s boots . They’re made from leather I shed off a long time ago . They looked like they were maintained very well, and I imagined what it would be like to be taken care of in the same way . It’s awesome . ”
At the unexpected revelation, the other four girls’ attention all suddenly focused in on Su-chan . The dragon themselves didn’t understand why though .
“Ra-chin’s dark mithril scales would be better wouldn’t it?”
“No, Su-chan’s leather can bring out some outrageous abilities, so maybe?”
It stands to reason that Reeve’s boots’ Falcon ability is because they were made from Storm Dragon hide .
But Claire had another question .
“Dark mithril or Storm Dragon leather, would a blacksmith be able to process them normally?”
“Not a regular one at least Claire . It takes magic power to process our materials,” Ra-chin shook his head .
“As long as they understand the magical flow, you can soften the materials enough that, for a time, they can be molded by even human hands . ”
Ellis looked around her when the term, ‘magical flow’ came up . It was something she had never heard before, but judging by the look on everyone else’s face, neither had any of them . Claire was the one who had to actually voice that curiosity .
“What do you mean by ‘magical flow’?”
The response from the two dragons was less than ideal .
“I don’t know . ”
“Magical flow is how magic power flows through something . …… . . I’m sorry Claire, I’m not really sure what it is either . ”
Thus when it came to magical flow, it became the newest homework assignment for Ellis and Claire .
After everyone was finished with their baths, Pi-tan and Ra-chin got cozy in their basket beds .
“Is Su-chan alright with this?”
Reeve set up her dragon’s bed in a shallow tub with a soft cloth .
“It’s sufficient Reeve . ”
Su-chan fluttered his wings a bit and made himself cozy in his new bed . He sat back on his hind legs, rolling sideways, and hid his head and tail underneath his wings .
“Good night then . ”
Reeve waved good night while Frau turned off the living room light .
And then that night .
“Hey Reeve, how did you feel after becoming a Dragon Maiden?”
“Hmm, I think it felt really good Mistress . ”
“Then I suppose you’re going to be bragging to Claire, Frau, and Katie from now on then . ”
“No, I would never do that . But I do feel a little sorry for them . ”
“This liar girl is in need of some serious punishment . ”
Wrong…… . you’re wrong………… Ahhhhhhhn……… . Mis… . tress……… . auu…… . .
“Hey Ra-chin, what are Reeve and Ellis doing right now?”
“Well, I’m not sure . Don’t go asking Reeve and Ellis about it thought . ”
“Okay?”
“Ah, it looks like Ellis is heading to Frau next tonight . ”
“So it’s not something purely between Dragon Maidens?”
“Hahahahahah”
Thus Ellis’s evening continued .
And then the morning inevitably came .
While Ellis and everyone else were having breakfast, a message came the Merchant Guild guild master Maria . A investigator from Skycastle has arrived, and they were looking to perform a tax audit on Ellis Finance and Claire’s Design Office . They would be arriving at the Merchant Guild shortly . Everyone with the exception of a cat girl scrambled to gather the books and records .
“What’s wrong Ellis?”
Suspicious for why things had suddenly gotten noisy, Ra-chin suddenly spoke up .
“We’re taking measures to prevent you from becoming an issue . Do you want to go sunbathing in Cross Town while we’re gone?”
“No, I want to come with you . ”
Su-chan and Pi-tan were nodding their heads right beside him . So the five girls finished cleaning up their half finished breakfast before running to the Merchant Guild .
“Reeve, Ellis, Frau, just to make sure, there’s nothing wrong with your books right?”
Ellis Finance records were always reported to the council through the Merchant Guild . All of her taxes were paid afterwards directly to the city . Meanwhile Claire’s Design Office turned in all of their books and paid their taxes to the city’s Workshop Guild . So as far as Maria was concerned, both businesses paid their dues . The problem was that this obviously wasn’t about taxes . The capitol was finally responding to the news of the guardian dragon . So the books had to be perfect . Any smudges on the record would be another weapon the capitol would use against them .
So Nicole and Frau worked together and scanned through both records thoroughly while the others sat on a nearby couch tense .
“Everything looks fine . ” Nicole’s words caused a collected sigh of relief to run through everyone in the room . And just in time too as a guest for Maria walked in on their own at the moment .
“Sorry to be rude, but I’m from Skycastle, here to perform an audit on Warren’s newest businesses . ”
With prior notice, the sudden entrance wasn’t a surprise . But what was a surprise was the person who came in . It was Robert, the tax official the girls had met in Wheat Grace along with a second special guest .
“Duke Marsfield!?”
Neither Maria nor the Jewelry Box girls could hide their shock .
“Uwahahaha! The castle was making a move, so I thought I’d go on a little vacation!”
The Duke found the girls’ reactions hilarious and gave a laugh far more lively than what he usually gave while he was on the job .
“By the way Ellis, if you manage to pass through this audit successfully, will you show me around Warren?”
Ah, right . The five girls didn’t have any problems with the Duke, so they were all prepared to show the Duke a good time . But then he had to bring up the audit… . .
“We were just organizing the books to make your job a little easier,” Maria lied in a sweet voice .
But Robert wasn’t stupid . Nor did he really care . He was here to do his job, and so long as there was nothing wrong with the numbers, he wasn’t going to release any information .
“Is that right? Well then I’ll now be performing a tax examination for the newly form Ellis Finance first . ”
Robert got to work immediately without saying much else . He compared the books the Merchant Guild kept to Ellis’s own books, making various marks here and there . The five girls waited patiently together with their pets napping on their laps .
After three hours, Robert closed the books and began scribbling some notes down into a notebook . The contents were about an additional tax to be placed as a fee for the income the representative–Ellis–made as an adviser for the Thieve’s Guild .
The amount wasn’t much, and according to Robert, it was a natural miscalculation . So long as it is paid, the rest of the books were squeaky clean .
“Well, since we’re working together like this, perhaps you could give me a small souvenir?”
Robert placed his notebook down with a wry smile . In other words, the fact that there had been something wrong was more believable than if there had been nothing wrong at all . It looked much less suspicious which left Robert with nothing else to do than ask directly for his ‘souvenir‘ .
Robert corrected his posture and stretched out his arms .
“Facades aside, the real reason I’m here is to investigate the rumored guardian dragon of Warren . I’d really like you to tell me the behind the scenes truth . ”
Maria gave the five a troubled look . She wondered what they were going to talk about .
But Robert was going to continue directing the conversation .
“First off, I’d like to confirm that your guardian dragon actually exists . ”
The girls weren’t sure what to say . Ellis in particular was troubled on what to say, but there was no reason to hide the truth .
“Robert, the guardian dragon Ra-chin is right over here . ”
Ellis pointed a finger towards the half awake lizard who had been enjoying having his stomach rubbed for the past three hours .
“Ellis, perhaps I didn’t make myself clear, but I promise as long as you cooperate with Skycastle, they shall leave you alone . ”
Robert gave the natural response towards the natural assumption that Ellis was screwing with him, but that response caused Ra-chin to finally stir and turn his head towards the tax investigator .
“What a rude human . Are you saying that you can’t trust what my Dragon Maiden is saying? And after Ellis humored you for so long . ”
His voice was directly transmitted to Robert’s mind, making both him and the Duke jump .
“Ra-chin, we should take you to the city square . ”
“If Ellis is saying so, I suppose it can’t be helped . ”
Ellis held out the little yellow lizard to Robert and the Duke before directing them the square .
Ra-chin’s original Land Dragon form was revealed in the same area that he had made his grand entrance earlier . And this time it was Duke Marsfield and Robert didn’t know what to say .
“Do you understand now, puny pathetic humans?”
Both of the men silently nodded their heads .
However there was one person who wasn’t finding this scene very interesting, and he was currently clinging to Reeve’s chest .
“Reeve, why are those guys marveling at the bastard so much?”
“Oh, it’s because Ra-chin is Warren’s guardian dragon . ”
“What? Isn’t that discrimination? I’m a dragon too . ”
“Oh it’s nothing like that . Ellis is technically bound to Warren now, but Su-chan and I are free . ”
Maria was standing about two feet away from Reeve, as speechless as the Duke and Robert . But her reason was a little different .
“Reeve, why are you talking to your breasts?”
Su-chan peeked his head out from underneath his wings and took a look over at Maria .
“Reeve, who’s that woman over there?”
“That’s Maria, one of our benefactors . Try and be a little more polite Su-chan . ”
“I understand Reeve . And although I am a little nervous, let’s do this . ”
Maria and Reeve both stiffened at the conversation, but for obviously different reasons . Su-chan peeled himself off of Reeve’s chest and jumped onto Ra-chin’s back . After a second of silence, a full-sized Storm Dragon had appeared right on top of the Land Dragon . It was like a large dragon umbrella .
Despite the cute imagery, the citizens of Warren were just a little panicked at a dragon unexpectedly showing up in the middle of town . Half of the people crowding the square started a stampede as they fled for safety while the other half got on their knees praying to the Land Dragon to protect them .
“Duke Marsfield, it’s dangerous!”
“Forget me, start an evacuation Robert!”
The Duke’s guards moved immediately, turning themselves into a wall between the Duke and the suddenly appeared Storm Dragon .
“Su-chan, stop scaring everyone!” Reeve ran in front of the frozen Maria, wildly waving her hands over her head . Su-chan then made a sudden declaration to everyone who remained in the square .
“I am a friend of the Land Dragon! Because I will be assisting him in the protection of this city from now on, you may call me, Su-chan!”
Thus Warren’s guardian dragon became a two dragon job .
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