We reached the entrance of the forest in just a few minutes. As expected of a fast means of transportation—though it was a bit noisy. I hoped it hadn't woken Samidoride.
After getting off, we took out our weapons and entered the forest. Soon, I detected two life signals to my right.
"Lina, let's check over there."
"Mm."
We hid behind the trees and peeked out, only to see a red dragon playing with a small dragon in a clearing. They were probably family.
"So this is what dragons look like."
It was Lina's first time seeing a dragon. Its appearance—a winged lizard—matched exactly what I had imagined.
According to the quest description, the Black Flame Dragon Samidoride had black scales and a body nearly 100 meters long.
This one was red, and only about 5 meters in size. It wasn't Samidoride. Was the information wrong?
"It's not Samidoride. Let's go."
"Mm."
Just as we turned to leave, a voice rang out.
"You there—come out."
That archaic way of speaking… And then my "Detection" reacted with hostility— is one of the two.
Lina and I turned back to see the red dragon staring straight at us, shielding the small dragon behind it. So it was the red dragon speaking.
"If you do not come out at once, I shall attack you."
Since we still hadn't revealed ourselves, it began to threaten us. The fact that it warned us first meant it could communicate. I decided to step out and show that we meant no harm.
"Hello. We were just passing through and have no intention of offending you. Please don't attack us."
We kept our distance to show we weren't hostile. The red dragon's hostility eased slightly.
"Then why have you come to this place?"
"We're looking for the Black Flame Dragon, Samidoride."
I told it our purpose. It shouldn't be a problem to say it out loud… right? The red dragon questioned us further.
"Why would you seek that aberrant ancient dragon?"
Aberrant? Dex had mentioned before that Samidorid was an exception among dragons—because dragons normally don't attack humans without reason.
And anyone who came looking for Samidoride would only have one goal.
"Of course is hunt it down."
"Hahahaha! Mere humans daring to hunt down an ancient dragon—how laughably arrogant."
The red dragon burst into laughter. From a dragon's perspective, we were probably no more than pebbles—of course it would think we were throwing our lives away.
"Are you going to stop us?"
I wasn't sure whether dragons stood united as a race, but I asked anyway. The red dragon shook its head.
"I have no interest in that. I am busy playing with my adorable daughter."
"That's a relief. Still, the battle might affect this area, so please be careful."
Lina's staff could unleash magic equivalent to three hundred years of power, and ancient magic multiplied that tenfold. The surroundings would definitely suffer damage.
"You speak quite boldly. Very well—I shall choose to believe you. My beloved Lani, what happen? Hm!?"
The little red dragon suddenly wriggled free from the red dragon's embrace and trotted toward us, circling around our feet as if seeking affection.
"My beloved Rani is approaching humans… You two, state your names at once!"
A jealous father, it seemed. There was nothing I could do about that. Lina crouched down and started playing with the little dragon.
"I'm Karen."
"I'm Lina. She's so cute—what's her name?"
"You have good taste. As expected of my daughter's charm. My daughter is named Lanivia Dokamir, and I am Dokamir Plet."
Ranivia Dokamir and Dokamir Plet. Different surnames, yet both contained "Dokamir." The placement was different, but I supposed that was how it worked.
"Do children take their parent's name as their surname?"
"Correct."
Dragon culture differed from human culture, so I didn't dwell on it. Lina had now picked up Ranivia, holding her like a baby.
Still, wasn't Lanivia a bit too small for a dragon? Since we didn't know much about dragon ecology, I decided to ask.
"But Lanivia is really small. How old is she?"
"My daughter was born 13 days ago."
Only 13 days old, yet she could already run over to us on her own. Dragons truly were an incredible race.
"So dragons can move on their own just days after birth? How long does it take them to learn how to fly?"
Lanivia had wings, but she hadn't flown over. Were they not fully developed yet? How long would it take?
"We have no concept of time. She will probably fly soon enough."
"..."
That was a pointless question. He answered her age faster than anyone—what a devoted father.
Watching this, I suddenly wondered if I'd become a doting father myself someday. My thoughts drifted to future life plans—where to settle down, how many children to have…
Then I realized something. We weren't here to make friends with dragons, were we? Ah—right!
"Oh, right! We don't have time to waste. We need to hunt down Samidoride. Lina, give Lanivia back to Dokamir."
I quickly reminded Lina of our original purpose. She had been completely absorbed in making Lanivia happy and startled at my words.
"Ah! She was just too cute—I totally forgot. Mr. Dokamir, I'll give her back right away."
Lina had forgotten too, but that excuse was oddly adorable. She carried Lanivia over to Dokamir.
At that moment, a thunderous roar tore across the sky, and the light above us was blocked. I looked up to see an enormous dragon.
That massive dragon radiated hostility toward us. I immediately rushed to Lina's side to protect her.
"Hahahaha! As expected of a modern dragon breed—mingling with mere humans. What a disgrace to dragonkind."
The giant dragon mocked us as it descended. But what did it mean by "modern dragon breed"? Were dragons divided into classes as well?
"Samidoride…"
Dokamir spat out the name with hatred. I echoed it in shock.
"Samidoride?!"