Translator: Nox

30 - Chapter 30

Dragon Raising the Duke's Family Chapter 30

Seeing Ashil, who was even smaller than he had imagined up close, he sighed.

No matter how desperate they were, how could they attach such ridiculous rumors to this little lizard?

He raised his sword.

"I won't hold back."

"Piiya."

Ashil, with a serious expression like Adelton, swallowed hard.

A fellow knight who had agreed to be the judge raised an arm.

"The match begins as soon as I lower my arm. Then… begin."

"Piiyat!"

The best defense is offense!

As soon as the knight's arm went down, Ashil ran forward. Then, he kicked with all his might.

Even though he was young, he was a Beast-man who had grown up strong in the Beast-man forest, where strength was idolized.

Front paw punch!

Back paw roundhouse kick!

Adelton, who had been standing tall, soon began to be beaten by Ashil.

Each blow felt like a bone-breaking pain. Moreover, it was eerie how he only targeted vital points.

His long-dormant survival instinct surged.

"W-wait! This isn't a sparring match, it's one-sided violence—"

"Piiya!" (Ashil doesn't know things like that!)

It might have been different before the fight, but once it started, there was no mercy. He had to knock him out quickly to stop the fight!

Ashil, with fire in his eyes, chased after him as he ran away.

A terrified Adelton shouted.

"Stop! Stop!"

"Is that a surrender? Then this match is Sir Adelton's loss—"

"Wait, you said not to interfere no matter what. He wants to see this through to the end."

"Ah, that's right. I did. I'll retract the declaration of defeat."

The fellow knight who was judging withdrew the end of the match.

And so, Adelton was thoroughly beaten until dust flew on a rainy day, and was carried away by his colleagues only after he fainted.

"I was wrong, great lizard-nim… It's all my fault…"

He was so beaten that he became a pitiful sight, muttering nonsense as a bonus.

Dylan, who watched the scene with a disgusted face, turned to his colleagues.

"Who's next?"

"I don't think it's me for now."

"I'll go and call the Priest-nim."

As everyone backed away, Dylan reluctantly stepped up as the next contender.

He had a completely dark face, like someone being dragged to their death.

And then, not long after—

"Aaaaaaah!"

Dylan's scream echoed through the training grounds.

Because he had a phobia of lizards, he couldn't even fight properly, and like the previous victim, Adelton, he was only hit in vital points.

They said that a life-or-death battle was necessary to improve one's skills, and this was exactly what they meant…

But he didn't want to go through such a life-or-death situation…

The knights waiting for their turn trembled at Ashil's murderous presence.

"Piiyaaaaaaa!" (Come onnnnnnn!)

The baby dragon, full of confidence from two consecutive victories, shouted at the top of his lungs.

Iokaste's spy, disguised as a maid, carefully watched the scene in the training grounds.

---

"A little lizard is training Munrepe's knights? Ahahahahaha, I've seen it all!"

Iokaste laughed so hard that tears welled up in her eyes when she heard the news.

She had planted a person because she couldn't wait until the banquet, but it was worth it.

"Munrepe's knights just accepted it?"

"Yes. Rather, they accepted the lizard as an honor to fight against, and were sincerely engaged in the battle."

"Even though he's small, he seems to be quite respected."

Iokaste's eyes sparkled as she heard the unexpected story.

"What's his personality like? Is he as violent as the rumors say?"

"Yes."

The spy shuddered, recalling Ashil, who had been hitting the knights' vital points.

"It seems certain that he has no mercy."

"I don't know if Munrepe's knights are weak, or if that Divine Beast lizard is strong."

Iokaste, who trailed off, suddenly tapped the armrest with an interesting expression.

"It's a shame. Why didn't Duke Starepit request a Divine Beast friendly match?"

The Princess, leaning back in her chair, pondered Duke Starepit's decision.

"It would be the easiest way to suppress Munrepe."

"It's probably because he didn't want to make a big deal out of it."

"Duke Starabbit isn't that prudent. He's already asking for a friendly match between the knight orders, saying he'll try to provoke Munrepe."

After thinking for a moment, Iokaste curved her eyes softly and chuckled.

"He's scared."

"Scared… you mean?"

"Yes. If he made a mistake and that lizard suppressed his Divine Beast, the weakest family would change."

Iokaste, drawing out her words, fluttered her fan.

"Besides, Munrepe's knight order was demoted to the weakest after the fall of the previous generation, wasn't it? He must have judged that he could win against that much."

"This is just what I saw and felt…"

The maid, hesitating, conveyed her thoughts as they were.

"Munrepe's knight order didn't seem to be inferior compared to other knight orders."

"So their skills are being underestimated."

Iokaste nodded.

"Well, that could be true. Biante has been stirring up public opinion so much that there's a high possibility that bad rumors have spread."

Then, she suddenly lowered her voice as if amused and chuckled.

"This friendly match will be very interesting. If I were to gamble on who would win, I'd make a fortune."

"Are you planning to go in person?"

"If I don't go, who will?"

Iokaste smiled brightly and stood up from her seat.

"I can't end such an interesting spectacle like this. Let's make the game bigger."

"I'm listening."

"Contact the two dukes and tell them to bring their Divine Beasts to this friendly match."

If they were going to start a fight, they should see it through to the end.

Iokaste intended to watch the power struggle between the two Divine Beasts.

---

Until just before the day of the knight friendly match, Ashil led a busy life.

Eat breakfast and fight the knights.

Eat lunch and fight the knights.

Eat dinner and practice becoming a ferocious dragon while looking in the mirror, then fall asleep.

He ran around all day as if he would never get tired.

Was that why? At some point, a small change occurred in Ashil's body.

"A-are you floating in the air right now?"

It was right after he stepped on a foothold and kicked Adelton in the back.

Adelton was shocked to see Ashil, who should have fallen straight down, staying in the air.

Was he not satisfied with beating him like this and even using levitation magic?

'Why are they looking at Ashil like that?'

Ashil, not knowing what was going on, tilted his head.

Then, he glanced back at the strange sound coming from behind him.

Flap, flap, flap.

Oh my! Tiny wings were moving.

He didn't even know he was flying, even though he was the one moving them. Ashil, deeply moved, covered his mouth with his front paws.

'Ashil is flapping his wings!'

Originally, he had to practice flapping his wings by falling off cliffs or trees.

But it seemed that he had learned how to fly on his own by walking around in the air with more intensity than that!

"Pii…"

Tears welled up in Ashil's eyes. Finally, his life of living with short legs was over.

How many times had he run until his feet were sweaty to keep up with the pace of humans?

Besides, now he could turn the doorknob by himself!

He didn't have to ask passing humans to open the door, or look for a long stick to turn the doorknob. He didn't have to worry about breaking the door!

Of course, he lost his concentration while thinking about that and immediately fell.

"Piiyat!"

Thud! His butt hurt from hitting the floor.

Still, the fact that he had flown for even a few seconds was moving.

From that day on, Ashil began to practice flying diligently.

Flap, flap, flap.

Once he was able to fly for a long time, he practiced flying forward, and then he practiced flying backward.

Then, he practiced flying high, gradually practicing step by step.

Thanks to that, his attack patterns became more diverse in sparring.

It was nothing short of a disaster for the knights.

"Aaaaaaah!"

"I thought I was getting used to it!"