Chastity-Reversed Hard Mode: Surviving as a Steel-Minded Adventurer in Another World - Chapter 29: Suspecting the Dragon with a Steel Mentality

Chapter 29: Suspecting the Dragon with a Steel Mentality

The dragon’s roar ripped through the air, thundering like the sky itself was splitting apart. The adventurers’ fighting spirit shattered instantly, leaving them barely able to stay on their feet.

There had to be some kind of magical effect woven into that roar—something that stirred up primal fear. Sure, anyone would be scared if a giant kaiju screamed in their face, but being so paralyzed you couldn’t even run? Normally, the instinctive reaction would be to panic and bolt at full speed.

The real problem was what that roar sounded like to me…

『Apologize! I said apologize! Hey! You better say sorry real loud for ruining my game, or I’m not gonna forgive you!!』

“Guh…! What crushing pressure…! My knees are about to give out…!”

“Don’t lose it! If you freeze now, we’re done for!”

The leader and Ursna clenched their jaws, forcing themselves to push back against the fear.

…What even was this? Some kind of surreal comedy skit? That’s exactly how it came across to me. But looking at their desperate expressions made it clear—they weren’t joking. They were deadly serious.

Which could only mean that I alone was hearing the dragon’s voice as that of a bratty kid. A loudmouthed, cocky little punk. And honestly, when it came across like that, there was no way I could feel the same crushing tension of “standing before a mighty enemy.”

Even if—yeah—the thing in front of us was still, without question, a terrifying, world-class monster.

Apparently, I wasn’t going to be frozen in fear like the others. Sure, I was scared—but that was just because a building-sized monster was glaring at me with open hostility. That was natural fear from the situation, not some supernatural effect. Thanks to my [Mental Resistance], the whole “paralyzed by fear” thing was completely nullified.

But then… why was I the only one who could actually understand what the dragon was saying?

…Oh, right. Before I got isekai’d, I’d picked up the [Otherworld Language Proficiency] skill. That was what let me speak Japanese with everyone here without any issues. I just assumed this world had one universal language, but… yeah, that was stupid. Of course it wouldn’t.

Even on Earth, there were thousands of languages. No way this world only had one. And if you broke it down further, even a single country could have regional dialects based on culture or geography.

Come to think of it, the Count once mentioned I was speaking something called “Posh,” the upper-class language. Which meant nobles and commoners actually had different ways of speaking. Obviously, it wasn’t a completely separate tongue—otherwise rulers wouldn’t be able to govern their subjects at all. More likely it was a matter of vocabulary, grammar, and intonation. Kind of like how Japan once had elegant courtly speech.

And yet, I could chat with people in the slums without any trouble. Which meant, even though I thought I’d been speaking plain Japanese this whole time, the skill was auto-translating everything into whatever language the listener was most comfortable with.

So yeah, my brain must’ve been treating the dragon’s roar as an actual language and auto-translating it for me.

But here’s the weird part—why only dragons? Giant-horned rabbits just sounded like regular squealing animals. Maybe the skill only worked on monsters with a certain level of intelligence?

…Not that this was the time to be theory-crafting.

We were in a do-or-die situation. From the outside, it probably looked like we were about to get roasted alive and eaten.

The real mystery, though, was what the dragon actually wanted. It kept repeating “Apologize, apologize,” but… would tossing out a quick “Sorry☆” really solve this? With humans, when someone demands an apology, it usually means they’re after compensation. In plain terms—money.

Back in Japan, my grandpa used to tell me:

“Listen, Yu. Once you’re an adult, never bow your head too easily when someone demands an apology. For adults, apologizing means admitting full fault and agreeing to do whatever the other person wants. If you’re truly in the wrong, that’s one thing. But a man shouldn’t just fold when someone throws out a baseless accusation. …But if you give in to lust, knock up a girl, and she ends up with a baby—then you get down on your knees, beg her parents’ forgiveness, and take responsibility.”

Back then, I didn’t really get the last part of what Grandpa meant—but looking back, it was actually some pretty solid advice. Even if Grandma beat him up for saying it.

Anyway, this dragon was obviously just looking for an excuse to make us bow and apologize. But… was it really okay to just cave in and say sorry?

…Probably not my call to make. Better ask the one in charge.

“Deabolica! The dragon’s demanding an apology! What should we do!?”

“Huh? What nonsense are you talking about…?”

Inside the carriage, Deabolica was curled up tight, arms wrapped around her shoulders, trembling like a leaf. When I asked her, she looked at me like I’d just started babbling in another language. Damn it… she was way too shaken to think straight!

“I’m serious! The dragon’s saying we need to apologize—sincerely!”

“Y-You… have you lost your mind from fear…? I know you’re scared, but snap out of it!”

Deabolica’s nails dug into my shoulder as she shook me so hard my teeth rattled. She was panicking too much to even process what I was saying!

Guess I had no choice but to spell it out for her in more detail.

“Truth is, I can actually understand what the dragon’s saying. From what I gather, it thinks we interrupted its little hunting game—or something like that. It’s really pissed, and now it wants us to apologize. So… what should we do?”

“Why didn’t you say that from the start!? There’s no way you can understand a dragon! And what the hell is a ‘hunting game’!? Damn it, where do I even begin tearing this apart!?”

“As I thought, the fear’s making you confused…! Get a grip!”

“Don’t you dare say that to meeeee!!”

Panting hard, Deabolica clutched her head and crouched down. Still, maybe yelling it out helped—her eyes looked a little clearer now, reason slowly returning. Good. Progress.

“This brat shouldn’t be able to understand a dragon… but then again, he does have that bizarre power to cure diseases. Maybe it’s not impossible…”

She muttered under her breath before finally looking back up at me.

“This ‘hunting game’—could it be referring to that stampede earlier? The dragon was chasing those rabbits as prey, and when we killed them, it got angry?”

“Well, don’t ask me, but… yeah, that sounds about right. I can’t think of any other explanation.”

Though honestly, rabbits seemed way too small for a dragon’s dinner. But maybe thirty of them together added up. Or maybe it wasn’t even about food—maybe it was just playing around. Hunting for fun, not for a meal. That would explain why it called it a game.

“So what do we do then? Just apologize like it wants and hope it lets us go? Or… fight?”

“F-F-F-Fight!? Are you insane!? There’s no way we could win!!”

When I peeked out from behind the carriage and pointed at the thing, Deabolica freaked, grabbed my arm, and yanked my hand down. Her voice cracked as she all but screamed, desperate not to let the dragon think we were showing hostility.

Whoa, girl. Where’d that cool, confident commander from a few minutes ago go?

“But your magic earlier was amazing. If the three of you magicians all blasted it at once, couldn’t you maybe pull it off?”

Deabolica pressed a hand to her temple like she had a splitting headache and shook her head at my cluelessness.

“Not a chance! The strength of magic depends heavily on the difference in mana between caster and target. And a dragon’s mana is on a completely different scale compared to a human’s. Even a future top-tier prodigy like me couldn’t hope to land a fatal blow on that thing. Honestly, across the entire kingdom, maybe only His Majesty the King himself would have enough mana to stand a chance. Not that any of this means anything to a magicless nobody like you.”

“No, I get it. I’ve already learned that the hard way myself.”

“There you go again, spouting nonsense off the top of your head…”

“So basically, high mana also means high magic defense. And for trash-tier mana like mine, even getting grazed by a spell would mean instant death, right?”

“Yes! Exactly that! Look, just shut up and sit still, will you!? A dragon’s breath is basically an attack spell—one hit and you’re done! So be a good boy and do as I say—stay put in the carriage!”

Tch. I’d just been officially told I was dead weight.

Ugh… what now? If I acted on my own, that’d definitely turn into one of those “get scolded later” situations, huh?

Basically, if I used [Influencer] on the dragon the same way I had on the giant-horned rabbit, I could force its mana down to 1. Then it’d be stuck in my trash-tier world, and taking it out would be simple.

But… would anyone actually believe me if I said that?

Well, worth a shot.

“If you leave it to me, I can weaken that thing into the ground and make you guys Dragon Slayers… how about it?”

“Quit spewing nonsense already! What if the dragon actually understands human speech!?”

Yeah, no. There was no way I was going to convince her.

Sure, I could step out of the carriage and nerf the dragon myself, but Deabolica had already told me not to act on my own…

Guess I had no choice. When it came to battle, I was a total amateur. Better leave it to the pros.

『Hmm? I keep hearing little snippets of voices… someone hiding in there? Oh! You’re kidnappers, aren’t you!? Trying to snatch a baby? As the next chieftain, I won’t forgive you, villains!!』

“Whoa!?”

The whole carriage suddenly lurched, and my stomach dropped like I’d been tossed into zero gravity.

No—this wasn’t just floating. The dragon was literally lifting the entire carriage into the air!

…And crap, this was bad. Adventurer carriages were built with a big loading hatch in the back for hauling heavy cargo. If the dragon tilted us upright—

And sure enough. My bad feeling was dead on.

The dragon flipped the carriage vertical, and we all went sliding straight toward the open hatch, about to be dumped out into the sky.

“Yuji!?”

Irene’s scream rose up from below.

Deabolica and I instinctively clung to the seats, hanging on like we were doing desperate pull-ups, barely keeping ourselves from being tossed out the open hatch. But that only seemed to tick the dragon off even more.

『You pests! Get out! Get out already!』

The carriage shook violently, up and down, like a kid trying to get the last chips out of a can. Damn it—if a child does that, it’s cute. When a kaiju does it, it’s nightmare fuel! Save this crap for monster panic movies, not real life!

My hands were already going numb, every jolt threatening to fling me loose. If I fell… from five meters up, plus the force of the dragon slamming the carriage around—worst case, instant death. Best case? Half my bones shattered and a long stay in the hospital.

“U-Ugh…! My hands… I can’t…!”

Beside me, Deabolica shrieked, her grip slipping.

“You damn lizard—let Yuji go!!”

“Irene!? …Tch, like hell I’m letting you hog the spotlight!”

Ursna’s voice followed right after, shouting from below.

“W-Wait—no, there’s no choice! Everyone, help the Guildmaster and Yuji!”

That was the leader’s voice—seconds before the sound of blades being drawn.

Wait. Don’t tell me Irene and the others were actually attacking the dragon to save us?

Oh crap, that was bad! I appreciated the sentiment, sure—but if the dragon let go of the carriage in retaliation, we were gonna be splattered on the ground like pancakes!

『Ouch. Ugh, these weaklings keep poking me—so annoying. What a pain. Hey, why don’t I just smash this carriage? Alrighty, one point for each person I crush! How many points can I get—kyahaha!』

Oh crap. That was crossing a line. And judging from the tone, the dragon was totally serious. I felt the carriage being hauled even higher into the air.

…Fine. Time to step up.

“Wait a sec! There’s a dragon baby on this carriage!”

『What did you say—?』

Nice—caught its attention. I still couldn’t see the dragon from inside the wagon, but I could hear it reacting to my shout.

“You wanna treat it that roughly? If the kid gets tossed out, it’s gonna get seriously hurt!”

『Hmm, true. Gotta take care of little ones. They’re already so rare.』

“Okay, then slowly and gently put the carriage down.”

『Huh~? But why should I listen to a kidnapper? You make me mad, you know?』

What a brat.

No—calm down. Time to negotiate like an adult.

“So you’re saying you’ll just let the kid fall off? Is that fine with you?”

『Hmm. That’d be a problem.』

“Yu—Yuji… Are you really talking to a dragon? All I hear is throat-rumbling…”

Deabolica shot me a full-on “I don’t believe this” look, but there wasn’t time to argue.

“Then you’ve got no choice but to set the carriage down. Gently, okay? Carefully, like you’re handling feathers. Level it out, and then place it softly on the ground.”

『Hah. You’re annoying.』

Even while grumbling, the dragon obediently leveled out the carriage.

Good, good.

Freed from her death-defying pull-up, Deabolica collapsed onto the seat, drenched in sweat, looking like someone who had just brushed against death itself.

Too bad—we weren’t actually safe yet.

I leaned in close and whispered the next step in her ear, rubbing my aching arms as I did. Damn, they felt like they were about to cramp. Not surprising, considering I’d been dangling for dear life the whole time.

A moment later—thud!—the whole wagon jolted. Looked like we were back on the ground. Judging by how the voice still came from above, the dragon must’ve stayed hovering, probably to avoid getting its legs slashed at by Irene and the others.

『See? I put it down. Now release the baby, you kidnappers!』

It urged us to step outside.

Well then—let’s see how this plays out.

Deabolica and I climbed out together, and the dragon tilted its massive head to the side. Honestly, the way it cocked its head was almost comical.

『Where’s the baby, huh? You said there was one on board. Hand it over already!』

“Ah, sorry, but that was a lie. There was never a kid in there to begin with.”

When I casually dropped the truth, the dragon shrieked, 『Liar!』, then swooped down low, snatching up the carriage like it weighed nothing. The gust it kicked up was insane—I could barely stay on my feet.

The beast stuck its snout into the loading hatch, eyes darting around like it was peering through a kaleidoscope. After checking every corner and realizing no baby was inside, its temper snapped. With a furious roar, it slammed the carriage into the ground, flattening the frame in an instant. One wheel popped off, rolled a few steps, and wobbled on the dirt—like the wagon’s final death rattle.

Then those vicious dragon eyes locked right onto me.

『You dared trick me!? Me, the great Red Dragon—fooled by some measly human!?』

“M-My deepest apologies! Please, please spare my life…!!”

And no—that wasn’t me.

That was Deabolica, throwing herself forward in a desperate dive, landing flat on the ground in a groveling bow.

Hey, hold up! That wasn’t the plan I whispered to you!

Weren’t we supposed to go with my strategy—me tossing out a cheeky, “Sorry~☆, there, I apologized, satisfied yet?” to bait out its breath attack, then you blocking it with your barrier spell, giving everyone the perfect chance to strike back?

What the hell happened to my flawless plan!?

I opened my mouth to protest, but before I could get a word out—

“Shut up!!” Deabolica screamed at me.

“Just laying eyes on the great form of Lord Dragon and even thinking of resisting is madness! You there—drop your weapons! We humbly beg your forgiveness, Lord Dragon! For lowly worms like us, simply being allowed the honor of your presence is a blessing beyond measure!! Now drop those weapons! I said drop them!!”

Even as she barked orders at the adventurers, Deabolica stayed flat on the ground, plastering on a greasy, sycophantic grin while showering the dragon with over-the-top flattery.

“Ohhh! Could it be!? That glorious body color… surely you are none other than the exalted Red Dragon, hailed as the very incarnation of Brishav Island itself! Please forgive my body for bowing down of its own accord! The divine radiance of someone as noble as you—my eyes can’t withstand it! Ahhh, nooo! My eyes, my eyes are burning away! Your majestic figure has been branded into my brain, becoming an eternal memory of glory that I shall never, ever forget!!”

Wow… so shameless!

I’d seen beggars in the slums since coming to this world, but this? This was on a whole different level of pathetic.

The adventurers stared at her with sheer disgust, but Deabolica just kept rubbing her hands together, spewing flowery nonsense without a shred of pride left. One by one, the adventurers started tossing their weapons aside.

…Well, yeah. After watching their guildmaster grovel like this, risking their lives for her must’ve felt like the world’s worst joke.

Only Irene and Ursna refused to drop their weapons, still glaring at the dragon with sharp, cautious eyes.

And the scary part? The dragon actually seemed to be eating up Deabolica’s flattery.

“Indeed… I am the next chieftain, born heir of the Red Dragon King, A-Dragh Gogh, ruler of the entire Drayg race. You tiny creatures—be grateful for this audience. Bow your heads before me…”

…So you can speak human language.

The dragon’s voice rolled out like thunder, rumbling deep in the belly of anyone who heard it. And that pompous tone—seriously? I already knew what your real voice sounds like, brat. Who are you trying to impress?

Flat on the ground, Deabolica went “Heheee—!” while tugging frantically at the hem of my pants, basically saying “Bow, you idiot!”

…Ah. I get it now. She must’ve seen me communicating with it and realized flattery might work.

A few seconds ago, she thought it was just some incomprehensible monster and was terrified. But once she realized it could actually talk, she switched gears and went straight into brown-nosing mode.

You… seriously? This is the Guildmaster of an Adventurer’s Guild?

“Oh great one, please forgive this fool’s insolence! This wretch is so pitiful he lacks even the ant-like intelligence to recognize the difference in power between himself and your greatness! Living itself is a sin for one so stupid! That’s why he dared to try deceiving someone as magnificent as you without knowing his place! But surely a being as great as you would forgive such a worm. Showing mercy even to such a fool—that is what befits a true king! So please—at least spare my life!!”

Make up your mind already—are you begging for my life or throwing me under the bus?

“Grrr… very well. Looking closer, you’re just a puny little being without even a shred of mana… not even worth directing my anger at. Go forth in my name and spread word of my majesty instead…”

“Haha—yes, of course!!”

And hey—don’t just casually decide my fate for me!

Also, judging people purely by their mana level? Seriously? Mana harassment much?

…Crap.

This dragon introduced itself as the next chieftain, right? Yikes. The future of the dragon race was looking about as shaky as Deabolica’s plan to seize the Central Parliament.

A chill ran down my spine like Deabolica had somehow multiplied into two copies.

While I watched in stunned silence, the dragon and Deabolica kept chatting away like old friends. Well—“chatting” meaning Deabolica kept showering it with compliments while the dragon nodded along, looking more and more pleased with itself.

Finally, the dragon snorted a puff of steam and gave a deep nod.

“Even among humans, there are those who understand proper respect… I shall revise my view of your kind…”

“What an honor your words are…! If it were possible, I would gladly serve as your loyal retainer! But alas, I am only a fragile, talentless human. How could I ever accompany someone as infinitely noble as you? Please forgive my unworthiness!”

Honestly, Deabolica, I think you’d do just fine tagging along with the dragon. Being a professional bootlicker doesn’t need combat skill or political clout.

“Grrr… very well. Etch my majesty deep into your heart, and spread word of my greatness among the small ones…”

“Hahaaa! I have now been granted my life’s true purpose!!”

…Wasn’t your “life’s true purpose” supposed to be becoming a parliament member?

Looked like this circus was about to wrap up. That mood was just settling in when the dragon suddenly sniffed the air—snff snff.

“…Something’s been bothering me. I smell the mana of a water spirit… You’re carrying something, aren’t you? A treasure…”

Deabolica stiffened, lips twitching, and glanced at the adventurers—who, of course, ignored her.

Wait. Don’t tell me—

With a resigned look, she pulled a cloth pouch from her chest and, hands trembling, held it up over her head.

“A-As expected of the great Red Dragon… This is the ‘Springwater Orb,’ an item said to produce an endless supply of water.”

“Hmm… Far too powerful a thing to remain in human hands. I shall add it to my hoard. Fear not—if left among humans it would only spark needless conflict. Under my care, no such trouble will arise…”

Deabolica buried her face and bit her lip hard. When she looked up again, the smile plastered on her face was all groveling and forced cheer.

“Ah… it’s the greatest honor…”

Ah—so that’s how it worked.

She’d just let someone toy with something precious to another, then call it the highest privilege. Enough already. How warped did you have to be raised to become that blind to other people’s pain?

Even if things looked smoothed over here, she’d just end up doing the same thing somewhere else to somebody else. If she truly couldn’t feel other people’s hurt—

“I’ll teach you some manners in place of your parents, you damn dragon.”