Chastity-Reversed Hard Mode: Surviving as a Steel-Minded Adventurer in Another World - Chapter 30: Putting the Dragon in Its Place with a Steel Mentality

Chapter 30: Putting the Dragon in Its Place with a Steel Mentality

“W-What… did you just say, little one…?”

Whoa there, Mr. Dragon—trying to sound all dignified, but your fragile pride is leaking all over the place. If that oversized body of yours makes it hard to hear me, then fine, I’ll say it again.

“I said I’ll discipline you in place of your parents. You’ve grown big in body and attitude without any real education, and honestly, it’s pathetic.”

“Y-Yuji! You bastard! All my hard work—! N-No, great Dragon, you misunderstand! He’s saying that on his own! I have nothing to do with this idiot at all…!”

Deabolica scrambled to cover for herself, but I waved her off and tilted my chin up at the dragon hovering above.

“There’s no need to suck up to a brat like this. You’re just sitting on power handed down from your parents, bullying the weak to make yourself feel important. So what if you’re the child of the Dragon King? If you’re truly proud of your strength, then fight someone stronger than you. Instead, you pick on the weak and wallow in it to feed your ego. Doesn’t that make you feel ashamed compared to your great parent? Or are you so dense that you need some puny human like me to spell it out for you?”

“Y-You little…!!”

The dragon was so furious it couldn’t even speak—its jaws just opened and closed silently. From that gaping mouth shimmered a visible heat haze, proof its body temperature was spiking fast.

Deabolica clutched her head, darting her eyes between me and the dragon, while the adventurers all went pale. Only Ursna had the nerve to whistle, “Fweee~.”

Well, yeah… I wasn’t exactly one to talk. I’d been running wild off cheats handed down by a god, same as this dragon was drunk on the power and status it inherited.

But at least I never bullied the weak. Well…

“Wait. If I punish you, does that make me the bully here?”

I flashed a grin—and that was it. The dragon finally snapped.

“—You are worth killing a thousand times over!!”

Up above, it spread its jaws wide. Heat gathered in a massive swell inside, glowing so brightly it looked like molten light aimed straight at me.

Ah, makes sense now. That laser spell the mage used earlier—it must’ve been modeled after this breath.

“E-Everyone, barriers up…!”

Deabolica finally barked orders to the leader and the others, telling them to deploy shields.

But… too slow. Even that earth-wall spell from before had needed a long chant.

Meanwhile, this dragon had built up a breath of ridiculous power in seconds. Yeah… no denying it now. The gulf in mana between humans and dragons was astronomical.

“Diiiieeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”

The dragon opened its massive jaws, ready to unleash a blazing breath of light—

[Influencer] – [Mana]

I whispered softly:

“Welcome to the Trash-Tier World.”

Instantly, the light swelling in its throat fizzled out.

What spilled from its mouth wasn’t a laser strong enough to melt the earth, but a pathetic little puff of steam.

“Whh…?”

The dragon’s vicious eyes blinked rapidly as it clutched at its own throat.

A second later, its body lurched midair, wobbling as it lost balance.

“Wha—aaaaah!? M-My mana…! My power’s gone…!?”

It shrieked and flailed, its massive frame plummeting fast.

Ah, so that’s how it was. With wings like those, there was no way it should’ve been able to hover in the first place. It had been using mana to keep itself afloat, just pretending to “fly.” Now, stripped of that all-purpose cheat code called magic, it was being dragged down by good old physics.

“Gyaaaaaaaahhh!?”

The colossal body—easily weighing dozens of tons—smashed into the ground, shaking the earth with a violent tremor.

The adventurers stood frozen, speechless, as they watched the so-called king of the skies come crashing down after suddenly losing all its mana.

Even after that massive fall, the dragon didn’t seem to have any obvious external injuries—well, it was a dragon. But its body twitched and flailed weakly on the ground, unable to muster proper strength. Definitely not something you’d want to approach carelessly.

The dragon spotted me through its thrashing and locked eyes on me, fury blazing bright. With one claw it pushed itself halfway upright, glaring with enough killing intent to swallow me whole.

“W-What did you do to me…!? Where did you take my mana!?”

“I sealed it. No more breath, no more flying for you.”

“Mana-sealing magic!? Impossible—! To suppress a dragon’s mana, a human would need absurd amounts of mana and a massive ritual… And you—you don’t even have a speck of magic power!”

“Exactly. Which means you’re just like me now. You’ve fallen to the level of a mana-less lizard crawling in the dirt. How does it feel, ex–Prince of the Skies?”

“GRAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!”

With a roar, the dragon suddenly heaved its torso up, swinging one massive arm high.

“Don’t mock me!! If I kill you, the seal will break!!”

Yeah, figured as much. Even without mana, the raw strength of that massive body was still a deadly weapon. One swipe of those claws and I’d be ripped apart instantly.

“Yuji!?”

“Eugene!”

Irene and Ursna rushed in, leaping toward me—whether to shove me clear or throw themselves in front as a shield, I couldn’t tell.

It’s okay, really. You don’t need to do that. But… thanks.

Even as I was knocked flat onto the ground, my eyes stayed locked on the dragon—on that arm arcing down to crush me.

[Influencer] − [Arm Strength]

[Influencer] − [Stamina]

With a thunderous thud, the dragon’s arm slammed into the ground and sank in.

Because I’d overwritten its physical stats, the dragon suddenly felt stuck—nailed to the earth as if some invisible force had pinned it down.

Yeah, sure—I’d been training, but there was no way a human could support a body weighing dozens of tons. Replace a giant kaiju’s physics with a human’s, and it collapses under its own weight. No surprise there.

“Gaah… I-I… I can’t move…!? M-My strength… it’s gone…!?”

“You really loved thrashing around, didn’t you? So I made your strength and stamina human-level. Now you can learn what it’s like to be weak.”

I patted Irene and Ursna on the arms to get them to step back, then slowly pushed myself up.

“Waaahhh! It hurts! It hurts so much! My body’s creaking! Help me… somebody help…!”

The dragon wailed and screamed in real pain, its lofty, arrogant tone gone. It had no dignity left.

“Pain, huh? Oh—right. I didn’t think about the fact your own weight would be crushing you. Fine by me.”

“No, no, no—please! Not like this! It hurts, it hurts! Waaahhh! Please forgive me!”

“Nope. If I put your power back, you’d try to kill me, wouldn’t you?”

“I won’t! I won’t kill you, I swear! Help me—I’m being crushed! Waaahhh! Help me, Mama! Papaaaa!!”

I’d thought it was just a big childish brute, but now it was calling for its parents. The wails tugged at the heart a little, but there was no way I was going to spare it. If I let it off now, it’d try to kill us later. It hadn’t felt nearly enough pain to learn a lesson.

“Well, even if your body’s getting crushed, it’s fine—I’ve got potions. If I inject one straight into you, it’ll work like a charm.”

“Y-Yuji… That potion is meant for emergency anesthesia. If you use it without anesthetizing first, the pain will be torture and it could leave aftereffects…” 

The leader warned from the side.

Oh? Really. Well, it only worked via direct injection anyway, so that was the only way I could use it.

“You’re a huge creature. You can handle a little of that, right? Don’t worry—I always use it that way.”

The dragon’s eyes brimmed with fear when they met mine. The adventurers’ faces had gone pale too—maybe I was imagining it. Hard to tell; empathy had been dulled in me by [Mental Resistance], so I couldn’t really read them.

“T-This guy… he’s truly insane…!!”

Rude. I’d lost some empathy thanks to [Mental Resistance], and my [Pain Resistance] let me take torture-level agony like a normal human—well, not exactly normal anymore. Honestly, I was starting to feel a bit like a monster myself.

“Well, what can I say. That pain you’re feeling? It’s just your oversized body crushing itself under its own weight. If you’d stayed human-sized, you’d be fine. So really, blame yourself for growing too big for your own good.”

When I told him that, the dragon squeezed his eyes shut like he’d finally given up.

“I… I can’t go on…”

And in that instant, his massive frame—easily over ten meters long—vanished.

I blinked in surprise. Huh? Did he just… die?

…No, that wasn’t it. 

He was still alive. He’d just shrunk so fast it looked like he disappeared.

“Haa… haa…!”

A little ways off, he was collapsed on the ground. 

His body curled in on itself, arms wrapped tight around his chest, crimson hair hanging down to his waist, drenched with sweat. His clothes were a simple white garment, something like a Greek-style chiton. His skin was scraped and bruised all over.

Proof he wasn’t human: two small horns jutted from his forehead, and a lizard-like red tail poked out from behind.

“S-So cold… It’s freezing… Without the fire spirit’s power, my body feels so weak… so cold…”

The high, flute-like soprano voice trembled, rattling with fear.

The dragon had turned into a child—no older than ten.

Classic fantasy trope: beat the dragon, it transforms into a cute human form.

…Except this time, the “cute form” was male.

“Oh. So you’re a boy.”

Alright then, no need to hold back.

≪Explaination Time!

In high-fantasy web novels, it’s a standard trope: a powerful monster that transforms into a human form! And for some reason, nine times out of ten, it turns into a loli girl! But this world is chastity-reversed, so naturally—it’s a shota boy!≫

Honestly, I hate this trope of turning monsters into people. If you show up as a monster, stay a monster till the end! Don’t try to pander with cuteness! Embrace evil and die with dignity—that’s a monster’s true calling!

…Though yeah, in this case, I guess I’m supposed to reform him, so having him stay pure evil would’ve been a problem.

Still though… a boy, huh. What a buzzkill.

If it had at least been a loli girl with teary eyes begging for her life, I might’ve hesitated a little.

I walked up to the trembling dragon kid, grabbed him by the jaw and cheek, and forced him to stand.

“Don’t think you can fool me by turning into a child. You’re still a ruthless monster.”

“N-Nooo… this is really my other form. Dragons can also turn into dragonoids…”

Huh. So that’s how their biology works?

When I glanced at Deabolica, she tilted her head in genuine confusion.

“She says she’s never heard of that.”

“T-That’s because it’s a secret from humans! If they knew we could turn into dragonoids, they’d look down on us…”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have blurted that out just now?”

“Ah…!”

The dragon kid clapped both hands over his mouth, shoulders shaking nervously.

What a deliberately cutesy act.

“T-This is an emergency, okay? If I died, it’d be a huge loss for the Drayg. I had no choice!”

“Honestly, having an idiot like you as the next chieftain is the real tragedy for the dragons.”

At my calm jab, the dragon kid puffed up his cheeks in a sulky pout.

“W-Who are you calling an idiot!? I’m a Red Dragon! And a boy, too—that makes me super rare and important! I’m called the once-in-a-thousand-years miracle, the living treasure of the Drayg!”

Ah, I see. All that pampering and praise had turned him into a spoiled brat.

I’d thought he was just childish—turns out he literally was a child. So what to do with him now…

Oh, right. Might as well ask the others.

“Right now, killing him would be easy. What do you think? Anyone here want the title of Dragon Slayer?”

“Eeek…!?”

The dragon kid’s face went pale and he trembled like a leaf, while the adventurers exchanged bewildered glances.

“W-Wait—Dragon Slayer!?”

Only Deabolica’s eyes lit up with excitement—but nope, I wasn’t asking her. Sit down.

After a moment’s hesitation, the adventurers answered one by one.

“…Killing a defenseless boy like that—no, I can’t.”

“Killing a humanoid who speaks human language is a hard pass. We’re adventurers, not murderers.”

“Killing a boy would be a loss for the world. Absolutely NG.”

“I have no hobby of killing children.”

“Don’t lose faith in us, Yuji. If we slaughter a dragon that’s already lost its power, how could we ever call ourselves Dragon Slayers? That title honors heroes who faced terrifying threats with pride. It must never become something earned by a coward.”

Alright—unanimous vote: don’t kill him.

You folks sure were softhearted. I kind of loved them for it.

So here’s how I decided to play it. 

I grabbed the dragon kid’s jaw, tilted his chin up, and stared into those emerald-green eyes.

“Everyone says don’t kill, so I’ll spare your life.”

“R-Really!? You’ll forgive me!? Of course—I’m precious and great!”

His eyes lit up with hope. I nodded to confirm.

“Yeah. I won’t kill you. I’ll let you go here. But you’ll stay without mana or strength—survive out in the wild like that.”

“Huh…?”

“You don’t understand how it feels to be weak. Become someone small, and learn that pain. It would be tragic if the head of your clan couldn’t feel for the weak.”

The hope in his eyes vanished in an instant. The dragon kid trembled, shoulders shaking, and looked up at me.

“I-I’ll die. There’s no way I can survive in such a weak body without mana…! Even a giant-horned rabbit could beat me like this…!”

“With a weapon, you’d manage. I survived six months hunting those things myself.”

Since he had my physical stats copied over, all he really needed was a spear and a shield and he’d be fine. I hadn’t touched his agility or toughness, so honestly, he probably had the edge over me.

“Don’t worry, I’m not a complete demon. I’ll give your mana back eventually. Hmm… let’s say fifty years.”

For a dragon’s lifespan, that should’ve been nothing. At least, that’s what I figured—but the dragon kid’s face went ghostly pale.

“F-Fifty years!? That’s basically my whole life! I’ll be an old man by then!”

“You’re exaggerating. Dragons live, what, a thousand years? Fifty’s nothing.”

“Are you stupid!? What do you think Drayg are!? We only live about seventy years at best!”

Wait—what? I shot Deabolica a look, but she just shrugged.

“No idea. Nothing about dragon biology is known. All we’ve ever heard is they make nests in the mountains, raid castles and cities from time to time, and hoard treasures.”

Huh. So that was it?

But if their lifespan was only about seventy years, that was basically the same as humans…

…Wait a second.

“…Let me ask you one thing. What exactly did you mean by ‘hunting game’?”

“Eh—ah, um… you heard that…?”

The dragon kid instantly looked away, fidgeting with his fingers.

Cute act, but sorry kid, not falling for it.

“You weren’t really after rabbits, were you? If rabbit meat was the goal, that’s just ‘hunting,’ not a ‘game.’ So tell me—what was that little imitation of yours supposed to be?”

“Uh… well…”

“Want me to guess? The real prey was ‘humans,’ wasn’t it?”

“…auu…”

The adventurers’ eyes shifted—no longer looking at a helpless child, but sharpening into something far more hostile.

Under the weight of those glares, the dragon kid finally cracked and confessed.

One day, sneaking out from the dragons’ hidden village, he had stumbled upon human nobles on a hunt. They rode horses after rabbits, their hounds pointing the way, shooting their prey with guns.

It looked fun! The dragon kid’s eyes had sparkled—he wanted to try it himself. But he didn’t have horses or dogs. And besides, for a dragon, rabbits were way too puny as prey.

So he gave it his own little “arrangement.” Instead of horses, he used his proud wings. And instead of hunting dogs? That’s right—stampedes. He’d attack a convenient monster herd, scatter them into a frenzy, then drive them straight toward human settlements. That was his way of imitating the nobles’ hunts—his so-called “hunting game.”

Which meant… yeah. Some of those stampede disasters? This brat was the cause.

Knew it. Evil little bastard after all.

And then it clicked.

The classic fantasy culprit—the one who whips up monsters and sets them on humans.

The one hinted at by that strange skill I’d seen before…!

My brilliant deduction lit up in my mind.

“You… you’re a demon, aren’t you?”

“…Huh?”