Chapter 60 - My personal space...

"Ich bitte Sie, als Vertreter Ihrer Rasse, Ihre Kapitulation einzureichen?!"

“What!?”

The Golden Dragon that landed in front of the castle suddenly spoke. Because it was so surprising, I unconsciously exclaimed a question at him.

“Ich frage Sie noch einmal: Werden Sie sich ergeben oder blicken Sie Ihrer Vernichtung ins Auge?”

I made a confused face as I tilted my head to the side. Seeing my reaction, the dragon narrowed its eyes and gazed at me. The surrounding soldiers, servants, and civilians also stared at me.

Is that dragon looking at me!? Why the hell are you looking at me!? Also, why are you guys looking at me!? Did I do something wrong!? Is that dragon gonna kill me!? Oh god, please no! I just discovered Japanese sweets in this world! I don’t wanna die just yet!

As these thoughts swirled in my mind, the dragon extended one of its claws toward me.

Seeing this action, Fate, Eclara, and Shin ran in front of me. The two of them created a barrier, but it was easily destroyed by the claw. As a result, Shin and Eclara threw a lot of spells in retaliation, but like their barrier, their spells didn’t prevent the claw from approaching me.

As Shin and Eclara’s retaliation intensified, Fate, who stood beside me, collapsed to the ground and started trembling. As for me, I was frozen in place as the dragon’s eyes met mine while it moved its claws closer to me.

The dragon’s claw poked my forehead, and a painful sensation radiated from it. The moment I felt that pain, light flooded the surroundings. Unconsciously, I closed my eyes because it was so bright.

[Young Representative, are you now able to understand my words?]

As I continued to close my eyes, a voice echoed inside my mind.

“Eh?”

I was confused and opened my eyes.

[Mhm, since the gem is radiating light, it seems like the magic has succeeded.]

Seriously, where’s that voice coming from?

My eyes darted left and right as I searched for the source of the voice.

[The one who is conversing with you is standing in front of you.]

In front of me?

....

Seriously!?

I opened my eyes wide as I moved my gaze toward the Golden Dragon. Meeting my eyes, the Golden Dragon gave a small nod and asked me a question.

He’s talking to me through my mind!? How do I even respond with my mind? Should I imagine that I’m talking through a telephone in my head or something?

[Do not worry. Anything that you think shall be transmitted to me. You do not need to do any of those measures.]

... So you’re literally reading my mind!?

[That is correct.]

I’m going to sue you for invading my personal space!

...

Wait, is there even a law for mind reading in the modern world?

Wait, do human laws even affect dragons?

[We are a higher species, so your laws don’t affect us.]

The dragon answered my thoughts with an amused voice. It seemed like he enjoyed how I was panicking in my mind.

Okay... Never mind that then.

Anyways, why are you asking me? That guy's the Crowned Prince, not me.

Also, on a side note, that guy's the main character.

I’m only a mob character, so I’m not qualified for it.

First, I pointed at the fainted prince who was being held by the servants, and then I pointed at Shin, who continued to throw spells at the dragon's claw, which was slowly retracting back.

[What are you rambling about? We have deemed you worthy because most of the people here respect you the most.]

...

...

Really?

I-is that so?

“Kukuku... Sie sind ein interessantes Kind.”

The dragon laughed and spoke in his own tongue.

Umm... Then... Would it be okay if I request you to repeat the question you asked me earlier?

Unconditional surrender, huh... If that’s the case, won’t we become slaves and be forced to obey the dragons? If I’m correct, in the past, the side that lost a war got their men and children killed, right?

...

No! I don’t want to get raped by a dragon and bear a child with a half-dragon!

I don’t even want to become a mother in the first place!

[Worry not. If your race surrenders, we will guide you to prosperity. We will not lay a hand on any of you.]

The dragon stifled a laugh as he answered my thoughts.

Honestly, you being able to read my mind is unfair... I don’t have any privacy with this!

Well, we’re at your mercy, so you have the right to do so, but still...

[This is a measure so that there will be no falsehood in your submission.]

It’s not like I don’t understand what you’re talking about...

Well, enough of that for now,

Can I ask some more questions regarding our surrender?

[Do not worry. I understand that this is a heavy cross to bear.]

In my heart, I was thankful that the dragon was a very reasonable partner. As a result, I continued to converse with him through my mind. By the way, the people around us continued to attack the dragon; however, he ignored them as none of their attacks even left a scratch.

This question is about the elves. A few weeks ago, we made contact with them and made peace by promising to exchange sweets. If we surrender to your race, will we become hostile with the elves?

[No. Although we dragons have a hostile relationship with the elves, as long as they don’t bother our lands, we will not bother them. This standoff has continued for a thousand years and will continue as such. Even if you forge a covenant with the elves, so long as we aren’t affected by it, we will allow that covenant.]

Oh... How magnanimous of your race.

The dragon then listed conditions and benefits if we submitted ourselves to them. Listening to it, I became speechless because the things he said didn’t even sound like we’d be disadvantaged.

For my answer, could I ask you to wait for a while? Since this regards the fate of our kingdom, I want to ask the opinions of most of the people around me.

The dragon nodded his head to me. I then approached Amethyst-sama and the fathers of my servants, who were gathered in a corner. People continued to run to and from their places. It seemed like they were giving directions to the soldiers under them.

Have they been doing this for a while?

[That is correct.]

...

....

Okaaay~

I became embarrassed when the Fafnir answered my random question with a serious voice. I really had no privacy with him around.

“Cough* Amethyst-sama.”

I intentionally coughed near them to catch their attention.

“Hmmm? Lumina? We are so sorry, we have tried everything in our power to release you from the spell that that beast used to entrap you. However, the magicians under our service proved useless, and we have been trying to find one to release you from it.”

I moved my gaze to the side and found some collapsed people being treated by some servants.

Are they the magicians he was talking about? Why didn’t I notice them?

[Since you're from a lower race, I can understand why you were unable to notice them as we conversed because all of your attention was focused on me. Earlier, they used some petty tricks to disturb our link; however, because none of them have an amount of magical power that exceeds a hatchling’s, our link couldn’t be broken.]

... I-is that so? They look pretty powerful to me though.

[In your eyes, they may be powerful, but in my eyes, they’re nothing but ants.]

...

“Lumina, we must quickly escape this place because we don’t know when that beast will start a rampage!”

Amethyst-sama grabbed my arm as he ordered some soldiers to clear a path through the debris scattered around us. The fathers of my other servants also nodded in unison as they summoned their familiars to stall for time.

“Do not worry about Fafnir. He won’t go on a rampage.”

“Fafnir?”

He raised an eyebrow as I spoke the name of the dragon. By the way, according to him, Fafnir introduced himself the moment our eyes met earlier; however, because I couldn’t understand his introduction, he redid it while we were discussing earlier.

“It’s the name of that Golden Dragon.”

“... Why do you know the name of that beast?”

“I was conversing with him earlier.”

“How?”

“Magic?”

“.... I think it’s because of that golden gem that’s embedded in your forehead.”

“Eh?”

I moved my hand to my forehead and felt a gem-like object on it.

What the heck!?

[My apologies, I forgot to tell you about that. That gem is the symbol of our link. That’s the reason why you and I are able to converse.]

This is why you can read my mind!? When did you attach this to me? Was it back then?

[That is correct.]

... I see...

I was really, really tired. Not physically, but mentally. First, I was shocked by the sudden invasion of the dragons, then I was appalled by the idiocy of the upper echelons of our country, and finally, a dragon capable of annihilating our country invaded my personal space.

As a result, I internally gave up and decided to just accept everything.

“Lumina?”

I heard the voice of Amethyst-sama as I conversed with the dragon in my mind.

“Cough* sorry, I was conversing with the dragon.”

[Don’t lie, you were thinking of something

else.]

At least allow me to save face! Since I’m as open as a book to you, I don’t have to bother talking respectfully to you! So at least allow me to preserve my dignity in front of other people!

[....]

“...Is that so? Then, may I ask for the results of your conversation with the dragon?”

“Yes, the dragons gave me two options. It’s either we surrender to them or face annihilation. In my opinion, it’s best for us to surrender. As for the reason...”

With my eyes, I prompted Amethyst-sama and the others, who were taken aback, to gaze at the sight of Shin and the soldiers attacking the dragons. The dragons continued to ignore them and flew into the sky.

“...”

“I think you can understand what happens if we don’t surrender, right?”

“....”

“Then, I’ll take your silence as a yes.”

[So you have decided to submit to us?]

Yeah... It’s not like we have other choices though.

[Then...]

The Golden Dragon flew up into the sky, and a giant magic circle field was formed. A few moments later, the Royal Castle was blown to bits.

Not a single speck of it remained.

Wait! Why’d you do that!? There are still people inside the palace!

Though because you're a dragon, I understand that our lives are insignificant to you, why the hell did you even do that!

What’s more, why do I even have to become a queen! I don’t even want to become a queen!

[Since you're able to communicate with us, you're the best candidate to mediate between our race. It’s more convenient this way. Besides, you have surrendered to us, so you can't disobey my orders.]

Nooooooooo!!! I knew it! I knew there was a downside to this!

[Kukuku... You really are an interesting being.]

With that, I became the new Queen of the human race by the decree of Fafnir, the King of the Dragons. By the way, when I was done despairing, I offered a silent prayer for the people who died because of Fafnir. I wasn't affected by it though, because I’m a reincarnated person. So I know what happens after you die... I think.