Chapter 62 - Annexation

“That was really fun! It’s been a while since I’ve moved my body as much as that!”

Emilia and I had created a table and a pair of chairs in the sky and were now enjoying a relaxing cup of tea. By the way, I forgot to mention where I am. You might be thinking that a 14-year-old girl like me should obviously be staying in her parents’ home. However, my situation is quite special.

Because of a certain STUPID dragon, I was proclaimed Queen of the human race and am currently staying in the royal capital. What’s more, even though I am the Queen, that certain STUPID dragon destroyed the royal castle.

[Oi! Are you implying that I am stupid!?]

Two years ago, when I was first named Queen by that STUPID dragon, I suggested to my vassals that it would be fine if I stayed at home and delegated the tasks from there. But no~ they refused my suggestion and forced me to stay in a luxurious hotel that was still standing in the royal capital.

According to them, “Though you’re still quite young and have just been named queen, it is unacceptable for a ruler to be away from the Capital City... Blah blah blah blah.”

In the end, because of their strong opposition, I reluctantly accepted their demand and am now staying in that luxurious hotel while the royal castle is being reconstructed.

[Seriously, who the hell are you talking to?]

To the readers.

[Readers?]

Yes, readers.

[... I’m speechless.]

...

Anyways, it’s been a while since I’ve had tea in the sky like this.

“How does the tea taste, Lumina-sama?”

“Mm, delicious! As expected.”

“Thank you very much.”

I slowly drank the tea Emilia had prepared, savoring its taste and enjoying the aroma.

[Is your mind okay? I think you need to go back to your study and review the documents there. Ever since you finished your work, you’ve only been talking to those ‘readers’.]

No.

[If you, the Queen that I have chosen, were to become crazy, my pride as a Dragon King would be seriously hurt!]

Pride? What’s that? Is it edible?

[...]

Hehe, sorry, I was just joking~

Anyways, please don’t mind why I’m talking to myself like this in my mind; I’m only doing it to relieve some stress.

[I see, so there is a reason why you’re doing that.]

Yes.

Now that the STUPID dragon has been convinced--

[Why are you calling me, a proud and mighty dragon, STUPID!?]

My mouth never once called you stupid.

[But you’ve been calling me stupid inside your mind! If you don’t want me to come over to the royal capital and burn it to the ground, I recommend that you stop calling me that in your thoughts.]

That’s tyranny! I invoke my power as the queen of the human race to have you revoke that statement! I want freedom! The freedom to call you anything in my mind!

[Hmph, your authority only extends to humans. Besides, your race is under my dominion, so you should be the one following my orders!]

Kuh! You cheat! Why are you using your authority in this mental conversation!

[You were the one who first used it!]

“Umm... Lumina-sama. Is something the matter?”

While I was bickering with Fafnir inside my mind, Emilia suddenly interjected.

“Why are you asking me that?”

“Your expression has been changing from mischievous to angry and back to mischievous for quite a while. Is the tea not to your liking?”

“No, no, the tea you brewed is delicious! The scent of this Earl Grey really calms me down; the taste is exquisite, and its temperature is just right! There’s no way I wouldn’t like this tea.”

“Then may I know why you’ve been making those faces?”

I hesitated for a moment, but since there was no harm in telling her, I decided to share what was happening in my mind.

“So you’ve been conversing with that Golden Dragon inside your mind?”

“That’s right.”

“And you’ve been complaining to him about your work?”

“Yep.”

“...”

“...”

A threatening atmosphere suddenly enveloped Emilia when I finished explaining the situation.

Hmmm... Something isn’t right. Why is Emilia giving off that kind of aura?

[Maybe it’s because she’s appalled.]

Why would she be taken aback?

[I don’t know~ maybe it’s because you’ve been calling me, a great, majestic, and prideful King of Dragons, STUPID!]

Fuuu~ Hey, Fafnir.

[Nn?]

For a great, majestic, and prideful Dragon King, you sure are quite petty.

[It’s a matter of pride.]

“L-U-M-I-N-A-S-A-M-A?”

“W-what’s wrong?”

“So the reason there’s been a lot of dragon sightings near the western border is because of you?”

“Eh? What do you mean? I haven’t received any reports about that!”

“I was going to present the report to you right after your tea time.”

“Ah, is that so? T-then... What does that have to do with me?”

“Because you’ve been badmouthing their king, the dragons might decide to destroy our capital.”

“Seriously!?”

[That lass is worrying too much.]

Eh?

[The only reason my kind is gathering near those mountains is because of our immigration plans.]

Hearing this, I unconsciously clapped my hands.

...

...

...

Eh? Immigration plans!? Eh!? What’s that about? You never mentioned anything about that!

[Why would we, superior beings, need to report our actions to you, inferior beings?]

Tsk! That line really infuriates me!

[Hahaha, no matter how hard you deny it, that is the truth!]

“Lumina-sama?”

“Ehh?”

Emilia’s sudden interjection, accompanied by her threatening aura, caused me to let out a surprised noise.

“What are we going to do now? We humans can never hope to match the ferocity and destructive capabilities of dragons.”

“About that... Ummm... We don’t really need to worry about them.”

“Why?”

“Well... Fafnir said that those dragons are only immigrating toward the western mountains.”

“Why?”

Yes, Fafnir! Why!?

[Why are you so demanding even though you’re just a human?]

That isn’t important right now! Relieving Emilia’s fury is far more crucial than how I speak to you in my mind!

[... Why do I feel like I’ve lost to your servant?]

Stop whining and answer me! Or else!

[Or else what?]

Or else my tea time will be cut short!

[...]

Stop being silent and tell me the reason already!

[Fine, fine! I’ll tell you! So stop being so demanding!]

You should have done that in the first place.

[Cough... The reason why we, the Dragonkind, decided to immigrate is because the humans have cornered us.]

“The reason those dragons are flying to the western mountains is that the humans have cornered them... EHHH!?”

“Ehhh?”

[Ehhhh?]

Wait... Why are you also shouting?

[I was surprised by how synchronized the two of you were.]

... Anyway, when you say humans, you mean us humans!?

[I’m not talking about your race; I’m talking about the humans living outside the barrier.]

Ehhh!? There are humans outside the great barrier!?

[That is correct... I’m quite surprised that you’re aware that humans have more than one race.]

Of course I am. Who do you think I am?

[A Queen who places tea over dragons.]

Don’t underestimate tea!

[Alright, alright.]

It’s good that you understand.

[Tea-loving idiot.]

Hmm? What was that?

[Nothing! Nothing!]

Anyways, are the humans living outside the great barrier stronger than those living here?

[Nope. In terms of magical power and strength, there’s basically no difference.]

Then why were you cornered by the humans?

[Because of their ingenuity and numbers.]

Hmmm?

[Humans living outside the barrier number in the billions, a population incomparable to our kind.]

Well...

[What’s more, no matter how many we bring down, they just keep coming! Their attacks never end!]

...

[A lot of my brethren have fallen because of them! They’ve even annexed some of our lands and turned some of my kind into slaves!]

Um... Fafnir...

[Nn? What?]

Are you okay?

[Hahaha! Of course I’m okay!]

Then why did your voice sound so desperate earlier?

[Are you accusing me, the King of all Dragons, of being afraid of inferior beings?]

I’m only telling you my impressions; you didn’t need to be so adamant in denying it.

“Well, Emilia... Could you please gather Liza’s father and the others to the temporary courtroom... Fafnir just gave me a shocking revelation.”

“Eh? Ah, yes.”

Blue screens started appearing around Emilia, and the faces of Liza, Victoria, Mary, and the rest of my servants appeared.

Okay then, next is Fafnir.

[Hmm?]

I have a question. You can choose whether or not to answer it.

[You’re really quick to change pace, huh. Very well, I, Fafnir, will answer your question.]

Why did you annex us instead of destroying us?

[You’re asking me this now?]

I didn’t really want to ask you this question, but because of what you said just now, I became really curious.

[I see.]

Fafnir suddenly became quiet.

This silence made me quite impatient and nervous. Then, after three minutes, Fafnir’s voice resonated in my mind again.

[Ei! Stop narrating everything you do! It’s annoying!]

Never!

[Kuh... You’re really stubborn about strange things.]

I’m quite proud of that!

[Enough about that, I’ve decided to tell you the reason.]

Really? That was quite easy.

[Do you want to hear it or not?]

I do, I do! Fafnir-sama, please enlighten this poor lamb with the meanings behind your actions.

[You really act differently in your mind... Fuu~ now where was I? Ah, that’s right, the reason why we decided to annex your country is because we wanted to fight fire with fire.]

Fight fire with fire?

[That’s right. Since I commanded the surviving dragons to move into this land, the humans living outside the great barrier will surely find it strange. Once they do, they will start searching for us, and when they find us, it will be this country’s job to fend them off!]

So you basically want us to protect your race?

[Wrong! We’re not seeking your protection! We’re planning on turning this country into our meat shield!]

Yes, yes.

[What’s with that tone!?]

Who cares about that~

[I do!]

If I remember correctly, two years ago, when your kind invaded us, we couldn’t even hold a candle to the strength your kind showed. How come the humans outside were able to push you this far?

[Weren’t you listening to me? No, more importantly, why the sudden change in topic!?]

Fufu....

[Hah~ who cares, I’m getting tired of this skit. Listen closely this time.]

Yes~

[Once the humans outside decide on a target, they would never stop attacking. They would continue to attack until their target has died. Once that target dies, they would then use what they’ve learned to attack another target and produce fewer sacrifices.]

Uwaah~ so they used the zombie tactic? That’s pretty gruesome.

[Is that what that tactic is called?]

It’s just a term of mine.

[Is that so?]

Yes.

[Anyways, they used that ‘zombie tactic’ for a thousand years and became quite successful. Then, when the humans started encroaching on the last sanctuaries of the dragon kind, the great barrier suddenly weakened.]

I see.

[Seeing this as a chance, I quickly sent scouts to see what lay here. I was quite surprised to find humans living inside.]

You’ve been fighting against humans for over a millennium; why were you so surprised when you found us?

[It’s because of the way you live.]

The way we live?

[Umu, unlike the humans outside, those here live a frugal life. They respect wildlife and even plant new trees to replace the ones they cut down. It was quite mysterious to see how your race behaves so differently from those outside.]

I think it’s because we were economizing the limited resources we have in this sealed land.

[Is that so?]

Yes.

[I see... Well, because of the way you behave, a thought then hatched in my mind.]

And that is?

[I would have my remaining brethren live on their land and turn you into meat shields!]

Ahh~ you almost said “protect”~

[...]

Hehehe~ Hah~ I wish I could see the look on your face right now. No, wait, on second thought, I don’t. Seeing your real body would only invoke fear and awe, so no.

“Lumina-sama, Liza and their fathers are on their way to the courtroom. Let’s go back and prepare for their arrival.”

“Good work, Emilia.”

“Yes.”

Emilia then made an elegant bow as I stood up from my seat after drinking the last bit of tea from my cup. The two of us then headed back to my study to prepare for the meeting I had initiated.

[Like I said, stop narrating everything you do!]

Never!