Koko wa Ore ni Makasete Saki ni Ike to Itte kara 10 Nen ga Tattara Densetsu ni Natteita

The dragon shivered from the cold as I questioned it.

"You are a great dragon. But what were you doing here?"

"This place was originally a shrine for dragons."

"I didn't know that."

"Well, it was disguised through dragon magic, so that is no surprise."

"So, what happened to the shrine?"

"For some reason, the concealment spell was broken. And it was then overrun by goblins. I just came here to take it back."

"I see."

So the reason the dragon had breathed its flames without warning, was because it wanted to kill the goblins.

It didn't know that there were human Adventurers inside.

Dragons were powerful and frightening monsters. However, they were not dark ones.

Whether or not they were enemies of humanity was not a clear thing.

Some of them fought humans and some of them helped humans.

The dragon sighed deeply.

"But I didn't realize that goblins could be so strong…"

"Wait, you're not saying you think we are goblins?"

That would be quite rude indeed.

"Are you not? I thought you were goblins, since you came out of the temple…"

"Not at all. We are humans."

"I am sorry. You all look the same to me."

"Goblins aren't even part of the human race."

This dragon was very stupid. It needed to study a lot more.

"I-I see…"

"It would be like if we said you were the same as a lizard."

The dragon heard this and laughed.

"Gahahaha! But you are going too far with that one. Surely dragons and lizards are nothing alike?"

"Goblins and humans are also nothing alike."

"But you walk on two legs and have two arms."

"And lizards have scales and fangs."

"But goblins and humans have similar placements of nose, eyes and mouths…"

"Well, the placements are quite similar for lizards and dragons as well."

"Still, we are completely different."

"And so are goblins and humans."

"…I suppose you are right. I am sorry."

While very ignorant, the dragon was at least honest.

And now that I think of it, I never paid much attention to the facial structure of lizards and dragons.

What if a good painter rendered pictures of a dragon and a lizard's face at the same size? How many humans would be able to tell which was the dragon?

Thinking of it like that, maybe the dragon's confusion was justified.

"We are human Adventurers who have come here to hunt the goblins."

"Ah, then I have acted very badly towards you."

"I thought we were going to die. You must be more careful."

Shia listened to us and then added,

"We would have all been dead if it had not been for Mister Locke."

"There would have been no way for us to avoid the fiery breath in there…"

"It was horrible."

Serulis and Nia continued.

I patted Nia on the head.

"Nia. Don't worry, it's incredibly rare to go goblin hunting and end up being attacked by a dragon."

"I understand."

She had incredibly bad luck to encounter a dragon on her first mission.

Or maybe she was incredibly lucky.

At the very least, she was lucky that I was here during her first encounter with a dragon.

"Even though you are not goblins, you humans seem to be very strong."

"Mister Locke is special. So you must be careful the next time you start breathing your fire."

"I am sorry."

The dragon bowed humbly to Shia.

And so I asked the dragon,

"These ruins… I mean, shrine. So you just came here to take it back from the goblins?"

"Yes. That is correct."

"Is there something important here?"

"It has historical and cultural value, it does."

"What about magical value?"

"Not that kind."

"I see. We humans tend to cherish things with historical or cultural value as well, so I understand you."

"Gahaha. So you do understand!"

The dragon seemed very happy at this.

"And yet there are even some dragons who do not understand. But you people are not only strong, but you have an understanding for culture and history!"

"We do. That being said, not all humans are like that…"

"Gahahaha! That is just like us dragons then."

"Perhaps."

"Then it is my good fortune to have met humans like you. My name is Kathe. Tell me your names."

"Locke."

"I am Shia."

"Serulis."

"I'm Nia."

"Groof-groof."

Grulf stood behind me and barked.

His tail was still between his legs. He was really scared.

"This is Grulf."

"Is that so."

"Kathe. Do you want to conceal this ruin?"

"Yes. I was planning on doing it after cleansing it of goblins."

"Well, since I'm here. I'll do it for you."

And so I cast some light concealment magic.

The spell made it so that goblins and humans would not be able to see it, but dragons would.

"Thank you, Locke. This is good magic. Better than my own."

"Don't mention it. However, you should stay away from the royal capital. Humans can be cowardly, so they might send an army to come and hunt you down."

"Hmm. I will be careful… However, many ruins have been attacked recently…"

"There are other dragon ruins near the capital?"

"Yes."

"And how many of these ruins were attacked?"

"This ruin is the first out of the ruins that are close by."

That was a relief.

Still, there was a possibility that they would be attacked in the future.

And it would be very troublesome if a great dragon came down every time.

"If you ever have to hunt goblins near the city, tell me and I will do it for you."

"Would you really?"

"Yes. It might cause an uproar if you should do it yourself. However, we will need a way to communicate. You can use a signal fire."

"A signal fire?"

"We have to decide on a color too. How about red?"

"I do not mind. But does it have to be a signal fire?"

"No, just as long as you can contact me."

"I see. I will think of a way then. So I can contact you beforehand."

After that, Kathe thanked us repeatedly before flying away.