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

After that, we left the building with the magic circle and headed for the palace.

There were many dragons outside. About fifty from what I could see.

They were large and blue in color.

"Gr-groof!"

Grulf looked startled and tried to hide behind me.

"I guess they are in dragon form most of the time?"

Kathe shook her head.

"In the first place, the only dragons that are able to take human shape, are the royal family."

"I see."

"There are different kinds of dragons then."

Kathe nodded.

I looked at the dragons. They were all lined up.

Perhaps they were nervous having Princess Leea right in front of them.

"Your Highness!"

The dragon in the lead shouted.

He was an especially large dragon.

"What is it?"

Leea asked with a tilt of the head.

"Is that human the Great Philosopher, Our Saviour, Grand High Sorcerer, and Grand Duke Ruck Locke Franzen?"

The dragon asked, indicating towards Eric.

"No. This is King Eric."

"…Oh, I see. Please forgive me."

The great dragon said as he bowed to Eric.

"It is a great honor to meet such a famous Hero King. I am Morris. The Grand Chamberlain."

"I am Eric Mendilibar. It is nice to meet you."

"I cannot thank you enough for lending your help in the protection of the Water Dragons."

Grand Chamberlain Morris said politely.

However, it looked like the dragons in the back were a little disappointed.

It might have been because they thought that Eric looked weak.

Though, I was sure their opinion would change if they saw him in action.

"Your Highness!!"

A dragon that stood behind Morris raised its voice.

"You! You are in front of Princess Leea, the Hero King and the Wind Dragon Ruler. Stand back."

Grand Chamberlain Morris said admonishingly.

"…Yes. Forgive me."

The dragon said sadly.

"What is it?"

Leea said in a gentle voice.

The dragon's tail swayed when it heard her voice.

"Yes. Your Highness. Is the Great Philosopher, Our Saviour, Grand High Sorcerer, and Grand Duke Ruck Locke Franzen not here today?"

"Mister Ruck is right here."

Leea said with a smile as she introduced me.

"OHHHH!!"

The water dragons stirred.

"Great Philosopher, Our Saviour, Grand High Sorcerer and Grand Duke Ruck Locke Franzen. I am Morris, Princess Leea's Grand Chamberlain. It is an honor to make your acquaintance."

Morris introduced himself again.

He offered me his right index finger and I shook it.

"The honor is all mine."

Then the other dragons pushed Morris away and came forward.

"Great Philosopher, Our Saviour, Grand High Sorcerer, and Grand Duke Ruck Locke Franzen! It's an honor to meet you."

"Great Philosopher, Our Saviour, Grand High Sorcerer, and Grand Duke Ruck Locke Franzen, thank you for helping to protect our settlement!"

"Great Philosopher…"

"Umm!"

I interrupted them.

They tilted their heads to the side at the same time. It was kind of cute.

"It will take a long time if you use the full title, so just call me Ruck or Locke."

Grand Chamberlain Morris, who had been pushed to the way back said,

"Su-surely not! You are the Great Philosopher and…"

He was about to start the whole thing again.

"No, really. It is way too long. And what if you needed to call me while we were fighting?"

"Ah, that is true."

"He is very smart."

"Yes, what foresight. I am deeply impressed."

For some reason, the water dragons were impressed by that.

Their tails were swaying enthusiastically now.

"Uh, um! Lord Ruck! Can I shake your hand?"

"Not fair! I want to shake his hand too."

"You must all wait in line then."

Said Kathe as she began to organize them.

And so the water dragons lined up in front of me.

"Lord Ruck, it's an honor to meet you!"

They said as I shook their hands.

"I understand that you want to talk longer, but the next dragon is waiting. Hurry up and move along after you have shaken his hand."

Kathe urged them along.

As I was doing this, Dorgo introduced Goran to the others.

He also introduced the others to the dragons who had finished shaking my hand.

I guess it would save some time.

And it wasn't only Eric who the water dragons knew about. Goran was quite famous as well.

"…It's so cute."

"Is it a spirit beast wolf?"

"Groof."

As for Grulf, he was being surrounded by water dragons.

He must have been intimidated by their size, because his tail was fixed between his legs.

"…How cute."

"Wolf. Would you like to eat some of this?"

"Groof-groof!"

By the time I was finished shaking hands with all of the dragons, Grulf seemed to have become friends with them.

He had been fed some snacks and was now wagging his tail happily as they petted him.

"Is there anyone else who wants to shake hands?"

"Thank you!"

Kathe asked and the water dragons all bowed.

A whole hour had passed since I started to shake hands with the dragons.

"No, no. I look forward to working with you."

And with that, we followed Leea into the water dragon palace.