75 – Battle with the Dragon

The dragon rolled over to the wall while crying in pain.

「Gurarararararaaa」

I shortened the distance to perform a follow-up attack.

The dragon releases its breath while grovelling on the ground. The breath was as powerful as ever.

But I do not slow down.

I run while tearing through the breath with my left hand which was clad in magic.

And once again I tried to strike the dragon’s face with my right hand.

The dragon stopped my fist with its left hand.

「Splendid」

「Gurururu」

As I praised, the dragon cried out happily.

And then an intense flame breath from close range.

At the same time, it clenched my fist and fixed it in position, and then twisted its body and swung the tail down onto me.

「Uh!」

I erected a magic barrier to prevent the flame breath.

The sides, which were the thinner part of the barrier, was hit with the strong tail.

Moreover, it was a powerful physical attack dealt on a barrier with high magical defence to block the magic breath.

Unable to endure the physical attack, the magic barrier breaks down.

Immediately, I was engulfed in flames and was beaten with the tail.

I was blown away and crashed into the wall.

And then, I was once again shrouded in darkness.

「…Vill-was-strong-but-now-dead」

The dragon murmured, sounding lonely.

「Thanks for your compliment, but I’m not dead yet」

「…How?」

「Because I’m covering my body with magic… So, I can take a few breaths and blows」

Even if it doesn’t last long, I can endure without a barrier for a short time.

However, all my clothes were burnt in an instant.

All that was left to me was a naked short sword, the magic bag which is a magic tool, and the transceiver ring.

Due to my sheath being burnt, the short sword with magic light cast on it was brightly spinning on the floor and illuminated the surroundings.

「Even my shoes were burnt. From now on, I should prepare a change of clothes」

The most difficult part was the burnt leather sheath of the short sword.

It was the first leatherwork I made, which took over 2 hours. I was kind of attached to it.

However, it can’t be helped. Hating on the dragon would also be unreasonable.

「Now then, shall we settle this?」

「U-mu」

After that, I fought intensely with the dragon in a buck naked condition.

I used my fist to throw out punches.

The dragon makes full use of its breath, tail, fangs and claws.

About five minutes passed, while I overcame all of the dragon’s attacks and dealt back some of my own.

「It’s about time to end this」

I pinned down the fatigued dragon from above with a magic barrier.

「Gurururururu!」

The dragon struggled for a while, and when it realised it could not break free,

「…Vill,-my-defeat」

Saying so, the dragon calmed down.

As I was also exhausted, I lifted the magic barrier, picked up the short sword and sat down next to the dragon.

My butt was cold as I was buck naked.

「It was a good fight」

「Un」

The dragon nodded obediently.

「Why are you here, dragon? Did Regina bring you here?」

「Not-dragon」

The dragon did not answer the question and shook its head.

Maybe it doesn’t like being called “dragon”.

「But, you don’t have a name right?」

「Name-I-want」

「I see」

「Vill,-name-me」

「… Is it really okay? And I will carefully think of a name later…」

「Name,-now」

If it really wants one, then I should think of a name.

「Hmm…」

「………」

The dragon was staring at me with brilliant expectations.

I observed the dragon again.

The scales shone crimson in the light of the magic light.

「That’s right… How about Rubeum? If you don’t like it, I’ll come up with another one…」

It was an ancient word meaning “crimson”.

「Rubeum! My name is Rubeum!」

Then, it greatly howled in happiness 「GURAAAAAAAAAAA!」

At the same time, I felt a strange sensation as if a little magic power was absorbed away.

「…I don’t understand well, but my language suddenly became fluent」

Is there really such a thing in the effect of naming?

When I was thinking of looking into it later, Rubeum happily rubbed its nose on mine.

And then it started licking my face.

It seems to be really attached to me. Is this also an effect of naming?

「Rubeum sure is pampered」

I rubbed under its chin, as I always do for Shiro and RunRun.

「KyururuKyurururu」

Maybe Rubeum was clearing its throat or something, because it made a mysterious cry.

Rubeum cheerfully swung its tail, and licked my stomach.

I was naked, so it was super ticklish.

「So, why is Rubeum here?」

「I came with Dion」

「So it was Dion, not Regina?」

「Who is Regina? Rubeum doesn’t know」

「She is a small and strong dwarf. Tell me how Dion came to bring you here」

「…let’s see…」

Rubeum explained slowly while recalling the event.

Apparently, although the body is big, Rubeum seems to be just born.

「When I came to notice, I was in a building made of stone」

「I see… So that’s where you met Dion?」

「Yup」

And Dion seems to have brought Rubeum here.

「Dion said, Will would come here if I wait」

「I see–」

Later, I shall ask Dion in detail about how he brought Rubeum here.