The army found a place to set up camp, and inside the tactics tent, everyone was gathered, with Yin Mei sitting to the side still cuddling the unconscious little girl.
"A dragon!? This little girl is?" One advisor exclaimed, unable to see it. That being said, their knowledge of dragons was mostly passed down through stories and legends. And plus, that arrogance and strength... the single half hearted fling of her arm, though it hadn't harmed Yin Mei, had gauged a long scar into the mountain... it was a terrifying level of strength.
"W-w-we, won't we be killed?" Another advisor stammered out, staring in fear at both the dragon and Yin Mei. Yin Mei, who could block such an attack, was equally as terrifying as the dragon who possessed such strength. No, perhaps even more so, as for a dragon to have such power was only to be expected.
"Hmm..." El let out a long sound of thought. Yeah, this might be bad. Looking at the dragon, it could only be a child. That strength, though powerful, could still be blocked by Yin Mei, who was after all, still only human. Not even Yin Mei could be on par with a fully matured dragon - that meant that this one should only be a kid. And that blatantly arrogant and brash manner of speaking also implied that the dragon was still young.
And dragons were well known to be overprotective over their young, as having a child was rare.
In other words, they were totally screwed?
"Celes, how about putting down the dragon...? Like this, you might anger its parents..." El said cautiously, but he could tell that Yin Mei was being very stubborn, and gave him an expression of absolute reluctance.
"What? But..." She looked at the little adorable doll in her arms and didn't want to at all. This cute darling tsundere child was not being let go until she could make a contract!
"Please put it down before you kill us all." The advisor with black hair said, his tone and expression such a mixture of seriousness and desperation that it even gave Yin Mei a surprise.
"A-a-alright, fine," She stammered out, actually relenting in the face of that expression.
She reluctantly let go of the little girl, but carefully sat her on the small nearby animal skin draped sofa. "Should we just toss the girl and leave? But no, that might be too disrespectful. What in the world should we do...!!" The demon advisor was completely panicked, clutching at his head in frustration.
"What in the world are they talking about?" Rosella finally couldn't take it and asked Eve, who relayed what they had said.
Both Rosella and Kai's faces paled slightly. So that was actually a dragon!
The tent became enveloped in a dark and gloomy mood.
"We can only wait until the girl wakes up." El said, and they all nodded.
So that's the only thing that was left to them...
Yin Mei waited patiently, while the advisor paced back and forth. El sat down, looking calm and majestic as a servant prepared him fruits. The others could only shift back and forth nervously, their eyes on the little girl, waiting for her to make a move.
When the little girl finally opened her eyes, she was greeted with Yin Mei's sparkling gaze. "Hii- h-human! It's rude to have your face so up close to mine!" She almost let out a faint shriek before quickly correcting herself to make it seem like she was just speaking normally. To be scared of this single human, how shameful! She quickly gathered her bearings, her arrogant expression returning in full force as she pridefully looked down on the human female before her.
"Aw, so cute!" Yin Mei didn't blink, simply fawning over the little girl. "Little girl, do you want some fruit?" She said, quickly going over to snatch El's platter of peeled and preprepared fruit to give to the child.
El: But that was mine...
Yin Mei took the metal pick, piercing something that looked somewhat like a slice of pear, and holding it up to the girl's mouth, looking at her in anticipation. The girl seemed reluctant for a moment, but then obediently ate some anyways. Munching away with full cheeks, she found that this fruit actually tasted pretty good... "I'll have you know that I'm not a little girl! I am a noble dragon, the mighty and strong beings of the legends! You puny humans should be worshiping me, instead of being so disrespectful!" She said, but continued to be obediently fed by Yin Mei.
The rest of the group: ...
How should they say, their image of dragons had been completely destroyed...
Yin Mei was happily nodding as she continued doting on the little girl. "Yes, yes. You're so amazing!" She praised, and the girl's face turned bright red.
"H-hmph! As I should be!"
The rest of the group: ...
After several rounds of pampering, the girl unconsciously began to relax in Yin Mei's presence, seeming to open up a little.
"Your... Your excellency, where's your family? Dragons haven't been seen in almost over ten thousand years, so..." So why in the world are you here? A bushy bearded man with droopy rabbit ears said, speaking cautiously.
"Hmph! This idiot human here woke me up from my nap! I was sleeping peacefully when she went around spreading that barbaric magic all over the place!" She said, crossing her arms over her chest. "That and I wanted to go explore the outside world..." The last part was muttered so softly that no one could hear what she had said.
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry," Yin Mei said, even as she continued to feed the little girl. For Yin Mei, feeding kids had already become a natural habit... After all, she had always managed to coax kids with food before, so she naturally didn't think anything differently this time. And though the target was a majestic baby dragon instead of a human child, the result still was no different - she still ended up all cute and obedient didn't she!
So in other words... this dragon's parents didn't know that she had run off? Oh no, when they find out, won't they all be killed?
"Are you sure you're really a dragon!" One advisor couldn't help but shout out, in part due to fear. "How about you prove it?"
A female advisor with blonde hair who was standing next to him immediately covered his mouth with her hands to shut him up. "H-he didn't mean that just now!" She said, but the little girl was already angered.
"Hmph! So you puny little demon wants proof, huh! Then I'll show you proof!" She said, standing up on the sofa. And with a flash of light, her body transformed into a small and majestic black dragon... that was the size of a cat! Beautiful, shining and sleek black scales, such a beautiful little western dragon! She had a slender body and head, her eyes a bright red. At one glance, she looked like she was built for speed and agility, nothing like those fierce and rough looking drawings of dragons that Yin Mei saw everywhere in popular media.
Not only that, but she was such a perfect pet size! Perfect for on the head, shoulders, and to hold in the arms!
Yin Mei immediately lunged in to grab the little dragon girl, cuddling her in her arms. "She's so adorable, what is this adorable creature, too cute, I can't take ittttttt...!!"
Now no one could deny it, she certainly was a dragon. Though on the small size... she must still be a baby dragon.
Her parents will kill us.
This was the thought that ran through the minds of the advisors.
Only Yin Mei was happily in her own world, while the little dragon struggled in vain. "Insolence! Get your dirty hands off me!" She squealed out, and Yin Mei thus reluctantly put her down. But, she had on such a sad expression that the dragon girl actually felt bad! Wait, what was she feeling bad for!
With another bright light, the dragon girl returned to her humanoid form. "Hmph! Now you ignorant fools believe me, right?"
They all nodded in unison.
"Little miss dragon, how about we take you back to your home? If you're gone for this long, your family will certainly worry, right?" El finally spoke up, having stayed silent all this time.
"Who needs you weaklings to take me back!" The little dragon girl said.
"Even so, it's only polite. We can't allow your excellency to go back alone, right?" The bunny-eared advisor spoke again, patiently coaxing her.
Although they were still afraid, they could basically grasp her personality after seeing her interactions with Yin Mei. In other words, she was the type of person that was hard on the outside and soft on the inside! Weak to praise, and easily flattered!
"Well... since you insist, then I'll permit you all the honor to escort me back!" The girl relented.
Yin Mei was in tears though. Go back? They would have to send her back? She didn't want that. No, there was still opportunity. She would somehow in this time do something so that this girl would stay in their family...!
She never knew that she had needed to adopt a little dragon daughter before, but now that she did, she would definitely make this dream come true!
On the other hand, El, who didn't know at all that Yin Mei had already skipped becoming lovers and getting married and gone straight to adopting a kid, was giving out commands for the army. Only a small number of them would be setting out, as El was definitely not going to bring an entire army marching up to a dragon den's doorstep.
The little dragon turned back into dragon form and perched herself proudly onto Yin Mei's head. Yin Mei, of course, was delighted. Damn, if only she had a phone or camera, she would take a million selfies! Curse this backwater world that hadn't yet experienced the information revolution!
"Leader, are you alright?" Rosella couldn't help but worry over the weird expressions that were flashing across Yin Mei's face, and had to ask.
"Just ignore it," El said. He was already used to this, and knew that it was just her thinking of something weird.
He paused. He was used to it...? He felt there was something wrong with that, but because he could't tell what, he just shook his head and decided that he was thinking too much.
After a few hours of marching, they reached the entrance to a valley. There were two extravagantly carved stone pillars standing up, almost like some sort of gate, but by all appearances, the valley was completely still and empty.
Yin Mei knew that there must be some sort of magic in place to make it appear this way.
As suspected, the little dragon called out some mysterious words in a language that Yin Mei didn't understand and the space between the two pillars began to shimmer slightly. She secretly thought that she must have said Open Sesame, but they would never know.
The group walked through, and the image before them completely transformed.
It was a world of dragons. A lot of dragons.
"Aaaazzuriteeeeee!!" There was a great roar, that caused the ground to shake, and all the dragons, flying or not, seemed to stop, not moving an inch as the sound of wings flapping resounded.
Before long, a majestic and giant black dragon alighted before them. Unlike the sleek and little dragon on Yin Mei's head, this dragon was different. He looked rough and fierce, with man sharp spikes and horns. An old, battle worn dragon.
"Grandpa!" The little dragon on her head, Azurite, said.
"Azurite! You snuck outside again! And this time you even brought back outsidersss!!? What were you thinking!!" Azurite's grandpa roared, his voice loud and booming, each syllable vibrating through the air and Yin Mei could practically feel it displacing her organs...
Azurite agitatedly smacked Yin Mei a few times with her tail, growling slightly as she whined, "But grandpa!"
"No buts! Someone come! Wipe the memories of these outsiders and take them out!" He said, and a nearby white dragon beat its wings, taking flight and coming over to them.
"WAAIIIITTTTTTTTTT, esteemed one!" Yin Mei shouted, enhancing her voice with magic, before returning her volume to normal. What the hell, there was no way she would allow them to erase her memories when she had gotten this far! She wouldn't give up this little cutie pie to anyone, even if this noble looking grandpa!
"HHUUUHHHHHH!?" The dragon's sharp eyes looked down at the puny thing that had dared to speak against him. He lowered his head, his eye right up against Yin Mei, sharp and bloodthirsty.
Yin Mei: ... DON'T THINK THAT YOU CAN SCARE ME! I'M NOT SHAKING AT ALL!