Chapter 2: The Dragon-Slaying Commission

In truth, the dragons of this world were not nearly as powerful as Saar had imagined.

On the contrary, the dragon race had already reached the brink of extinction.

As for why a race once standing at the very top of the continent’s food chain had fallen to such a state…

It was, frankly, laughable.

The gender of a dragon was not determined at birth.

Rather, it was decided later in life — chosen by the dragon itself, depending on which role it wished to take in reproduction.

It wasn’t that dragons were born with both sets of organs.

Instead, over their long lifespan — from youth to maturity, even into old age — they could change multiple times.

What seemed like an advantageous trait for a species with low fertility turned out to be the very reason pure-blood dragons were now nearly extinct.

And the reason was simple.

Before mating, dragons would first fight after taking a liking to each other.

The winner would, over time, take on the male role, while the loser would willingly submit as the female.

Seems fair enough, doesn’t it?

That was the case — until a race called humans rose upon the continent.

As contact between dragons and humans became inevitable, more and more dragons came to see the splendor of human jewels and exquisite crafts.

Those little humans, carrying countless gold coins and gemstones, visited the lairs of solitary dragons — even those that had already taken on female form.

And as the price of trade, they merely asked the dragons to take on human form, mate with them, and then hand over the hybrid eggs.

That was all.

Gems and gold — for the proud dragons, these were the finest symbols of their nobility.

And compared to robbing and killing — which invited vengeance — many dragons found it far safer and more profitable to form long-term “cooperation” with humans.

But over time, what did this cost them?

The female dragons, whose aesthetic sense had been “refined” by human gems, began rejecting the idea of breeding with true male dragons.

Even the dragons who had not yet chosen to become female began raising their standards for a partner.

“You deserve someone better.”

“Look at her — she hasn’t chosen a mate yet, and her cave is already overflowing with jewels.”

“Love? What good is love compared to this pile of gems?”

The days of winning mates through strength and power were gone.

In their place came female-minded dragons who openly declared their “conditions” for choosing partners.

Not only did you need exceptional strength, you also had to possess a hoard of gems and gold.

Lack either, and you’d be single for life — no dragon would willingly become female for your sake.

Before humans began mining and crafting in large quantities, gems were rare and difficult to find on the surface.

Thus, the remaining pure-blood dragons faced only two options:

One, risk being hunted down by humans, drowned beneath waves of their armies, to plunder treasure from human kingdoms.

Or two — if they wouldn’t take that risk — remain single forever, or simply… join them.

Just change gender, use magic to assume a human form, close your eyes, and open them again — and you’d be rich.

The price? Merely spending some time as a female dragon.

Once enough wealth was gathered, you could always change back to male.

But was it really that simple?

Corrupted by superficial beauty, they forgot the reason they became female in the first place.

More and more male dragons took this path — and without exception, every one of them eventually sank into it.

When they finally came to their senses, they would look down at the humans lying on their bodies… and find them unexpectedly attractive.

And so, one after another, dragons strayed onto the path of interspecies corruption.

When pure-bloods became the minority, the fate of their race was already sealed.

Fifteen years later, in a small tavern on the kingdom’s frontier—

As the wooden door creaked open, fifteen copper coins clinked onto the oak counter.

“One Leaf Lover, extra sugar.”

The boy tugged his hood lower, trying his best to stay inconspicuous in the tavern.

While waiting for his drink, he sat at the counter, his golden eyes beneath the hood scanning everyone in the room.

“Recruiting adventurers to form a party.”

He lowered his voice, trying to sound older and more reliable.

“Silver rank or higher. Profit shares will be divided according to—”

At once, the noisy bar fell silent.

Several drinkers turned their gazes toward him.

Though his voice wasn’t loud, nearly everyone in the tavern was an adventurer.

Even when eating or drinking, their senses for their surroundings were sharper than ordinary people’s.

The ones who had looked half-drunk now froze mid-motion — knives and forks hanging in the air, foam sliding slowly down wooden mugs.

“Little brat too scared to show his face.”

A dwarf warrior sitting in a corner slammed his giant battle axe onto the floor.

“If you want silver-ranked adventurers, you’d better have money or power—”

“I have money.”

In front of everyone, the boy slowly removed his hood.

At the same time, he pulled a gold coin from his pocket and placed it on the counter.

The gleam of gold drew every eye.

Even the dwarf who had spoken earlier was forced to take him seriously.

A single gold coin — in this remote border town — was worth several months, even a year, of an adventurer’s income.

While everyone stared at the coin, the now-unhooded boy’s face tensed slightly.

(So many eyes on me just now… I almost blew my cover.)

He hadn’t expected his words to draw so much attention.

To him, it was just an ordinary recruitment for a party.

After all, he’d only learned transformation magic a few days ago — if his emotions got too tense…

Under his cloak, his tightly clenched hands were trembling, faint golden scales starting to glimmer beneath his skin.

Since arriving in this world, Saar had spent fifteen years mastering the transformation spell that allowed him to take human form.

But clearly, he had not yet perfected it.

He could only maintain stability when there were few eyes on him.

Yet time no longer allowed him to wait.

Even so, none of the adventurers stepped forward — not even for the gold coin.

“Hey, blond kid!”

An elf called out.

“You’re recruiting silver ranks — what kind of quest are you trying to do?”

The higher the pay, the higher the risk.

That was common sense among adventurers.

Saar didn’t intend to hide it.

“Dragon slaying.”

The tavern fell so silent that even a pin drop could be heard.

(As expected, they’re scared by the difficulty of the mission…)

(Can’t blame them, really.)

Just then, one man raised his hand — a black-haired man drinking alone in the corner.

“Quite a hefty reward… Count me in.”

Though he spoke casually, his eyes never once turned toward the coin.

They were fixed entirely on Saar.