Trantor: SFBaka


    Editor: Thors Stone


    Why dont you give it a try, Captain?


    That sounds interesting. What should I do?


    Lets use that.


    Iris was referring to the newly developed item for use precisely for situations like this  a clump of nanoms I call the Nanom Ball. When Cleria lost her limbs, I transfused my nanom-filled blood to her in order to heal her, but that method was very inefficient.


    In order to perform a nanom infusion immediately in times of emergency, I created this ball made up of a cluster of countless nanoms. I made this by taking in rare metals in order to increase Nanoms reproduction rate. In the end, I managed to produce Nanom Balls with a diameter of 2 centimeters. There were 12 of them inside my pouch.


    It takes about an hour for the nanom cluster to form into a spherical shape within my mouth, so I had quite a bit of trouble producing these.


    Yosh, give me some instructions.


    Please check if it has any small scratches on its head.


    I moved toward the dragons head and found a small wound on top of it.


    Please press the balls on the wound. You would need ten of them.


    I lifted the dragons scales and pressed the Nanom Ball on the open wound. The Nanom Ball immediately liquefied and seeped into the wound. Very soon, Ive already managed to use up all ten Nanom Balls.


    How long would the process take?


    For the time being, I will give priority tomunication functions and neural control. It will take three hours to establish neural control and at least 5 hours to achieve simplemunication functions.


    I see. I hope it stays passed out until those are finished. Okay then. Ill continue treating its other wounds.


    Please leave the wound where the nanoms were transnted open.


    I dont know what thats for, but okay. I healed as many visible wounds as I could except for the head wound, and consumed another three magic stones.


    It looks like Ill need to camp out here for the time being. I dont have anything to do now, so I guess Ill go get ready for camping out.


    It was already near evening and it was beginning to get dark. And I dont want to camp in a ce with a dragon corpse and drenched in dragon blood. I guess Ill have to put up with the few pieces of dried meat in my pouch for tonight.


    A little ways away from the dragon, I made a makeshift bed by piling up mowed grass and somerge and wide leaves as cushions. I also lit up four bonfires on four corners of the camping spot to ensure that I had enough illumination.


    Come to think of it, its been a while since I camped out like this all by myself. Before I met Cleria, this was how I lived daily. It felt like something that happened so long ago.


    Oh, theres a call from Selena.


    (n, Im making my regr report. We have arrived at the camping site without problems, and we are now making camp.)


    (I see. Good work.  There are no problems on our end as well. Everyone has already returned back to the n Home. Ill leave everyone there to you then.)


    (Roger. Selena out.)


    I refrained from telling Selena and the others my current situation to prevent them from worrying unnecessarily. It wont make any difference even if they knew. B Team should be about to reach the n Home by now.


    Three hours have passed since the nanom transnt. Its already turnedpletely dark. The dragon was still fast asleep. Well, its not unexpected. It rampaged around a lot after all. It should have really exhausted itself.


    Captain, please touch the wound where you infused the nanoms.


    I still dont know what its for, but I just did as I was told. I walked back to the dragons head, lifted its scales, and poked my finger into the wound.


    Information sessfully obtained. The makeup of the body tissues such as the nervous system and brain are very simr to satirons, as expected. I cannot perform fine control yet, but initial neural control has been established. With this, this dragon no longer poses any danger.


    I see. Itll take more time to establish themunication function so Iris used my nanoms as a ry to obtain the necessary data huh.


    Since she already took control of the dragons nervous functions, it was definitely safe. Most creatures would be helpless once their sense of sight and hearing was taken away after all.


    It should be fine to heal the wound on the dragons head now, so I immediately healed with magic. And so, the wait continues.


    The basicmunication function has been sessfully established. Total neural control is almostplete as well. Now, I will proceed with analyzing the dragons thought patterns in order to establish an understanding of it.


    (Ill leave that all to you, Iris.)


    After about three minutes, the dragon finally began to twitch. It was probably a sign that it was starting to wake up. After a few more moments, it finally raised its head. It looked around the ce as if checking out where it has woken up to.


    Is alright if I got closer?


    Of course its fine. I have taken control of its limbs. It cannot walk and certainly cannot fly right now.


    I see I kinda feel Im doing something really bad to it.


    Its necessary to ensure safety. It would only have to put up with it temporarily until we establish aplete understanding of its nature.


    When I approached it, the dragons head movements seemed to indicate its surprise, and at times, it would frantically shake it.


    Can you show me what youre having the dragon see as well?


    My surroundings suddenly changed. The only ones that existed in a seemingly dark space were me and the dragon. And then, a Goblin appeared right in front of us. The number of Goblins increased gradually. At first, there were two, and then three, and so on. In no time we werepletely surrounded by Goblins.


    And then, they all disappeared. The next monster to appear were Orcs, and the earlier process was repeated again.


    I am currently recording its reactions when being shown these images. I will probably obtain enough information to establish a simple form ofmunication with it after a night.


    So this process will continue overnight huh. In a sense, thats quite terrifying.


    (Understood. Ill leave it to you.)


    My normal vision was restored. I do hope the dragon wont go crazy from something like this though.


    Captain, please wake up.


    Oh, so I fell asleep. I was thinking of staying up all night but ended up falling asleep instead. Wha Its already nine in the morning!


    You could have woken me up earlier.


    There wasnt anything I needed you to do anyway. In any case, I have finally managed to gather enough data to establishmunication. Let us try it right away.


    Yosh, go ahead.


    I looked at the dragon and found it looking down dejectedly. Well, it experienced that kind of mental torture for the entire night after all. Of course, itll run out like this. Is it okay? Mentally, I mean.


    The dragon suddenly raised its head and looked around, as if its vision was now clear. The moment it saw me, it dropped to the ground like a dog.


    This is a gesture of obedience. This is a greeting for the head of its n.


    Head of its n?


    Of course, Im referring to you, Captain.


    Uh, when did I even be the head of a dragon n?


    Its the opposite. The dragon has joined your n instead.


    Why the heck did that happen?


    My rtives would definitely have a field day if they ever found out a dragon joined the family.


    It is a custom of the dragons. If they surrender to an opponent of a different n, and the opponent epts, the defeated dragon would have to leave its former n and join its opponents n instead.


    What the heck!? Then this guy wont be able to go back to his original n?


    There is no need to worry. She is thest surviving member of her n.


    She? You mean this dragons actually a [1]female creature!?


    Captain, that statement can be considered a form of harassment. Your wording implies that a creature of her intelligence is no different from an animal.


    No, that wasnt my intention. Sorry, let me take that back.


    Damn! Youre one to talk! You were performing something that can be considered a form of torture to her all night, you know!


    I see. So shes thest surviving member of her n. But


    The dragon started to make a series of low growling and grunting noises.


    She has a question. She is asking if those ck things were the ns warriors. Shes probably referring to the drones.


    Iris was probably not tranting the dragons grunts directly, but reading and interpreting her thoughts instead.


    Yeah, thats right.


    All units, lower your altitude to fifty meters and execute Formation A. Cancel stealth mode.


    When she heard the sound of the drones engines, the dragon stood and looked up at the sky. Before long, the drones dropped down in a tight formation.


    The dragonid down on the ground like a dog again. But this time, she did it in front of the drones. She didnt seem to show any intention of moving from her spot as long as the drones were around, so I had them disperse and go on standby again.


    When the drones disappeared, she turned toward me again and made more of those growling noises.


    They looked to be superb warriors, is what shes saying. She has another question. Shes asking how many warriors there are in the n.


    There are 82 drones currently in service.


    The dragon seemed to be taken aback. Sheid down in front of me again. She made some more growling sounds as she continued to lie down.


    She is saying she is happy to have been able to join a n with such strength. She is apparently worried that the rest of the n will not approve of her joining though.


    Um They do, I guess.


    The dragon got up and raised a loud roar toward the sky. Thats some serious sound volume!


    She is expressing happiness due to being epted into the n.


    Her roar finally abated after a short while more.


    By the way, do you have a name?


    It felt weird to always address her as dragon. She should have a name, at least.


    Iris conveyed the meaning of my question to her.


    Guroarua.


    Sorry, but can you run that by me again?


    Guroarua.


    Its no good. Its just a grunt variation. At least, humans wont be able to pronounce such a name correctly.


    Yosh. I got it. Your name is Gloria. Its a really girly name, and it fits you very well.


    Gloria seemed pleased when she heard her name get praised. She growled and grunted again.


    She doesnt have high standards. Her only requirement is for the male to be young and healthy.


    Uh, what the heck are you talking about?


    In dragon society, the n chief is the one who decides the partner of every dragon in the n. She just told you her requirements for a potential partner.


    Wait, so, I gotta find a strapping young dragond and introduce him to herter on?


    Thats how it is.


    Is it just me, or are things actually proceeding in a very weird direction?


    [1] TL Notes: n referred to Gloria as mesu () at first. This is a term used to denote a female animal or nt as opposed to a human (or in this case, a sentient dragon). Thats why Iris said he was being rude.