In the blink of an eye, Jared was surrounded by bushes and trees.

Still holding on to Lucy, the first thing he saw was Paimon standing in front of him, a smug look on her face with her hands on her waist.

"See, I told you it was easy," her tone condescending.

Sigh!

"Where are we?" Jared asked while standing upright.

"We are at the chief's mansion like you asked. See? That's the entrance to his mansion."

Paimon pointed beyond the bushes.

Taking a look, Jared could see the building towering a short distance away from him.

It was large; the wooden mansion stood at the edge of a pine forest, its warm oak exterior glowing softly under the sun.

The two-story structure, rectangular and unadorned, featured wide planks weathered to a gentle gray, with a steeply pitched cedar-shingle roof and two brick chimneys rising humbly at either end.

Standing right at the entrance of the mansion were two men, dressed in the same uniform as the guards in front of the village's gate.

'Of course he has a mansion,' Jared spat.

Since he had explored the village, so far he had not seen anything to call the village's chief out for extorting his own people.

Without a doubt, the village was doing well financially.

"Master, would you like me to take out the guards so we can storm the place?" asked Paimon.

Lucy frowned a bit at the suggestion, but she waited to hear what Jared's response would be.

"As I said before, I am here to build a relationship with the guy; barging into his place isn't exactly setting that up, now is it?"

Paimon lowered her head in response.

"In any case, we'll pass through the main gate like normal and request an audience."

"Do you think they would let us in, my lord?" Lucy tilted her head.

"We won't know till we try."

With that, Jared walked out of the bushes and gradually approached the guards.

Lucy and Paimon followed behind him.

Just as Jared was approaching the gate, one of the guards spotted him.

"Hey, you! Where do you think you're heading?" The guard quickly pointed his blade at Jared.

The second guard was also alerted, as he drew out his weapon.

"I mean no harm; I have only come here to seek an audience with your leader," Jared announced with both his arms raised to show he wasn't a threat.

"An audience? Let me see your permit."

"Bring out your permit."

Both guards voiced out.

[The guards are wary of your presence.]

Jared narrowed his gaze.

'I figured this would happen.'

"I don't have a permit, but I—"

"Get lost!" one of the guards yelled, a disgusted look on his face as if he was staring at an animal.

"You—"

Lucy wanted to speak.

"You people have some nerve coming to the Great Master's abode without a permit. Do you have a death wish? You'd best get out of here before we kill you. Go on, damn beggars."

"I thought the same thing; these beggars are always coming here every day. I'm getting tired of it."

"These ones are well dressed."

"Looks like they're evolving."

"Hahaha!"

Both guards laughed, mocking the group.

Lucy's eyes immediately went dark. She wasn't the violent type, but in that moment, she so badly wanted to rip their heads off and make them eat those words.

Even Paimon was no different; her eyes had begun to glow, her claws slowly crawling out of her fingers.

Jared, on the other hand, took a deep breath.

And then—

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear—"

[The will of the dragon has been activated.]

[You are currently using the Aura of a Great Dragon.]

Covering Jared's body were layers of mana, pouring down and slowly swallowing everything around him.

The soldiers were frozen in shock, the mana reaching all the way to their hearts, feeling like they were going to explode.

Lucy and Paimon had the same reaction, only rather than fear like the soldiers, they were shocked.

"…Let me start from the beginning. My name is Jared Hunter, leader of Sikone village, the fourth Dragon Master, and I would like to speak to your leader."

"D-did you say Dragon Master?" Fear hitched on the man's face.

As rare as that title was, people still knew the power it held.

Dragons were strong beings from another realm, and Dragon Masters were strangers.

Although many Dragon Masters isolated themselves from the human population, and some lived in the dragon realm, seeing one before them was both shocking and scary.

"Are you not convinced? Paimon."

"Yes, Master."

Right then and there, a huge gust of wind spread from her position, her entire body glowing with light.

Soon, she transformed into her true form.

A massive blue dragon, eyes burning with flames, wings that stretched far and wide. Her huge legs dug into the ground, her horns two times the size of the trees behind her.

"A dragon…"

The first guard fainted.

Lucy stood there, speechless and shocked.

Not once did she ever imagine Paimon was the legendary blue dragon. And to add to it, Jared was a Dragon Master.

All she knew was he came back with a weird woman one day with an army of lizard men, which, in all honesty, was close to the most normal thing Jared could do.

"I'll… I'll go get the Great Master! P-please wait here!"

Jared watched as the guard dragged his colleague on the ground through the gate.

'I should have just done this from the start.'

Leaning down a bit, Paimon pulled her enormous face down to Jared's level—

"Master, are you sure about this? You said you wanted to keep me being a dragon and you being a Dragon Master a secret until the dragon selection began," she whispered.

"Yes, I did say that."

Paimon halted.

"T-then…"

"Fear can be a very effective tool if used right. You'll see what I mean soon."

The guard returned, panting, his face pale as he dragged his unconscious colleague behind him. He stopped a few feet from Jared, bowing low, his voice trembling. "T-The Great Master will see you now. Please, follow me."

Jared exchanged a glance with Lucy, who still looked stunned, her eyes flickering between him and Paimon's massive dragon form.

Paimon, sensing the moment, shimmered and shrank back into her human guise, her smug grin returning as she brushed off her dress. "Told you it'd work," she muttered under her breath.

"Let's go," Jared said, his tone calm but laced with a quiet intensity.

He stepped forward, Lucy and Paimon falling in line behind him as they passed through the mansion's towering oak gates.

The path to the entrance was lined with manicured hedges, their edges so precise they seemed carved by a blade. The mansion loomed closer, its wooden exterior gleaming under the late afternoon sun, though Jared's sharp eyes caught the faint cracks in the weathered planks—small signs of neglect beneath the grandeur.

The guard led them through the heavy double doors into a spacious foyer.

Polished wooden floors stretched beneath a chandelier of wrought iron, its candles flickering softly.

A wide staircase spiraled upward to the second floor, but the guard gestured to a hallway on the right.

"This way," he mumbled, avoiding Jared's gaze.

They reached a set of double doors carved with intricate vine patterns. The guard knocked twice, then pushed them open, revealing a grand dining hall.

At its center was a long table laden with platters of roasted meats, steaming loaves of bread, and glistening fruit tarts. The air was thick with the scent of spices and wine.

Seated at the head of the table was the Great Master, a man so corpulent his chair groaned faintly under his weight.

His round face glistened with sweat as he tore into a leg of roasted fowl, grease dripping down his chin. His velvet robes, embroidered with gold thread, strained against his bulk.

He barely glanced up as Jared and his companions entered, his attention fixed on the feast before him.

To his right stood a butler, tall and lean, his posture rigid as a blade. His black suit was immaculate, his sharp features expressionless, though his dark eyes flicked toward Jared with a calculating glint. A silver tray rested in his hands, holding a crystal decanter of red wine.

The guard cleared his throat. "G-Great Master, this is Jared Hunter, leader of Sikone village… and, uh, a Dragon Master." His voice faltered at the last words.

The Great Master paused mid-bite, his small eyes narrowing as he finally looked up.

He wiped his mouth with a silk napkin, leaving a smear of grease, and leaned back in his chair.

"A Dragon Master, you say?" His voice was deep, oily, with a hint of mockery. "Well, well. That's not a title you hear every day. And what brings such a… prestigious figure to my humble home?"

Jared's jaw tightened. The man's tone, the excess of the feast, the contrast between the chief's gluttony and the butler's disciplined restraint—it all set his instincts on edge.

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