He was quite the conversationalist

Turns out the dragons weren't actually the ones demanding sacrifices after all. So I negotiated with the dragon and got him to play along with a little farce.

Anyway, scouting mission complete. I returned to the Ritual Hall.

"So yeah, I went to check things out, and he was quite the conversationalist, Arthur."

"Anego, I wouldn't really call that a conversation… no wait, so the female one was the reasonable one, huh. Yeah, that tracks."

"What's that supposed to mean? If you have a problem with my body language, we can have a nice little chat about it, you know?"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about! … I kinda feel bad for Kirigon-san…"

Arthur shrugged with a "good grief" sort of air.

"So, are Dea-kun and Misha still asleep?"

"Out cold. I got bored pretending to be asleep, so I acted like the drug wore off and I just woke up."

Hmm, at this rate, they might not wake up before the dragon couple arrives.

"Can't you use your specialty Spatial Magic to, like, detox them or something, Anego?"

"… I don't really understand the drug's composition, so… I'll just do a stomach purge for now."

I snapped my fingers, and the half-digested food, drug and all, vanished from Dea-kun's stomach.

Misha? Eh, she'll wake up eventually.

Whether it was the purge that did it or not, Dea-kun woke up shortly after.

"… Mmm, huh, good morning…?"

"Morning, Dea-kun. Hungry, right? Want a sandwich?"

"… I'll have some. Where are we?"

I explained that we were in the Ritual Hall, protected by a barrier.

"Huh? A barrier that repels men… but I'm here?"

"Looks like the barrier didn't recognize you as male, Dea-kun!"

"Onee-san did something, didn't you."

"Yep. Wrapped you in my own barrier to fool it. Keep it secret, okay?"

Geez, this kid really does trust me a lot.

For the record, the gender check only happens at the boundary, so I'm not using any tricks to disguise his gender right now.

"More importantly, Dea-kun-chan! According to Anego's investigation, it turns out the dragons weren't the ones demanding sacrifices!"

"Huh, really, Arthur? … In that case, it's either the uncle's doing, or some other scheme. First thing that comes to mind would be slave trading."

Oh. Slave trading. Right, they could claim it's a sacrifice to the dragon while demanding pure maidens, then ship them off as slaves instead. That's plausible. Could it be those oni tribe guys in the forest?

And Dea-kun figured that out mere seconds after waking up. Sharp as ever. Pat pat.

"Well, about that, I got the dragons to play along with a little farce, so the truth should come out soon enough."

"A farce?"

"Of course, I'd like your cooperation too, Dea-kun. That's okay, right?"

"Yes, that's fine, but…"

So I laid out the dragon farce for Dea-kun.

And I do mean farce. The plan is to have Kirigon show his belly to Dea-kun and roll around submissively.

"… Um, is that really okay? Like, in terms of dragon pride?"

"He said it was fine!"

"Well, Anego doesn't let anyone complain, so Dea-kun-chan just needs to do as she says!"

The great thing about dragons is they'll do whatever the winner tells them.