The camouflage was too strong.

While Karina and the others were discussing the next village chief with the oni in the plaza, the merchants had their mercenaries fan out and encircle the village.

The scout they'd dispatched to observe the village returned with a surprising report. The merchant summoned him into his tent and listened while sipping tea.

"There was some kind of gathering in the village plaza. Three people in distinctly different clothing were talking. One was an elf, one was a human, and the last was a cat beastkin. Someone was stroking her butt and tail. She looked annoyed but wasn't resisting, so she's probably a slave."

As for the dragons—they didn't register in the scout's eyes at all.

To call the scout blind would be unfair. Karina's camouflage was simply too strong. The dragons were shrouded in divine-level optical camouflage, completely invisible unless you stepped into the plaza itself.

Nothing short of Divine Artifact-level reconnaissance could pierce through it from outside.

"Hmm. Three unexpected individuals, but they shouldn't pose a problem. We'll silence them—if we can take them alive, we'll sell them to a slave trader. Now then, as planned, let's begin the hunt once the encirclement is complete."

"Indeed. I'm looking forward to seeing how many horns we can harvest."

They'd given the mercenaries free rein to do as they pleased, so long as they didn't break the horns or kill anyone.

If a mercenary happened to kill an oni, the penalty was ten silver coins for a male (roughly 100,000 yen in Japanese currency) or one gold coin for a female (roughly 1,000,000 yen), so they wouldn't be killing anyone casually.

"I just had a thought. If we enslaved and bred them, couldn't we harvest horns indefinitely?"

"The costs add up if you put in too much effort. Besides, if you breed too many, the price collapses and you'll never recoup your investment. This amount is just right… That said, I won't stop you if you want to try it yourself. Take about two males and two females for the experiment."

"Ah, the male has to be an oni too? If they gave birth to humans, the whole impregnation would be a waste. Honestly, demi-humans are such a nuisance. They're too good at passing for human."

While they were having this casual conversation, word came that the encirclement was complete.

"Well then, time for the hunt. Though we'll simply be watching from on high."

"It would be dangerous if they resisted. Let's see what the mercenaries can do."

The merchants stepped out of the tent, pulling out binoculars as they went. They climbed a hill overlooking the village and raised them to their eyes. Watching from on high, quite literally.

"… Hm? Looks like the oni have armed themselves."

"The mercenaries might have some trouble with this… hm?"

One of the mercenaries grabbed an oni. But a heartbeat later, the mercenary froze mid-motion and was seized instead. Then dragged into the plaza.

The mercenary, now dragged into the plaza, went pale staring at what looked like empty space.

"… I have a bad feeling about this. Shall we head back for today?"

"Indeed… hm?"

The two decided to retreat on merchant's intuition. However, their legs wouldn't move.

Physically.

"Wh-what is this!? Huh!? M-my legs won't move!?"

"M-me too! Damn, someone's done something to us…!?"

Gyaoooon～!

From behind them came the roar of some large creature.

They couldn't turn around, but somehow it felt female… And its shadow fell across the merchants' feet.

""… A dra… gon…!?""

Dragon claws clamped down on them an instant later. The merchants fainted on the spot.

Incidentally, the dragon had gemstones adorning her claws, but it seems they lost consciousness before noticing.