A few days later.

And so, a few days later.

"With that said, this is all of their assets."

"Oh. Thanks."

The mercenaries trudged into the oni village with grim expressions and handed over my compensation.

A cart and its contents. They even included an inventory list. Hoh, how thoughtful.

"… You're taking this awfully lightly. It's almost scary."

"Hm? Did you want me to threaten you some more?"

"Give me a break, you've already threatened us plenty."

The mercenary said, shrugging.

Gold and silver treasures, glittering jewelry, cut gemstones, all sorts of stuff. I took the inventory list and scanned through it.

They probably couldn't liquidate everything into treasure on such short notice, so items that appeared to be shop merchandise were also listed.

Heh, so they mainly dealt in medicine. Magical potions, ointments, poultices, even bandages. I'll take these too.

Just then, Gyaldra poked her head in.

"Oh, the sparkly stones are here? Lemme see, lemme see?"

"Whoa there, Gyaldra. The gems are in that cart over there. I'll bedazzle you again later, 'kay?"

"Yaaay! Karina's totally my bestie! You're strong and cute and stylish and like, the best!"

Hehe, don't flatter me so much. I'm supposed to be pretending I can't understand dragons, but she's gonna make me crack a smile.

Gyaldra grabbed a box of gemstones from the cart with her mouth and tugged it out.

Then she deftly flipped open the lid with her claws and gazed at the jewelry lined up inside the box.

"Ooh! This one's nice, the yellow's sooo pretty! It's small but like, bigger than the others. Can I have this one?"

"Oh? You want it? Go ahead, take whatever you like. Most of this is basically tribute to the dragons anyway. Or rather, reparations."

"Yaaay! Bedazzle me with this one later, 'kay?"

With that, Gyaldra carefully held a gemstone about the size of a rhinoceros beetle in her hand and walked off.

"To think you've tamed dragons like they're dogs… Also, that single gem could buy a house on the outskirts of the imperial capital, you know?"

"To a dragon, it's just a 'pretty stone,' mercenary-kun. To her, it's worth about as much as a souvenir. The other one couldn't care less about this stuff, though."

"I… see… Also, that one was female?"

Well, I suppose ordinary folks can't tell a dragon's sex just by looking. Even though Gyaldra's speech and mannerisms are totally girly…

Maybe if she wears more accessories, humans will start recognizing her as female?

"So, what about the slaves?"

"We brought them over there. They're oni women."

"Ah, just return them to the village. The dragons said they don't need them, supposedly."

"I see… They were terrified thinking they'd end up as dragon food, so I'll go tell them right away."

That would certainly be terrifying.

"… So, what do you want to do with these merchants? Can we release them now?"

"Hm?"

Aside from the inventory, there were also merchants with their arms bound behind their backs.

All their jewelry had been stripped away, leaving them in plain, shabby attire.

"Oh sure. Go ahead."

The two merchants visibly sagged with relief.

… Maybe I should give them a little warning.

"However, the dragons said not to get involved with the oni village anymore, or so the Miko-hime said."

Then I applied some pressure (physical) with Spatial Magic while threatening the merchants.

"Keep your mouths shut. If anyone comes to attack the oni village or the dragons, your lives won't be guaranteed… that's what she also said. Oh, that's what the princess said. About what the dragons said."

"Eek…! Y-Yes…!"

"U-Under-stood…!?"

Yes, yes, feeling an incomprehensible pressure and cowering in fear. Very good indeed.

I briefly considered making them help conceal the oni village, but they don't have that kind of money anymore. I'll let them off with just keeping quiet.

Ah. Wait a second?

"Now then, mercenaries. If you value your lives… you understand, right?"

"Y-Yeah… We absolutely won't breathe a word about this village. But the dragons themselves are massive, so if they're spotted from the imperial capital, the secret's out, you know?"

"Try to squash any rumors too. Got it?"

"… Yeah."

The mercenary nodded reluctantly. Well, just chalk it up to bad luck for attacking when I happened to be visiting.

If Dea-kun had gotten hurt, it wouldn't have ended this easily, so you should be grateful for that.

… Oh, want to pet Misha's butt? I'll allow it just this once.