The Pact Once Forged with the Fire Dragon

Everyone watched with bated breath.

Orleans, a serf whose standing was lower than the average citizen, had become the center of attention above all others present.

The Fire Dragon slammed its tail into the ground.

The impact sent tremors rippling through the earth.

I nearly fell backward, but Elza caught me from behind.

Something soft pressed against my back.

"Thanks, you saved me."

"No problem."

With her support, I managed to stay on my feet.

Azu and Alexia had kept their footing through the tremor without trouble.

Most of the citizens, however, had been knocked flat.

Some began crawling away in a desperate bid to escape.

Seeing them, others followed suit and scrambled to flee.

The panic that had been slow to arrive since the Fire Dragon's appearance had finally taken hold.

"I do not understand. I cannot comprehend."

The Fire Dragon spoke, then brought its face close to Orleans.

Its breath looked unbearably hot.

"Why do humans subjugate their own kind? My child observed you. You are nothing like the free soul you once were."

"I… don't know the answer to that."

The Fire Dragon turned its gaze to the duke.

A mere rumble in its throat was enough to drain the color from every soldier's face.

And yet they didn't abandon the duke and flee. He must've earned their loyalty.

"Why have you come here? Why did you call for me?"

Only Orleans showed no fear before the Fire Dragon.

She faced it squarely, exchanging words with composure.

Was she truly unafraid?

"The time of the pact has come. Once every hundred years, it has been renewed. Have you forgotten even this?"

"Yes."

When Orleans answered, silence claimed the scene.

No one could intervene.

"You people…"

"Please do not take any lives. If you must, let me be enough."

Orleans took a step closer to the Fire Dragon.

"You say the same thing as the ones before."

The Fire Dragon said this, then beat its wings and took to the sky once more.

"Remember the pact in its entirety, and come to my dwelling. If you intend to forge it anew."

With that parting declaration, it soared upward in an instant and was gone.

Heading for the mountains.

Everyone present was left dumbstruck.

Orleans dropped the Fire Elemental Stone and swayed on her feet.

She was about to collapse.

I broke into a run, but Azu was faster.

She slid her arm under Orleans just in time to keep her from hitting the ground.

"She's all right. She didn't hit her head."

"Good…"

"She's lost consciousness."

Elza checked her over.

"Just fainted, I think. She'll wake up before long. Let me treat the burns at least."

"She was face to face with a Fire Dragon. The mental toll alone must be enormous."

She'd been in mortal danger the entire time.

So the mural had been connected to Orleans's people after all.

Some kind of pact that Orleans's ancestors had formed, and the deadline had arrived, bringing the Fire Dragon to the surface.

But when it saw its pact-holders had been reduced to serfs on the estate, it had come to the city instead.

What pact had they struck?

If protection had been the purpose, the Fire Dragon should've appeared to defend Orleans's people when the Empire absorbed their lands.

If not that, then in exchange for not being attacked, perhaps it was something like a tribute or sacrifice…

The Fire Dragon had demanded they come to its dwelling.

Even if we ignored it and tried to flee with Orleans, the way it had acted suggested it would pursue us.

The thought of leaving her behind and running had crossed my mind, but at the same time I was curious.

What had happened in the past?

Why could only Orleans hold the Fire Elemental Stone?

Now that it radiated heat, even Azu couldn't touch it.

As I mulled this over, soldiers approached us.

And shortly after, the duke himself.

Damn. We'd lingered too long.

We should've left sooner.

"You lot. Come to my estate for now."

His tone brooked no argument.

A Fire Dragon had appeared over his city, after all.

I understood this was an emergency that threatened the city's very existence.

Better to cooperate than resist and make a bad impression.

The duchess was here too.

If she'd vouch for us and confirm we weren't suspicious, that would help.

But expecting too much from a noble was dangerous.

If push came to shove, we'd have to force our way out.

I had everyone I trusted right here with me.

The duke set off, so I hoisted Orleans onto my back and followed.

I could hear her breathing softly.

Hard to believe someone this small had stood face to face with a Fire Dragon and spoken to it.

Her nerve was remarkable.

If this girl became a merchant, she might just make it big.

Commerce came down to luck in the end.

Whether you could ride that luck when the moment arrived depended on nerve.

I'd agonized plenty when I first decided to use slaves to earn a living.

How hard would someone who'd been bought actually work?

I'd worried needlessly about whether they'd have any motivation at all.

In the end, Azu and the others had worked hard and served me well.

At least with the three I'd purchased, my fears had been unfounded.

Whether to buy new slaves was something I'd put on hold.

Expanding the numbers would be easy enough.

I could use the income Azu and the others generated.

But honestly, I couldn't keep watch over more than so many.

If I hired a supervisor to manage additional slaves, that person might abuse them behind my back, and I'd never know.

Grudges and resentment were terrifying things.

You couldn't help but witness them firsthand as a merchant.

And they had a way of circling back to you eventually.

Thinking about it always brought me to the same conclusion: keep the number of slaves to what I could personally oversee.

There were factories and plantations that bought slaves in bulk and put large numbers to work, and I knew those places turned a profit.

And besides, I had no interest in buying male slaves at this point, but adding more women would only make my position more awkward.

Lost in those diversionary thoughts, I'd arrived at the duke's manor before I knew it.

At some point, Orleans had the Elemental Stone.