-Past Midday. Nefiru's POV-

What the fuck? Just how much did they ask when even ransacking the whole town didn't reach it? Well, they probably couldn't find all the hidden money from the rich people, and it's a miracle they didn't breakdown from the stress or go bald since everything fell apart so quickly, but Lester still got her back in one piece then became the head of the house huh? I feel a little admiration watching the blond haired person trying to calm himself and gather his thoughts before continuing.

"They were aware of our situation with Father arrested, the Nobles turning their backs on us, and the high-ranked supporter Lucious being at war on the other side of the kingdom, so they looked down on me, who went to the exchange with the incomplete amount." He forces himself to narrate with the resignation of being unable to change that result.

Although it should be obvious for high rankers to ask a lot of gold since they are like specialists from Earth, it was a Noble they kidnapped, and it was all planned beforehand when they moved in then stayed quiet until she appeared. Were these Nobles an easy prey or did the bandits have a way out? Even if they did such a cliche thing, their motives are more important, and I doubt they were gonna drink such a large amount of money which means it was probably to flee the country or use it to Rank up since they were high rankers already who can probably find work easily. In the first place, where did they come from and who organized a bunch of high ranks to be bandits? I realized something must be behind the risky end-game after pondering the reasons from their point of view.

"There was around a dozen of them Rank 6 to 7, and our encirclement with guards Rank 4 or 5 didn't intimidate them so much, but their faces changed after hearing that Lucious doesn't work for us because of money, then returned her to us, fearing retribution from the higher Rankers. It was dusk when they dropped a sack by the road for me to see, and after desperately confirming her her unconscious body inside, I ran towards the town as fast as possible while carrying the package then met up with everyone at the gate outpost." He narrated and scoffed with an ugly expression while shaking his head at the conclusion of the story.

Whoever organized the bandits lied about Lucious to use them or counted on the fact that most people work for money and once the family broke apart, there wouldn't be any money to pay anyone, then there won't be anything to fear with all the enemies this family made. It's also possible another reason they were willing to go against a Noble is that there's another one behind, but Lester sounded unsure on the source. People of Earth take the police for granted, but all sorts of cliches can happen without a force actively protecting the public or chasing murderers, kidnappers and thieves. Though Alphonse probably does something about it at night...and why does it look like Lester is not done with the story?

"We felt relieved seeing her face okay under the bright light of healer that was waiting for us, but our faces changed after pulling out of the sack her bloodied body emitting a strong smell of sweat and something else from men." He stops talking then covered his face with a hand before continuing. "Apparently, they were not planning on returning her before hearing about Lucious and didn't do anything because the exchange would fail, but that changed after seeing me approach the location alone on with the money." He clenched his teeth grinding them before dramatizing in a quiet voice "A while later, my little sister was returned unconscious in a sack was because she fainted after being defiled by them!" Finally revealing the reasons he hiccups trying calming himself to narrate something else. "T-they probably raped h-her to their heart's content and stopped before s-she died t-then returned her in a sack thinking it would appease us." He stuttered while tears are falling to the ground from his angry expression then averted his gaze.

"WUUUOOoo..." I gave a short wail in sadness feeling it was the right thing to do as a dragon and a human.

...Fuck! My heart is not made of ice, though that almost happened this morning... Emotions can be suppressed not to be hurt or just look cool in the eyes of others, but they undoubtedly are part of our self-awareness, and how different from a bacteria one would be without any feelings or purpose other than to reproduce. Supposedly, empathy is a result of living in a community to improve survival, but the fact that at certain intelligence every creature is capable of the same emotions seems inevitable or perhaps a side-effect of self-awareness.

I closed my eyes recalling our time together since our first meeting. This revelation probably explains my sadness and nostalgia from our first encounter, but why is that?If the protagonist was me, then I arrived a year late only to find my princess that was raped until she almost died. I think of the girl as something more than just a loyal dog, and with rights to happiness after all the cruelty she experienced.

Argh, those bastards must have been thinking what an easy job it was, to get a lot of money and fuck a Noble girl in the process... I compared the rarity of noblewomen to Idols from Earth.

It doesn't look like revenge against nobility in general or a lack of women since they were high-ranking bandits and probably got cold feet then returned her hoping to avoid being chased all over the continent for revenge when they heard about Lucious's loyalty. I understand the bandit's panic to find a way out after going so far. Well, there was no reason to return her alive, and they couldn't bargain the mastermind's identity in exchange for their lives, but they also miscalculated how fast the nobles would chase.

Lester leaned on the corner of the stables, then we spend some time in silence while hearing the noise of the wind and guards talking in the background.

"Our troubles didn't end there since we didn't know what to do with the broken doll we received for a sister...tears just fell from her lifeless eyes and food or water had to be forced down her throat until grandmother arrived to heal her completely. She went through many phases which included a lot of wailing, harmful actions to herself, and rejection of everyone around, but eventually improved with the help of grandma who advised buying her pets to heal her heart." He described the aftermath looking towards the house then turned to stare into my right eye.

"I thought you were a bad Noble on our first meeting, and I was right, but how were you not arrested after robbing the town you are supposed to protect?" I inquired after realizing the guards in this place are in charge of patrolling the river town.

"I can't refute that." Lester shrugged then continued. "We are indeed the highest authority in town, and those families went to complain to other Nobles since the Royals were busy with the war, but my sister Liana used her body to delay their suppression troops until Lucious arrived from the war a few days later. With how things were going it was highly possible that I would have been executed and our state ransacked in turn if she didn't do that, then there was no telling what would happen to Shaila in that condition. Lucious stopped the troops sent after me, and got Father out of prison then chased after the bandits that fled to the harbor city, but caught them before they boarded a big ship and were brought back to be tortured to death at the place you were auctioned. After that our family was pardoned by the Royals because of war merits, but I'm forbidden from leaving my territory as punishment." He looked up at the sky and sighed lamenting being bound to this crappy place until told otherwise.

...I'm following the footsteps of the bandits using their spot to spy on the road, got auctioned at their execution place and want Shaila as well. I recall the white haired girl who agreed to come with me.

Well...I still need her loyalty to help me when my luck runs out, and it's possible to be killed by future parents since they will think my egg is dead for taking too long to hatch. It would suck to die several times before being safely born, but my luck stat was never high, to begin with. I observed the results of certain actions leading to different results in my previous life over the span of several years and quantified luck into a numerical value, but the despairing result of positive outcomes was under 30% most of the time while people around reached twice that. The chances of Game-Over are rather high with powerful predators not far, mistakes on magic can be fatal, and there aren't that many Dragons around to indicate high survival rate, but Shaila could turn invisible with light magic then fly on a mount to dragon nests looking for me.

"I was left in charge of the territory of our house then decided to improve things if I'm not allowed to leave, but the economic decline isn't making things easier on top of the contaminated river still not clearing up, and Lucious is the only one helping to keep the roads free of unsavory people while Father became an alcoholic." He described the current actions of the House members.

"Sorry to be insensitive, but forgot to ask how many touched her?" I request curiously of how many had their way with the girl.

"INSENSITIVE!" He roared my direction then his face stayed contorted from my lack of reaction while being stared at. "Hmph! You will understand her pain once mating season comes!" He announced with conviction.

"What, you are not going to rent a dragon at the capital for me?" I inquired tilting my head.

"Shaila already told you huh?" He affirmed showing a dark smile. "The scent from the closest Dragons will attract each other while some stronger ones follow certain preferences from the smell, and travel vast distances to meet before fighting for dominance since the loser has to become the preferred gender of the winner." He crossed his arms enjoying my reaction.

Hmm... It is natural for all animals of the species to come out during mating seasons, but Dragons don't have a uniform size, and older Dragons can grow several times my size. That's really messed up! Did anyone tell Mother that size matters? In fact...it matters too much when she was 2 meters smaller than Big Red. Well, perhaps there is capacity to allow for certain size difference, and Dragons are tough. In any case, it's always the stronger who gets to choose an appropriate partner, but lucky for me, I'm still a young dragon. I concluded after analyzing.

''What does that have to do with me? I was just born." I scoffed at him then got up.

"From what I know, Dragons are not supposed to awaken their affinities so soon, and they always take many years to grow before awakening, but you who acquired your affinities last night is already considered an Adult by other Dragons. However, you got lucky to have awakened now and not some time ago when the mating call was still active, but you still have size to worry about for the next season." Lester snickered watching me freeze on the spot.

Oh... Houston, we have a big problem... I slowly sit back down on my belly like the Sphinx of Giza then cursed in my mind every creature or being I could think of before calming down to analyze.

And I thought lying eggs was outrageous... getting fucked to death is way too ridiculous! I imagine accidents leading to physical injury because of the agressive rituals. No way in hell Dragons will restrain themselves during that time, but the preparations I can do won't be few either and even make bombs to avoid such thing befalling me. I affirm the need for preparations and a strong motivation for becoming the most powerful Dragon.

"I hate you..." I monotonously send causing him to laugh. "How do I deal with the difference in size and how long does the act last?" I demanded, hoping to hear something positive next.

"Obviously, Dragons are not going to care if you die because it's relieving mating with others, and have to worry about more than one coming after you for that reason, but the longer you can copulate the better since your urges and scent will diminish more that way, then you can team up to fend off any desperate dragon. However, there are some that prefer to stay females and just wait for others to fight over them or choose to help one particular male, but bigger dragons can do it for up to half a day and with your small size, satisfying a larger Tamed female Dragon will not be easy." He mocked my size while gazing at me.

"But I still have four more years to prepare or eat a lot to grow bigger, and besides, there should be smaller or low ranking tamed dragons." I asserted with confidence recalling my biology.

Though, I don't know many dragons, Big Red who was lazily sleeping all day didn't have unnecessary body mass... I compare the lazy father and eating habits that make Dragons grow bigger instead of more round. I as well....after eating everything in the forest, just grew instead of becoming fat leading me to believe that growing up requires a lot of chewing and pooping.

However, I deviated from the natural course and became an adult before my body is even ready in more aspects than one. The brain development in Dragons seems tied to body growth, and reach the appropriate body size for maturity and the required level of intelligence to learn magic.

In any case, Shaila could help me avoid disaster if she becomes strong enough, but right now she won't survive a tail swing... I count on the little girl to become a strong magician.

"Not so fast." He held his open palm towards me in a stopping motion. "The tamed dragons go to wars, but the smaller ones die first, especially the low-ranking and as far as I know, dragons are not supposed to awaken so soon after being born without first growing up to a certain size because, after affinity awakening, your growth will slow down considerably. Hiding in a hole doesn't help when even Dragons living inside mountains are forced to come out because of the urges from the call, and also the reason why dragons are kicked out of cities by the end of spring every five years since they could hump anything seeking relief besides the violent behavior." He sternly elaborates while eliminating my escape routes as if playing chess.

This call seems rather intense if he put it that way or maybe he's trolling, but there must ways to counter it beside a nuclear bunker deep underground. The magic from a Demigod is unfair, but I still have four years to avoid laying eggs or dying in that manner... I resolve myself to do my utmost to prepare for the next season.

I wonder if this kind of stuff happens between family, though the last resort would indeed be my sister, I rather not cross that line. I realize the use of a collar to teach my siblings magic faster than their natural pace.

"Why would someone do this? Is that demigod bored to torment dragons for a living?" I sorrowfully complain.

Ah! Another way to get out of this would be to contact that demigod or high ranking dragons who can avoid it on their own. I realize the possibility of rebels hidding in the right place to avoid the forced process.