Author's Memo: Hello! I'm a little late because my classes today goes near this time and I needed to finish some parts too.

And my PR, Ultrabenosaurus, got a little to excited when I started this and he started writing it after I gave him my OK... But well... Ultra... Together we shall dominate this world!

Have a nice read! And it's finally here!!!! Probably!

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Y'allaer PoV

Seeing as we'd been marching in the morning and afternoon, fighting for hours this evening, and it was already night, we decided to move away from the ruined capital during the night and camp all of tomorrow. Although slight, most of the force had taken some damage. Thankfully no one else was anywhere near as badly damaged as the Knight who had one of arms become a club, but it would be good to deal with any repairs we can handle as soon as possible lest they become worse while marching home.

While we didn't bring any support personnel like actual mechanics, but all Mechatronics had basic knowledge and understanding of their bodies in order to perform maintenance on all but their most complex parts. Unfortunately the Knight's arm couldn't be reattached due to how it had been hacked off, though with how battered it looks due to him using it as a weapon I doubt he'd want it reattaching anyway. A day's break would also give me chance to have a proper look over the children we picked up. I wanted to inspect all of their mana capacities, as much as I can by just feeling their mana without any tools, and make sure they're all comfortable in carriage.

After the sun rose and we'd set camp, the first thing I did was check the food I'd previously gathered for the kids. I needed to see how much we ended up using yesterday and during the night in order to gauge the rate of consumption - it wouldn't be good to have too much so it wasn't eaten quickly enough and went bad, but we also couldn't let ourselves get too short and not be able to hunt quickly enough further on.

Y'allaer, your 'show' was excellent, your orders and organisation of our forces were also very good, but I fear you aren't as talented in childcare.

A high-priority message popped up on my Gondo as I was about done calculating the turnover rate of our food supplies.

What do you mean, Lilith? I've got them food and although done quickly, we did ensure all of them were properly wrapped in blankets last night.

I replied to the message from my adorable Queen.

You're so obviously a dragon. Human children, especially that young, cannot survive for days on meat alone. They need a balanced diet to grow properly, including vegetables. Are you planning on bringing them to me dead?

...fuck.

In a panic I shouted for the least injured soldiers to forage for edible plants as I myself took off at a sprint to locate a batch of mushrooms in the forest on the horizon that we could easily preserve for the trip back. I hope the fact none of the things cried at all during the night or this morning isn't because they're dead already. I mean, I know humans are fragile but isn't this too much?! One handful of meat without vegetables as an infant is enough to kill them?! I'm surprised their race has lasted so long, with their weak constitution and refusal to use magic and greed-fueled infighting. Not to mention how they antagonise all the other races so much.

Once back with a stick, I mean tree, it's hard judging sizes in full dragon form when I almost never use it, covered in various edible fungi, I do most of the work to cut and preserve them while leaving the cooking to a strangely talkative female assassin who is slightly trembling as she works. Probably a touch overwhelmed by taking direct orders for the food from our Queen. I'm really dreading my punishment for this when we get back, though the fact none of them are dead and only a few seem ill at all should work in my defense. I hope. That assassin will likely become scrap if she fails to follow Lilith's instructions perfectly and any of the brats don't make it back alive, though I'll be scrapped first in that situation.

Anyway, after that… mishap, things proceded smoothly and without losing any of the adorable bundles of mush to culinary accidents we made decent time. I admit, the little things have grown on me, despite being human, and I'm looking forward to seeing them after some proper education. I also kinda want one of my own… but when I mentioned this Lilith said I was probably too young, even if biologically ready, and also said that as her pet I'm not allowed to take a mate without prior permission from her. Even though it was just text, her reply seemed a little strange but I can't put my finger on why. I'm probably imagining thighs... I mean things.

Only taking one day longer to return than march out, not including the day we spent doing repairs, we can finally see the outer walls of our city and the silhouette of Lilith's palace, my home, against the setting sun. If we march all night we should reach the gates just before sunrise, but I'll leave that decision to my troops as I can go all night more easily than the Clockworks and their limited power supplies that can't be recharged while they're operational.

Lance PoV

The room was silent as the castle collapsed.

Until Yoko burst out laughing before asking no one in particular "What the hell was with those crappy chants?! Is he a chuuni?! This is too much!"

Queen Lilith had contacted us via the Gon helmets once Yoko informed her of the human king's intentions. Honestly, I have no idea why she insisted on going over to the palace and telling the Queen herself when we could easily have used these. Still, I'm not Alicia, so no instant wireless communications from me!

Even though Y'allaer is officially her pet, he is still part of our group. Thankfully, the Queen has not taken any liberties in ordering him to participate in any major missions without our consent, as we also request usage of him from her. I wouldn't want conflict between our two parties because of something silly like that, this alliance seems to be a very good decision and I hope to see it continue so long as both sides exist.

After permitting her to send Y'allaer as the leader of a punitive force and waiting for them to arrive at the human city, at our elders' request, Queen Lilith connected all of our Gon helmets to what she called "SkyWeb", a connection of all the members of the taskforce including our Draconian fool. Through it the room we were in had its walls replaced by small rectangles of each member's video feed. We could pick one or more to enlarge, and the roomscape was shared between us so we could easily discuss what was happening in any particular scene.

I must say, even though our primary function is to counter human atrocities against other races and their own magic users, we are not actually an anti-human organisation. Y'allaer's hatred for humans is well-known and perfectly understandable, and a sentiment many of our members share, especially at first. With the elders themselves being human, watching him laugh and sing as he brutally rips apart the castle guards is a little difficult, but nothing we didn't expect with him leading such a mission. The Mechatronics, by comparison, are fighting in a simply efficient manner. Whether that means they rip a person apart, explode a group of humans into chunks of meat, or simply pierce a heart and move on, is based on nothing more than their analysis of that particular situation. But for Y'allaer, he's purposefully being cruel and messy and he genuinely enjoys it purely because his victims are human. Well, part of it may be his dragon side, but I'm surely it's mostly because they're human.

However, as I said, that was sort of expected given his nature and history. The reason the room was silent, prior to Yoko's outburst, was the "show" Queen Lilith asked him to perform with the royal family. The Mechatronics' ruler had also graciously allowed us view-only access to the command channels, so we could see her message to Y'allaer about keeping the king alive after breaking his mind. What he did to those children, so easily and with poorly contained joy, nearly made me throw up. I, who has been through countless gruesome battles and leads a mercenary group behind enemy lines, hardened by war and sights of how humans treat those they look down upon, was disgusted by the boy's actions.

And Lilith praised him for it afterwards. I truly worry for his future, maybe even the future of the entire world, after witnessing this.

Lilith PoV

All my Mechatronics were watching the great “show” Y'allaer was giving us with the pig king's family. How could I not praise him for completing my orders in such a flashy way?! I would need to give him something as a reward when he is back… ‘What should I give him? A kiss? Ah nononononononono...’ I feel my face became red.

“Queen Lilith… I think you need to stop imagining such things during official activities. Everyone is looking at your smiling face.” Rusty says in a quiet voice. ‘Not again… Why does this always happen when I think about him? And how can Rusty be so sure of what I'm thinking anyway?!’

I recover myself and look back to the holo-projection. “Wow! How beautiful! How is he able to create such beautiful magic? Rusty, did you see that spear? What? OH! LOOK AT THAT! Her body was covered in ice and then the vines grew out of her! What? Ah… she is brok… Wow! SO BEAUTIFUL! THOSE ROSES ARE SO WONDERFULLY RED! Ah… It was beautiful! How it is possible to create that from something's death…?” And then Y’allaer’s voice comes out of the speakers.

“Beautiful, no? Do you see how it can be used? Magic is beautiful, magic isn't dreadful. Magic doesn’t see enemies, it is something the caster controls. Magic is ART!”

We all watch, trying to understand how creatively we can use magic. It was fast, but he splendidly toyed with the pig king, killing his family one after another. And at the end, with an almost broken mind, the king fades in the cloak of dark magic he created.

We then proceed to see the others… The armless knight… I could see everyone laughing at him. He used his own severed arm as club to smash or send the humans flying.

He had lost it saving a child, so I’ll spare him this time, but being damaged so by mere humans is pathetic. All of our soldiers got some few scratches or dents, but they can be repaired fast. I was worried that my pet didn’t choose any Mechanics to go with him… Well they are slow, but now I think it’s okay. Let them grab their victory.

It was when they stopped to camp that I noticed something odd. Y’allaer almost never eats vegetables, he only loves meat… I linked some things when I saw his pitiful "supplies" and quickly asked him how he was feeding the kids. And just as I thought… He was just giving meat to them.

I sent a message to a Construct with an almost unscratched body with a recipe that I wanted her to prepare with the things they would secure after looking in the forest and any nearby human farms.

It was the first and last time that that happened, every stop they would feed some proper food to the kids, to make sure they don't get too hungry.

Y’allaer had sent a message to me saying that in a day they would be here. I wanted to see him soon, but knowing that he would need a bath I asked him to come see me after that. It was what he did.

He had a relaxed face now. “Lilith, I’m back.” He said with a smile, greeting me so casually only because we were alone. He is a well-behaved pet, most of the time.

Without holding back I run to him. “Welcome back.” It feels nice, being in his arms. And the annoying fox is not here so I might be able to finally say it. ‘But should I say it normally or should I say it like a shy girl? Which would he prefer?’ I was thinking like so as someone knocked on the door.

*Knock* *Knock* “It’s Rusty. Y’allaer, I need to confirm some things with you.” He sees us as acting as normal and walks over without minding anything. “We counted the kids you captured and we found an odd number. We’re going to be needing another girl because we got one boy more…” They started to talk about the number of kids… I was getting angry at all of them.

Rusty with silly reports, chibifox with that infuriating smirk, and even Y'allaer running away when he gets too embarrassed! Why? WHY?!

“WHY THE HELL DO ALL OF YOU KEEP INTERRUPTING ME WHEN I’M TRYING TO TELL Y’ALLAER THAT I LOVE HIM?!” The room goes silent…

It takes me full 0.3 seconds to understand what I have done… and using my engine at full power, I run away from the throne room. “I ACTUALLY SAID IT! BUT WHY DID I NEED TO TELL HIM IN THAT WAY?!” I shouted while I ran to my room with a burning, tear-stained face.