Leo, who had already run far away, was stunned when he received a call connection from Zelan.

After hesitating for a while, he still picked up the call.

The voice coming through was indeed that familiar young man’s voice.

[Yeah, I’m still alive. But something unexpected happened.]

[What happened?]

[After you ran, the Dragon Queen turned me into one of the Dragonkin. And now I...]

Zelan opened his eyes. He couldn’t bear to look at himself in the mirror, and let out a sigh.

[Now I’ve turned into a black dragon. I’m being held in a dungeon by the Dragonkin. They want me to surrender to them and swear loyalty to the Dragonkin.]

[Did you agree?]

[No. If I had, how could I still be contacting you? Leo, why did you...]

Zelan wanted to ask why did you leave me behind and run on your own, but he was the one asking for help now. He should say something nicer and beg Leo to bring reinforcements to save him.

But Leo had already understood what Zelan wanted to ask.

From the other end of the call, he explained,

[Zelan, it’s not that I didn’t want to save you. Dragon Queen Elise has the power to suppress spatial teleportation. I tried back then, but there was no way to save you. Once she catches something, no spatial magic can teleport it out of her hands. I can’t fight in close combat. Once she dealt with you, I’d be next. In that situation, the only thing I could do was run as fast as possible. Otherwise, both of us would’ve gone down there. That would’ve been the worst outcome.]

Zelan closed his eyes. Leo did have a point.

After all, Leo was a long-range mage. His close-combat ability was basically nonexistent.

So it was only natural that he hadn’t come to save him.

[That’s true. If you hadn’t escaped, both of us might’ve been captured by the Dragon Queen. Leo, they seem to know that we have something like the System.]

[Seem to know?]

[Yeah. A purple-haired dragon girl told me. She said I have the ability that guided me here, a special ability to sense Leyline Energy. Isn’t that basically the System? She just doesn’t know its exact name or what it really does.]

The System’s final missions had always been guiding them to challenge the Dragon Sovereign. By sensing places rich in Leyline Energy, it helped them find treasures and grow stronger bit by bit, until they had the power to challenge the Dragon Sovereign.

[So they turned you into one of the Dragonkin because they want you to use that ability for them?]

[I think so.]

After that line, the call fell into a brief silence.

Zelan waited and waited, but Leo still didn’t say the words he longed to hear most.

Hang in there, brother. I’ll find a way to save you right now.

Afraid Leo might cut off the call the next second, Zelan finally forced himself to voice the plea in his heart.

[Leo, can you think of a way to save me? You know a fair bit about Dragonkin magic. I think you should be able to undo the formation binding me and get me out of here. That power that suppresses spatial teleportation should only belong to Dragon Queen Elise, right? We’ve fought side by side for so long, and we’ve never seen any other Dragonkin with that ability.]

[Probably. At least, in all these years, I’ve never seen anyone besides Elise with that power.]

[I’m underground. It should be the Dragonkin dungeon.]

[I’ll come save you, Zelan. Don’t lose heart. No matter how they torture you, you have to hold on to who you are. Don’t betray humanity and side with the Dragonkin. And absolutely don’t reveal that we have the System.]

At last, Zelan got the firm answer he had been waiting for.

His emotions surged, and he shouted into the call,

[Of course I’d never submit to the Dragonkin! No matter how painful the torture is, I’ll hold fast to my human heart! Behind me are tens of millions of humans waiting for me to protect them. How could I ever forget my mission?!]

[Good. Zelan, you may have to endure a while longer. I can’t save you immediately. I don’t even know where the Dragonkin dungeon is, or how many troops are guarding it. I need time to slowly investigate the situation on the island. But you have to trust me. I’ll do everything I can to save you.]

[Leo, thank you. I trust you.]

Tightly shut, Zelan’s black dragon eyes shed two lines of hot tears.

Of course a true brother wouldn’t betray him so easily.

Zelan had grasped a ray of hope.

[Pull yourself together, brother. Wait for me, and don’t give up so easily.]

[Yeah. I’ll also try to get some information about this place out of that purple-haired dragon girl. Then I’ll report everything I learn to you in real time.]

[Good.]

That was great.

Zelan let out a long breath.

He kept his eyes shut as much as he could, refusing to look at the dragon scales covering his body. He tried to relax, tried not to feel how huge he had become. Again and again, he told himself in his heart that he was still human.

And so, in that bright dungeon, Zelan endured day after day while looking at his body as one of the Dragonkin.

Waiting, and holding on to hope.

————————

These past few days,

Elise had announced to everyone in the royal palace that Naya was her queen.

The two of them had also officially moved out of the castle.

And the recipe reward mission Naya had been longing for was finally released.

[Side Story - Side Mission 2: Make 250 grams of stir-fried bitter melon for Elise. Each slice must be no thinner than 8 mm, and she must eat all of it. Reward: Encyclopedia Recipe Book x1.]

But why was the mission like this?!

[Please complete the mission as soon as possible!]

[Did you make up this mission yourself?]

[Yes, Host.]

Naya ground her teeth.

To the Dragonkin, bitter melon was even more nightmarish than vinegar.

Even Naya couldn’t stand it, let alone Elise.

On Earth, bitter melon counted as something medicinal, with anti-cancer and beauty benefits and all that. But this was another world. What the Dragonkin needed was rich, high-energy food like meat and fish to replenish magic power. For a race as physically strong as the Dragonkin, bitter melon was useless. All it did was make them suffer.

And it even specified 250 grams. That was a lethal dose, damn it!

The System thought it was a genius.

You want the encyclopedia recipe book? Fine, you can have it.

But before that, it would first destroy Elise’s trust in Naya. It would make Elise hate Naya’s cooking, so even if Naya got the encyclopedia recipe book, it’d be useless.

Maybe Elise would even start doubting Naya’s intentions again.

As long as it could drive a wedge between them, the System still had hope of making Naya recover her will to slay dragons.

[Then I’ll do it! Who’s scared?!]

She had to get that encyclopedia recipe book!

On the third night after moving into the royal palace, Naya was in her private kitchen, fiddling with the bitter melon she had asked the maids to buy.

She had stuffed tissues into her nose beforehand. Otherwise, even cutting bitter melon would make the bitterness sting her.

First, she needed to prep it as much as possible. For example, soak it in salt water and draw out the bitterness.

Naya filled a plate with water, grabbed the bag of salt, and started pouring it in with a splash. The System immediately warned her,

[Host, stir-fried bitter melon. Stir-fried, understand? You are not allowed to process the bitter melon in any way. Preserve its original flavor as much as possible.]

Her hand froze in midair.

Hearing the System’s smug tone, anger flared up in Naya’s chest. She tossed the salt bag aside and shouted in her mind in a fit of spite,

[I’m not doing it anymore! I don’t want it!]

Her chest heaved violently with anger, and her little face flushed red from frustration.

[It’s just a recipe book. Who cares? When Elise and I go traveling, we’ll just buy up all the recipes on the human side. I could make different dishes for her every day for hundreds, even thousands of years.]

The System had known Naya would try to wriggle out of it and refuse the mission.

It had expected this from the start. A recipe reward alone was never going to be enough to make Naya cook poison for Elise.

[This recipe book contains the cooking methods for every dish on Earth and in this other world. It can improve the Host’s cooking skill, making your dishes more fragrant and more delicious. It can also make your dishes richer in magic power, allowing them to restore magic to a certain extent. Some dishes can even grant temporary buffs, such as increased attack or defense.]

[...]

She was tempted.

What now?