Drifter To Servant

Dragons. When natives of this world thought about dragons, the first thing that would pop out of their minds was the word "Pinnacle". After all, dragons were creatures blessed with immense talent in magic and possessed invincible bodies impervious to any kind of attack. For these reasons, they were treated as both gods and calamities, capable of laying waste to multitude of countries all by themselves.

And as the course of nature dictated, powerful creatures that did not have to worry about their safety naturally had no need to band together like the weaker species do. This was especially more pronounced with the dragon race who had strength that rivaled natural calamities. Obviously, what came with being at the top of the food chain was immense pride, arrogance, and disdain for other creatures.

However, despite that reasoning, despite having ego and pride that rivaled the heavens, among the dragon race, an existence different from the rest was deemed even more superior than themselves, willingly or not. It was a monarch, a pinnacle on top of all the pinnacle in the world, a god amongst the dragons— the Dragon God Mirelia Alta. Or so, that was what the dragon in front of Yuki had been telling him who it was all this time. The person in question, however, did not have the mental facilities to even hear any of it.

The aforementioned "Dragon God" did not know whether to feel insulted or exasperated. After all, in front of it, the one considered as the pinnacle of the pinnacle, a puny human without any strength to boast of was kneeling in melancholy about the situation he found himself in without any care of his surroundings. And although the human looked wretched as he was, the dragon was certain that it was not caused by its majestic presence.

"H-Hey… This monarch is the Dragon God, you know. Are you not the least bit scared? Hey, s-stop crying, damn it!"

A bizarre scene of a giant dragon falling into panic as it tried to comfort someone it should have considered an insect ensued.

From what the Dragon God had gathered after coaxing the sobbing mess, the human in front of it was named Yuki. He was a drifter who it speculated came from a different world and ended up here in this world, Benedicto, due to an unfortunate coincidence. After hearing that he was transported into a different dimension, far away from where his home was, he broke down in tears as he knelt in front of it without any regards to its majesty.

The Dragon God could not accept such fact and made sure to show off its dignity as the supreme, but after the human it had been trying to educate of its grandeur kept crying without stop, its exasperation somehow turned into pity. After all, while it did not understand what it meant to be away from its birth place, it knew that it must have felt devastating for someone with such strong mental fortitude to turn into a mess. It could only tell itself inwardly that it was this human's luck that it was in its territory that he managed to stumble in. If he somehow made it into a different place, he might not have been so lucky to have time to grieve. Worse, he might even get eaten by some random monster right away.

"Mom… Dad… How am I supposed to go back?"

"I-I don't know. You'll definitely," the dragon paused, "get there… maybe not, actually, with your paltry strength, you can forget about it."

"Damn it! I have not even confessed to Ariane yet, and you're saying I can't go back? What the hell!"

Clenching his fist, Yuki sobbed even more after hearing the dragon. Really, it was questionable whether the scaled creature really had the intention to comfort him with its words that seemingly aimed to rub salt to his wounds.

"You're powerful, right? Can you, maybe, teleport me back home?" Yuki said as he looked at the dragon.

The Dragon God was speechless with his brazenness. It was not in Yuki's personality to be shameless, though, but with his current state, his desperation led him to beg the creature he did not know well enough to bring him back home. He did not even manage to keep in his mind that it was an existence that could kill him off if it wanted to. The only thing he thought of was to go back home, and the dragon in front of him seemed to be the fastest ticket there. Unfortunately, he was destined to be disappointed with his request.

"I can't," it sighed, seemingly having given up on its goal to show off. "Do you even know how much energy it would take to go beyond the world? And even if I could, I would not do it for free anyway. You also don't have anything on you that could make me do so. Heck, I don't even know the coordinates of… Earth or whatever it is."

It had never encountered such a fearless human who dared to ask it of such thing. If it was not the least bit interested in him, it would not have forgiven such disrespect and would have vaporized him then and there.

"…"

Yuki felt clueless about his prospect, his head hung down in disbelief still. His ordinary routine of waking up in the morning, having breakfast, and going to school right after was gone just like that. The friends that he made, his family that loved him dearly, and the home that he was familiar with like the back of his hand… it was unlikely that he would be able to see them again if he were to believe everything that had happened so far.

It was not because he was unwilling to go back, but rather, he realized that it was just impossible to do so. After all, it was not just the distance of seas, countries, or continents. It was the distance of worlds that a weak human such as himself could not possibly deal with. If a dragon, an image of strength and absurdity in his mind, said it could not do it, then how could he? And for someone who cherished the life that he had, it was truly devastating to be ripped out from it all of a sudden. Everything was gone just like that. And to be completely honest, it still had not registered with him fully that it was happening.

The Dragon God sighed once more. For the weak human who managed to withstand the natural oppressiveness of its person to become like this. Frankly speaking, it could not stand it. He looked so fragile, like he would break with a mere touch, in contrast to the bravery that he had shown and the tranquil eyes that he possessed when he looked at it despite his momentary surprise and trembling body. It did not know what it was but something unknown compelled it to do something.

"Human."

Hearing someone call him, Yuki snapped out of his stupor. He finally realized that there was a mighty dragon in front of him. Its voice was deeper and sharper than it had ever been. Crap! Cold sweat dripped down from his back once more, realizing his mess up. After ignoring the dragon for so long and even having the guts to order it to send him back home, he knew that he had made a mistake when his emotions overcame his reason. It was a miracle that he was not dead yet.

In a stutter, he asked, "Y-Yes?"

The Dragon God nodded inwardly seeing that a semblance of composure had come back to the human. In this kind of situation, it knew that it only needed to push a little bit more to help him come back to his senses.

"Since you're a drifter and do not have a place to return to," it paused, "I will offer you two options."

Yuki waited in bated breath. He shook his head out of his misery and looked at the dragon once more seriously. His instincts told him that his life depended on what this was going to be. He could not make a mistake in this. Whatever melancholy he had to deal with had to be dealt with after the danger that he had forgotten had passed. Really, what a blunder. To forget such a thing was his failure as a human.

"First, to pay the price for your disrespect and trespassing of my territory, I will have your life in exchange."

His breath halted, growing more aware of the blunder that he had committed.

"Or second, you will become my servant for a lifetime and will be tasked to rearrange this monarch's treasures by yourself."

"W-What?"

The dragon looked at him with slight disdain and continued, "Normally, I would have killed you the moment you appeared in front of this monarch. However, your status as a drifter, a person from a different world, piqued this monarch's interest. I'm really curious what is all about these Otherworlders that I have been hearing about, so I will be keeping you at my side to see."

The answer was a no brainer. He did not need to think about it, really. What was more, to be a servant of a dragon, although he did not fancy being beneath someone, it did not sound bad when it was a mythical creature on the top. Besides, being a servant of a powerful being might help him learn that so-called teleportation magic that he had heard earlier. The study reference was right in front of him after all. That was why… As long as he could live, he might be able to find a way home. No. He would definitely find a way to do so. He would make sure of it.

In front of the dragon, Yuki stood up and patted his clothes that were smeared with dirt. The tranquil eyes that he had returned to their rightful spot as he looked at the dragon's golden eyes with determination burning from within. And as if by instinct, his trembling body moved its own as he knelt, not in fear but in respect, as he swore.

"I, Yuki, swear my allegiance to…"

And a bout of silence ensued. Drips of sweat rolled down from his forehead to his cheeks. And it was at this moment that Yuki knew he screwed up. He had forgotten the dragon's name! He knew that the creature had tried to tell him who it was earlier, but he was not able to hear any of it. What a fucking mistake!

The Dragon God seemed to have realized the same thing, too, as its golden orbs looked at the human in front of it menacingly.

"S-Sorry. W-What is your… name, again?"

"Ah! You impudent bastard!"