Chapter 173: A Stroke Of Bad Luck

How outrageous!

Damien looked at the human standing before him with a broad smile. But inside his mind, he was still furious as he recalled what had happened a while ago.

That human!

How dare a human treat him like that!?

Damien still remembered how Julian had shut the door right in his face, as if his presence didn’t matter at all.

Even when he had introduced himself, that human hadn’t shown the respect he deserved!

’...So arrogant.’

Damien snorted inwardly.

He was one of the most talented Dragons in the Qiezhuran Clan. Someone with a bright future who would most likely become the next Clan Leader.

Yet that human had treated him like someone unimportant.

It was an insult he could not accept!

And what irritated him even more was Elder Garph’s attitude.

Damien truly didn’t understand what that old Dragon was thinking.

How could a Rank-S elder show respect to a human who wasn’t even stronger than him?

Not only that, Garph had even brought that human to the territory of the Qiezhuran Clan and treated him as an honored guest.

’...Has Elder Garph lost his mind?’

Damien didn’t dare say that out loud.

After all, Garph was one of the strongest Dragons in their Clan. Although Damien was fairly confident about his own future, he still knew the difference between their strengths.

But that didn’t mean he had to agree with all of the old Dragon’s decisions.

Especially the decision to honor a human!

In Damien’s view, Garph must have misunderstood something.

Perhaps the human had used some method to deceive him, or perhaps he had deliberately pretended to be someone extremely important.

Either way, Damien didn’t believe that Julian truly deserved that much respect.

’Yes, it must be so.’

The more he thought about it, the more Damien felt his conclusion was right.

If that human truly had such an impressive identity, why would he come to the Dragon World with a few weak creatures?

And why wouldn’t he show his own power?

To Damien, the answer was simple enough.

That human was hiding something.

Although he had no proof of it, Damien felt his suspicion was reasonable enough.

After all, Julian was now even walking around the Qiezhuran Clan’s territory in disguise.

Wasn’t that all the more suspicious?

’Heh, I finally found your fault.’

Damien felt satisfied.

In truth, he had been watching Julian for a while now.

When that human had come out of the dwelling provided by Garph, Damien had happened to be watching the building from a distance.

At first, he had only wanted to know what that annoying human was doing.

But not long after, a few figures came out of the building.

They looked like Dragons in humanoid form, though their bodies were much smaller than most Dragons.

There was also a white-furred fox with one large tail.

Damien had felt it was strange.

After all, he knew who lived in that building.

And when he saw one of those figures carrying a little girl, while another girl walked beside them, he immediately had a suspicion.

’...Isn’t that the human from before?’

Of course, Damien couldn’t be sure at first.

Their appearances had indeed changed.

But after watching more closely, he became more certain that the figure was Julian.

Especially because they had just come out of the same dwelling.

So when Damien found the group again while taking a stroll, he had no intention of letting the opportunity pass.

And now...

"Hehehe..."

Damien chuckled softly.

He looked at the Dragons beginning to gather around them.

"What does he mean, they’re not Dragons?"

"Don’t they look like ordinary Dragons?"

"But Damien himself said so."

"Could they really be in disguise?"

Whispers began to be heard.

Some Dragons looked confused, while others began to study Julian and his group with suspicious eyes.

Damien felt even more satisfied.

This was exactly what he wanted.

He wanted everyone to know that the human Garph had brought was actually walking around in disguise.

That way, they would surely question why that human was hiding his identity.

And when that happened, who would look right?

Himself, of course!

’Heh, you shouldn’t have treated me like that.’

Damien glanced at Julian with a contemptuous smile.

That human still stood there with a very calm face. There was no panic or fear to be seen.

Seeing it, Damien felt irritated again.

’...Still pretending to be calm?’

He really disliked that attitude. But Damien quickly composed himself.

Yeah, it didn’t matter.

Soon, he would see whether that human could keep up his attitude.

"Damien, are you sure about what you’re saying?"

One of the Dragons finally asked.

"Of course!"

Damien answered without hesitation.

"Do you think I’d accuse someone carelessly?"

A few Dragons exchanged glances.

Although not all of them believed him right away, they couldn’t just ignore Damien’s words either.

After all, Damien was no ordinary Dragon.

He was one of the candidates to be the future Clan Leader of the Qiezhuran Clan, and that wasn’t without reason.

Among the Dragons of his generation, Damien was regarded as one of the best.

He had already reached Rank-C and was drawing closer to Rank-B. In fact, he possessed an S-Grade Talent and had mastered an A-Grade Skill.

For a Dragon his age, an achievement like that was certainly not easy.

And Damien himself was very proud of it.

He felt that with his talent and the strength he had, becoming the Clan Leader of the Qiezhuran Clan was only a matter of time.

So how could he let a human humiliate him?

"Then, how can you prove it?"

Another question came from the crowd, and Damien smiled broadly.

"Good question!"

He then looked back at Julian.

"Human, I’ll give you one chance. Just admit that you’re in disguise, and perhaps I’ll consider not humiliating you any further."

"..."

Julian didn’t answer.

Seeing that, Damien snorted.

"Hmph! Still refusing to confess?"

He had actually hoped that the human would show a little fear.

But since Julian stayed silent, Damien decided there was no reason to keep waiting.

"Fine! Then don’t blame me!"

Damien reached out and pulled out a small artifact.

The object looked rather simple, but it immediately drew the attention of a few Dragons who recognized it.

"...An artifact?"

"Is he going to use that thing?"

Damien raised the artifact proudly.

"This is an Artifact with the ability to neutralize certain kinds of effects, including some types of illusions!"

He deliberately explained its use so that everyone could hear.

"If they’re really ordinary Dragons like they look, then of course nothing will change, right?"

A few Dragons nodded at once.

That sounded reasonable.

However, Julian, who stood before him, finally moved his head slightly.

Damien noticed the movement.

’Heh, finally getting worried?’

Of course, he didn’t know what Julian was actually thinking.

But that didn’t matter.

Damien had already decided to reveal their identities to everyone.

He then channeled Mana into the artifact.

Whum!

A faint light appeared from the surface of the artifact, then spread toward Julian and his group.

There was no explosion or anything dangerous.

But a few moments later, their appearances began to change.

The Dragon horns that had been visible on Julian’s head slowly faded away.

So did the scales and tail that adorned his body.

Before long, his true appearance was revealed.

A human. Nearby, the Dragon horns and tail on Monk also vanished, revealing the two rabbit ears on top of her head once more.

Felicya, meanwhile, looked like a small goat girl again.

And Lumi...

Its nine tails were now clearly visible behind its body.

"..."

For a moment, the atmosphere around them fell silent.

Then...

"WHAT!?"

"A human!?"

"He really isn’t a Dragon!"

"Look at that girl! Isn’t she a Lunari!?"

"And that fox... Why does it have nine tails!?"

Exclamation after exclamation began to ring out.

Some Dragons stepped back in shock, while others actually moved closer to look at them more clearly.

The gazes that had been filled with mere curiosity now turned into suspicion and contempt.

"Hah! So they really were in disguise!"

"How dare foreign creatures walk around our territory like that!"

"Who allowed them in?"

"A human even dares to pretend to be a Dragon now?"

The whispers grew louder.

And hearing it all, Damien finally couldn’t hold back his laughter.

"Hahaha!"

He laughed with satisfaction.

Look!

Wasn’t he right!?

That human really was hiding his identity!

Damien looked at Julian again, hoping to see a face filled with shame after his disguise had been exposed before so many Dragons.

But...

"..."

Julian’s face was the same as before.

Not the slightest change, only an empty emotion, an empty and flat gaze. As if whatever was happening right now didn’t bother him at all.

It even seemed to look down on Damien.

’...What?’

Damien frowned slightly.

Why could that human still stay so calm?

But before he could think about it any further, Julian, who had become the center of the whole crowd’s attention, was actually cursing inwardly.

’...Damn it.’

Julian looked at Damien with his face still flat.

’Why is it that every time I just want to enjoy a little peaceful time, trouble always comes!?’

He hadn’t even done anything strange!

He had only been taking a walk!

And now his disguise had been exposed in front of so many Dragons.

’...Damn it all, what is with this bad luck?’