"Yes, it's indeed a dragon's molar."

Arima, sporting her ever-jester-like expression, spoke up. She smiled brightly, her eyes sparkling with a coy charm, accentuated by the heavy makeup on her eyelids, making her look irresistibly alluring.

Her female form had become completely natural by now. It was easy to see that she no longer asked to be turned back into a man because her mind, too, had adapted to her female body. Human psychology, after all, is greatly influenced by the physical form, and not even a great mage could resist the pull of the hormones their body produces.

"It's something that's really hard to come by... Even I haven’t seen it often. Where on earth did you get this?"

"I kidnapped one of Dragon Corp’s androids and dissected it. It was obvious at a glance that it wasn’t just a machine, and as I suspected, I was right."

"─A Dragon Bone Soldier."

Arima uttered the unfamiliar term. It didn’t take long, however, for her to realize it referred to the Dragon Bone Soldier. The name was blatantly obvious.

A "Dragon Bone Soldier." Quite amusing, considering teeth aren’t bones. It was a term full of that typical medieval ignorance, and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

"In my world, they were soldiers crafted from parts of a dragon’s body. When grouped together, they could even challenge sword masters, making dragon hunting incredibly difficult."

They were akin to the escort ships that protect aircraft carriers. Individually, their firepower was only a fraction of that of the carrier, but they allowed the carrier to unleash its full might without worry.

Because of the Dragon Bone Soldiers, dragon hunting had become impossible unless a large nation was involved. Long ago, it was possible for a lucky sword master or mage to hunt a dragon and claim its spoils, but after the advent of the Dragon Bone Soldiers, hunting dragons without military assistance became unthinkable.

"The fact that Dragon Corp’s android is a Dragon Bone Soldier means…"

"It means there are dragons in this world too. Whether they’re a native species or outsiders like us, I don’t know."

"They're likely not native. If such beings had existed, there would be records."

We live in an era where even the origins of creatures that lived billions of years ago are being uncovered. If dragons, these transcendent beings, had existed since ancient times, surely there would be some record of them.

Moreover, this world doesn’t have things like magic or sword masters like Arima’s world does. While there are plenty of superhumans who have awakened special abilities, as Arima explained, even a group of them would struggle to face a dragon.

If dragons truly existed here, this world would be ruled by them, not humans. It's more likely that they, like us, are foreign entities, outsiders.

"...By the way, Arima, you’ve stopped whining about wanting to be turned back into a man lately."

"Hm? Well, I’ve come to realize that a great mage, capable of freely changing their gender, is an even more mysterious figure, haven’t I?"

"Your speech pattern has become more feminine too."

"Hahaha! Really? E-tan, you seem to be quite interested in me, huh?"

"No, that's not it at all."

To most people, it wouldn’t even matter that Arima used to be a man. It wasn’t just a cosmetic change, like swapping external features through surgery—her entire genetic makeup had shifted from male to female. If she wanted to, she could even bear children.

If we ever return to Earth, her looks and charm would be more than enough to make anyone fall for her. If I weren’t such a purist, I might have confessed to her already.

I never thought that the old-fashioned values I was mocked for on Earth would hold me back in another world too. Really, I didn’t.

"...What's this?"

"It's a sunflower seed."

The day after I discovered that Dragon Corp’s androids were actually synthetic organisms, potentially created by otherworldly beings like me, I went to visit Leviathan with a bag of sunflower seeds. I’d heard that rabbits liked sunflower seeds, and logically, it was a legitimate offering. But Leviathan looked at me with eyes full of murderous intent.

"...Haa—E-tan, it’s because Levi-tan is kind that I’m letting this go, okay? But if you do this again, I’ll take something from you on the spot."

"Take what?"

"Curious? Well then, right here and now..."

Barely escaping from Leviathan, who was glaring at me with gleaming eyes, I locked myself in the corner of my lab, trying to ignore the loud banging sounds outside.

Now that I’d uncovered the truth that Dragon Corp’s androids weren’t really androids, I had one task ahead of me: report this information to the boss and make it public. The world needed to know that Dragon Corp had been creating flesh puppets disguised as mechanical dolls.

The problem was how to explain how I came by this information. My expertise was in science and engineering, not politics or public opinion. And I was up against a powerful entity that had ruled an entire city for centuries.

'Even if I reveal this, it probably won’t make much of a splash right away. People might even say, "Well, as long as it’s cheap, who cares?" or "It’s not a real human, it’s just a bio-machine created by science," dismissing the whole thing...'

The madness of humanity is unpredictable. If I assume everything will turn out exactly as I want, I’m bound to face disaster. I always kept that in mind. Even the greatest scientists in history, whose names are etched in time, suffered because they failed to foresee this truth.

Just because I reveal this truth doesn’t mean people will immediately express collective outrage against Dragon Corp and its Dragon Bone Soldiers, pushing them out and replacing them with Iblisloids. In fact, the opposite could happen. They might turn the narrative around, questioning how I came to know such information, painting me as a mad scientist. And the real problem was, they wouldn’t be far off the mark. After all, I was the one who had kidnapped a Dragon Bone Soldier and dissected it without permission.

'This is a time when I need to rely on the power of others.'

Luckily, I had access to a front organization that could help publicize this ethically questionable research. The Scholars’ Association, a group of genius scientists who could coat problematic research in gold and package it perfectly.

When I consulted a member of the Scholars' Association about this, they confidently assured me they could handle it.

Three days later, I received word that presenting this research would be extremely difficult. The issue wasn’t that the research might appear unethical.

Rather, it was because another member of the Scholars' Association had raised concerns, claiming that my research overlapped with theirs.

"I will escort you, Dr. E-tan."

The day I received the message, I boarded a vehicle sent by the Scholars' Association and headed to their headquarters. No matter how many times I rode in it, I never understood the strange trajectory it followed as it drove. Upon arriving at the headquarters, I mulled over the message I had received.

They were accusing me of plagiarism.

'Plagiarism? What an insulting thing to say...'

There was no need for me to plagiarize anyone’s research in this world, especially since the research I submitted was in a field that couldn’t be plagiarized in the first place.

It was a study born from abducting an android, suspecting it might not be a machine but a living organism, and then dissecting it. How could anyone plagiarize that? Unless the other person had done the exact same thing as me—breaking the law and coincidentally at the same time—it was impossible.

The Dragon Bone Soldier had only appeared a few days ago. Unless Dragon Corp had already distributed research data on it, their study should still be in its planning stages. How could this even be?

Had the other person not been a member of the Scholars' Association, I would have dismissed the matter lightly. But because they were, I couldn’t ignore it. And worse yet, it wasn’t just any ordinary member...

"Dr. E-tan, this way, please."

"Is my opponent inside?"

"Yes, the First is waiting inside."

The First. The very reason the Scholars' Association was founded. In this world, she was known as the Mother of Science. And she was the one opposing me.

If it had been anyone else, I would have assumed they were trying to steal my research out of greed. But not her. I came here today to find out why she had done this.

Arriving at the meeting room where my opponent awaited, I pushed open the door and stepped inside. As I entered, I paused momentarily, catching a faint scent of herbs that tickled my nose. From the far side of the room, the person seated in the chair slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head.

Emerald-green eyes pierced through me. Her long green hair cascaded like silk, complementing her appearance. Her face was sharp, almost sculpted, as though embodying the very concept of beauty.

"Dr. E-tan, I presume."

"...And you are?"

"I already know that you didn’t plagiarize my research. But having your study published would be extremely inconvenient. So, I had to take drastic measures to stop you. I sincerely apologize."

She spoke as if she hadn’t even heard me. I stood there, dumbfounded, staring at her. Only then did it seem to occur to her that I had asked a question, and she finally opened her mouth again.

"You asked who I am."

The woman, who seemed to embody nature itself, bowed her head slightly, revealing her long, pointed ears.

"I am Aussolion, Scholar Member No. 1."

An elf stood before me.