“......”

An awkward confrontation ensued as the group of astonished dragons fell silent.

It was an unexpected situation for Grid. In fact, he had predicted that his path would be blocked by dozens of dragons the moment he entered Trauka’s lair. However, the dragons’ reaction was surprisingly slow. Grid thought they would show up instantly using Teleport, but that wasn’t the case at all.

‘Maybe it is because it is a lair made during the Age of Oblivion.’

Grid let out a laugh. He imagined Trauka applying movement magic blocking spells to the lair in order to prepare for enemy attacks. He couldn’t hide his lair due to his pride, but due to his many sins, he needed a safeguard... it was interesting to get a clear glimpse of the conflict that Trauka experienced at the time of his lair being constructed.

At this moment, the group of dragons held new weapons in their hands. The form and color were unique from swords, daos, spears, rods, and other weapons. At first glance, it looked like tails. It felt like the dragons had shrunk their tails and used them as weapons.

“...We have never tried to rely on human tools. This is our tail shaped as a weapon, not tools created by humans,” one dragon explained it. He seemed like a blue dragon since his hair and eyes were blue.

His expression was so gentle that Grid found it unpleasant. He suddenly became angry when he thought that the dragon would slaughter humans with that expression.

“Wasn’t the very concept of weapons created by the weak in the first place? These words are coming from a human. A beast who would’ve been held in my hands as prey if not for encountering human civilization is acting so shamelessly...”

The blue dragon sighed. It was an effort to suppress his anger. He was an intermediate dragon. He was one of the highest ranking dragons in this group, so he had to be careful.

“I don’t understand at all. Why do you hate us so much?”

Grid replied, “It is because you treat humans as bugs.”

“Humans and bugs aren’t so different in the fact that they are ephemeral beings. So why? We even exist to protect humans.”

The blue dragon pointed his finger at the sky.

“It is actually the Goddess who harms human beings. Have you seen the scene of her destroying the world? Apart from one or two exceptionally lucky people, humanity and the civilization they left behind disappeared without a trace. It has been repeated many times already. The one you should hate is the Goddess. Why turn your blade toward us?”

“Can’t a dragon distinguish between protection and control?”

Grid’s face distorted.

“Your purpose is to control people according to what you realized the moment you were born. Isn’t it your purpose to kill people if you think they will be harmful one day, and to intimidate them into living in a way that is reasonable?”

The reasonable thing mentioned here was naturally the rules made by the S.A Group.

NPCs would live like NPCs. They would exist solely for the players.

The blue dragon didn’t deny it.

“It is a possibility. But what’s wrong with that? We aren’t the enemies of humanity as long as humanity doesn’t harbor evil intentions. On the other hand, the Goddess was afraid of things that hadn’t happened, so she broke reason several times and destroyed the world. In the end, she plunged us into oblivion and caused chaos in the world. Even if you think about it hundreds of times, we aren’t the ones you should hate. I don’t know how you got possessed by the Goddess, but please come to your senses now. We promise to treat you as a lifelong benefactor.”

“Explain why you force reason on people.”

“Of course, it is for your sake.” The blue dragon’s eyes were warm. It was like a parent looking at their child. “It is our role, and the wish of the Foreign God, to create an environment in which you can enjoy comfortable entertainment. Isn’t that the case, Nefelina?”

“......”

“In that sense, Old Dragons are important. They must always be ready in case of situations that are beyond our control. You must not hurt them.”

“In any case, you are crazy guys.” Grid couldn’t help laughing.

“What if my entertainment is to hunt you? What cause are you going to use to persuade me then?”

“......”

The blue dragon was flustered. An answer to this question couldn’t be established. It was because hunting dragons was impossible in the first place. However, the man in front of them was different. After a series of circumstances, he held Trauka’s life in his hands.

“What are you going to do? Are you going to die obediently?” Grid asked again, but the blue dragon’s silence only lengthened.

Eventually, a green dragon couldn’t just watch and stepped up. She was also one of the intermediate dragons leading the group. “I can vaguely see why you hate us. However, that doesn’t change the conclusion. Your main enemy is the Goddess, not us."

“You keep turning a blind eye to the essence and talking nonsense. Don’t you know that the Goddess will obediently withdraw if you guarantee freedom to people?”

“The human beings in this world were created for your amusement in the first place. How can their freedom be guaranteed? Don’t you know that humanity will suddenly realize the truth of the world one day and threaten you?”

“As we go through life, we might argue with each other. Before I founded the Empire, humanity originally had different affiliations. Naturally, we were wary of each other and fought. When we first entered this world, a significant number of humans had the potential to become our enemies. It isn’t something to worry about.”

“......”

The green dragon’s expression became fierce.

Grid’s expression was the same.

“Leave them alone.” Nefelina stepped in just as the hot-tempered Grid was thinking about swinging his sword. “You guys don’t get involved in human life. If you make a vow, the Goddess won’t go berserk and people will be able to live naturally.”

The green dragon shook her head. “That is a given. We don’t want to actively intervene in people’s lives unless they cross the line. It is just that in preparation for the worst, we will remove the variable called the Goddess and manage it appropriately.”

“One day—” Grid closed his eyes as if imagining something and spoke.

“A particularly brilliant man was born. He was so smart that he realized he was nothing more than dust. However, instead of getting frustrated, he started to struggle to become more than dust... that is when you guys will stop him, right? You don’t care if the struggle referred to here was simply a rampage with force or an effort to advance learning.”

“Yes. Learning is more dangerous than force, so we will respond quickly. Just as the giants of old tried, if someone has the idea of going into space, they will get into trouble and might even reach your world...”

It was impossible. The dragons seemed to think that somewhere far away in the universe was reality, a world inhabited by the Foreign God. Unfortunately, that was just an illusion. They were the only ones in this universe.

However, Grid couldn’t tell them that much. All of a sudden, he felt sorry for the dragons in front of him. Maybe the blue dragon’s nonsense could become reality...

Therefore, Grid thought carefully before answering. “There is no need for that. Even if people from this world suddenly appear in my world one day, we will welcome them. So don’t worry and leave them alone.”

“It is sophistry. The Foreign God doesn’t want that.”

How would they react if they found out that the Foreign God was ultimately created by humans? Grid was curious, but he still didn’t reveal it. It was the only way for Grid to understand how far the dragons’ ‘line to be kept’ went.

“It doesn’t matter whether the Foreign God wants it or not. You don’t have to listen to Morpheus.”

“......!”

Morpheus—the true name of the Foreign God. A deep look of bewilderment appeared on the faces of the group of dragons. It was a reaction to being told something that they shouldn’t have heard.

Grid continued, “It might be nature or providence, but you don’t have to cling to such things. I learned through Ifrit and Nefelina that you don’t have to be bound by your natural roles. They are the children of the great dragons, but they have tried to live their own lives and are still trying. It is possible for you as well.”

“Ifrit disobeyed Trauka when it was still the Age of Oblivion. Don’t distort things.”

The green dragon interrupted while still having a fierce look on her face.

Grid made a vow. He was going to strike this one the moment the fight started.

“Wasn’t Navaldrea, the one who stood up to Trauka just yesterday, a blood relative of Ifrit? I’m guessing so.”

“Navaldrea and Ifrit are two different things. Parents and children can’t be the same entity.”

“That’s right. Like you said, Ifrit and Navaldrea are different beings. Just as you are different from each other.”

“......”

“It is my wish that each of you will live different lives. What is it you are so sorry for that you have to spend your whole life trying to control people? Watch and learn from Cranbel and Kubartos. I heard that Cranbel helped the tower members while Kubartos is still chasing after him. This is despite the fact that Trauka might die right away.”

Grid gradually felt refreshed. He watched the dragons become mute and his anger was relieved little by little.

“You don’t have to be tied down. You are beings who can choose your lives, just like everyone else. Morpheus, that bastard, can’t really do anything, so don’t be scared.”

“......!”

Wasn’t... this crossing the line a bit?

The dragons knew that their creator was Morpheus. It was thanks to Morpheus’ arrangements that they were awakened to providence from the moment they were born. Therefore, Morpheus was the only superior being they acknowledged.

He was a true god and Absolute.

“I apologize if I spoke a bit harshly.” Grid realized his mistake and apologized, but it was too late.

“You’ve finally crossed the line.” One of the intermediate dragons, a brown dragon, stretched out his hand. Based on the way he was shaking, he seemed to have the deepest faith.

‘He is a lunatic. If he likes God so much, he should isolate himself on a mountain and pray.’

The Breath that was fired hit Trauka’s body. It was because Grid hurriedly dodged it instead of facing it head on. To their surprise, Trauka was sleeping behind Grid.

“Calm down.” The blue dragon restrained his emotional companion.

“...Even if we become independent, there is no guarantee that we will become your allies,” the green dragon said while staring at Grid.

“Those who were blinded by self-interest like Kubartos will go on a wild rampage and many people might be caught up in it. Can you afford it?”

The current situation is better for you...

Grid silently pondered on the warning in the green dragon’s words and nodded.

“Instead, those like Cranbel will also show up. We will work with such beings to deal with it.”

“......”

The green dragon seemed to be thinking about something for a moment. Then she soon turned her back without any lingering regrets. The even more surprising thing was that as many as half the dragons followed her. Like someone with no dirty history, she seemed to have built up a surprisingly good amount of virtue.

In the midst of the buzzing around them, the green dragon stopped and shifted her attention back to Grid. “Don't get me wrong. We weren’t persuaded by you. We just received an answer to a concern we’ve had for a long time.”

...Hadn’t she kept contradicting him from the beginning?

Grid was trying to argue out of bewilderment only to suddenly close his mouth. Looking back, wasn’t it thanks to the green dragon’s continuous rebuttals that Grid was about to make his views known properly?

“If humanity has no reason to live like a slave, neither do we. It is because we have rights too.”

The green dragon got to the point. Grid himself was able to correctly understand the parts he wasn’t able to properly express because he couldn’t organize his thoughts.

That’s right—the life of an NPC designed by Morpheus was nothing more or less than slavery.

Humans and dragons too—there was no reason to live like a slave according to the rules set by the Foreign God...

It was because Satisfy was different from a normal game. It wasn’t a game that went by set rules. Even if the beings here resisted the roles given to them, there was no hindrance to the functioning of the world. This was why Grid was angry at the role-obsessed beings.

“That is what I mean, Herut. You aren’t slaves. You have the right to live freely.”

“Don’t pretend to be close by calling me by name.”

The green dragon called Herut was rude to the end. Still, it was okay. Grid witnessed a faint smile that spread across her face when she left with her people. He had a hunch that she wouldn’t be an enemy.

“......”

Nefelina looked up at Grid with admiration. Grid’s reason returned due to this stinging gaze and he broke out in a cold sweat. He hadn’t expected things to turn out this way. He hadn’t intended for this development to happen, so the look of respect felt burdensome. However, he was embarrassed and kept his mouth shut because he thought it would be confusing if he explained it in detail.

In any case, the situation was good in many ways.

First of all, the lair’s terrain helped Grid. Trauka was behind Grid, so the dragons couldn’t easily attack. He was able to have a conversation. As a result, he succeeded in persuading (?) nearly half the dragons.

Additionally, the other Old Dragons didn’t appear at the scene, perhaps because they were injured by Chiyou. Kubartos, the top dragon Grid was most wary of because it seemed impossible to communicate with him, was chasing after Cranbel.

‘They can’t even release Polymorph.’

Seeing the smile spreading across his face, it felt like his anger had completely dissipated. As expected, he realized again that the game was fun only when it worked in his favor.