Chapter 20

The day after Ark came, the second year students returned from their training.

Some of them were in pretty bad shape.

Well, their faces, anyway.

Not that they were hideous, or anything.

They just looked tired.

The dormitory became very noisy all at once. I could hear voices coming from every direction and the sounds of footsteps down the halls.

Now, all of my roommates were here.

The two new people I would be rooming with were Thane Morton, a thin young man, and Marty Gil, who always looked cheerful.

Apparently, they stayed at an inn near the Shadow Moon Road on their last day, but every other day had been spent camping outdoors.

We would have to do the same next year, after acquiring our dragons.

“I see. So it was your first time training with your dragons.”

Ark nodded as if understood it completely. He was talking to Thane, who seemed to be the less tired of the two.

So, the rooms were used by both first and second-year students after all.

Apparently, we would be organized like this during specific classes as well.

“There are mixed classes? Really?”

“Of course. You will acquire a dragon in the new year. Do you think that you will suddenly be able to ride it after you’ve been sitting on your ass the whole time?”

“No… I see. So we will be practicing dragon-riding then?”

“Unlike horses, dragons do not easily let anyone that is not its master ride it. In fact, it would be nearly impossible to do it without the Dragon Master’s permission.”

“I’ve heard of that. And if you approached one with malicious intentions, they will attack you.”

“I have never seen it happen, but it’s true that people say that. I was too scared to approach my father’s dragon when I was young.”

“Your father was a Dragon Master too, Thane?”

“He was. I come from a long line of military men. And from my father’s generation, we have added Dragon Master to that legacy.”

I had thought there was something stiff about him. So, a family of soldiers.

And two generations of Dragon Masters.

I told him that it was impressive, but learned that it wasn’t actually rare.

As the Dragon Mark appears when you are a child, you would be a good Dragon Master by the time your married and had children.

Perhaps it was their familiarity with dragons, but the mark often appeared on the children or grandchildren of Dragon Masters.

“They say we have a high affinity with dragons.”

“Is that right?”

It was like that in Makoku as well. The descendants of those who used magic tended to be able to use magic as well.

That’s why a lot of people had as many children as possible, so their bloodline would not die.

Perhaps in that way, Ryukoku and Makoku were the same.

On the other hand, Marty came from a family of merchants. And he had no plans of joining the military after graduation.

He was currently laying face down on his bed.

While he was on the plump side, he had apparently slimmed down since coming here.

“As far as I’m concerned, once I fulfill my duty and become a Dragon Master, there is no need to enter the rigid army.”

I see. Marty wanted to live freely. I agreed with him wholeheartedly.

“You call it ‘rigid,’ but considering the security that you’ll have, it’s the much better option. Being free is hard.”

Thane retorted.

As they had lived together for a year, there was an easiness to the way they talked to each other.

“It’s a difference in opinion. I already made up my mind.”

“Damn it, you are stubborn.”

“Maybe.”

Thane and Marty had completely opposite views.

And yet they seemed quite close.

“What’s the hardest thing about being free?”

I was curious to know the opinion of someone who was ahead of me.

“Well, probably securing food for your dragon. It will cost you a lot every year. So you’ll probably need a good patron in order to make it. Of course, if you’re not in the army, then your patron will have a stronger influence. It’s hard to balance getting the food while not being controlled by your patron.”

Dragons ate a lot.

Even a small dragon would eat a whole cow in 15 days.

That would be quite expensive.

The price of a cow was equal to that of a whole year’s wages for work that didn’t require special skills, such as a clerk.

There were also other things you needed to keep a dragon.

They required fresh straw to sleep on.

They also needed a place to exercise and you also had to wipe their bodies with a high-quality oil.

You would also have to hire someone to take care of them every day after you graduate.

Even if you had a small dragon, it would be very unlikely that you could earn enough money by yourself to take care of it.

That’s why it was important to find someone to help you financially.

And so that was where patrons came in.

“Did you get a patron, Marty?”

“My family is going to help me.”

“That’s…uh, your family must be very rich.”

You wouldn’t have to worry about money if you had a patron.

On the other hand, you would have to do various personal favors.

It was considered an honor to be the patron of a Dragon Master.

And so there were many people who wanted that honor.

Especially merchants.

If you were trying to break into a new market, and you said, ‘I happen to be the patron of a Dragon Master,’ then people would reply, ‘ah, you must run an incredibly successful business.’

If you were competing with another merchant for a contract, the one who was the patron of a Dragon Master would have a great advantage.

And so merchants who were patrons of Dragon Masters earned such benefits.

Furthermore, they were also able to make ‘little requests.’

This may involve allowing them to ride on the dragon when traveling to an important business meeting, or having the dragon displayed at a party.

Such requests were seen as being within the boundary of what was more than acceptable. And the country allowed such things as long as the requests did not deviate from this.

“If your family are merchants, you being a Dragon Master should do wonders for the business. For instance, if you had a flying dragon, trips that would take days by carriage would be much faster.”

Dragon Masters who were not in the military received no aid from the country, which meant that the financial burden for the merchant would be very great.

Still, people rarely complained, as long as the Dragon Masters fulfilled their part of the bargain.

“It must be because of the Dragon Master Dark Age.”

Ark said. I looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“What? Dragon Master Dark Age? What’s that?”

“It was a time when the country had total control over the Dragon Masters. It was a long, long time ago. Are you interested?”

Ark said with a mischievous grin.

This didn’t seem like a good time and place to say yes.

I thought as I looked towards Marty.

“Ah, the Dragon Master Dark is the…”

“Hey! Hey! Hey! I wanted to tell it!”

Ark said frantically. Marty chuckled.

If he wanted to say it so badly, he should just say so.