[Vol. 7] Chapter 97: Lenka Dorgon
Not long after, the little dragon girl finished her first thrilling mission of scouting the enemy camp. She slipped back through the window gap into the storage room and returned to her blonde-haired girl form.
Everything around her looked exactly the same as before. It seemed like no one had noticed that one of the "goods" had ever left the room.
Or so she thought.
"Wow! Are you one of those little fairies from the stories my mom told me? That was so cool!"
"!?"
A clear, excited voice suddenly rang out next to her, making the little dragon girl jump in shock. Instinctively, she swung her tiny but powerful claws at the source of the sound—
Wait. Hold on.
Her pale little fingers stopped mid-air, just inches away from an innocent face. Realizing what she was about to do, the blonde girl narrowed her eyes and took a closer look at the speaker.
The one who had spoken was a slightly older brown-haired girl, probably around eleven or twelve. She had a cute face, but her goofy expression made her seem… not very bright.
Little Dragon Girl recognized her.
She had been captured at the same time and locked in this room together with her. Before leaving, this girl had been sound asleep right next to her. And yet, in such a short time, she had woken up on her own and even happened to witness her sneaking back in from outside.
There was only one possible explanation.
This girl had a surprisingly strong resistance to abnormal conditions. She must have naturally countered the effects of the sleeping potion to some extent.
But… who exactly was she?
Little Dragon Girl’s gaze flickered to the short-haired girl’s expensive-looking floral dress and then to the curved horns on both sides of her head, features that immediately caught her attention.
After a brief silence, she spoke up.
"How long have you been awake?"
"Huh? Hmm… not for long, I guess? Maybe right around the time you turned into light and whoosh, flew back in?"
The girl looked completely innocent, answering the little dragon girl’s question without hesitation. She even took the initiative to chat.
"Hey, hey, you still haven’t answered me! Are you one of those little fairies my mom told me about? What’s your name? I’m Lenka! Lenka Dorgon! Hehe… but you can just call me Lenka!"
"......"
The little dragon girl stared blankly at the loli girl, who was sitting on a stretcher with her legs wide open, completely defenseless, like a clueless little duckling. She didn’t seem to realize she had just avoided getting smacked into oblivion, nor did she notice that her plain white undergarments were exposed. A hint of doubt couldn't help but rise from the depths of her heart.
"Do you even realize you’ve been kidnapped? How can a lower lifeform’s intelligence be this pathetic?"
"Eh…? EHH?! K-Kidnapped?!"
It wasn’t until the dragon girl bluntly pointed it out that Lenka finally looked around in confusion. She instinctively opened her mouth to scream, but the blonde girl quickly clamped a hand over it, whispering sharply.
"Keep it down! There are still guards outside. If they find out we’re awake now, it’ll be a huge pain… Got it? Blink if you understand."
Lenka frantically blinked, her eyelids twitching like crazy.
Only then did the little dragon girl let out a deep sigh and release her grip.
She had thought that human girl, Le Qiaoqiao, was already the lowest point of biological intelligence. But now… she had found someone even dumber? Was this what they called biodiversity?
"Alright. If you have any questions, ask them now. No yelling, and don’t make them too complicated. I can’t be bothered to explain too much… You can call me Light."
At first, Xiao Guang thought Lenka would be so scared she could barely speak. But to her surprise, the girl didn’t show any of the panic she expected. Instead, she looked like a child who had just discovered a new toy… Well, she was a child, but where was all this excitement coming from?
“Kidnapped! We’re actually kidnapped! This is my first time experiencing something like this! Hey, hey, Light, what’s going to happen to us next? My mom always said that naughty kids get taken away by bad guys and thrown into a pot of boiling oil to be fried and eaten. Is that true?!”
“…I’m starting to wonder about your family’s education methods.”
Letting out yet another deep sigh, Xiao Guang finally understood how her master must have felt when teaching her about life’s basics. She crossed her arms and sat down with her legs folded, mimicking a posture her master often used. Apparently, it made people take your words more seriously.
“As you can see, you, me, and all these other kids have been captured and locked up in the enemy’s hideout. We don’t know what they plan to do with us yet, but it’s definitely nothing good. If we think of the worst-case scenario… well, what happens to us might be even worse than what you described.”
She expected Lenka to panic at her words. Instead, the brown-haired girl just blinked and stared at her with big, clueless eyes, her dark irises practically radiating pure idiocy. It was as if she were silently saying: "I didn’t understand a word of that!"
A few angry veins popped up on Xiao Guang’s smooth forehead.
Arrrghhh…
She could feel her violent urges rising at an alarming rate.
Maybe she should just incinerate this idiot with dragon breath right here and now. The others probably wouldn’t even notice if one or two kids went missing. Otherwise, with how hopelessly dumb this girl was, it wouldn’t take a day before she blabbed everything to the enemy.
To keep herself from actually doing something she’d regret, Xiao Guang decided to keep things as simple as possible.
“Listen up. You are not allowed to tell anyone that I left this room. No, actually, you’re not allowed to talk to anyone besides me. If someone comes near, pretend you’re still unconscious. From now on, you will follow my orders exactly. If you behave, I guarantee your safety. If not…”
She casually reached out and pulled a stone from the corner of the room into her palm. Then, right in front of Lenka’s eyes, she crushed it to dust as effortlessly as if she were crumbling tofu. Finally, she put on what she believed was her most menacing expression and finished in a low, threatening voice.
“…you’ll end up just like this rock. Got it?!”
"Whoa… that was so cool!! Yes! I’ll follow Sister Light’s orders no matter what!!!"
Lenka clapped her hands excitedly, her face full of admiration. For the first time in her life, Xiao Guang, who prided herself on being smart, felt the sting of defeat.
Oh well. She had already laid down the law. Whether Lenka was actually an idiot or just pretending to be one didn’t matter. If she really ended up doing something stupid that jeopardized the plan, Xiao Guang wouldn’t hesitate to deal with her. That warning just now wasn’t an empty threat.
Still, Lenka’s unexpected reaction gave Xiao Guang an idea. If the upcoming ritual ceremony involved a large number of children, the organizers probably wouldn’t keep them all unconscious. That meant…
"Lenka, have you ever learned how to fight? I can sense magic inside you."
The brown-haired girl nodded vigorously, like a little chick pecking at rice.
"Uh-huh! I don’t really understand it, but my mom says I’m a rare genius in our tribe! I have a super high… um, something talent! She was even planning to take me to visit the Dragon God who just descended! But then I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I was here! Hehe…"
"Hah. The ignorance of lowly creatures… they actually call this talent?"
Xiao Guang scoffed without mercy, but she had to admit. This idiot, Lenka Dorgon, had a massive amount of magic power. Compared to the other kids in the room, she completely outclassed them. In fact, her magic reserves were overwhelmingly stronger than most Church of Truth cultists Xiao Guang had encountered.
The fact that Lenka woke up on her own, shaking off the effects of the potion, was proof enough of her potential.
But from the way she talked, it was clear she had no idea how to use her power. Her body wasn’t fully developed either, meaning she couldn’t properly wield what she had. A fool sitting on a mountain of treasure without even realizing it.