24

"Oh, is this little cutie your new companion?" Cid looked curiously at the tiny figure in front of him. The little one was also looking back at him with curiosity, but there was a dangerous glint in her eyes that seemed to say, "Is it edible? Is it tasty?"

"Huihui is sort of that," he replied. "By the way, with so many of us now, should your airship handle it without any issues?"

Cid's airship was just a small one, with a limited weight capacity. Although the Lightlings didn't weigh much themselves, their gear was not light.

"No problem. I've recently made some mechanical modifications during my spare time, so it should be fine."

"That's good."

It wasn't that the Lightlings didn't want to reach Ishgard more quickly, but the comfort level of Huihui's makeshift travel arrangements was quite suffocating. Therefore, taking the airship and teleporting was a better choice, especially since Huihui would have been left behind if they teleported. Given Huihui's usual behavior, no one thought it would be a good idea for her to be alone in such a place as the Sea City.

Curiously, Huihui leaned over the ship's railing. She had never flown like this before, but it felt quite slow to her. Still, it was nice not to have to exert herself. The young dragon sat at a dangerously precarious angle on the railing, pulling out a large piece of pie to eat. "Don't sit like that! You'll get thrown off when the airship turns!" a confused Cid shouted.

"Don't worry! Huihui can fly by herself."

"Rawr!~" A dark shadow flashed through the clouds. The young dragon's amber eyes glimmered with a ring of light as her eyes automatically focused to track a distant target. "Huihui wants to eat that!" she exclaimed, pointing at a gliding dragon beast passing through the clouds.

"It's dragons! Everyone be careful—has the situation in Ishgard become that dire?" A swarm of flying dragons was converging to attack the people of Ishgard. These dragons were mindless, low-level creatures catalyzed by Nidhogg, used purely as cannon fodder.

"Prepare to evade! Everyone hold on tight!" Cid shouted as he forcefully turned the helm, directing the airship to maneuver around the dragon horde. However, the young dragon leaped outward, using the centrifugal force from the turn. "Wait, she fell! Everyone hold on tight; I'll go catch her!" Cid suddenly lowered the airship, diving to try to catch the little figure.

"Don't worry, Uncle! Huihui is fine!" she called out, letting out a joyful roar.

The azure dragon erupted from the clouds like an arrow pointing skyward, her elongated wings unleashing powerful blue flames that allowed her to glide freely through the air. After executing a small-radius loop with vector thrust, Huihui dove directly into the swarm of dragons. The small flying dragons, which were nearly two-thirds her size, were one of her menu items. No matter how many there were, she felt no fear, just as the wind drifting dragons never feared a multitude of fragrant wing dragons.

The arrival of the unfamiliar giant dragon caused a slight disturbance within the swarm. However, since she was not a human, the simple-minded dragon beasts did not see her as a target for attack. But that didn't mean they had no malice. "Puff!" The wing blades sliced through the dragons' armor and scales with the ease of a sword, and with a swift and precise motion, her claw grabbed the unfortunate flying dragon by the neck, snapping it decisively with a quick "crack," as if she were killing a hapless chicken.

"Rawr~!" With her wings flipped forward, the intense flames kept the dragon swarm at bay. Huihui let out a menacing roar, her long, spear-like tail slamming into another dragon beast and sending it crashing to the ground. "Roar!"

The sudden appearance of a predator caused the dragon swarm to stir, and a large number of flying dragons began to circle around Huihui, looking for opportunities to attack. However, it was futile; the young dragon beat her wings and accelerated to the highest point in the blue sky, leaving a whole bunch of flying dragons behind and creating a conical formation. Even the strongest elite flying dragon at the tip of the cone struggled to keep up with Huihui's height and speed, only able to roar helplessly from behind.

Huihui generally disliked eating raw meat—well, except for fish and wind drifting dragons. The meat of the wind drifting dragon was quite unique; when cooked, it resembled rubber, but when eaten raw, their wing membranes tasted as refreshing as chilled noodles, crispy and delicious. However, the flying dragons here were clearly not the type of wind drifting dragons, so they shouldn't be eaten raw. After some thought, Huihui decided to grab the unfortunate flying dragon and turn back to pursue the airship.

"Bang!" With a tremendous thud, the heavy dragon carcass crashed onto the deck of the airship, causing it to lurch downward uncontrollably and start losing altitude. "Wow! We're overcapacity! Quickly, throw it overboard!"

"Don't!" Huihui firmly defended her claim to the spoils, and given her recent transformation, Cid couldn't use forceful means. He had seen this little one transform into a dragon and casually slaughter the flying dragons as if they were chickens.

"Give me a hand~" The Lightling reluctantly pulled out an axe. After all, Huihui was a bit picky at times, and she wouldn't eat all of the flying dragon, so the heavy armor, scales, bones, and some offal could be disposed of. "Quickly, throw away the unnecessary parts."

Huihui also helped process the flying dragon carcass. She started with the head, then the claws, followed by the wings that had little meat but weren't very crispy, and finally the innards, bones, and scales. By the time she finished everything, the airship was nearing the ground.

However, there was clearly no way to start a fire on the airship, nor was there any kitchen setup, so Huihui could only stare at the large lump of glistening dragon meat, drooling. When the airship docked at the port of Ishgard, the dispatcher, who had just gone through a city defense battle, was startled by the huge dragon carcass on the airship. "Did you guys also get attacked by a dragon swarm?"

"....." Cid wanted to say that a certain little one among them had attacked the dragon swarm, but after a moment of silence, he held his tongue.

"And why does this dragon look so strange?" It appeared almost like a plucked turkey, hanging upside down with its belly slit open, just waiting to be tossed into an oven. In a sense, he wasn't wrong; its ultimate destination might very well be the tavern's kitchen. However, Huihui didn't care about the meaningless conversations among these humans. She happily pulled out her cooking tools and began preparing the unfortunate flying dragon right on the airship's deck.

"Chomp, chomp." Huihui chewed on the roasted dragon meat, her brows furrowing deeply as if she was struggling to determine whether it was tasty or not. It was hard to say that it was bad; the texture of the flying dragon meat was far more tender than what she had found in the wasteland. Yet, it was also difficult to say it was good, revealing an indescribable taste and a disorganized meat fiber that carried an elusive flavor. In summary, it had little to do with gourmet food—thus, Huihui classified this flying dragon as: emergency rations—food that could serve as a makeshift meal when she couldn't find anything else to eat.

In Huihui's world, everything was divided into three categories:

Inedible things, like bitter bugs, humans, and the cat-girls around here. Unless they were being fed or were actively trying to harm themselves, Huihui simply didn't pay them any mind.

Tasty things, such as wind drifting dragons, fish, giant crabs, blind-headed crabs, biting fish, and dodo birds, among others—a vast and lengthy lineage. None of them could survive after coming into contact with Huihui, as she had a habit of storing ingredients, which meant she would hunt them even when she wasn't hungry.

Edible but not tasty things, like the flying dragons she was currently consuming. She would eat them when she was hungry and had nothing else, but would typically ignore them otherwise.

The taste of raw meat was even worse, causing Huihui to lose interest after just a few bites. Instead, she found herself drooling over the thought of the meat steaks from the Forgetful Knight Tavern. Her boisterous chewing of the flying dragon meat attracted the attention and admiration of many Ishgardian knights. For the people of Ishgard, their hatred for dragons ran deep, particularly among those from the lower districts. It was hard to say whose family hadn't perished during the war against the dragons. In such a context, Huihui's actions inspired them to follow suit—almost as if it were a collective expression of their frustration—as they chewed on slightly cooked raw dragon meat, savoring the sensation of revenge.

"Hey there, friend! Is this your new companion?"

"Ah, yes! Huihui just joined us."

"...." Aulshfang and Huihui stared at each other, wide-eyed. "Why is she looking at me like that?"

"Tasty?" Huihui, who had never seen this race before, pointed at Aulshfang.

"Uh, Huihui, you can't eat this one."

"Can't eat?" The young dragon displayed an extremely disappointed expression and then lost interest in the exceptionally tall figure. Aulshfang felt as if his self-worth had been completely invalidated.

Although Huihui had classified Aulshfang as inedible trash, she expressed satisfaction with the food available at his home. She pulled him out of the trash category and placed him into the group of friendly beings that she could treat well. So now, the only one left in the trash category was Cid...

Huihui had no interest in the discussions about the Dragon Wars, the sky dragons, or anything related to a millennium of history. For humans, a thousand years was a long time, but for her, it was just a brief moment in life. The span from her development to maturity to the age of reproduction was roughly enough time for them to cover their entire history. Therefore, many of the human concerns held little significance for her. Otherwise, with a thousand years of accumulated memories, any ancient dragon would go mad; forgetting was a remedy for the remnants of a long lifespan.

Another reason many ancient dragons did not retaliate against humans for their expulsion and attacks was that they genuinely forgot such things. Unless the humans committed deeply ingrained offenses within a short period, it would take extreme actions to provoke the ruthless vengeance of ancient dragons. It was akin to what ancient empires did; perhaps they thought that killing a few ancient dragons during decades or even centuries of human expansion was trivial, but for dragons, it felt like it had occurred just yesterday and happened with alarming frequency.

Eating and sleeping, soaring leisurely through the skies, or pondering what tastes better when bored—this was Huihui's life as a dragon. When she was really restless, she could pick a fight with the larger flying dragons. In comparison, the pace of human life felt overwhelming and too fast to keep up with, leading her to choose indifference.

Ishgard, as a city in the mountains, nearly floated among the clouds year-round. This meant not only was the humidity high, but that the entire city, made of stone, accumulated a significant amount of crystalline ice, resembling snow. Most of this was found in the lower districts, while the nobles in the upper districts basked in clear sunshine throughout the year, living like royalty in a court above the clouds—majestic, luxurious, and noble. However, Huihui preferred the snow piles in the lower districts.

"Thud!" The small dragon girl pounced into the snow pile, letting out a cheerful sound. The Sky Dragons loved residing in high mountains and enjoyed snow and ice, as these elements helped them regulate their body heat. Huihui naturally adored these things as well, particularly cold treats. If it weren't for her recent toothache that had forced her to restrain herself, she would have devoured dozens of kilograms of cream elderfruit ice cream each day, along with honey popsicles as thick as an adult's thigh. Now, she simply halved her ice cream intake, switching to having honey popsicles twice every three days.

The large amounts of sugar and the feeding from the Lightling had made Huihui chubbier, giving her a rounder appearance in her dragon form. She no longer looked as slender and skeletal as before; in every aspect, she had become cuter than she originally was. However, in her dragon form, becoming cuter merely meant transforming from a fierce killing monster into a stylish killing monster.

"Smack!" A big clump of snow splattered on Huihui's face. "Wah~?" She turned her head to look at the ragged little impoverished children. "Smack!" Another dirty snowball hit her face, covering her head and face with ice and snow. Despite this, she felt no anger; instead, due to her love for snow and ice, she actually found it amusing. So...

"Heave-ho!" The dragon girl raised her arms above her head and launched a snowball that was even larger than she was. "Boom!"

"She's going to kill us! Attack her!" The children were not afraid of the massive snowball. Perhaps their simple worldview prevented them from comprehending the sheer power behind it. They merely assessed her based on her clothing, height, and appearance, concluding that she was a noble girl who could be bullied—highborn, lacking any attendants for protection. Alternatively, they might not have developed any more cruel thoughts, suggesting that the living conditions in the slums of Ishgard had led to a moral construct befitting a poverty-stricken area.

"Smack!" A frozen lump of bird droppings hit Huihui. "...." The young dragon completely failed to comprehend why these smaller beings, whom she could squash with a single paw, would choose to provoke her. Nevertheless, that didn't stop her from making threatening noises. "Rawr!~ Ugh!" Unfortunately, the sight of the fierce little girl did not instill fear in them; they merely saw it as empty bluster. Consequently, more stones and bird droppings came flying her way.

Dragons don't have tear glands, so Huihui wouldn't cry. Yes, exactly—she wouldn't... cry... "Wah~!!!!!!" The young girl let out a thunderous wail. As her small fists clenched, faint blue scales appeared on them. If things went as expected, these little ones would soon be subjected to the "30-ton heavy little fists striking their chests," marking a historical transformation from rowdy kids to something else entirely.