Little Garden, North Side. Outer Gate 54545, the City of Blazing Flames.
The structure of Little Garden was divided into multiple layers like a layer cake.
The one- to three-digit tiers belonged to the Celestial Realm, and below that was what the residents of Little Garden commonly called the Upper Floors—the four-digit domain.
Generally, even the more prominent medium-to-large-scale communities in Little Garden were not qualified to establish their headquarters here.
Most of those who could reside long-term at the four-digit Outer Gates were subsidiary communities that had accepted missions from a god-group, like the Moon Rabbit clan—in short, those with connections.
The five-digit Outer Gates could be considered the middle tier of Little Garden, the primary location for the headquarters of medium-to-large-scale communities in the Lower Floors.
In truth, in the world of Little Garden where divinity and power were the basis of competition, these communities were also often those with connections, just not as deep as those in the four-digit tier.
A case in point was the master of the City of Blazing Flames, Salamandra, which had recently been promoted to a four-digit community and served as the Floor Master of the North Side.
As descendants of the Star Sea Dragon King, this community inherited the bloodline of pure-blooded dragons.
Although the lineage had thinned to a draconic sub-species over time, they were still far superior to any ordinary race.
They were famous throughout the Lower Floors of Little Garden for the quantity and quality of their high-end combatants.
After joining the Arcadia Grand Alliance, they became a cornerstone of its military strength, establishing a commendable record in various Demon Lord subjugation battles.
This allowed them to accumulate enough merit to pass the review of the Floor Masters and the upper communities, finally returning to the glorious era founded by the Star Sea Dragon King.
However, today, this community, a leader and hegemon among the North Side communities, was caught in a state of uneasy restlessness.
This restlessness did not stem from the leader's joy at the birth of his precious daughter—after all, the child was still inside her dragon egg.
The egg was viable, but she had yet to break out of her shell.
Until she reached an age where she was certain to survive, she could not be considered an heir.
The restlessness came from a certain guest in the drawing-room. To be precise, it was the trouble this guest had brought with him.
Because of this, they were forced to request aid from the members of the Arcadia community.
Fortunately, Arcadia's entire purpose was to subjugate all Demon Lords, so they had no reason to refuse and showed no intention of procrastinating, arriving quickly with their key members in tow.
As the leader of Salamandra, the old fire dragon appreciated Arcadia's swift response to his call for aid and was satisfied with their level of commitment—they had even sent a crucial figure to handle this incident.
His only dissatisfaction was…
"Canary, why did you bring this scoundrel here?" the old fire dragon asked bluntly after taking a sip of tea.
Before him, a delicate girl with golden, shoulder-length hair and the chic fashion of a modern urbanite blinked her eyes innocently.
"Weren't you the one who asked for support as soon as possible? Is there any faster way to get here than a Boundary Gate?" she said, taking a sip of her own red tea before spreading her hands. "We arrived as soon as we received your request. Shouldn't you be praising the friendship between our alliances right now?"
Hearing this, the old fire dragon nodded with a deadpan expression. "The friendship between us and Arcadia is indeed unbreakable. No hardship can prevent us from watching over and helping each other."
The words were half-formality, half-sincerity. Then, the old fire dragon's gaze sharpened. "But that is no reason for your side to harass my child."
As he spoke, the dragon's authority filled the drawing room with a dead silence.
The maids held their breath, not daring to make a sound. Because of this, the commotion from the inner residence carried over clearly for all to hear.
"Ahhhhh! What a beautiful, what a moving young miss! That translucent eggshell, it's like feeling the fingertips of a young girl! And its matte texture reminds me of an old woman's hair! Oh, oh, oh! Canary, I've suddenly discovered a new evolution in my fetish! If before I could only appreciate the beauty of newborn infants to one-hundred-and-fifty-year-old crones, now, I have entered a whole new world!"
"Ahhhhh! Gods, I never thought an unborn eggshell could possess such feminine charm... Madam, you noble and aloof lady, who has long guarded her chambers, deeply resentful of your useless, good-for-nothing husband, after your daughter is born, could you entrust her eggshell to my care as a memento?! I swear on my gentleman's name that I will do nothing profane!"
Someone was freaking out. A man was freaking out.
To be precise, a slender man dressed impeccably in a suit was twisting his body with feverish intensity, going absolutely bonkers over a dragon egg not much bigger than a basketball.
Hearing that voice, even Canary couldn't maintain her composed expression. She covered her face, feeling utterly mortified.
There were thousands of perverts in the world, but this man was clearly in a league of his own. He could even get worked up over an eggshell.
This was Croix Baron, the Reaper Who Loiters at the Crossroads.
If not for his Gift that allowed him to control the boundary of life and death, enabling him to summon Boundary Gates for long-distance spatial teleportation, Canary would never have chosen to travel with this pervert.
Alas, there were no "if onlys" in this world. Seeing the strange looks from the maids, Canary had no choice but to accept the fact that her community's reputation was being dragged through the mud.
"Actually, I can explain..." Canary began, a strained look on her face, trying to explain to their ally that Croix was just a bit of a pervert and by no means a bad person.
At least he would respect others' wishes; if the parents or the person in question didn't agree, he wouldn't steal the eggshell. Of course, she thought, the very fact that people might suspect him of such a thing already means he's far from being a good person.
"No need to explain." The old fire dragon shook his head and let out a deep sigh. As a community leader, his self-control was excellent; otherwise, he wouldn't have restrained himself from attacking that man by now. Of course, there was another reason for his restraint.
"I have fought alongside Arcadia for hundreds of years, and I've stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Croix dozens of times. Although it pains me to admit that man is a comrade-in-arms I acknowledge, I've long grown accustomed to his ways. That's why I placed a protective barrier around Sala's egg beforehand. If he dares get too close, even with that cockroach-like vitality of his, he'll lose half his life."
The old fire dragon spoke these unnerving words in a casual tone. If anyone else were here, they would surely retort, "You call him a comrade on one hand and set a deadly trap on the other, what's wrong with you?"
But Canary was not anyone else. Not only did she not object, but she also nodded in firm agreement. "Well done!"
Even as his fellow community member, she felt he deserved to be taught a lesson. She also agreed with the old dragon's description of Croix's "ugly yet tenacious, cockroach-like vitality."
"Since you're not worried about Sala-chan's safety in the egg, then what you mean is...?" Canary glanced at the guest seats on the other side of the room, tapping her lips as she feigned confusion.
"What I mean is, can you call that thing out here and make him shut up?" the old fire dragon said bluntly. "Your Arcadia's main policy is Demon Lord subjugation, so you may not care much for your reputation, but we still have to operate in this area..."
After speaking as diplomatically as he could, the old fire dragon thought for a moment and decided to be direct. "We still care about our image. So, at least in front of our guests, don't let them get too frightened."
Hearing this, Canary's expression stiffened. "To be honest, and you probably won't believe this, but we in Arcadia care about our reputation too."
After saying something even she didn't quite believe, and seeing the old fire dragon's "keep making things up" look, she sighed and spread her hands, turning to where the dragon had indicated.
"As for the guests... are these two the clients for this Demon Lord subjugation mission?"
In the guest seats opposite her, a girl with a baby face and a massive bust—a figure hotter than a mature succubus, paired with the innocence of a small animal—was looking their way with a frightened expression.
Behind her, a pumpkin-headed man in a butler's uniform stood ramrod straight like an attendant.
"Uii~!" Feeling Canary's gaze, the buxom, baby-faced girl let out a timid cry, her ridiculously proportioned body trembling slightly.
"Am I that scary?" Canary couldn't help but feel a bit dejected. I'm a young woman in my prime, aren't I? Sure, my actual age is a bit hard to say, but my mindset and appearance are twenty at most!
"Apologies. My lady is not afraid of you, but rather of the companion who arrived with you," the pumpkin-headed man said, giving a slight bow.
His tone was neither servile nor overbearing as he pointed out, "After all, my lady has just been harassed by a similar type of pervert. Your associate's level of derangement in that regard seems to be no less than that of the Demon Lord who attacked us."
"Demon Lord?" Hearing this, a look of keen interest appeared on Canary's face. This was Arcadia's main business, and the biggest reason she had come here.