In front of Carl were two people, a boy and a girl… They looked very much alike, so Carl assumed they were siblings.
The boy smiled brightly at Carl, while the girl behind him seemed a bit fearful.
''We're your big fans!... I'm Earl, and this is my little sister, Slater… She really admires you… of course, not more than me.''
He pointed his thumbs at himself while smiling confidently.
''Hmmm…'' Carl rubbed his chin, staring at the two siblings with suspicious eyes. He had plenty of fans before he awakened his one-star dragon soul three years ago… but everything had turned to hell the day it awakened… Something he really didn't want to remember.
Because of that, the fact that some of his fans were still around was hard to believe.
Only two possibilities existed.
First, they were trying to fool him with some trick to serve their hidden intentions.
Second, they were genuinely stupid… Just like that. And honestly, they really looked like dumb kids.
Still, he doubted them.
''Well, well… I didn't know there was still stupidity in the realm of Stoker… Do you know I have a one-star dragon soul, one of those souls that's basically worthy of death?''
''Of course we know… but we've always believed that someday you'd come back to the peak of the world.''
Earl answered excitedly. ''Let me prove it… I've copied your draw-sword technique… even mastered it… I've practiced for five years.''
Without hesitation, Earl drew his sword in a swift motion and brandished it through the air. Then he finally completed the last flourish of the sword before sheathing it. He puffed out his chest, proud of his performance, and grinned broadly.
''See?''
The corner of Carl's mouth twitched when he heard that. Earl's draw-sword technique really belonged to Carl. No one could learn it because of the unique technique he had created with his own hands, and of course, he still hadn't taught it to anyone… Thinking someone could copy it, even as a rough imitation, meant Earl must have watched and studied him too closely… which was kind of creepy.
''I see…''
Carl thought, ''So, they's really the stupid kids and seem like decent kids.''
But Earl didn't stop and quickly took a figure from his pouch.
''This is a figure of your shape that my sister carved from wood… She always sleeps hugging it and worships it like a god.''
''NO! Give it back!'' Slater yelled in fear, snatching the figure from her brother and hiding it behind her back, her face burning with embarrassment.
Looking down at her rising and falling chest, filled with worry, and up at her flushed face, Carl could tell she truly treasured that figure.
''Tsk… How annoying.'' Carl scratched the back of his head in confusion and sighed.
''It's fine, I don't care about that… but what are you doing here?''
Earl nodded.
''We came here to beg a favor.'' Almost instantly, Earl dropped to his knees. His sister quickly followed suit.
''Please! Let us become your underlings!''
''W-What the fuck?'' Carl stepped back a few inches, irritated.
''Are you guys crazy?! I refuse… Now get out of my way, I need to rest.'' Carl grumbled, waving his hand to shoo them away.
Ting!
[System notice]: Accept them as your subordinates… They'll be useful, especially the girl… she possesses a rare dragon class.
Carl frowned, thinking about his wife's advice. Then he looked back at the two siblings, still kneeling and hoping for his acceptance.
Carl let out a breath and looked at them with tired eyes, pursing his lips for a moment before finally speaking.
"Okay... I agree."
He studied them again, trusting his sixth sense. But he barely sensed anything special about them, so he decided to speak up — and put a stop to their little celebration dance over getting his agreement."Prove your usefulness... If you turn out to be a burden, I'll take back my decision."
The two teenagers froze in horror at his words, quickly dropping their poses and blurting out,
"I'm very, very, very useful! My dragon class is a kind of concealment... and I'm really good at killing sneakily!"
Carl then glanced at Slater, hoping she'd say something.
But Slater just shivered and stammered nervously, even with her brother trying to comfort her.
After a few moments, she calmed down, broke the silence, and said,
"I-I can sleep."
"???"
Carl squinted and muttered, "Sleep? What kind of weird ability is that? You're a sleeping dragon?"
"Ah... my bad. I should've answered for her." Earl gave a bitter smile. He'd been trying to let his little sister develop her social skills, but it clearly wasn't working. He turned to Carl and explained,
"My sister can give prophecies when she's asleep... and today, she dreamed you'd be staying here at midnight."
"P-Prophecy?" Carl's mouth just hung open as he stood frozen.
"What kind of troublesome dragon class even could have existed in this world?"
Earl quickly added, his tone pleading and worried,
"But please... don't tell anyone about this. We've been exploited a lot for that."
Their faces twisted with pain and sadness — clearly, they had been through a lot.
"Of course... I'll treasure you guys," Carl said softly, nodding as he glanced at the system screen.
[System notice]: You should protect that girl... The special branch of the dragon class like her is always sought after by the patron gods all over the world, chosen to become priestesses of the temples.
"Hmm... Guess that's why the mystery dragon class is always favored by the rules of the six realms, no matter where they go."
He nodded to himself and smiled — today was turning out to be a really lucky day for him.
Carl glanced at Slater for a while, wondering what he should do for her.
"Cobb!"
A few seconds later, a drowsy black dragon slowly crawled out from under Carl's shirt and perched on his right shoulder, lazily rolling its eyes before focusing on the two strangers in front of him.
"Holy creature? Creature of fortune... Does something like that really exist in this world?" Earl stammered, pointing at the dragon with a trembling hand.
"Yeah... People call it all sorts of names — even 'dragon of love.'" Carl scoffed.
His pet immediately turned its head and glared at him for using that shameless nickname again.
"All right, all right. Just kidding," Carl said with a shrug.
"Your new mission is to protect that girl until I've destroyed this damn academy."
Cobb gazed at Slater for a moment, then nodded. In the next instant, his form turned into a swirl of dark clouds, shooting toward Slater's hand and vanishing.
Earl's jaw dropped in astonishment as a black dragon tattoo formed on his sister's hand.
"So cool! Could you give me a tattoo like that too?"
Carl just yawned, waved his hand to drive them away, and headed back to his private room.
"Go tattoo one yourself."