Chapter Twenty: Refusing Temptation Begins With Me

"I haven't asked yet—who is she?"
"My creditor."
Ruby's answer was as concise as ever. He quickly and clearly explained to Philoxis why Moyuna had appeared and why she was staying here.
"Oh, so that's what happened."
Philoxis was puzzled after hearing the story. There were many unreasonable aspects to it, but with a dragon's not-so-clever mind, she couldn't quite make sense of it all at once. After all, paying back debts was nothing out of the ordinary.
"By the way, Ruby, why did you take her bath so seriously? You could've just gone through the motions."
Moyuna turned the topic back to Ruby. In her eyes, Ruby had brought this upon himself; it was already generous of him not to spit in her bathwater, let alone actually applying bath gel for her!
"Since we agreed on the terms, I must fulfill them properly. Only if she's satisfied will she leave the water source alone."
"Let me ask you, did she give you any benefits, like money or something?"
"No."
"So, you agreed to help her bathe because she forcibly took over this water source, didn't she? In other words, she used her superior strength to coerce you, right?"
"That's not inaccurate, but little sister, the way you're putting it is a bit..."
Philoxis felt the conversation was heading in an unfavorable direction for herself. To be honest, she did think Ruby had it tough and was always looking for ways to make it up to him. Now that Moyuna was laying it all out, she felt somewhat embarrassed.
"Quiet. This isn't a transaction; it's pure oppression. But things are different now. Ruby has me. I won't let you bully him anymore."
Moyuna shot a glare at the venomous dragon. Even though the dragon was old enough, she couldn't stand being called "little sister." Where exactly did she look little, anyway?
"You insignificant human, you're far too arrogant. I've never killed a human before, but you are provoking the dignity of dragonkind... Strange, what level of mage are you? Why can't I...?"
Philoxis was about to intimidate the audacious human before her, when she realized that the magical aura she sensed from Moyuna was incredibly complex. Before she could grasp what that meant, a circular magic array engraved with mysterious runes appeared above her head—then another, and another, until there were ten in total. Each one was twice the size of the last, with the highest array looming as large as a mountain.
"This is just a warning. If you insist on bullying Ruby, a meteor will come crashing down on your head."
"A magus..."
Philoxis’s look of surprise slowly turned into a bitter grimace. She'd heard that human society had produced a magus, but she hadn’t expected to run into her by such rotten luck. She recognized the magic array above her: a standard ninth-rank fire-earth combination spell, Meteorfall—nothing as grand as a forbidden curse. Normally, such a blow would just leave her with a scratch. But Moyuna’s casting was problematic—ten arrays at once, each meteor absorbing power from the one below to amplify its might. Philoxis dared not imagine what the final result would be.
Most terrifying of all, Moyuna hadn’t even needed a chant; it was as if she conjured this fearsome spell with nothing more than a breath. That was how Philoxis realized Moyuna's identity—the title of magus was well-deserved.
"Alright, that's enough. Don't scare her anymore. Even if things happened much as you said, giving someone a bath isn't such a bother for me. It's much better than letting her go and destroy another human water source, isn't it?"
"Hmph."

Moyuna snorted and dismissed the magic arrays. She could easily have solved the problem by finishing off the venomous dragon right then and there, but she knew well enough that the naive fellow next to her would never agree.
"Since you put it that way, I'll have to do my best to make it up to Ruby. Dragon rules forbid me from sharing my wealth with you, but from my many years of observing humans, I know their two favorite things are money and women. If you don't mind, I'll just pay you with my body."
Philoxis was very generous about it. Dragons were always associated with wealth, but their rule was simple: you could never share your hoard before death—if you wanted it, you had to take it by force. If you couldn't, you weren't worthy of being a dragon! In that case, repayment in flesh would have to do.
In truth, the venomous dragon lady was quite shy. She knew to hide her private parts while bathing, but as a human, things were different. It was like if a person suddenly gained the power to become an ant—would you ask for clothes among a swarm of ants? It simply wasn't her real body, so being naked didn't matter.
Conversely, for the thick-skinned dragons, sharing a night with an "ant" was hardly unacceptable.
"Oh, oh, oh! Really? If I could spend a night with such a sublime woman, I'd trade ten thousand years of my life for it!"
Before Ruby could react, Dragon was already shouting. In his eyes, Philoxis was the epitome of feminine allure. Alas, he wasn't human, but he thought watching from Ruby's head would be the next best thing.
"Dragon, how long can you live?" Ruby asked.
"Probably until the day humans no longer want to mate. As long as lust exists, I won't die... ah!"
"What are you babbling about? Ruby would never agree to that. Go amuse yourself," Moyuna said, tossing a broken branch to the ground and stamping it underfoot before turning to Philoxis. She knew Ruby too well—he was a man more interested in rocks than in her!
"But Ruby seems quite interested."
Philoxis pointed at Ruby, who was stroking his chin in thought, clearly sizing up his chances.
"What are you thinking?"
"I'm wondering about the chances of a dragon, after transforming into a human, becoming pregnant. I did some experiments—Philoxis, in this form, has non-toxic bodily fluids. Her internal organs are identical to a human's, including the womb, so I think the chances of pregnancy are pretty high."
"Wait, wait, wait—are you saying you agree? Repayment in flesh...?"
"Hmm? Why not? I'm not some ascetic. Besides, I've known Philoxis for quite a while."
"But isn’t that the kind of thing you only do after marriage?"
"Are you a girl from the feudal era? As long as both parties consent, anytime is fine."
"Fine! You really are as bad as Dragon. I’ll ignore you both!"
Moyuna turned away in exasperation. She couldn’t think of any reason to stop Ruby—it just made her feel annoyed. Clearly, the lord of lust could be nothing but trouble!
"Shall we do it here?"
Philoxis boldly pulled off her towel, her mature body like a ripe fruit waiting to be plucked—and all Ruby had to do was nod.

"Well... on second thought, let's not. According to my calculations, there's a high chance you’ll get pregnant."
Ruby hesitated and ultimately refused the tempting fruit. Just as he'd once said to Aqua, he wasn't psychologically prepared for fatherhood.
"I don't mind. I don't have a mate, after all."
"There are too many unknowns with dragons. If you transform back while pregnant, who knows what would happen to the child? You're unattached for now, but you might meet a dragon you care for someday. If they found out you'd had a child with a human, it would be difficult for them to accept."
"I really don't mind—you’d just be the child's father, that's all."
"You're a dragon with a long lifespan. You should find a dragon to be your companion, not a human who’ll be dead by the time you wake up."
"And most importantly, I'm being far too rational. This isn't something to be reasoned out; it should happen when two people are overtaken by desire and act on instinct. That’s the best way."
"You really are a troublesome human."
Philoxis was getting a headache from Ruby’s logic—she simply couldn’t understand what he was thinking. Dragon, however, understood perfectly: in short, his partner was just playing hard to get. If the venomous dragon lady acted more forcefully, Ruby would let go of all thoughts under the influence of hormones. For his own safety, though, Dragon kept this to himself.
"Moyuna, let's go back to sleep."
"Hmph."
Moyuna had been listening intently to everything Ruby said. Only now did she finally snort and, albeit reluctantly, follow after him.

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