Chapter 51: +3 Dragon Girls, Farewell
Swish—
As Tohru's voice trailed off, the enormous Feathered Serpent God hovering in the sky began to glow. A magical circle appeared around her, emitting a brilliant white light.
In the blink of an eye, the radiant light streaked down to the ground, transforming into a figure standing before them.
It was a dragon girl, about Setsuna's height, with golden, wavy hair cascading down her back.
Lucoa, as she introduced herself, was dressed in a black camisole and hot pants, her figure even more exaggerated than Taihou's or Implacable's.
Even Setsuna, a veteran player of Azur Lane, couldn't help but internally exclaim, "Why is it so big?!"
Her assets swayed noticeably, drawing more than a few stolen glances.
"Oh, so you're the aliens Tohru mentioned?"
Lucoa's heterochromatic eyes—one blue and one green—swept across the group as she took them in.
Without hesitation, she suddenly leaned forward and collided into Setsuna, pulling him into a tight hug while pinching his cheeks.
"What a cute person! I heard you saved Tohru?"
"Thank you so much!!"
"???"
"Me? Cute?! What kind of greeting is this?!"
Setsuna struggled, feeling like he was about to suffocate. Normally, he was the one ruffling small shipgirls' heads. This was the first time someone had hugged him like a cat and ruffled him instead.
At over 180 cm tall, he found himself thoroughly dominated by the larger dragon girl.
The shipgirls and Heroic Spirits standing nearby exchanged awkward glances.
"She… seems really strong?!"
"Of course, she's Quetzalcoatl! Just because this is a slice-of-life anime world doesn't mean they aren't incredibly powerful!"
Setsuna barely managed to free himself, taking a deep breath.
Everyone knew that comedic characters often hid immense strength. It was like how the strongest being in the Type-Moon universe could easily be Space Ishtar. This cheerful, smiling dragon girl was no exception.
"Let me introduce myself."
"I am Quetzalcoatl. You can call me Lucoa," she said, her tone now slightly more formal.
"I've been observing humanity's development since ancient times, frequently traveling between worlds. Tohru invited me, saying your world might be interesting and asked me to come take a look."
"Uh…"
While Setsuna had expected Tohru to bring Kanna, having this literal goddess join them was beyond anything he had anticipated.
"Are you a god?" Jeanne d'Arc asked, astonished.
Lucoa's presence alone was extraordinary. Her power was far beyond Tohru's or Kanna's.
Even more baffling, from the moment of her arrival to her transformation into her humanoid form, the ordinary people around them didn't react at all. The level of cognitive interference at play was absurd.
"Eh?…"
"Well, you could say that, sort of…" Lucoa replied with a cheerful, nonchalant smile, feigning uncertainty.
"…"
Belfast, Implacable, and the Jeanne twins exchanged uneasy glances, feeling the profound depth of this dragon girl's power.
"Well, there's not much happening in my world lately…" Lucoa mused.
"If Tohru isn't there, nothing much should go wrong. Everything's pretty peaceful."
"What do you mean everything's my fault?!" Tohru shouted, hopping in frustration.
"Isn't it?" Lucoa opened one eye, smirking.
"…Fine. Most of it," Tohru admitted, quickly deflating.
"So, Mr. Setsuna, let me confirm: your world is normal, right?"
"No indescribable eldritch beings, demons, orcs, goblins, or anything like that?" Lucoa asked, tilting her head.
"At the moment, the species include shipgirls, Heroic Spirits, and humans. Adding you all will just bring in a few more dragon girls."
Setsuna opened the statistics interface and responded confidently.
"Come over, enjoy full citizenship benefits, take what you need, and contribute what you can. Of course, if you just want to relax and take it easy, that's fine too."
"I think I can afford to support all of you."
"Hmm…" Lucoa pondered for a moment before pulling out a massive sack of gold coins from who-knows-where and handing it to Setsuna.
"I'll stay with you for about 2,000 years first. Here's the payment for food and lodging—will this be enough?"
"Or we can settle the bill with magical artifacts?"
"???"
The group was stunned once again by Lucoa's casual declaration.
As a dragon who had lived for countless millennia, her sense of time was entirely alien to humans.
Two thousand years was enough for humanity to evolve from the Iron Age to the pre-space age, going through a dozen dynasties and nations.
To Quetzalcoatl, however, it was nothing more than a brief vacation, like taking a few days off from work.
"Commander, I feel like we've invited someone extraordinary…" Belfast whispered into Setsuna's ear.
"No problem. Trust me, dragons are easy to manage," Setsuna said confidently before pausing.
"Though, that line about staying with me for thousands of years… It reminds me of someone."
"Where is she now?!"
...
The Eternal Snowfall took off with three dragon girls on board.
Though they had spent eons in a world of swords and magic, they had never seen such advanced technology.
Naturally, they were eager to explore.
Setsuna reminded himself of his original purpose for coming to this world—there were still a few more dragon girls he hadn't found yet. However, since the dimensional anchor had been set in the Dragon Maid world, he could always return to bring them over later.
For now, he prepared to return to his own world.
...
On the bridge.
Belfast was feeding Kanna snacks non-stop.
Kanna seemed to share Artoria's infinite appetite and miraculous inability to gain weight.
Meanwhile, Tohru and Lucoa marveled at the Eternal Snowfall's structure and the Bulins serving as its crew.
"She's so cute!!" Lucoa exclaimed, hugging a purple Bulin and squishing her like a plush toy.
"Buri?! Buri!!!" the purple Bulin protested, struggling mightily but failing to overpower the dragon. In desperation, she resorted to banging a wrench on the floor in protest.
"Is she going to squeeze every cute thing she sees?"
"I'm suddenly a bit worried about the destroyers back at the port," Implacable muttered, recalling a certain Royal Navy frequent offender.
"And why was she cuddling the Master earlier? Harassment?!" Jeanne Alter huffed, unimpressed.
"So, what can you do?"
"I'm curious about your abilities," Setsuna said, looking at the three dragon girls.
"Since we might travel to other worlds in the future, could you tell me what each of you can do? It'll help me plan better."
The combat abilities of the Dragon Maid characters weren't frequently showcased, so Setsuna wasn't sure what Tohru and Lucoa were truly capable of.
"Kanna's still young. She doesn't know many spells yet. Her strength is a bit greater than that of an ordinary human, and, well, she just needs to eat enough and replenish her mana," Tohru said thoughtfully, resting a hand on her chin.
"Recharging, huh? There's an outlet over there,"
Setsuna pointed to a spot for Kanna.
The little dragon girl happily ran over, her tail transforming into a plug that she inserted into the socket. She closed her eyes, a blissful expression spreading across her face as she "recharged."
"As for what I can do…" Tohru said, pausing to think seriously.
"Curses that cause instant death? Planetary destruction? Burning cities? All of that seems possible…"
"Don't you have any normal abilities?!" Belfast and Jeanne d'Arc couldn't help but retort.
"Come on, I'm a dragon, and not just any dragon, but a Chaos Faction dragon! Did you really think I'd know something like holy light magic?" Tohru scratched her head.
"Burning enemies? No problem! I can do that too!!!" Jeanne Alter chimed in with excitement.
"Revenge!!! Let's take revenge on them all!!!"
The two Chaos-aligned beings clicked instantly, their enthusiasm for destruction creating a dangerous camaraderie.
"These two aren't going to team up for trouble, are they?!" Belfast muttered, suddenly very concerned about Tohru and Jeanne Alter's future interactions.
...
Lucoa, who had been quietly observing, finally spoke up.
"As for me… I know most of the magic in my world."
"Elemental magic, spatial manipulation, mental interference, even a bit of time magic. Though I can't do large-scale time reversal or anything like that."
"Quetzalcoatl isn't as omnipotent as you might think."
The Heroic Spirits stiffened in awe.
By Chaldea's or the Type-Moon universe's standards, they couldn't quite classify Lucoa.
A regular Servant? Definitely not. A Grand Servant? Even that didn't seem to do her justice.
After all, she wielded genuine magic, not just magecraft. It was beyond the scope of modern technology to replicate.
"If the Master brings her to a singularity, she'd probably crush the enemies effortlessly and claim the Holy Grail," Jeanne d'Arc murmured in admiration.
"A wish-granting Holy Grail? I don't need that…" Lucoa replied with a small yawn.
"For little wishes, I can fulfill them myself. Something like achieving world peace across all worlds, or having the Chaos and Harmony Factions coexist harmoniously—can the Grail even manage that?"
She looked unimpressed.
"And I mean actual peace, not some weird method where everyone is killed, and the world is suddenly peaceful."
"…"
The group fell silent.
"Is it just me, or is her 'tier' a bit too high?" Jeanne Alter blinked and leaned toward Setsuna.
"That's great!" Setsuna snapped his fingers.
"If we keep her happy, it's like we've got a personal guardian deity and a walking Holy Grail rolled into one!"
"Honestly, I'm tempted to make a wish with Lucoa myself."
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