Shell Out(turtle litrpg)

Eventually I chose to speak out.

'Yes, I am Earl.' Although I wasn't at the same level as the likes of two adult dragons, I did have the protection of two S-rank beings

It was safer for me to speak, rather than for Gilbert to speak up.

And Gilbert is... a cousin-in-law. I was on better terms with him than most of my cousins. No way I was going to let him die.

'Earl, as in, of the gamoceras estate?' This second statement was sent by telepathy, but the question shocked me.

They knew me. But how? I had died and been reborn.

Almost no one should know this. At least, no one who wants to hurt me. The only ones who would know would be the gods or god-dependents.

I felt a lot more confident in saying this.

'Yes, that's me.' I confirmed, and the two of them smiled, joyfully grabbing me before anyone could react.

"He's here!" Shouted the glowing dragon, while the bronze one nodded thoughtfully while eyeing me carefully.

"Maria's been talking our ears off about her fiance. Glad to meet you Earl." She said calmly, yet those words caused me to stop in shock, even in spite of the fact that I'd been nabbed by a dragon.

Maria?

She's here?

"Maria? Who's that?" Lenore asked curiously and Servante, while still looking worried looked at me a little suspiciously.

'She's my fiance.' I said calmly, not revealing too much, but it was already enough to set off waves.

"You have a fiance! Do turtles have fiances?" She shouted in disbelief and Servante had a look of 'I knew it'.

Well, I guess a turtle having a fiance probably just further proves his idea of me belonging to a giant turtle bloodline.

I can only helplessly accept it for now.

'Yes, turtles do have fiances' I turn to ask the dragons. 'Can i ask why you are looking for me?

"We were sent by Maria to invite you over." The bronze dragon said flatly, while the glowing one butted in.

"We're having a feast!We just caught and killed a mother kraken the other day and are planning to have us a calamari-fest. Oh and don't worry, we prepared gifts for the guests."

I nodded, before turning to ask Gilbert. 'Were you in on this?' I sent this message quietly, unlike the previous messages which were usually sent out so everyone could hear.

How could I not figure this out? Gilbert was close to Maria when they were both nobles, and given how calm he was throughout this interaction it wasn't hard to figure out that he'd been prepared for this interaction.

'Sorry cousin in law.She persuaded me strongly' He apologized bluntly, in telepathy as well. That was part of the reason why these messages were one on one.

It was fine if Maria, who was no longer human announced her engagement to me, but if Gilbert called me cousin in law, then things get sketchy.

As it is, things are getting messy as my past and current life begin to mix.

'Can I bring my friends?' I asked and the glowing dragon nodded. "Sure, though I didn't prepare anything for elves. You guys are vegetarian right?" He asked and Servante stepped forward, speaking calmly despite his trembling legs.

"Elves are not vegetarians. Though we prefer vegetarian dishes, dishes with meat are fine."

"Oh, ok. Sorry, I'm used to eating elves, not eating with them." He said, and seeing their paling faces, he got smacked over the head by his partner.

"Ignore him. He's got bad taste when it comes to jokes. I'm a metal dragon and he's a normal giant dragon. The only ones who eat elves are those colored dragons or wild unorthodox eastern dragons.

We have a japanese shrimp chef who knows how to do a thing or two with seaweed. I hope it'll be to your liking." The bronze dragon apologized before bringing up a newly imported chef.

"That's fine" he managed to force out before stepping back somewhat calmly. I didn't blame poor Servante. B-rank sounds strong, but before the overbearing presence of a dragon, and an S-rank one at that, his ability to remain calm was impressive.

"Well in that case, step into the bubble and we'll be on our way." The bronze dragon said calmly, pulling out a large transparent bubble large enough to accomodate a group of people.

I was dropped in first as if to assure that the bubble is perfectly safe. Seeing so, Servante went next. As the guard, his role was to pave the way and ensure that the bubble was safe for riding.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Leon and Willow both entered followed by Borsche and Lenore who was guarding the rear.

"Wow! It's so bouncy!" Leon said with amazement, while Borsche nodded, writing down observations of this new thing, which was hard to determine its true nature at first glance.

Leon was rather vocal about his curiosity and excitement. While Willow said nothing, the curiosity could be seen in her eyes as she quietly observed her friend Leon play with the bubble boldly.

"Alright, now that everyone is ready, we will begin our descent into the waters."

'Will the captain not come with us?' I ask and Gilbert speaks up. "No, unfortunately this is where we part ways. The rest of the passengers still paid for their trip and waiting here could disturb their schedule." He said, leaving no room for rebuttal.

After all, there were other customers, and while they certainly aren't top of the empire citizens, someone who can offer up gold coins for a well protected cruise, is not a simple person. Especially if they didn't need a familiar to get on board, and thus received no discount.

It's obvious now that this was a plan to pick me out(for some reason), but now that the plan's complete, he can't just drop them and run.

We saw them off before heading underwater.

Heading underwater... is an interesting experience. I've done it once before, when I was sent with an envoy to the undersea kingdom of atlantis once.

We got attacked by an S-rank leviathan. Were it not for the help of the Atlantean army stationed nearby, it could've been a real problem.

Thankfully, this time the trip was far more pleasant.

It is a beautiful sight to see, with oceanic life forms traveling by, ignoring and even making way for us.

Dragons are natural born overlords wherever they go. Their very presence deters predators.

The glowing one talked vividly as they traveled through the water.

"So I didn't introduce myself earlier. Hi, I'm Moray, like you know, moray eels. Since I designed my current form based of electric eels."

Servante frowned. "But aren't moray eels not electric based?" He pointed out and Moray shrugged.

"Well, normal ones sure, but the ones that evolved into monsters tend to either be of the electric variety, the poisonous variety, or the ambushing type. Besides, electric eel doesn't have much of a zing to it. I was thinking Electrophorus, but too long, y'know.

Oh, this is my wife, Britannia il bronzana. She's a metallic dragon."

Giant dragons, the term used to describe the orthodox western dragons, are known for their wide variety of species, and even ability to change according to the environments.

The fact he found a way to alter his own biology to have those glowing lightning stripes across his body are not surprising.

It was actually weirder to see a metallic dragon and a giant dragon married.

As if noticing the confusion, Moray bragged. "You must think it's weird that Britannia would choose me. Well it's thanks to my dashing good looks and my glowing personality!" He said boastfully.

The bronze dragon looked over and snorted disdainfully, but made no further comment.

The bubble traveled quickly, and soon they arrived at the underwater palace.

It was an underwater palace.

Beautiful? For sure. It wasn't the kind of thing you get yo see everyday.

The palace had a variety of marine lifeforms, but predominantly shrimp and crab soldiers.

But I thought that was an eastern dragon thing?

Moray went off again, for thankfully his mouth was more akin to a copper dragon more than anything else.

"Oh we just moved in recently. You know how it is. Murlocs are too violent, and mermen aren't inclined to follow dragons in large numbers.So I approached an eastern cousin of mine, who offered to send me his shrimp and crab soldiers.

They are really useful. They reproduce quickly when you need them to and are devoted to dragons.

You should've seen how excited they were to hear that we hand out dragon blood to the hard workers.

He did try to send me some clam girls and a daughter or two, but I told him I only need my wife. Isn't that right Britannia?"

"Hmm" Britannia didn't say anything, but a small smile could be seen on her face as her tail quietly interwove with his.

Servante however, was quite curious about something else. "Wait you guys have contacts in the east? I thought the eastern dragons and western dragons don't like each other?"

"In general, sure. But that's more of a general dislike because of beliefs. We the giant dragons think the eastern dragons have taken the wrong route with their serpentine bodies. So thin and snake-like. Ugh.

They think of us as giant clumsy giants. Naturally we get into fights a lot. Still, we're all dragons. So while disputes and disgust are common, there are still connections between us.

His father is actually a giant dragon from my mother's side so we're on good terms"

Servante nodded enthusiastically as he muttered. "How interesting. I never saw this in the books..."

"Most elves are too scared to go near dragons and ask. The colored dragons do not help with their tendency to treat elves as delicacies" Britannia said simply.

I mean, to be fair, dragons are classified as monsters and rarely appear in society. Usually only as pets to powerful nobles. Wild dragons? Rarely appear, with the most common ones being the evil dragons that go out to terroize cities and eat elves. It's no wonder that certain more cultural aspects of a dragon's life are rarely written about.

"So you guys don't eat elves then?" Lenore re-emphasized the question and Moray snorted.

"Of course not. You small humanoids don't have much meat on you. Your bones aren't crunchy and are just an altogether pain to chew. Why bother when there's bigger prey in the sea to hunt? Not only that, but you small races all bully us with civilization and hunt us down whenever you find us. Not worth it."

He paused before adding. "Never eaten an elf by the way, it's just recorded in our bloodline inheritance that you guys are bad eats."

Britannia also spoke. "Ate a goblin once. It was gross and tasted absolutely vile. Humanoids are filthy tasting."

Thankfully Borsche didn't care about that comment. Though I'm a little offended that she ate one goblin and just decided that we humanoids taste gross.

Entering the palace it was well staffed with many soldiers in organized manner, and there was even a black tortoise.

Black tortoises, the pre-evolved from of the xuanwu, are well known for following dragons and acting as their managers. A head butler.

Usually they take human form with a turtle's shell, but this one is in its turtle form. Eastern dragons usually take human form in the palace, but western dragons don't so I guess the turtles follow suit?

Although it seemed a bit surprised to see me, it merely took an extra glance before turning to face its two lords.

"Milords. Everything is ready" he said humbly, and Moray smiled.

"Well come on then! The feast has been prepared and the other guests seated. Please, come make yourself comfortable." Moray said excitedly.

Guests?

Could it be...

Entering the dining room, I see a snake, resting on a seat next to an alligator.

And then, she looked at me.

She wasn't human anymore. I shouldn't be able to recognize her.

But I did.

When she looked at me I knew it.

It was her. Those same affectionate eyes.

Even the squirming was reminiscent of how excited she often was when we would meet to discuss the planning of the territory.

She really enjoyed management.

I had finally found her again.