Dragon King’s Authority

  Kathe sipped her tea and muttered.

  “I see. So the water dragons are in a lot of trouble then.”


  Just then, Dorgo glared at her.

  “I told you many times…”


  “Oh, yes. You did. But you didn’t say anything about helping them.”


  “Well, there was no talk of help until yesterday…”


  “Is that so! Then it cannot be helped that I didn’t know about it.”


  Kathe was relieved. She stuffed a pastry into her mouth.

  Dorgo looked annoyed. He straightened his posture.

  “Kathe. I mean, Wind Dragon Ruler.”


  “Da-… Uh, Dorgo. What is it?”


  “I do believe that I contacted you last night.”


  “Eh?”


  Kathe started to rummage through her pockets.

  Then she took out a bracelet. It had a pretty red gemstone on it.

  She began to control the device.

  “Oh, you are right…”


  “Your Majesty. Have I not told you this before?”


  “…Yes.”


  “Even if you are not in the palace, you must be reachable. You must check the bracelet.”


  “…Yes. You did say that.”


  “This is most unfortunate indeed.”


  “Yes.”


  “What would you do in an emergency? Do you realize that you are a ruler?”


  “I am very sorry.”


  Kathe looked downcast as she was scolded.

  Her tail drooped weakly to the floor.

  Once the lecture was finished, Dorgo turned to us and bowed.

  “I am most sorry that you had to see that.”


  “No, no! Do not worry yourself on our account.”


  “Yes. Don’t think about it!”


  Goran agreed with me.

  Eric sipped his tea with a smile and said,

  “I think it is a very fine thing that one as young as Kathe has decided to take the position of ruler.”


  “Oh, you exaggerate.”


  Kathe looked bashful.

  I ignored them and turned to Dorgo.

  “But Mister Dorgo, you look quite healthy still. Why did you decide to step down as king?”


  “It is normal for our heirs to take our place once they reach a certain age.”


  “I see. That’s quite different from us humans.”


  “Yes. We have longer lives, after all. If we only passed on our royal authority when we died, who knows how long it would take?”


  “I suppose you are right…”


  Eric didn’t seem to like this explanation very much.

  It was not a good reason to make someone so young king, in his opinion.

  Dorgo saw this and continued.

  “Aside from our lifespan, humans and dragons are not so different.”


  “Really? But what does that have to do with…”


  “If we used the same system as humans, it would result in similar power struggles among the dragons.”


  I had never imagined that dragons would do such a thing.

  It was a little surprising.

  Eric and Goran also looked surprised.

  “And what about a child with parents who could die at any moment? With such long lives, there is a high possibility that dragon children could die before their parents. And so they might want to take power by force.”


  “So long lives rob you of patience?”


  Eric asked.

  Humans lived for nearly one hundred years. That was very short compared to the high elves.

  As for dragons, they could live for tens of thousands of years.

  You would think that long lives would mean lots of patience.

  “Of course, I think we have more patience than humans. We could wait for hundreds of years. However, our parents would not die of old age.”


  “I see.”


  “Besides, we do not weaken as we age. We may get stronger, but not weaker.’


  In that case, their children may never become king.

  “And so having them inherit the throne early is a form of self-preservation for us.”


  “What do you mean?”


  “Well, we can still be killed.”


  “But aren’t parents stronger for having lived longer?”


  “Most of the times, yes. But as they say, sometimes a kite can breed a hawk.”


  “I see.”


  “And there are many ways for weak people to kill those who are strong.”


  Poison, traps, ambushes, attacking in large numbers. There were many ways indeed.

  “Giving it to them before they become impatient will prevent them from killing their parents.”


  Goran heard this and said,

  “I can only imagine how ferocious a power struggle between dragons would be.”


  “Yes. It will be a battle between very powerful dragons. It would affect the terrain and even the weather.”


  Dorgo said with a laugh. But I could tell that he did not think it was funny.

  It would change the terrain because the high dragons had that much power.

  “It’s not only between parent and child. Brothers and sisters may also fight. And so all of it can be avoided my making them king while they are still young.”


  “I see. So it is up to the parent to stop any sibling rivalry.”


  It was a common thing among humans.

  But when humans fought for the crown, many people died.

  But for dragons, the lands were destroyed.

  And so they had a system in place to discourage it.

  “But dad is stronger than me! And so I think that he should do all of the work.”


  “Kathe. That logic is flawed.”


  Kathe had blurted this out with confidence, and so she looked troubled when I argued against her.

  “…Is it?”


  “Yes.”


  “Mister Ruck is right. Inheriting the position early also has the purpose of teaching you.”


  This way, an experienced king could support and educate the successor.

  It was that kind of system.

  Now that I think about it, it made a lot of sense.

  “Maybe humans should do the same. Eh, Eric?”


  “Unfortunately, I don’t think it would work well with humans.”


  “Really?”


  “There is the relationship with your relatives and dissension among the nobles…”


  “Hmmm.”


  “Besides, I doubt the new king would enjoy having the previous ruler hovering around them.”


  “That’s true.”


  Using the same system for humans seemed like it would just cause more fighting.

  That’s what I thought.