The dragon's harem

“Arad, did you want anything?” Merlin sat on the table that Merida was using to study several scrolls and put one leg on another. Her large rear end covered one of the scrolls that Merida used as a reference, so she didn’t hesitate to stab her with a sharp pen.

Luckily for Merlin, her whole body was covered with a thin barrer so the mundane feather pen shattered instead of piercing the soft flesh of her butt. The frustrated Merida awkwardly pushed Merlin a bit aside and fished her scroll.

Arad looked a them with a smile. “I was thinking of asking you about something. You’ve heard about the storm titan situation already. What do you think?”

Merlin remained silent for a few seconds, her face unchanging, but soon her lips curled upward, “It is both a delicate situation and one that might need a rough hand.”

Arad nodded. She was right, and he had thought the same. The last thing he wanted was to start a civil war there. Bloodshed must be left as the last resort. The best-case scenario would be if everyone lived, but Arad knew it was wishful thinking that would never come true.

“First, Tempo, the Volcanic Titan Prince.” Merlin shook her head, “Don’t take him with you, don’t even mention that you know him. The last thing you want is them thinking the Volcanic titans are trying to manipulate or vandalize their ruler.”

Arad understood that. Kingdoms hated nothing more than foreign powers meddling with their politics. Arad is also a foreign power to the Storm Titans, but not really. They’ve sent their daughter to marry him, so he is as much a part of them as he is a foreigner.

Tempo was out of the question, but that didn’t mean Arad couldn’t ask him about some information about the Storm Titans. The loud prince had known a few things about other titans.

Merlin jumped from the table and walked past Arad. She reached the desk beside the window and looked out. She then extended her hand out, grasped a gust of wind, and pulled it closer. Arad was puzzled as he saw her grab wind, but she was a master of magic, so… he should probably learn how to do that. Might help him climb air, or stand on it… Now that would look menacing. He can already achieve something similar with gravity magic, but that always left a purple afterglow on him. Not that the glow wasn’t menacing as well.

Merlin shook the gust of wind in her hand like a small cloud, and suddenly, Zephyr popped out of it. “Don’t call me like this!” She growled and stood on Merlin’s chest, swinging a punch at her lower jaw.

The Spirit’s little fist landed on Merlin’s jaw without doing much damage. The soft flesh she used as footing trumbled, and she almost fell.

Merlin pointed at Zephyr with a smile, “Take this one with you. As goofy as she might look, there aren’t that many fools who would dare speak against her.”

Merlin was right. When Zephyr got sealed, Zeus came to negotiate how they were going to save her with Arad. All of the powerful races of the world know of the Spirit queens and respect their power. Especially Zephyr, who went out of her way to help the other races, while neglecting her arrogant pride as a spirit.

Nar, the Fire Spirit Queen, was called the Merciless Blaze for how her flames burned all without mercy. Her blaze and avarice couldn’t be quelled, and only the Volcanic Titans managed to befriend her, to a degree. It was more like them paying her tribute, and she calmly sitting down.

Rilyeh, the Water Spirit Queen, was titled the Bitch Queen because despite her calm demenor and gentle facade, she was a rultless and vengeful woman who went out of her way to make the lives of those that wronged her, and those who didn’t pay tribute suffer. Humans choke on water and die because they fail to respect it.

Mother Earth Gaia was merciful and loving, but she too didn’t take much of mortal stupidity before opening the jaws of Earth to swallow them in a violent earthquake. But mostly, she was the best of the three.

Zephyr, on the other hand, had given all of her land to the humans and elves, didn’t even collect tribute, and everyone can breathe air thanks to her. She also seems to be keeping the other spirits in check.

Nar seemed quite submissive and obedient when Zephyr gave her orders. Rilyeh held deep respect for the wind spirit and always listened. Countless kingdoms that were starved of rain by Rilyeh got their prayers granted since Zephyr spoke for them with the water spirit. Even Gaia seemed to be calm of late since Zephyr appeared. The number of earth-shattering earthquakes has lessened a lot in the past thousands of years. Humans might not notice the change, but the titans and elves who lived long ago noticed.

Especially the storm titans who thrived in the stormy peaks where the wind howls like wolves. Merlin won’t be surprised if the elders of the storm titans knelt to Zephyr out of sheer respect and nothing else.

Merlin then looked at the door. She had already sent a mental message to the other woman that she thought Arad should take with him. “This one is a bit tricky.” She approached Arad.

“For one, you’re already taking Tyal with you. But her word should be just as powerful.” As the door opened, a tall woman of almost two meters walked in. Her long blue hair was curly and messy, her eyes were vibrant red, and her body was covered by a blue wizard’s robe.

What surprised Arad about the woman was that he hadn’t seen her in a long, long time. And even so, something was off. “Five?… No, you aren’t one of the founders’ clones.” His eyes opened wide.

The woman standing in front of him was the founder of the adventurers’ guild, the elusive titan that holed up on her own island to experiment with magic. He had once defeated her clone, named Five, to become an S-rank, but the one standing in front of him now wasn’t a clone.

The woman looked at him with dark circles plaguing her beautiful face. She yawned, scratched the back of her head, and looked at Merlin with a frown. “What’s up? I was taking a nap.”

Merlin pointed at her with a hand, “This is Alice Dagon, the founder of the adventurers’ guild and probably the only wizard as powerful as me… no, she is more powerful since she is a titan. A Storm Titan. She is also a Cleric of the goddess of magic, a fanatic one at that.”

Alice gave Merlin a sour look. “And who is this that you’re telling about me? Out of courtesy, I didn’t try to dispel the magic you’re using to hide him.”

“I just wanted to see your flustered face.” Merlin flicked his fingers, and Alice froze. Her face grew a bit red, but she fainted almost immediately and fell to the ground.