The dragon's harem

Chapter 866: The Punt Gun

”NO! It doesnʼt matter!” Matilda waved her arm, ”Kick him away!” She pointed at her father, ”Iʼm not going back.”

Matildaʼs father stared between her and Arad, stopping at him. ”Did she find a mate?”

”No.” Arad replied... ”Weʼre just classmates.”

”She ran out of home, for years she kept failing hunts one after another and never managed to find a spot in the clan. Iʼve finally found her a mate and a home to live in, she doesnʼt need to keep running away.” Matildaʼs father stood and looked at Arad with glowing eyes, ”She ran to find a mate, but Iʼve found her one first.”

”That wasnʼt a race! And whoʼs the fool youʼre talking about?” Matilda growled, ”I know better than anyone that any tiger marrying me is a fool.” She pointed at her father, her tail spiking out.

”Thatʼs a YOU problem...” Her father sighed, and she admitted it herself. ”Why donʼt you want to come back.”

”Because you never answer my questions. Who is it?” She growled and hid behind Arad. ”Hey, donʼt drag me into your family problems.”

”Itʼs not a tiger.” Her father said with a smile, ”Your mother told me that you looked into the lions a lot, Iʼve looked among their clans and Iʼve found who was looking for another mate, preferably a solo hunter that doesnʼt rely on stealth like we do.”

While most tigers prowl in silence and hunt solo, Matilda is too loud and finds it irritating to stalk prey, which makes her an extremely bad hunter by tiger standards. But for what the lions wanted, which was also rare to them, Matilda seemed like a good candidate.

Matilda started thinking about it...

”Are arranged marriages like that common?” Arad asked.

”I wonʼt say they are uncommon, but they are well known. Especially for someone like me, such a thing is normal as I canʼt find a mate myself.” Matilda replied, ”But still, youʼve got everything right except that I donʼt want to marry someone I donʼt know.”

”Thatʼs why I want you to go back and meet him. You can decide later.” Her father sighed. ”Iʼve got school, Iʼm not going back for months.” She growled at him. ”You want me to get kicked out from here or something? Do you know how much money I had to pay to get in?” ”I know...I paid for it.” He replied.

”No, you didnʼt, I worked as an adventurer to get it.” She shouted.

”Hunting quests that were continently untouched and suited your hunting style, and paid almost double what they do...yeah...” He giggled, ”Iʼve put those in the guild for you since they informed me you were starving and sleeping on the street.”

Matilda froze for a few seconds... her face burned red in both shame and anger, ”Wait...we didnʼt have that kind of money!” She growled.

”Since you were hunting, Iʼve technically only paid half after selling the hunts I got. A quarter of it was your living expenses and I had to hunt extra for the last quarter. You can say that I paid half and you half.” He smiled, ”And donʼt get me talked about getting accepted here.”

”Donʼt tell me...” She gasped.

”Due to your horrendous written test results, you were about to get kicked out...if I didnʼt work something out with the headmaster.” He sighed. ”That halfling wanted a snow wyvern heart in exchange for her letting you in.”

”What?!”

Arad sighed, ^I bet Betty didnʼt really need the wyvernʼs heart. She could hunt it herself, she mustʼve only asked him to do it, so heʼd have done something.^

”And what about you...” Her father looked at Arad with a smile, ”Your skin is as tough as steel, Iʼve never seen such a human before. Even the best hunters in the clan wonʼt be able to beat you...” He rubbed his chin, ”Iʼm willing to let her stay if youʼll be her mate, what do you say?”

”Sorry, Iʼm already married.” Arad replied with a passive face.

”Heʼs married, to a lot.” Matilda growled.

”Multiple, interesting. Like the lions, he got a pride. No wonder sheʼs sticking around you.” He looked at Arad with glowing eyes, ”To the lions, the stronger the man is, the more women flock around him. Their women take pride in marrying strong men with multiple wives.”

”Iʼm not a lion.” Arad smiled.

”Iʼm only making a comparison.” Matildaʼs father approached Arad and extended his hand for a shake, ”The name Zara, what about you?”

”Aron, nice to meet you.” As they shook hands, Zara tried to squeeze Aradʼs hand as hard as he could, but Arad didnʼt even react, he couldnʼt feel the difference.

As they finished the shake, Matilda looked at her father, ”Iʼm surprised, you didnʼt grip his hand tightly like you always do...”

”No...” Her father said with a worried face, ”I did...” He looked at Arad, ”He didnʼt react.”

”You did? Sorry, I didnʼt feel it.” Aradʼs raw durability was far higher than most living beings, heʼs a massive dragon and Zaraʼs grasp only amounted to what a little bird would feel to a human, he couldnʼt even tell the difference between a normal grip and a strong one. ”Aron!” Mira rushed toward Arad, dragging a large, six-foot-tall musket on a large cart. ”Look what Iʼve made!” She waved her arm with a large smile on her face.

Since she became a demi-god Arad didnʼt need to supply her with as much mana as he did before, she could cover up the needs herself. And now sheʼs been busy trying to make a weapon for Arad and infuse it with her divine magic. But, sadly she kept failing as she was still at the early stage of being a demi-goddess.

Inventions come with time, research, and experience. The stronger she gets as a demi-god, the more potent the weapon heʼll make will be, and for now, sheʼs trying to make anything that doesnʼt explode.

She stopped and looked at them, ”Aron, whoʼs the big cat?”

”Cat?” Zara gasped.

”Matildaʼs father.” Arad replied, ”My father.” Matilda said at the same time.

”Nice to meet you, weapon smith. Iʼm called Zara, a hunter from the beast kingdom, and this is my daughter.” He smiled.

”Mira, Iʼm one of Aronʼs wives.” She said with a smile.

Zara could feel it, a strange feeling of white looking at Mira, the faint golden glow in her eyes gave him the creeps. They burned with a disturbing power, sending shivers down his spine. He didnʼt know he was standing before a demi-god, and that might be for the best.

”I see...Sir Aron here got a nice taste. Getting a weapon smith into the family is a good way to amass power.” Zara smiled, it wasnʼt uncommon for royalty, some nobles, and especially the lion clan to marry blacksmiths to monopolize their weapons. Zaraʼs eyes shifted toward the massive gun she hauled all the way here.

”Werenʼt you in class?” Arad asked as he looked at her.

”Weʼve got a break, and when I saw you here, I thought Iʼd bring the gun for you to test.” She smiled, ”Already got Bettyʼs approval.”

”The headmaster...” Zara smiled, ”And even got some good connections as well. Iʼd expect nothing from you.”

Arad scratched his head... ”Fine...Itʼs one shot and done.” He lifted the massive gun with one

hand.

”Itʼs big.” Matilda gasped.

”It weighs almost 70kg, or 150 pounds in elvish. Itʼs a weapon they devolved to be fired from small ships as a cannon, usually called the punt gun. It shoots massive steel or iron balls.” She

looked at Arad, ”Youʼve got a few, right?”

Arad nodded and looked at the gun.

”The recoil would be fatal.” Zara said, ”If it was designed to be fired from a ship, Iʼd suggest at least holding it with both hands and bracing for a broken collar bone or some ribs.” His

eyes shifted to Mira, ”Unless she did something to make it usable.”

”I increased the size of the gunpowder chamber to increase its firepower. Didnʼt make it

easier to fire though.” Mira replied with a smile.

”Do you want to cripple your husband or something?” He sighed.

Arad nodded, ”I like it, but itʼs a bit small...” He pointed it at the sky with one hand. ”Got a

target?” ”Those wooden barrels over there. Iʼve filled them with water.” Mira pointed.

”Hoi! Hold it with two hands...” Zara gasped.

Without a single drop of hesitation, Arad pointed the massive gun at the barrels and fired it with one hand, blasting the first barrel into pieces. The blast alone was loud enough to hurt Matildaʼs ears, her father managed to close his ears in time.

”He shot it with one hand...” Zara gasped, his mouth refusing to close.

But, Arad wasnʼt done yet. He immediately reloaded it straight from his stomach and fired again, and again, a total of five shots, blasting each barrel that Mira prepared.

”I like it.” Arad smiled, ”Itʼll be amazing when I want to keep something alive instead of

killing it.” Lucia landed beside them, ”What are you doing? Aron, Matilda, get back to class.” She sighed and looked at Zara, ”Can I ask you to leave? Or at least wait until the headmaster is here? You canʼt just take a student out of their class.”

She sighed, ”Weʼve had a lot of...” Her eyes glared at Arad, ”Students missing their classes.”