Chapter 36: The Otaku Takes a C-Rank Evaluation (And Notices the Pattern)
Southval did not panic about drakes.
That told Meliodas two things.
One — drakes were rare, but not unprecedented.
Two — this town had survived worse.
The guild hall opened earlier than usual the next morning.
Not frantic.
Focused.
A new parchment board had been posted near the center.
C-RANK EVALUATION CONTRACTS
No decoration.
No dramatic ink.
Just three listings.
Meliodas stood in front of it with Kaelen at his side and the mage slightly behind.
Bud stayed small, tail wrapped around Meliodas's collar.
The clerk from yesterday spoke without looking up.
"Captain wants you to choose one."
Meliodas read carefully.
Forest perimeter sweep — confirm no drake nest.
Ogre suppression — track and remove high-tier ogre group east of the high road.
Trade route stabilization — escort three caravans over two days. Increased pay due to threat.
Kaelen leaned slightly closer.
"Second one," he whispered immediately.
The mage shook his head almost instantly.
"First," he murmured. "Information before aggression."
Meliodas didn't respond yet.
He reread the first listing.
Forest perimeter sweep. Confirm nesting behavior. Avoid unnecessary engagement. Report signs of egg presence.
Egg presence.
So nesting was a real concern.
He exhaled once.
"We take the sweep."
The clerk finally looked up.
"Smart."
That wasn't praise.
It was observation.
She stamped the parchment.
"Leave within the hour. If you don't report back by tomorrow evening, we escalate."
Clear.
Efficient.
Good.
They left through the east gate again.
This time the guards were more alert.
News traveled fast.
The same guard from yesterday gave a slight nod.
"Captain says if you see more than one, you run."
Meliodas nodded back.
Reasonable.
Kaelen walked quietly beside him once they passed the farmland boundary.
"You could have taken the ogres."
"Yes."
"But you didn't."
"No."
Kaelen waited.
Meliodas added calmly:
"Removing the symptom before understanding the cause creates more symptoms."
The mage glanced sideways at him.
"…You think the ogres were displaced?"
"Yes."
He extended {Observation Haki} outward as they crossed into the forest's outer perimeter.
The woods were not silent.
Birds still called.
Small animals moved.
Nothing felt suppressed.
That mattered.
If a drake had established a dominant territory here, prey density would drop sharply.
He crouched near a claw mark etched into bark.
Old.
Two days.
Not fresh.
Bud leaned down and sniffed.
A pulse.
Curious.
Meliodas activated {Knowledge Mage} briefly on the tree wound.
Not dramatic.
Just confirmation.
[Claw Impression — Drake]
Depth indicates non-aggressive marking behavior.
Territorial marking.
Not hunting frenzy.
Interesting.
They moved deeper.
The forest thinned slightly toward a rocky incline.
Kaelen stopped.
"…Master."
Meliodas had already seen it.
Tracks.
But not alone.
Drake tracks.
And smaller tracks alongside.
He knelt.
Smaller.
Lighter.
Recent.
Not hatchlings.
Not quite adult either.
Adolescent.
He didn't speak immediately.
The mage's breathing quickened.
"There's more than one," he said quietly.
"Yes."
Not a nest.
A pair.
Possibly siblings.
Possibly bonded.
The air shifted suddenly.
{Danger Sense} pulsed.
Not immediate attack.
Observation.
He didn't turn abruptly.
He let {Hyperawareness} widen gently.
There.
Up on the rocky ridge.
One drake.
The same golden eyes.
Watching.
Not charging.
Not hiding.
Just… watching.
Kaelen followed his gaze slowly.
His voice dropped.
"It came back."
"Yes."
The drake didn't move.
Didn't posture.
Didn't roar.
It was assessing.
Again.
Meliodas did something unexpected.
He lowered his sword hand completely.
Open palms visible.
Not submissive.
Not challenging.
Neutral.
The drake's head tilted slightly.
Bud's glow dimmed slightly—not fear—restraint.
Meliodas took one slow step back.
Then another.
He wasn't here to hunt it.
He was here to understand.
The drake exhaled softly.
No breath attack.
No flare.
Then it turned.
And leapt across the ridge.
Gone.
Kaelen blinked.
"That's it?"
"For now."
The mage swallowed.
"There are at least two."
"Yes."
"Should we report immediately?"
"Yes."
No hesitation.
This was not something to freelance.
They turned back toward Southval without further engagement.
As they walked, Meliodas's thoughts aligned.
The ogres were pushed outward.
The drake was testing strength, not slaughtering.
Survivors had been spared twice now.
Not mercy.
Selectivity.
That meant something.
Back in the guild hall, the captain listened carefully.
"Two," Meliodas confirmed. "Adolescent. No confirmed nest yet."
The captain's jaw tightened slightly.
"Pair formation without visible nest means expansion phase."
Expansion.
The hall grew quieter.
The captain nodded once.
"Good call not engaging."
He looked at Meliodas.
"Provisional C stands."
That mattered.
It wasn't full approval.
But it was trust.
That night, Meliodas finally reopened the catalog.
Hero Shards: 77.
Sky Dragon Slayer — 40 HS.
Wind control.
Flight enhancement.
Air dominance.
Direct counter to draconic aerial pressure.
It was logical.
Almost too logical.
He stared at it for a long moment.
Kaelen spoke softly from the other bed.
"You're thinking about getting stronger again."
"Yes."
"Because of them?"
"Yes."
Bud crawled up onto his chest and settled there.
Not asleep.
Listening.
Meliodas closed the catalog again.
Not tonight.
Because escalation wasn't about power alone.
It was about pattern.
And something about the drakes' behavior suggested—
They were not the apex problem.
They were reacting to something too.
Outside the walls of Southval, deeper in the forest—
A second pair of golden eyes opened briefly beside the first.
Then both vanished into shadow.
---
[END OF CHAPTER 36]