The dragon's harem

Five days had passed, and Arad’s human soul had finally healed enough that he could easily use it again. A full recovery would still need a few more days, but he was already recovering faster than anyone else could ever hope.

Through this entire situation, Merlin has finally made one thing clear to everyone inside the private quarters, all a few hours before Arad descends back from the moon. Arad wasn’t sick, he wasn’t injured, and he wasn’t weakened through his stay on the moon; it was the opposite.

It was horrifying to think about, but the main job of Arad’s human soul is to weaken him, to nerf his power to a level that the mortal world and its people could endure, and by destroying that, all of the limiters on his power would shatter with it.

Merlin also made it clear that it wasn’t the fault of the people of the mortal world at all. She had to, since many of the maids started to think Arad had to nerf himself because of them, because they were too weak. Arad’s power and aura were enough to even evaporate the archons of fire, so there was no way the maids here could ever grow powerful enough, as not even Eris herself is certain she can survive against an unrestrained Arad for long.

Arad, the same man the maids usually dragged out of the pantry by the ear after finding him munching on cheese like a rat, the one who looks as harmless as a teddy bear even though he is the size of an actual bear... that same man was a powerful enough creature to even terrify the gods.

Merlin pulled several recordings of Arad that she wanted to show everyone. One was of him and King Baltos sneaking into the Royal Castle’s pantry to steal food, and they were soon caught by the maids there and dragged out like kids.

Another clip was of Arad out in the streets playing with some kids; they were fighting with sticks and even ended up beating him. But the most horrifying part was that Kali was among them, so it was scarier.

Then the recording shifted to Arad disguised as a fat black rat, dancing on the private hall’s dining table as the drunk maids laughed their asses off. He even got some moves, making him look like a cute pet more than a god-shattering dragon. But what drew everyone’s attention was the naked, wine-soaked Zephyr dancing with him like a nutball. Those two cannot get drunk, so they were just being goofy for the love of the game.

If that wasn’t enough, the next recording showed Arad helping Mira forge a sword, him messing up, and hiding the bent piece of steel behind the forge before starting a new one without telling her. Merlin quickly pointed out that with Arad’s power, he could’ve easily fixed the damage with his hands, but he chose to redo the work as a human would. She even pointed out that he could’ve just sucked the sword into his stomach, but instead hid it the same way a regular human would act.

Another scene showed him drinking out in a bar with Jack, Alcott, Abel, and Kayden. For a moment, it looked like a normal scene, until the bartender brought them their drinks. Jack got a fancy cocktail, Alcott a whole mug of beer, Kayden got some black wine for himself from the abyss, Abel was already flirting with the waitress, and Arad got a massive bottle of pure, distilled liquor.

Alcott just gulped his down. Kayden started pouring wine on his own and drinking it like some fancy wine master or whatever they were called, and Jack seemed more interested in talking to the bartender than drinking the piece of art in front of him. Abel... he had already gone to the back room with the waitress. Arad, on the other hand, swung his arm, cleanly slashing the bottle’s tip with his finger before pouring it into a large mug to drink.

Some of the maids questioned how he could even cut glass so cleanly with his finger, since that clearly wasn’t a feat of pure strength, and Merlin explained how Arad has many ways to achieve that. He is a dragon, and even if his fingers look human, they still contain sharp claws that could be extended out, but in this case, Arad cut space, not just the bottle cap, and that’s why the cut was so clean.

Even while looking human and in front of tens of people, he casually broke the very fabric of reality without anyone noticing, and that was just to avoid the daunting task of opening a bottle normally. Nobody saw him, no one noticed, and no one cared... but he did it anyway.

Then, she showed him in the forest, hiding among the bushes and stalking Agnar and his party as they went on their first A-rank mission, and he wasn’t alone; Zephyr was there with him as well. They were there to make sure Yuwaku and the group were safe, and to make sure nothing else happened. Of course, their mission absolutely failed since Yuwaku and Agnar caught them.

Then it showed Arad walking across the capital’s streets, where he met an old lady struggling with her heavy bags. Compared to Arad, she looked like a tiny fairy, not even reaching his knees in height due to how massive he was. He carried her stuff for her and escorted her all the way to her home, and then beat her son and his wife, who were in the house, for not helping her.

It was quite the strange scene. Arad opened the door, walked into the house with the old lady, and put the bags on the ground. He then approached the son who was on the couch, smacked him in the face hard enough to send him flying. The wife, who was in the kitchen, screamed, so Arad instantly teleported in front of her, grabbed her by the neck, and punched her in the guts. He then told them that this house was granted to the old lady, not them, and that he could tell they were just overworking her so she could die so they could inherit the house.

Since Arad could read minds, it was clear where he learned that. Then the recording showed him an hour later, bringing a maid that he hired to take care of the old lady, and the guards kicking the son and his wife out. It then immediately showed Alcott yelling at him for taking such drastic actions instead of just calling the guard, and it also showed Arad reflecting on it, thinking that he might’ve acted a bit like a dragon there instead of a human.

Then Merlin showed the maids some footage of Arad acting like a dragon on the border, where he massacred and consumed an entire warband of bandits and outlaws that terrorized the region. No matter what they offered and how much they begged, what they were facing was a heartless monster that ate them one by one, toying with them as a cat plays with its food.

She then finished off by showing them footage of Arad ravaging the heavens of the goddess of flame, and then clearly told them. "Arad’s human soul is the most important of them all, not just for our safety, but for the balance of the entire universe. Without it, we would end with a disaster in our hands. From this day, nurturing Arad’s human side takes priority over everything else." She then threw a sharp glare at Eris and the other drakainas. "I’m talking to you especially."