Bribes, Blame, and Bitter Realities
“Who in their right mind designed things this way?”
That was the manager’s first sentence as soon as I opened the office door—right after I’d finished giving Lou his overdue snacks and affection, calming him down from the day’s stress. As if he’d been waiting to pounce.
I blinked at him, utterly dumbfounded.
“I don’t think there was anything else I could’ve done except stop Rock Will from going berserk.”
“That’s something that needed to be handled.”
The fact that he said that so matter-of-factly just made me feel more ridiculous.
“Isn’t it the basic principle that the assigned trainer is the one responsible for controlling their dragon and preventing these kinds of accidents?”
“Well… there are exceptions sometimes, aren’t there?”
“I found him flailing from a distance, yelling instead of doing anything useful.”
“Anyway! You handled it well!”
“Oh, is it ‘handling it well’ now when someone else fixes a situation while the designated trainer just stands there?”
A trainer who isn’t familiar to a dragon shouldn’t step in so easily. It’s dangerous. If a panicked dragon won’t even listen to its regular handler, how would it react to some stranger rushing in? Probably just see them as another threat.
“I went in knowing full well that I might get injured—or killed.”
“Ahem! Well, I knew you’d pull through with your skills…!”
“We have to avoid destroying the training grounds and ourselves. If other dragons get worked up too, there’s no saving this place.”
“Right, right. Good job. You did well.”
“Then how about you give me a bonus instead of lip service?”
“Lithia!”
“What? Am I asking too much? I nearly died.”
If I’d gotten crushed under Rock Will’s front foot, that wouldn’t just be a broken bone. I’d be a red smear. Just the thought made me nauseous. And Thompson, that brainless sack of ego, was the one who started all this.
“This whole mess happened because some idiot slapped a saddle on Rock Will without checking for a single sunflower seed embedded in his back. Shouldn’t you be scolding the right person?”
“Thompson is backed by Earl Harris. He provides substantial funding to the Ashar Training Center.”
“A count is still a count, but the third son of a count is a whole different matter.”
It’s common for noble families to shove their non-heirs into side professions to “make themselves useful.” To a clueless noble brat, being a dragon trainer probably looked like a glamorous job. It sounded cool—dealing with majestic dragons, catering to wealthy noble clients.
…Until they realized that the reality was 95% hard labor, constant stress, and dragons with digestive issues.
“Do you want to get fired?”
I fell silent at the manager’s thinly veiled threat.
“If you don’t, you’d better learn to watch your mouth. Think about the orphanage.”
I clenched my teeth, staring daggers at the manager as he threw the word orphanage at me like a weapon. He didn’t flinch. In fact, he just gave me a lazy smile.
“You’d better remember who signs your papers if you ever decide to leave the training center.”
“…I know.”
“Don’t forget, we’re only putting up with your attitude because you’re that good. Since you’re so skilled, I’m sure you’ll do just fine assisting Trainer Thompson.”
My fists clenched again, my nails digging into my palms. But I kept my voice steady.
“If you’re not giving me any bonus, I’m not helping him.”
“…Fine, fine. I’ll sort something out later.”
I didn’t expect much. Maybe a tiny bonus, barely worth the trouble—but even a scrap felt better than nothing.
I bowed perfunctorily and left the manager’s office. Once I was out of earshot, I let my true feelings fly.
“Goddamn bastards.”
The corrupt manager taking bribes from Earl Harris. Thompson, hiding behind his daddy’s name like a spoiled brat. And that same Earl, spoiling a third son who wasn’t even in line for anything.
I was furious. I poured my soul into training and caring for my dragons, and yet I was stuck in this cesspool.
“This is complete bullshit.”
That familiar urge to quit surged up again. I started to understand why I’d drowned myself in webtoons and web novels back in my previous life. Escapism was a lot more satisfying than dealing with reality—even if it was a fantasy world.
It might sound pathetic coming from someone with memories of a past life, but reality was still reality. I wasn’t noble-born. I wasn’t some genius with mysterious powers.
The only thing I was good at was dragon training. I was lucky to land a job at the Empire-run Ashar Training Center.
And honestly, with my younger siblings still in the orphanage, quitting wasn’t an option. That place, always short on supplies, barely kept afloat by Empire support, needed me more than ever.
The director of that orphanage—his hair growing whiter every day, still smiling with warmth and kindness—never once asked me for help. He told me I was free to live my life now that I was grown, but how could I abandon the only family I had?
Every time I visited, the kids would crowd around me, their eyes sparkling with excitement, begging me to tell dragon stories. Some were studying to become trainers themselves, looking to me for guidance.
That place was my home. My family lived there.
I sighed, dragging my feet out of the building. Overhead, a dragon soared across the open sky.
“Flight training?”
The dragon flew steadily, its scales gleaming in the sun. Just watching it calmed me down a little.
“What can I do? Let’s just get back to work.”
Thinking about the dragons I was responsible for helped clear the sour taste from my mouth. No use wasting energy on Thompson or that sleazy manager. I was too busy to care.
I popped a piece of candy into my mouth, savoring the sweet and sour burst on my tongue.
“…That’s why I’m saying today’s trainee trainers are hopeless.”
I froze.
That irritating voice, so familiar I could’ve recognized it in my sleep, pricked at my ears.
“Rick, that kid. He’s completely unreliable. Honestly, when I was—”
Oh no. Not the “back in my day” speech.
Thompson’s own trainee years probably didn’t involve more than writing his name on a form.
‘Ignore it. Ignore it.’
You don’t avoid shit because it’s scary—you avoid it because it stinks. I tried to pass by without a word.
“Lithia, that girl’s really annoying.”
I stopped.
He didn’t even know I was nearby, and yet he was still flapping his gums.
“She acts like she’s hot stuff just because she’s a little better at training. Honestly, don’t you think her skills are suspicious?”
“Right? It’s weird that a girl like her is assigned to medium and large dragons.”
“Exactly. Ever notice how the dragons she takes care of are all unusually gentle?”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’m telling you. She probably cherry-picks docile dragons to boost her reputation. Maybe she even seduces clients with that sleepy-eyed act.”
“Well, it is expensive.”
For one fleeting moment, I seriously considered chucking a battle stimulant into their little gossip circle. Not a mild one for breeding season, but one made for actual combat training.
Wouldn’t it be poetic justice to watch them deal with a pissed-off dragon on a rampage?
I took a deep breath, fists trembling.
‘…No. That’s not it.’
If I used dragons for something like that, I’d be no better than them. And besides, Rock Will wouldn’t calm down for me if I acted like this again. That would be a nightmare.
It wasn’t worth it. Their words were beneath a response.
Even if they wanted to argue that “a dragon wouldn’t be at a training center if it were perfect,” their logic was so twisted I’d lose brain cells just refuting it.
‘Didn’t the manager say he was ready to lick the Count’s boots?’
More than anger, I just felt hollow. How could someone like Thompson be a trainer? What had the Ashar Training Center become?
I walked away without another glance.
“What did the dragons ever do wrong?”
I couldn’t stop wondering if the dragons under people like them were even receiving proper care—let alone proper training.
“…But it’s not my job to worry about others.”
Even the Empire’s largest training center was a mess.
So really, it was no surprise that the orphanage I came from was a wreck too.
It hurt to think about. We’d always been short on everything. But the director—always gentle, always smiling—was what made that place a home.
And every time I returned, the kids’ eyes lit up when I spoke about dragons. Some of them were studying to be trainers like me. Some just wanted to hear one more story.
The director told me not to worry—that I should follow my own path now that I was grown.
But I couldn’t.
That place was my home. My family.
“You filthy bastards.”
I didn’t even know who I was cursing anymore—Thompson, strutting around like a king just because of his dad? The manager, pocketing bribes like a crook in broad daylight? Or myself, knowing all of this and still not leaving?
I felt pathetic.
When I thought back to my past life, even though I’d been reborn in a fantasy world… somehow, nothing had really changed.
