As I suspected, this was Ragni's mother. A strikingly beautiful woman, standing over two and a half meters tall. Her skin was tan, and her clothing closely resembled Ragni's, with some minor differences. The boots had high heels reaching up to her knees, and the ornament of diverging bones ended with a silver dragon head on her kneecaps. Short shorts were replaced by an equally short skirt, and her belt was adorned with dragon claw-like decorations. Surprisingly, her corset was even smaller, and her bosom was even more substantial than her daughter's, which raised some suspicions. Gloves reached higher than her elbows, and instead of simple metal cuffs, the gloves featured a silver pattern on the back of her hands and fingers. She wore a long cape over her shoulders, secured by dragon paw-shaped clasps. Her face was an exact replica of Ragni's, just ten years older. Long black hair cascaded down to the ground, and from her knees, it was braided into multiple plaits with golden clasps. Three pairs of curved black horns extended from her temples to the back of her head, with each subsequent pair larger than the previous. And on her forehead, between the horns, a golden tiara adorned with three enormous rubies, which could have been mistaken for a crown if not for the horns, giving rise to some suspicions.
"Forgive me for intruding," her voice was soft yet majestic. Every movement she made exuded grace and elegance, indicating noble origins. Ignis continued to speak, slowly approaching the trembling barrel of water, trying to roll away from this place, "I heard rumors about a dragon causing trouble for you, so I decided to investigate."
With these words, she carefully stopped the rolling barrel with the heel of her left foot. "Do you have anything to say, my dear?" she said, using a playful tone and lifting her daughter by the corset to a height of almost three meters. "Didn't I tell you not to reveal your true form if you want to live among humans?"
"Well, it was accidental. I suddenly felt hungry, and I couldn't control myself. I don't know what happened afterward," the dragoness tried to justify herself, closing her eyes.
"I told you, silly girl," her mother continued to speak tenderly, shaking her daughter like a rag in the wind, "you are still too young to fully control your instincts."
"Hmph, you're going to lecture me, ancient hag," Ragni mumbled almost inaudibly, but to her misfortune, dragon's hearing was far better than that of humans.
"Oh, oh, it's not nice to point out your mother's age," Ignis said with a glowing face, which for some reason sent a shiver down my spine. With a precise throw, she tossed her daughter back to the spot where she had stood with us just moments ago.
"What do we do now? There are more and more of these monsters."
"We are doomed!"
The mood of the crowd was easy to read. A scarier enemy had emerged, capable of killing everyone present with a single move. Fortunately, this gave us a chance to explain the situation without bloodshed.
"Oh, don't mind me, pay no attention," Ignis said with a light smile, "I am here for an unofficial visit and won't interfere in your personal affairs."
Her smile was terrifying, even though she claimed not to interfere, it seemed unlikely that a mother would calmly watch her daughter being executed.
"I'll just take a look at what my little daughter has done, and, of course, according to the ancient treaty between the people of Verania and the dragons, if a reasonable dragon is killed for no reason, their family has the right to take revenge in any, even the most cruel way, at their discretion. But if you are absolutely certain of her guilt, you have nothing to fear," with these words, the dragoness peacefully stepped aside and sat on a bench near the house.
Oh, did she just hear herself? This was a clear threat to turn this place into a bloody bath if she didn't like something. Well, maybe fear could help people think rationally, at least once in their lives.
The people trembled in fear, the elder seemed ready to lose consciousness at any moment. Ragni was still recovering from the "conversation" with her mother, and Katrina didn't know what to do next.
"Now that everyone has calmed down, may I tell you my version of what happened?" It was time to take matters into my own hands, "You have repeatedly accused Ragni of being responsible for all the disappearances in your village. But don't you think that's too much even for her?"
"But she's a monster."
"Yes, creatures like her kill people all over the world."
"Hmm, how interesting. It seems you know little about dragons, or rather, you haven't been told everything about them," I said with a cheeky smile, disdainfully surveying the crowd. It was evident that someone had brainwashed them, convincing them that dragons were nothing more than bloodthirsty monsters, "First of all, what do you know about dragons?"
"They are huge creatures that breathe fire."
"They feed on meat and don't hesitate to devour humans."
"And they mark their territory, killing anyone who trespasses without mercy."
"All that is true, but not for all dragons," I continued to press them with facts, "Wild dragons like the green ones indeed behave that way, but they try to live far away from humans. However, black dragons like Ragni and Ignis are called the rulers of dragons not just for their good looks. They are the most organized of them all, they have their own laws, and diplomatic relations with humans."
Thank goodness, the facts I read from the dragon textbook might come in handy.
"What are you talking about? Isn't she a green dragon?"
That was their main misconception. If she was a green dragon, then she could indeed be a wild monster.
"As you've seen yourself, Ignis is a black dragon, and since she's Ragni's mother, she must be one too."
"But we have evidence to the contrary."
"And they possess ancient magic. What if they cast an illusion on the color of their scales?"
"Indeed, you have evidence," I had to dispel this misconception first, "Can we take a look at it?"
The elder disappeared into the house for a couple of minutes and then came out with two large, palm-sized green scales. I needed to consult an expert on this matter.
"Madam Ignis, won't you help me? I'm not well-versed in dragon physiology, but these scales look suspicious to me."
"Well, of course, I'll help," oh, her affectionate smile could melt even an iceberg, but as she took the scales, she immediately became serious. She didn't like them either, "Hmm, this is an obvious forgery. A real dragon sheds their scales once every few years, and then the scales look stuck together and dried out. Moreover, they practically lose their color. But these are definitely not like that. Separate scales, saturated color, and you can even see small traces of blood on the tips. These scales were clearly torn directly from a green dragon's body."
"So maybe she got caught on a tree, and the scales fell off on their own?"
"Well, that's impossible," Ignis extended her right hand forward and transformed it into something resembling a dragon's paw, a long black one with sharp claws covered in scales, "If you don't believe me, you can try to tear off one from me."
She smiled at the crowd, but none of them dared to approach her.
"Then I'll try myself," I felt the need to prove it and walked up to her, grabbing one scale with both hands. They were about the size of a fingernail compared to her massive paw. I began pulling with all my might, but it didn't budge, not even a millimeter. Frustrated, I pressed one foot against her paw, but the scale still didn't move. Ignis continued to sit with a carefree smirk on her face, my efforts clearly not causing her any trouble. After five minutes of futile attempts, I gave up. The crowd was impressed.
"Allow me to explain," the dragoness continued, "Our scales are tightly layered, similar to fish scales. They attach not only to the skin's base but also clasp together with the side layers. So to pluck a scale, you first need to spread the side layers. I've heard of people living in swamps who keep young green dragons as pets. They care for injured and sick dragons and use a special device to extract scales for sale. For us, it's as painful as plucking a single hair is for humans, so this process is more dangerous for people than for dragons. Green dragon scales are used to make lightweight armor, and you can buy them in major cities."
"Now let me continue," I slightly bowed to Ignis, apologizing for interrupting her reasoning, but she nodded with a satisfied smile, seemingly anticipating my further speech. "You found these scales on the road near the village, and unless Ragni was sitting there purposefully plucking them, someone must have left them there. Someone who could afford the necessary goods from the city, someone who had enough money for the village's only doctor's medicine but wasn't willing to spend on a much more expensive dragon-hunting contract. And most likely, you couldn't repay him the money."
"Rrrriiikhaaaarrrr!" The anger that Ragni suppressed during our conversation on the way to the village burst out again. "It was you!"
With these words, the dragoness leaped forward. The merchant stood behind the crowd and, hearing my reasoning, began to back away. He was about fifteen meters away, but a furious dragon is not deterred by such distances. She caught up to him in one leap and knocked him to the ground. Her clawed paw was over him, trembling with fear, but he still hoped to escape judgment.
"W-why would I need all this? I just wanted to help the native village, and if it were destroyed, I would be ruined."
The people around began to whisper among themselves. I spoke persuasively, but he indeed had no motive, and Ragni's bestial behavior only worsened the situation. We needed a motive, and I finally found it.
"Ragni, you are an alchemist, and you know the value of rare ingredients, don't you?"
"Yes, what are you getting at?" The dragoness turned to me, surprised.
"Your mother said that dragon scales are used for making armor, and other body parts can also be used."
"Yes, many organs' extracts can be sold for rare potions."
"Can you tell us the approximate price for the organs of a black dragon?"
"One scale is about twenty gold coins," it was the cost of our journey here. For her, it's like scratching her back against a stone, incredibly cheap, "A kidney is a thousand gold coins, blood is five hundred gold coins per liter, an eye is five thousand gold coins," she spoke of these numbers so casually, as if not referring to herself, "A dragon's heart is worth five hundred thousand gold coins."
The crowd fell silent. Before them sat a girl whose body, piece by piece, was worth as much as a small kingdom. It was a compelling reason for someone to hatch such a sinister plan to capture her.
"I think this is a weighty reason for someone like you to destroy the entire village for it."
"It's not my fault. I didn't do it. I was manipulated," of course, the merchant confessed to everything when faced with a clawed paw. But he wasn't the mastermind behind this scheme, just someone who executed what was required of him.
"He almost destroyed the entire village! Execute him!" The familiar voice incited the crowd to take justice into their own hands.
"Calm down! There are laws in the kingdom for judging him," Katrina tried to intervene, although she poorly sensed the atmosphere, attempting to stop the vigilante justice.
"Indeed, why kill a mere executor," I said with a smirk, addressing the crowd, causing confusion on their faces, "Rikhar had the means to pull off this plan, but he lacked the courage. Besides, he couldn't have transported the dragon's body alone, let alone kidnapping the village girls. He must have had an accomplice. Of course, you won't name him, will you?"