Chapter 321 – The Urge 

The revelation from Vinessa’s oniisan, Handes, was shocking—the enormous dragon we had encountered was once revered as the Dragon King. 

「Hmm. Indeed, such a physique befits a title of royalty.」

Hanon murmured, seemingly convinced. 

It wasn’t surprising to learn that such a commanding presence had once held the title of Dragon King. However, Handes explained that those days were long past; the dragon had since retired and was now affectionately referred to by the villagers as “the Retired One.” 

Yet, the agonized roars we’d heard earlier hinted at something far from peaceful retirement. Simone had earlier confessed to struggling with a dragonkin’s innate urge to devour humans.

Curious, I asked Handes about this, and his response was startling. 

「How do you know about that? Where did you hear it?」 

「That’s…..」 

Simone timidly raised her hand, admitting it. Handes paused, seemingly putting the pieces together before turning back to Simone. 

「Have you ever felt such an urge yourself?」 

「Huh? N-No, not really…」 

「When you introduced yourself earlier, I couldn’t help but notice—you live among these humans, don’t you?」 

「Y-Yes…」 

「And yet, you’ve never once felt the desire to eat them…」 

Handes-san’s confusion was evident.

At Simone’s age, it was apparently normal for dragonkin to begin experiencing such urges.

This revelation made something click in my mind. 

「Could it be… Simone left the dungeon farm because she learned about the dragonkin’s urges and didn’t want to put us at risk?」 

「…!」 

My quiet observation made Simone’s face flush red. Her reaction was all the confirmation I needed.

It was clear she had distanced herself out of concern for us. The rest of the dungeon farm members, including me, couldn’t help but feel a swell of warmth and gratitude toward her. 

「Simone-san… It seems the secret’s out.」

Eselda said with a gentle smile. 

Apparently, Eselda had been the one to inform Simone about the dragonkin’s primal urges.

Upon learning this, Simone realized she couldn’t stay at the dungeon farm any longer and decided to head to the Yabel Valley. Helping Eselda while finding a new place to live had been her way of protecting us. 

But now the question remained: why didn’t Simone experience the urges herself? 

If we could uncover the reason, it might hold the key to transforming the lives of all dragonkin.