"You must be the Hero of the Shield; give me the fragment of the Dragon Emperor!"
The giant Filo bird looked down at Jason. Her tone was not an inquiry, let alone a discussion, but full of orders and arrogance, as if the Dragon Emperor fragment should have been hers.
Jason raised his head and had to admit that the pressure brought by the giant Filo bird in front of him was unlike anything he had ever felt since he came to this world. The sense of crisis was several times stronger than that of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Undoubtedly, Jason affirmed that she was the strongest magical beast he had encountered so far. But the attitude of the giant Filo bird made him feel very uncomfortable.
"What if I say no?"
Jason didn't have a good impression of her, as she didn't distinguish between right and wrong in the original story. Coupled with her current attitude, the hand holding the Dragon Emperor fragment moved to put it into the storage shield.
"The fragments of the Dragon Emperor are only bad for you now, and I am doing this for your own good!"
The pupils of the giant Filo bird shrank, as if she didn't expect that Jason would directly reject her, and she spoke again.
"Sorry, I don't think so. Even if it's useless now, it might be useful in the future. Besides, why should I hand it over just because you asked? I defeated the Tyrannosaurus Rex, and when you came, you didn't do anything; you just want to take my prize. There's no such thing in this world."
Jason looked at the giant Filo bird playfully and said slowly, "Also, the fragment of the Dragon Emperor has been put into the shield by me, so even if you kill me now, you won't get it."
Seeing Jason's defiant attitude, a trace of anger flashed in the eyes of the giant Filo bird, but she hid it so deeply that no one but Jason noticed.
"Your attitude is very firm, okay... The Dragon Emperor fragments will stay with you for now. After all, you are the Shield Hero, bearing the task of saving the world. I don't want to be your enemy at the moment, so let's move on to other things."
The giant Filo bird said as she glanced at her own form: "Hmm... but it's a bit rude to look like this. Please wait a moment."
As soon as she finished speaking, the giant Filo bird closed her eyes. Her size began to shrink gradually, and she slowly opened a pair of wings behind her.
In the end, she transformed into a little girl who was almost identical to Filo in her human form, with wings growing from her back. She had silver hair mixed with a hint of sky blue, and especially, three ahoge stood upright on her head, making her appearance quite distinct.
However, her bright red pupils exuded a domineering aura that Filo didn't possess.
That's right—this little girl, despite her seemingly cute appearance, carried an air of superiority that ordinary creatures couldn't have.
"So pretty"
Filo, of the same kind, exclaimed, clearly captivated.
At this moment, even Raphtalia, Jack, and the others guessed the identity of the girl in front of them, showing a hint of surprise in their eyes.
"First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Fitoria, and I am the current queen who rules all the Filo birds in the world."
Fitoria bowed her head slightly and saluted. Although her manner was aristocratic, her slightly stiff movements and childlike voice gave off a strong sense of incongruity, like a little girl trying to imitate adult behavior, appearing a bit clumsy.
"Fitoria? I seem to have heard that name from the elders before. Ah... I remember now. It's the name of the legendary Filo bird. It's said to be a Filo bird raised by heroes to fight against the Waves of Calamity alongside them."
Raphtalia spoke suddenly, her voice filled with surprise. It was evident from her words that the little girl named Fitoria in front of them had lived for an unknown number of years.
"So she's pretty much the same as I am now."
Filo seemed to realize something, and she looked flustered.
"What's wrong, Filo?"
Jason noticed her distress.
"If this is the case, will I grow as big as Fitoria in the future? Although I'd look handsome like that, if I become that big, I'll definitely eat even more. Master, will you still want me?"
It turned out that Filo was worried about this. Let alone become like Fitoria, even now, Filo was very gluttonous.
"Don't worry; you know that I, your master, may have nothing but money."
Jason smiled slightly, patting Filo's head to comfort her.
"It takes a long time to grow to my level—at least dozens of times the lifespan of an ordinary Filo bird, so don't worry."
Fitoria spoke as well, showing that she seemed to care for Filo.
"Oh, then I can eat with confidence and boldness."
Filo let out a sigh of relief, and by the look of her, she seemed ready to eat something to calm herself down.
"Then... if you please, Hero of the Shield and your companions, now would you introduce yourselves?"
Fitoria turned her attention back to Jason.
"My name is Jason. Since you already know my identity, you should have an idea about my actions since I came to this world, so I won't say much more."
"My name is Raphtalia."
"My name is Filo; the master gave it to me."
Everyone quickly finished the introductions, as it was only polite to do so, especially given Fitoria's current attitude, which seemed amicable.
"Since everyone knows each other, tell me, what is the purpose of your coming here this time?"
Jason was too lazy to beat around the bush with Fitoria and asked directly.
"This is not the place to talk; come with me!"
Fitoria said, pointing to the extremely luxurious carriage that appeared out of nowhere.
"Hey... it's really troublesome. Forget it, but can you help me transport this thing? I still have use for it."
"I hate to see heroes use legendary weapons and absorb any materials related to dragons, and that equipment on your body also makes me hate it."
Fitoria followed Jason's gaze to the Tyrannosaurus Rex corpse next to him, her disgust evident.
The relationship between Filo birds and dragons was like fire and water, and Jason's equipment also contained dragon elements, which explained her attitude.
"Okay, then wait until I finish absorbing the material before leaving. You're not in a hurry, right? By the way, it's useless even if you are, because I don't need to listen to you."
Jason shrugged and spoke indifferently; how she felt about dragons wasn't his concern.
"You... what if I have to stop you?"
Jason's roguish attitude made Fitoria's usually composed demeanor waver once more.
"You've said it before: I'm a hero responsible for saving the world. How do I save it? By becoming as powerful as possible, of course. The Tyrannosaurus Rex's material can make me stronger, but if you stop me and it leads to me not being strong enough to stop the Waves of Calamity, can you bear that responsibility?"
Jason walked slowly toward Fitoria, his voice growing louder and firmer until he was almost reprimanding her directly.
"You and I..."
Fitoria hesitated, her mind seemingly stuck. She couldn't find the words to refute him.
Though she had lived for a long time, she had rarely interacted with humans since the heroes left this world. Confronted with Jason's sharp reasoning, she found herself at a loss.
"So I advise you: it's best not to do unnecessary things."
After saying this, Jason waved his hand, signaling that he didn't want to engage further. He then returned to the Tyrannosaurus Rex corpse and began to tear off the material, letting the shield absorb it.
At the same time, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly: Living too long may not be a good thing...