The Trial of Novice Mage Glen Dudley-kun

In the forest southeast of the royal capital of the Ridill Kingdom, Glen Dudley walked briskly.

Every so often, he stopped to look around, then cupped a hand around his mouth and shouted in a ridiculously loud voice.

"Dragon! Dragon! Come out, come out!"

Even after listening intently for a while, all he heard was an echo calling back, come out, come out... No dragon cries or wingbeats could be heard.

Glen lowered his shoulders with a sigh.

"Ugh, they're so hard to find... They come swarming out whenever I don't want them to."

Just as he was tilting his head, wondering whether he needed to prepare bait or something, he heard a rustling sound from the bushes ahead.

Could it be a dragon? Glen braced himself, but a human hand shot out of the bushes and then fell limply to the ground.

"...Is someone there...?"

It was a person. Glen hurried to the bushes, grabbed the hand lying on the ground, and pulled...