Chapter 54: No one gets up early without a reason |
"News from the south."
Xia'er understood immediately.
It was that human merchant caravan from the south, Nolan's caravan.
This was not the Long Summer, but the Long Winter season. How could this caravan be arriving so early?
Xia'er felt a slight flicker of curiosity.
The entire Northern Frontier, including the Karugu Highlands and the Sroelk Grasslands, had only two seasons: Long Summer and Long Winter.
Although, in the human cities south of the Northern Frontier, the Long Summer still held some meaning.
But in the Karugu Highlands, Long Summer was just as much a season of snowfall as Long Winter. The only difference was that during Long Summer, the sun's rays provided slightly higher temperatures, offering a faint hint of warmth.
Therefore, human caravans always departed at the tail end of the previous Long Winter, arrived during the Long Summer season, then set sail back at the end of Long Summer, finally returning to port at the beginning of Long Winter.
It seemed something special had caused them to advance their schedule.
Thinking this, Xia'er turned to Valentina, her low voice reverberating in the frigid air. "Your Highness, an urgent matter requires my immediate return to the Star Mist Archipelago. I leave the subsequent affairs here in the capable hands of Your Highness and Commanders Tyrone and Otto."
A complex emotion flashed in Valentina's draconic pupils.
One-third unwillingness, one-third helplessness, and four-tenths relief.
Like a perfect pie chart.
She looked at the Green Dragon before her, whose scales still shimmered with a deep luster under the dim sky, and gave a slight nod. Her wings unconsciously folded in a bit tighter as she tried to maintain the calm tone of a superior. "Go, Xia'er. I will handle matters in the Karugu Highlands. Ensure the archipelago remains secure; it is our vital foundation."
As long as she pretended not to know, it was as if nothing had happened.
Plan successful.jpg
"As Your Highness commands."
Xia'er dipped her head slightly, her posture impeccable, and without a moment's delay, her massive wings suddenly churned up a violent gust of air, whipping up snow and gravel from the ground.
The enormous jade-green figure shot into the sky, tearing through the low-hanging clouds, swiftly transforming into a streak of light as she headed northeast towards the Star Mist Archipelago, disappearing from the view of the other dragons.
For a moment, only the howl of the gale and the heavy breathing of several great dragons remained in the center of the camp.
The Red Dragon Tyrone was still steeped in the resentment and humiliation of being so easily suppressed by Xia'er moments ago. His thick tail thrashed irritably against the charred rock beneath him, scattering sparks.
Xia'er had left so decisively, without even offering a single extra word of explanation about who these 'southern guests' were. This stoked the nameless fire in his heart even hotter. He abruptly turned his gaze to the White Dragon Disos, who remained on the spot, seemingly somewhat at a loss.
"Hey! White-scale!"
Tyrone grumbled, "What are these 'guests' Xia'er mentioned? Explain clearly!"
A powerful draconic aura enveloped the noticeably smaller White Dragon.
Disos was startled by this sudden intimidation, his scales bristling slightly all over. His pure white head lifted in bewilderment, his ice-blue vertical pupils filled with obvious, utterly genuine confusion.
He struggled to recall for a moment, then stammered out a reply. "Ty... Tyrone, sir... Saga, sir... Saga, sir only told the Dragon Lord that... that the guests from Coral Island have come again, earlier than expected... asking the Dragon Lord to return... to preside over..."
"Nonsense!"
Tyrone interrupted him fiercely, stomping a claw hard. "I'm asking you who the guests are!"
"I... I don't know."
Disos was utterly bewildered.
Tyrone flew into a towering rage, but quickly calmed down. Looking at Disos's draconic face, etched with innocence and confusion, a thought poured over him like icy water.
'Damn it... Why am I bothering with a White-scale?'
That's just how White Dragons were. At this age, being able to talk at all was already a sign of genius.
"Scram!"
Tyrone hissed the word through clenched teeth.
Disos felt as if granted a royal pardon. He didn't dare linger another second. His huge white wings beat with all their might, churning up a great amount of snow as he took to the air at top speed, whooshing off in the direction Xia'er had disappeared.
Here, only the irritable Tyrone, the ill-tempered Valentina, and the bewildered Otto remained.
What about Karta, injured in the explosion?
No dragon cared.
...
On Coral Island, Nolan sat on a stone stool, still maintaining the elegant etiquette of a noble, though a sliver of anxiety stirred within him.
Compared to five years ago, the present Nolan was somewhat plumper and rounder, and also undeniably older.
Five years.
For ordinary people, that was equivalent to one-fifteenth of an entire lifespan, or even one-tenth or one-eighth for some less fortunate souls.
These five years had been enough for Nolan to uncover many pieces of information.
For instance,
Five-colored dragon scales.
Behind the Star Mist Archipelago was a group of evil dragons.
Not one, but a group.
Nolan had looked into the news. After the terrifying Blue Dragon Empire's Underwood Dragon Flight was destroyed, countless dragons had indeed scattered everywhere. Perhaps one group had drifted into these Karugu Highlands.
And moreover, it was likely one of the stronger groups from the Underwood Flight.
After all, they had scales from all five chromatic dragon types, and by the looks of it, all from young dragons and wyrmlings.
All these pieces of evidence were enough to prove that the dragon flight inhabiting the Karugu Highlands was most likely led by a young dragon, or even an adult dragon.
Its subordinates included various chromatic dragons.
That was how they could gather five-colored dragon scales.
If it were merely a young adult dragon, it would absolutely not have so many colors of scales.
Adding to that the recent news of the Dwarven Kingdom going to war with the Karugu Highlands direction, Nolan didn't need to think twice to know exactly who was fighting.
Based on this reason, he had come.
And he urgently wanted to meet the Dragon Lord.
A merchant rises not early without profit, and Nolan was no exception.
He had only one purpose in coming here.
To sponsor the Dragon Lord with war funds and war expenses, to defeat the Dwarves on the battlefield!
Then, have the Dragon Lord use the Dwarves captured in the war as collateral for the funds, for exchange.
Dwarves, natural-born craftsmen.
Any human lord, with money in his pocket, wouldn't mind keeping a dozen or so Dwarven craftsmen to forge weapons for him.
Even some major nobles urgently needed Dwarven craftsmen to create extravagant luxuries for them.
Although some humans could also achieve the skill level of Dwarven craftsmen, because they were human-made, they ultimately couldn't command the same value as items crafted by Dwarven or Elven artisans.
The foreign monk recites the scriptures better.
Just as Nolan's thoughts wandered, his mind calculating how to negotiate with that mysterious Dragon Lord, the curtain of the stone hut was roughly pulled aside.
A figure tall by Frogman standards blocked the doorway.
Deep green skin covered in rough bumps, webbing between the fingers—it was the Frog King, Benedict.
After entering, the Frog King swept the room with his dull yellow frog eyes before speaking in stiff Common Tongue. "The great... Lord of the Mire grants you an audience. I will take you there."
Nolan and his guard, that middle-aged mage named Edwin who maintained constant vigilance, immediately stood up.
Benedict offered no extra words, turning and walking out, his heavy footsteps making wet, sticky sounds on the stone floor.
Nolan and Edwin exchanged a glance, both seeing gravity and a trace of barely perceptible tension in the other's eyes, before quickly following this silent Frog King.
Benedict led them to the shore, where a crude boat made of thick wood and animal hides awaited. Several equally silent Frogman warriors stood in the water, steadying the hull, seemingly acting as guards for this voyage.
Seeing this, Nolan frowned slightly but said nothing, merely boarding the boat carefully with Edwin.
The small boat was then pushed off, and under the paddling of the Frogman warriors, it slowly left the shore, parting the dense fog characteristic of the Star Mist Archipelago as it headed towards that island shrouded in mystery and the shadow of power in Nolan's mind.
A nervous, uneasy feeling churned within Nolan.
After all, this time was completely different from his previous trading ventures.
He could travel and trade among various humanoid tribes living in near-primitive societies because he was very clear that his guards could get him out at a critical moment.
But when it came to dragons, those legendary creatures, Nolan knew full well that the mage Edwin beside him would struggle to even protect himself, let alone shield Nolan.
If he displeased that Dragon Lord, his only path would be death.
But, this was also an opportunity!
Nolan had had enough of his past life. As a Count's second son, under the pressure of inheritance laws, he had to take a gamble.
Thinking this, Nolan felt like a warrior about to slay a dragon, silently cheering himself on in his heart:
"Come then, Dragon Lord!"