Book 4: Chapter 28 |
“He looks like he’s been standing there for a while.”
“Do you think he can read lips? If he understood what we were just saying, wouldn’t that be pretty troublesome?”
“Brother-in-law, you’re not thinking of laying hands on the Twilight Tower Master’s attendant, are you?”
“No. Just taking precautions. If you can’t bring yourselves to do it, I can. It’s my old line of work.”
“Stop it, you two—he’s coming over.”
The attendant crossed the bustling street, entered the café, and after smilingly declining the server’s inquiry, walked straight toward Leon’s table.
That movement—so purpose-driven—made Leon and the others even more certain that this attendant…
—or rather, the Twilight Tower Master—had come specifically for them.
Elite leaders of the dragon clans:
Rosvitha ✓
Isha ✓
Claudia ✓
Leon ×
Very good—looks like this attendant named Kaide doesn’t know lip-reading at all, Leon thought with utter irrelevance.
“Hello, Kaide. May I ask what business the Tower Master has with us?” Isha asked.
With the Twilight Tower Master’s status and sheer aura, he wouldn’t possibly send his personal attendant to find them for no reason.
Could it be… another secret Dragon King summit?
Sure enough, Kaide inclined his head slightly and replied,
“Have you heard of the human Empire’s change of regime?”
Oh, you don’t say.
Not only do we know someone rebelled in the Empire—out of the four people in front of you, three are literally involved.
“I’ve heard a little,” Leon answered with a perfectly earnest face.
Rosvitha shot Leon a sneaky glance.
‘Heard a little,’ my ass, you dog. Where’s your bragging now?
Leon met his wife’s gaze and lifted his brows, as if to say, ‘And what exactly do you want me to say?’
After their brief private “team comms,” Kaide continued,
“Since all of you have already heard about the human Empire, I trust you have also anticipated that this world-spanning war between us is about to undergo a major transformation.”
“However, according to intelligence from the dragon forces at the front, the human Empire did not merely experience a regime change—an ominous secret spanning thirty years has also been exposed.”
“This matter concerns a portion of the Dragon Kings. If handled poorly, it will inevitably drive the entire dragon clans—whose relationships are already hanging by a thread—into even greater hostility.”
“Therefore, my master has convened a Dragon King summit. He originally intended to send messenger dragons to your territories, but reports from below said you all happened to be sightseeing in Sky City, so Kaide took the liberty of visiting.”
Leon and the others exchanged looks.
Just earlier, when Leon came clean to Isha about his identity, he also brought up the Empire-and-dragons collaboration conspiracy.
So everyone present understood that the “thirty-year ominous secret” Kaide mentioned referred to exactly that.
Indeed—what was originally a war to the death had been extended again and again because certain people saw profit in it, causing even more needless sacrifice and bloodshed.
That was intolerable to both humans and dragons.
As Kaide said, if this was not handled well, the various dragon clans would become even more hostile toward one another.
At that point, with external threats still unresolved and internal turmoil rising, this ancient species—one of the oldest on the Samir Continent—would face an unprecedented catastrophe.
If it were the old days, Leon wouldn’t have cared about dragon civil wars at all.
If a bunch of winged giant lizards wanted to shoot dragonfire into each other’s mouths, he wouldn’t feel a thing—he might even clap.
But the problem was: his wife, his children, and all sorts of relatives belonged to the dragon clans.
If internal warfare continued to worsen, sooner or later it would affect Rosvitha and the others too.
Leon didn’t want to regret it someday because “back then I didn’t step in to mediate relationships among the dragon clans.”
So… he felt it was necessary to attend this Dragon King summit.
Having decided that, Leon looked toward Rosvitha and the others.
With exchanged glances, everyone at the table immediately understood one another’s thoughts.
“Lead the way, Kaide.”
……
Twilight Tower, summit hall at the top.
By the time Leon’s group arrived, quite a few Dragon Kings had already gathered.
Far more than the previous meeting that had targeted Constantine.
Leon looked toward the elderly figure seated in the central position on the left side of the long table.
“Thunder Dragon King… Odin.”
He had once participated in an expedition plan to the Far North together with Rosvitha’s grandmother.
A Dragon King even older and more powerful than Constantine.
At Dragon King summits, he possessed absolute prestige and authority.
The comparatively younger Dragon King beside him was Odin’s “friend across generations”—the Golden Sand Dragon King, Morgan.
Morgan noticed Leon’s gaze, straightened up, looked over, and smiled as he waved.
Leon paused slightly, but immediately nodded back.
“He’s here, old man,” Morgan said in a lowered voice.
At those words, Odin—who had been resting with eyes closed—slowly opened them.
His severe, ancient dragon pupils instantly radiated an aura of majesty.
But Odin only gave a faint glance and did not interact with Leon.
Naturally, Leon did not take the initiative to greet him either.
Aside from Odin and Morgan, the rest were other “familiar faces.”
They sat on the other side of the table, though they were not the same people who had attended the previous meeting about Constantine.
The reason they were “familiar” was that during the years Leon led the dragon-slaying army on campaigns north and south, he had occasionally dealt with several of those Dragon Kings.
“I recognize those guys,” Leon said quietly.
Rosvitha followed his gaze. As a dragon herself—even without diplomatic ties—she also recognized those Dragon Kings.
“Oh, they’re all clan leaders active on the human–dragon war front. Why?”
“I fought them.”
“Fought?” The one who spoke was Isha. “Brother-in-law, aren’t you supposedly the strongest dragon slayer? And there are Dragon Kings who survived after fighting you?”
Leon withdrew his gaze from that group, then smiled helplessly and sighed.
“That’s the problem. Back then, whenever I fought those Dragon Kings, I’d always be forced to halt the offensive because of orders coming from the Empire. That’s how they escaped.”
“When the general is in the field, the ruler’s orders need not be obeyed,” Claudia said leisurely.
Leon shrugged. “But now that I think about it, those Dragon Kings are probably among the ones secretly cooperating with the Empire.”
Since this summit was meant to deal with the “dirty business” inside the human–dragon war, these Dragon Kings—who colluded with the Empire for private gain—naturally had to be present.
As Leon and the others were talking, many people in the hall were also speaking in low voices.
But in the very next second, with the sound of a chair softly scraping the floor—
Everyone else’s murmurs stopped abruptly, and the entire hall fell into dead silence.
All eyes snapped toward where the sound came from—
Odin.
The imposing old Dragon King slowly rose to his feet, then stepped forward, walking toward the hall’s entrance.
As Odin brushed past several Dragon Kings, those people were visibly tense—some even held their breath.
Every Dragon King in the room stared hard at the Thunder Dragon King’s movements, terrified he might stop in front of them—
because that would mean trouble.
Especially those seated on the other side of the table.
This meeting was essentially a “trial” for them.
Who knew whether the thunder dragon old man would get displeased and “handle them privately” on the spot.
“Who is he going to—”
“Shh!! Shut up. Don’t make a sound.”
A few younger Dragon Kings whispered, but an older Dragon King shut them down in a low voice.
No one dared to act up when Odin looked like he was in a bad mood.
Thud—thud—
The heavy, powerful footsteps stopped suddenly.
He had come to a halt in front of someone.
When the Dragon Kings saw this, they all exhaled in relief.
But at the same time, curiosity rose—
Why would Odin approach that person…
the Silver Dragon clan’s Prince Consort.
…
Footnotes:
- fáng huàn yú wèi rán
- “Prevent trouble before it happens,” meaning take precautions early to avoid future risk.
- bù dǎ bù xiāng shí
- Implies “no fight, no acquaintance”—people become familiar through conflict; used when former opponents end up knowing each other well.
- jiāng zài wài, jūn mìng yǒu suǒ bù shòu
- “When the general is in the field, the ruler’s orders need not be obeyed.” A classic saying about battlefield autonomy—commanders may have to act independently due to changing conditions.
- miàn miàn xiāng qù
- “Look at each other,” often implying silent exchange, uncertainty, or mutual confirmation.
- qíng bù zì jīn
- “Unable to restrain oneself,” often used for reactions like tightening up, tensing, or being nervous.
- yā què wú shēng
- “So quiet you could hear a crow,” meaning complete silence.
- sī xià chǔ lǐ
- “Handle it privately,” implying informal punishment or decisive action outside official procedure.