Chapter 484: Destruction.
I gathered the dragon’s fangs and magic stones into a hemp sack and made my way to a spacious area.
But this dragon was too large to fit into the castle courtyard, and its backside ended up wrecking the garden that Charles had worked so hard to maintain.
It’s not my fault. When I stepped out of the tower, it was already there, waiting for me. I was thinking of a wide-open space, like the neighboring uninhabited island.
When flying with the Wind Spirit, I hardly felt its weight compared to its massive size, but once it touched the ground, that changed. The cobblestones in the courtyard cracked—cracked! The security tiles beneath it were groaning and creaking all over the place. It was pure chaos. Please keep up the good work, Wind Spirit.
“If only I had the Spirit Sword, I could at least hold it off a little…!” The former sword saint stood before the dragon, holding a patrol spear, flanked by guards.
I can’t remember his name. And those aren’t guards; they’re just some security guys.
“Whoa, whoa! It’s huge! It seems impossible to take it down, but I wonder how much I could get for just one scale if I managed to rip it off…?” Marlu exclaimed.
“What on earth do you desire…!?” Soleil, protected by Kiel and Faramia, was trying hard to communicate with the dragon.
“Fear not, for if you are afraid, you need not come forth. Your presence is a nuisance,” the dragon hissed.
A crowd of changelings and regular folks had gathered.
“My lord…” Auro appeared behind me without me noticing.
Please stop sneaking up on me like that.
“Ah, don’t worry about this dragon. Sorry for all the destruction,” I said. Though it was made of my gold, it was something they worked hard to create.
I’d prefer if they replaced the groaning security tiles at this point.
“Uh, it’s a bit cramped here. Let’s head to the larger uninhabited island to the west,” I instructed.
“Understood. I’ll take care of it.”
The dragon obediently took off. —But in the process, its tail slammed against the castle wall, causing it to crumble. Oh no…
“Sorry. Please take care of the cleanup and repairs,” I said, retreating back into the tower.
I intended to leave a word for Auro, who would definitely come after me. Maybe I could even ride the dragon.
I closed the door and activated [Teleportation].
I found myself on a white rocky island, with a few thin, twisted trees sparsely dotting the landscape. It was about the same size as my island, with plenty of flat areas, but there was no soil here.
And the dragon was nowhere to be found. Where did it go!?
“Could you call the dragon that just came by here?” I asked the spirit, opening the hemp sack and waving the bag’s opening toward the west.
The spirit saluted as if to say “Understood!” and flew off. The dragon has a wide range, but did the larger uninhabited island not qualify as big enough?
Ah, here it comes.
“Sorry about that. I couldn’t convey it well,” I said.
“The senses of dragons and humans are different. It’s just how it is,” the dragon replied as it landed, causing a few rocks to crumble and tumble into the sea.
“First, let me explain. These are the black dragon’s fangs and outer shell, along with some magic stones,” I said, laying them out.
“Indeed. I sense such a presence,” the dragon acknowledged. “And a dragon of orange hue, similar to you, was locked in combat with it. This one here.”
I stepped back and revealed the corpse of the orange dragon. There were clear fang marks on its neck, so they wouldn’t think I had done anything. However, they might suspect me of being the thief of its body.
“Oh! My child… My dear child…” The dragon trembled as it clung to the fallen orange dragon—then bit down.
Huh?
Suddenly, a torrent of blood gushed forth. The contents of my [Storage] remained fresh. I couldn’t let it go to waste, so I stored the blood; Haulon would want some.
“Oh, the blood is warm, and the Dragon Jewel is warm too. With this, I can give birth again. Yes, I can!” The dragon lifted its head and swallowed something.
“Thank you, human! My child remains new. The newness is thanks to you, right?”
“Uh, yeah. I stored it right away,” I replied, noticing the dragon’s mouth was stained red.
The fallen dragon had a gaping wound beneath its neck and chest. It seemed the dragon had lost interest in that.
“Um, is this okay now?”
“That is merely an object. You may do as you wish with it. Our bodies are valued by humans, are they not?”
“Yeah.”
Then I suppose I’ll take a little for myself.
Oh, but before I [Store] it, I should drain the blood. I’ll use the method I learned from Dogu-chan to extract moisture from the Great Tree.
“Could it be that having the Dragon Jewel is enough?”
“Indeed. Our consciousness, our essence resides within the Dragon Jewel. As long as it remains warm, our self will persist. If I lay an egg, I will regain a body, and it will grow. A broken body is of no use.”
“Wow.”
So, for dragons, bodies are interchangeable, and it seems I was safe thanks to [Storage]. So, bodies can be replaced. If there’s no Dragon Jewel, is it like an unfertilized egg? Not quite…
Either way, it seems like it’s something I can safely consume.