41: Chapter 41 Increased Knowledge 41: Chapter 41 Increased Knowledge Leon’s eyes no longer distinguished dayti from nightti as strict categories; in fact, for various reasons, he spent more ti venturing out at night, and traveling in the dark posed no problem to him.
The abandoned fortress was a little distance away from Leon’s lair.
It would take at least an hour or two on foot, but for the flying Leon, avoiding detours and flying at high speed, it was a matter of minutes with ease.
Leon soon returned to his lair, throwing down the box casually and looking around.
Then, coiling his tail, he curled up on his bedding to sleep.
Indeed, he had dozed off in the afternoon, but it was far from enough.
After a day of exertion, Leon truly needed to rest well to recover his spirit and replenish the mana consud by using the Samadhi True Fire.
Although resting didn’t necessarily require sleep—as long as one relaxed, even lounging in a comfortable bath with half-closed eyes would count—sleep was always the most effective.
The chorus of cicadas buzzed incessantly, and the breeze that blew caused the tree shadows to sway.
Leon woke up with the sun high up in the sky, feeling an emptiness in his stomach.
He shook his neck and was about to go out hunting when he saw half a giant boar and rembered that he had hunted a whole one yesterday, and brought back half to his lair.
The Dragon Nest perched halfway up the mountain was not accessible to just any animal—without the ability to fly or the skill to walk on walls, it was unreachable.
Nevertheless, Leon discovered that a good amount of at had been stolen, likely by so bird or eagle.
Leon didn’t mind such a minor loss.
He bit into the giant boar’s leg, jerked his head forcefully to tear off a large piece of at, chewed briefly and swallowed.
The hard bones of the giant boar were no different from finger biscuits to him.
As he ate the raw boar at, Leon thought back to the pork he had at the Orc camp yesterday—which had been cooked and even sprinkled with a little salt, he didn’t know where they had gotten it from.
He found the difference in taste between the two to be quite significant.
Without having experienced light, one can endure darkness; without having tasted cooked at seasoned by culinary skills, Leon would not have hesitated so much.
Leon pondered over the possibility of mooching als every day from the Orc camp.
After much hesitation, Leon decided against it.
He was worried about becoming dependent and losing his ability to speak freely…
Indeed, while regular Red Dragons often resorted to extortion without carrying out their obligations, there was a huge difference between chaotic evil and Order Evil, but he couldn’t be so shaless to let himself turn entirely into a Red Dragon in just a few years.
Leon continued to eat the raw giant boar at.
He thought that ordinary Fla Breath wouldn’t cook it, Samadhi True Fire being too powerful to use casually, so for now, it had to be this way.
However, next ti he went hunting, he could try bleeding the prey to lessen the gay sll…
It must be the boars that weren’t castrated that slled so strong.
Feeling full, as a fire-elent True Dragon, Leon didn’t have much need for water.
He thought of tidying up the things he brought back yesterday.
First, he sorted out books, then jewelry…
Lastly, as usual, he scattered all the money onto his bedding as decoration, gemstones included.
Wait, Leon suddenly realized a problem: The money he used to decorate his bedding had decreased.
As a Red Dragon, he possessed the basic quality of a Red Dragon—even a missing coin was enough to catch his attention, let alone when the loss was far more than just one.
at going missing I can understand, but money?
How did that happen?
And if everything were missing, I could explain it as the work of a thief.
But why would they only take a few coins or a dozen or so?
Who would do that?
Leon pondered for less than a minute and had his answer.
It must be a crow, or so other bird.
Many male birds, to win the affection of females, like to collect shiny things—coins, gemstones, shells, and the like—to adorn their nests.
Clearly, his nest had been visited by such trifles, taken without permission.
The Red Dragon was an obsessed collector, placing the value of his treasures above all else, and would flare into a rage over a missing coin, rcilessly hunting down the thief.
But against a small avian thief, even he would probably be out of his depth, wouldn’t he?
How would a creature tens of ters in size chase after a bird no larger than a hand?
Leon didn’t value money that highly to begin with, and he was even less inclined to care now.
Nevertheless, he knew to learn from this lesson.
To prevent small avian thieves from visiting again, he collected his coins and put them in a box…
Everything valuable in his treasury was put into boxes.
There must be plenty of flying thieves in this world.
Today it was his good fortune to encounter only a small bird thief; next ti he might not be so lucky.
Since he had already received a reward for establishing his treasury, it was ti now to ‘hide the bow after the birds are gone, and to cook the hounds once the hare is caught.’
Simply putting the treasure into boxes wasn’t enough; Leon hardened his resolve, picked up his boxes, made a round around the mountain, and then buried them in a hidden spot, even camouflaging the soil on top.
Now he truly no longer had to worry about thieves.
Leon could now read in peace, focusing on books that the orcs had retrieved from the abandoned fortress.
Surely, no one would steal those.
So books were too damaged to read, but others had clear writing that was still legible.
He skipped over kitchen procurent lists, weapon inventory logs, and various records.
An unknown person’s diary was good to pass the ti with; Divine doctrines were worth a flip through when bored, and even a goblin observation report…
In the end, Leon settled on a travel journal.
In summary, Leon’s life had returned to its peaceful routine.
With an abundance of books to read, he beca even more reclusive than before, rarely stepping outside except for hunting and absorbing the Sun and Moon Essence.
The Human Empire he used to live in was nad Zio, now in its twilight.
Even a dying cal is bigger than a horse.
To the north lies the Frozen Soil Wilderness and within it, the kingdom of Belun.
But the Frozen Soil Wilderness is not ho only to Belun; on the fringes of civilization, there are many Barbarian tribes.
A coalition called the Talia Alliance, composed of many small countries and city-states, barely manages to stave off the Empire’s invasions through their united front.
Not just Ferren, but this world also has a Dark Territory underneath the surface, where deford, evil creatures reside to avoid the sunlight.
At first glance, goblins, Bugbears, and Hobgoblins might belong to different races, like Halflings, Dwarves, and Elves.
But it was the Conquest God Magrubie who united them, transforming three races into a single race: goblin-kin.
For an entire month, Leon lived this way, until he had read all the books.
Now, he had gained a lot more understanding of this world and filled in many gaps in his knowledge.
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