"What? The Silver Dragon King has left the island?"
The news, brought back by Grandpa Ronatas, the Silver Dragon who served as the Dragon Court’s Internal Affairs Officer, left David stunned for a mont.
However, he quickly guessed the Silver Dragon King’s likely destination on this trip—the Grey Wilderness.
David could understand but didn’t pay too much attention to it.
After all, it concerned the Dragon God. Even if it was just a field inspection, it was to be expected, and it was not his place to ddle.
In any case, this trip had not only smoothly found a group of tal Dragon bodyguards and tutors for his three children but had also successfully secured a number of ’sponsors.’ David was very satisfied with this.
After all, who would complain about having too many war reserves?
Especially when facing a war of unequal strength.
And in war, potential is what truly counts.
On the contrary, upon seeing Ronatas’s physique, which was also two sizes smaller than his own, David fell into deep thought.
Perhaps sensing David’s sowhat unusual gaze, Ronatas, who was trying to foster a closer relationship with his three granddaughters, beca sowhat uneasy in his movents and, for the mont, didn’t know how to speak to his ’grandson.’
It was Attilicia, his father, who knew him best, who turned his head to his son’s ear flap and began to explain, "Well, my parents had an arranged marriage since they were young, so they had quite early..."
"...How early?"
"Hmm... well, let’s just say they had when they were a bit younger than I was when you were born."
David was imdiately shocked and blurted out, "Damn, born so young... I an, so accomplished at a young age!"
He had wondered why his grandparents seed excessively young.
After all, Attilicia and Pafila were definitely not over sixty when they had him, so these two dragons—Ronatas and Serisilis—might even be...
So his grandparents’ generation was, at this point, just two adult dragons.
In so ways, it really was a case of ’like father, like son.’
It even made David think of the he saw before he crossed over: a twenty-seven-year-old from the 90s cradling his grandson and envisioning the future.
Only in this magical world, he had beco that grandson.
Wait a minute, that ant...
David’s premonition quickly ca true.
Perhaps because David had won the Silver Dragon King’s approval in the Dragon Court, the Swietlanden family, though deterred from publicly inviting him to a banquet due to his Red Dragon status and his mother being the ’Crimson Calamity,’ made continuous private visits.
Consequently, in the following days, David t his great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, and ancestors from even further back...
It reached the point where old dragons like Christoph, who were akin to ancestral figures, had to take a step back.
The mountain of gifts piled so high that Satilaesa and the other two could play and roll around in it.
David couldn’t help but feel a surge of envy. [Jealousy]
This was way more enjoyable than his own juvenile period.
And this was with most of the Silver Dragon kin out traveling or serving elsewhere.
For instance, his several aunts.
Yes, his dragon father Attilicia was not so rare ’only child.’ Quite the contrary, he had three older sisters, all legendary Dragon Spellcasters from Dragon Island, traveling between planes.
When Attilicia was trapped on the Old Continent, Ronatas had sought help through Magic ssaging.
But everything happened so fast that before his three sisters could even set off to return to Elariya, Attilicia had already secured his freedom.
All in all, the complex hierarchy within the tal Dragon lineage truly opened David’s eyes.
He also finally understood how traveling minstrels ca up with sayings like, "Don’t ever ss with tal Dragons," "If you hit the young ones, the old ones co," or "You must have poked a tal Dragon’s nest."
They really were not to be trifled with.
But these tal Dragon relatives did adhere to certain ’principles.’
They gave all the gifts that were due but not a single gold or silver coin from their treasures.
Perhaps this was the dragon version of ’helping in an ergency but not in poverty.’
In the eyes of these tal Dragon relatives, the astronomical debt owed to Pafila would likely be handed down from father to son, between Attilicia and David, for generations to co.
Especially now that Pafila had beco a god, it was a lifelong burden they could never shake off!
Compared to David, a ’mixed-blood’ dragon who still had so hope, Attilicia was a true Red Dragon.
Watching the war supplies gathered by the Silver Dragon King’s decree slowly pile up on the coastline, David and his father exchanged glances.
It was ti to settle another worry.
To enable Ronatas to stand tall and proud as a dragon and to stop Serisilis from shedding tears over their hardships at night, they decided to pay off all their debts in full.
David instructed Ronatas to invite all the creditors on Dragon Island in his na.
David and his father were simply trying to save trouble, but the creditors were tearing their scales out in anxiety.
They thought this family, with assets insufficient to cover their debts, wanted to hold a ’creditors’ conference’ to seek debt relief and settlent.
After all, history had seen such ’clever’ individuals before: "I’m laying my cards on the table, no more pretending. I don’t have the money to pay back, so do what you want with . I’m giving up."
But as these sighing and lanting tal Dragon creditors arrived at Ronatas’s Dragon Nest by invitation, they were nearly blinded by the sight of a treasure pile at the entrance, comprising 120,000 pounds worth of various gold and silver coins and gems.
As a result, even the forrly stiff and imposing bodies of these creditor dragons sagged quite a bit.
Facing Ronatas, the Internal Affairs Officer, who was settling debts with interest according to the ’ledger,’ their faces stretched into fawning smiles that revealed their back molars.
Witnessing this scene, which was like a large-scale, magical face-changing performance, David and Attilicia stood shoulder-to-shoulder. While encouraging each other, they couldn’t help but reflect inwardly:
Money itself truly has its own magic power.
It could erase his father’s silence, his mother’s tears, and his own youthful feelings of inferiority, win his spouse’s respect, and earn the admiration of passersby.
It was as if standing before that mountain of treasure, even introversion and silence beca virtues.
And Attilicia’s public repaynt of the debts brought another unexpected positive outco: the war assistance materials approved by the Dragon Court significantly improved in quantity, quality, and efficiency of delivery.
Of course, there were also surprises that made David’s family unsure whether to laugh or cry, though only Attilicia found them infuriating.
Attilicia had wholeheartedly believed that repaying the debt would largely change his past reputation on Dragon Island.
But given a dragon’s extraordinary hearing, he overheard many comnts such as:
"Indeed, the Silver Princess of Dragon Island is still the Silver Princess of Dragon Island; his charm is truly extraordinary."
"What do you an, ’the Succubus among Dragons’?!"
"You lot know nothing! Learn a thing or two! Serves you right for not being able to get close to such a dominant, wealthy goddess!"
"Learn what? How to suck up?"
"I’ll lick your—"
Just as Attilicia, who had regained his dignity, was about to charge out and fight the other dragons, he was quickly pulled back by David and Ronatas, the grandfather-grandson duo.
After all, Attilicia, who was pathetically weak in combat, wasn’t necessarily a match for those muscular native dragons.
Moreover, David and his family were due to leave Dragon Island in a few days, but Ronatas and the three Hatchlings still had to live there, where they would inevitably encounter the others.
One day, Satilaesa and the others were gradually getting accustod to life on Dragon Island and had even taken so young Silver Dragon whelps under their wing. anwhile, the war assistance materials had piled up like a mountain by the coast, nearly reaching the capacity limit of Attilicia’s ’demiplane.’
David and his family were preparing to receive these materials and then depart from the island to return to the New Continent.
But on that very day, Ronatas, who was playing with his great-granddaughter, was summoned to the Dragon Court.
Soon, the entire Supre Dragon Court was sealed off from the outside.
Yet, news inevitably leaked out.
"What? The Silver Dragon King has also gone missing?"
This ti it was Attilicia who was taken aback. He imdiately said to David, "We need to leave."
He had a bad feeling about this.
David pondered for a mont but then shook his head. "I’m afraid it won’t be that easy for us to leave."
As expected, before they could even make a move, a large number of tal Dragons with somber and solemn expressions descended around the snowy peaks, as if history were repeating itself.
"What are you all planning to do?" Attilicia, who hadn’t had even a few days to feel proud, demanded, trying to suppress his rage.
The leading mature Gold Dragon spoke in a deep voice, "His Majesty left Dragon Island under your influence. We have reason to suspect His Majesty has fallen victim to a sche by you Chromatic Dragons. Therefore, as a precaution, you are not allowed to leave without permission until His Majesty returns to Dragon Island. We kindly ask for your cooperation."
"Who gave you these instructions?" David asked.
But the Gold Dragon evaded the question. "This concerns the safety of the Silver Dragon King and Dragon Island. It is the duty of every tal Dragon of Dragon Island."
"I understand."
David’s [Wrath] barely even flickered before he wrapped his tail around Attilicia and pulled him back into their den.
"What now?" Attilicia was still burning with anger but managed to maintain his basic rationality.
David shook his head and tail. "At least it’s not an order from the Dragon Court. To be more precise, it seems even the Dragon Court itself is in chaos right now. Damn it, what is the Silver Dragon King up to? With him gone, the dragons are leaderless, and all sorts of troublemakers have erged."
"Do you think it’s possible... that the Silver Dragon King orchestrated all this himself?" Attilicia asked.
"To flush out these ’hidden dangers’ and eliminate them in one go?"
David understood what his father was thinking, but he said decisively, "Whatever the truth, we don’t have ti to waste with these tal Dragons any longer."
Attilicia’s Portable Cavern still contained a Chosen of God bomb, and he did not want it to ’explode’ on Dragon Island, turning it into another Spider Nest City.
More critically, they only had three years to prepare for the arrival of The Slaying King Star; they couldn’t afford to wait.
David thought for a mont, took a deep breath, and said, "Get ready to construct a Teleportation Gate. Let’s teleport straight back."
"But these guys are bound to follow us," Attilicia said, a headache forming.
"Then we fight. Give them a good thrashing, and they’ll quiet down."
Attilicia opened his mouth, about to point out the many adult and even old dragons outside the den. But seeing David’s narrowed eyes, he understood his son’s plan:
On the other side of the Teleportation Gate was Tokamak Fortress in the Kutaro Desert.
By utilizing the kindling effect, regardless of success or failure, David, in his critical state, feared no one.
Still, the thought of forcibly opening a Teleportation Gate on the heavily guarded Dragon Island, under the watch of what were arguably the plane’s strongest Dragon Nest defenses...
The difficulty of that...
"Tsk, it’s ti to show so real skill."
Attilicia straightened his back again, his resolve montarily reignited, only for it to deflate just as quickly.
Then, rembering the scene when his son had helped Pafila ascend to godhood, he turned to David with a sheepish smile and said, "Um, when the ti cos, you’ll have to help figure things out."
David flicked his tail noncommittally. "Consider it done."
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