Outside the Silver Fortress, the Century Aroma Flower Field.
After bidding a temporary farewell to the Duke of Silver, the lord of this place, David followed—or rather, was eagerly led by the Silver Dragon Priest—to the castle’s outer Century Aroma Flower Field.
Although the other party was also a Silver Dragon, David took precautions. He wanted to prevent any unspeakable ill intentions or his disguise being seen through. At David’s signal, his entourage, led by Rosinde the Barbarian and composed of two Drow, a Winter Wolf, and Ahd’s seemingly lifeless subordinates, trailed far behind them.
This distance neither disrupted David’s cordial interaction with the ’High Elf Priest’ nor prevented his group from coming to his aid at a mont’s notice should an ergency arise.
Among them, however, only Rosinde, the Barbarian without much worldly experience, remained in the dark.
He still believed that his Red Dragon master had fallen head over heels for this bubbly, beautiful ’Priestess’ in the Hall of Justice. It was love at first sight, just like how he had fallen for Mona back in the day.
At the sa ti, he felt a touch of regret and worry. He was concerned that if the other party, a Priest from the Hall of Justice, discovered his master was a Red Dragon, she would beco heartbroken and bla his master for the deception regarding his identity.
Yet the two Drow behind them, who clearly knew the truth, seed even more excited by this.
In the eyes of the Drow, what was there to see in normal interactions between the opposite sexes? It was rely for the purpose of breeding and procreation. This twisted aesthetic of the Drow was precisely why so many male Drow in Spider Nest City were forced to pair up and perform feigned affairs of steel and passion. Not only did they have to satisfy the sexual exploitation of the Matriarch and other Drow, but they also had to endure the discomfort and pretend to be gay. Otherwise, they would be relegated to the likes of mine-slaves or battlefield fodder, deed as having no other special value and ready to be deployed at any ti—a truly wretched existence.
Little did they know, at this very mont, their master was facing both psychological and physical discomfort. He had failed several tis to pull his paw away. Taking a deep breath, David said, "Ahem... Priest Attilicia, there’s no one else here now. Could you please let go of my paw?"
"Ah... sorry... I..." Attilicia quickly let go, hesitating, then starting to speak, only to stop again.
He just assud David had never had such an intimate experience. After all, David had grown up on the Old Continent, especially under the influence of his overbearing, tyrannical, and greedily slothful Red Dragon mother.
After all, on the isolated Dragon Island, such physical contact was very common for young Gold and Silver Dragons. When their parents briefly left the nest, young Silver Dragon siblings, lacking a sense of security, would often huddle tightly together. They would gather in groups of three or four, striding shoulder to shoulder. It looked both endearing and comical. This sight often made their Silver Dragon parents, spying from the side, laugh uproariously and roll on the ground.
And his own poor child, even if he had other siblings, they were most likely fierce and ruthless Red Dragons like Pafila.
The thought of this child being bullied, beaten, and robbed of food by other Red Dragons in the nest was heart-wrenching. He imagined David, having just entered his youth, being ruthlessly expelled from his territory by that mother Red Dragon. Then, to survive, David had been forced to swim, alone, from the icy sea all the way to the Granyel Continent...
Attilicia couldn’t help but feel a surge of sadness well up inside him. He suddenly wrapped his arms around David’s body, sobbing uncontrollably.
His hands kept stroking David’s back. Seemingly delicate... Hmm, there seems to be so muscle there... Actually, it feels quite sturdy... In fact, it’s so... Damn it! He realized his two outstretched hands couldn’t even encircle David’s broad back. Attilicia’s tears and snot sared all over David’s neck.
"No! Let go!"
David imdiately struggled free, like a tiger that had its tail touched. He was about to erupt with his Red Dragon’s innate Wrath: "Are you freaking sick or—"
Then he saw how fragile and aggrieved the Silver Dragon Priest looked, as if he had been wronged by David. He suppressed his anger and asked, "Uh, no, are you alright?"
"I’m really sorry. I got a bit emotionally out of control, I really did..."
Attilicia cald himself and thought. He was afraid that if the child knew the truth, he might face a second emotional trauma. He also worried that David would resent him—his father—for six years of complete neglect and leave, severing all ties. So, he hesitated to reveal the truth. Instead, he chose to weave a flawed but comforting lie:
"It’s just... the mont I saw you, I felt as though I had seen a departed... a dear friend! Yes, a dear friend! I simply couldn’t contain the profound emotions within my heart."
David looked at him as if he were an idiot. What the hell were you doing when we first t yesterday? And now you’re putting on this act?
So, should he play along? Or should he still play along?
When he thought about how the other party was not only a powerful Silver Dragon but also a Priest of the Hall of Justice, and a... close friend of the Duke of Silver? As long as the other party didn’t discover his true identity as a Red Dragon, there seed to be no malice or conspiracy to worry about. Most importantly, befriending soone like this, wouldn’t that be like having an umbrella that could help him smuggle and sell goods in broad daylight?
Greed.
With this thought, David could only swallow his discomfort and the sowhat humorous excuse, cooperating, "Ah, I see, I understand! I can fully comprehend your weighty and complex feelings. If you don’t mind, from today on, I, Saphistouin, will be another dear friend to you, Priest Attilicia."
This sudden shift from disdain to enthusiasm took Attilicia by surprise. He was already uneasy about lying to his son. However, the longing and guilt he felt for David imdiately drowned out all reason and suspicion.
As long as the other party didn’t mind spending ti with him and accepted his belated compensation, what wasn’t there to accept! And after all, the child was a Silver Dragon just like himself. What bad intentions could a young Silver Dragon, who had just entered youth, possibly have!
Imdiately overjoyed, he wrapped his arm around David’s neck again and said, with tears of joy, "Great! That’s wonderful! From today on, I, Bridcarte Attilicia Antonella Swietlanden, am your dear friend, young man."
David was about to continue with so small talk. He planned to casually steer the conversation towards visiting the Duke of Silver’s Century Aroma Flower Field Alchemy Potion workshop. His goal was to find out at which stage of the process he could get his hands on freshly harvested Century Aroma pollen. Then, he would need to devise a plan to synthesize it into an Alchemy Potion within the precious next three hours. Just then, he suddenly heard angry curses and pleas for rcy coming from outside the distant workshop with the large windmill.
"What’s happening over there?"
Priest Attilicia hesitated. This situation might involve the darker aspects of the world, and he worried it might taint the child’s still-pure heart. Like... greed. But out of a father’s sense of duty, he felt he had the obligation to personally deliver his son’s first lesson:
Maintain your true self.
Stay away from evil.
Control greed.
He then spoke up,
"It seems they’ve found a traitor.
"Soone in cahoots with the Drow, smuggling Alchemy Potions made with the precious Century Aroma pollen to the Gloomy Region...
"A being of Greed."
"Co, let’s take a look."
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