Long-Awaited Desire (4)

Even without the Sereina incident, I had been suspicious of the Red Dragons from the beginning.

The Sereina incident had confirmed that they were truly hopeless.

However, that suspicion ended as mere suspicion, and I couldn’t take any further action because too much time had passed, and I couldn’t find any certainty that the Red Dragons were the criminals.

Then, the thing that created the path was the Dragon orb I had found by chance.

This orb created a huge opportunity.

The reason it took so long to fulfill Rurin’s wish was that we had to wait for the fish to bite the bait of the Dragon orb.

Finally, the opportunity arrived after such a long wait!

I couldn’t afford to ruin this opportunity, so I answered while maintaining a humble posture.

“I am El. And this is Rurin. We are here after receiving an official invitation from the Elder.”

“An invitation from the Elder?”

The Red Dragon, who appeared to be the gatekeeper of the sacred ground, began to carefully examine us. It had a very displeased expression.

I couldn’t understand what was so displeasing to them.

So, I covered Rurin’s eyes with my hands. You know, like a parent covering their child’s eyes to avoid showing them something unpleasant?

“It’s dark! Why are you covering my eyes?”

I did this as a temporary solution, hoping not to provoke them further.

Of course, this only made her more upset.

Still, it was better for her to be angry at me than at the current situation. Right now, I needed to lower my head and uncover their secrets.

“I can’t see…ugh!”

“It’s better not to see dirty things anyway.”

I whispered very quietly and then met the Red Dragon’s gaze again. After scanning us, the Red Dragon finally spoke.

“Are you the ones? Well, fine. The Elder is in the valley of the sacred ground over there, so head that way.”

The Red Dragon pointed towards a large flat area visible in the valley below and took off again.

Why are all Red Dragons like this?

Suddenly, Sereina seems cute. At least she’s much more respectable than these guys.

Anyway, after the Red Dragon disappeared, I removed my hand from covering Rurin’s eyes. At that moment, Rurin squinted and looked around.

“My dear, I didn’t see anything! What’s going on?”

“I covered your eyes for a moment because there were things you shouldn’t see.”

“Things I shouldn’t see while my eyes were open?”

“From now on, I won’t cover your eyes. But no matter what happens, don’t leave my side, and don’t get angry. Don’t speak to anyone except me until I say so. This is all for revenge.”

Suddenly, Rurin grabbed my arm tighter.

At that moment, Rurin gripped my arm more tightly.

“Of course, I won’t leave. And it’s okay to cover my eyes. Your hands are warm.”

“What?”

“And I’m not sure! It’s normal for me to get angry when I see Red.”

“Stop saying stupid things and hold on tight.”

“Ugh.”

Rurin nodded again. I had warned her three times already. With the cause of avenging her mother at stake, even Rurin wouldn’t act recklessly.

“Then let’s go to the flat area in the center. The Red Dragon Elder is supposed to be there.”

“That one? Got it!”

As I nodded in agreement, the teleportation magic was activated.

As soon as we arrived, the Red Dragons began to gather. Among them, the one in front was the Red Dragon that caught my attention.

Honestly, it’s hard to distinguish the appearances of the Red Dragons, but this dragon with slightly sagging skin is definitely familiar.

This is definitely the Elder of the Red Dragons I saw during the Sereina incident. He’s the one who caused all the trouble, and after doing so, he disappeared without a word, becoming the culprit.

That very Red Dragon approaches us, stomping heavily.

At that moment, I felt a strong grip on my arm.

I turned my gaze toward the source of the pressure, and the Elder appeared with a clenched jaw.

The good thing is that she was clenching her teeth, but it seemed like she was holding back, as promised.

However, the problem was that her grip on my arm was getting tighter and starting to hurt.

This might leave a bruise.

Of course, if it helps to quell Rurin’s anger, I don’t care if my arm gets bruised.

“Did you come? It’s been a while. Ah, I apologize for the trouble I caused back then. Hmm, you must be the human named El?”

The approaching Elder of the Red Dragons began questioning us with a haughty tone.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“So, the one next to you must be Rurin, the Black Dragon.”

“Yes, that’s also correct.”

I answered for Rurin, and the Elder of the Red Dragons nodded.

“Well then, it seems like an apology has been made. Veint, you should apologize as well.”

At the Elder’s words, a familiar Red Dragon next to him spoke in an annoyed tone.

“Hmm, I caused trouble back then.”

Huh?

Veint?

Veint? He was the one who conspired with Nies during the Sereina incident.

That incident didn’t just affect Sereina, it also affected Rurin and me.

And Veint was a murderer of his own kin. Did they just let him live like this?

They told the Elder of the Black Dragons Medidana that they would handle it, yet now they’re openly flaunting him in front of us. How much are they disregarding us?

Wait, so you kept a kin-murderer alive?

What exactly is their plan?

Of course, even though they’re openly disregarding us, they seem to know the strength I displayed during the war, as there are quite a few dragons flying around the sacred ground.

It’s as if they’re taunting me to start a fight.

Looking at the numbers alone, there wouldn’t usually be this many dragons hanging around the sacred ground.

No.

That aside.

Not only did they almost kill Sereina, but they even conspired with Nies to abduct Rurin. And now their apology is just a statement that they “caused trouble”?

It hurts like hell.

My arm hurts.

“Ughhh.”

Rurin was getting angrier and gripping my arm tighter.

Her clenched expression is cute.

No, no. This isn’t the time for such thoughts.

I tore my gaze away from Rurin and looked at the Elder.

“You caused trouble? You said you’d offer a polite apology when we visited, but is this all you have?”

Being too polite could make them think something was wrong, so I decided to show some anger. It felt completely natural since I was genuinely upset.

“According to the laws of the Red Dragons, Veint has been adequately punished. Just because he stands here unharmed doesn’t mean he hasn’t faced consequences. So, isn’t that apology enough? Human, or would you like to fight again?”

“Would you like to fight again?”

The emotions I’ve been feeling since earlier weren’t wrong. These guys are clearly hoping I’ll start a fight.

If I start a fight, they’ll use self-defense as an excuse, and the over 30 dragons will attack me, all while trying to take the orb?

The young dragons in the sky.

And the High Dragons behind the Elder.

If it were the old me, I would definitely have struggled against this many, but I’m not planning on starting a fight.

I’m curious to see how this will play out if I just hold back here.

“No. I’m not thinking about fighting.”

“I figured as much. Anyway, the apology for causing trouble is very polite by our Red Dragon standards. Now that the apology is done, let’s get to the point.”

The Red Dragon spoke with a decaying expression. It was clear they were disappointed that I didn’t start a fight.

The bumpy corners of the dragon’s mouth twitching weren’t a pleasant sight.

“Are you getting to the point?”

“I’ve heard you happened to obtain the Red Dragon’s orb?”

Exactly. As expected, the true purpose of the invitation was the orb.

The combative tone and even bringing Veint right up to us to show him in front of our faces, all of it was for the orb.

“Are you saying you want the Red Dragon’s orb back? The Dragon’s orb is a treasure. But it’s only regarded as something that the one who acquires it has a fate with; no one has ownership of it. It should be stated in the Dragon’s rules as well, right?”

“That’s true. So, I didn’t actually say that I wanted it back!”

At the Elder’s gesture, the dragons brought out large, gleaming chunks of gold from the vast cave in the sacred ground.

These must be worth billions.

“That item is something someone like you, a mere human, can’t properly use. So, we’ll pay in gold to purchase it properly!”

It was an item I couldn’t use properly, which was true.

When I first obtained the Dragon’s orb, I had no idea how to absorb mana, and for a while, there was no real progress.

In Rurin’s case, she made some progress, but it wasn’t a drastic improvement.

I should say she got lucky and managed to absorb it through some fateful circumstances during a life-or-death situation.

“A purchase? You mean with that gold?”

Since I didn’t start a fight, the next step is to buy it with gold?

What will happen if I refuse this? Will they finally reveal their true intentions?

They haven’t openly shown their greed yet. Of course, they haven’t revealed their black greed, but it’s clear that they want the Dragon’s orb.

Dragon orbs aren’t common items.

I’ve heard that even one orb can stir up a bloody storm.

If they were the ones behind the incident with Rurin’s mother, then they must have the Black Dragon’s orb that was stolen back then.

And there’s also the Red Dragon’s orb, which became the one Rurin’s mother allegedly stole, that they are keeping in their sacred ground.

Yet, they’re after the Dragon’s orb I possess.

What are they planning to do with the Dragon’s orb? I have no idea.

Dragons are a race that has always possessed everything.

It doesn’t seem like they’re planning to power-up with the orb’s power.

It’s not that the Elder himself wants to claim it, but rather the entire race is involved in this.

Moreover, even dragons probably don’t know how to fully absorb the mana contained within a Dragon orb.

If they knew how to use it, the Elder of the Red Dragons should have had more power than what I saw during the war.

They wouldn’t have had to gather this many dragons just to deal with me.

Does this mean there’s a way to use it for the entire race?

If I could find that out, it would make it even clearer that they manipulated the incident.

In that case, I should obviously refuse. But I’ll need to refuse in a way that leaves room for negotiation, as I need to investigate this sacred ground.

An investigation into why they’re gathering Dragon orbs.

And certainly, an investigation to find the Black Dragon orb that must be in this sacred ground.

To do this, I need to stay in the sacred ground for now.

“Is it not enough? Even we dragons would take our entire lives to gather that much in our lair.”

“No, it’s not that it’s lacking, but…well, could you give me some time to think?”

“You want time to think? What could you possibly need more time for?”

“It’s not just mine to decide. I would appreciate it if you could give me time to discuss it with Rurin. A day or two should be enough. I won’t run away. I’ll stay here.”

“You! Do you definitely have the orb and are making all this noise?”

They want to check the item?

Fine. I’ll meet their expectations, so they’ll come at me with everything they’ve got. I confidently took out the Dragon orb from my pouch and held it in my hand.

The Red Dragons began murmuring when they saw it, and the Elder couldn’t take his eyes off the orb and asked,

“That is definitely a Dragon orb. Where did you get it?”

“From Greek City.”

“Greek City, in the central part of the Empire… Hmph!”

Hmph?

The Elder’s expression twisted as he recognized the Dragon orb. It seemed like he knew which dragon left this orb.

The dragon from Greek Mountain had died, forgotten, and its remains became part of the earth’s surface.

It had been a dragon that met a lonely end.

Could it be that this Elder is connected to that dragon?