“Have you heard? The elves have occupied the southern fortress city.”
In a tavern in the royal city, the atmosphere was not as lively as it used to be. Instead, it was rather depressing. A few well-dressed noblemen were sharing a bottle of angel wine as they discussed the news regarding the southern fortress city.
The southern part of the Holy Dragon Kingdom had an endless primeval forest. That forest bordered the Forest of Eternity, where the Elven kingdom was located. There were countless magical beasts there, and amongst them were magical beasts that were as powerful as platinum-tier elites. It was not an easy task to cross the Forest of Eternity, let alone to attack the Holy Dragon Kingdom after crossing the forest.
In the past, the Holy Dragon Kingdom was surrounded by four different kingdoms and occupied the most fertile land in the world. However, it was still standing. That had something to do with the Holy Dragon Kingdom’s terrain—it had natural moats in all directions. The neighboring kingdoms’ armies could not easily enter it then. When that had been broken, the people had started to get nervous.
There was another thing that made them even more nervous.
“It’s fine if they had breached the southern fortress city. After all, the fortress city is far from the royal city, and there are many cities between them. His Majesty has already sent troops to stop them! I’m worried about another thing. I heard that not long ago, the Dragonspine Snow Mountain had collapsed. It used to border our kingdom and the Winter Nation in the north. If the Elven kingdom can attack the Holy Dragon Kingdom, then what about the Winter Nation?”
A nobleman at the wine table poured himself a glass of wine and drank it before sighing.
The people in the royal city were not worried about the Elven kingdom. However, they were worried the Elven kingdom and the Winter Nation would join forces to attack them. The Holy Dragon Kingdom was very powerful, and with Watson’s help, it had become even more powerful. However, that change seemed too small in front of the combined power of the two kingdoms.
“It seems like everyone in the kingdom has the same worries. Perhaps war would start soon. What should we do?”
Two young men and a woman were sitting at another table not far from them. A pillow-shaped dragon was resting on the shoulder of the young man, who was dozing off.
“What do you mean?” the young woman asked.
The young man looked worried. He immediately said, “I am a Dragon Knight. If there is a war, won’t I be sent to the battlefield? I became a Dragon Knight just to be in the limelight. I don’t want to fight with the Elven Kingdom or the Winter Nation. I heard that the Elven Kingdom soldiers had drunk from the Spring of Life. They are all now immortals. That’s why they took over the southern fortress city so quickly.
“Brother, you worry too much. The Holy Dragon Kingdom has a large number of troops. Even if the battle starts, they will dispatch troops first. They won’t send a newcomer like you to the battlefield.”
“That might not be the case. After learning that the Elves have occupied the southern fortress city, our training has increased significantly in the past two days.
The young man and lady were Casey and Lana. During the two days following the conquest of the southern fortress city, the Elven Kingdom did nothing but stockpile supplies in the fortress city. It seemed like they were waiting for something.
Even Casey could sense how bad the situation was. He had just finished his Dragon Knight training that day and was very tired. Therefore, he asked his sister to have some food and a good rest.
Since the Dragon Knight’s captain had changed to Watson, they were trained the same way as the Blackmoon Knights. So, the Dragon Knights’ training was twice as heavy as before. In addition, Casey’s poor foundation had caused him to fail several times. They had to test their dragon transformation skills that day, and fortunately, his sleeping bag dragon was good at that. Therefore, he had managed to pass it pretty easily.
“Watson is even crueler than Julius. If only he had agreed to my request and given me the Dragon Transformation Potion. I won’t be so tired after training to transform into a diamond-tier dragon, and I won’t have to be afraid of the Elven Kingdom.”
Casey sighed. A few days ago, Watson made a new agreement with the Ptolemy family’s patriarch, Daniel, to develop a Dragon Transformation Potion for the Ptolemy family. However, the Ptolemy family wanted to hand a portion of the family’s assets to Watson. For the time being, some of their assets had been transferred to Watson’s name, and Watson had used the excuse that he was in the process of producing the Dragon Transformation Potion. So, he had yet to hand it over to the Ptolemy family.
Even though he did not obtain the Dragon Transformation Potion, Watson had gifted Daniel a platinum-tier Blessings of the Gods and Demons. The latter had transformed into a platinum-tier angel. Every time he thought of that, Casey would feel very envious.
His feelings toward Watson were very complicated. In the beginning, he hated Watson because he had ruined his plans several times. However, after seeing Watson’s talent and strength, he understood that he would never be able to fight Watson in his lifetime with his ability. If he wanted to curry favor with Watson, he needed to become stronger and obtain something that he would never get in his lifetime. The price was to give up his dignity.
Did dignity have any real benefits?
Lana muttered, “Speaking of Watson, I wonder where he is now and what he is doing. I heard that there was a plan to invade the Elven kingdom. My father rushed to the palace in the morning. As the leader of the Dragon Knights, Watson should be there right now.”
…
In a meeting hall in the palace…
At that moment, King Landhar III sat on the throne, looking a little haggard. Instead of his children, Watson had sat beside him.
Watson was dressed in a long black robe, leaning against the chair and resting with his eyes closed. Many noblemen standing in the main hall looked at him, full of envy.
There were rumors that King Landhar III had kicked his children out of the kingdom, establishing Watson as the next king. It appeared that it was not a false rumor.
On the other side of Watson, there was also a seat. A beautiful woman with a loving face and platinum hair sat on it. It was the new Saintess, Avril, who had also been appointed as the Queen by King Landhar III.
“Everyone, I believe that you have heard about the fall of the southern fortress city. What do you think about that matter?” King Landhar III tapped his forehead with his fingers and looked around the hall.
As soon as he finished speaking, the voices of different ministers came from below.
“Your Majesty, the Elven Kingdom is coming aggressively this time. We must be strong to meet them head-on. I propose to send an army to destroy the troops that entered our territory and destroy the Elven Kingdom at the same time.”
“Is it that easy? Since the Elven army was able to pass through the primitive forest and attack the Holy Dragon Kingdom, it proves that their army is not weak. I also heard that the elves have allied with the dragons. If we want to fight against those powerful creatures, we can send the Dragon Knights. This puts His Majesty in danger. What if we defeat the Elven Kingdom? It just means the Winter Nation will take the opportunity to invade us.”
As usual, the generals and the civil servants had opposing opinions. The generals supported a battle while the civil servants demanded peace.
During the quarrel, King Landhar III sighed and turned to Watson, sitting beside him. “Watson, as my heirr, what do you think of the current situation?”
As King Landhar III’s voice fell, all the people who were arguing stopped talking and turned to look at Watson.
