The keyword for dragons was arrogance. They were monsters that were immune to death due to the ‘absolute defense’ that wrapped around them like a garment, and devastated a city with a single breath. Understandably, they were fearless and arrogant. They were famous for belittling all beings other than themselves. The ancestors’ advice that it would be ugly to get involved with them as they did not know the concept of respect remained throughout the continent as a history.
Yet an unexpected event occurred around half a year ago. A giant dragon periodically visited Reidan to give gifts.
A dragon doing Grid a favor? There was a rumor that it was because he felt guilty toward Grid, but people weren’t convinced. How could a dragon feel guilty in the first place? Smashing cities and hurting people? For them, it would be as uninspiring as trampling on ants. So why?
The people were puzzled and went to visit Reidan. They heard rumors that Grid was attending this ‘descent of a dragon’ event. However, it wasn’t easy to enter the city. There was a long procession even from a location where the walls of Reidan, famous for being very high, looked blurry. It was a procession of visitors to Reidan.
“Do we have to pay an entrance fee? By the way, why are there so many people?
Rabbit, a notorious administrator even among civilians, declared that he would charge an entrance fee. The reason was that it was difficult to manage security if just anyone was accepted. The people felt a backlash and they lost their motivation when they saw the long procession.
“Let’s watch from the outside without going inside the city.”
“That is good. It is a pity that I can’t see Grid, but the dragon is as big as a mountain. I can see it well from afar.”
Eventually, a few people left the line. Tents were set up in various places of the agriculture fields like they were camping. Then suddenly, dark clouds appeared in the sky and it rained. It was a heavy rain.
“Wasn’t it originally a desert here?”
“The clouds are too thick. We won’t even be able to see the dragon properly like this.”
“Damn, it can’t be helped. Let’s enter the city now.”
The people took down their tents and moved busily. They literally rushed in like a turbulent wave. However, the visitors didn’t end there. There were also many members of the bourgeois who crossed over using the warp gates rather than taking the usual routes.
Reidan was crowded without any place to step. It was like a huge pot of bean sprouts. Just then—
“……?”
The rain stopped like it was a lie.
***
“Thank you for the hard work,” Rabbit laughed at the dumbfounded tourists and spoke while adjusting his glasses.
At the lord’s castle…
Lauel was sitting down with a haggard look. He had changed his class to a feng shui master because it was useful for battlefield and city management, and he harbored a great sense of skepticism about his job.
“The prime minister of the great empire uses the ultimate technique to take money away from people… isn’t this too trivial? You are someone who has earned the title of daoist.”
“The number of visitors is 1.2 million and we got 7 gold per person. Recall the days when Reidan was reeling because it didn’t even have 200,000 gold and endure it.”
“Isn’t the rate of visits by children very small? Administrator Rabbit, did you predict that far?” Garitsha looked at the two men with a somewhat pitying expression and asked. It was a question from the lord of Reidan.
Rabbit explained it with all his heart, “That’s right. What fearless parent would lead their children to watch a dragon? This was the calculation behind the propaganda that preschoolers would be admitted for free.”
They pretend to be hospitable, but it was nothing more than a show. It was the basics of business.
Rabbit’s smiling face was full of pride. It was similar to the look Garitsha had when she led 50,000 troops and won consecutive victories.
“Oh my, you did well,” Garitsha finished rebuking him and urged Lauel, “We need to go. Grid will arrive soon.”
After a while, a huge and wonderful dragon descended to Reidan, just as people had imagined. Then Grid’s group appeared through the warp gate. The surprising thing was that people’s nerves were more focused on Grid’s group than the dragon. The beautiful men and women dressed in colorful clothes and Grid’s divinity was that enchanting. They couldn’t help drawing attention.
[I think they have become more devoted since we haven’t seen them.]
The people who were alternatingly admiring Grid’s group and the dragon were suddenly shocked. It was because the dragon’s attitude was very polite as he lowered his long neck to match Grid’s eye level. The dragon’s tone was polite from the start.
‘Isn’t this crazy?’
‘It was this much?’
People had been keeping a close eye on Grid’s epics and the temples of the Overgeared God Church. It was possible to roughly guess where Grid was and what he was doing. They took it for granted that he had been involved with dragons for the past year. They didn’t expect him to rise so much in the hierarchy that he was greeted by a dragon… they never even dreamed of it.
Weren’t dragons beings that even the gods of Asgard were wary of? It was beyond imagination.
Silence fell in a city as a million people lost their words.
“That… that can’t be a dragon!” someone shouted in a ferocious voice. It was close to a cry. There was a strong hostility in the voice. All eyes turned in the direction of the voice. It was a man in a black robe who gave off a gloomy impression. Anyone could tell that it was a black magician from the Yatan Church.
“This…! That is just a fat wyvern!”
The Yatan Church, like the churches of the three gods, was divided into two factions—the radicals, who believed in the truth of hell that Grid revealed and formed a friendship with the Overgeared God Church, and the moderates, who held to their existing positions regardless of the truth.
The difference between them was whether they worshiped God Yatan or the demons. The radicals worshiped God Yatan himself while the moderates wanted the power of the demons. The moderates were close to the existing Yatan Church. They were still obsessed with the ritual of kidnapping humans, sacrificing them, and summoning demons.
This person was part of the latter. He was even a bigshot. The proof was that he infiltrated this place without any problems.
‘A Yatan Servant. It has been a while since I’ve seen one.’
Grid’s high insight read the ominous magic power of the black magician. However, that was it. Grid quickly shifted his gaze away. He paid as much attention to the black magician as he did a stone on the side of the road.
The black magician threw off his robe and shouted fiercely, “If you know the identity of this body, then you can’t ignore me! I am Yatan’s Second Servant, J…”
The Yatan Second Servant, Jijeil—he was obsessed with power. Therefore, he violated the rules of heaven, harmed people, and became a Yatan Servant. Naturally, he fantasized about the dragons. He feared them more than the Great Demons and hoped to meet one at least once in his life.
However, he only witnessed the scene of his object of awe serving Grid, his firm enemy, as if Grid was his master. He had to lose his temper. He was so caught up in his emotions that he experienced a backlash of magic power. Still, it was fine. There were countless people here.
These miscellaneous things that only sucked in air. Those who wished to lead a trivial life were nothing more than rubbish not worth existing. Meanwhile, they had found to take advantage of this trash over the years.
It was as an offering. The magic of dedicating their blood, flesh, and life to the demon was completed with powerful magic that was different from ordinary magic. A miracle that made meaningless things meaningful.
I am great.
It happened at this time…
“……?”
Jijeil’s thoughts stopped. The madman, who was ready to give up his life the moment he shouted at Grid, dreamed about completing a large-scale magic on the people here and seeing Grid’s expression contort. It was just that his wish didn’t come true.
Grid’s figure disappeared from view. By the time he realized that a huge, black shadow had approached, it was already too late. Jijeil’s head was crushed by pressure and exploded.
“……”
“……”
Mercedes and Piaro, who had just reached Jijeil’s side, turned around. Not a single drop of the blood that burst out like a fountain touched their robes. It was the same for the other people. The gravity field spread out by the proud-looking Mercedes crushed the swirling blood and flesh, and buried it in the ground.
“……?”
There was only silence. The dragon’s huge claw that slowly approached the black magician who appeared with a shout and the black magician that disappeared without a trace—few people understood the situation properly.
Garitsha, a former member of the Tzedakah Guild and the current lord of Reidan, had a subtle expression on her face.
‘It was slow?’
A little while ago…
The claw that Xenon stretched out was not fast. This was clearly recognized by herself as well as one million people. Meanwhile, the black magician who was the target of the claw didn’t respond. He only looked puzzled the moment when the slowly approaching claw crushed him.
‘What type of harmony is it? Did he fall for the Dragon Words that Grid mentioned?’
Some of the Overgeared members that came from the Tzedakah Guild had grown into commanders. They honed their military skills and leadership skills rather than their individual strength. Unfortunately, Garitsha was incapable of assessing what Xenon just did.
Piaro read her contemplative expression and said with a pleased look, “It was just visible because it was huge.”
In fact, the dragon’s claws were shot at a tremendous speed. Even Piaro only noticed it when he felt the change in the wind’s flow. He got goosebumps. Mercedes seemed to have a similar sentiment. There was a subtle competitive spirit in her eyes that were looking at Xenon.
‘As expected, a dragon is truly a supreme being.’
The more Piaro realized the greatness of a dragon, the greater Grid felt. By this time, the old image of Grid that clearly remained in his mind seemed false.
It happened as people started to understand the situation one by one…
They were fascinated by the appearance of the dragon that was even more wonderful up close, but then they belatedly felt fear and turned pale. Even so, it was only for a moment. People forgot their fear again.
[I ended up hurting humans like my habit. I’m sorry… I will pay the price for my sins.]
The sight of the dragon bowing his head to Grid was absurd and made them forget their fear.
“He deserved to die a hundred times.”
Grid respected Xenon. He liked Xenon’s personality, who knew how to make mistakes and take responsibility. Yet treating Xenon as a fat wyvern? It was on the verge of being unpleasant to Grid.
Xenon saw his frown and greatly misunderstood. He hurriedly opened his subspace and took out a gift.
[This is the scale I have prepared to offer you today. It is a scale that grew around my heart, so it will be especially hard.]
Offer.
The scale.
Every time the dragon opened his mouth, and with each word that emerged from it, people’s minds gradually became distant.
‘Is he really going to put Grid on his back?’
Then wasn’t it not much different from a fat wyvern, just as the dead black magician said? People clicked their tongues at the sight of the dragon that seemed to have been tamed by Grid.
‘It is definitely different.’
Grid’s face was bright.
“I will cherish it and use it well.”
Even the scales from the same dragon differed in quality depending on the area. The scale that Xenon gave him this time was so good that a great work would be born if he combined them with the scales he collected so far to make a shoulder guard and helmet.
[It is an honor.]
Hell, Baal, Asgard, the angels and gods, the Specter of the No Offspring Tomb, and Khan—these days, there were fewer and fewer genuine smiles due to his accumulating worries. Now Grid smiled widely for the first time in a while. Mercedes read it with her Keen Insight and was thrilled. She took back the competitive spirit she secretly (?) felt toward Xenon.
Meanwhile, Nefelina was coming to a conclusion. ‘I would prefer that he is an uncontrollable lunatic. No harm is done to Grid, but I shouldn’t associate with this guy. It is unfortunate, but I have to get a hint of resolving my father’s madness from somewhere else.’
A fat wyvern—Nefelina sympathized with the heart of the black magician who shouted at Xenon. On this day, the whole world was filled with the subject of Grid and dragons.
Would Grid lose a fight against Baal when he could extort scales from a dragon? The people were hopeful and encouraged. They also praised Piaro and Mercedes, who reacted to the dragon’s movements. In particular, many people were fascinated by the appearance of Mercedes, who wasn’t discouraged even against a dragon.
It was rewarding for Grid to lead the apostles to visit Reidan…
