I'm really not a dragon.

At noon, a custom-made plaque was delivered to the devil's tip door. It was so unique, not because its name was particularly thunderous, but because the plaque was permanently marked with the [Dancing Light Spell], its pulsating colored light resembling a neon sign from the cyberpunk era.

Half-elf Alan Alice could imagine that with this unique sign hanging at the entrance, almost everyone passing by would subconsciously look up at it.

"Dragon's Gourmet Tavern!"

It seems another fool has dared to challenge his authority!

lose?

The word doesn't exist in Alan Alice's dictionary.

Who came to the Song of the Elves, unmoved by the beautiful song, undrawn by the fragrant elven-flavored food?

"Alan Alice, all I know is that if you don't get that northerner out of here, you're going to lose all your customers!"

The bard Osim Stars, his face cold, tapped his fingers lightly on the counter. As a fellow bard, he couldn't imagine why a human could make such a sound.

Not only is he tone-deaf, but he also sings off-key; not only is he off-key, but he also can't remember the lyrics; not only can he not remember the lyrics, but he also sings a bunch of illogical and musically incoherent nonsense that he wrote himself.

"Where did you find this bard from!" Osim Stars exclaimed in despair.

Alan Alice hesitated for a moment and said, "But he's very cheap."

Osim Starshine stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "By Corellon, he sang like that, and you still gave him money!"

"Actually, it was him who gave me the money!" Alan Alice said somewhat embarrassedly.

Osim Star trembled slightly, momentarily speechless. Could someone really go to such lengths for their musical dreams? A sudden surge of awe welled up within him. The background music was the impassioned singing of northern barbarians, a voice so demonic it didn't seem so jarring now.

"Hehe... Alan, you need to be careful." A calm and steady voice interrupted their conversation.

The polished plate armor appeared beside the two with light steps. It was like a construct armor brought to life by magic, moving with a lightness far beyond that of a human. But if one regarded it as a construct, one could see the white pupils and black eyes gleaming in its helmet.

The person inside the armor said in a detached tone, "If you are careless, you may face the most powerful opponent in history."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Monarch!"

Alan Alice lowered his head, trying to avoid looking into those mesmerizing eyes. The monarch had come here while his mother was still alive and had become a long-time resident of the tavern.

His mother warned him never to pry into the monarch's secrets.

The only problem, however, is that Alan Alice is too smart. Even without deliberately probing, he can guess from daily interactions that the monarch is a remarkable figure. This is evident in how others treat him, his manner of speaking, and the scene he once witnessed by chance—this nice gentleman who always wears plate armor was having a rendezvous with a powerful figure in the upper city in the basement of a tavern.

Belin Sterme,

If his memory serves him correctly, it should be this distinguished lady, one of the four members of the Baldur's Gate Council.

The monarch spoke gently, "For your mother's sake, I must remind you, Alan!"

"Why?" Alan Alice asked, puzzled.

A soft laugh came from inside the plate armor. The monarch said nothing, but simply examined an invitation in his hand.

[To the esteemed Commander of the Shield Knights, the mighty monarch, the grand opening of "Dragon's Gourmet Tavern" cordially invites distinguished guests like yourself to visit. Trust me, this will undoubtedly be a meal that will satisfy you greatly.]

The monarch's thoughts were like taut strings on a musical instrument.

How did he know my identity?

Does he really know what I am?

It's been a long time since I've had a satisfying meal, and the hunger is spreading like wildfire, like slimy tentacles.

-

With a leap, Su En miraculously appeared on the rooftop, carrying the signboard.

"It's hung up."

He jumped downstairs and examined the control panel.

[Second-level spell, Shadow Step]

[By consuming Dragon Muscle Elixir Type 1, the muscle structure of your legs has become closer to that of a metallic dragon. When you enter the Mage's Wrath state, you magically leap to within eye contact range of thirty meters away. Your speed is so fast that it appears to ordinary people as if you were teleporting.]

[This elixir has had some effect on your body; your movement speed has increased, and you have gained the Barbarian trait: Fast Movement]

Hmm, isn't that too strong?

As a mage, he has acquired the characteristics of a barbarian; truly worthy of the path of the strongest mage.

Su En jumped downstairs and looked at the brand-new "Devil's Tip." A line of text slowly appeared in his field of vision.

[The Path to Dragon Lord, Stage Six: The Nesting Story of Gold Dragons, Silver Dragons, Brass Dragons, Copper Dragons, and Bronze Dragons]

In this dark age, as a dragon, you, like your ancestors, have acquired your own territory. In this era, only endless wars await you. Wise as you are, you should consider building a lair to secure your land.

【Task Requirements:】

Increase the value of your treasure vault to 10,000 gold and obtain a divine artifact (the artifact's value is not included in the overall treasure vault value).

The number of priests required to train the Dragon God must be no less than three.

[The birth rate of your subjects must rise to at least 2.5.]

[Reward: Grant your lair a permanent magical ability and unlock the Artisan Tradition Temple]

Three task requirements,

The first one has been completed. It seems that due to system issues, Suen's wealth has been greatly overestimated.

The last one is also finished. The hamster's birth rate has soared to over 4%, with quadruplets in one litter.

The only troublesome one is the one in the middle, the priest of the dragon god. Only Big Tooth is somewhat intelligent in the entire rat swarm. The other rats can only reach human-level intelligence or even higher than that of ordinary humans when they are in a group.

Beasts can't be considered priests, and with Big Tooth, there are only two people who can be priests. Well, maybe Olin can be included!

Therefore, the only difficulty in this task is that his faith may not be very firm. However, considering the strange relationship between the Dragon God and the dragons, most dragons' faith is not very firm, so the difficulty of this task may not be as high as imagined.

【Sun's Lair】

[Address: Bottom of the Eye of the Storm Tower]

[Building: Dragon Battle Temple, learn a general feat]

[Race: Dragonvein Ratmen 0.001%, Mutant Ratmen 21%, Psychic Ratmen 13%, Corrupted Ratmen 41%, Moonlight Ratmen 25%]

[This region is home to hostile factions, including the Kazador Bloodfeast family and the Dark Shield Legion.]

[In-depth analysis: In this dark and bleak world, surrounded by lurking enemies, your existence has already attracted the attention of some creatures. They are detecting clues, an invitation to a night out, and even the delivery of that invitation—a psionic rat. All signs indicate that the leader of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Knights, the mind flayer expert, and the master of pain, seems incredibly fearful of your presence. He can't wait to taste your brain.]

[Warning: Beware of high-ranking assassins from the Dark Shield Legion; they appear to have begun investigating you.]

Hmm, the Blood Feast family, the Dark Shield Legion—the former likely refers to vampires.

Suen glanced into the room. The tavern, which hadn't opened yet, was occupied by four paladins who were surrounding Aurelia in an interrogation-like manner, trying to extract the location of the vampire's lair from her.

"I've only heard about it. I heard that hundreds of years ago, a judge named Asderon was attacked by the Ghurs and thrown into a cemetery. But no one ever found his body. Legend has it that he was taken by vampires. It's just a legend. I really don't know."

Aurelia tried her best to explain,

I never imagined that vampires actually exist!

As for the latter, the Dark Shield Legion, Suen really didn't know what that was. He tried hard to recall and vaguely remembered that he had Big Tooth send out opening promotion invitations to the prominent people around him. If the other party could come, it would be equivalent to giving the tavern a GG.

The people he considered important included Colonel Urd of the Flame Fist Enforcers, Paladin Lysera Spidershadow, and Priest Vika Chizuru of the Storm Coast Sanctuary…

Big Tooth considered him a prominent figure, the leader of an organization he'd never even heard of, and someone who wanted to eat his brains.

Which deity did Da Ya send an invitation to?!

Su En felt a headache coming on and turned to go into the store to ask for clarification.

Inside the tavern, besides the paladin's interrogation voices, there was also the roar of augers. Suen had hired a group of auger makers to decorate his tavern's kitchen, serving area, and overall style... Most of the construction workers couldn't comprehend a modern kitchen.

The quick-thinking and creative mechanics were able to keep up with Suen's train of thought. Under their guidance, the entire tavern took on a strong steampunk style.

Suen wandered around but didn't see Da Ya. Instead, she saw Lisela drinking alone, lounging on the table in a lazy posture, her fingers constantly drawing circles on the surface.

"Oh, Suen, you've arrived. Have you heard about what's been happening lately?"

"Haven't heard anything from the Grand Duke for a while now?"

Suen sat down in front of Lisela, holding a glass of bubbling ale.

"This is terrible! Urd just came back from outside with a child with him, who he claims is his nephew."

"nephew!"

Suen had a bad feeling about it.

"Yes!" Lisela said with a wry smile, "But anyone with eyes can see that his nephew looks remarkably like him. Do you remember the method given by the daughter of the Flame Fist Grand Duke?"

Something that you already possess, but are unaware of.

His son.

"It must be his nephew!"

Suen rubbed his glass, took a sip, and couldn't help but think of the ghost ship captain. He had achieved his wish, but lost his love for his daughter. Their wishes had both come true, but in the process of achieving them, they had lost more than they had imagined.

What kind of monster is the Woman of the Silver Mirror? Does she have to take pleasure in the suffering of mortals?

"Uld, did he say anything?"

"During this time, he found a way to save the Grand Duke."

"real?"

"He led us to a monastery in Losanda! The Maison Monastery!" Lisela frowned as she said this, "The locals say it's a haunted monastery, and in fact, some disgraceful things happened there."

"What did you find?"

"A curse! A monk cursed the entire monastery!" Lysera suddenly said mysteriously. "I've discovered a secret: Losanda and Amantana seem to be two different gods!"

"That's a really big secret!"

Sun wasn't lying. The Lord of Dawn, Losanda, was seen as an aspect of the ancient sun god Amantana, akin to an avatar. Their followers gradually merged into one, especially in recent years, when priests praying to the Lord of Dawn received no response, instead turning to Amantana for answers.

It seems much better now; I pray to both and get a response.

"And then?" Suen asked, sipping his beer.

"We found a weapon that, according to records, was forged with the divine blood of the incarnation of the Saint of Losanda. By Illestress's grace, it's hard to imagine that any being in the past could harm an incarnation of a god! We secretly brought this weapon back to Baldur's Gate!"

Suen's expression became increasingly focused.

"Tonight, we prepare to resurrect Grand Duke Flamefist!"

He clenched his fist tightly!

Su En took a deep breath; the day when his injustice would be redressed seemed to be fast approaching!

Lisela seemed to understand Suen's feelings. She reached out and patted his shoulder, nodding silently. "Thank you for your hard work, my... ha!"

"It's an honor to know you! Or rather, it's incredibly lucky! Without you..."

Suen held Lisella's hand, and an inexplicable atmosphere lingered between them. Suen seemed to be able to feel her heartbeat growing stronger and stronger from that soft, smooth hand.

He smoothly picked up the conversation, saying shyly, "Well, you know, the tavern is opening in a few days, and I really need your support!"

Lisela's expectation vanished instantly, her expression turning cold. "Ha, next time for sure!"

Lisela raised her rapier, glanced at the gloating Alleria beside her, snorted coldly, and turned to leave.

"Hey, wait a minute, we haven't paid for the drinks yet!"

The future Baldur's Gate tycoon, Suen, experienced his first customer skip out on the bill, and was immediately heartbroken. "Even leaving a single penny would have been helpful!"

Sigh, Suen wiped the table clean, picked up the wine glass, and went into the kitchen, just about to wash the dishes...

A strong, foul stench wafted from my nostrils.

Suen slowly raised her eyes.

Two hunched figures stood before him. Their slender, tumor-covered hands scattered powder onto the ground. The mice trapped by their magic screamed as their skin sprouted long, thin, white mycelia.

"Hehe, young man, I told you, we'll meet again someday."

Aunt Ethel stared at Suen, her mouth splitting open to her ears, revealing a terrifying smile full of fangs.