Red Dragon, but chosen by all four gods

The bright afternoon sunlight, filtering through the heavy glass windows, turned a hazy gray, making the reception area somewhat gloomy.

The dim lighting was intended to highlight the soaring golden dragon relief carved on the dome.

The outer edge of the relief is infused with the bodily fluids of planktonic micro-flies, making each line shimmer and shine in the dim environment, as if a real golden dragon were soaring through the sky.

Beneath the golden dragon dome, exquisitely crafted statues of dragonborn guards stand on either side, bathed in the golden light of the dome, holding long halberds and standing silently, appearing majestic and sacred.

"To have the left hand of the great Dragon Lord, the Prime Minister of the Golden Dragon Court, the valiant and skilled captain of the Imperial Guard, and Lord Macaros personally come to handle the problems of White River Valley, is truly awe-inspiring..."

The man fawning over Macalos was François Gallachren, the lord of White River Valley, a bearded old man with a lewd expression.

To show his humility, his two wolf ears lay flat against his scalp, and his tail swished incessantly from under his robe.

But the wolf's tail, bald and gray from old age, swayed back and forth, which was truly disgusting to look at.

"François, I didn't come all the way from Longting to listen to your nonsense."

Despite his intense disgust for the old man, Makaros showed no emotion on his face.

François possessed all the flaws common to nobles: greed, slickness, meanness, vulgarity, and hypocrisy...

However, it must be admitted that he is very adept at handling territorial affairs.

During his forty years in charge of White River Valley, although there were many minor incidents, there was no major chaos like in other territories.

Most importantly, tax revenue and assets are stable.

Now that he is very old, Macaros is even a little worried that his successor will not be able to govern the territory stably and serve his master well.

"Yes, yes, please forgive my rudeness..." François seemed not to hear Macalos's interruption and continued to ramble on about apologizing.

Only when even someone as temperamental as Macaros began to show signs of impatience did he get to the point:

"The reason for this request to the Dragon Court is that the tribe that recently joined the White River Valley is in turmoil. I followed the orders of the Great Dragon Lord and settled them at the end of the White River, but these barbarians who inherited the blood of trolls are simply unreasonable..."

Makaros quickly extracted the key points.

A month and a half ago, an outside tribe migrated to Baihe Valley and seized land.

Because Celia was in a good mood, she came in person and wiped out half of that tribe. She then accepted the remaining tribe's allegiance and assigned François to settle them.

But François, that old man, would never part with the interests he held; in fact, he would take the opportunity to incite discord between the new tribes and those under his command in order to consolidate his power.

To solve this problem, we need to communicate with all the relevant tribes, and we also need to be wary of that old fox François interfering and profiting from it.

He sighed inwardly.

Although he really wanted to slap that old man to death.

But the truth is, for the sake of their master's interests, they will have to haggle with these tribes here for at least half a month.

……

The procession that had come to welcome the Dragon Court had dispersed, and the castle in Galahren had become somewhat noisy, as the regular banquet was about to begin.

Outside Galahren Castle, on a hillside not far away, a man and two dragons were hiding in the bushes.

"What am I doing?"

Hill stared blankly at the distant Galahren Castle, then glanced at the little red dragon beside him, who was showing great interest, and his expression gradually turned to terror.

"I disobeyed Lord Macalos's orders... and even took Young Master Heros out of the Dragon's Nest..."

Hill quickly calmed down and summed up his situation in the most straightforward, incisive, and direct way: "I'm finished."

"Don't worry so much, Hill. Dragons sleep for more than ten days at a time. It's normal for us not to show up in the dragon's nest for half a month, right?" Heros casually comforted Hill.

"No, I must send you back immediately! Then I will wash away my disloyalty with my blood!" Hill's eyes were resolute, as if he had already accepted his fate.

Heros was somewhat helpless. The cognitive modification he had been using through gentle persuasion was still insufficient in the face of catastrophic consequences. The fact that Hill had managed to endure the journey for the past few days was already a result of his low intelligence.

"Or, we could get to the dragon's nest before Macalos goes back, and then pretend we never came out, how about that?"

Heros's voice became ethereal and alluring once again.

"Really...really?" Hill's eyes darted around, and she seemed to waver again.

"Really." This time, Heros only tried to persuade her once, leaving the rest to her to fight with herself.

This effect is weaker than a forced modification, and Heros is becoming more and more adept at using this ability.

While Hill was convincing himself, Heros flew up to the treetop and looked at the distant castle with great interest.

Macalos's course only provides a general overview of the Godfall calendar; what one actually sees is quite different.

Although the interior decoration is not yet visible, it is clear from the outside that the castle's decoration is far more sophisticated than that of Dragon's Nest.

Golden dragons are among the dragons with the highest aesthetic standards. Generally speaking, they will have their servants meticulously craft their dragon nests.

However, nowadays, only Seraria's main activity area in the Dragon's Nest has some decorations; the other areas remain in a rough state.

Although it suits the red dragon's aesthetic, it is almost considered shabby for the golden dragon.

Hill.

"what?"

"Why do the nobles of Baihe Valley seem to live better than my mother?"

"Lord Macaros said that the master has a greater cause to undertake, the construction of the dragon's nest is also very expensive, the master is a righteous golden dragon and cannot enslave his servants to work like an evil dragon, and the nobles also spend a lot of money to govern their territories..."

Hill was still caught up in his self-persuasion and casually repeated what Macalos had said.

Upon hearing this, Heros nodded.

There are indeed greater undertakings, but magical experiments are incredibly expensive, and those involving the modification of the five-colored dragons are even more exorbitantly priced.

The construction of a dragon's nest is indeed more difficult than that of other races, but what followed was just an excuse.

Slavery?

For most races, being protected by a great dragon ensures safe reproduction and even allows them to summon the dragon to resolve disputes personally.

Even in the Golden Age, this should have been a blessing to praise the Dragon God every day.

Moreover, this was during the Godfall Era, when the gods had lost their protection.

These creatures enjoy the dragon's protection, yet they don't even contribute the cheapest human labor.

In the end, even the dragon's nest wasn't built, and the Golden Dragon Court was just a name without substance. Wasn't it just a matter of lacking money?

Heros gazed at the majestic and imposing Galahren in the distance, his eyes narrowing slightly.

The mighty dragon dwells in a stone cave, while these insects, who enjoy the dragon's protection, live a life of luxury in a castle.

No wonder I only have live horned sheep and demonic boars to eat; it turns out all my money has been embezzled by these nobles!

Mother's money!

In other words, it's your own money!

As the heir to the Golden Dragon Court, I should enjoy tender meat roasted with honey, sprinkled with carefully ground magic ore particles, and paired with elemental liquor fermented for three years and brimming with fire element!

How can the Golden Dragon Court become great if it treats these insects with deceit and pretense?

If the Golden Dragon Court is not great, what is there for me to inherit?

However, this is not something that can be accomplished immediately.

Heros knew very well that his purpose in coming out was to trigger the four statues in the Dream Palace.

It's not just about finding suitable combat targets to trigger "Crimson".

Furthermore, these noble families are wealthy and powerful, and perhaps they possess several magic books in their collections to train family spellcasters.

Those spellbooks are more basic, and might be able to help Heros trigger "Azure".

Just then, he seemed to hear a rustling sound.

Heros glanced down, and Hill, who had clearly sensed something, had already gripped the dagger and vanished into the shadows in the blink of an eye.

Only Anglu was dozing off by the tree roots, seemingly oblivious.

After three breaths, the sound of metal clashing came from afar.

However, the sound only lasted for a moment, followed by the sound of the knife handle being knocked off.

Heros took flight, his vision piercing through the shadows, and saw a petite figure firmly pinned to the ground by Hill in the bushes, unable to move.

He flew over and saw a girl with wolf ears and tail, downy hair on her cheeks, and wearing leather armor.

She stared in terror at Heros, who had landed before her: "Dragon... dragon... it's an evil red dragon!"

Upon hearing this, Heros's expression remained unchanged; he was not a narrow-minded dragon.

"Give her a lesson she'll never forget, Hill."