Winning Irene Over (Part 1)

Not long after, Masergrera returned to the room where the two were, carrying an iron ore boulder the size of a van. Metalicana took the ore, pushed it in front of Igneel, and said warmly, "Brother Igneel, don't be shy, come on, eat! Eat! Eat!"

Looking at the dark, unappealing iron ore before him, Igneel felt that if he were to eat it, all those hundreds of mischievous little teeth in his mouth would definitely be retiring today. Just as he was about to refuse Metalicana's offer, the other man spoke first, saying, "Brother Igneel, if you consider me a brother, then eat it. If you don't want to, the door's behind you; you can go wherever you want!"

"Now that you've put it this way, how can I not eat it?"

After mentally cursing Metalicana, Igneel's hands trembled as he picked up the black ore and slowly moved it towards his mouth. However, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself, his body involuntarily pulled away from the Iron Block. Seeing Igneel's reluctance to eat, Metalicana quickly stepped forward to explain.

"Brother Igneel, eat up! Ore like this needs to be eaten right away after it's mined, otherwise it will oxidize. Once it oxidizes, the ore will taste much worse. Come on, eat up!"

"Brother Metalicana, I see you like this ore so much, why don't you keep it as a snack!"

"Brother Igneel, don't worry! I've got plenty of this stuff. This piece was specially prepared for you, so don't let me down!"

Faced with a forceful rebuttal, Igneel could only hold the ore in both hands, bringing it to his mouth. His mind raced, trying to think of a solution. After a mental overload, Igneel still couldn't come up with anything. In desperation, he decided to confess.

"Brother Metalicana, actually, I came here this time..."

Upon hearing Igneel suddenly change the subject, Metalicana immediately guessed his intention and promptly interrupted him.

"Since Brother Igneel isn't hungry, let's talk about something else. What do you think of the layout of my place, brother? Is it tasteful enough?"

With the topic being diverted, Igneel could only go along with it, saying, "Brother, the layout here is truly tasteful! Once I return to the secret realm of the Flame Dragon lineage, I will immediately order someone to rearrange it according to your layout."

"Alright! Since you have such plans, don't rush to leave. Stay here for a few days. Firstly, get familiar with the layout, and secondly, I can explain the principles and methods of the layout to you."

"Brother, I can learn about the layout from you later. Now, I..."

"Oh, by the way! Brother, you've come from afar, you must be tired. Masergrera, immediately arrange the best room for Brother Igneel so he can rest well. Remember, the best room!"

"Yes! Fire Dragon King, please come with me!"

Igneel wanted to say something more, but Metalicana had already turned and left the room, leaving only Masergrera, who had helped him get the room.

Dragunov, Royal Palace

"Yelibell's side, and I need to step up my efforts with Irene's side too!"

After processing what happened with Yelibell, Sordil, eager to evolve into a proper dragon as soon as possible, began to find ways to accelerate his learning of Augmented Magic. Unfortunately, the student was impatient, but the teacher wasn't. No matter how much Sordil pleaded with Irene, Her Majesty the Queen always had an expression that said, "This can't be rushed; it must be done slowly."

After failing to get any updates, Sordil decided to use a secret technique that was widely known in his previous life in order to achieve his goal.

"Yes, General Oddek, would you please pay attention?"

"I'm so sorry, Your Her Majesty Irene! I've been feeling dizzy all day and have trouble concentrating."

"General Oddek, are you alright? Should I get a doctor to take a look at you?"

"I wouldn't dare trouble Your Her Majesty Irene with your worries. I'm just heartbroken because I miss someone."

"Oh? Who is so charming that he is worthy of such concern from Your Excellency, General?"

"This person? He's standing right in front of me right now!"

Caught off guard by this unexpected approach, Irene's cheeks instantly flushed red. Lacking any real understanding of matters between men and women, she felt her heart pounding and her body burning with desire. Seeing the emotional manipulation working, Sordil decided to press on, aiming to take Irene Heights in one fell swoop.

"Your Her Majesty Irene, have you gained weight recently?"

"Bang"

Irene, who was initially shy, was instantly propelled into the air by Sordil's question, and then stormed off to her palace alone.

"Ah!"

"Boom!"

As Sordil struggled to climb out of the crater he had created, he jotted down his incorrect attack routes on parchment to avoid repeating the same mistake. However, Sordil miscalculated one thing: the terrible consequences of angering a woman.

After that, Irene didn't see him for three whole days, abruptly halting his progress in Augmented Magic. This dismal outcome reminded Sordil of something a roommate had said in his previous life during university, "Be careful when flirting with girls, be cautious with your words." But what was done was done, and Sordil could only patiently await Queen Irene's summons.

Three days later, Irene, her anger subsided, finally summoned Sordil to the palace again. Arriving at the training grounds with practiced ease, Sordil noticed that Irene's face was extremely pale, and she appeared somewhat haggard. Compared to three days prior, Irene seemed to have been seriously ill. Recalling his words from three days ago, Sordil considered a possibility.

"Your Her Majesty Irene, you wouldn't have stopped eating properly because of that joke I made three days ago, would you?"

Hearing Sordil's words and thinking about her diet over the past three days, Irene felt incredibly bitter, but on the surface she put on an expression that said, "You're overthinking it."

"These past few days have been quite busy with official duties, which has led to some sleep deprivation, so I look a bit tired. I apologize for the inconvenience caused, General Oddek!"

The straight-laced Sordil, upon hearing that Irene's change wasn't caused by his words a few days ago, felt a great sense of relief. With the goddess's problem resolved, Sordil immediately remembered that he had interrupted his magic studies for three days, and hurriedly said, "Your Her Majesty Irene, you must arrange your rest time properly, otherwise your body won't be able to handle it. Then, the original matters won't be resolved, and subsequent matters will be delayed!"

"Hmph! After all that talk, aren't you just blaming me for delaying your learning of Augmented Magic?"

As a qualified teacher, Irene mentally criticized Sordil before beginning to perform her duties.

"I've already explained two ways to Augmented Magic. Now I'll teach you the third method—how to imbue objects with magic, turning them into Magic Soldier. The first step in creating Magic Soldier is..."

Sordil listened intently to every detail Irene recounted, while simultaneously planning his attack on Irene Heights. Meanwhile, on Irene's side, Sordil's mismanagement caused the attack plan to stall, and across the Polson Grand Canyon, chaos comparable to a world war erupted.