Dragon's Lair

The dragon keenly sensed Richard's ill intentions and swiftly swung its tail, blocking Richard's view.

Richard had no choice but to look at the airspace behind the dragon's flight path, only to discover there was no trail at all.

That was rather strange.

Generally speaking, when an aircraft powered by jet engines flew through the air, its engines expelled high-temperature gases containing large amounts of water vapor behind it. If the ambient temperature was low enough, those hot, humid gases would rapidly mix with the surrounding air, causing their temperature to drop sharply and their humidity to rise dramatically. Combined with the particulate dust expelled, they could quickly condense into contrails—the lines planes were commonly said to leave in the sky.

But the dragon showed no such phenomenon. Perhaps the surrounding temperature was not low enough, or perhaps it was because... it flew using some unknown third method, such as... magic.

There seemed to be records in the Chapter of Munro that among first-ring advanced spells, there was an Anti-Gravity Spell that allowed living creatures to fly.

Then could the dragon really be...

Richard looked at the dragon and asked, "Gregory, let me ask you something. When you breathed fire just now, did you use Dragon Breath, or so-called magic? If you used magic, that means you're also a spellcaster, right?

"In that case, the structure inside your body should be similar to that of a Wizard. You should possess something like a spell source, and your flight is accomplished through magic?"

"Roar!" The dragon made a sound but did not answer. Instead, he asked in a rumbling voice, "Boy called Richard, you've asked me so many questions. Can I ask you one first?"

"Hmm?" Richard's eyes flickered. He nodded. "Of course."

The dragon immediately opened his mouth to speak.

But the next moment, Richard said, "However, you already asked your first question, Gregory."

"..." Silence. The dragon called Gregory remained silent for a long time, as if processing Richard's words, or perhaps holding back a roar. After quite a while, he rumbled again, "Then can I ask you two questions?"

Richard said, "You can, but... that was the second one."

"...Then can I ask you four questions!"

"You can. But you've already used them up again."

"Nonsense! When did that happen? I clearly only asked you three questions in total."

"Just now."

"..." Silence. A long silence. Richard could clearly feel Gregory's massive body trembling. In truth, Richard already knew what the other party wanted to ask. He was deliberately doing this because he did not want him to get his way.

But Gregory had no intention of giving up so easily in the face of this setback. He simply roared, "Then can I ask you ten questions?!"

In Gregory's view, there was no way Richard could deal with that, right? But Richard's solution was simple. He said lightly, "No."

"I... Roar roar roar!" Gregory was on the verge of going berserk. He had originally wanted to settle things in a more gentlemanly manner, but now he could no longer be bothered to consider that. He roared, "Damned boy called Richard, I don't care whether you allow it or not! Let me tell you again: you are my captive now. I kidnapped you! I'm taking you to my daughter. If you dare disobey me, if you dare talk nonsense again, I'll roast you first, then throw you out of the sky. Do you understand?!"

Richard raised an eyebrow slightly. Just as Gregory thought Richard had finally settled down, Richard slowly said, "By the way, someone who is kidnapped should be called a hostage, or a victim. Someone captured by the enemy after losing a battle or surrendering is called a captive. Those aren't really the same concept, are they?

"Also, a threat is nothing more than a threat to one's life. But a person only has one life. If you roast me and then throw me down, I won't die twice. So why do the same work twice? Wouldn't it be simpler to choose just one method of threatening me?

"And besides..."

"Enough! Roar!" If Gregory could have covered his ears at that moment, he would have done so without hesitation. But he could not. He could only let out a roar to drown out Richard's voice.

At that moment, Gregory regretted it. He regretted kidnapping Richard. Perhaps throwing Richard straight down right now would be a good choice. That way...

Gregory's vertical Dragon Eye slowly shifted...

Afternoon.

The crimson Setting Sun sank toward the western horizon.

Above a forest, the dragon Gregory flew as he continuously rumbled, "Shut up! Roar! Shut up! Roar..."

This was the solution he had finally come up with—if he wanted to stop Richard from talking and asking questions, he only needed to make sure his own voice was louder than Richard's.

Richard, seated on his back, looked slightly helpless. He gazed at the lush forest below, his eyes flickering as he muttered to himself, "We've probably left the Blue Lion Kingdom by a thousand miles or so. This should be some other kingdom or empire now. In that case..."

"Roar! Shut up! Roar! Shut up..."

"..."

"Puff—puff—puff—"

Suddenly, Gregory beat his wings and dove downward. Richard turned his head and saw a small, not particularly tall mountain rising from the forest. On the mountain stood an enormous Black Castle.

"Hm? Dragons don't live in caves, but in castles instead? Though that differs from the legends, it... does seem somewhat reasonable..."

"Roar! Shut up! Roar! Shut up..."

"..."

"Whoosh-thud, puff!"

Gregory's enormous body landed atop the mountain, his four limbs stamping four huge depressions into the ground. The first thing he did afterward was violently shake his body, flinging Richard off his back.

It would be nice if he fell to the ground in utter embarrassment. Gregory thought vengefully.

But he was disappointed.

With Wind Agility empowering him, Richard landed lightly while carrying his suitcase.

Gregory glanced at him, turned his head away disdainfully, then shrank all over. Before Richard's slightly surprised eyes, he transformed into an adult man in his forties. His face looked somewhat sallow, but the explosively bulging muscles beneath his clothes, along with his fierce bearing and imposing gaze, made him seem formidable.

"This is... a transformation spell?"

"Ahem, shut up!" Gregory said, rubbing his dry throat.

But in human form, his voice was clearly not as loud as it had been in Dragon Form, and he could no longer drown out Richard's voice.

Richard could be heard asking, "When one living being transforms into another, the volume and structure should be completely different, right? More importantly, the mass is different too. In that case, it violates the law of conservation of mass. I'm afraid old Lomonosov wouldn't be able to keep his coffin lid down. So..."

"Shut up, boy..." Gregory shouted a few more times. Realizing he truly could not stop Richard from talking, he somewhat gave up and turned to walk away, muttering, "Just wait. Someone will deal with you."

Just as Richard thought Gregory was heading toward the nearby Black Castle, he unexpectedly turned and walked into a cave beside it.

"So... he still lives in a cave?" Richard's eyes flickered.

The next moment, his brows furrowed. He suddenly sensed something and spun around, only to see a somewhat petite figure walking up from the foot of the mountain.