Chapter 42

The "Good Eye" shopkeeper and his companions had revealed their true forms, and every one of them was handsome or beautiful—except the one without a face.

The shopkeeper, Snowflake, looked about twenty-five or twenty-six. She was tall and well-proportioned, with long silver-white hair that had an exotic air about it. Her long legs were especially alluring. By Earth's standards of beauty, she had the rare nine-head-tall proportions ideal for a model. Her slender waist and generous curves made her eye-catching even when she sat perfectly still. If she walked around Dragon Roar Town looking like that, there would probably be a whole crowd of lecherous men so distracted they walked into walls, along with countless ears and waists swollen red from their wives' pinches.

Frost, who was in charge of luring in customers, was Snowflake's younger brother. In his true form, he was a young man of about seventeen or eighteen, with short golden hair as brilliant as sunlight and a smile even brighter than the sun. He looked every inch a friend to women and a sworn enemy to men. Yet beneath that sunny, amiable exterior lay a cold and ruthless heart, a reminder of how wrong it was to judge someone by their appearance.

Sleet, who managed the magic array, was the youngest of the three siblings. She looked about twelve or thirteen, roughly the same age as Palin. Her softly curled golden hair and delicate features made her look like a doll, and her expression always held a touch of innocence and curiosity. To certain people of low character and peculiar tastes, she might even have been more appealing than her older sister, Snowflake.

As for Phil, the shop's diner and enforcer, there was no body under his armor, so there was naturally no reason for him to take it off. Either way, that was just how things were.

This quartet were both the owners and employees of Good Eye, a long-established shop in Dragon Roar Town, and the "Tyrant of Extreme Cold," who held sway over the Four Northwest Towns. Yes, the so-called Tyrant of Extreme Cold was not a giant dragon, but a group of four: three dragons and an armored oddity.

Among the four, Snowflake was a recently matured Ice Dragon. As a member of a rare high-ranking dragon race, she was far stronger than others her age. She could have made her mark even in a prosperous region. If she hadn't needed to look after her younger siblings, she would have long since set out for a wider, more distant world in search of a path to greater power.

Frost and Sleet were both common Rock Dragons. Among dragonkind, they were ordinary folk. Their origins were rather tragic: their irresponsible parents laid their eggs in a cave on a sheer cliff, then disappeared without a trace. Snowflake happened to pass by, found them, and hatched and raised them.

Among dragons, the bond formed by raising someone was far closer than a blood tie. To Frost and Sleet, Snowflake was their mother. But after the not-yet-grown Ice Dragon at the time violently suppressed their use of that title, she became their big sister instead.

The three siblings initially lived in a barren mountain far from human society. Later, Snowflake happened upon the ruins of an ancient temple and used them to build a fairly secure dragon lair. Only then did they move here.

Ice Dragons weren't good at close combat; they were born masters of ice magic. Rock Dragons were the opposite: their aptitude for magic was average, but they were natural fighters. The three young dragons' abilities complemented each other perfectly. With their lair, built around a powerful defensive array, and the formidable adventurer Phil, whom Snowflake had met by chance, a perfect team was born.

For the past fifty years, they had operated under the name "Tyrant of Extreme Cold," staking their claim on a mountain and collecting protection money. In their spare time, they disguised themselves as humans and ran a general store within their territory.

They hadn't opened the general store to gather intelligence; they had simply done it for fun. Snowflake loved searching through piles of junk for valuable items—in other words, "bargain hunting"—and wanted to share the joy with others. As for Frost and Sleet... in their eyes, whatever their big sister did was right. In case of exceptions, please refer to the previous statement. Phil, meanwhile, never had an opinion about anything.

Snowflake had a rather unusual way of telling her story. She conjured a flat board in the air with magic, then sent silvery frost dancing freely across it, sketching scenes like chalk drawings as she explained.

This method of combining pictures and words was vivid and concrete, and quite persuasive. Sui Xiong kept nodding along. But when he saw the scene of "three dragons and a suit of armor instantly turning into ordinary people and honestly doing business," he finally couldn't help interrupting.

"You call yourselves honest businesspeople?" he cut in. "What kind of businessperson ambushes their own customers?"

"A deity arriving with his followers to visit three young dragons—would you call that a friendly gesture?" Snowflake drew a huge, vicious jellyfish holding a knife and fork, accompanied by a sinister-looking mage with slanted eyes, launching a cruel attack on several helpless little dragons. "You wanted to collect some 'materials,' no doubt... And would you care whether the materials were alive or dead?"

"If your younger brother hadn't tried to attack my follower, I wouldn't have shown myself, let alone struck!" Sui Xiong snapped. "I'm not crazy! Fighting three dragons and an armored monster whose true nature I don't even know might not hurt me, but it would put my follower in great danger! I don't have many followers. I'd have to be insane to make Palin risk his life for a little bit of material!"

Palin was moved to tears by this. The four members of the shop's team exchanged glances and couldn't help nodding slightly.

"...It seems it was all a misunderstanding," Phil rumbled, drawing his conclusion.

"A misunderstanding? Of course it was just a misunderstanding." Sui Xiong smiled and looked at Frost.

The source of the misunderstanding was obviously Frost's overreaction.

"So you're saying we were the ones who provoked you?" Realizing he had become the culprit, Frost couldn't help speaking in a low voice. "Isn't it only natural to be on guard when faced with dragon-slaying magic?"

"We all know that spell wasn't much of a threat to dragons," Sui Xiong sneered. "You just felt that the dignity of a higher life-form had been challenged and wanted to take back that spellbook."

"Wasn't I right to?"

Sui Xiong gave a scornful snort. "Dragons are higher life-forms, are they? Then what does that make a deity? If a dragon's dignity can't be challenged, what about a deity's? I don't like to waste time arguing. If you're not convinced, let's fight again!"

He pointed his tentacles at each of his four opponents. "This time, we'll go outside and fight somewhere deserted. I'll teach you, you arrogant brat, that young people shouldn't go around acting like bullies. Not every dragon is entitled to call himself—Dragon! Proud! Sky!"

As the two sides glared at each other, ready to fight again at any moment, the shop gradually filled with cold air and murderous intent. Palin broke into another cold sweat and hurried to mediate. "It's just half a spellbook. Is it really worth having a major battle over? To be honest, I'm not that interested in dragon-slaying magic..."

"This has nothing to do with you." Frost waved a hand, cutting him off. "Putting that spellbook in the box was a mistake. That mistake needs to be corrected!"

"Teaching an ignorant brat who thinks he's Dragon Proud Sky a lesson is my duty as a senior in the martial world," Sui Xiong said with a sneer. "As an elder, passing on a little life experience to the younger generation is perfectly understandable, even if I have to be a bit rough about it..."

"I don't see how a jellyfish counts as an elder. Are you a frog or something?"

Just as the atmosphere grew tense once more, Sleet, who had remained silent until then, spoke up. "Brother, if I remember correctly, the things in that box... you put them there, didn't you?"

Frost froze for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. I've been in charge of the bargain box for the past few years."

"Then... could my brother, who has always thought himself so clever and capable, tell his ignorant little sister why he would put a dragon-slaying spell up for sale?" Sleet spoke slowly and softly, leaving Frost looking awkward as he glanced around, unsure what to say.

He had deliberately glossed over that part earlier, but now his little sister had brought it up in particular. He was at a complete loss for words.

"That's right! Frost~ Something this dangerous should've been destroyed outright. Why did you put it up for sale?" Snowflake turned her head and smiled at Frost, her expression warm and friendly. On the "blackboard" beside her, however, a little dragon worked carelessly, tossing all sorts of things around at random.

Frost looked even more awkward, his smile nearly frozen on his face.

"I saw him sorting out that box. He just grabbed a pile of unidentified items, couldn't even be bothered to sort them, and tossed them in any old way," the armored man rumbled, delivering the final blow. "If we took a closer look, maybe we'd even find swords specially designed to kill dragons in there..."

"Indeed. Quite a few of those items came from 'dragon slayers' who got themselves killed," Snowflake said, her smile growing ever gentler. By then, Frost's forehead was already covered in cold sweat.

"I... I'll go identify everything in the box right now!" he said hastily.

"Not just the box. The basement too," Sleet added. "That pile of dusty, jumbled-up stuff has seriously harmed the healthy physical and mental development of your young sister. As a responsible big brother, don't you think you should clean it all up and give your sister a clean place to live?"

"You could just not live in the basement..."

Snowflake flicked her hand, and a glint of cold light struck Frost in the forehead like a piece of chalk. "Enough! Get to work!"

Frost let out a helpless sigh, dragged the big box along, and headed into the back room.

Needless to say, the careless young dragon would have to spend a long time with the piles of junk he hated.

After they sent the young fellow with a bit of a Dragon Proud Sky complex off to work among the junk, the conversation grew much more amicable.

In truth, neither Sui Xiong, Palin, Snowflake, Sleet, nor Phil was the aloof, unapproachable sort. Now that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, there was no problem talking things over.

Before long, the discussion had already turned to how they could work together and make it a win-win for everyone.

Thanks to Tencent Literature book reviewer "Lava Fire" for the wonderful long review and generous tip, and thanks as well to readers Yong Zai Meng Feixiang and Wu Wunai for their generous support. Your support is what keeps me updating!