"I am not an assassin, Piero." Liszt's expression turned somewhat cold. Piero had actually mistaken him for an assassin for hire.
If not for the Aluminum Dragon, he would never have wanted to meddle in Piero's mess.
Indeed.
In his eyes, Pilov Earthrage was merely an ant he could crush at will. Yet as a Dragonrider, he possessed his own pride. Planning a war and personally seizing resources had already cost him, the Flame King, no small amount of dignity. If he now went and assassinated a nobleman, his reputation would be utterly ruined.
A tree lives for its bark; a man lives for his face.
He could fight other Dragonriders to the death, but he was unwilling to casually kill ordinary knights. This was a matter of principle.
Seeing Liszt's attitude, Piero grumbled inwardly, "You may not be an assassin, but you are a vampire!"
Naturally, he swiftly put on a fearful and reverent expression. "Ah, please forgive Piero's careless words, Your Majesty. Pilov is simply far too greedy. He forcibly abducted my son Florence Windchaser, intending to claim the Aluminum Dragon for himself. I truly have no way to deal with this."
"Pilov is indeed somewhat greedy. He must be punished accordingly." Liszt sneered. "One should enjoy resources according to one's ability. As an inheritor of ancient warrior traditions, he is destined to be eliminated by this age, yet he still acts with such reckless abandon. Very unwise."
On the surface, he was scolding Pilov for not knowing the rules; in truth, he was warning Piero. Inviting the king of a nation into the game naturally required paying an equivalent price.
"According to Your Majesty's meaning, if I am willing to pay eight Great Elves and ten Little Elves, as well as provide a clue to a sub-dragon,