Claiming War Merit Is Only Natural (Fourth Update, Bonus Chapter for 600 Monthly Votes)

The Sapphire Dragon did not live in the Sapphire Grand Duke's castle—Blue Sky Supporting Mountain Palace.

Instead, it dwelled in the cliffside valley beneath Blue Sky Supporting Mountain Palace, a place known as Blue Dragon Garden. Blue Dragon Garden was immense, perhaps even larger than Coral Island. Every day, palace servants entered Blue Dragon Garden to collect the gems produced by the Sapphire Dragon and search for mineral deposits that had already been infected and crystallized.

Sometimes, the Grand Duke trained the Blue Blood Knights in Blue Dragon Garden, or hunted there—great numbers of wild beasts and Magic Beasts were raised here as a source of food for the Sapphire Dragon.

When the dragon-slaying incident occurred, the Grand Duke had been hunting with Marquis Bull.

Then the dragon-slaying incident erupted.

"According to the rumors we have gathered, Marquis Bull and his magicians had secretly set up an enormous magic array in Blue Dragon Garden long ago. The moment the Sapphire Dragon stepped into it, they activated the array and severely wounded the Sapphire Dragon... Marquis Bull fled Blue Dragon Island amid the chaos."

The secret messenger laid out everything he knew in full detail. "The Grand Duke issued the order to encircle and suppress Iron Hoof Island, then left Blue Sky Supporting Mountain Palace. It was only discovered several days later... Meanwhile, Mrs. Salite has taken control of the palace. With Marquis Nesta's support, she is purging suspicious servants from the court."

The Sapphire Grand Duke had vanished, taking his dragon with him.

The Grand Duke's wife, Mrs. Salite of the Big Flower Cymbidium Family, was purging palace servants who might have been involved in the dragon-slaying incident, supported by her brother, Marquis Nesta Big Flower Cymbidium.

The Grand Duke's two sons, along with his son-in-law Marquis Grington, had come