Who could watch a white dragon roll around in a pile of gold coins like a little puppy, frolicking and bumping into things, without smiling?
The Black-Clad Cardinal, apparently.
But he did not stop Annan. The probing had gone far enough.
The Black-Clad Cardinal appeared impartial, but he was willing to give Annan, the "Holy Son," some leeway. As long as Annan did not violate the treaty too blatantly, they could look the other way.
After all, dragons took decades to mature and burned through money at a staggering rate. The investment was hardly proportionate to the return. Forget the notoriously shortsighted nobles—even Annan would never have dared propose forming a Dragon Rider Legion without the Free City Development Fund. At most, he would have hoped to get a few Dragon Eggs from the Northern Frontier and ask the Blue Dragon Group for a few Young Dragons.
Yet they had agreed even to that.
Elder and the white dragon were clearly close. He let the dragon nuzzle him for quite a while before putting away the Gold Narls. The white dragon showed no sign of guarding its food either—perhaps because Elder had promised it ten extra buckets of Silver-Scaled Fish for dinner.
"What's its name?"
Watching the man and dragon together, the Black-Clad Cardinal, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.
"It's Free City's Last White Dragon."
"I know. What's its name?"
"Its name is 'Free City's Last White Dragon.'"
Whatever the Black-Clad Cardinal had been about to say, he no longer wanted to say it.
After leaving Elder, Annan headed for his next destination.
"Why not just give them Magic Rings?" the Black-Clad Cardinal asked as they walked down the street.
To the Wealth Church, the Lady came first and money second.
Watching Annan throw money around by