After Ed delivered his impassioned declaration, he closed his eyes, straightened his neck, and awaited the dragon's descending claws.
"Hey, hey, hey, are you crazy?"
The Little Green in its mind was completely panicked—it had no idea what Ed wanted to do.
To humiliate a dragon like this and not run away—does it want to die even faster?
The tender sapling naturally couldn't understand the thoughts in the mind of the scheming conspirator, and Ed had no intention of explaining at the moment. He simply whispered "Don't worry" in his mind and continued to wait for death to Descent.
Time ticked by, Ed didn't know how much time had passed, but he dared not open his eyes or change his position.
The current situation is like training a hawk; both sides in the standoff are of considerable value to the other, and it remains to be seen who will be the first to lower their proud head.
Just as he was about to lose his footing, the dragon's heavy sigh reached Ed's ears:
"Human... I admit that your knowledge even surpasses that of the ancient sages."
I won't kill you, at least not until I figure out what's going on in your head.
They've fallen for their trap!
Ed was secretly delighted, but showed no outward reaction.
The claw lightly tapped Ed's temple before quickly retracting, and Ed slowly opened his eyes to meet those golden eyes:
"Now, you admit your shallowness?"
Faced with such a blunt question, the dragon was clearly finding it difficult to accept.
This is the final step in training the eagle: making it admit its own shortcomings.
The dragon was indeed furious at this moment, but Ed's advanced knowledge and learning were like an inexhaustible treasure trove. In the end, it nodded its head in great humiliation, indicating that it had lost this contest of knowledge.
Seeing this, Ed became even more confident, but he didn't appear overly arrogant.
He understood the importance of knowing when to stop. For a tyrannical creature like a dragon, blind obedience or humiliation were not the best ways to get along. The optimal solution was to demonstrate one's own value while constantly examining and managing the power dynamics between the two parties.
So his voice became much softer:
"Then please answer me, what you crave, what you want to possess, what you're trying to control—is it real 'money' or just some mere precious metal?"
A deep, hoarse but firm voice came through:
"Money."
Ed nodded, a look of "promising" on his face. He slowly stepped forward, getting closer and closer to the dragon's head, until the dragon's heavy, hot breath began to scorch his clothes before he finally stopped.
Ed opened his arms, his single eye gleaming with the light of talent, and addressed the dragon with eloquence:
"Next, I will tell you about the essence of how the world works--"
Inside the cave filled with gold coins, the great teacher Ed began to explain to his first native student the rudimentary Principles of Economics he had brought from his previous life.
Although Ed's ramblings would be exposed in less than half a minute in front of real professionals, his knowledge base could hold up for a long time in front of this wealthy student.
Ed then proceeded to talk about everything from copper coins and iron coins to bread worth 500,000 marks, captivating the dragon before him as if his entire life had been wasted.
Time passed little by little until the sun began to set.
With the help of numerous firsthand observations and historical examples, he finally managed to explain some basic knowledge about currency and money to the dragon.
To avoid losing his value prematurely, Ed naturally kept many valuable things hidden and didn't reveal them all at once. But even the little bit of knowledge that slipped through his fingers was enough to completely impress the dragon before him.
So there are actually so many ways to plunder wealth in the world?!
So even wealth that hasn't yet appeared can be forcibly seized through contracts?!
This far exceeded the capabilities of violence. At this moment, the dragon realized that its once-proud violence seemed to have lost its luster, becoming ordinary and mediocre.
Ed cleared his throat. Today's teaching task was complete. The students were very well-behaved; they neither yawned nor tried to eat the teacher. He hoped they would maintain this level of behavior next time.
He looked at the dragon still swimming in the ocean of knowledge and asked in the tone of a teacher with thirty years of experience:
"Did you understand? Was what I said clear?"
The dragon nodded in satisfaction, its gaze towards Ed completely devoid of its previous sharpness.
Seeing this, Ed continued:
"Alright, then let me test you. If it were you, how would you unify the currency throughout the Barony of Tur in the shortest amount of time?"
The dragon answered with violence almost without hesitation, stemming from its very instincts.
But after glancing at Ed, the dragon knew this wasn't the answer Ed wanted to hear, and given its ancient pact with the Tree Worship Church, violence simply couldn't achieve this.
However, the dragon couldn't think of a non-violent method for the time being, so it could only cast a puzzled look at Ed.
But Ed, completely ignoring the pleading look in his eyes, said:
"You'll learn about the plan later; now let's talk about the deal."
A transaction? What kind of transaction?
The dragon awoke from its slumber and realized that the young man before it was neither the great sage from before the Demonic Tide erupted nor the old, arrogant member of the dragon race, but a humble person who had initially asked it for a favor.
Thinking of this, the dragon felt a surge of murderous intent again, but looking at the boy's perfect face and the devilish mind within, it felt that he was already a priceless work of art just by standing there.
well.
The dragon sighed, unsure how to describe its current state of mind.
If Ed could read minds, he would immediately see that he had already gained the upper hand over the dragon in front of him, and that as long as he didn't do anything underhanded, the dragon wouldn't break off relations with him.
So, for a dragon, what are the tasks below?
I need to borrow money!
The dragon recalled the deal Ed had initially proposed, and his heart was once again filled with conflict.
Even Ed could see this. The red dragon in front of him had a very complicated look in its eyes, sometimes gentle (wanting to collect it), sometimes murderous (just want to kill it), and sometimes conflicted (should he lend it to it or not).
Ed broke the silence in the cave once again, looking at the Red Dragon and saying:
I can pay interest.
The dragon's breath hitched. Ah, right, there seems to be such a thing as interest in this world!
Why didn't I think of that before?
Oh, so it's because dragons never lend money, and no human or intelligent being has ever dared to borrow money from a dragon.
The dragon's thick neck twitched twice, as if swallowing saliva, as if it could make money without doing anything.
It looked down at Ed:
How much interest?
A look of reluctance and heartache crossed the boy's face. His outstretched hand trembled uncontrollably, and finally, with a shaky effort, he extended one finger, saying with a hint of reluctance:
"Annualized interest rate, one percent!"