CHAPTER 367: CHAPTER 17: CHRISTINA

The Dragon Clan is divided into the Golden Dragon Clan and the Black Dragon Clan, which are just the major categories. Strictly speaking, dragons aren’t limited to just Golden Dragons and Black Dragons. Beyond these two are the Oceanic Dragon Clan. However, the Oceanic Dragon Clan lives deep in the depths of the ocean, and has very few opportunities to appear, so much so that they are barely mentioned even in human novels.

Within the Golden Dragons, aside from the most iconic and powerful Gold Dragons, there are also Silver Dragons and Green Dragons.

Within the Black Dragons, aside from Black Dragons, there are also Red Dragons, Azure Dragons, and Poison Dragons.

Even in the Oceanic Dragon Clan, there are divisions such as Pale Dragons, Blue Dragons, and Purple Dragons...

Very few people have actually seen all the varieties of dragons, and this applies even to the Dragon Clan itself. After all, dragons are not fond of living with other races, and the various clans are isolated with almost no interaction. Most who claim to understand dragons are merely repeating hearsay. Some have only flipped through relevant texts.

Andrew was obviously one of these people. He had read about dragons in ancient elven texts and knew of Green Dragons belonging to the Golden Dragon Clan and Azure Dragons belonging to the Black Dragon Clan. However, Andrew did not know that the so-called Green Dragons of the Golden Dragon Clan actually had a golden hue mixed with green light, and were fundamentally still golden. Meanwhile, the so-called Azure Dragons of the Black Dragon Clan were actually dark azure in color. Christina, in fact, was neither of these.

...

"Haunted? Are you saying there are undead? The task we received mentioned undead."

"Uh... You could say so. Anyway, once night falls, eerie sounds start coming from this place. People claim to have seen ghosts here. The worst part is, this used to be a graveyard. So now everyone says the place is haunted. It’s officially ranked as the top haunted house in Linlopes."

Andrew glanced at the mansion in the distance.

The main building was three stories tall, with two two-story wings. It looked like it had at least a hundred or two hundred rooms. In terms of architectural scale, it was even larger than a typical castle. Surrounding the property was its expansive garden, filled with a variety of landscaped plants.

A mansion like this was rare in Linlopes. In fact, it wasn’t common in the entire North. It’s not because the house itself was particularly problematic. The key issue was the plants. Maintaining so many garden plants in the cold northern climate required considerable manpower and effort.

Andrew turned back to look at the white-haired old man standing before him.

Despite his age, he was quite burly, with broad shoulders and a thick waist. His fists were twice the size of Andrew’s. His face was rough, adorned with a heavy beard, and he wore a coarse robe made of rugged fabric. The seams were coming apart, making him look like an ordinary commoner.

Of course, as one of Linlopes’s few local tycoons, he had some distinguishing features. For instance, a ruby ring as big as a pigeon egg on his finger, and a gold necklace as thick as two fingers.

"Mr. Eugene," Andrew said softly, "So you hope that we help you drive away the undead haunting this place? Is that right? I noticed that the bounty listed here is two hundred gold coins. If it’s just dealing with some weak undead, this price seems a bit steep."

"You’ve hit the key point, Mr. Duru." Eugene burst out laughing.

"Apologies, Mr. Eugene. As I’ve already mentioned, I am not Mr. Duru. My name is Conrad."

"That doesn’t matter, does it? What your name is is irrelevant. After all, you’re part of the Blood Elf and Dragon Mercenary Group." The bearded Eugene scratched his round belly and continued, "This price is indeed high. Honestly, I initially wanted to offer only ten gold coins, but the adventurer hall told me that ten gold coins wouldn’t get me a sixth-level mercenary group. So, I had to raise it to two hundred gold coins. If you’re willing to lower the price, I’d be very happy."

"We don’t intend to do that, sir." Andrew shrugged.

"Alright, then let’s get to the point." The bearded Eugene took a deep breath and said with a frustrated look, "Actually, I’ve already hired other mercenary groups before—three of them in total. The first one said they found nothing but still took my deposit. The second group was a scam; they claimed they resolved the issue, but they didn’t. The third group partnered with me to deceive others, pretending the problem was solved... but people weren’t convinced. Well, after all that, you probably understand my objective isn’t to solve the problem. Who knows how to solve it anyway? I certainly don’t and don’t expect you to either. My goal is to make others believe the problem is solved, so I can sell this mansion. You get what I mean, right?"

Andrew and Christina stared at the bearded Eugene in stunned silence.

Seeing their lack of reaction, Eugene quickly added, "I saw you in the newspaper. Now all of Linlopes is talking about you. You’re the popular mercenary group, especially Miss Christina. You’re a Green Dragon."

Christina nodded her head.

"Dragons have a dragon aura—that thing you unleash that causes all creatures within kilometers, even ghosts, to run away."

"There is such a thing as dragon aura, but it’s not that powerful, sir." Christina quickly clarified.

"That’s not important, not important. As long as others believe it, that’s enough." Eugene spread his hands and said, "You just need to stay here for one night, and tomorrow morning I’ll bring the press over for an interview. All you need to do is tell them that the ghosts have been driven away. That way, I can sell the mansion quickly. Of course, you don’t necessarily have to stay here. You just need to show up tomorrow morning. What I mean is... can the commission fee be cut in half?"