CHAPTER 443: CHAPTER 265: I REFUSE!

Another week flashed by in the blink of an eye.

Under the tacit and mutually agreed-upon indulgence of King Klinsmann of Luwalden and Nifadora, the High Elves’ Gloomy Lyre, aided by two Metal Dragons, became increasingly rampant in their raids on supply lines.

So much so that Luwalden’s siege on the Capital of Vitali visibly slackened at a speed discernible to the naked eye.

This caused the nobles of Vitali, already stressed from being besieged by the nations of Central Earth, to celebrate exuberantly.

Even many mid-to-upper-level military officers and staff harbored an optimistic outlook on this sudden war of national extermination:

At this rate, this unjust war launched by Luwalden, seizing upon a nation in peril, seems likely to fizzle out.

After all, Luwalden’s newly recovered national strength simply cannot sustain a protracted war of attrition like this.

But what few knew, contradicting common sense, was that due to the intervention of the foreign dragons under David’s command, a trade network spanning the New and Old Continent—even occasionally sourcing goods from Barto Hell—had quietly taken shape with the Port of Wallens as its hub.

Thus, since the Katjana Volcano crisis, the massive demands of this war had not only allowed the Blue Dragons of the Kutaro Desert—who had switched careers from pirates to ’arms traders’—to earn lavish profits, but Luwalden’s originally sluggish and deteriorated economy was also improving with each battle... and even showing signs of overheating.

This was evident from the living conditions of the commoners in the Port of Wallens.

「One day.」

David, who was at the Dragon Nest playing with his daughter—and a "sister" who had shoehorned her way in—finally received an encrypted telepathy from the half-Drow Alianna:

"The Elves have entered the net; the transaction is about to begin."

Finally beginning, huh? David stretched his front claws forward, his tail arching upwards, as he let out a grand, lazy stretch.

This movement caused the red hatchling, Octavia, who had been sleeping on his back, to tumble off headfirst.

"AUNG?!!" Octavia, startled awake, glared ferociously, baring her teeth like a feisty silver tabby cat.

Only when she saw her dragon dad in front of her did she abruptly pause. She adopted a soft, cute, yet gluttonous expression, stretching her neck to nuzzle against David’s belly. However, her elder sister Satilaesa, unable to bear the sight, used her claw to pull her younger sister away.

The two short-tempered hatchling sisters immediately started tussling. This gave the green hatchling Svetlana, who had been pushed to the periphery, an opportunity to swoop in and try to commandeer the spot most easily coiled around by their dragon dad.

However, this time, her attempt at ’two dragons squabble, the green dragon prospers’ was foiled before it could succeed. David picked Svetlana up by the scruff of her neck with his claw and placed her in front of a somewhat dazed Tania:

"You be the referee. Don’t favor any side. I have to step out for a moment." This was David’s attitude towards his daughters’ constant brawling.

Fight! Go all out! Dad’s right here watching; you won’t kill each other.

Only he, as a Dragon, knew that Dragons and humans were entirely different species and couldn’t be educated in the same way.

In some ways, they resembled cats. They seemed to be fighting, but they were actually honing their inherited draconic combat and hunting skills on their siblings—fundamentals for their survival in this world.

A Dragon that couldn’t fight wouldn’t survive alone in the wild.

Just like Shadila, the Green Dragon who had once holed up in her nest for over sixty years and ultimately had to seek shelter with her sister Nifadora.

And like Shadila’s daughter Svetlana, who, despite being the smartest of the three hatchlings, was not only lazy and gluttonous but also inclined to just ’lie flat’ at every opportunity. This left her father David somewhat at a loss, but it wasn’t too big a deal.

Svetlana’s intelligence had long surpassed that of an adult university student from Blue Star.

So he chose to respect his daughter’s wishes.

So what if she likes to lounge in the nest all day?

Supporting one Shadila is much the same as supporting another; it’s just one more mouth to feed.

After all, a Dragon’s lifespan is long enough to indulge her for a lifetime, and he’s willing to do so. Besides, there’s the ’Little Sloth’ who will probably be even lazier to keep her company.

Just as David’s thoughts settled, Tania, on the other hand, became discontented and rose to her feet.

"Brother David, what are you up to now behind my back?"

"Catching thieves, a bunch of Elf thieves. What, do you want to tag along again?" David was somewhat exasperated with this sister who shadowed him persistently.

But she was already a young Silver Dragon, after all, no longer a child. He couldn’t keep pawning her off on their dragon father, Attilicia, every day.

"Can’t I?" Sensing David’s reluctance, Tania’s tail drooped immediately.

Faced with Tania’s somewhat disheartened expression, David fell silent for a moment. He then flicked the tip of his tail across the young dragon’s head and sighed, "I’m sorry, the situation has been growing more chaotic lately, and even I can’t predict what I might encounter next. For example, last time I went to the Gloomy Region searching for the Spirit Sucker master brain, I ended up chasing it to the Grey Wilderness. Guess who we encountered?"

Before the somewhat transfixed Tania could respond, David smirked and said, "Damn it, we actually ran into the Platinum Dragon God Bahamut, who had just slain the Putrid Dragon God. Bloody hell!"

"...Huh? Wait, wait! Did you just directly say the Platinum Dragon God’s name? No! His Excellency, the Platinum Dragon God... isn’t he missing? Let me process this!" Tania’s mind felt instantly fried by David’s abrupt revelation.