âWe will not tolerate this disrespect!! We need to have a proper discussion about this,â said Marlborough, standing in front of the scenery. Eliazaâs face twisted slightly, but she maintained her composure very well. However, her expression suddenly became very animated as she realized that she could use this opportunity to hurt the temple a little bit. After all, maintaining justice always comes with a price, does it not?
After Eliaza finished negotiating with Marlborough, she started reaching out to the priests of various temples. Zazesspur was a very important city in the trading network so the population was quite high and most of the main gods had temples there. It could be considered a very religious town, although it couldnât compare to the Silver Dragonâs hometown of Tethyr. Because of this, the various temples were more concerned about the legendary necromancer than local municipal affairs. They put a lot of effort into recruiting adventurers by using their various channels and by offering large sums of money.
Claudius was out in the wild, itâs not like he feared the cold temperature. The only thing that annoyed him was, how easy it was to get dirty. As for food, it didnât matter since a crimson dragonâs tastes were slightly different from a human and after so many years, Claudius was already used to it. To him, steaks served in the city pubs tasted the same as baked ox. In fact, he thought that burnt or raw things were more delicious than that food that had been meticulously prepared. He was a bit bored; he still hadnât waited long enough for the Silver Dragon to emerge.
Fortunately, Claudius found something to do â just now, someone dressed as a ranger jumped out of the mountainside forest, went to the edge of the pit, and gazed inside. He was immediately recognized by Claudius, who shouted out âAha! Itâs you! What was your name again? Achilles! Hey hey hey, kid, we meet again!â Between dragons, thereâs no way to disguise their appearance to each other. Thatâs how Claudius was able to instantly tell that the pitiful ranger in front of him was actually Achilles the Bronze Dragon, and how Achilles was able to instantly recognize the barbarian which had suddenly jumped out from behind him was his worst nightmare, Claudius the Crimson Dragon. âWhy are you here!â The Bronze Dragon thought that today really was not his day â it seemed like a good time to go to the Platinum Dragon Bahamut. The Bronze Dragon clumsily dropped his bow and arrow â itâs true that it was a magical artifact but even if you didnât use your brain youâd still know that against the Crimson Dragon, it was useless. After the Bronze Dragon dropped his weapons, he immediately began considering whether he should teleport, or transform into his dragon form and fight it out. However, the next words from Claudius immediately dispelled any thoughts of fighting.
âIf you dare to consider transforming into a dragon, I promise today will be your last day in this world! And donât even think about running! Thereâs not enough time for you to start your teleportation! Whatâs more, as you know my situation is a bit special, itâs very easy for me to disable your spells! I donât think you want to be sent to the Nine Hells of Baator, so come, Sit down and letâs talk it out!â The Crimson Dragon casually gave the Bronze Dragon an ultimatum. Achilles ground his teeth, but he didnât dare take the risk. The Crimson Dragonâs aura made it extremely difficult to use his teleportation ability, and his spellâs structure crumbled. Achilles was too scared to try again, since he didnât know what might happen even if he succeeded. Since he couldnât run and he couldnât fight, he could only accept his fate. He obediently sat down on the large rock and waited for the Crimson Dragon to begin talking.
âDonât activate your aura and donât transform. Just follow me and weâll enter together!â said Claudius. âHave you become a defender of justice, or are you scheming something, Claudius?â the Bronze Dragon said in a disappointed tone. âI donât believe that a thief who stole all my stuff would become a crusader for justice, so you must have something evil planned, Claudius!â
âFucking hell, are you coming or not!â Claudius swore. âYes! Iâm obviously coming!â replied Achilles in a tone that suggested he was being forced to. In truth, Achilles was also curious about the situation in the pit. Whether it was the legendary necromancer or the rare Shadow of the Void, just thinking about the sort of treasure that these monsters would drop almost made Achilles drool. If it wasnât for his instinct telling him that he couldnât win against the Shadow of the Void, he wouldâve gone on a treasure hunt already. But now he was thinking about Claudiusâs plan. Even if he couldnât backstab Claudius and take all the goodies for himself, after taking care of the problem he could justifiably ask the Crimson Dragon to split half of the loot with him. âYes! Thisâll work for sure!â The Bronze Dragon secretly clenched his fist in victory.
Claudius didnât really care much about Achillesâs intentions, since he mainly wanted to satisfy his curiosity. If he could catch the Silver Dragon Eliaza, then that would be all the better. As for loot from killing the Shadow of the Void? If itâs some magical artifact or whatever then Claudius didnât care about it, and if it was money then itâd be fine to give it all to Achilles. Doesnât Claudius usually treat money like dirt, anyways? He doesnât really think about matters like how he only has a few gold coins on him. So what if the city wants money, does the wilderness want money too?
Claudius looked Achilles up and down and then said, âjust a bow and arrow? Thatâs not very effective against the Shadow of the Void and winter wights, right? Do you have your priorities straight? Youâre just like a poor piece of shit! Fine, Iâll lend this to you. You better return it to me afterwards!â The Crimson Dragon stared at the foolish Bronze Dragon, shook his head, and sighed. Achilles really was irresponsible, even if his equipment was passable. No matter how you look at it, he was still wearing a mithril hauberk. As for magical equipment though, Claudius didnât see any telltale glowing. Looks like he really cleaned out Achillesâs stash that time. However, a bow and arrow really were absolutely useless, so Claudius tossed out a golden mace. Achillesâs eyes shone, and he held the mace tightly. âGold! Such high-quality gold! Let me appraise it! I think itâs worth at least 5000 gold coins! Just the materials would be worth that much!â
âIâm leaving now! Misers die first, you know! No wonder everyone in the world thinks dragons are penny-pinchers, look at your cheap ass! Pah! I really despair at the image of dragons!â Claudius really couldnât bear the sight of this display. To be honest, he wasnât really familiar with the greed of dragons, although here was a prime example right in front of him. The two dragons in human form entered the mine one after the other â no one came to stop them. When it came to the mine, the people in the city didnât even have the courage to send one of their own to keep watch.
At the same time, Eliazaâs help had arrived. It was a tall and slender elf with black eyes. He was dressed stylishly. In his hand was a longbow. He looked at the Silver Dragon and said, âIn accordance to the vows between us, Iâve come to provide assistance to you, respected Lady Eliaza.â The Silver Dragon also responded to the elf with respect and courtesy, âMensal, Iâm very grateful for your help. Under the ancient treaty, I will accept your assistance.â