Chapter 41: The Dragon Clan
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"Mm... ah..."
Jiang Cheng slowly woke up, the tip of her nose filled with the faint moist fragrance of the grassy field in the early morning.
Turning her head, she saw Lyle lying flat on the ground beside her, his robust figure even making Jiang Cheng blank out for a moment.
Supporting herself on the ground, she stood up skillfully and shook the dew off her grayish-white long hair.
Outdoor mornings were always like this—damp and refreshing, just like the sight of Lyle every morning whenever she opened her eyes, which always put her in a good mood.
She shrugged her shoulders. Today, she still had to figure out how to muddle through the issue with the elves.
At the same time, she had to fully explain and clarify the revenge-related plans to Lyle and the others.
It seemed that all of a sudden, she had too many things to deal with again. Jiang Cheng frowned and sighed.
For Lyle's sake, so that he could defeat the Demon King in the future, she truly played both the roles of father and mother. It was only right that she let herself indulge in a little mischievous pleasure at his expense.
According to the plan, she certainly had her own ways. The top priority now was to meet with someone.
If today's meeting went well, then not only could she easily muddle through, but she could also gain a critical and powerful ally.
So...
Turning around, Jiang Cheng looked at the still-sleeping Lyle with a smile and snapped her fingers.
Accompanied by a burst of discomfort and pain in her head, Lyle fell into a deep sleep and even started to snore a little.
"Hm~"
Dressed now in a slightly formal nun's habit, Jiang Cheng stepped out of her residence.
"I remember... it should be this direction? Tsk, I can never quite recall the locations of those hidden characters in background stories."
Muttering to herself, Jiang Cheng walked toward one edge of the city.
Here, although it was a corner of Adventurer City, the place looked rather grand.
Compared to the very modern buildings of other areas, this place was quite classical.
From Jiang Cheng's perspective in her previous life, all the ancient architectural styles from her world had shown up here.
This was where Adventurer City hosted envoy delegations from other cities and races.
Among them, a rustic and verdant treehouse, close to nature, housed the elven delegation.
But, surprisingly, this was not Jiang Cheng's destination today.
Jiang Cheng turned her head to look the other way, where there was a pitch-black tower.
Yet the tower did not appear gloomy—rather, it resembled a Gothic structure, combining darkness with splendor.
In fact, compared to the Gothic cathedrals Jiang Cheng was familiar with, this tower was... even more lavish.
Stained glass in a riot of colors, rooms decorated with gold and jewels, and even the lamps were dazzling crystal.
These opulent decorations and their unabashed nouveau riche style all revealed the owner of this building:
A dragon—a figure indispensable to every Western fantasy novel!
However, perhaps because of the peculiar tastes of the original author, the dragons of this world were rather odd.
Besides possessing every characteristic and hobby typical of dragons, they had an inexplicable fondness for the cultures of the two eastern nations, even adopting names like Jiang Cheng's—eastern names.
But if you looked at the geography, you could understand:
Dragon Island, just like those two nations, was also located to the east of the Evernight Forest.
Jiang Cheng stepped forward, straightened her nun's habit, and knocked on the tower's door.
Inside the tower, the place was even more extravagant than outside.
But after the dragon had hired a professional designer, the pure gold and gemstone accessories and utensils no longer looked tacky. Instead, they were quite aesthetically pleasing.
Seated on a gemstone-embedded throne wrought of solid gold was a graceful, white-haired girl.
The girl, dressed in an ornate gown, was leafing through a book, her brows knit and sighing softly from time to time, as if weighed down by troubles.
"Miss, the current Saintess requests an audience outside," a besuited servant stepped up and bowed.
"I've told you not to call me 'miss,'" the girl replied gently. "I'm not one of those sisters with rights of inheritance, just someone sent here to keep the accounts. Please just call me Miss Bai."
"Yes, miss Bai," the servant bowed slightly. Although this girl did not possess the noble bloodline required to be one of Dragon Island's future clan leaders,
She single-handedly managed ninety percent of Dragon Island's income in Adventurer City—an authority not to be underestimated.
That was also why Jiang Cheng sought out this dragon girl, bai Luxia—her influence among the dragons was truly considerable.
"In that case, let her come in,"
Bai Luxia sighed softly. "If the Saintess is talented enough, investing in her might prove quite profitable."
Jiang Cheng entered the tower and looked at Bai Luxia on the main seat, beaming as she said with a light laugh,
"Miss Bai, since you've asked me here, I'll get straight to the point. I have a major business deal."
"A major business deal?"
The gentle girl's eyes lit up at once as she eagerly pursued the question,
"What's the business?"
"It's about that sin dragon your dragon clan sealed under Adventurer City a thousand years ago."
"Ding~"
Bai Luxia's hand trembled, her delicate golden goblet clinking crisply against the table's edge.
"How did you know about that?"
Bai Luxia looked at Jiang Cheng coolly.
"No—that's not important now,"
Bai Luxia shook her head and continued, "To maximize profit, just tell me directly what you want to do."
"It really is convenient to talk to smart people,"
Jiang Cheng replied with a smile.
Jiang Cheng had noticed back in her previous life, when reading the setting artbook, that the origin of Adventurer City's underground dungeon was highly unusual.
The setting made clear that it was created from the flames of wrath spewed for centuries by the dragon sealed there by the dragon clan millennia ago.
Although there was no backstory and this sin dragon never appeared in the plot, Jiang Cheng could pretty much guess the general situation.
After all, the fact it was only sealed proved that the dragon clan had no means to truly deal with this sin dragon.
So...
"So I'll help you settle this sin dragon. The materials go to you—a dragon of this level is sure to have valuable resources on its body,"
"And all you need to do are two things: First, cooperate and let me release that sin dragon whenever I need to."
"The other—help me out with a small personal favor."
After pondering for a moment, bai Luxia nodded lightly. If Jiang Cheng could really pull it off, it would be quite a lucrative deal.
"Very well, I can promise you. So, what's the little personal favor you want me to help with?"
Bai Luxia asked with a gentle smile.
"Well..."
Jiang Cheng put on an awkward pretense, grinning as she began to lie,
"Miss Bai, are you close friends with someone from the elven delegation?"
Jiang Cheng asked.
"Of course,"
Bai Luxia nodded lightly. "Peach and I get along fairly well. Are you looking for her?"
"Ah, well,"
Jiang Cheng kept up her 'awkward' smile,
"I spent a lot of money on a perfume crafted by the elves, but I was worried the Hero would accuse me of wasting money, so I lied and said it was a gift from the elven delegation."
"Today, the Hero wants me to go to the elven delegation, so I'd like to trouble you to mention it to your friend. If the Hero asks, just help me smooth things over."
"Is that all?"
Bai Luxia looked a bit amused, somewhat surprised that Jiang Cheng had such an adorable, 'afraid of being called a spendthrift by the Hero' side. Smiling, she nodded her agreement.