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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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The indignant Dragon Priestess took a deep breath and walked past Theosander.
After taking a few forceful steps, she came face to face with us, who were hidden behind the cardinal’s frame.
“Ah, uh.”
Her face turned as red as her hair.
She seemed ashamed to have shown such behavior in front of guests.
What should I do to show her that it was okay?
Whatever I said would only seem like I was trying to cover it up, and we weren’t close enough for me to pat her on the back and say it was okay.
Thump.
Sen, who was beside me, gave an excellent answer.
She expressionlessly raised her thumb, praising Theosander’s beating.
Eve and I thought it looked fun, so we followed along.
It was our way of cheering her on, but maybe she didn’t feel that way. She lowered her gaze to the ground and walked past the corner with small steps.
After the Dragon Priestess passed, Cardinal Theosander stood there blankly, as if he wouldn’t feel much pain.
He seemed quite shocked, but we didn’t need to worry about him.
“Let’s go.”
I tapped him on the back, and Theosander gritted his teeth, glared at me once, then told us to follow him and followed the path the Dragon Priestess had taken.
At the end of the corridor he led us to, a huge door greeted us. It was made of wood, but a dragon was engraved on the door, soaring, and the handle was also shaped like a horn.
The appearance was completely different from the entrance to the chapel of Batian’s cathedral, but the atmosphere itself was similar.
There were no other exits or doors along the way, so the Dragon Priestess must have entered through this door.
“This is where the oracles are held. Be respectful to the elders.”
Without even listening to our answer, Theosander threw open the huge door.
The interior scene that filled my eyes was quite refreshing.
First of all, unlike before, the walls were circular, and in the center was a smaller round table, where dragon-kin wearing hoods to cover their faces were seated at a distance from each other.
And among them, Dragon Priestess Jane was occupying one seat. Unlike the other elders, her shoulders were trembling with anger.
They were waiting for us, so they didn’t say anything, but Theosander naturally guided us to the center of the round table.
“This is…”
“Does it feel like we’re criminals?”
Eve took my words and spoke for me. She was right. We weren’t wearing handcuffs or restraints, but it felt like we were defendants at a trial.
It felt like an interrogation could start at any moment, but they just started whispering among themselves.
A brief moment to catch our breath.
Feeling uncomfortable, I was about to reach for the dagger at my waist, but I crossed my arms, and Eve, next to Sen, murmured as she looked around.
“Dragon-kin like to give meaning to buildings.”
“Really?”
Eve was a bookworm, and since I told her in advance that I was going to the dragon-kin’s land, she had been reading a lot of books about them lately.
The three books she read in the carriage on the way here were all about dragon-kin.
“For example, this building is called the Dragon’s Rest, right? The building itself is built in the shape of a dragon, so the name ‘Rest’ actually refers to the land itself.”
“……”
“Then this place probably symbolizes the dragon’s throat. It’s fitting because the elders determine the Dragon God’s intentions through voting. Language comes through the throat.”
“Hmm, that’s persuasive.”
An oracle in the throat of a building shaped like a dragon. It was a fitting place for the elders who represented the dragon’s words.
“And it’s not a place to bring guests. Daniel, I think something is very wrong here.”
“I think so too.”
Eve took off her glasses and put them in the pocket of her coat. It was a sign that she was preparing for something to come.
Then, an elder, unlike the others, who had a small bell, a dagger that looked like a tooth, and a gavel in front of him, spoke.
“Then, in accordance with the solemn will of the Dragon God Shakarim, we will now begin the 729th oracle, attended by 12 elders and one Dragon Priestess who serve him.”
The elder lightly rang the small bell in front of him.
Eve’s prediction was spot on.
This was not a place to welcome us as envoys of the Kingdom of Fresia.
It was a place to question us.
‘Ha, so this is how you’re going to play it?’
Eve and Sen subtly turned their eyes towards me. I kept my mouth shut and signaled with my eyes to watch the situation first, asking what they should do.
“A month ago, nine ships appeared in the Royen Sea. They displayed a black flag with a skull and crossbones and docked on our land without permission.”
A pirate flag.
In other words, they were pirates under the Pirate Lord.
There was no real reason why these criminals would openly reveal themselves with a flag.
The foolish but powerful man who thought of the sea as his own domain because he was a ‘Lord’ of pirates.
They were the kind of people who thought it was natural to fly their flag on their land.
“They docked at Royen, plundered supplies, destroyed villages, and committed murder and rape.”
“……”
Eve gasped in surprise, but I kept my expression unchanged and continued to listen.
“And a week later, they appeared in the Salamander Sea, did the same thing, and left.”
“Finally, nine days ago, they docked again in the Royen Sea, where the damage was being repaired, killed many Inquisitors and workers, and escaped again.”
“During that incident, traces of internal attacks and arson were discovered, confirming the possibility that spies were hidden on our land during the first attack.”
“Therefore, we demand compensation from the humans.”
It was sudden, but the dragon-kin began to list their demands one by one.
“First, compensate 130 million gold coins, the amount calculated for the damage to the Royen and Salamander Seas.”
“Gasp!”
Eve couldn’t hold back and made a sound at the amount she had never heard of before.
Some elders glared at her, but they didn’t make a big deal out of it.
“Second, eliminate the pirates who are running wild. Also, capture them alive, hand them over to the dragon-kin, and appease the spirits of the victims.”
“Third, divide the sea to prevent this from happening again. This will be based on the ‘Dragon’s Boundary,’ which is the border between human and dragon-kin land, starting from the Atin Sea…”
The elder continued to speak and then divided the sea area on a map as they pleased.
“Ha.”
I had talked a lot with Elise the day before we headed to the Dragon’s Boundary.
Why did the dragon-kin suddenly accept the dispatch of envoys so favorably?
The dragon-kin, who are inherently exclusive and look down on other races, do not engage in trade.
Their land is very fertile, so they live as they are, whether they are lacking or abundant.
They give thanks to the dragon for what they have.
Despite their conservative and barbed-wire-like diplomatic stance, the reason they accepted us, the envoys, without hesitation was.
This situation had occurred, and they wanted us to take care of it.
It must have been perfect timing for them.
They wanted someone to take responsibility, but they didn’t want to invite humans. Then we requested to send envoys, so they gladly accepted, sticking their chins up.
I was about to say something when they seemed to have finished talking, but surprisingly, someone else beat me to it.
“This is unreasonable!”
Dragon Priestess Jane slammed the round table and stood up. The other elders clicked their tongues, saying she had no decorum, or sighed, saying they already had a headache.
But she shouted without backing down.
“This is a problem we should solve, not something to involve the humans! Why are you blaming another country for our lack of vigilance!”
“Dragon Priestess, speak after you have been given the right to speak.”
The elder who was leading the oracle warned her, but the Dragon Priestess did not back down at all.
“Have you ever given me the right to speak? You only reject it no matter how much I ask! Why did you hold an oracle without my knowledge, accepting the kingdom’s envoys in secret?”
“Ahem, we heard that the Dragon Priestess was not in good health at the time.”
“Who the hell said that…!”
Suddenly, the Dragon Priestess’s gaze turned to Theosander, who had been escorting us but had now turned into a guard.
He avoided her gaze as if he had no excuse.
“We shouldn’t have accepted the envoys! I expected you to pretend to be victims and shift the responsibility to another race, but it’s even more disgusting to see it in person!”
“Dragon Priestess! Watch your words! Don’t forget that I hold the wrath of the Dragon God in my hand!”
The elder warned her, holding the dagger that was next to the gavel. It seemed to be a dagger used to punish those who interfered with or disrupted the oracle.
Even with a blade pointed at her, the Dragon Priestess did not stop.
The words pouring out of the small, fragile girl’s body struck the elders with the force of a dragon’s breath.
“The jurisdiction over humans who cross the Dragon’s Boundary falls to us. From then on, they are under our rule, not the Kingdom of Fresia! Then shouldn’t we also take responsibility!”
“Hmm.”
“It is only natural that the same law should apply to those who come across the sea! The weak defenses of the Royen and Salamander Seas have been mentioned before!”
“D-Dragon Priestess!”
She mentioned matters of national defense without hesitation in front of us.
“Who was it that ignored it, saying it was the will of the Dragon God? Who was it that took that money and lined their own pockets, saying it was the will of the Dragon God!”
“That was the will of the Dragon God! At the time, it was concluded through the 697th oracle that there was no need for more defenses in the Royen and Salamander Seas!”
“Do you remember that you only rejected my right to speak at the time?”
“There are three hundred Inquisitors stationed there. That’s a number comparable to the Dragon’s Boundary!”
At the absurd answer, Dragon Priestess Jane let out a sarcastic laugh. She finally spoke the words she couldn’t say during the 697th oracle because she wasn’t given the right to speak.
“The Inquisitors all fought on land. Dragon-kin are especially vulnerable at sea! A sea battle with pirates is a sure defeat!”
“Then intercept them on land! You really don’t know anything about battle!”
The other elders joined forces to attack the Dragon Priestess, but she refuted them one by one, like a general sweeping the battlefield.
“Are pirates fools? Even when they raided the Royen and Salamander Seas, there were several rounds of shelling, and by the time the pirates landed, most of the Inquisitors were already dead. They only come ashore in battles where victory is certain!”
If the shelling didn’t work properly, the pirates would have just gone on their way. In a way, the dragon-kin were excellent prey for them.
No matter how much they hit them, the other side basically hated and feared water, so pursuit was difficult.
The Dragon Priestess pounded her chest and shouted.
“What! What is the will of the Dragon God! Foolish ones who act as the master in front of their sleeping lord!”
A sound of wind being cut was heard.
In the end, the elder in charge of the proceedings couldn’t take it anymore and threw the dagger called the Dragon God’s Wrath.
The dagger flew straight towards the Dragon Priestess’s chest.
I caught it.
“You’re quite vicious.”
“Wh-When did you?”
Theosander was startled to see me suddenly appear in front of him and checked behind him. Eve and Sen stuck out their tongues at him and made fun of him.
It was convenient to be able to stop time.
I could intervene like this.
“You…”
The Dragon Priestess looked at me and spoke in a bewildered voice, realizing that she could have been stabbed by the dagger.
I slowly placed the dagger on the round table and spoke to the elders.
“We will do our best to fulfill your requests. Even though jurisdiction has passed, the damage caused by humans seems to be serious.”
“Yes? W-Wait a minute!”
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