Page 288
Story: The Dragon of Dreams
Mid Morning - Mid Winter : Atlas, Bahamut
-----
*vwoom-Click* *fwoosh* "This way, please." The masked butler quickly led us into a wide hallway after opening a large double door with a special medallion.
We had been walking for several minutes at that point, winding our way through several colossal hallways before eventually splitting away from the main crowd and coming into a smaller but calmer area with only butlers and maids.
The butler leading us, however, seemed to be of quite a high ranking, as everyone from servants to the servants ordering around others made way for him.
No matter how you could twist it, he was assigned to us in order to cater to us. The issue with that was that his methods were.. a little odd.
"If a young servant catches the Lord's eye, please do let us know." He casually motioned toward a young, slender woman with deep blue scales, giving us a bow as we walked by. "None of the maids here would be upset to serve a man of your stature and demeanor."
The young maid quickly glanced up at me before I turned back to the butler. "I have plenty of maids already. I do apologize."
All throughout our walk, he kept a close eye on me and essentially told me I could have whatever I set my sights on, be it a painting or a woman, but I couldn't care less about any of it. All it did was make me wonder how much they knew. -Would a Whyte actually get this kind of treatment.. or...-
But rather than the butler cutting off my thoughts, my ears were met with the voice of an older woman. "Hoho~, there's no need to be so modest~..."
Looking ahead of us, I quickly met eyes with an ancient stage woman with large, partially feathered white and blue wings, wearing a purple dress and no mask.
When I first saw her with my space mana, I figured she was simply some daring, wealthy guest; however, that was clearly not the case. "Is it that you aren't satisfied with our servants?" She quickly motioned the butler away as she walked up to us.
"That isn't the case. I apologize if I caused a misunderstanding."
"Hoh? Then why are you refusing?" She approached us quite confidently. "With just a word, I could gather any number of beautiful women, from slaves to high nobility."
The forced smile behind my mask quickly disappeared. "No, thank you. If I wanted someone, I could get them myself."
But even with my blunt rejection, her confidence remained unwavering. "Well, with your strength and looks, that may be true, but power and authority aren't omnipotent."
Seeing her sly look, I played along. "You speak like you know something that is..."
Her smile immediately widened. "Well, of course! What else would Bahamut be?"
My suspicions quickly eased, although not completely. "I'm not sure.. but I do believe that omnipotence may be a stretch."
"Hoho~!" Her smile instantly turned ecstatic. "In that case, I do hope you are willing to stick around for the auctions finale... I believe it will be of great interest to you."
I instinctually tilted my head in confusion before quickly straightening back up. "May I ask what it is?"
But instead of responding, she simply put her finger over her mouth.
"All I will say is that it is very real.
" Quickly spinning back around with a smile, she gestured to a maid ahead of us and had her disappear into a room.
"In any case, why don't I show you two to your booth?
We still have some time to drink and talk more privately before the auction starts~. "
Giving me a quick glance, she started down the hall, but even though my gut was trying to tell me something, I followed her.
All until we finally made it to the booth.
*Vwoom-Click* The moment we got to the door, she motioned me to it and had me tap my rose gold token against it, causing it to nearly instantly unlock and swing open. *fwoosh*
Inside the door was a large room with two large couches, a table with several chairs around it, a bar with countless alcohols behind it, and two large seats centered in front of a glass wall covered with external curtains.
It was quite impressive, but there were also people, 3 hidden and 3 showing themselves.
From what the butler mentioned earlier, they were the security group assigned to this room, but it was quite odd for some of them to be hidden, especially to still be eyeing us like they were.
But thankfully, it was cleared up quickly.
"This is your security group. They are the mercenary group known as The Blue Sun, led by my sister's youngest." She quickly motioned to the low ancient stage man in the middle who had a similar wing and scales color pattern to her except with slightly more blue.
"But, in case you aren't satisfied with that, there are three others who were sent directly from Akri. "
The three people I was watching with my space mana immediately revealed themselves, clearly displaying the medallions on their clothes before promptly disappearing again.
"They have all taken vows to not share what is spoken about in this room; however, in cases where a vow isn't enough, there are plenty of silencing artifacts spread about that you may use freely."
-Interesting... They've really thought of everything...- "In that case, thank you in advance."
"Of course." She quickly gave a shallow but formal bow before straightening up and walking to the bar. "Now, since that is done, why don't we get to our talk... *clink* Do you like piotita?"
Immediately nodding, I walked over to the table and sat down with Krystallo.
As the woman walked back over, she set a wine bottle in front of each of us before sitting down as well.
It looked to be fresh piotita. "I apologize for the late introduction, but I am Poniriá Chalastís, the eldest daughter of the Chalastís family.
" She momentarily lowered her head again before pouring herself a glass.
-As I thought...- *vwoom* Quickly activating the silencing magic, I followed suit. "You can just call me Vasilias."
"And I am Krystallo." Krystallo gave a slightly nervous greeting before reluctantly opening the bottle and smelling the inside.
"Hoho~, it is my pleasure to finally meet you two.
I have heard quite a bit about you both from your grandmother over the last few years, but it turns out she truly wasn't exaggerating her praises.
" She momentarily eyed me before finally taking a drink.
"Although she did tell me you were strong, I didn't expect it to be at the point where your aura makes me feel a thousand years younger. "
Finally beginning to ease up, I let out a light chuckle. "Haha, I am simply an anomaly. It would be best to not dwell on it too much."
"Hah, well, it is certainly reassuring..." Taking another quick sip, she finally set down the glass and put on a more serious expression. "On that note, why don't we get to the more pressing matter."
Seeing her quickly push more mana into the silencing artifact, thickening it greatly, my expression also turned serious.
"Last night, I caught wind that something was going on within the academy that I was unaware of, and was told by your Mother that you knew more than anyone... So I would like to hear what is happening first hand if you wouldn't mind."
I paused as I glanced to the side before turning back to her. "Alright." I took a calm sip of piotita before continuing. "When was the basement of the academy constructed?"
"When the academy was first built."
"And its purpose?"
She momentarily gave me a confused look before continuing. "It was originally meant to be for artifact storage, but it was changed to a space rune as it was being built. Unfortunately, though, it was never finished."
-No wonder they looked so similar...- "So I take it that you didn't know what that space rune was changed to?"
She immediately shook her head.
"Well, yesterday, I had the displeasure of seeing it.
" I momentarily used silencing magic around Krystallo as I went to speak.
"They had turned it into a device that could alter the memories and dispositions of young dragons.
.. The deputy headmaster would have a few professors feed students an amnesia drug, bring them down to that rune, and-"
*SHATTER* The clear glass in her hand exploded before I could finish, and with it, my suspicions of her vanished.
-I know that feeling...- "It was all done on the orders of the Holy Kingdom, and no matter how much you want to deny it, the academy is full of people just like the deputy.
With Bahamut's lack of presence for so many years, many dragons have begun swaying away from him in favor of the human gods who they believe can answer prayers or in the promises of land and riches that the Holy Kingdom says they will provide, even if they must poison the next generation for it. "
The fire in her eyes quickly grew several magnitudes before she finally let out a heavy breath and leaned back in her seat. "Hooh... I apologize for my lack of composure."
I quickly nodded. "Don't worry about it."
There was a long silence before she finally continued. "Do you have any idea how long the academy has been corrupted?"
I quickly shook my head before glancing to the side with a displeased expression again. "I can't know for sure, but seeing how deep they have dug, it cannot be a short period... Regardless, I plan to clean them out in about a week."
She gave me a conflicted look immediately. "How can you be confident you will get them all?"
Slowly standing up, I looked across the room at her brother. "I can't. I can only be sure to cut the snake's head off."
She quickly looked at him across the room as well as anger had once again filled her eyes. "No. In some situations, it is best to also pull out the roots."
*VWOOM* Violently releasing her aura, she snatched her nephew from across the room and gripped his neck.
The fire in her eyes had quickly returned. "I knew the tree had begun to grow, but I never would have suspected the roots had run this deep... It seems my family has been too negligent."
Although Krystallo was still enraptured by the taste of her drink to be anything but confused as it happened, my expression was cold. -To blatantly spy on our talk like that... Even if he isn't related to the Holy Kingdom, he must be out of his mind...-
Poniriá looked like she wanted to snap his neck but quickly managed to wrangle her anger.
"Vasilias... No, Sir Vasilias, I apologize if it may be an inconvenience, but I would like to meet again after the auction to continue our discussion.
" The air around her quickly turned cold.
"I want to ensure that every last root is pulled from the ground. "
Read up to 5 chapters ahead of schedule on My Patreon!
(In case Embedded Link doesn't work: /TDOD )
-------------
Also, please feel free to check out our new discord! https://discord.gg/Dv7G5bQD4v
All are welcome!
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229
- Page 230
- Page 231
- Page 232
- Page 233
- Page 234
- Page 235
- Page 236
- Page 237
- Page 238
- Page 239
- Page 240
- Page 241
- Page 242
- Page 243
- Page 244
- Page 245
- Page 246
- Page 247
- Page 248
- Page 249
- Page 250
- Page 251
- Page 252
- Page 253
- Page 254
- Page 255
- Page 256
- Page 257
- Page 258
- Page 259
- Page 260
- Page 261
- Page 262
- Page 263
- Page 264
- Page 265
- Page 266
- Page 267
- Page 268
- Page 269
- Page 270
- Page 271
- Page 272
- Page 273
- Page 274
- Page 275
- Page 276
- Page 277
- Page 278
- Page 279
- Page 280
- Page 281
- Page 282
- Page 283
- Page 284
- Page 285
- Page 286
- Page 287
- Page 288 (Reading here)
- Page 289
- Page 290
- Page 291
- Page 292
- Page 293
- Page 294
- Page 295
- Page 296
- Page 297
- Page 298
- Page 299
- Page 300
- Page 301
- Page 302
- Page 303
- Page 304
- Page 305
- Page 306
- Page 307
- Page 308
- Page 309
- Page 310
- Page 311
- Page 312
- Page 313
- Page 314
- Page 315
- Page 316
- Page 317
- Page 318
- Page 319
- Page 320
- Page 321
- Page 322
- Page 323
- Page 324
- Page 325
- Page 326
- Page 327
- Page 328
- Page 329
- Page 330
- Page 331
- Page 332
- Page 333
- Page 334
- Page 335
- Page 336
- Page 337
- Page 338
- Page 339
- Page 340
- Page 341
- Page 342
- Page 343
- Page 344
- Page 345
- Page 346
- Page 347
- Page 348
- Page 349
- Page 350
- Page 351
- Page 352
- Page 353
- Page 354
- Page 355
- Page 356
- Page 357
- Page 358
- Page 359
- Page 360
- Page 361
- Page 362
- Page 363
- Page 364
- Page 365
- Page 366
- Page 367
- Page 368
- Page 369
- Page 370
- Page 371
- Page 372
- Page 373
- Page 374
- Page 375
- Page 376
- Page 377
- Page 378
- Page 379
- Page 380
- Page 381
- Page 382
- Page 383
- Page 384
- Page 385
- Page 386
- Page 387
- Page 388
- Page 389
- Page 390
- Page 391
- Page 392
- Page 393
- Page 394
- Page 395
- Page 396
- Page 397
- Page 398
- Page 399
- Page 400
- Page 401
- Page 402
- Page 403
- Page 404
- Page 405
- Page 406
- Page 407
- Page 408
- Page 409
- Page 410
- Page 411
- Page 412
- Page 413
- Page 414
- Page 415
- Page 416
- Page 417
- Page 418
- Page 419
- Page 420
- Page 421
- Page 422
- Page 423
- Page 424
- Page 425
- Page 426
- Page 427
- Page 428
- Page 429
- Page 430
- Page 431
- Page 432
- Page 433
- Page 434
- Page 435
- Page 436
- Page 437
- Page 438
- Page 439
- Page 440
- Page 441
- Page 442
- Page 443
- Page 444