Chapter 65: The Grand Stage of the Capital

“Little sister!” the captain cried out immediately.

“That’s my pet bird.”

“Richard! Richard!” 

Aurina ignored him, sliding down the mast with a half-charred pigeon in hand, scampering gleefully.

“One gold coin! I’ll give you one gold coin!”

Aurina froze on the deck, swaying back and forth like a spring.

The fat-faced captain blinked, unsure if his eyes were deceiving him.

In a flash, Aurina appeared before him.

She glanced around cautiously, whispering, “Deal.”

The half-charred pigeon was clutched tightly in her hand, one leg poking out from her fingers, the attached letter reduced to ash.

The fat-faced captain mourned the pigeon in his heart while silently cursing Aurina’s cruelty.

He pulled out a gold coin. 

“This is our secret.”

Aurina snatched it. 

“Don’t you dare tell Richard.”

No sooner had she spoken than Richard appeared from nowhere, his steps thudding as he approached her from behind.

Richard’s voice was stern. 

“Aurina! What are you doing?”

“Nothing at all.” 

Aurina quickly swallowed the gold coin, hiding the pigeon behind her back.

The fat-faced captain smiled. 

“I thought this kid was adorable, so I gave her a gold coin. Haha, dragons really love gold. Look at her gobble it up—what an appetite.”

“So that’s it,” Richard said. 

“I thought you were sneaking off to steal the captain’s treasure.”

“Hee hee hee.”

Aurina forced a smile, her toes wiggling as if trying to stomp her conspiracy into the deck.

The fat-faced captain hurriedly said, “How could that be? This kid’s so cute, she’d never do such a thing.”

“If I don’t keep an eye on her, I guarantee in two days you’d all be penniless, stripped bare as her slaves,” Richard said. 

“Let’s go, Aurina.”

“Alright.” 

She walked off with the pigeon, completely forgetting the earlier deal.

The fat-faced captain panicked, pulling out another gold coin, flashing it in the sunlight.

Aurina didn’t budge.

He took out a second coin, flashing it before pocketing it.

Aurina’s tail shot out like a chameleon’s tongue, and the charred pigeon landed in the captain’s hands.

The fat-faced captain tossed both coins into the air.

Aurina’s red tail flicked under her white skirt, and the coins vanished without a trace.

The fat-faced captain breathed a sigh of relief, though his heart bled.

She’s a greedy, evil dragon beneath that cute, innocent facade. 

May a paladin’s second lance pierce her.

He hurried back to his cabin.

Having been caught, he planned to act when Aurina wasn’t prowling.

He patiently resumed his captain’s duties, even hosting the guests for dinner.

As rumored, Richard, plagued by child-lover gossip, always carried the red-haired dragon girl on his shoulders.

Oddly, despite being a mighty noble, Richard insisted on cooking in the kitchen, doing servants’ work.

The fat-faced captain found Richard’s lowborn habits too ingrained.

After dinner, ensuring Aurina wasn’t playing on the deck, he released another pigeon.

“Gah!”

The pigeon plummeted midair.

Aurina burst from the cabin, a slingshot in hand.

“Richard! I—”

The fat-faced captain gritted his teeth, flashing a gold coin in the sunlight.

In a blink, Aurina was before him, whispering, “I caught a gold-coin bird.”

When night fell, darkness enveloped the ship, as if it sailed through a void.

The fat-faced captain quietly released a raven.

“Gah!”

Aurina, out for a midnight snack, caught the raven.

The fourth time.

The fat-faced captain refused to give up.

The next morning, he released another pigeon, only for Aurina to catch it while fishing.

The fifth time.

He spent three days designing an intricate device—a drip mechanism with a bucket to release a pigeon after an hour.

This time, at dinner, he watched Aurina gobble fish.

The fish, caught by her, swam into her mouth under some invisible force.

No more coincidences now.

The fat-faced captain thought.

“Urk urk urk!” 

Aurina clutched her throat.

“What’s wrong?”

“Fishbone’s stuck.”

Aurina rushed out.

The fat-faced captain, sensing trouble, followed.

He saw Aurina dive into the sea to drink, and as she climbed back aboard, she spotted the white pigeon.

The fat-faced captain covered his face.

That night, under dim lamplight, Aurina’s golden eyes glowed like molten gold.

Richard sighed. 

“Why would someone release a fifth pigeon after four failed attempts? Does he really think it’s all coincidence?”

“No coincidence,” Aurina said. 

“This king’s been watching.”

“Luck’s part of strength,” Richard said. “What’s in this letter?”

“My tail knows.” 

Aurina’s tail, curled around a pen, scribbled on paper. 

“If I write the letter’s contents, do I skip copying ‘no racism’ and ‘no burning holes in wood to steal gold’ a bunch of times?”

“Just twenty fewer copies,” Richard said. 

“Don’t sneak in extra rewards. Burning the ship to steal treasure? I didn’t even think you’d try that.”

“Gah, twenty’s the biggest number—no one counts higher, so I’m done with penalties,” Aurina said, her tail scrawling a mass of text.

“Look at this familiar cipher,” Richard said. 

“It’s for the Count of Champagne. No surprise there. We’re not even at the capital, yet the dancers are already circling, spying on each other. Quite the show. Sophia, what do you think? Sophia? Sophia?”

She was asleep.

Some time later, a warped blue circle appeared in the wilderness sky.

Silver dragons, red dragons, black dragons—one after another, they fell to the ground.

Each dragon hit the earth with a strange cry:

“Gwah!”

“Ngh!”

“Yah!”

“Jie!”

“Wah!”

“Hoo!”

“Gah!”

Seven near-paralyzed chromatic dragons lay limp on the ground.

“Hmph,” Frostsilver said. 

“Reduced to dragon cries so easily. My spells are quite effective.”

These days, she’d used the seven buzzing flies to test the cage crafted for the Dread Dragon.

She’d also tested her improved anti-dragon spell—Dragon Binding.

To pierce a dragon’s magic resistance, she’d worked tirelessly, but Aurina’s existence nullified her efforts, telling her she needed to try harder.

“No word of their whereabouts for days. Hmph, they must be hiding,” Frostsilver said, waving her staff. 

“The dancers are in place. Is the stage far from lively?”

She teleported back to her domain, preparing to head to the capital as planned.

By now, her ship should have arrived.