Chapter 80: The Radiant Cathedral (2)

Inside the Radiant Cathedral, many worshippers were praying or making offerings.

Led by the dwarf guard captain, they swiftly navigated through the crowd.

They passed through the grand hall, walked down a corridor, and were handed off to guards bearing shields with iron-fist gates, smoothly securing an audience with the Arbiter of Light.

Perched on Richard’s head, Aurina was initially thrilled.

Her golden eyes scanned the surroundings, calculating how much gold she could “reclaim” to stuff into her belly’s treasury.

That bug leader called the Arbiter of Light must have a lot of gold, right?

Aurina’s eyes gleamed as she schemed on how to snag the gold under her beast of burden’s watchful eye.

But as soon as her mind started working, her head ached—both brain and skull.

In her past life as the Dread Dragon, she never had to rack her brain so hard.

Mortals constantly used their minds to dodge nature’s and others’ beatings, but the Dread Dragon was usually the one delivering them.

Have I reached the limit of this king’s wisdom? 

Struggling so much against mere bugs?

Aurina, for a rare moment, doubted her intelligence.

Looking down, she saw Richard’s shiny, rounded helmet before her belly and had an epiphany.

What am I thinking? 

It must be this dumb beast of burden sucking away my wisdom, making my head so hot.

Aurina raised her hand and knocked on Richard’s helmet. 

“Dummy, dummy, dummy.”

“Aurina! Stop it!” 

The helmet below muffled a response. 

“We’re about to meet the Arbiter of Light. Behave properly.”

Aurina looked down at her socked feet and her beast of burden. 

“This doesn’t seem proper either.”

“You know riding on my head isn’t proper,” Richard said. 

“Get down.”

At that moment, the wooden door opened.

Sophia stepped forward, smiling at the approaching Arbiter of Light. 

“May the Lord bless you. I’m Sophia. Dragons naturally love high places, so she’s claimed my husband’s head and won’t come down. Please forgive her.”

The Arbiter of Light, clad in a pristine white robe without any symbols or stains, said, “Dragon? Where?”

Sophia turned. 

“Right here—”

But she saw Aurina had climbed down from Richard’s head, standing beside him, holding his hand, looking around the simple room.

“Huh?” 

Sophia blinked. 

“Aurina, how’d you get off his head?”

“Because I told her to,” Richard said.

“But isn’t she super disobedient?”

“Sometimes she is, sometimes she isn’t.”

Sophia keenly sensed that the bond between Aurina and Richard was much stronger than they let on.

“Brother from afar, you must be the renowned Richard,” the Arbiter of Light said, looking at him.

“Yes, it’s an honor to meet you.”

“No, the honor is mine.” The Arbiter turned to Aurina, studying her closely.

Aurina’s gaze didn’t meet his.

The Arbiter had met many people.

His eyes literally glowed, a gift from serving the Good Gods as a chosen of multiple deities.

People reacted differently to his divine radiance: some avoided his gaze out of guilt, others met it defiantly, and some looked openly, either guiltless and kind or deeply cunning.

But never had anyone ignored him like this red-haired, horned little girl.

This was a first for the Arbiter of Light.

“She’s a dragon?”

Richard said, “Yes.”

Sophia, unable to join the conversation, stood to the side.

“As expected, only a dragon—especially the most wicked red dragon—could be so arrogantly oblivious,” the Arbiter said, looking at Aurina. 

“Just like the ancient texts say. She’s that dragon’s heir.”

Aurina muttered discontentedly, “So poor, what a stone cave.”

Richard said, “So you didn’t recognize her earlier?”

“I thought she was just a little girl.”

“But she has dragon horns and a tail?”

“Plenty of people have horns and tails. You’ve seen half-demons on the streets, haven’t you, Brother Richard?”

“Yes,” Richard said. 

“One tried to pick my pocket, and I caught them. But it seems since arriving in the Imperial Capital, many haven’t recognized her dragon identity, even though she has a scaly tail.”

“You probably don’t know,” the Arbiter said. 

“There’s a legend in the capital about that dragon’s daughter, said to be covered in sharp scales that can slice a person into ribbons, with curved claws on her feet, attacking and biting at birth, eating half a cow in one meal.”

Richard recalled Aurina’s feet. 

“Such absurd rumors. The only true part is her appetite.”

“I’m still surprised,” the Arbiter said, studying Aurina. 

“She looks too human, far too human. Ancient texts say dragons rarely take human form, disdaining bipedal walking and preferring four legs. Only rare good dragons choose to live among humans and take human form. Dragon scholars once believed dragons couldn’t perfectly transform into humans until that… long-named ancient dragon-blooded sorcerer family produced a scholar who disproved it.”

“If a dragon studies, it can perfectly take human form.” 

The Arbiter kept staring at Aurina. 

“I’ve seen illustrations of humanoid dragons in ancient texts, called humanoid monsters. Did she inherit that dragon’s human-form talent?”

Aurina tugged at Richard. 

“This poor old man keeps buzzing, comparing this king to ordinary dragons.”

“Show some respect to the Arbiter of Light,” Richard said, then to the Arbiter, “Her name is Aurina.”

“Aurina?” the Arbiter said. 

“A name dangerously close to that dragon’s.”

Richard said, “I understand everyone’s fear of the Dread Dragon, but he’s dead. Why not say his name openly, Obus—”

Sophia interrupted with a shout, “Don’t say its name!”

Richard turned to see Sophia had retreated to the door, her face pale, hands trembling, as if their conversation might leap out and tear her to pieces, swallowing her whole.

She took a deep breath, forcing a smile. 

“Sorry, I was rude. May the Lord have mercy on me. Lord Arbiter, can I perform charitable divine spells in this world? I’d like to help others.”

The Arbiter nodded. 

“You can spread the gods’ mercy anytime.”

“I’ll take my leave,” Sophia said to Richard. 

“Find me when you’re done.”

With that, she left.

Aurina proudly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Only this king, even if the bugs think I’m dead, my terror remains etched in their hearts… except for Richard.

“It seems the Dread Dragon’s terror has left an unhealable scar on Sister Sophia’s heart,” the Arbiter said. 

“Richard, you’re one in a million, unafraid of the Dread Dragon. You could face him and fight for a day, but we can’t. Those unafraid of the Dread Dragon fall into three categories: the dead, the ignorant who’ve never seen him, and you.”

Richard added, “And Frostsilver.”

“Her family is the authority on dragon studies, and countering the Dread Dragon’s fear is their closely guarded secret,” the Arbiter said. 

“I saw the Dread Dragon’s silhouette once. When I was young, I was an adventurer, brash and gifted. We’d nearly traversed half the continent and decided to go to the Doomsday Volcano to achieve a feat worthy of history.”

Richard asked, “I’ll venture a guess—your teammates died, and you escaped?”

“No,” the Arbiter said with a bitter smile. 

“We hired local guides and consulted elders, going to scout the dragon’s lair during its supposed slumber. But the Doomsday Volcano trembled, about to erupt. The dragon flew out of its lair, diving into the volcano’s crater, larger than the Imperial Capital, to battle the lava.”

“I remember that night, the fire illuminated half the sky. We stood frozen, watching its massive form wrestle with the molten rock. I struggled to break free from the fear, trying to dispel it with the Lord’s grace, but failed. We just stood there, watching its silhouette flicker in and out until sunrise, when it left. Only then did we… come back to life, and we ran for our lives.”

“Ahhh…” 

Aurina lifted her cute face, yawning.

She tugged Richard’s hand hard. 

“Richard! Hungry, hungry!”

“You ate a whole basket of fish this morning.”

“That was then, this is now.” 

Aurina deftly deployed her little-girl spell, paired with a lethal tone. 

“I’m still a child!”

As the great red dragon champion, the king of kings who could slay seven in one blow, had predicted, the beast of burden submitted obediently to the spell.

“Alright,” Richard said. 

“After we’re done, I’ll adjust the schedule, go to the market for some spices, and make you some delicious meat tonight.”

“Gah-ru!”

Richard knew this meant enthusiastic agreement.

The Arbiter, watching the exchange, sighed. 

“I never imagined the Dread Dragon’s daughter would act spoiled with a human.”

Aurina finally acknowledged him. 

“Spoiled?”

The Arbiter continued, “Rumors say, Richard, you want to be a dragon knight, taming an evil dragon for your own use. The greedy Emperor even plans to attack you with this. Now I’m certain you chose to guide her out of goodness. The results are impressive, proving your heart is pure gold.”

“Your praise humbles me.”

“Nothing demonstrates the greatness of the Good Gods’ love more than reforming an evil dragon, far surpassing the fear of evil gods,” the Arbiter said. 

“Tomorrow is a festival. I’ll proclaim your deeds before many worshippers. I hope you’ll attend.”

Richard said, “Can we discuss business now?”

“Sorry,” the Arbiter said, looking at Aurina. 

“That dragon could make one ramble for a lifetime, even if he’s temporarily left this world.”