Chapter 13 : Dragon’s Wisdom

Aurina stood with her hands on her hips, glaring.

“What’re you doing, little bug?”

Richard had no desire to resort to violence lightly, nor to wrongly accuse anyone.

So, he questioned Aurina carefully, seeking the truth.

Aurina, however, launched into a tirade, scolding Richard for disappearing for two days and forgetting his place—how dare he!

Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she spilled every detail of her grand plan, as though she were educating him, letting this “mightiest little bug” witness and learn from her world-shaking brilliance.

“I was just teaching them the sacrifice ritual, Your Majesty,” she declared.

“Sacrifice?”

Richard’s mind conjured grim images: blood sacrifices, weeping boys and girls crying for their parents, who reached desperately for them as others dragged the children away.

“Exactly!”

Aurina beamed, her eyes sparkling like priceless treasures.

Humans would offer up shiny trinkets, while the greenskins would present wholesome green food.

“You look awfully pale, though.”

“Yes, I suppose I am.”

“Quack quack! Don’t feel sad just because the noble me deigned to teach them myself!”

Aurina said.

“In the early stages, I have to do it personally, you know. Little bugs have short lives, but once the tradition’s set, they’ll pass it down, generation after generation, offering sacrifices forever!”

“I am sad,” Richard said.

“You’re teaching a bunch of kids to perform sacrifices?”

“Yup!”

Richard’s anger flared, and he raised his hand.

Aurina stared at him, baffled.

She’d graciously offered to split the profits with him—half a percent, no less—and yet he dared to get angry, even raising his hand to strike her head?

Her lips quivered as she muttered a little girl’s spell: “Quack! I’m still a little girl!”

Thwack!

Aurina clutched her head, darting around the room.

“Stop hitting me! Stop it! I’ll give you a quarter percent more!”

Thwack!

Another heavy blow landed, ringing her skull like a bronze bell.

She bolted even faster.

Richard chased her as she fled.

The villagers’ houses were small, and Aurina, out of space, scrambled up the earthen wall with all four limbs, agile as a cat.

With a push, she launched herself onto a beam, clinging effortlessly with her claws.

She bared her teeth at Richard.

“Bet you can’t jump up here, you stupid, nasty little bug!”

Clad in armor, Richard leaped, grabbing her dragon tail and yanking.

Aurina let out a shrill “Quack!” scream, startling the children outside, who instinctively covered their bottoms and scurried away from the noisy house.

She plummeted, and Richard caught her.

Like a cat, she curled up in his arms, her tiny frame fitting perfectly, toes tucked in.

Her hands shielded her head, golden eyes glistening as they met his.

Terrified of another rebellious strike from the little bug, Aurina, her head already full of lumps, recalled a new “little girl spell” she’d learned from an old grandma.

“Don’t hit me! I’m just a kid!”

Richard sighed, still holding her.

“What am I going to do with you?”

The spell worked, Aurina thought gleefully.

There are different versions of this spell!

This king must study them all!

What a learned dragon I am.

She reflected on how little bug-lings and their parents these past days.

Honestly, she found it foolish, incomprehensible—even her own actions now.

To show weakness to Richard, baring her soft belly?

Yet, if it worked on this foolish, nasty bug, it was worth it.

Mimicking a coy tone, she pleaded, “Don’t hit me, don’t! If you keep hitting, you’ll get dumber!”

Aurina’s face flushed red, mortified by the words.

Showing weakness was foolish, wasn’t it?

It made her seem easy to bully.

As a young dragon, she’d rarely ever shown weakness—weakness screamed “I’m easy to bully!”—a hard-learned lesson.

So, she added, “If you harm my royal wisdom, your stupid bug disease will never be cured!”

Richard, whose heart had softened, steeled himself again.

“You still don’t see what’s wrong?” he said.

“I came here to stop evil and ensure peace, maybe while selling some muscle to solve your food issue.

Not to conspire with goblins.”

Aurina rubbed her head.

“What’s the difference from being stupid?”

“You…”

Richard took a deep breath, reminding himself not to lash out.

“Because I want people to live in peace and prosperity.”

Aurina tried to wrap her head around it.

“So they can offer more gold coins?”

“It’s not about gold.”

“Cabbage, then?”

“It’s nothing to do with either.”

“Then… is it just being stupid?”

Aurina counted on her fingers.

“You worked two days for this. Thinking about how stupid you are, who killed this king’s… father, I suddenly feel his death wasn’t worth it.”

“Because I chose to become a paladin,” Richard said solemnly.

“I swore an oath. That oath gives me strength, and because of it, that strength, I defeated the dread dragon, defeated evil.”

Quack quack!

But soon enough, the winner will be me, Your Majesty!

Aurina smirked faintly.

“That’s still just being stupid, isn’t it?Dumb little bug.”

Richard’s hand twitched, but he restrained himself.

“Where’s the stupid part?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Aurina, still nestled in his arms, said, counting on her fingers again.

“Look at you.That magic plate armor? Four hundred nine gold, one silver. Your magic greatsword? Sixty-three gold, three silver.”

“The gold on your sword sheath—magic too—barely twenty-five gold.You don’t even have a warhorse. The only horse you had is gone now…”

“All told, you’re not even worth fifteen hundred gold, and most of that’s from the loot you took from the dragon’s hoard—the fire-scale trinket.”

When it came to numbers, the adorable Aurina was as cold and sharp as a blade.

“Besides that, your purse has, what, less than three gold coins? I can hear them jingle.And you owe fifty thousand gold in debt.*

“So poor, so pitiful. The mightiest little bug, reduced to this, patching your own clothes. I feel sorry for you, Your Majesty.”

Richard set Aurina down.

“You’re so worldly for a kid. I may be poor, but my spirit is rich. My wealth lies in helping others, in making the world better. That’s eternal.”

“Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn,” Aurina taunted.

“So poor you haggle with shepherds for hours over a sheep. Pathetic, pathetic. I’ve seen three or four bugs in town richer than you.”

“I was wrong.”

“Finally, you admit it!”

Aurina crowed, hands on hips.

“Now let me teach you how to make real money.

Since you’ve seen the light, I’ll give you one percent of the profits. Hurry up and act, Your Majesty wants to sleep on a bed of gold coins, or it’s bad for my health.”

“No, I was wrong in thinking I could reason with a naturally evil, beatable red dragon and convince her to turn good.”

Aurina sensed danger and turned to flee, but Richard grabbed her dragon horn.

“Butt or head?”

Aurina bared her shark-like teeth, snarling.

“Go near my butt, and I’ll skin and gut you, I swear!”

“Fine.”

Richard donned his steel gauntlet.

“Your head’s too hard, so I’ll use this to teach you a lesson.”

“No!”

Outside, the villagers murmured.

“That guy’s too violent.”

“He says he’s a paladin.

Are all paladins that violent?”

“Yup,” another said.

“Listen to that kid scream—she’s louder than a pig at slaughter.”