Chapter 18 : Dragon Makes a Fortune Quietly

The cavern roared with a relentless blaze, its walls aglow with fierce flames.

Piles of wooden furniture smoldered, their forms twisting into blackened charcoal.

Earthenware pots, unable to withstand the heat, shattered with sharp, piercing cracks.

A family shrine burned fiercely, its sacred presence choked by thick smoke, heavy with the scent of scorched spices and timber.

Linen garments, woven fabrics, and heavy blankets caught fire, flames leaping eagerly as they consumed everything in their path.

Precious handcrafted treasures—embroidered tablecloths, intricate tapestries—saw their vibrant hues and delicate patterns dissolve into ash.

Scattered throughout the cave, stolen tools and farm implements—shovels, sickles—glowed red-hot, as if freshly pulled from a blacksmith’s forge.

Stores of grain and dried meat crackled and popped, devoured by the insatiable fire.

Richard charged into the inferno, his speed outpacing even the first wave of searing flames.

The blaze swallowed his silhouette, leaving only a shadowed figure flickering in the heart of the fire.

Aurina hesitated, confusion flickering across her face, until memories of the dragon’s lair sparked clarity.

She understood, in a flash, why Richard was so desperate, and she bolted toward the cave, shouting, “Gah! Wait for me! Nine-tenths of the loot is mine!”

She dove into the cavern, where flames devoured heaps of plundered treasure.

Not far off, women screamed for help, while in a tall cage, shadowy goblins leaped in frantic panic.

Richard barreled through the fire toward the captives, vaulting over rivers of flame.

Aurina, with one sharp glance, calculated the worth of the cavern’s riches and darted toward the most valuable treasures.

In the chaos, Richard’s voice cut through the screams: “Aurina! Come help save them!”

Oh, right—the fire was killing the bugs, and if the bugs were dying, those tasty green snacks wouldn’t last much longer.

Aurina’s eyes gleamed as she recalled the goblin cage, turning to the scorched figures writhing within the red-hot bars.

She cackled, “Gahaha! I said I’d burn your whole family, and I meant it!”

Even as she taunted, she kept moving, snatching treasures as she ran.

A crate of fine fabrics—embroidered tablecloths, silks, tapestries—she swallowed in one ravenous gulp.

Half-charred jerky?

She leaped and devoured it mid-air.

Books, a stone carving, a plow, a barrel of mead, a sack of spices—she gorged as she charged, carving a path through the flames with her gluttony.

“Gah! Found you!”

She crowed, hoisting a rosewood box adorned with gleaming brass, its value pegged at precisely one hundred thirty-two gold coins.

Nearby, a sheep bleated, its wool singed, worth a mere one-and-a-half gold coins—barely a fraction of her prize.

Aurina opened her jaws to swallow the box, but her bruised stomach protested, its space nearly full.

Then her gaze locked on a frantic bull, charging through the flames, worth a solid sixteen gold coins.

Her eyes sparkled with greed.

“Moo!”

Tiny Aurina hoisted the massive bull onto her shoulders and marched it through the fire, out of the cave, past the piles of looted treasure.

Outside, Richard emerged, carrying a silver-haired old woman on his back.

Around them sprawled a group of shaken men and women, saved from the flames’ grasp.

“Young man, thank you,” the old woman said.

“We’d have burned if not for you.”

“It’s nothing. Saving people is what matters,” Richard replied.

Aurina, still lugging the dazed bull, tiptoed toward escape—good loot wasn’t for sharing with companions.

“Aurina!”

Richard’s voice thundered.

“Gah!” she yelped, startled.

“Moo!” the bull echoed.

Grudgingly, she turned, muttering, “Tch, no wonder he’s the strongest bug. Even my perfect stealth couldn’t fool him.”

“Moo.”

“Even the cow saw through me.”

She faced Richard, his face blistered from the heat, while the old woman, leaning on her cane, squinted and chuckled.

“Cows these days are clever, walking on two legs like that.”

Behind them, the crowd gaped at Aurina—barely four feet tall, somehow carrying a four-hundred-kilogram bull.

Richard stepped forward.

“Put the cow down.”

Aurina set the bull down and slunk behind it, her golden eyes blinking innocently at Richard.

She knew she’d messed up.

Richard softened, the sting of his burns easing. “Do you know what you did wrong?”

“Nope, not a clue,” she chirped.

Richard seized the moment to lecture.

“You were too reckless. You could’ve cost lives.”

“Even if you didn’t see the innocents at first, I called you out. You should’ve realized—”

Aurina, already bored, grabbed a stick and poked the bull’s rear.

The beast quivered, its tail lifting slightly, clearly enjoying it.

“And this is your mess,” Richard continued.

“I get that you’re greedy by nature, but when I called your name, you should’ve dropped the loot and helped me save people.”

“Aurina, stop playing with the cow’s tail.”

Aurina, as if uncovering a new realm, prodded the sensitive patch beneath the bull’s tail.

She knew that spot—her own tail had a similar tender, bare patch.

The stick grazed it, and the bull’s tail shot up, a sign of delight in dragon body language.

She grinned wickedly.

Richard called her name again, but she ignored him.

“Aurina, stop playing with the cow’s tail!”

She looked up to see Richard’s soot-streaked face, blistered and stern.

Fragile little bug, she thought.

Just a bit of fire, and he’s all blistered.

So weak.

She burst out laughing.

“Gahaha!”

“What’s so funny?”

Richard demanded, a faint headache pulsing.

“Gah, hah…”

Aurina’s eyes glinted as she stuck out her tongue.

“I could lick those burns to heal them. How’s that?”

“No thanks,” Richard said flatly.

“I’ll heal on my own.”

Aurina smirked, proud of her clever distraction.

She slid the rosewood box—worth one hundred thirty-two gold coins—behind her, wrapping her red dragon tail around it for good measure.

“Right, you can heal yourself,” she said, feigning innocence.

Richard’s sharp gaze cut through her ruse, spotting the box half-hidden by her tail.

“So, care to show me what’s behind you?”

Aurina froze.

Of course, the strongest bug would see through her brilliant scheme.

“Box? What box? I don’t know anything about a box,” she said, then, pain in her voice, “Let’s make a deal. A trade!”

Richard sighed.

“Now you remember what I taught you.”

Aurina pulled her hands from behind her back, glancing at her ten fingers, then her ten toes, wiggling them one by one.

“One-twentieth,” she said, pointing at the bull, which stared longingly at her stick.

“You get one-twentieth of this cow. It’s worth sixteen gold coins.”

Richard scoffed.

“That’s insultingly low, even for a bribe. But that’s not the point. What’s in the box?”

“One-tenth!”

Aurina waved a hand, desperate.

“I activate my trading skill!”

“This isn’t about trading,” Richard said.

“Show me the box.”

“Box? What box?”

Her tail, sinuous as a snake, tightened around the rosewood.

“Look, my hands are empty.”

“Then what’s your tail holding?”

“Gah… nothing! It’s just knotted!”

Richard’s patience snapped.

He reached for her tail.

Aurina dodged, but he grabbed her horn with one hand and lunged again.

She twisted, her tail flicking, and his hand brushed her rear before he yanked it back.

Aurina wagged her tail, leaving a blur as she taunted, “Gah! You’ll never catch my one-hundred-thirty-two-gold-coin rosewood box!”

The words barely left her mouth when Richard’s hand clamped onto her tail’s base, his thumb grazing the sensitive white patch beneath.

A jolt shot up her spine, electric and overwhelming, a sensation reserved for only the most intimate touch.

Her tail stiffened, its tip curling upward, revealing a corner of the box.

Richard seized it and yanked it free.

“Gah…!”

Aurina bared her shark-like teeth, her translucent claws glinting, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

“Some kind of hoarding instinct?”

Richard mused.

“You filthy, hard-headed bug!” she spat. “You touched there. No male’s ever touched that spot!”

The crowd behind them exchanged odd looks.

“Touched where?”

Richard asked, wary.

“So I can avoid it next time.”

Fuming, Aurina grabbed her stick and jabbed the bull’s sensitive spot again.

The stick twisted, and the bull’s tail shot up with a long, “Moo!”

Richard flushed.

“Sorry.”

Aurina crossed her arms.

“Hmph! I’ll forgive you one-twentieth of the way!”

The rest, she’d settle later.

The thought of future revenge soothed her.

After all, she was the king of red dragons—powerful enough to make her enemies pay dearly.

Richard opened the box.

Inside was a stack of thirteen parchment slave contracts, glowing faintly green.

His face darkened.

Aurina piped up, “Fine, eighty-twenty split. You get twenty.”

“Burn it,” Richard said.

“Burn it?”

Aurina gawked.

“You’re threatening me? Harsh. Fine, fifty-fifty.”

“I’m serious,” Richard said.

“This evil, enslaving garbage needs to be destroyed.”

“It’s worth one hundred thirty-two gold coins!”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

Richard tore the contracts into scraps and tossed them into the fire, right before Aurina’s eyes.