Chapter 86: The Dragon Discovers a Great Mathematical Theorem

Sophia pulled a soft, red, plump pillow from her interdimensional storage bag, kneaded it, and placed it on the red bedding.

She turned to Aurina with a gentle smile. 

“The bed’s ready, Aurina. Let’s sleep together. You won’t have to sleep with that smelly man Richard anymore.”

Aurina glanced at the soft red bedding, pinched the thin blanket, and even spat a bit of fire to singe it, sniffing its scent.

A faint smell of scorched feathers spread through the room.

Sophia said, “It’s all real silk, very soft.”

Aurina replied, “Not soft.”

She turned, eyeing Sophia up and down, her tail lifting from under her skirt and into her arms.

She stroked her tail and let out a heavy sigh. “Sigh.”

Sophia asked, “What’s wrong? You seem so unhappy today.”

“Richard stole this king’s gold coins, and this king…” 

The former Dread Dragon tried to recall a shred of her past glory through the sensation of stroking her tail.

She glanced at Sophia again and sighed once more. ..

“Sigh. I don’t want to sleep in your bed. It’s not as soft as gold coins.”

If I can’t play the games two people enjoy on the bed, this king would rather not sleep with a female—except for my sister.

“Gold coins aren’t soft either.”

“You don’t understand,” Aurina said, walking to one side of the room.

Sophia’s room was spacious, part of the high-end residence in the local church district.

The floor was tiled, and the walls were entirely stone.

“Are you going to sleep on the floor?” Sophia said. “You’ll catch a cold—”

Aurina’s lips puckered into a kissing motion. “Boom!”

Flames shot from her mouth, first a thin stream, then a torrent of fire washing over the stone floor.

The heat hit Sophia’s face, and the firelight cast her shadow on the wall.

The night watchmen patrolling outside turned their gazes toward the window glowing with firelight. “Is the temple district on fire?”

“Aurina!” 

Sophia instinctively cast a spell to resist fire elements. 

“You’ll set the house on fire!”

The clang of the night watchmen’s gong echoed from outside.

Sophia said, “You’ve alarmed the night watchmen.”

Aurina focused intently, stopping the flames after a few seconds.

The fire receded like water, revealing glowing red tiles radiating heat.

Aurina stretched out her socked foot and stepped on the heated tiles, saying, “Perfect temperature.”

It was as if she were testing the water’s warmth.

The gong outside stopped.

“Lord,” Sophia sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief. 

“Your socks didn’t even burn.”

Aurina opened her mouth, and gold coins poured out.

“Clatter, clatter, clatter.” 

In no time, the coins piled up on the floor, nearly covering her feet.

The coins gleamed as if fresh from the mint, reflecting a captivating sheen.

Sophia was momentarily entranced by the glow. 

“No wonder dragons love gold so much. Aurina, you’re so rich! Where did you get all this?”

Once, a bard insect sang praises of her fame.

She was delighted and summoned the fellow, who loved wearing a hat adorned with colorful feathers, to her dragon lair.

Back then, the Dread Dragon lay atop a pile of treasures—‘pile’ wasn’t even the right word.

To support her mountain-sized body, it should be called a ‘mountain.’

The bard had to exert great effort, panting, to climb the treasure mountain.

The dragon and the man talked joyfully until the bard descended the treasure mountain, when a thunderous dragon voice roared from above.

“Little insect, you took one of my gold coins!”

“No, I didn’t!” 

Those were the bard’s last words.

He never imagined the Dread Dragon could estimate the value of her treasure with a single glance and notice one coin missing.

Now, her treasure was thirteen coins short.

Thirteen coins short—thirteen whole coins.

Aurina clutched her flat chest on the right, rubbing it to ease the pain.

After rubbing her chest, the ache in her heart lessened, and she said, “Richard—”

“Richard?” Sophia said.

“How could he have that much money?”

“It was him,” Aurina said, spitting flames onto the coin pile to warm it.

At the market, besides shopping, Richard had taken her to exchange magical items for gold coins.

Besides the gold collar and the intelligence headband, Aurina had traded many, many things for gold.

Sophia stared, entranced, at the glittering coins under the dragon’s breath.

Given Richard’s character, even if Aurina was a young dragon, he’d probably split the profits fifty-fifty.

In just a few months, their spoils had amounted to so much.

The flames faded, and the heated coins shimmered with distorted heat waves.

Aurina lay directly on the coin pile, curling up and wriggling to shape the coins into a comfortable form.

“Still too thin, not soft enough,” Aurina sighed, her sigh eerily similar to Richard’s.

“Gold isn’t soft to begin with,” Sophia said, peeling off her outer clothes, revealing thin undergarments. 

“It’s so hot.”

Aurina pulled a sky-blue cloak from her mouth—it was once Richard’s.

With a flick of her hand, the cloak draped over her slender body.

Sophia recognized it clearly as a gift she had once given Richard.

She picked up a few coins, braving the heat, and smiled. “Aurina, how about a trade?”

Aurina raised her head. 

“A trade?”

“This cloak isn’t worth many coins,” Sophia said. 

“But I love it. I gave it to Richard before, so it has sentimental value. Here are five coins—sell it to me?”

Aurina suddenly reached out, trying to snatch the coins from Sophia’s hand.

“Bang!”

A transparent shield blocked her.

Sophia laughed. 

“Aurina, little sister, that’s not right. Even a red dragon shouldn’t just grab others’ coins.”

“Not selling.”

“Ten coins.”

“No.”

Aurina buried her head in the thin layer of coins.

Sophia asked casually, “Why not?”

“Because it’s this king’s spoil!” 

Aurina clenched her fist. 

“From now on, no one will take my spoils!”

Was this a declaration of war? 

No, no, she’s still young.

Sophia said, “Be good, Aurina. I’ll give you another one, look.”

Sophia pulled out another sky-blue silk cloak, similar to Aurina’s but with slightly different patterns.

The sky-blue silk cloak was one Sophia had bought and customized.

She had started embroidering patterns on it but found it too tiring and hired someone to add golden designs.

After hiring someone, she thought it was too troublesome to commission and communicate each time for future gifts.

So, she had several cloaks embroidered at once for future presents.

“Look, this one’s newer than yours. Yours is old, frayed at the hem,” Sophia smiled. “Want to swap?”

Aurina’s tail suddenly flicked, piercing through Sophia’s shield and snatching the cloak.

“Huh?” 

Sophia felt her hand empty.

“How did you get through?”

“Magic trinkets can’t fool this king twice.”

“It’s the Lord’s blessing, a divine spell.”

“Same thing.”

“Give me back my cloak, unless you give me the old one.”

“They’re all mine!”

Aurina opened her mouth, about to lick Sophia’s cloak. “Once I lick it, it’s this king’s.”

“I’ll tell Richard.”

Aurina shut her mouth and tossed the cloak back to Sophia. 

“Gah, it’s not that important anyway.”

With that, Aurina pulled the old cloak tighter over her body and lay on the coins.

Sophia didn’t give up, holding the new cloak in one hand and coins in the other. 

“That cloak Richard wore for four or five years—it’s old. I can trade both the cloak and coins.”

“No.”

Sophia coaxed, “These will all be your spoils.”

“No way. Spoils are ranked by heaven and earth. Yours crawl on the ground,” Aurina said. “But this is Richard’s cloak.”

A spoil taken from the strongest little insect—how could it not be precious?

But to Sophia, those words carried a different meaning.

Sophia sighed, feeling the cloak covering Aurina was somewhat glaring, especially the slightly crooked golden pattern at one corner—her entire handiwork.

Enduring the scorching air, Sophia stripped down to her undergarments and lay on the bed.

It was hot, but better than letting Aurina sleep with Richard.

Following the principle of “out of sight, out of mind,” Sophia turned to her side, her two peaks pressing against each other.

Just as she closed her eyes, she heard Aurina’s excited voice.

“Gah! This king has realized it, realized it!”

“What’s wrong?” 

Sophia sat up quickly, her smooth body glistening with tiny beads of sweat.

Aurina sat on the coins, her soft white soles facing each other, her red tail poking out between her legs.

Her ten toes wiggled like waves, rising and falling, her golden eyes wide and round, staring at her ten fingers.

Aurina shifted her gaze from her slender fingers to Sophia and said,

“Twenty-one!”

“What?”

“The biggest number is twenty-one, not twenty!” Aurina announced loudly.

In that moment, Sophia, with her keen perception, envisioned a scene: an old mathematician, after decades of study, emerging from his dilapidated wooden hut.

His white hair disheveled, thick glasses perched on his nose, his back hunched like a shrimp, he held a stack of drafts high, proclaiming he had solved a mathematical problem that had baffled humanity for a thousand years.

Sophia’s mind still couldn’t catch up. 

“Huh?”

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine…” 

Aurina demonstrated her proud mathematical achievement, her ten fingers swiftly dropping like waves, followed by her ten toes, and finally her dragon tail. 

“Twenty-one!”

Aurina’s two-digit addition had broken through the limit of twenty, reaching twenty-one.

Sophia was still dazed, her mouth slightly agape.

“How could a little insect comprehend this king’s world-shaking wisdom?” 

Aurina said, her earlier worries swept away.

She happily lay on the bed, closed her eyes, and fell asleep, a faint smile on her face.

Maybe it’s better to let Aurina sleep with Richard after all.

Sophia thought.