After seeing off the ancestral Red Dragon who was eager for revenge, David headed straight for Dewensen.
However, this time he had an additional passenger: Miss Yolanda, a Succubus Dragonkin.
Of course, David couldn't possibly let a female brazenly ride on his back, so he followed the unspoken rules for dragons carrying passengers and held her in his claws.
Especially since this young woman, to avoid drawing attention, had disguised herself as a Holy Warrior clad in silver armor and wielding a greatsword.
With his current reputation in the Elven Kingdom as the 'Silver-winged Star of Doom', he was somewhat well-known. It would be bizarre if the Elves suddenly saw me, damn it, being ridden by a Holy Warrior in broad daylight! Who knows what absurd rumors might spread? Such as I had converted to the light of justice of the Tri-Holy Hall and become some Holy Warrior lady's devoted, fawning dragon, or something like that.
A dragon lives for its reputation, a tree for its bark. Reputation is something that, when possible, should be maintained; that's always a good idea. A relatively good reputation could indeed make things slightly easier when trying to accomplish certain tasks.
For instance, when he previously sent the silver-painted ancestral Red Dragon and his Dragonkin vassals into the Gloomy Region, a magical letter explaining the situation to the Duke of Silver had taken care of everything. With his endorsement as the 'Silver-winged Star of Doom'—who had once blocked the barbarian invasion—their journey had been relatively unobstructed. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
He could have used the Teleportation Gate in the Mage Tower of Saeolus City. However, seven years had passed, and he didn't know if his father had been exposed at Miss Shalaina the Silver Dragon's place during that time. If I show up through the Teleportation Gate with a 'Holy Warrior' and happen to find Miss Shalaina at home, wouldn't that be awkward?
However, while David was still en route, he realized he no longer needed to worry about that particular problem.
Perhaps Christoph and his group of Dragonkin had made too much noise passing through Saeolus, or maybe the Duke of Silver had communicated with Attilicia. In any case, his father, the Silver Dragon Attilicia, had sent him a letter via Magic Owl.
Hmm? Miss Shalaina actually went back to Dragon Island? David was stunned for a moment upon reading the letter, then understanding dawned.
Seven months ago, his mother, Pafila, had ascended to godhood, causing the Elariya plane to begin its elevation toward the Prime Material Plane. This event had triggered a series of chain reactions. The arrival of the High Elves from Toriel's Eternal Gathering Island had also brought a significant political shift to the Elven Kingdom. Dragon Island had maintained a decent relationship with the Elves of old Dewensen, but this didn't mean they were on good terms with the High Elves from Toriel's Eternal Gathering Island.
To be more precise, even on the distant Prime Material Plane of Toriel, not many Metal Dragons were willing to get too involved with Eternal Gathering Island.
In the eyes of the Metal Dragons, these High Elves were descendants of war criminals who still clung to extreme leftist ideologies.
To draw an analogy: imagine people on Blue Star. They might jokingly tease ordinary Japanese people about their "so-called comfortable lives" but would still communicate, do business, travel, or even work in Japanese companies with them without issue. However, if the other party were a descendant of war criminals, explicitly hostile towards China, with an undying desire for its destruction, and who also made a point of visiting controversial shrines like the Yasukuni Shrine, then any rational person would naturally feel animosity and keep their distance.
The historical reason was simple. Back then, to completely drive dragons from the stage of history, those High Elves created the Dragon Frenzy Enigma Lock at Iron Tooth Fort in the extreme north of Toriel. This, accompanied by the ascent of The Slaying King Star, triggered the dreadful Dragon Madness disaster.
It is said that during that calamity, the 'Claw of Justice,' the paladin legion of the Metal Dragons, was almost completely wiped out. After the Dragon Madness ended, they had to lower their recruitment standards to quickly replenish their ranks, allowing Metal Dragons other than Gold and Silver Dragons to join.
Because of this feud, Dragon Island could not possibly show a friendly face to the new regime of Queen Arasya. Withdrawing the Silver Dragon envoys and Dragon expatriates was merely a basic response.
It wasn't just Dragon Island; even the High Elves who had sought refuge in Elariya long ago did not look kindly upon these newcomers from their homeland.
From the words in the letter, David could tell that his father, Attilicia, felt torn and unwilling to accept the situation.
In just ten short years, he had nearly paid off the staggering debt of 120,000 pounds of Gold. He had also established a potion sales network that extended across a large part of the Elven Kingdom and even reached the Valden Kingdom in Central Earth. He was on the verge of turning losses into profits when this sudden upheaval occurred.
As the saying goes, "New kings bring new ministers." With the significant changes among the high-ranking Elves in Dewensen, the network of relationships Attilicia had spent nearly ten years building was almost entirely swept away by the newly ascended Queen Arasya. Now, in her efforts to replenish the treasury, she had already set her sights on him—the biggest smuggling boss in the entire Elven Kingdom.
Ten years of hard work had vanished overnight; how could his father, Attilicia, be content with that?
Regarding that, I'm actually quite open-minded, David thought. First, I realized long ago that Mother Pafila doesn't actually care that much about money. That so-called exorbitant debt was just an excuse by a mother dragon, not good with words, trying to keep us by her side. Only Father Attilicia took it seriously. Second, I've brought Father a new path; it's up to him whether he wants to take it.
However, even though David had psychologically prepared himself for this, he sensed something was amiss as soon as he entered Dewensen's territory.
Flying at a high altitude, David's hawk-like eyes quickly spotted numerous groups of stowaways, families with their belongings in tow.