On this night, most people in the Rhea Lucalia Magic Academy heard bursts of high-pitched and angry screams coming from the southwest.
There was no doubt that it was the voice of a giant dragon. It sounded like the kind of muffled thunder in spring, which shocked many people and prevented them from falling asleep again for a long time.
Anyone who heard the sound knew without guessing that someone must be provoking Smarag, the 'Phoenix Dragon' in the Lienia region and south of the Crystal Forest.
As for who provoked the giant dragon, they didn't mind.
They all know that no matter it is a pyroxene magician or anyone else, anyone who dares to challenge the giant dragon will have one and only one result, and that is: either become the dragon's meal. Or become a rotting, nameless corpse near its lair!
Therefore, after hearing the roar of Smarag, the Stone Dragon, they silently began to count down the remaining life of a guy who did not know how to live or die.
About ten minutes later...
The thunderous roar and roar of the dragon finally subsided, making everyone heave a sigh of relief.
The end of the dragon roar of 'Smallag, the Stone Dragon', proves that for any reckless guy who dares to 'slay the dragon' or 'disturbing the dragon', the other person's life will no longer exist. above this world.
"call!"
"Great, it finally stopped. It seems that another unlucky guy died tonight!"
"Listening to that sound is really torturous."
"yes!"
"It has stopped, otherwise many people will not be able to sleep tonight."
Inside the main entrance of the Magic Academy, on both sides of the fortress gate above the stairs, I had been quietly listening to the roar of dragons coming from the distance. Until the roar of dragons like rolling thunder completely subsided, the two The stone magicians guarding both sides of the academy gate finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"but……"
"What you just said may be wrong. Maybe there is more than one unlucky person?"
Immediately afterwards, one of the gatekeepers listened for a while and found that there was indeed no dragon roar, and then suddenly smiled and sighed.
"??"
"How do you know there's more than one?"
"Is there any evidence?"
Hearing this, the other mage guard naturally disagreed and asked in reply. His expression looked very relaxed and casual, and he didn't look like he was on duty at all.
Come to think of it!
After all, the two of them are only responsible for guarding the gate within the enchantment. During the long night, and there is a magic enchantment guarding the gate outside, they don't need to pay too much attention or be vigilant. They just need to be here. Just stand and occasionally stare at the door, watching for those who come in using the Pyroxene Key.
Therefore, if they are just standing here chatting like now, then there must be no one to meddle in their own business.
Under the protection of the academy's magic barrier, almost no one has broken in for many years, even the giant dragon that screamed horribly just now, because no one can enter the front without the pyroxene key. One step to the south gate!
Of course, the same goes for the main entrance on the north side.
"evidence?"
"Of course!"
"Didn't you notice just now? Last month, and a few months ago, when the dragon roared like that just now, it lasted for a long time and sometimes for a short time."
"So I just thought..."
"Could it be that the longer ones are because the people challenging them are stronger or there are more people? And the shorter ones are because the people who challenge them are smaller and weaker?"
"You heard it just now. It barked for a long time and very loudly. It was the longest one in these years! That's why I am sure that there will probably be no less than ten people challenging it. Otherwise , you can never persist for such a long time!”
The guard speculated as plausibly as if he had seen it with his own eyes, and it seemed reasonable at first glance.
"pity!"
"Now that they are all dead, it is impossible for a mortal to succeed in slaying the dragon!"
"A while ago, wasn't there someone in the academy who took the pyroxene key and went out to slay the dragon? But look, until now, I haven't seen those guys come back, and I don't know what the situation is."
After saying that, the guard sighed again with emotion.
"okay."
"Don't care if they die or not, and don't care how many of them die. Dragons can't get in anyway. We just have to stay here and prevent some unrelated outsiders from sneaking in after getting the key."
At this time, the other guard became a little impatient and said nonchalantly after stretching.
"outsider……"
"Then what kind of outsider is considered an outsider?"
"Is it from the royal family, or from our academy..."
"!!"
"Stop it!"
"Okay, let's not discuss that topic anymore, let's leave it at that!"
I don't know if some sensitive topic was touched upon, but another guard interrupted his companion without waiting for him to finish.
"The academy and the royal family..."
"well……"
"That's right, stop talking!"
The guard who started talking obviously knew why his companion suddenly had that attitude, so after a pause, he had to smile bitterly, then shook his head, and quickly closed his mouth.
"..."
"..."
Then, the two of them continued to stand boredly on the steps inside the main entrance of the college, standing on both sides of the gate of the fortress, continuing their night vigil work.
In fact, there was no need for them to discuss the sensitive topic just now. Almost everyone in Rhea Lucalia Magic Academy already knew about it. It was nothing more than friction between the academy and the royal family. That was not the case a long time ago. What a secret.
Over the years, or for countless years, there has been friction between the academic faction and the Kaliya royal family. Although the Lienia region is nominally the territory of the Kaliya Kingdom, in fact, it is It is jointly managed by the Magic Academy and the royal family. In this lake area, the academy has great power, such as building a town in front of the academy and implementing 'local autonomy'.
but……
The ambitions of the Magic Academy go far beyond that. Some of the higher-ups in the Academy even secretly cultivated a private army, the Cuckoo Knights, and had plans for the royal family.
Likewise, the Kaliya royal family, aware of the academy's intentions, naturally would not sit still and wait for death. They counterattacked and directly formed a 'Kalia Guards' composed of magic knights.
It is said that the ability of every magic knight is comparable to the heroes of the Golden Tree, that is, those powerful tree guards?
The duty of those magic knights is to guard against the magic academy. Therefore, the magic resistance of the suits of the Kalia knights is very impressive and the pertinence is also very obvious.
Later, a conflict naturally broke out between the two sides, and in the end, of course it ended with the failure of the Magic Academy.
Then, in order to suppress the power of the Magic Academy, the royal family arranged for the Queen of the Full Moon, Lenara, to suppress it. Later, the Queen of the Full Moon and the son of Radagan, 'Shattered Star' Latarn, cut off the relationship between the stars and the magicians at the border. The connection completely suppressed the Magic Academy.
That was Rhea Lucalia Academy's darkest moment...
But fortunately, with the departure of Radagan, Queen Full Moon began to decline, which directly led to the decline of the Kaliya royal family. As a result, the factions in the magic academy that opposed the royal family began to make moves again.
but……
Although low-level mages like them know about those things, they don't dare to discuss them casually!
After all, this is the Rhea Lucalia Magic Academy under the control of the Kallia royal family. The Queen of the Full Moon is still here, and the 'Broken Star' Latarn is still covering the light of the stars. Therefore, there are some things that they have to do. I definitely wouldn’t dare to make a mistake.
Anyway!
The current conflict between the Magic Academy and the royal family of Kallia is nothing more than the result of certain ideological conflicts and contradictions.
For example, most of the actual senior leaders of the college currently believe that it is not advisable for the college to continue to remain neutral and maintain the barrier that is closed to the outside world. It should completely turn to the Golden Law, that is, King City Rodel as soon as possible. The college should face it with an open attitude. To the world?
But the Kaliya royal family, which had been fighting against the golden tree before the Elden Ring was broken, didn't think so. In addition, the current Full Moon Queen fell into madness because of Radagan's betrayal, so the royal family was even more worried. It's impossible to agree with the college's approach.
As a result, the rift between the two sides over certain issues and decision-making inevitably grew larger and larger, so much so that the two mages guarding the gate could see the problems and the brewing storm in the academy.
Even, as far as they know, some senior officials have already made a lot of big and small actions, but they have not been made public because of the closure of the college. But no matter what, it is best for them not to discuss too much casually. So as not to bring trouble to yourself.
And at this time...
Not long after the dragon's roar stopped, what was happening in front of a pyroxene dragon's lair not far to the south of the Crystal Forest was completely different from what the two magicians who were guarding the gate had imagined based on the sound.
Here, there are no corpses of one or more 'Dragon Slayers' and 'Dragon Disturbers'. Here, there is only one who was beaten with a bruised nose and face, and is currently lying in a shallow lake and swamp, whispering. It's just a huge aphrodisiac dragon that is wailing and groaning.
That's right!
For a certain troubled little girl, she didn't know, nor did she want to know how much trouble she had caused and disturbed the people in the magic academy not far away by coming to trouble the aphrodisiac dragon. She only knew about human sleep. After a while of playing around, she finally succeeded in persuading a certain violent dragon.
"snort!"
Q(`⌒´Q)
"Isn't it time to be honest now?"
₍₍(̨̡‾ᗣ‾)̧̢₎₎
"Look at you, your whole body is covered with pyroxene, and you have been infected by some hot foreign gods. You are still not honest?"
(｡◕ˇεˇ◕｡)
After first examining the ugly stones on the dragon's head, body and wings, Annie took a step forward angrily and kicked the opponent's big nose.
She knew that the giant dragon in front of her, this kind of native creature, must have been infected by the so-called "gods" of the stars, and the so-called pyroxene was probably the kind of boring starlight fragments that the outer gods were attacking here. Traces of influence exerted by the world.
But Anne wouldn't delve into such boring things. Whether it was true or not, it was none of her business, Queen Anne!
"so!"
☆ﾐ(o*･ω･)ﾉ
"They won't bully you in vain. They will heal you later, and then, how about you being their mount?"
|ू•ૅω•́)ᵎᵎ
Annie approached the other party's big eyes and asked carefully, as if she was afraid that the other party would not see the fierce and threatening look in her eyes.
Anyway, Anne thinks it’s better for the other party to be more understanding?
Because, she is very, very skilled in the business of burning dragons. She started playing with burning dragons when she was three years old, and if the big guy in front of her dares to refuse, she will not mind at all in this swamp. Leaving behind a charred dragon skeleton for future generations to admire!
(…)
(●￣㉨￣●)
"..."
'Smallaght' Smarag raised his huge vertical pupils and glanced at a troubled little girl, then slowly closed them again.
At this moment, it has no strength to answer, nor does it want to answer.
After all, no matter who is sleeping peacefully at home, and then suddenly a giant bear comes up to challenge and beats him violently, and the key is that he loses in the end... In this situation, no matter whether it is physical It was still psychologically uncomfortable, so not saying a word and remaining silent became its last stubbornness.
"If you don't say anything, people will assume you agree!"
(｡•̀ᴗ-)
In fact, it doesn't matter whether the other party agrees or not. Anne's questioning of the other party is just a formality.
"In this case, it seems pitiful to you. Then they want you to rest for a night first, and we can go to the magic academy tomorrow?"
(✪ω✪)
In fact, Annie was not thinking about this stupid dragon at all, but felt that if she went to other people's magic academy to make trouble at night, the impact would definitely not be good, and it would be easy for others to dislike her, so, she I planned to wait until daybreak before talking.
"That's it!"
♪٩(´ᵕ｀๑)۶⁾⁾
After speaking and making her decision, Annie jumped towards the opponent's lair and towards the depths of the pile of rocks.
soon!
She found a pyroxene key on the body of a mage wearing a pyroxene shield, which was said to be able to pass through the barrier and safely enter the magic academy.
"That's it?"
+
"boring!"
(ˉ▽￣~)Cut~~
Plop!
However, after looking at the pin-like key, Annie felt that it was not necessary. After thinking about it, she threw it into the lake aside.
"ah!"
!(;ﾟoﾟ)o
"I almost forgot, there seems to be a bald man who really wants this thing..."
(′～`●)
Then, just after losing Anne, I felt a little bit regretful.
"never mind!"
ε=(´ο｀*)))Alas
"I'm not familiar with him anyway, and I'm too lazy to go back and look for him, so that's it!"
╮(╯▽╰)╭
But after just thinking about it for less than a second, Annie felt relieved again.
After all, that bald man was not her friend or an important person, not even an acquaintance, so Queen Anne definitely had no need to think about such a stranger.
So, the key is lost here. You can tell the other party next time you meet her. If the other party can find it, it is the other party's luck. If you can't find it, then take it down. She doesn't want to worry about those trivial matters. It’s a small thing!
"gone!"
↜(ψ｀▽′)o
"Tibbers, let's find a clean place to rest!"
౧(*മ്▽മ്)੭ु⁾⁾
After finishing all the things, Annie waved to a certain bear.
She had to come here to fight the dragon so late at night, and she had been struggling for so long. Now that she had it done, she must have had a good rest. If she had anything to do, she could wait until dawn!
(…)
(●￣㉨￣●)
——————————
(σﾟ㉨ﾟ)σ..:*☆Monthly pass
