It will happen one day.
Winkle urges his minions to procreate, and he proves to be surprisingly bad at it. Regardless of setbacks, his chief of staff persisted and worked hard to fulfill his duties to the satisfaction of his master.
And he was overbred.
"Minion!" Vai
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bark. "Slave!"
His chief of staff did not respond, but lay in his armor in the soggy inn courtyard. The warm iron plate looked as if it had been struck by King Wotan's lightning, leaving the man inside half dead. Even its tail is soft!
They found his body in the rubble of his bedroom. He didn't wake up for several hours.
"I told him not to do it," Gobrina lamented sadly, while Chocolat cradled the unconscious chief of staff in her arms. Winkle's minions formed a circle around Manlin Victor, along with several faces the dragon didn't recognize. All the magicians present kept casting spells on the Prime Minister, but to no avail. "I warned him!" I warned him!"
"It seems too shocking." Juriris said, shaking his head. "It's a miracle he didn't die on the spot. If he hadn't reached for the potion before passing out, he would have left us..."
"You, doctor." Winkle turned to the annoying Allison. "Wake him up!"
"We're working on it, Your Majesty!" said the dryad, and Knight Kia cast [Full Heal] on the dragon's friend. "His body functions normally, but his soul..."
"His soul was almost enlightened," some red-haired Manling explained. He had experienced such great happiness that his soul feared to return to earth and find everything else a disappointment. Victor doesn't wake up until he realizes there is more to this universe than what he sees. "
"What could be happier than serving me?" Winkel replied, looking down at his chief of staff. "Minion! Minion! I have a challenge to win! Minion!"
His friend's body didn't even twitch.
"I shouldn't have pushed him," Winkle realized, filled with regret. "If his infinite love for me is not enough to awaken him..."
"He's alive," the redhead said with a shrug. "So he is still bound to this world. Give him some time to recover from his vision of God."
"How long is it going to take?" Allison asked the redhead.
"It depends. I spent a whole week fantasizing about myself before I came back to the waking world."
"A week?" Vai
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He frowned. “My Fairy Hunting Challenge starts in a few days! I can’t wait a week!”
"Fairy hunting?" Kia asked, looking up at the dragon with primal desire.
"Will there be a princess?" Gorinich asked with salivation.
"You were not invited!" Winkle snapped at both of them, then turned to the rest of his entourage. "No matter. I want to hold him in my hands."
"No, Your Majesty, don't do this!" Alliso
defend. "He is completely helpless in this state and he requires medical attention."
"There's no safer place than next to me," Wankel insisted. "You can cure him on the way to the fairy farm."
"Does the king plan to attack with Victor?" K
ight Kia asked. "It's too dangerous to take him there. Just one spell and he'll be dead forever."
The dragon grunted, still considering her words. His servant may be too fragile, and the dragon currently lacks the funds to raise him...
Gobrina asked, her face full of worry.
"For the sake of our alliance, I will leave my Chief of Staff in your lands until my servants nurse him back to health and I can summon him back to me," Vankel said. "If anything happens to him while I'm gone, I'll burn this island to ashes. Am I clear?"
The goblin trembled a little at the threat, but nodded. "I have the best minions in the world," she said. "A week? We'll wake him up in three days! But what about Tarask?"
"Obviously, you'll be feeding him while I'm gone. Minions, I hope you'll prove yourself better than her servants." A little competition among the minions will only increase their productivity. "I must leave first, burn down the Immortal Manor, and let Bingya take his place."
"Then I'll go with you." Nat Kea said.
Winkel looked at the arrogant Manlin. She must have an IQ of only square root 9, and she doesn't understand that he doesn't want her around. "No."
"Can you take me there?" (Paladin) took her hand, almost begging him. "Please, I need action!"
"So how much is it?"
Knight Kia froze. "How much for what?"
"How much are you willing to pay me for the privilege?"
Since the dragon knew that her grandfather could not hear her, it took the knight's silence as an admission of poverty. When she found the courage to speak out, it was for bargaining. "Do you want me to pay you for your work?"
"I don't want to, and I'm asking you to pay me to ignore your incompetence," Winkle explained in language she could understand. "Going on an exclusive adventure with the best dragons in the world is an honor you don't deserve. I can't stand by without a proper tribute."
Now that he thought about it, he could make money from it.
"That's—" Knight Kia stopped herself from trying to get past her minion station and instead let out a long sigh. "You need someone to talk to the locals. I can fill in for Vic."
"As if you were my niece's servant?" Winkle replied scornfully. "I guarantee you the locals will be begging for the privilege of giving me guidance."
"If they can't understand you, they won't." (Paladin) replied. "Victor wrote about the location of the farm near Nagastan, where the people did not speak Mandarin or Draconic."
Winkle opened his mouth to mock her further. "Ah, before I leave, I'll have a minion cast a translation spell on me! Your logic is flawed!"
"The spell will disappear when you get to this country. As long as I can cast it as I please."
Vankel was going to reject her until he realized that without the [Master's Shield], he would have no way to heal himself in a pinch. [Paladin] could be a lesser minion who can help him recover from his wounds...
"Okay," Winkle said. "But you can ride in the carriage. My hands are too good for you."
He could already imagine the moment when his chief of staff would sweep the inbred dragon away from under the knight's nose...
After leaving Teikoku Island, Vai
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Flying in a straight line to his destination, over the sea and then to the huge continent. Knight Kia tells him that they will first pass through the Jade Empire, a name that sparks his memory. It is about a dragon that helps the local Manling people "farm".
Winkle would have liked to have a boastful back and forth with this powerful relative, but he didn't have enough time. Bingfang's group had already left, and he needed to meet them at the farm to avoid defaulting on the challenge.
The maggot flew over the continent all day, through the night, and until the next sunset, with Greenidge struggling to follow. They passed through verdant forests, rice fields, and mountains; however, the Manling cities they passed seemed mostly deserted.
Their journey took them to dry land between the ocean and the huge mountains that make the Alban Mountains look like hills. Winkle smelled the scent of scaly hides on the ground, from serpentine dragons to lizardfolk.
The dragon decided to stop at a large city on the way, a group of round clay houses near a local forest. Unlike the stone and wooden hives that Winkel had become accustomed to, this place was built mostly of laterite and brick. The architects focused on pillars, posts and domes, while Long noticed tigers and elephants in huge enclosures nearby.
Like all the other cities they had flown over, the city seemed uninhabited; however, Winkle's keen senses noticed the occupants of the house, who were too shy to face him.
"We arrived earlier than I thought!" Fankel was delighted as he landed in the deserted square. "We might have time to do a brief investigation."
"Quick exploration?" Zia asked, jumping off Golenich's back. Zia was exhausted.
"Golenich is thirsty..." the policeman said. "Golinich needs breast milk..."
"I must train in my classes and fill my treasury with new gold," Winkle reminded Knight of Kia's purpose in life. "Now, announce my arrival."
"Say, herald?" Knight Kia asked, showing her lack of followers.
"My chief of staff always announces my great and magnanimous presence to the primitive natives," Winkle told the uncultured biped, who already regretted taking her on this trip. "Tell them I brought them the civilization of dragons."
"Ah, okay," the knight said, quickly casting a translation spell on himself and the most powerful dragon. "Brave citizens, we are here to help!"
"Money!" Winkle reminded her, and the man grimaced. "Tell them to bring the cow over!"
The door of the roundhouse opened, and a black cobra the size of Manman crawled out. Winkle recognized it as a snake beast, or naga; one had a red scarf around its mouth. "What's going on?" Naga hissed, immediately noticing Fankel and the paralyzed Golenich. "Oh, another dragon expedition. That's great. Look, if you're here to rob the cattle, all I can do is politely ask you to leave and never come back."
[αMagnetic (Scale) was revised by [Negative]].
"Is this Danyakuria village?" K
asked ight Kia, who was responsible for planning the trip. Naga nodded, as anxious to break up as Winkle himself. "We are searching for a former stronghold in the area. Have you seen any signs of fairy activity lately?"
"No, because everyone is staying at home," Naga replied. "We haven't heard anything from the nearby villages for a while, but I don't know if it's the voice of fairies or the plague."
"Can you tell us the direction of these villages?"
"Minion Kia, you're ignoring what's really important," Vai
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Walking towards Naga, tired of the knight's incompetence. "I have time for a brief exploration."
"Quest? No one will go exploring with this damn plague! All adventuring guilds are closed and our economy is ruined! Naga hissed, wagging his tail. "Respect my safe space!"
"You have nothing to be afraid of," Kia said. "I'm immune to [the disease] and as a [Paladin] I can cure it at will."
"(Knight)?" Naga immediately turned to Kia, observing her so intensely that it made Manlin feel uneasy. "Which god?"
"Mithras," she replied, and the Naga wagged his tail excitedly.
"That changes everything! Yes, I may have a mission for you!" Naga cleared his throat. "Our Architects Association is holding an annual architectural competition. A team had to visit and evaluate our designs, but they needed to include Mithras or Leone's [Paladin]. All healers mobilized to deal with the (Elven Plague) and social distancing, but we couldn't find anyone who met our criteria. "
“Why Paladi is needed in architecture competitions
?" Kia asked with a frown.
"Because these god's paladins are forced to tell the truth and act with chivalry," the orc answered. "So we can trust them to give their honest opinions. Because we can't limit the competition to one class, their partner can be anyone or anything."
"How much and how long?" Long asked some tough questions. "I'm the best adventurer in the world with the highest rates and we're running out of time."
"If you win the competition, you get a million gold medals," Wankel salivated, but his next words dashed his hopes, "But it might take a few days."
Ah, that's too long! "You'll have to wait until I burn down the fairy farm before you find your winner."
"I will not accept this mission," said the knight Kia, her greed showing that she was unworthy of being a servant. "I don't need gold."
"The winner will also receive a powerful magic item from our guild's holy patron," Naga said. "Some will even receive a hero's badge."
"Why would someone get a hero badge in a construction competition?"
"Fewer problems, more gold," Wankel interrupted, finding her lack of enthusiasm for hoarding irritating. What did Manlin Victor see in her? She lacked the value of a true dragon!
"Your Majesty, don't you think this mission is suspicious?" K
ight Kia asked. "When someone offers a mission with such a high reward, he's either wrong or treacherous."
"If you doubt me, then cast a spell on me," Naga said. "I have nothing to hide."
"I said I would stop profiling, but I will make an exception; [enhanced karma scan]," Kia cast a spell, reading Naga's karma. A smile soon broke out on her face. "It's not bad, it's orderly... in Mu
mu
i
It was refreshing after being here for so long, I had forgotten there were people like this. "
“If I had time to claim the gold, where would I find it?” That part was taken care of, Winkle asked.
"First, you have to vow to get involved and give it your all," insisted the snake. "Our holy patron saint really insisted that we do this."
"Of course, I vowed to win," Wacker shrugged.
"I swear on my honor," Kia replied, "if Shesha needs comfort."
"Well, my guild doesn't worship Shesha," Naga replied. "She tolerates us because our dungeons provide business opportunities, but our adventurer mortality rate is a little too high for her."
The paladin blinked. "You mean the dungeon?"
"Yes, dungeons. I'm [Dungeon Architect] and [Trap Master]. What, you thought trapped tombs grew in trees? Who do you think designed these snake pits and secret passages? No one ever Respect our hard work.”
"Don't remind me," Winkle said. "Commanding my minions was a constant struggle as I ordered them to build an arena and more towers for my castle. Alas, their minds could not comprehend my unparalleled, visionary designs."
"So this is a dungeon building competition?" Knight Kya drew her sword. "Wait, which god would sponsor such a guild?"
Naga looked at her strangely. "I view your attempt to get me to profess my faith as an attack on my religious freedom."
"But you just asked me which god I serve—"
"Yes, but that doesn't mean I have to tell you. What if I worshiped the monk? Would you treat me differently?"
"Yes," Knight Kya replied ominously.
"I'm absolutely right."
"I don't care which 'god' you are a servant of," Winkle said. "Where's the gold?"
"Do you have a map and feathers?" Knight Chia reluctantly handed Naga to him, and the snake struggled to draw a small cross on it. "Damn two legs, can't map a man without arms... Now if you'll excuse me, I have to hide from germs."
"Your Majesty, are we really going to do this?" Knight Kya asked, glaring at the snake as he returned home.
"Yes, but I have to burn down the fairy manor first." One million gold coins are enough to crush Bing Fang's delusions of wealth.
Speaking of Ice Fang, the dragon hummed to sniff out his opponent's scent in case he managed to sneak ahead of him.
Skill check successful.
Vai
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stunned.
"What?"K
ight Kia asked.
"I smell..." Fankel couldn't believe it. "Dragon blood?"
