"At last!" Vankel reached the coast and saw the sea, very happy. "finally come!"
After flying non-stop in the desert for several days, the sight of clear water filled him with infinite joy. I have never felt so happy watching the sun set over the water.
"This is the inland sea to the east of the V&V empire," said Manlin Victor as he rode Gorinich, with Knight Kia behind him. "We're almost home."
"Your Majesty, are you sure they don't want to deal with the dungeon mission yet?" Knight Kia asked, a little disappointed. "It's suspicious, but we need more levels and magic items."
“My treasure is calling me,” Winkle said. The trip left him exhausted, especially the last stretch. "I may be a tireless, beautiful dragon, but I need to feel the warmth of gold beneath my paws."
In addition, the storage of "Ice Fang" and his crew was left unattended. If they have no next of kin to claim them, then he will reclaim them himself. The memory of your opponent should never get in the way of profits.
K
"I think we should do as many difficult missions as possible," ight Kia said. "Maybe look for artifacts like the legendary [Conspiracy Armor]." Wouldn’t that help with Odius?”
"Your enthusiasm today is amazing," Manlin Victor said. "You're usually more... I don't know, aloof, right?"
"Remember what I told you in Dortonia?" Nate Kea asked, and the Chief of Staff nodded. "I finally have a goal again and I've never been so excited. I can clear the dungeon by myself!"
"Well, now that I can cast eight levels of spells, I can finally learn some decent teleportation spells." "We can easily complete this task after getting more important things in order."
"Indeed, since the Dragon Secret Society's buffet is the responsibility of the organizers," Winkle explained, Manling Victor's skin turned pale. "Minion, when I ruled the desert, you fed everyone in time, instead of being a lush Minion utopia like today. You can handle it."
"I think your majesty is a little optimistic, but...well, we now have a teleportation network and a food supply from the Tarask. I also received a [Crimson Research] report telling me that the Agarthans successfully brought that beast to Sent to the Dodo.”
Knight Kia made a strange expression. "Can a Tarask breed with a dodo?"
"Yes!" Vai
queue
Nod.
"No," replied Manlin Victor, always pessimistic. "Or at least, if they can, I pray I never see action."
Speaking of the buffet, Winkle got hungrier. "I want a beef feast!"
"Golinic is hungry too," complained the policeman. "Golinich is so hungry that he almost eats it!"
"There is a Nagastan trading post nearby," Manlin Victor said, pointing to the west. "We can resupply there."
"They have colonies in the far west?" Knight Kia asked, crossing his arms. "I would have thought Bahrain had assimilated the region long ago."
"Nagastan succeeded in establishing a trade route on the ruins of the Sabraris Empire," said Manlin Victor. "From what I understand, this caused tensions with local powers like the Eversheng Empire, who viewed these trading posts as a prelude to military expansion. I imagine the plague may have delayed full-scale conflict in the region."
Winkel didn't care at all about Manling's quarrel, and neither did his stomach. "Friend Victor, hurry up and find me a cow, or we will call the Knights of Kea to help."
"I?"
"I don't think she can conjure up any food," his chief of staff said.
"She's a slave," Winkel reminded Manlin Victor (Ma
li
g Victo
) food chain. "If we don't find food soon, we will have to make sacrifices to avoid starvation." Since she was the least valuable servant of the group, he would rather start with her than Gorinich rise.
"What does this mean?" Knight Chia asked, regardless of his duty. "Victor, what does he mean?"
"Oh, nothing!" Manlin Victor hurriedly replied. "Let's find that trading post!"
Thanks to the Paladin, it didn't take us long to find it. The owner of the house built a large brick house on a cliff, near a sandy road and a pen of goats. The place might have room for a few dozen ferals, but there was no accommodation for any dragons.
Is a lava bath too much to ask for?
When everyone was on the ground, to the surprise of the goat, his servants climbed down from Golenich and knocked on the door. A rotten ghoul wearing a round hat opened the door and immediately noticed Winkle. "Oh, two dragons at the same time!" he said roughly. "This is the first time."
"Where is the other one?" Fankel looked around, ignoring Golenich.
"Are you here for treatment?" the innkeeper asked. “If so, please fill in your ailment on our file.”
"Wait, I recognize that voice," Cavalier Kia muttered, "Nestor?"
The ghoul narrowed his eyes and quickly recognized the paladin. "Mrs. KIA? Is that you?"
"Nestor, you stubborn old ghoul, I haven't seen you for many years!" Knight Kia smiled at the undead. "How are you doing?"
"Do you know him?" Victor asked,
"He was a crusader when I fought in the War of the Century," Kia said. "The best shooter I know!"
"That feels like a lifetime ago," the ghoul said, and whistled at Winkle. "Then you must be the famous V&V Adventurer Company!"
"Of course, my words and deeds pale in front of my glory!" the emperor said proudly.
"Well, they either say you're a heroic freedom fighter or you're a greedy warlord hell-bent on conquering other countries for a nickel. It's weird, always one extreme or the other. Sorry, I didn't take it well Welcome, this place is a mess.”
"What are you doing in the desert?" Cavalier Kia asked him, perhaps hoping to get a discount. "I haven't seen you since the last battle with King Bara'ul."
"I retired from exploring and the Naga Lords of Nagastan gave me a sum of money to maintain this trading post." The undead replied. "I mainly serve the few adventurers or traders who brave the desert."
"Wait a minute, you're a ghoul, a carrion eater." "Why do you eat in the middle of nowhere?"
"Let's just say I don't accept labels," the ghoul replied with a crooked smile. "As far as you're concerned, though, since you have Ms. Kia on your side, your stay is free. However, most of my beds are filled with sick people; I want to keep those infected merchants alive
"Are you a therapist?" Victor asked.
"I'm an innkeeper with a hat. Thanks to my career and personal perks, my inn can heal almost anything. HP, SP, status effects, petrify, cripple..."
"Wait, what's going on?" Victor pushed Manlin. "We pay for a bed and we can grow arms?"
"You pay for a bed, sleep in the bed for eight hours, and by the end of it you're cured," the ghoul explained. "As the plague drags on, I have become the de facto hospital."
"Can you cure dwarf addiction?" Fankel raised his head. "Want a servant."
The ghoul made a strange noise, which disappointed the dragon. "I can neither cure addiction nor the rare disease (Stockholm Syndrome). But I can cure (E
th
all). "
"You can cure total mind control, but you can't cure alcoholism." Nate Kia narrowed his eyes.
"I don't make the rules, Ms. Kia. Anyway, that nasty plague resists magical treatment, even my own prerogative. But since I can refresh everyone's HP every 8 hours, at least I can keep the patients alive until we Find a cure."
"I'll cast [Full Heal] on them," [Paladin] suggested, but Vai
queue
Confused that he didn't ask for the fee first.
"That's helpful, but be careful, ma'am," the owner replied. "Infected people look normal for a few days, and then they start spraying infected blood everywhere."
"Oh, is this how diseases are transmitted?" Fankel thought curiously. He had always wondered how birth defects occurred in mammals. "Sometimes, I wonder how you, a species of minions, survive on your own."
"Think about it, dragons are immune to diseases, and when I leveled up in [Monster Rider], I became resistant to them," Manlin Victor said. "Maybe there's something worth exploring there."
"So far, even experienced alchemists and healers have not found a cure," the shopkeeper shrugged.
"I trained under Camilla," Manlin Victor answered, and the ghoul sneered. "Yeah, I know, given the circumstances, I shouldn't be bragging about it, but if anyone can find a cure, it's me."
Winkel immediately understood his chief of staff's plan. "Then we sell it for a good price," Long said happily. "clever!"
"Do you want to profit from your patients' suffering?" Knight Kia argued angrily, failing to see the bigger picture.
"Look at me, Manling," Winkle said, staring into the paladin's eyes. "What would the minions say if I, the richest dragon in the world, offered them a cheap cure?"
"You are said to be kind and magnanimous?"
"No, it means this medicine is worthless!" Vai
queue
replied. “Have you considered the cost? The time Manlin Victor spends on this is the time he doesn’t spend tending to my every whim!”
"This discussion can wait until we find a vaccine," Ma
li
g Victo
) said the innkeeper, somehow rolling his rotten eyes.
"I decided to sleep on the beach, but I asked for cows in return," Wankel insists. "Not goats."
"I'm going to see if there's any beef in the pantry."
"And Nestor, we're close to Sabrata, right?" Nate Kia asked. "I've been thinking about stopping by that store on the way back."
"The Pyramid," Winkle corrected, still remembering the elven disaster that had begun there. "I don't want to get my paws dirty again."
"You're a little late," said the ghoul. "This place emptied out two weeks ago. Apparently there was a crazy mummy and a bunch of undead at the bottom of it, but they all left."
Winkle suddenly remembered that his servants had told him that the mummy Aknapeppe had built his lair at the bottom of the sea. "Explain it." The evil dragon ordered.
The mummy calls on all the damned Sabra worshipers across the desert to join him. The cliche “the end is coming” sort of thing. He even has a puppet with a sign. "
"Their end is coming," Winkle said. "That mom owes me millions."
"Do you know where they went?" Man Ling asked, eager to avenge his master's lost wealth.
"I don't know," [the innkeeper] shrugged. "As far as I know, they opened the magic door and disappeared. Despite this, almost all the Crusaders I'm still in contact with moved back to Gadmani shortly after. I don't know what happened, but I heard Prydan's soldiers were making trouble."
They should. Because their days are numbered.
"Since you're here, can you sign your name for me?" Ghoul asked everyone. "I have a feeling it's going to cost a fortune within a century."
"Don't worry," Winkle reassured him. "It's going to cost a fortune now."
After flying for two more days with full stomachs, Winkel's team returned home.
Since their departure, the Grunts have grown larger, mostly due to the portals the dwarves have opened around the city. Countless new faces poured into the capital, including goblins from the Tyko Empire and Manlin merchants from Wankel Port. The desert is pushed back further, with golems and wizards tending the verdant fields.
Winkle let out a roar announcing his triumphant return, and the townspeople raised their eyes to the sky in response. Cheers and applause soon echoed through the streets as his minions welcomed their beloved ruler back the right way.
The dragon made his way to his castle, which had remained unchanged since he left and had his first conflict with King Wotan, and entered his crypt, where he found his one true love.
"It's good to be home," Winkle said, resting for a moment on his treasure.
His gold reserves recovered from Nasty Allison's resurrection, but did not grow either. Dragon took comfort in the fact that his new colony would eventually expand tenfold in size; he would just have to wait for the gold to flow out.
Congratulations! For completing your first world tour, you and your trusty Chief of Staff have received a personal Magellan stipend!
[Magellan]: You can teleport to any city or dungeon you have visited.
Manlin Victor, Knight Kia, Co
pseli
g Jules, Tasty Malfy, dwarf ma
b
and other servant dignitaries also joined him in the treasury. "Minions." Winkle cleared her throat. "May the empire sing my name as I return victorious!"
"Really," Juris said, examining a pile of papers. "With new conquests, our resources have increased dramatically. We have begun developing the remaining naval infrastructure of Port Winkle, extracting the Whiskey Sea, and establishing trade treaties with foreign nations. Our monopoly on the first global teleportation network is expected to Doubling our state revenue next year.”
"You will be happy to know that your army is ready and equipped with the safest equipment ever produced," Malbrone added cheerfully.
"How about Piggy Bank II?" asked Winkle, mourning the death of the first man to Wotan's lightning. He could no longer fly halfway around the world alone. Long has lost so much fat that he can see his ribs!
"It's almost done," the dwarf promised.
"What about the Okonu Rocket?" Manlin Victor asked, much to Winkle's confusion.
"Preparing for launch on Samhain." "We will save surprises until critical moments to avoid riots among his followers."
"That's great," Nate Chia said. "Can I oversee the preparation?" That's not the Paladin style, but it has to be done. "
"With pleasure," Yummy ma
b
explain. "You will be pleased to know that our guidance systems and passenger safety protocols have been tested, tested, tested again."
Co
pseli
"There are still some bad things that need to be sorted out," said g Jules. "It's paradise. The Angels have drastically cut back on their investment in the empire, and while they still retain the hospitals and schools, Mir's departure has a huge impact on our management." It was a blow.”
"The Happy Nation will be more than happy to compensate the Empire for its losses," Malfoy said hastily, glancing at Manlin Victor. "Because we will never forget our heroes."
Knight Kia grimaced, but focused on the real threat. "Are we ready to attack Pladen?"
"We can do it in Samhai
Organize a landing on their shores after the festival. "
"Minions, I have a mission for you." Winkle said while remaining silent. "You need to disperse to every corner of the world, meet with every chief of staff, and ask them to send a message to their dragon masters."
All his followers were ready and waiting for him to enlighten them.
"The fairies violate the ancient truce that binds our race; they kidnap helpless monsters for their blood and escalate to steal their souls! This cannot be tolerated!"
[Time] Activate!
"I, Vankel Knight Baine, have declared war on Prydan, but it is no longer my business!" The dragon raised his fist. "The Fumo must teach a lesson. To this end, in the name of the old monster maggot, I convene the first dragon secret meeting since the end of the first Fumo and dragon war!" There will be no third one! "
Most of his servants raised their fists, ready to conquer Prydain in the name of the dragons. "For revolution!" shouted the dwarves present.
"Free real estate!" said Malfoy.
"There are new undead!" Juriris said.
"For the whole world!" Knight Kia raised her sword.
Manlin Victor clapped his hands and smiled, although he looked oddly uneasy.
"Now..." Fankel followed, his servants waiting for his last words.
The dragon built its nest on top of his treasure.
"Now I'm going to take a nap."
