Chapter 257 Spy
The sea water beats against the towering cliffs, and the sea cliffs of Port Morris are smoothed into a flat platform, on which rest five or six dragons of different sizes and colors. Some Natalin people are moving among them, carefully checking whether the saddles and belts connected to the dragons are intact.
There was another group of children in the area, some from Port Morris and some from Natalin. The older ones were thirteen or fourteen, the younger only seven or eight. The Natalin children were fine, but the Port Morris children held their breath, not daring to breathe, staring in awe at a scene that could only have appeared in the verses of a bard.
Basa, the dragon trainer, couldn't help but glance at the God's Chosen beside him. His face was covered by his cloak, as always, but his presence was undeniable. Beside him stood Windrunner Azra, the snow-white dragon lazily resting its chin on its paws, its tail slapping the ground intermittently, looking drowsy from the sun. But despite its apparent laziness, the Natalin dragon remained remarkably docile and obedient—such was the dragon's power.
The first child whose name was called mustered up his courage and, under the guidance of the Natalin people, shuttled among the dragons that were three times taller than him.
The air was filled with the salty smell of the ocean, mingled with the body odor of dragons. These dragons had been chosen for training by the children of the Natalin tribe, and their temperaments were the most docile. Despite this, the child was still visibly nervous.
He chose a dark blue pterosaur that looked less ferocious, and tentatively reached out his hand to the dragon's scaly snout. The dragon bent its neck, sniffed the child's palm, then lowered its head and nudged the child lightly, causing the latter to stagger.
With the help of the Natalin people, the child climbed onto the dragon's back with trepidation and fastened himself into a safety buckle. The dragon stretched its membranous wings, then began a run-up amid the exclamations of the onlookers. It took off, directly over the towering sea cliffs, and drew a beautiful and elegant arc from the high, bright blue sky.
It simply circled slowly in the air before landing steadily in the open air. The child on the dragon's back was so frightened that his face turned pale and he sobbed uncontrollably. His legs gave way, and he was carried down. The Natalin people in charge of the review looked at each other and shook their heads slightly—too timid, not qualified.
Testing continues.
Something went wrong. One of the children panicked and kicked off the buckle. He lost his balance and fell off the dragon's back, screaming.
Two Natalin people who were circling in the air on dragons and keeping a close eye on the cub's condition immediately prepared to rush forward to rescue it. However, faster than them was a gust of wind. The airflow seemed to catch the invisible palm of the bird that fell out of the nest, gently supporting the child's body and letting him land lightly on the ground. Apart from the tears of fear, he looked unharmed.
"What's the situation?" A steady voice sounded from behind Basa. He was stunned for a moment, turned his head suddenly, and saw the real protector of this city.
He felt inexplicably nervous and opened his mouth subconsciously. While he was still organizing the common language in his mind, he heard the God's Favored One gently reply, "There are several promising local children. They can train with the Natalin people later. They will become excellent dragon riders."
Nova hummed softly, glanced around calmly, paused briefly at a certain point, and then looked away again. The fastest way to integrate into a group is to share the same interests and goals. As the religious leader of the Natalin people, someone generously offered to share the method of dragon taming and a batch of semi-tamed dragons.
Finding that there was no need for him to talk, Barcelona silently shut up.
Yes, the God's Favored One and this gentleman seemed to have a good relationship. He saw the God's Favored One naturally pluck the fallen leaves from the other person's hair, and then naturally put his hand on the other person's shoulder.
The fierce airflow generated by the dragon's flying past blew the hair of both parties wildly in the wind. The black-haired young man was looking up, his smoky gray eyes focused on following the dragon's trajectory, while the God-favored One was looking at the person next to him, his blue eyes filled with a gentle smile.
Barcelona: “…”
Wasn't this relationship a little too good? He wondered doubtfully, for he had never seen a God-favored One treat anyone this way.
The crowd gradually dispersed, and the rescued child took his parents' hands, ran to the savior, stammering thanks. After receiving a gentle nod, he ran away quickly with a red face.
Ialos, who was hiding in the crowd, slowly revealed his figure and silently looked at the two people who had already discovered him.
"Have you seen the dragon knight?" The rebel leader completely ignored his complicated look and asked as if he was chatting with an old friend.
"In the history of the Empire, some factions did secretly attempt to tame dragons," Yialos said gravely, "but the difficulty and expense were too great. Moreover, even if they tamed a few medium-sized subspecies dragons, the returns were not as great as training a higher-level sorcerer or warrior. Consequently, no one mentioned the idea again."
"As for taming the dragon..." He glanced at Windrunner behind Azuka and took a deep breath. "That's the story told by the bards."
"Then you should already know," Nova said lightly, "There is a giant dragon cub in the Port Morris dungeon. It comes from the Ruskin family."
"What did Her Majesty the Queen say?" he asked calmly, ignoring the fact that the Knight Commander's pupils shrank into a tiny dot in an instant.
Yialos couldn't help but take a step back. In a trance, he even thought that in the high, gray clouds at the end of the sky above Port Morris, an eye slowly opened and glanced at him nonchalantly.
A chill that made his hair stand on end slowly crept up his spine, it was the chill of falling alone onto the chessboard.
...Your Majesty is right, this person really knows everything.
The ghost knew he was a spy, but he wanted to get some information from him. He also knew that the ghost knew he was a spy, and he also wanted to use this to find his mistakes and weaknesses - he needed to carefully strike a balance, a level that would not make him lose his usefulness and be killed, but also not reveal too much core information.
After a long pause, Yialos heard himself speak slowly and with difficulty, "...We're still investigating. Her Majesty...suspects there's a deal between the Ruskin family and the Far North nation of Forlos."
The professor glanced at the sweat-drenched Knight Commander with a hint of admiration. He was a man prone to overthinking, but also easily manipulated. With even the slightest hint, he'd cleverly choose a path that maximized his own interests—or perhaps, perhaps, the Queen had given him some instructions.
"Treason?" the black-haired young man asked lightly, but it sounded more like a statement.
Yialos was momentarily stunned, almost thinking the man was referring to him, before realizing he was referring to the Ruskin family. He didn't answer, but closed his eyes. A burning, withering grief surged from the depths of his chest, quickly dissolving into a cold, damp exhaustion.
I said I suspected it, but in fact, it was basically certain. Even the king had such a ridiculous moral character, so don't expect those nobles to be loyal to the country.
After the Knight Commander left them with a sullen look on his face, the professor suddenly said thoughtfully, "Now we can officially start using this guy."
Everything the Knight Commander could see was what he allowed him to see, so he didn't mind that this man was forced to work for him while acting as a spy, and he would occasionally give him a few light words to force him to work harder.
After all, a strong laborer with rich experience, strong fighting ability and not bad brains would be a waste if he was not used - and as a prisoner, no one would ask for his wages, which saved a lot of expenses.
The Savior smiled softly and continued gently, "Okay, I'll pick out some suitable work for him."
"Want to fly around?" He suddenly changed the subject without warning.
The professor froze for a moment. The rest of the dragons had already been taken away by the Natalin people. His gaze fell on the only remaining dragon at the scene—Azra the Windrunner. The dragon had been wagging its tail boredly, listening to its master and his mate chatter about something dragons couldn't understand. When it met those smoky gray eyes, it froze, subconsciously raising its neck in alert.
Before Nova could answer, the savior had already gracefully flipped over onto the dragon's back and stretched out a hand to the people. His hood slid down behind his neck. The dragon knight's golden hair sparkled delicately in the sunlight, and his bright blue eyes were set against the distant sea. In a trance, it looked like a scene from an epic.
Nova was silent for a moment, then grabbed the slender, clean hand with an expressionless face. With the help of the other party, he climbed onto the dragon's back, but it was a pity that it was not very cool.
Ezra grunted a little in dissatisfaction, but after his master patted his neck gently but threateningly, he still spread his wings and took off. The huge airflow he stirred up blew the surrounding vegetation all over the place.
Once on the dragon's back, the professor suddenly realized there were no reins or saddles. Finding nowhere to hold onto, the dark-haired young man clung to the other man's arm, trying to tuck himself into his embrace. He raised his head, stared at the dragon rider's chin, and frowned, asking, "Why do you have to fly all the way?"
Azuka lowered his head slightly and blinked innocently at the man: "You have been watching just now, don't you want to try it yourself?"
His old enemy's gaze was always following the dragon circling in the air, with a look of great interest.
The professor was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "...I was just mentally analyzing the muscle forces of a dragon flying."
Also, if possible, he would like to dissect one himself - but that doesn't mean he wants to try this extreme sport which looks very dangerous.
...But since this person is here, it's not impossible.
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