Chapter 524: 2. Dragon Court
The boundless wilderness remains, a sunny morning approaching noon. On the spacious carriage lanes, Fisher walks forward while holding his wound, accompanied by Emhart, who floats in midair next to him.
As Emhart flies and watches Fisher, who seems to be lost in thought, he can’t help but ask, “Why does your expression look so strange all of a sudden? Especially after hearing about that ‘New Dragon Court.’ It’s odd; I’ve heard of the old Feimabaha Dragon Court, but when did this ‘New Dragon Court’ come about?”
Fisher shakes his head and replies, “Although it’s the first time I’ve heard this term, I have a rough guess about its formation… But it’s not very accurate, especially after seeing that goblin who spoke in Nali earlier.”
Curiously, Emhart asks directly, “Why not?”
Fisher gazes into the rising smoke ahead and mutters, “If it’s a Dragon Court established by her, then that goblin shouldn’t be speaking Nali. He should be speaking Feimabaha Dragon Tongue.”
“Oh, right! I almost forgot! Wait, you can speak Feimabaha Dragon Tongue? When did you learn it? I haven’t heard you mention it!”
Emhart eagerly flies over, eyeing Fisher, who still looks thoughtful, and then he seems to realize something as he smirks and says, “Oh, oh, oh, I know… Fisher, that ‘her’ you just mentioned, it can’t be the lady you had a connection with before meeting me, right? The one you mentioned while confessing to Lady Renee, La.. La what?”
Seeing the small, triumphant Emhart, Fisher sighs and adds, “Her name is Raphael. Also, since when did Lady Renee become ‘Lady Renee’ in your mouth?”
“You forgot, I’ve long switched sides from you to Lady Renee’s camp. I feel like one day you’ll be stabbed by that Raphael, Jasmine, Valentina, or whoever, and I can say it’s ‘on Lady Renee’s orders to supervise you’.”
Fisher glances at him and unexpectedly doesn’t refute, responding instead, “You’re right, but there’s also Hela.”
Emhart’s enthusiastic expression falters instantly upon hearing the name of the evil angel. He becomes abstract, as if he’s just eaten a ton of flies, and mutters while spitting, “Ugh! Don’t mention that person! Fisher! You really don’t understand the severity of the situation! She’s terrifying, getting involved with her will not end well for you!”
“The problem is, I’m already involved with her. According to your theory, shouldn’t she be someone who has intentions for everything she does? Or do you think her purpose regarding me has been fulfilled, and she won’t bother me anymore?”
“This…”
Emhart silently frets in the air for a long time without finding a word to refute Fisher. After a while, he self-destructively states, “You’re doomed, Fisher, just wait to die.”
“…”
Fisher smiles slightly but doesn’t respond and continues walking with Emhart. Shortly after, a rather large city comes into view.
Unlike the cities Fisher has seen in the Southern Continent, this city lacks those towering walls meant to fend off subhuman attacks from the wilderness; it seems those walls belong to a past history for this place.
It is an emerging city. Fisher prefers to describe the place ahead using the Nali term “town and village.” Though not as luxurious as Feilon City he saw before, it at least has a vibrant atmosphere.
Following the carriage road, one or two carriages occasionally leave the town. It’s unclear whether they are merely passing by or coming out of the town.
Though Fisher is a mythical-ranked existence, he isn’t in a hurry at the moment. He was severely injured by Renee’s earlier power, and from his continued gripping of his side, it’s clear he’s still far from recovery, so he walks slowly.
As he breathes in the air of this era, Emhart, finding it boring, starts chatting with Fisher.
“That Raphael is a Dragon, right?”
“Yeah, she has bright red scales.”
“Red? Such Dragons are rare…”
“She’s special; steam emerges from her body, and when you touch her scales, they feel warm and smooth, very comfortable.”
Emhart squints at Fisher, then sarcastically comments, “Why does that sound so perverted? But speaking of it, it seems that none of the ladies around you are normal. Elizabeth is the Empress of Nali, Captain Alagina is a world-famous pirate, Valentina is the last phoenix, and there’s a suitable tail partner from the Dragon Race.”
“They’re all excellent, not abnormal.”
“So, what are you planning to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your suitable tail partner! Didn’t you say her scales would make you submit? That’s a sign of a Dragon’s suitable tail!”
Emhart flies in front of Fisher and exclaims loudly, “Dragons either don’t have a suitable tail; once they do, they won’t change easily. They hold absolute faith in this ‘soul’ destined relationship. I’ve read many poems and dragon songs given to partners by Dragons during my travels in the Southern Continent. And for Dragons with a suitable tail, if they lack company, you’ll have to tell her you’ve been ‘fooling around’! I think your life is hanging by a thread!”
Fisher feels that Emhart’s reasoning holds merit, and he even thinks that Emhart may have ideas of running off to ally with Renee.
“We’ll take it step by step. I need to prepare before meeting her. Thankfully, she’s the only one here. In the Southern Continent, Eil should still be in the Abyss. Since I left the Southern Continent until now, if we don’t count the time spent in the past, only about a year has passed. When I left, I knew she was fighting for her compatriots’ freedom, but I didn’t expect her progress to be so swift, reaching this level.”
As stated earlier, Raphael’s hometown is the Southern Branch Dragon Tribe, located in the southern part of the Southern Continent near the ocean. Now, however, Fisher stands near the northern end of the Southern Continent. Since that goblin said this place is the “New Dragon Court,” it implies that Raphael has likely unified the Southern Continent.
“Ha, that indeed seems to be the case.”
As they speak, Fisher and Emhart stop in front of the town, where a flag with symbolic meaning flutters in the wind, prompting them to take a closer look.
The flag is entirely green, depicting a black, massive, winged dragon roaring ferociously in the center, seeming to represent the existence revered by the ancient Dragon Courts, Feimabaha. Above the green flag and the body of Feimabaha, a golden, eye-like sun dominates the top, as if glaring down at all watching the flag from above.
Written below in proper Feimabaha Dragon Tongue are:
“New Dragon Court”
“Where are we going?”
As they walk through the town, Fisher observes the various subhuman races and humans around him. Many interesting industrial products appear, many of which he has seen in his hometown on the Western Continent. Some subhumans glance at Fisher as he enters the town, giving him ambiguous looks.
Fisher intuitively senses the numerous gazes surrounding him. He gestures to Emhart and puts him in his now tattered pocket, saying, “Let’s go eat first.”
“Eat? Do you have money? You’ve been blown to bits by Baemon, you don’t have a single hair left.”
“Well, I might have some hair, but I’m indeed broke. However, I’m not in a rush. I’m just heading toward a wooden building that straightforwardly says ‘restaurant’ in Dragon Tongue.”
Inside, there are hardly any people—just a plump pigman in tattered clothes watching something in his hands at the counter-cum-kitchen-cum-break room. Upon hearing the restaurant door open, his bristly hair stands on end as if suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
This sense of anxiety seems ingrained in his genes, like an instinct for survival when on the brink of falling from a great height.
But when he uncontrollably looks up, he realizes it’s a clean, handsome human man dressed like a beggar who has entered.
He opens his mouth, about to awkwardly greet in broken Nali, “Welcome, what would you like…”
However, he’s interrupted as the other person speaks in Dragon Tongue, “I want to eat something, but I don’t have money; can I trade something else?”
The pigman momentarily pauses and replies, “We accept Nali currency besides ‘Dragon Court Coins.'”
“Nali?”
Fisher raises an eyebrow, but the pigman sees that his companion likely lacks Nali as well. He starts suspecting that this human might be there to rob him, but usually, those coming here are factory bosses; this man doesn’t look like a local from the Southern Continent.
Deciding to play it safe, the pigman thinks he might as well give him a free meal but still asks, “What do you plan to offer as collateral?”
“Magic, is that acceptable? I could inscribe a low-tier magic as compensation for this meal, which should hold more value than the meal itself…”
“Shh!!”
Just as Fisher is about to speak, the pigman’s expression abruptly changes, quickly waving his hands as if he were frightened, “Are you crazy? We don’t deal in contraband here! Leave, leave! We don’t welcome you! Don’t draw the Dragon Court’s investigation team over here!”
“Contraband?”
Fisher raises an eyebrow, his confusion intensifying on his face.
He increasingly feels that the place he’s in is somewhat off, a sense of awkwardness from returning after so long away.
But looking at the plump pigman shrinking behind the counter, Fisher realizes the other isn’t joking.
So what’s the matter? Is magic illegal here?
Fisher exchanges glances with Emhart, who is hiding in his arms, and they both share a confused look. Just then, a pale little hand suddenly reaches up, seemingly heading for Fisher’s shoulder.
But as that little hand rises, Fisher’s higher rank immediately senses something approaching.
His eyes grow cold, and upon looking back, he sees a small figure that is much shorter than him freeze in fear as if it had been targeted by something terrifying.
“You are?”
At this moment, standing before Fisher, poised to touch his shoulder, is a young human girl wearing a beret a bit too large for her head. The girl isn’t particularly pale but has very good skin; her shoulder-length dark red hair forms a not-too-thick fringe, and she wears sunglasses that hide much of her facial features.
However, because Fisher’s rank is higher, her attempts at concealment are nearly transparent to him. Thus, he can see a youthful and bold look on her face.
Her attire is rather androgynous—a white shirt paired with beige suspenders made from brown leather, tightly fastened at the buttons, and around her neck is a camera of unknown origin. Her right hand pulls along a thick, deep brown coat, yet perhaps due to the hot weather, she has taken it off.
She is startled by Fisher’s fierce glance, her little face turning pale as she gasps, frozen in place, but upon hearing Fisher’s question, she still forces a smile and extends her hand toward the pigman boss behind her, speaking in Dragon Tongue, “Boss, I’ll pay for his meal.”
From a distance, the pigman boss wipes his sweat and stands up. Initially wanting to refuse, seeing the Nali bills in that girl’s hand, he reluctantly says, “Alright, come in quickly. And I didn’t hear anything earlier.”
Fisher raises an eyebrow, making no response, while the girl, who has been intimidated by his presence, seizes the opportunity to slip into the humble restaurant past him.
Various subhuman races outside the street glance over, and upon seeing Fisher, all scurry away like frightened mice.
Then, after hesitating for a moment, Fisher decides not to turn down the suddenly appearing human girl and enters the not-so-spacious restaurant as well.
The reason is simple; he senses about a dozen weak magical fluctuations from the girl. It seems she has cleverly used a technique of “nested structure” to conceal these spells, much like when he hid Elizabeth’s letters in Nali Martha’s apartment. But the girl’s nested technique isn’t top-notch, so it was revealed upon encountering a magician like him.
This indeed corroborated the pigman’s statement—magic has genuinely become illegal here.
Simultaneously, Fisher feels that this place is strange, as if he doesn’t recognize it since returning; he urgently needs a window to quickly garner information, and perhaps this seemingly willing-to-pay girl, who has some ulterior motive, could provide a good opportunity.
Fisher’s gaze skims over her red hair and the tattoos slightly visible on her back, which are inscribed in Shivali script, indicating that she’s likely from the Shivali people of the Western Continent.
At that moment, Emhart nudges him with his head, and he looks down to find Emhart seriously gazing at him.
“Fisher, you need to restrain yourself; you can’t overdo it. It’s impolite, aren’t you afraid of losing your life?”
Fisher, bewildered, asks, “Overdo? Overdo what?”
Unexpectedly, Emhart grits his teeth and murmurs, “What do you mean overdo! We just returned not long ago, and you’ve met a lady; your eyes are practically piercing into her!”
“…”
Confronted with Emhart’s misunderstanding, Fisher is at a loss for words. He doesn’t bother explaining and quietly tucks Emhart back into his pocket, preventing him from making any more appearances.
“I have reformed.”
He then picks up a chair and approaches the girl who has been waiting at the counter for the pigman chef to turn around.
She doesn’t remove her sunglasses and seems a bit nervous, and as Fisher approaches, her body unconsciously shakes, but at least her expression remains calm.
Fisher glances at her then places the chair a slight distance away before sitting down and asks in Shivali, “What should I call you?”
The girl looks surprised but quickly regains her composure. She lifts her sunglasses slightly and turns to Fisher, introducing herself, “Call me Ingrid. And you?”
“Fisher.”
She nods, seemingly recalling where she heard that name but blanking on it for a moment.
She turns to the pigman chef and continues speaking to Fisher in Shivali, “You don’t seem to be a local from the Dragon Court either; you also hail from the Western Continent… Kadu?”
She gives a glance at Fisher’s black hair, making a confident guess, but only receives Fisher’s denial in response.
“No, I’m from elsewhere. You’re treating me to a meal; what’s the special reason behind it?”
“Ah, indeed there is. But no rush; let’s eat first. The food in the Southern Continent probably won’t suit our Western Continent palate, but the portions are certainly hearty, just like in Shivali. Just manage to get by for now; afterward, I have a few questions I’d like to ask you.”
Ingrid smiles slightly, then places a few not quite new but not too old Nali bills on the table.
Fisher lowers his gaze; the glimmering, brand-new Nali immediately catches his eye.
On the hundred Nali note, besides the usual blessings and symbols of the Golden Palace, a profile of a dignified, particularly kind-looking blonde lady with a gentle smile stands out prominently.
Below, in cursive Nali script, it reads, “The Magnificent, Wise, and Supreme Empress, Elizabeth I.”
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(The end of this chapter)
