Chapter 64: Yo~ and…an unexpected gain?

4…”

Such a casual faith… 

Should I say, as expected of the Cave-Dwellers?

Ireya raised her eyebrow, her red eyes turning to Amisa beside her, wanting the well-traveled maid to confirm what the other party had just said.

But…when the young lady looked at her, she noticed both of Amisa’s cheeks were flushed, her eyes vacant, and a faint crystalline drool at the corner of her mouth…

This…what’s going on!?

“Amisa?!” 

Ireya frowned and shouted the maid’s name.

“Ah? Ah…Sorry! My lady, I…spaced out…” 

Only after Ireya called her did Amisa finally snap back to her senses.

Hmm…just spaced out?

She thought the maid had been affected by the so-called “Crystal Giant Tree’s” will…

After all, it seemed to have some kind of mental control power.

“What were you thinking about?” the young lady asked, a little puzzled.

I was thinking about how you could kick me to the ground and sit on me~ using that thick and big electric baton to…cough, cough.

“Ah? Ah…just…just some…some good things…” 

The maid stammered, unable to give a clear answer.

Leaving the young lady full of question marks as well.

Forget it, the urgent matter now is dealing with the Dark Tunnel Tribe and the Rock Dragon Egg…

Shaking her head, Ireya’s gaze slowly shifted once more to the Great Priest lying on the ground.

“You should know why humans have come to the Dark Tunnel Tribe, right?”

“I…I really don’t know…”

But to Ireya’s surprise, the Great Priest looked completely bewildered by her question.

“I…this old one just woke from a long sleep, I have no idea about the tribe’s current situation…nor what’s happened in the past decades…”

Noticing Ireya’s eyes gradually turning icy, the Great Priest hurriedly explained, afraid that any delay would earn another beating.

These old bones really couldn’t take much more!

“Oh? Is that so…”

“It’s true…O follower of the departed souls…I have no reason to lie! After all… there are so many tribesmen here, you can ask them and see for yourself!” 

The Great Priest spoke in a wailing tone, as if brimming with grievance.

But even so, Ireya still fixed her red eyes on the Great Priest for more than ten seconds.

Only then did she slowly rise to her feet.

“That makes sense~ Let’s go then…let’s ask about the Rock Dragon Egg~”

As she spoke, she handed the electric baton in her hand to Amisa.

“Don’t be afraid~ Since you’ve already surrendered, I won’t make things difficult for you anymore…After all, I’m not some kind of demon~”

Heh… 

The Great Priest really wanted to give a fake smile, but dared not.

It could only keep saying, “Yes, yes, thank you for your mercy.”

But…the Rock Dragon Egg…?

I see, if that’s the case…it’s no wonder the usually low-key and poor Dark Tunnel Tribe would attract greedy humans.

The Rock Dragon…should belong to the true upper echelons among the chosen kin.

Possessing the bloodline of the Great Rock Dragon Horsi Ruisifa, one of the most powerful kin on this continent.

And the egg of a Rock Dragon…its value goes without saying.

After questioning several of the Cave-Dwellers who were considered the chief’s confidants, they quickly learned the location of the Rock Dragon Egg.

It was a clutch of dragon eggs, three in total.

They were placed in the chief’s room, surrounded by a pile of Scorching Crystals.

Among them, two…appeared to be a color similar to gold, but on closer inspection, they leaned more toward brown or earthy yellow, with layer upon layer of patterns on the surface.

Like a series of progressive mountain ranges.

But…the one in the center was completely different, with a metallic silver sheen…

“Silver Dragon Egg…”

Amisa paused in surprise when she saw the egg, her pupils contracting slightly as she murmured softly.

“Mm? Is there a difference?” 

Ireya raised an eyebrow, looking at the maid beside her.

“There’s a huge difference, hmm…the Silver Dragon is actually considered a mutated Rock Dragon. Legend has it that the Great Rock Dragon contains all the world’s metals within its body, and its offspring may inherit attributes other than just ‘Rock’…for example, gold, silver, copper, iron.”

Amisa explained…

Simply put, Rock Dragons are terrifying beasts capable of causing earthquakes, with massive bodies and earthquake-inducing abilities, but they can’t fly, somewhat like the burrowing dragons in Ireya’s homeland legends.

They prefer to stay underground, sleeping for decades at a time.

But the Silver Dragon, mutated from a Rock Dragon, is completely different…

They can soar through the sky, graceful in form, and are more adept at magic than physical combat.

Legend says the most powerful Silver Dragons can use all the magic of the Great Rock Dragon Horsi Ruisifa!

Of course…

That’s all legend.

In these human lands, even chosen kin are rarely seen, let alone dragons.

“I see…Then, if I turn this Silver Dragon Egg into a potion, would it increase my magical power?” 

The young lady nodded.

Her homeland also had the saying, “The Nine Sons of the Dragon are all different,” so she didn’t find it hard to understand.

“In theory, yes…it could even enhance your mental faculties, my lady, but…” 

Amisa frowned slightly, hesitating to continue.

“But what? Speak up…don’t dawdle!” 

Ireya reached out and pinched the maid’s face.

Mmm!! 

Harder~ 

A little harder, it doesn’t hurt at all…

“It’s just…if my lady wishes, it would be better to take the Silver Dragon Egg back and raise it…If the Silver Dragon that hatches can recognize you as its master, even if you drew its blood every day, it would be a hundred times better than turning it into a potion.”

Oh? 

A renewable resource…

That…she hadn’t considered.

“This thing can be raised?” she asked, reaching out her fair hand to touch the metallic sheen of the eggshell…

Whoosh—!!

But…the moment her hand touched the eggshell, a series of images suddenly flashed through her mind!

These images were like slideshow frames from Ireya’s previous life in the 1980s, flickering intermittently in her mind.

The scene…seemed to be the Marquis Castle…

[A gloomy blonde girl stood in front of her…this first-person view, with pale blue eyes staring coldly at her…]

The scene shifted…

[Her point of view fell to the ground, while the gloomy girl with short golden hair floated in midair, and at some point, a pair of silver flesh wings had sprouted from her back, with silver scales appearing on her hands and the side of her face…]

[At that moment, her golden hair gradually turned silvery white.]

[She actually…looked three parts like her own mother.]

“Eh!?” 

Ireya yanked her hand away from the dragon egg as if shocked by electricity, countless emotions clashing and screaming inside her mind!

And in the young lady’s red eyes…a faint confusion flickered………

Who…was that person?

Why did she suddenly see…such images?

“My lady?!” 

The change startled Amisa, who quickly stepped forward to steady Ireya…

“I…I’m fine, whew! Let’s just take these three eggs back first…”

Ireya waved her hand.

“Yes, my lady.”

At the same time, outside the mine in the forest, at the Hunter Blade Mercenary Group’s camp.

“Ugh…ah!!

Huff!!

A girl with short golden hair and a gloomy air suddenly jolted awake from her sleep!

For some reason, she felt…something important was slipping further and further away from her…

She’d felt this way for the past couple of days, but just now—

It was especially intense.

It was like someone holding a knife to her throat had finally decided to strike…

Clearly she hadn’t lost anything, but it felt as if something had been stolen from her—such a strange, uncomfortable feeling.

“Ruilier?” 

The girl beside her, her eyes still a bit dazed, looked at her companion who had suddenly screamed. 

As she gradually woke up, she suddenly realized… 

Ruilier could scream too?

Hard to imagine…the one everyone in the group called “Iceberg”… could actually panic at times……?