Dragons’ Cry Genesis (Part 10)
On a personal level, Freya didn’t consider the unification of the continent a good thing. Freya had a lot of work. There were things that needed to be finalised after the formation of the alliance, from census registration investigations, communications, creation of a new currency, information pertaining to the military and even worrying if humanity and elves would take any harmful action. She was virtually at the point where she needed to find talent to help out. She’d meet with one person and then another immediately after. However, Freya remained strong. Aware she once erred, yet her brother never punished her, she was very eager to make up for her mistake with merit in order to appease her guilt.
Of course, the alliance greatly influenced the North. The North had just been united not too long ago. Even humanity considered it to be a very short amount of time, let alone the new North that had melted the ice. The North hadn’t even had many harvests by this point, yet the North was facing a second change. The denizens weren’t politicians who looked decades or centuries into the future. They only looked at today. Right away. They wanted to have a better life immediately. They wanted a stable life, so a second change in the North was bound to leave them unhappy.
Freya had lost the trust of some of the people, which was her fault. The people had a limited amount of trust. Freely using their trust without placing any limits on its usage is digging your own grave. Being a noble, Freya considered those lower on the hierarchy to be livestock to feed herself, but if those animals were mad, they could take down the barricade. That was why Freya paid close attention to the reactions of said livestock to check if they were angry. However, it seemed she needed to work harder to gain their acceptance.
Freya had to demonstrate the gains to be made from the alliance even if they were compensated with money. Speaking about militaries, exchange rates and so forth to livestock was a pointless endeavour. What was important to them was whether or not they could immediately get their hands on money. If they found they had a few more gold coins after the alliance, they would cheer and support the decision. If the status quo of the North was what it formerly was, she would’ve persuaded her brother to give up on an alliance, since the financially poor North lacked the funds to keep itself together. Fortunately, Dragon Mom brought so much wealth that Freya herself was absolutely stunned. There was enough to maintain an operational North for decades with that amount; hence, Freya decided to proceed with the alliance.
Freya watched the boiling pool in front of her. The pool was golden. The dragon race’s gold coins couldn’t be used, but if they melted it, it could be remoulded into coins. Her brother decided on the new coins’ design. On the back of coins was a six-cornered star-shaped sun. The sun was the fairest thing. You can enjoy the warmth it offers from anywhere. The skies may be dark, and it may rain, but if you waited, the sun would eventually shine.
The dragon race’s metallurgical industry did very well. The gold was pure enough to forego purification. Freya looked at the flowing gold. She sighed to herself. The commoners of the North rarely had the chance to see gold coins, while there was so much in front of her that the smell of it made her feel sick. There so much gold produced in the North daily that it would require hundreds of horses to deliver. There was enough to buy an entire continent.
Moreover, those were the assets in just one dragon’s cave. The dragon race was originally a massive race. That was the asset of just one dragon. Back when the dragon race was most prosperous, how much wealth did they amass? Humans killed each other for a minute amount of wealth. I bet the dragons could never imagine anyone killing another for that drop in a bucket. Given that one dragon possessed a mind-boggling amount of wealth, if there were more dragons, say another one or two, how wealthy would we be? It was no wonder every warrior’s dream was to slay a dragon. Slay a dragon, and not only would you possess a body impervious to blades, but also enjoy astounding wealth.
Freya didn’t care for the history of dragons or what they were like. All she cared about was their amassed wealth when they were still alive.
“Where are their assets left when they die? Do they leave it at the desert Brother went to? If that’s where they leave it, I want to send a team of adventurers there to see if we can bring back more gold,” contemplated Freya.
Gold didn’t serve any practical purpose for dragons, but it was wealth in the eyes of the other races on the continent. They were a treasure that could allow a nation to prosper and allow the people to afford lives without worry. There was no such thing as too much gold.
“Gerald.”
Gerald, who was standing behind Freya, heard her call him while she was leaning on the rail. He turned to face her.
Freya asked, “Do you want to slay a dragon?”
Freya seemed to still be out of sorts. She spaced out while looking at the gold in front of her. Her question startled Gerald. He touched his sword and hesitated for a moment before repeating her question, “Y-You plan to do something to Queen Sylvanas? I… I think that it is not a very wise idea… Although she might offend you, she is His Majesty’s mother. I do not think it is a good idea…”
“No, no, no, what are you saying? I was asking if you wanted to go and slay a dragon.” Freya quickly shook her head to refute Gerald’s misunderstanding. She then repeated her question.
Gerald was stupefied. He had no idea what Freya was trying to say. Seeing his stupefied expression, she laughed at herself: “Sorry, pretend I never said it. I think I’ve lost it. I can’t help but want to dig up some gold from a dragon’s nest. Pretend I never said it. I was just playing. Queen Sylvanas is the only surviving dragon, after all. There’s no dragon to slay even if we wanted to slay one.”
Gerald looked at Freya with a hopeless look. Before he could speak, someone grabbed him from behind and brashly pulled him aside. Lorana approached from behind in a frustrated manner. She looked at Freya and her eyelids twitched: “What is it, Princess? Do you have orders?”
One could tell that Lorana was very unhappy about being disturbed at work. Freya didn’t come just to check on the progress. She didn’t entirely trust Lorana. The gold was vital for the North, while Lorana was a stranger to her. Therefore, she was wary of Lorana. Although her brother trusted Lorana with melting the gold, Freya wasn’t so reassured, hence, her visit.
Lorana could detect Freya’s distrust, which was why she didn’t give Freya the best attitude, either. Freya didn’t plan to oppose Lorana, so despite Lorana displaying a displeased attitude, Freya didn’t rebuke her. Instead, she chose to show a calm smile: “I apologise for delaying your work, Miss Lorana. My job is done. I, therefore, shall leave now so that you can work. However, you need not worry. I came here on my own accord; it was not Onii-sama’s idea; please rest assured.”
Lorana grinned: “I know that it wasn’t His Majesty’s idea, which is why I will not make assumptions of him. After all, he is yet to return. You wield the highest authority in the Imperial Palace at present, so I accept your examinations in spite of my displeasure for it, as I am aware that it is necessary.”
With a smile, Freya replied, “I am glad we understand each other, then. This way, we can avoid conflict.”
With her gaze on Freya, Lorana waved her hand to signal that she didn’t want to talk anymore. Freya understood what she meant. Therefore, she left the factory. Gerald followed Freya. He was concerned. They say once bitten, twice shy. Freya was likely to find herself in deep water if she made blind and disordered conjectures. Gerald was still concerned after the last time her thinking became blind and disordered. He felt he should speak up.
“Gerald, do you believe the dragon race has gone extinct, and there is only one survivor?”
“Sorry, Miss Freya. We humans have never seen a dragon… We are completely unfamiliar with dragons, so we have no clue of the status quo of dragons. In saying that, since His Majesty has said so, we should believe him. Should dragons still exist, I would not consider it good news. After all, I would not think that all dragons are our friends.” Gerald responded with his honest thoughts.
Gerald had genuinely never seen a dragon, and there being a second one didn’t imply good news. Not all dragons were related to King Troy when it came down to it. If other dragons wanted to kill and didn’t consider the people to be friends, then they would likely have another war.
Freya nodded. With a smile, she responded, “What you said makes sense. To be frank, I have some things to ask Queen Sylvana. I believe dragons did not leave us with just this. I believe dragons left behind far more than we know at present. I really want to know more about the dragons. We have never looked into dragons. They are a race we have never seen. I am sure they can supply us with what we want. It’s just that we still need a little assistance. So, we need to see the only dragon for help.”
Gerald was honestly confused as to what Freya was after, so he looked at her and, with puzzlement, asked, “What exactly do you want to do?”
“I’d like to ask you the same question. Do you want to go slay a dragon, Gerald?”
Previous Chapter l Next Chapter
