Evil dragon has a warm heart
Chapter 342 - 342 341 Treasure-Hunting Mouse Presents

Chapter 342: Chapter 341 Treasure-Hunting Mouse Presents Treasure Chapter 342: Chapter 341 Treasure-Hunting Mouse Presents Treasure In late September, Baron Roman and his elder brother Roland returned from the Populus Gobi.

The family gathered together, discussed the marital union between Roland and Gwyn, and then focused on discussing Lord Russell’s Dragonriding Ceremony.

Subsequently, the invitations were sent out to the nobles throughout the Shadowflame Grand Duchy. Any noble with even a modicum of stature within the Grand Duchy received an invitation. Even esteemed personages such as Princess Anxia and Marquis Arno were on the guest list.

Even some nobles who were on bad terms with the Fluorescent Fungi Family still received invitations—this was a blatant act of bragging and provocation.

Nowadays.

Practically the entire Shadowflame Duchy had come to know that Russell had found a dragon in the snowfield and ascended to the rank of a Flying Dragon Knight. News about Russell spread rapidly through every city and manor, nearly becoming the stuff of legends.

After all, prior to this, Russell had been virtually invisible, hardly known, with the nobles only having one concept of him…

“The second son of Baron Roman.”

It was this very inconspicuous figure who had suddenly become a Flying Dragon Knight. Then, in retracing Russell’s path, everyone suddenly realized that there had even been a meaningful gaze exchanged between him and the Great Dragon.

This provided endless room for speculation for those curious about Russell’s identity.

“Yes, yes, of course, I’ve heard about it,” a drunken drunkard in the tavern started to blabber, “My brother took part in the Battle of the Falling twice, yes, yes, he told me he fought alongside Lord Russell!”

“Really? Is that true?”

“Of course, it’s true, truly, I swear, when the Great Dragon was gazing at Lord Russell, my brother was right there beside him!” The drunkard’s words couldn’t be taken seriously, but everyone was eager to hear his recounting, “The dragon was so big, so big, its eyes just looking at Lord Russell!”

“Did they say anything to each other? Your brother was right there, he must have heard something, right?” the surrounding people asked curiously.

“He certainly heard!” Basking in the attention of so many people, the drunkard said braggingly and loudly, “The dragon said, ‘Russell, I will bestow upon you a Bipedal Flying Dragon,’ Lord Russell said ‘Where is it,’ and the dragon said…”

The drunkard was making a tremendous effort to fabricate the scene.

Even though it was complete nonsense, no one exposed him but instead followed his lead, vividly imagining that scenario.

Employing their most fanciful imaginations to concoct such a scene.

As if by doing so, they could insert themselves into it, replacing Russell as the Flying Dragon Knight favored by the Great Dragon’s gaze.

No one noticed that, in a corner of the tavern, a playwright looking for inspiration was present.

“Brilliant, just like that, keep going, fellows, keep discussing,” the playwright took out his notebook, which he carried everywhere, and rapidly began noting down the arrangements spun by the people in the tavern, “Hmm, the dragonriding youth, he should indeed be this charismatic…”

A spark of new inspiration was already flickering in his notebook.

It came from attending a salon at Evernight Castle, where he had learned about Russell riding a dragon. At seventeen years of age, the Flying Dragon Knight had broken the record for the youngest such knight in the Shadowflame Duchy, a story worthy of being turned into a play.

He had already decided on the title, it would be called “The Dragonriding Youth.”

Of course.

He didn’t dare to write a play about Russell directly, so he named his protagonist “Su Luo.” Similarly, Su Luo was the younger son of a family, seventeen years old riding a dragon, and just as devastatingly handsome.

Most importantly, the play would feature Su Luo as the inventor of the cigar.

“I must finish this new play quickly. Right now, everyone is focusing on Russell—if I can release ‘The Dragonriding Youth’ at this time, it will take the largest opera house in Furious Wind City by storm, and I, Nicholas, will become famous in one leap!”

…

Russell had no idea that he was about to be adapted into a play to be performed at the opera house in Furious Wind City.

At this moment, he was joyfully scrutinizing an orange-yellow stone.

When illuminated by sunlight, one could clearly see a tiny desiccated gecko within the transparent stone.

This was an amber bug, still sealed within an amber stone.

A faint aura of magic power circulated on the surface of the amber.

“Where did this come from, Katie?” Russell asked with a pleasant surprise after confirming that it was an amber stone.

The amber stone had been a gift from Katie.

“I found it in Jerry’s nest,” Katie said. “I asked Jerry about it, and he said that the Treasure-Hunting Rat Squad presented it to him after finding it on the Blackflame Plains. He thought it was just a pretty stone, so he used it to decorate his nest.”

When Katie did her inspections on the Blackflame Plains, she habitually brought a bunch of rats for breeding, preparing to establish both the Treasure-Hunting Rat Squad and the Sentinel Rat Squad on the plains in the future.

This was to maximize the use of the Beast King trait of the Red-eyed Rat King, Jerry.

“Jerry found it?” said Russell, clutching the amber stone in his palm, “Summon Jerry here.”

Soon, the Red-eyed Rat King Jerry entered the Cigar Courtyard.

Although he had submitted to Katie as his master, he remained extremely respectful towards Russell, his former owner, bowing low and looking utterly sycophantic.

“Jerry, you found this, right?”

“Squeak squeak.”

“Very good, you discovered an amber bug, which is a magical creature worthy of a reward. I shall give you a few magic elixirs to help you grow,” said Russell, announcing the reward before chiding, “But you should have reported such a find immediately, and for that, you need to be punished!”

Then staring at Jerry, he said, “Your punishment is that the magic elixirs you were to be rewarded are now confiscated!”

“Squeak?” Jerry was bewildered.

Katie couldn’t help but laugh, knowing full well Russell wasn’t truly after the few magic elixirs; he was merely teasing Jerry.

Sure enough, after glaring at Jerry for a while and making the rat look pitiful, Russell turned to Katie and said, “Reward him with something tasty later, will you? Let him remember to present his finds to me, his lord.”

“Certainly, sir,” Katie replied with a laugh.

Then she asked out of curiosity, “Sir, what is an amber bug?”

“An amber bug is a kind of magical creature, to be honest, even I can’t fully explain what it actually is,” Russell freely admitted, releasing his own Sword Butterfly Amber Bug, “The Four Swords Flow Mystique I practice relies on it.”

Subsequently, he demonstrated the Six Meridian Divine Swords, releasing a few sword lights with his bare hands.

After a moment of surprise, Katie nodded and said, “I understand now, sir.”

Having explained, Russell continued, “These amber bugs are of great use to me, so I will take this one. However, since you found the amber bug, I shall reward you with a pearl necklace once the pearl clams are harvested.”

“Sir, all wondrous creations within the territory are yours,” Katie responded, “I can’t claim any credit for that.”

Such was the rule in the Shadowflame Duchy and indeed the entire Dragon Sleep Continent; all miraculous creations found in the territory, regardless of who found them, belonged to the lord.

Russell smiled, “Finding it is a credit in itself; no need to be modest. Go on, get back to your duties.”

“Yes, sir.”

After Katie had left.

Russell couldn’t wait to perform a blood pact with the fist-sized amber stone. The size of this amber stone was comparable to the one associated with the Sword Butterfly he’d found earlier, significantly larger than those from the Thorn or the Flat Louse.

His blood seeped into the interior of the amber.

Instantly, it activated the desiccated gecko that had been sealed for eons, and a faint sound of breathing began to echo in his mind; the gecko was beginning to resurrect.