Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon’s Might
Chapter 126: Discuss

Chapter 126: Chapter 126: Discuss

Tassera, born and raised in the desert as a Blue Dragon, has a sentimental attachment to the desert. Upon hearing Leon’s words, she immediately challenged, "Are you saying the desert is a bad place? What’s so bad about it?"

"It’s bad everywhere," Leon said, "In other regions, water sources which are seen everywhere are considered important resources when placed in the desert."

Upon hearing this, Tassera fell silent, but Leon wasn’t ready to stop there, continuing, "Look at the forests, filled with trees, suitable for logging, providing timber resources, and the remaining land could be used for cultivation. There are animals everywhere, available for hunting, providing meat and fur as resources..."

"Then look at the desert, what does this place have?" Leon thought and said, "There are no minerals, sparse oases that can hardly provide any flora or fauna resources. To put it bluntly, it’s just sand everywhere, and you can’t even find stones or wood to build a house."

"In such a situation, in order to compete for the little resources available, various races living here are more barbaric than the next, with sand bandits and robbers commonplace..." Leon nodded slightly, "Of course, this doesn’t affect us much, dealing with them is a piece of cake."

Leon thought, the territory he currently possesses, granted by Efreeti, is indeed not small, but it’s insignificant when placed in the desert. One could imagine, some provinces have a county that can be larger than a coastal province, but without any resources, it’s just a county no matter its size.

Leon had reasons to doubt, his vast territory, in terms of value, might not even match up to a single village or town elsewhere.

"I’m indeed complacent, and not too interested in territorial expansion," Leon admitted his character flaw, "A big part of the reason really is that I look down on this place. Why bother expanding territory here when I could move to a resource-rich area? Easier to manage and with richer rewards."

Upon hearing this, Tassera realised that Leon had no wish to expand his territory in the desert, and if he ever wanted to expand, he’d rather leave the desert and said, "Leave the desert? And abandon the Molten Lava Lake you’ve put so much effort into building? Forget about your vast territories and your businesses?"

Leon took a deep breath and said, "If you want to grow bigger and stronger, you have to decisively leave this place, otherwise hesitations will only lead to chaos. If you can’t let go, the cost-performance ratio of expanding territory isn’t high, it really might be better to do nothing and be moderately wealthy, maintaining the current territories and businesses."

Leon’s reasoning was simple, if you want to develop, you must stay in a big city. If you can’t part with a small town’s houses and social connections and choose to stay, then it’s better to just coast along, no need to strain so hard, straining back and forth hurts the body and hardly does any good.

Circumstances dictate mindset, Tassera naturally did not support Leon leaving and said, "I don’t agree with your thoughts, I think staying here is also good, it’s not without prospects, you don’t just have to coast along."

"Tell me more," Leon gestured toward Tassera to continue.

"Now might be too early for expansion, but after some time..." Tassera looked at Leon, "You are still a teenage dragon and already so strong. When you reach the youth stage... probably still not enough, but when you reach the adult stage, surely that would be enough. You can easily find reasons to invade other Blue Dragon territories or even demand the rule over the largest nearby Oasis City."

"Then, when you enter adulthood," Tassera thought and then confidently nodded, "You could potentially challenge the Overlord Blue Dragon of Red Crown Desert. By that time, you would be the master of this desert, an Overlord, surely satisfying your ambitions."

"It might be better for me to start from scratch elsewhere, try my best, and perhaps in my youth, I might already be ruling a kingdom, and by adulthood, perhaps even establish an empire... Well, establishing an empire might still be a bit difficult," Leon still had some self-awareness.

"My brother is so powerful, no matter where he goes, he can thrive," Cecilia interjected, calling him either brother or master depending on her mood. She did not like the desert and supported Leon leaving, "Wherever brother wants to go, we will go."

"I haven’t decided to leave yet, I’m just talking," Leon glanced at Cecilia, "I’m just stating my stance. If we’re to expand and strengthen our territories, it would still be better to start afresh somewhere else."

"Just talking then..." Cecilia was indifferent, "Brother, do you have any place in mind?"

Leon had daydreamed aimlessly before, purely fantasizing, never really thinking about where to start and then where to break through, what to do in the first phase and what in the second, he said, "Not at the moment, I’ll look around when I have the time."

"Alright." Cecilia felt a glimmer of hope. Having waited so long, she didn’t mind waiting a bit more. As a dragon, she had time, willing to wait for decades or even longer.

Cecilia was contented, while Tassera felt somewhat uneasy and said, "If you all want to leave, go ahead. I, for one, am not leaving. I’ll stay in the desert."

Leon looked at Tassera, he could entirely understand her point of view. She had lived in the desert since childhood, and though she occasionally traveled, she spent most of her time in the desert; the desert was her comfort zone. For both humans and dragons, stepping out of one’s comfort zone is a challenging task.

Tassera hadn’t lived in the desert just for a few years like him, nor was it like being driven from her territory by Mother Dragon and staying for extended periods in this forest or that; although she had invested quite some effort, it was never to the extent that it was hard to let go.

Moreover, once he made up his mind, he dared to take risks and challenges. Initially, he could have stayed in his small hometown, but he chose to remain in the big city. Right after hatching post-crossing, he ran away and didn’t mind having to fend for himself outside rather than seeking shelter under Mother Dragon.

So, when Tassera said she wasn’t a Brass Dragon, Leon still cared about her quite a bit. After thinking, he said, "What if I build you a Mage Tower?"

"A Mage Tower, I think I could afford to build." Tassera’s voice was noticeably less stern.

Leon snapped his fingers and said, "A Mage Tower that’s also accessible in your Dragon Form."

"Don’t boast," Tassera said. "There’s no Mage Tower that big in this world."

"Yes, indeed, your Dragon Form is quite large, it’s not possible to build a Mage Tower that allows free movement in your Dragon Form," Leon nodded, "Then let’s build one several times bigger than Betty’s Mage Tower, big enough for your Dragon Form to land on the top of the Mage Tower, and throw in an open space for experiments."

"Since you are so sincere..." Tassera naturally said, "I’m your spouse, wherever you go, I will surely follow, and even take your last name."

Indeed, there is nothing in this world that more money can’t solve; Leon laughed heartily and said, "I was just saying, don’t take it too seriously... You first help me finish the enchantment of the Catastrophe Blade; if my combat power is higher, there’s a higher chance of building you a Mage Tower."

Compared to expanding territories, Leon cared more about whether Blue Dragon could help enchant his weapon, allowing both his Dragon Form and human form to share one sword.

Leon handed his weapon to Tassera, thinking it wouldn’t take long. Unexpectedly, it took about half a year before he got his weapon back because Tassera was not actually skilled in enchantment.

That Catastrophe Blade, now enchanted by Tassera, could... only shrink down to a size suitable for medium-sized humanoids, or return to its original size. It couldn’t change size freely like Ruyi Jingu Bang; the limitations were quite significant, but Leon was still quite satisfied.

Then, on a sunny morning, as the desert always basked in bright sunlight, Leon felt an impulse to go out and explore.

Not simply because ’the world is so big and I want to see it’, he had other thoughts in mind—The desert is really a terrible place to live; it’s okay to stay for a while, but truly unfit for development and prosperity.

Leon harbored these slight thoughts but didn’t go out just for that; it was more like a walk combined with shopping, so he didn’t choose to transform into a Red Dragon and fly all over, but planned to transform into human form, join a caravan, and look around as they left the desert.

Leon couldn’t guarantee how long this trip would be; it might extend a month or two. Naturally, he needed to instruct the Efreeti and Green Dragon to work hard and manage the territory for him.

As for how to arrange and what to do with the Efreeti, when it came to the Green Dragon, there was a problem—she wanted to accompany Leon outside.

"Who will manage my territory if you go out?" Leon asked.

"I’m the master’s maid, who else if not me to follow master?" Cecilia answered irrelevantly, "Let me follow the master. I can help manage your clothes, prepare food, arrange accommodation, plan the travel itinerary... Also, I can provide company, ensure you won’t get bored on the journey. Not only that, when encountering monsters, I can help drive them away so that master doesn’t have to take action every time..."

Cecilia went on and on about the benefits of having her by his side, making Leon somewhat tempted, saying, "You’re just sick of the desert life, aren’t you?"

"Does master really notice?" Cecilia stuck out her tongue, "Mainly, I want to stay by master’s side."

"Alright." Leon wasn’t insistent on going alone.

"Then I’ll get ready," Cecilia suddenly remembered something, "Do we need to tell Tassera?"

"Probably not necessary," Leon said, "Sometimes she leaves for ten days or half a month to buy books or Magic Materials, and she doesn’t specifically inform me."

"I understand," Cecilia asked, "Where are we going?"

"You arrange it." Since Green Dragon insisted on following him, Leon didn’t mind playing the role of a hands-off manager.