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“Her Highness is?” Taylor’s eyes widened with surprise, completely unaware that the exquisite figurine had slipped from his grasp. It rolled across the table’s surface and came to a stop right in front of Fenice.

Fenice’s eyes lit up with interest as she picked up the small figurine, becoming more enamored with it the longer she gazed at it. She could not help but admire the exquisite craftsmanship, recognizing that it was a rarity in their world. While the shape and appearance of the figurine could be replicated through magic with equal precision, the special material used in its creation was not something that could be found in their world. That was precisely why Fenice, who always had a fondness for novelty items, found the figurine especially appealing.

“Yes, I heard from the old man, Akarin. Her Highness should already be in the city by now,” Fenice replied while casually fiddling with the figurine. “Apparently, she summoned him here to take care of something, but I don’t see any issue with him handling it.”

“I-I… gotta prepare something for her then! Does Her Highness have any preferences?” Upon hearing the news, Taylor’s panic was evident as he fumbled, unsure of where to even place his hands. The anger that had previously filled his face now transformed into a mixture of nervousness and unease.

“Wine? No, Her Highness is too young to drink. Beauties? No, no, no. Her Highness is a female. Exotic delicacies?” The more Taylor pondered, the more flustered he became. He scratched his bald head, which resembled a large duck egg, in annoyance.

“I believe Her Highness might be even more pleased if you were to offer yourself to her,” Fenice joked playfully.

Upon hearing Fenice, Taylor pondered the suggestion, stroking his chin in deep contemplation. “Maybe… this could be a possible solution?”

“……”

‘Hey, hey, this fool isn’t serious, is he?’

After the shock, Fenice’s mouth slightly curved into a discreet smirk. She wisely decided to remain silent and shrugged. How could she bring herself to disrupt such an entertaining show?

“By the way, what brings all of you here again?” Taylor asked, looking up after a moment of contemplation.

Fenice, seizing the moment while Taylor contemplated the possibility of “offering himself to the great princess,” cunningly slipped the exquisite figurine into her chest pocket. With a dazzling smile, she replied, “We are here under the orders of the Queen, of course.”

“The Queen?” Taylor grew even more puzzled.

Dragons in this world were regarded as legendary beings, and their mere presence would cause a stir. As a result, the Queen had ordered that dragons refrain from excessive involvement with other races. For instance, when Taylor entered into a 10,000-year contract with the Holy Dragon Empire, he was only allowed to intervene if the empire faced an imminent threat of complete destruction.

For this very reason, dragons either chose to live in seclusion on Dragon Island and enjoy the pleasures of life in the company of a beauty (the Queen), or embark on a journey to explore the depths of existence through mental and physical endeavors (to bring about their own destruction), or to conceal their true nature and seek (real) guidance from wise masters and aim to excel in every aspect in order to become the ultimate talent.

Yet this time, it was the Queen herself who had ordered Fenice and the others to descend to the human nation…

Taylor leaned in closer to Fenice and asked with a grave tone, “Did something big happen?”

“Well, not really, but…” Fenice’s eyes flickered with a cold light and she lowered her voice, “Her Highness the Princess sent a message saying that she had… encountered diluted dragon blood in the human nation!”

“Dragon blood?”

In an instant, an intense and murderous aura emanated from the burly man. The surrounding magic elements scattered in fear, but were contained by an invisible force within the private room. Even the waiters who walked by the door with their trays of food did not detect anything unusual happening inside.

“Someone has been slaying dragons?” Taylor asked in a chilling tone, his expression contorted into that of an evil spirit. Despite the dragons’ transcendent status and their tendency to keep to themselves, there was one rule they held sacred—no other races were allowed to mess with their own kind.

Dragons were incredibly rare, with only a few thousand existing in a world that had developed for nine million years. This number paled in comparison to the hundreds of millions, if not billions, of humans and demons. Even the rat monsters, hidden deep within the ancient forest in the Holy Dragon Empire, had a larger population than the dragon tribe.

After nine million years of dedicated effort by successive generations of dragon warriors, a new race emerged in the world—the Subdragons. However, the dragon clan, who always held their bloodline in high regard, refused to acknowledge them as their own kind. Their sole concern remained with the fewer than a thousand dragons from Dragon Island.

Although they often cursed and betrayed one another, they were able to set aside their differences and unite when confronted with a mutual threat. This unity was born out of the realization that their numbers were scarce, making it crucial for them to stand together against formidable adversaries, especially those seeking to exterminate their kind.

Slaying dragons was a common theme in the adventure picture books within the human nation. In these tales, dragons were often portrayed as captors of human princesses, but in reality, it was nothing more than a fictional story. The dragons would never do such an unchallenging thing. They would much prefer something more thrilling, like abducting a demon princess.

When Taylor, who had already lived for tens of thousands of years, heard rumors of dragon blood appearing within the human nation, a deadly aura instinctively emanated from him.

“Calm down. Nothing has been confirmed yet,” Fenice remarked while using her powers to cool down the area around them, hoping that it would help to calm him down.

She did not want to startle the culprits because it was difficult for her to gather information. If Taylor’s intense aura exposed “the dragons’ presence in Jeorgetown City” and caused those guys to escape unnoticed, it would be a major headache for them. Given the vast population of humans, tracking them down would be akin to searching for a needle in the haystack.

“The initial report we received from Her Highness originated from the Luminous Theocracy. As we conducted our investigation there, we uncovered a black market operating in the shadows, trading diluted dragon blood, which had ties to the Holy Dragon Empire. This led us to pursue further leads and ultimately led us to find you here.”

Fenice locked eyes with Taylor and added, “Given your familiarity with this place, your assistance could prove invaluable to us.”

Upon hearing this, Taylor felt a tinge of embarrassment and scratched his bald head, unsure of how to respond to Fenice.

He could not possibly confess to her that he had never been interested in matters of empire and had merely been seeking amusements to entertain himself. Besides, he detested being surrounded by people who only sought to flatter him. Consequently, his knowledge of the city’s streets and alleys, accumulated over numerous years, was limited solely to the areas where he could find entertainment and nothing more.

Revealing all of this could potentially result in him being strangled to death by the woman standing before him.

“Ahem.”

Taylor cleared his throat and carefully asked, “Regarding that matter, the imperial family…”

Fenice raised her eyebrows, quickly understood Taylor’s unfinished words. She responded with a cold smile, “Not the imperial family. They lack the courage to engage in such activities. While there may be some members driven by greed who would open a black market, selling dragon blood is a different matter. Unless the imperial family wishes to jeopardize their bloodline and risk losing their lofty position, they would never be foolish enough to get involved.”

“You have a point there…” Taylor let out a sigh of relief. Despite his lack of accomplishments, he could still command the assistance of the imperial family, given the fact that he still possessed the esteemed title of their Guardian. Having the support of the imperial family would undoubtedly make many tasks much easier.

“But…” Fenice suddenly changed her tune and said, “I believe that certain nobles in the Holy Dragon Empire were involved in this.”

“Nobles?”

“Yes, precisely. The black market we infiltrated had high security and strict scrutiny. Only a select few were allowed access to the deepest part of it, where the diluted dragon blood could be acquired. Furthermore, the black market has an extremely reliable information network, indicating a significant backing behind it.”

“Indeed.” Taylor pondered deeply. Black markets were explicitly prohibited by all nations. Even so, it continued to thrive in the shadows, like slave trades, fueled by the greed of some individuals. Nations were compelled, for various reasons, whether it be their own interests or compromises, to reluctantly accept its existence.

After all, greed knew no bounds.

The imperial family, being at the highest position in the empire, were cautious and sensitive to the trade of dragon blood. They refrained from involvement, but there were some discontented individuals who desired more and were willing to take desperate measures.

“Our top priority is to determine the source of the dragon blood. We need to ascertain whether one of us got taken advantage of by someone while searching for the purpose of their life (creating trouble), or if they were truly…”

Fenice’s eyes glinted dangerously as she finished her sentence.

“Slain.”