Chapter 98

Leaving the town of Ribbe, we boarded Patricia and headed straight for the abandoned mine.

Baron Bouquet had offered to guide us, saying, "Kaka, Kaka, Catherine! I'll take you to the location!" but Catherine flatly refused.

It was a polite way of telling him to focus on clearing the area, but Baron Bouquet seemed to interpret it as "I'm being relied on!" and went off with great enthusiasm to clear the way.

Watching him do that, Catherine then nonchalantly boarded Patricia with us, which left an impression on Jeanne as she muttered, "She's a scary one."

In any case, we were now heading straight for the mine.

"How long will it take from here?"

"About a day with this dragon's speed," Patricia replied.

"I see. Patricia, are you okay with that?"

"Sure, no problem at all!"

"Alright, thanks. Let me know if you get tired."

"Sure thing!"

I patted Patricia's body—her side—gently but firmly. For a large dragon like Patricia, a bit of a stronger touch was needed to feel like a normal pat, so I didn't hold back and gave her a firm stroke.

"Hmm..."

Suddenly, Catherine let out a sigh beside me. When I looked over, she had an expression of admiration.

"Is something wrong?"

"Sir Cyril, you really can communicate with dragons, can't you?"

"Yes."

I nodded slightly. Most people, especially dragon knights, don't believe it, so I don't push it, but there's no need to hide it from someone as friendly as Catherine.

"I've always been skeptical, but being with you—there's no choice but to believe it."

"I appreciate that. Can you understand them, Jeanne?"

Catherine turned to Jeanne.

"No, not at all. It's a unique skill of Sir Cyril's."

"Is that so? But you always seem to understand the content of Sir Cyril's conversations with the dragons."

"I just imagine what they're saying based on how the dragons feel about Sir Cyril."

"Can you really do that?"

Catherine was surprised, her eyes wide.

Of course, if someone told me they could understand a conversation just by imagining it, I'd react the same way.

"It's not that difficult, really."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. The dragons of 'Dragon First' all respect and like Sir Cyril. Just think about how such a dragon would talk to him."

"Ah, I see."

Catherine's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, then she nodded in understanding.

"In that case, I think I can do it too."

"Sure, Sir Cyril talks to the dragons a lot, so please give it a try."

"Yes, thank you."

Jeanne and Catherine seemed to be getting along well, which was a relief.

"By the way,"

As we were heading to the abandoned mine, I remembered and muttered.

"How do we extract tothan?"

"I've looked into it."

Jeanne responded, looking both proud and excited.

"Thanks, Jeanne. Please explain."

"Sure!"

Jeanne nodded and took out two small pieces of metal, about the size of pebbles, and placed them in her palm.

"Please look. These are the minerals tothan and naga."

"Hmm."

I examined the minerals Jeanne had taken out, even poking them with my finger.

"They don't seem to have any distinctive features."

"These are the ores that form tothan."

"Form tothan?"

"Yes, I'll explain everything I know."

"Alright, go on."

I nodded, encouraging her to continue.

"When tothan and naga, these two minerals, are collided at a speed that shatters them, they fuse to form a new metal, tothan."

"Interesting... at a speed that shatters them?"

"Yes."

"I see."

I thought for a moment.

Louise and Emma were with us, and we had food supplies on Patricia, the dragon carrier, so we had enough energy to use dragon stones.

In that case—

"Transformation."

I muttered and transformed into a dragon person for the first time in a while. Immediately after transforming, I held the tothan and naga in both hands and slammed them together with almost full force.

The collision was so intense that the sound of the explosion was delayed. As Jeanne had explained, the two minerals fused and emitted a bluish-white light, clearly becoming something different.

However, the bluish-white light lasted only an instant—less than a second, perhaps even less than a tenth of a second.

The light quickly faded, and the minerals separated back into tothan and naga. The separation was not just a simple split but a shattering, turning the two pebbles into multiple grains of tothan and naga.

"Sir Cyril, you made it so easily!"

"More importantly, what about this?"

To save energy, I transformed back to my original form and asked Jeanne.

"That's the problem."

Jeanne replied with a complex expression.

"Unless you 'secure' the tothan immediately after it forms, it will collapse and separate back into tothan and naga."

"I see. How do you secure it?"

"From what I understood, you need to grab it at the most stable moment."

"Hmm."

I nodded and gathered the scattered tothan and naga from the ground. Then I muttered "Transformation" again and became a dragon person.

I slammed the grains of tothan and naga together with full force, and they fused again, emitting a bluish-white light. Having seen the light before, I knew what to expect.

The entire process took less than 0.1 seconds. I thrust my hand into the light at the moment it was brightest and touched it.

The fused material remained intact, forming a single mineral in my palm.

"Something like this?"

"Yes! As expected, Sir Cyril! That's amazing! This is tothan."

I nodded and stared at the tothan.

The process was complex and required energy, but it wasn't an impossible request. I felt a bit relieved.