Chapter 15

【15】

Today was the day of the Unified Human Language Exam.

『Why do we have to come to Longdu for the exam?』 Rhett was so nervous, there was smoke coming out of his head『I heard that Longdu’s invigilators are the strictest!』

『If you plan on cheating, why would it matter?』 Alex said『I heard they have the best cram schools here. Rhett, I have to enroll you in an intensive class. Your foundation is terrible. No one could believe that we raised a human for ten years.』

Rhett whispered:『I said, why don’t we …why can’t we just buy a fake certificate? I heard there is a black dragon who is very good at this…』

『One hundred years,』Alex said,『If we get caught, we will be imprisoned for one hundred years. Although it means nothing to a dragon, and we can easily sleep through it, it also means that we will never see Slair ever again. 』

Longdu was the residence of His Majesty the Dragon Emperor, and it was also the most prosperous and largest floating island. The outer island was inlaid with gold, and most buildings on the island were made of gold, which looked shiny and fascinating to the dragons.

But, no matter how shiny the building was, a test center was still a test center. Rhett stood outside the door with his neck back and didn’t want to go in『Wait a minute, Alex, you know I have no experience…let me prepare mentally for a bit…』

『Hey, hello! Are you two candidates for the Human Language exam?』 A silver dragon carrying a big basket greeted them,『Come on. Buy a twin lotus! It’s humans’ favorite flower, if you hold it during your exam, it will bring you good luck!』

『For real?』 Rhett stretched out his claw,『Give me ten of them! How much?』

『It’s not expensive at all, ten gold pieces per flower. Since this is your first purchase, I have already given you a discount.』

Alex pressed on Rhett’s claw:『Do trust him. Green dragon Flagg cultivated these flowers as ornaments. They are easy to grow, can bloom all year round, and with a little magic, they can grow all over the lake. Because it is too difficult to clean, no one grows them anymore. 』

『Mine was raised by humans!』 Silver dragon protested.

『 Human-raised flowers can’t grow that big.』 Alex said, then he dragged Rhett into the examination room mercilessly.

Enya was holding a kitchen cleaver and waiting fiercely to chop and dice some incoming cyanrats. She heard some noise come ahead, and she could vaguely see a dark mass in the wind and snow.

「Divine Envoy! Divine Envoy! Divine Envoy!」

Unexpectedly, the warriors carried Slair back. They raised a chair, let Slair sit on it, and kept tossing twin lotus seeds into his hands. Gordon confessed desperately while holding Slair’s shank, then showed his hands off to everyone trying to get in the circle.

「What happened」 Enya asked.

「Hurry and get the best wine and meat, Enya!」 Said a warrior who could not force his way into the circle,「This is the divine envoy! Lord Slair was sent by the dragons to save us! He scared off the rat tide with a roar, then he waved his hands, the snow became ice, and the ice wall was built with a blink of an eye!」

「Oh my god, that is incredible, but what’s the matter with Grieve?」 Enya pointed at Grieve, who stood blankly by the side, and asked「Is he overwhelmed with joy that he had lived with a god’s envoy for so long?」

「Nah, poor guy was ashamed because he tried to preach the Book of Dragons to an envoy.」

Grieve lowered his head. Without a doubt, Slair was a great envoy. Everything that happened was nothing but a test, and what had he done! He pointed his sword at the divine envoy, tied him up with a rope, and shamed him for not knowing the Book of Dragons ! Oh, the might Dragon God above, he was too ashamed to stay anymore.

Grieve quietly walked back to his room and planned to reread the Book of Dragons to cleanse his soul, then beg the envoy’s forgiveness. There was some noise under the bed, and it sounded like rodents chewing. His nerves were stretched, and he thought there was a cyanrat that slipped through. But when he moved the bed, he saw a giant squirrel eating under the bed.

The squirrel clenched the biscuit in his hand and stared at Grieve. It stood on a bite-open parcel containing Slair’s delicate and expensive clothes, some rations, and a map. Grieve picked up the map and looked confused. Those lines were Slair’s handwriting, and a highlighted route bolder by pen and a big circle marked the destination.

It also wrote「SNATCH CHOCO AND ESCAPES SOON!」

Something was wrong with this map.

「Grieve !」 Slair rushed in,「Bang」he shut the enthusiastic warriors out the door,「Give me some honey! And water! Oh god, why are those lotus seeds so bitter!」

The twin lotus seeds were always bitter as hell. However, that did not affect how sacred those seeds were; only the priests could enjoy them often. Common folks could only taste 「The bitterness bestowed by the Dragon God」at large ceremonies.

Slair fell on the bed and garbed the honey water from Grieve. After he took a big sip, he noticed the bed’s position was strange, and his secret escape map was in Grieve’s hand.

They stared at each other, speechless. After a while, Grieve said:「You drew the map wrong.」

「…」Slair sat up silently,「I am not some envoy. The dragons are not humans’ gods. Although I live with the dragons, I had not heard of the Books of Dragons before I came here.」

「Then why are you here, and why didn’t you use that power against me?」

「I fell on accident.」 Slair bowed his head in frustration and said,「Magic requires mana, just like it will be hard for you to fight without strength. Magic is not a miracle. It is the power used by those monsters you are familiar with. 」

Grieve smiled, knelt on one knee, took one of Slair’s hands, and placed it on his forehead:「Oh, the chaste adopted son of dragons! The words touted by the dragons themselves are better than anything in the Book of Dragons . The power taught by the dragons is better than any martial arts. I confess to you for my sin and my rudeness. Pray tell, how can I make it up to you? 」

「……」

Grieve raised his head and looked at Slair with his blue eyes earnestly, just like a giant squirrel. Slair gave up communicating with this wild human. He covered his eyes and said, 「Then get me out of here…I want to go somewhere more prosperous. It would be great to have a guide.」

「As you wish, my Lord.」

「Please don’t call me that」Slair groaned,「You were going to scare me to death… just call me by name like before. Why are you trying to create a hierarchy between us? Can’t we just be friends?」

Grieve felt surprised and excited by his words. He held Slair’s hands:「Does that mean, Lord…You have forgiven my sins?」

「You never sinned. Ah, of course, I owe you nothing either. 」 Slair said,「In fact, I like you a lot…Might I hug you?」

He twinkled his eyes, jumped off, and hugged Grieve. Before he let go, he planted a kiss on Grieve’s forehead as a sign of friendship. As things went smoothly, Slair narrowed his eyes with a smile.

「Slair…」Grieve whispered his name and said solemnly,「I swear, you will always be my friend」

At that moment, they heard the warriors singing exultantly outside:

「Oh, the mighty blue dragon Alex, he was like the ocean, like the sky;」

「Oh, the beautiful red dragon Rhett, she was like the flame, like the blossoms;」

Ah, the dragons met in the winds.

They held each other tight and fell in love at first sight…」

「Wait for a second!」 Slair opened the door and yelled downstairs,「Rhett is male! So is Alex! They are both males!」

The warriors murmured for a while. The next day, the story became :

Once upon a time, a red dragon wandered along the river and saw a green fruit. That fruit looked delicious, and he couldn’t help eating it. Then he saw a beautiful female blue dragon by the river and asked her to marry him. After they got married, the effectiveness of the fruit faded. The red dragon realized his bride was a male, and the blue dragon has seen the red dragon as a female. The two male dragons could not have offspring. One day, they walked along the river they first met and found an egg. They brought it home and hatched it; he is Slair the Dragonmaw. The mighty Slair was raised by the dragons…

Slair could not finish the song. He ran back to his room, covered with the quilt, and laughed till his stomach cramped.