The Amber Sword

Shitah licked every one of his fat fingers, lifted his head, and looked at Haruz with a weird look. It terrified the prince that he tightly held onto the honey jar at his waist. The honey was bought by Brendel from the hunters before they entered the Stained Frost Forest Labyrinth, although it had been used a lot on the goblins, there were still some left.

“You still want it?” Brendel stared at that guy while asking to get his attention back. Shitah turned back and nodded, “Mmhmm!” Aloz was filled with dissatisfaction when she saw this scene as this guy had embarrassed the entire Dragon race. She could not believe that such a mighty Dragon would sell himself for half a jar of honey. It would have been better if it was half a jar of treasures. The female Dragon turned around and left, as she was not willing to stay there for even a minute. She would rather not know this guy if she could.

Shitah was unaware of anything and only stared blankly at Brendel. Brendel knew that he was faking the expression but could not help but find it funny, “You don’t have to look at me like that, you know what we want to know.”

“Mm…… Those guys escaped towards the other end, that tunnel leads to an exit out there that I can point it out to you.” Shitah acted like he was thinking at first, then it was as if the honey had restored his memory as he replied slowly.

Brendel glanced at the direction he pointed and did not react. “You must be very familiar with this place down here, after all, you’ve lived here since the Year of the Poisonous Spider. All these hundreds of years are enough time for you to be familiar with every passage down here.”

“How did you know?” The fat Dragon’s jaw dropped as he stared at Brendel.

“Because of literature, you fool!” Aloz who had reached the cave’s entrance, turned around again when she heard this. “Humans like to write down whatever strange and bizarre things on perishable paper regardless of the size of the events. You do not think they would be okay with you snatching their food right?”

Brendel nodded and also replied, “Before coming here, I read the history of Manoweir region from the Kurkel’s archives. You first appeared in the Year of the Poisonous Snake when you plundered a caravan transporting flour.”

“Wait, why would plunder a caravan transporting flour?” The little female Dragon asked with widened golden eys and gritted teeth in disbelief, “Are you going to bake your own bread? Why have I not heard you talk about it?”

Shitah lowered his head and blushed for a moment, “……I thought it was white sugar.”

“Enough!” Aloz shouted, “Get lost, don’t talk to me again, I want the patriach to expel you from the clan!” After saying that she ran out in anger. Brendel looked at her terrifying look, afraid that this little female Dragon would take Shitah down if she stayed any longer.

He was relieved as he saw Aloz run out, he turned to ask, “So was I right?”

“Pretty much.” Shitah replied weakly.

“What’s wrong?” Brendel looked at him like this and could not help but was a little curious, “The Dragons don’t restrain you much, do they?”

“Not much,” Shitah suddenly became a little wary and looked at Brendel with his small but bright blue eyes on his chubby face, “Hmph, you cunning human, you can’t get any useful information out of me even if you talk to me about these things, what is it exactly do you want to know?”

“Not as cunning as you.” Brendel thought to himself, this guy’s simple appearance was definitely a wonderful disguise, but in fact, only those who have dealt with him know the messy things inside his head. He replied, “Since you know every passage under this glacier, you must know if there is a shortcut that will allow us to catch up with Arreck, right?”

“Why should I tell you?” Shitah asked as he rolled his eyes.

Brendel had expected this reaction, and was not surprised so he turned back to the young prince and said, “Haruze, give it to me.” He stretched out his arm as he said it. Haruz looked a little unwillingly at Brendel as the forest life was far more uncomfortable than the life in the palace. The honey was his favorite, he only ate a little bit every day. If I hand it over, the honey will certainly not have leftovers.

The young prince was not a fool, his gaze did not stop on Brendel, but instead on Shitah along with some discontentment.

“Give it to me.” Brendel blinked at him and insisted on the command. “Teacher……” The little prince did not dare to disobey the order, but could only dawdle up, untie the jar that was tied around his waist, and put it into Brendel’s hand with a pout.

Brendel patted his shoulder and put a candy into his hand, This lactose was a new product of Trentheim, and in this world of food scarcity, candy was a luxury that only nobles could afford to enjoy. However, it was very popular among the Aouine nobles, and Miss Romaine took aim at this business early on, and Brendel helped her out a lot. After all, compared to Vaunte, the materialistic life of modern society was too rich.

Haruze held the round ball of lactose, and can not help but be surprised. He had tasted this candy in Trentheim before. Although usually he would only be rewarded on the day he practiced his sword particularly well, he could not forget that taste for the rest of his life.

He carefully put the candy in his bag, and only then was he satisfied to hold his Lion’s Fang and sit down.

Shitah, of course, who also saw this scene, looked at the honey jar in Brendel’s hand, and then looked at the young prince’s actions. There was a strong light of curiosity in his eyes, but he held back from speaking.

Brendel saw this childish action and could not help but smile, “What about this? A news for half a jar of honey is not a loss for you, right?” He was slightly stunned, as he felt like one of those weird uncles who abducted lollies with lollipops – but he had neither lollipops, nor was the little fat man in front of him looked like a lolly.

Shitah was a Dragon, and was a Dragon of such a bad nature that it was not even treated well within the Dragon race.

“There is such a passage……” Shitah could not resist slobbering as soon as he heard Brendel’s condition. He was indeed slobbering, with his bared mouth, silver threads of saliva could be seen at the corners of his mouth, dripping onto the ground.

This scene really called into question how this guy’s salivary glands could be so developed.

“Can you point it out to me?”

Shitah nodded vigorously as Brendel lifted the honey jar up and down. Brendel smiled slightly and handed over the honey, “As I promised, here’s your-”

“Hmph.” Shitah quickly clutched the jar and replied with a smug look on his face, “You keep your word much better than that blue guy, but I heard that you humans are cunning beyond belief, why are you so stupid?”

Brendel could not catch his breath and coughed twice before he hurriedly repeated in his mind, “He’s a child, he’s a child.” But even so, he almost wanted to turn on his frenzy talent to beat this damn little fat Dragon again.

“That has nothing to do with you, besides it’s not called stupidity, it’s called honesty. I don’t have to lie to a kid like you,” he replied through gritted teeth, “Shitah, can you show us the way?”

“No!” Shitah flatly refused, as if he did not even process the words before saying it out loud. Brendel looked at him as if he wanted to hear this guy’s reasoning, “Are you sure?”

“Of course! It’s too much trouble, that passage is long, and it’s a long way to go, think about it, walking that far and having to come back later, even if you offer me seven or eight jars of honey, I won’t agree. Besides-” Shitah added rightfully, “It’s so cold out there.”

It’s so cold outside!

You’re a Frost Dragon, hello? Brendel had never heard of a frost Dragon that was scared of the cold before. Frost Dragons even had the ability to manipulate the glacier as they themselves were born in the glacier. Legend said that the coldness was their breath, and every piece of frozen ice and mist on the ice field was their warm and comfortable home.

But this huge Dragon right here actually told him that it was too cold outside!

Brendel had a hard time calming hismelf down. After he managed to do so, he replied, “It is cold outside, but it’s not any better than in here right?”

“No, I have food here.” Shitah answered proudly.

To hell with all your food! Brendel screamed in his mind but still managed to remain a clam look, “How much food do you have? You’ve been plundering those humans every once in a while, but they’re getting savvy too. What can you grab next? Dried meat? Cured fish? Or hardened black moldy bread? Shitah, your collection is not even called food anymore, in their eyes, it’s just garbage-”

“You can ask them if you don’t believe me.” Brendel said as he pointed to thos eKirrlutz nobles not far away and Shitah turned back curiously. Those nobles took Veronica’s sign, not to mention that even if it was Brendel, they would not dare to offend. Besides, what Brendel said was not a lie, dried peat, cured fish, and hardened black moldy bread, were things that only the poor would be pursuing. The nobles, even the most insignificant ones, would not touch those.

And so they all nodded their heads together.

Shitah’s eyes widened, and there was something bright in her turquoise blue eyes, “Really? There are things that are even better than these things…… hoho.”

As he said this, his mouth watered. Brendel simply could not describe this Dragon, because this guy’s saliva actually dripped onto his black noble coat. Brendel resisted the urge to slash this damn Dragon and send him flying with a sword, then he nodded, “Of course, you can’t just hit home here for the rest of your life, right? The Dragons can’t share your values, that’s because they don’t know the true meaning of deliciousness. I’ll take you to Nine Phoenix if we have the chance, it’s said to have the most exquisite food in the world.”

Shitah’s eyes shone, as if he had been immersed in that future moment. But he quickly wiped his mouth and came back to his senses. Brendel saw that Shitah was regaining his right mind, and he had to praise that the Dragons are worthy of the most intelligent high-ranking creatures, as he had completely calmed down in such a short time.

He just did not expect Shitah to rub his nose and ask, “Great, when are we going?”

Veronica choked on her saliva upon hearing this.

Brendel took a deep breath, opened his mouth, but swallowed the swear words he was intended to say, and then spoke as if it was scripted, “Anytime, but you have to consider leaving here with me, and I promise to provide you with enough fine food. Guaranteed to be something you’ve never even heard of before this.”

“Wait, huh, you really are scheming again, human!” The little fat Dragon suddenly raised his head and looked at Brendel somewhat warily, “But I’m eating a ton of candy every day, though?”

“Are you a pig!” Brendel almost blurted out, but he gritted his teeth and held back, “No problem, you know, I have a big territory, I have a lot of sugar workshops, I can guarantee to meet your requirements-”

“Really?” Shitah looked skeptical, but the look of yearning was clearly written all over his fat face.

“Pfft.” Shido who was at the side could not help but laugh out loud. In her opinion, this Count of Trentheim had turned into a director of a sugar factory in the eyes of this Dragon, which was too mind-boggling. Until this moment, the scholar girl profoundly realized the saying, ‘if you do not go out of the door, you can never get to know the world.’

At least until now, the majesty of the Dragons of this world had basically fallen apart in Shido’s eyes.

“Of course it’s true.” Brendel replied without a smile, “But do you understand what I’m asking? You take my benefits, but you have to help me carry out tasks, you do not want me to feed you for free, right?”

He had to remind so, because this guy in front of him was not reliable at all. Of course, if one can be an ally with a Dragon- even a young Dragon, it would have a profound impact on the situation in Aouine. Brendel raised his head to look at the Kirrlutz nobles not far away. Those guys were obviously stunned and did not think this far yet, only Veronica exchanged glances with him.

That army chief lady gave him a slight smile.

But to his surprise, Shitah frowned impatiently and replied, “You guys are stupid. Of course I understand, it’s like signing a contract. Hmph, I also signed a contract with that damn guy, but since that guy can’t fulfill the requirements on the contract, I have now decided to unilaterally cancel the contract with him.”

He looked up at Brendel, “So, have you written the contract?”

Brendel looked at this guy dumbfoundedly, he felt that this fat guy was acting dumb all this while. Even he was not as clear as Romaine about Vaunte’s contracts.

“Right now…not yet.”

“Oh, that’s okay, we can set a verbal contract first.” Once the mention of food and contract, Shitah seemed to become shrewd all of a sudden and replied, “I swear in the name of the Dragon God, you can in the name of Marsha-”

But Brendel was completely confused, he stared at this little fatty who suddenly seemed to got to his senses, Is there some conspiracy? Or should I say how was this game set up? Did those players try to abduct this guy back then? He was thinking about all this nonsense in his head, while he blurted out a sentence that he almost regretted for the rest of his life.

“Verbal contract? Then should we do a pinky swear or something?”

Shitah looked at Brendel as if he was an idiot, the little fat guy blinked his eyes, as if he thought he had heard wrong.

“What are you talking about, I didn’t think that the lady boss’ crush was a retarded child.”

“Pfft hahahaha!”

At this moment, Ciel’s burst of laughter was heard by everyone present.

……