Game of the World Tree

Almost all of the cows and sheep tremble under the oppressive aura of the black dragon, rendering them incapable of moving and causing them to huddle in place with their legs shaking, whilst exuding an unpleasant odor…

Stuffed into cramped cages, the chickens, ducks, and geese continued to cluck, quack, and honk without pause. Their wings also trembled in fright, resulting in a scattering of feathers all over the place.

Even the humans responsible for herding the livestock couldn’t contain their restlessness. A few covered their heads and crouched, while others sought refuge behind the animals with their expressions revealing an intense fear of Meryer.

Seeing the human’s reaction, Meryer showed a smile that he thought was friendly, but was in fact extremely sinister looking and said—

“Why are you all so afraid? This great lord won’t eat you.”

The only human who looked decently dressed asked nervously,

“Oh Great B-Black Dragon, um…W-Where exactly do you need…need us to deliver your goods?”

…Whelp, it’s over.

Hearing how this particular human address Meryer, Evé mentally lit a candle for this old man.

And just as she had expected, the little black dragon’s face contorted in annoyance, as Meryer turned his head towards this leader-looking guy, whilst growling and baring his teeth.

“Idiot! How many times do I have to tell you? This great one is a magnificent Silver Dragon! Call me a Black Dragon once again, and I will definitely eat you!”

With his lips curling sinisterly and exuding an intimidating aura, Meryer spat such venomous words, as his foul breath and sticky saliva inadvertently sprayed the human leader, who was instantly reduced into a pitiful state.

The human leader was throughly frightened and as a result, he lost control of this footing, and then wept with snot and tears, holding his head while crying and shouting,

“Yes! Yes! Oh great Silver Dragon! Lord Meryer, the magnificent Silver Dragon! I’m an idiot! I shouldn’t have mistakenly called Lord Meryer by the wrong name… I’m already old and wouldn’t be tasty at all. Please spare me, Lord Meryer…”

“Hmph, that’s more like it!”

Meryer confidently raised his dragon head, clearly showing satisfaction.

“Don’t worry, I’m a righteous silver dragon and an honest merchant. As long as you help me deliver the goods safely to my kin, then you’ll be allowed to leave.”

“Furthermore, hasn’t this lord already provided each and every one of you with a silver coin as a courier fee? This is an employment, a transaction! There’s nothing to be afraid about since I’m certainly quite generous and fair!”

The young black dragon said proudly as Meryer let out laughter-like roars.

Eve:” …. “

….A silver coin as a courier fee was it?

If she remembered it correctly, even within Blackrock City, a large mug of piss-poor quality ale cost at the very least a silver coin.

From the nearest human village to the Black Dragon Castle, although the road is relatively smooth, there is still a distance of several hundred kilometers between each of these places, right?

Even if these humans only ate dried rations along the way, it would still cost more than a silver coin, wouldn’t it?

Evé let out an exasperated sigh.

Indeed, this punk truly is a ‘benevolent’ and ‘righteous’ dragon…

Thinking of this matter, Evé decided to let her voice echo inside Meryer’s mind.

“Meryer, where did you purchase all these livestock from, and how much did you spend in total?”

Upon hearing the the goddess’s voice inside his mind, Meryer’s eyes instantly brightened.

He nodded slightly towards the direction of the Great Tree and then responded in a boastful and playful tone,

“Ruahh! Your Grace, this is a deal between me and a Count that’s overseeing a Human Frontier Town! These humans were remarkably generous and enthusiastic. I utilized my exceptional bargaining skills to negotiate this deal with the other party for fewer than 1,000 silver coins!”

“Furthermore, I also paid a commission of 20 silver coins to hire the retainers of that Frontier Count. The same cowards you see here have been employed by me to assist in transporting these goods!”

Eve: “…”

No need to inquire about the detailed process; she could already somewhat guess how the bargaining went.

Nevertheless, she wasn’t overly worried.

Regardless of whether it was through trade or forceful acquisition, the fact of the matter was that Meryer had already brought back these goods, so they were also now under her possession.

“Roar! Your Grace, kindly send your kin to collect these goods. While I am a righteous silver dragon, I am hesitant to reveal my splendid castle to these humans. Such a sight might entice crafty and shameless thieves among them!”

Meryer continued.

Hearing this, Evé was briefly puzzled, before it dawned on her.

No wonder Meryer contacted her through prayer even before reaching his castle. This little black dragon didn’t actually want to reveal his lair’s location to these humans.

Of course, it makes sense, since dragons in general have a tendency to amass treasures and conceal them within their lairs.

Moreover, this was common knowledge in Saigües.

And once the news of a dragon’s lair spread wide, countless human adventurers would surely rush to explore such place, dreaming of becoming dragon slayers and making a fortune from the dragon’s accumulated treasures.

While having a great being as a protector diminished Meryer’s inherent fear of dragon slayers, this punk still didn’t want to take his chances and let his lair be discovered by humans, since by doing so would be akin to inviting a stream of unqualified individuals to disrupt his peaceful dragon life.

Though young, this rascal actually isn’t that naive.

Thinking of this, Evé decided to contact the Saintess Alice, and asked her to send some players to assist Meryer.

The Black Dragon Castle also possessed a teleportation array that led directly to the Chosen City and the current place where Meryer is momentarily stationed is roughly around ten kilometers away from his lair.

After a few hours of waiting, Meryer finally saw dozens of fully armed elves approaching his location.

From the looks of it, they were the elves who accepted the task!

These players were still strutting and horsing around in a happy-go-lucky manner, with some even swinging their swords and practicing skills against the air, akin to a group of unruly bandits.

However, upon noticing the humans near Meryer, they immediately restrained themselves, forming ranks and adopting a serious demeanor, displaying an air of professionalism.

Nonetheless, the moment they saw the long line of livestock, each of their eyes instantly lit up in astonishment.

“Holy Shiet! So many livestock?!”

“Whoa, that’s amazing! Meryer actually bought them?”

“Damn, so many!? Haha, did Meryer just plundered a village?”

“Hahaha, now completing the animal husbandry quest will be a breeze!”

“Great job, Lord Meryer!”

Upon hearing the players’ praises, Meryer lifted his dragon head even higher.

“Hmph! When this lord takes action, everything is naturally effortless!”

These players were mostly the ones who had hung around with Meryer on ordinary days and they also often took on tasks issued by the young black dragon and had developed a camaraderie with the young dragon over roasting meat skewers and polishing his scales.

Meryer almost considered them his subordinates.

Therefore, Meryer was exceptionally familiar with them and chatted away like old friends.

Seeing the dozens of players arriving, over twenty humans unconsciously widened their eyes.

E-Elves!?

Moreover…there’s so many too!?

In that instant, the humans thought they were hallucinating.

However, the prominent tall figures, iconic pointed ears, and their stunningly elegant appearances, reminiscent of the Empire’s most beautiful and refined nobles, all indicated one undeniable fact—

They were indeed elves!

They had actually encountered the legendary elves out here in the wild!

Alive even!

In a moment, curiosity and excitement gleamed within each of the human’s eyes.

Elves!

These were true elves!

The most beautiful and noble race within the world of Saigües !

For a moment, rhe human’s curiosity even outweighed their inherent fear of the black dragon.

And amongst them, the human leader, who had the most respectable appearance but had also been frightened out of his wits by Meryer, was especially shocked the most…

He served as a retainer for one of the Counts under the Holy Maniya Empire, holding the position of a second-tier steward in his Lord’s frontier castle.

At this moment, whilst looking at this group of elves, his breathing became somewhat heavy…

Elves!

Were there really so many elves near the Elven Forest?

And all of them are so young as well!

As a steward, he was also responsible for managing the servants and slaves within the castle and naturally had a good understanding of the slave market.

In the Holy Maniya Empire’s black market, even male elves could fetch over 5000 gold coins. As for females, their prices could be several times higher and every one of them was fought over by nobles at auctions!

Therefore, upon seeing these elves, he instinctively calculated how much these elves would be worth on the black market…

Of course, he was just thinking.

Because even a fool could tell that there was a significant connection between this black dragon and this group of elves.

And this revelation was even more astonishing than seeing dozens of elves gathered together.

Oh good Lord Eterna above!

Just when did the noble and virtuous elvenkind decided to get mixed up with the evil and ruthless black dragon!?

W-Wait a minute… these elves are also so well-equipped, so could they be the kin this black dragon had mentioned?

…A black dragon actually enlisted a group of elves as subordinates!?

How did it manage that!?

Thinking of this, the steward widened his eyes, feeling wholly incredulous about what he discovered.

Subsequently, the players’ next conversations further shattered his sense of reality even more…

“Haha! With cows and sheep, we’ll now have steak and lamb skewers as an alternative! Man, I’ve been eating monster meat almost every day, and quite frankly, I’m starting to get a little bit tired of it.”

“Bah! Eating, eating, eating! That’s all you can think about! Listen, these are breeding animals idiot…we need to raise them!”

“Hey chill out, I’m just joking around.”

“But… raising sheep and cattle takes a bit of time, right?”

“We’ll figure it out once we’re back. Besides, we’re not short on magical plants anyway…”

“Chickens and ducks grow faster, so it shouldn’t take that long to raise a group, but… I’m worried that it won’t be enough especially once the players from the third round finally arrives.”

“Well, it’s better than nothing! Having meat to eat is already good enough for me!”

Human Steward: “….”

E-Eating… meat!?

The steward’s eyes widened.

What were these elves saying just now?

They want to eat meat?!

So all these livestock weren’t meant as food prepared by the black dragon for itself, but rather, they were meant for the elves to eat!?

Lord Eterna Above!

The elves whose widely known for being strictly vegetarians are actually saying that they now want to eat some meat!

‘Am I going crazy!?’

Soon, the players shifted their attention back to the humans.

“Speaking of which…Hey Meryer, why did you even capture these humans?”

“Ah… I’m used to seeing elves, so now these humans look so ugly to me…”

Hearing the players’ comments, Meryer cast a gaze at them as if they were fools and said,

“These are the humans I hired to herd all these livestock. What, do you actually expect a noble dragon such as myself to do that!?”

The players chuckled awkwardly upon hearing Meryer’s words.

However, when the players once again looked at the steward and the other humans, their peculiar expressions somehow made the steward’s skin crawl.

“They were shocked, as if they’ve recognized us as elves…should we silence them?”

“Hmm…well, humans are hostile against elves right?”

Si…Silence… them!?

D-Do these elves actually want to silence them!?

Hearing how casual these elves talk about killing them, the poor old steward felt like he was about to have a heart attack.

However, the black dragon’s next words instantly brought him a rope of salvation.

“Ruahh! What nonsense are you guys spewing! These are humans that I’ve hired. If you want to gain experience, then just go down underground. This lord is an embodiment of justice and I will not let anyone harm innocent lives!”

Then after speaking, the black dragon once again turned his gaze around towards the dozen or so trembling humans, whilst grinning menacingly.

“All right, your task is complete. This lord is quite pleased with your work. You all may now leave! Scram! Scram!”

Hearing the black dragon’s words, the ten or so humans breathed a collective sigh of relief, then quickly turned around and fled, fearing that the scary black dragon and those eerie elves might change their minds and attack them in the next seconds or so…

And after running a fair distance away, when they confirmed that they could no longer see the black dragon and those elves, the old steward patted his chest while muttering,

“Dammit… I must be hallucinating today…”

“Today’s discovery…must be reported to the Count at all cost…”

— —