Meet Him Again

VIII

"Hey, Goldie boy," Ronan called out to Eruhaben. It's the day when the Northeast hosts Rowoon Kingdom's conference. He didn't care about pleasantries but a very distinct scent caught his attention.

The platinum blonde boy—hm, Marquis Sten, was it?

"What is it, Fishy Old Man?" Eruhaben snarks back. He looked and acted like a child; that's not him. It was disgusting but how come Ronan finds it adorable? It must be his senior citizen's instincts. He's an eccentric deep-sea fish who's older than any living legend right now. It must be his age.

"That man."

Eruhaben looked at the Marquis. He had no idea why Ronan was pointing at him.

"He has a dragon's scent. He is quite young—no," Ronan scrutinized the man emitting the scent, "a shell's scent."

It has the same scent as the eggs laid in the deep sea. However, compared to the salty scent of eggs, the scent is extremely potent. He could not tell what it was, but its scent was also familiar to him.

"You are acting like a senile old man again; you should drink some vitamins," Eruhaben said as he quietly followed the Marquis.

"Says another senile old man." Ronan raises a brow at the dragon and looks at the young whales. "I'm more handsome than him, ain't I?"

Without hesitation, the two whales nodded vigorously, "Yes, Your Majesty is the best indeed!"

Ronan couldn't help but frown once more. These children are just blindly following him!

"Do not call me Your Majesty; Grandpa will suffice. I am much older than your great great great great grandfather, to whatever extent that is."

"Yes, Grandfather." The whale's sparkling eyes were hard to resist. Ronan simply agreed to the formal way of addressing his grandfather. He gazed down and looked at his little Cale.

"Yes, best indeed!" Little Cale chirped in and nodded the way the whales did.

Hah. Life. In his old life, he's surrounded by little buds about to bloom.

He looked at Eruhaben and said, "Follow that man."

His instincts were never wrong from the start.

The beastly scent filled his nose the moment they entered a villa deep into the forest. Eruhaben's expression stiffens after noticing the color of the mana surrounding the villa.

Any beast would know that another beast is being held in here. Even the Young Whales who were sensitive to concentrated mana stiffened as well. They knew that the owner of such pure mana could become one of the most powerful beasts in the world.

However, what kind of beast would it be?

"Little Cale."

"Yes?"

"From here on, can you remain silent?"

"Okay." The child in his arms nodded and smiled at him, as he wrapped his arms around his neck and remained skilled by the crook of his neck. Well, there's nothing that's going to happen to him.

They walked deeper into the villa, eventually reaching the dungeons. The irritated goldie boy ended up putting everyone to sleep and getting through it.

Of course, that is to be expected. Dragons were beings who ruled over the land. This is why Ronan only told him about his realization rather than acting on it. A sea creature cannot interfere with the land, and the same is true for the land. So even if a human destroys one island, Ronan can disregard it. But if it meant destroying a body of water, he had every reason to destroy the enemy on sight.

Trespassing and theft—the dragon is willing to commit those things right now.

"Ah."

"What is it, Grandfather?" the whales who were following him asked.

"Now that we're closer, it has the Dragon Lord's mana mixed into it."

"Tsk!" The fish paused after hearing Eruhaben's crispy tsk. His eyes were squinted with their slits, focusing forward.

Oh-uh... someone's getting angry.

Dragons are supposed to be eccentric beings who wouldn't give a thing to someone or something but it seems that was for nothing. Dragons still hold camaraderie among themselves. Especially with such a young black egg in front of them.

The shell of the egg had marks as if it were being forced to open. The shell had cracks and visible wounds from being stabbed to open it. There were also forbidden spells that nullified the shell's defense. The mana fluctuations must have acted to keep the hatchling safe inside.

Humans are greedy, wicked creatures.

It is a trait that every human hides beneath their friendly smile.

Such cruelty and thirst, only to be fueled by an even more powerful emotion: selfishness.

"Those damned humans."

Eruhaben's vehement rage prompted Ronan to take action. Using his mana, he surrounded the egg with water and began to heal its cracks. Being angry won't do any good. There must be some kind of superpower that can grab hold of such a valuable hatchling.

if there is.

Not only would the land be in trouble, but so would the sea.

Well, he doesn't care about it. He lives deep inside the ocean and is the sole owner of the Sea Palace.

"Cale," he called out, placing the egg in Cale's arms. "No matter what happens, do not let the egg go."

After saying that, Eruhaben erupted in rage. The entire villa exploded, revealing a golden dragon. The Tolz Barony and the Sten Marquessate were in a frenzy following the attack.

Not only has a dragon destroyed a villa, but it also blew up the entire dungeon and freed all kinds of beasts held in. The nearby villages saw the majesty of the Golden Dragon. Ronan and the rest remain standing by the dragon's feet. Ronan expected that Eruhaben would be angry.

"You—the Sea Emperor!" Everyone pointed at him.

Ronan had every reason to be angry as well. The villa held not only beasts but also sea creatures. There are sirens, mermaids, and even sea beasts.

"Is this what they call keeping the pact between the land and sea?" Ronan inquired. He handed Cale over to Phaeton and smiled at the nobles gathered here. He saw Black uniformed people wearing stars on their clothes.

"Hah. So it is him again!" he exclaimed angrily. This Sea Emperor's memories included the abhorrent memory of a man cursed by the Dragon Lord Sherrit. That must refer to the black egg.

Before returning to his lair, Sherrit boasted about the egg to the Previous Ronan.

But, if Ronan's memories are correct, there should be one more egg.

I guess. It has been killed.

Ronan raised his hand and the dark sky began to rumble. Behind him, an equally angered dragon hovered and growled as if it were ready to snap their heads off their bodies. With a single hand gesture, a bolt of bluish-gold lightning began to rain down and began to cause fires around the fief. Ronan jumped to the back of the Golden Dragon. A sea chain made with water brought the traitors to the capital and had them hanged just outside Zed Crossman's palace.

The human king emerged and shuddered at the Dragon and Sea Emperor's power, causing a commotion in the capital.

"Human King," Ronan stated, "This is my final warning."

Both the Sea Emperor and the Dragon said, "Let it be known throughout the continent; do not cross the line." With that, the dragon and the Emperor of the Sea flew away. Not only did they wipe out an entire household but they also gave a firm warning to the humans.

TBC