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Chapter 11 The Trial of the True Dragon's Daughter
Dragon Valley City, Town Square.

The square was completely blocked off by a human wall of red-robed monks and servants, preventing onlookers from entering.

The nobles stood behind Dia and Rein, silently showing their support and endorsement of the Dragon Princess.

The two high priests, the high priest and the high shaman, stood in the center of the town square, preaching to the surrounding citizens:
The Lord said: All that has vanished will return, and all that has departed will come back.

"The Lord said: One day, the world will be burned to ashes in the dragon's flames. Then my descendants will walk on the land again."

"The Lord said: He will guide you through the day of judgment, just as I have protected you."

The Lord said: “You should also defend His glory at all costs, just as you would glorify Me.”

Both of them were quite eloquent. The high priest's voice was steady and powerful, which was very convincing; the high priest constantly waved his arms and used generous and powerful gestures while speaking, which unconsciously stirred the emotions of the audience.

As the sermon continued, the nobles gradually began to realize that something was amiss, as the expressions of the people around them became increasingly solemn, devout, and... fanatical.

"Oh no!" They began whispering among themselves, warning each other, "They're inciting the crowd!"

Renn sneered from the side, thinking, "Wow, you guys figured that out. What else can a religion do besides incite the masses? Engage in a debate with you?"

“Raine.” Dia whispered, her voice trembling slightly, “The people over there look like they want to devour you.”

Following her gaze, Renn discovered a dozen or so lizardman poormen standing silently behind the wall of monks and servants on the left.

Their vertical pupils stared straight at the nobles in the arena, their faces revealing no emotion, or rather, it was difficult to discern any emotion on the lizardmen's scaly faces.

However, Ryan keenly noticed that these lizardmen all had a scale on their throats that had been precisely removed with a knife.

They are venomous snakes.

Dogs, cats, rats, and snakes respectively represent the bounty hunter guilds, spellcasters' societies, black markets, and assassin organizations that are spread throughout the nine kingdoms.

The venomous snakes of the rainforest peninsula are quite unique. They were originally Darkscale assassins from the ancient Church of Corpses, trained by the cultists with necromancy to become lifeless and painless killers. Even the reverse scales on their throats had to be specially removed—because breaking the reverse scales of lizardmen would cause spasmodic pain.

With the extermination of the Corpse Worshippers by the Nine Kingdoms, the Darkscale Assassins were also officially banned. Then, in 752 of the First Age, the High Priest of Shamanism issued a decree of amnesty, announcing that all criminals wanted over the years who had not yet been captured would no longer be pursued...

From this, it can be inferred that the Darkscale Serpent of the Rainforest Peninsula is likely backed by the Shamanic Guild of Dragon Valley City.

Renn turned to look at the high priest of the shaman's throne. He was currently describing several characteristics of the Dragon Daughter, such as her brilliant, bright gold eyes, the broad dragon wings that grow from her back, her ability to breathe fire and destroy enemies, and most importantly:
It must have originated from the dragon race.

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding crowd erupted in a cacophony of voices!
The angry shouts of "liar," "liar," and "blasphemer" rose and fell. If it weren't for the red-robed monks and servants still trying to maintain the human wall, the entire town square would probably have been overturned by the angry rioting crowd.

Dia grabbed Renn's arm pleadingly, her breathing rapid with fear. Lord Agor quickly gave a signal, and three lizardman nobles immediately stepped forward: Hasacher, Tigri, and Roy, all well-versed in shamanistic texts.

"A true dragon's daughter does not necessarily have to be of dragon-like birth!" Noble Hasache raised his hands, drawing the attention of the surrounding crowd, and proclaimed loudly, "Ladies and gentlemen! In Chapter 13, line 131 of the Holy Dragon Canon, it says, 'The Lord says: I will give the dragonfire to my offspring, and I will give the dragonfire to those who are not my offspring, for my glory does not merely flow in my blood, but is deeply rooted in the souls of all beings!'"

"The nobility of the Dragon's Daughter lies not in her bloodline, but in her soul!"

The crowd, which was shouting for violence, split instantly upon hearing this. While most still firmly believed that the Dragon Girl was a fraud, some voices emerged, urging, "Let her prove it!"

"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" cried the nobleman Tigri, "The absence of dragon wings and the inability to breathe are not proof of her status as the Dragon Daughter! The Holy Dragon Treatise, Chapter 25, line 11, says, 'The Lord said: In the beginning she walked barefoot on the earth, no different from any other mortal. But behold, the roar of the true dragon echoed deep within her soul!'"

"The nobility of the Dragon's Daughter lies not in her physical form, but in the depths of her soul!"

The clamor of the masses gradually subsided. If there was only one instance in the scriptures, it could be understood as the nobles' far-fetched interpretation; but if it is mentioned in many places that "the nobility of the dragon's daughter lies in her soul," then is it possible that the shamanic group's judgment was wrong?

Seeing the dissenting crowd fall silent, the lizardman nobles were greatly encouraged. They thought to themselves that it was fortunate that Lord Agor was so wise that he had anticipated the shamanic group's attempt to incite the masses with scriptures and had made targeted countermeasures. Otherwise, they would have been utterly defeated by now.

"Gentlemen, listen to me!" The last nobleman to appear waved his arms, gesturing for the crowd to look in his direction.

Then, the words that came out of his mouth caused the nobles to feel as if they had fallen into an ice cave once again, and their expressions changed drastically:
"The nobility of the true dragon's daughter may indeed lie in the extraordinary nature of her soul, but this human is not the true dragon's daughter at all; she is merely an imposter found by other nobles in collusion with humans!"

"She may be a prostitute, a liar, or even a lowly illegitimate child, but she absolutely cannot be the daughter of a true dragon! Because I overheard their conspiracy clearly at yesterday's noble meeting!"

The surrounding clamor suddenly exploded. Almost all the onlookers began to curse the despicable nobles and that damned human fraudster who dared to impersonate the Dragon Daughter, wishing them to fall into hellfire immediately.

The lizardman nobles looked grim, their eyes filled with raging fury as they glared at Roy, wishing they could swarm him and stab him to death on the spot.

However, rational considerations once again took hold of their minds: now that they had become the target of public criticism, if they were to defend the Dragon Daughter even by a single word, the shamanic group would seize the opportunity to seize upon it and immediately turn it into the best evidence of "conspiring to install an imposter as the Dragon Daughter".

Therefore, the nobles collectively fell silent, their faces expressionless, pondering what other solutions they could come up with, while secretly considering how to express their submission to the shamanic community afterward so that they could extricate themselves from this turmoil unscathed.

Dia was the most distraught of them all. Just when she thought she was about to turn the tide, her teammates suddenly turned against her, plunging her back into the abyss of despair.

What should we do? Maybe we should run away with Ryan now, but…

But what should these people do? The White Walkers are coming soon, and if they don't escape...

They'll all die! Just like everyone else in Swamp Town!
She looked to Ryan beside her for help, only to hear him say with a smile:
"I was right, wasn't I? What a show! Haha!"

What kind of time is this to still be looking for fun! Dia wished she could just smash her head against his head and die right in front of him, making him regret it for the rest of his life—although that seemed unlikely for a necromancer.

(End of this chapter)