Anime: Blue-Eyes Baby Dragon, picked up by the Knight King

"very good."

The young dragon nodded repeatedly, showing approval.

Dragons, after all, are not like humans who like to hide their feelings. If they hate something, they hate it; if they like something, they like it. They express their emotions very directly, without caring about other people's opinions.

"You did a great job, better than I thought."

"You please me."

Shirataki was very excited, but the reason for his excitement was definitely not the so-called "blood sacrifice".

He is not a vampire, nor is he an evil god, so he does not need such strange things as sacrifices.

What really pleased him was the girl's "struggling" attitude - faced with the two choices he gave, the unwilling girl struggled to find a third way.

that's right.

For dragons, there is no right or wrong in the world, and there is no need to be bound by rules and regulations.

Just do what you really want to do and be the person you really want to be.

"I approve of you!"

"From now on, my will will be with you."

……

The young dragon landed on the girl's shoulder.

This was not the first time he touched the girl. Last time, he used his claws to throw the girl into the pool and rescued her from the brink of death.

This time, he began to contact the girl's soul.

A white light burst out from his body - it was a very dazzling light, but not glaring, nor harmful at all.

Artoria felt the light and found that there seemed to be a divine power flowing in the light, and she could even faintly hear a dragon's roar.

"Wow, I'm so lucky to be able to witness such a rare scene."

The Flower Magician's voice echoed in Artoria's ears—his control of volume and timing was perfect. It didn't disturb the dragon and the girl in front of him, but it was enough to explain to Artoria what was happening here.

"He is stimulating the girl's bloodline, allowing her to awaken her true Dragon attribute."

"What? You're asking if this girl can turn into a dragon? No, no, no, Leah, you seem to have some misunderstanding about the word 'dragon'."

"Hmm...why don't you try replacing the 'dragon' in your perception with 'god'?"

Chapter 16: The Path of Evolution at the End of the Age of Gods

In the evening, Hector led.

Because of Merlin's company, Artoria didn't have to sneak over the wall. Instead, she could walk through the main gate openly, and under the scrutinizing gaze of her adopted brother, she could "hold her head high" and "rightly" return to the stable where she had lived for many years.

But when Artoria returned to the stable, the smile on her face immediately disappeared.

She sat on the bed of hay, feeling somewhat depressed, staring blankly at the foals snuggling beside their mares.

She seemed a little sad - but when she thought about it carefully, she suddenly found that she had no reason to be sad.

No one did anything wrong; everyone made the choice that was best for them. The final outcome could barely be described as a happy ending—at least no one died, including the injured villagers.

Putting herself in his shoes, Altria suddenly felt that she could not do better than the girl named Vina.

As for the young dragon...

"Liya, you're deceived by its appearance."

"Just like everyone else is fooled by your appearance."

"Although you appear human, your body's functions are designed according to Dragon standards. Therefore, in essence, you are undoubtedly a true dragon."

"And that White Dragon... although he is young, there is no doubt that he is actually a true god."

"It's just that this god, who was born at the wrong time, appeared in the form of a dragon."

The clean-loving flower magician did not go into the messy stable, but stood outside the door and explained more about the white dragon to Artoria.

"To be honest, when you hatched that baby dragon, even I was shocked!"

"But now it seems that my worries were unnecessary. Even in this final days when the Age of Gods is drawing to a close, that great god is diligently fulfilling his duties... although he himself may not be aware of it."

The magician marveled at the wonders of fate and Altria's "good luck".

"It was at the most unlikely moment for a miracle to happen, but the most unlikely miracle happened."

"Now I suddenly feel that you might really be able to save this island that is already in the apocalypse."

……

Artoria was lost in thought.

I have to say that what happened today had a really big impact on her.

Even though she did not participate in the entire process and was merely observing silently from the sidelines as a "witness" - it was precisely because she stood from an outsider's perspective that she was able to observe the entire picture of the incident from all angles and was inspired to reflect more deeply:

King and minister, king's way and minister's way, king's ideal and minister's belief... these things lingered in her mind in an obscure manner, making her a little confused, but also giving her more expectations for the future.

At the same time, on the other side, in the distant Dragon Valley.

Looking at the girl who had accepted his blessing and whose shoulder wound had completely healed, the young dragon waved his hand and prepared to drive her away.

"Is your injury healed? Then go do what you need to do and stop bothering me here!"

These words seemed somewhat heartless, even filled with a sense of "disdain." However, after awakening her Dragon attribute, Vina knew clearly that Shirataki didn't actually dislike her.

He just took it for granted that as an independent "dragon", she should have her own life and her own things to do.

This is also the biggest difference between "servant" and "subject".

King and minister, this may sound like a relationship between superiors and subordinates, but in reality, their relationship is more like family - in fact, their relationship may even be closer than those of blood-thicker-than-water family members.

After all, in the face of a great disaster or an irresistible fate, a family may be forced to fall apart. But the ruler and his subjects, who share the same ideals, share honor and disgrace.

“Do what you want to do, do what you love to do.”

"Don't be afraid if you get into trouble, just go and fight. If you can't win, it doesn't matter, just come back to me and I'll help you."

"Also, I have a mission for you. You need to help me find some treasures outside - such as weapons and armor with special powers, or jewelry made by elves."

"It doesn't matter if you don't understand now. Once you see those treasures, you'll naturally understand what I mean."

The young Dragon God assigned the next stage of tasks to his first subject.

This is a very important task - it determines whether the young dragon can complete its evolution faster and grow into a more powerful form.

【mystery】.

This is the thing that the young dragon is most in need of right now.

Just as the magician said, in this apocalyptic world when the Age of Gods is about to end, the mysteries of this island are no longer enough to cultivate a true Dragon God.

But there is always a way out.

That system opened up a new path for the young dragon. It found a way to rapidly grow even in the final days of the Age of Gods:

"By consuming the mysteries of other Noble Phantasms, we can achieve faster evolution."

As we all know, Noble Phantasms are "materialized miracles", and high-level Noble Phantasms will even have various concepts attached to them - for example, the Sword in the Stone symbolizing the [King], the Rotating Sword of Victory symbolizing the [Sun], the Sword of Promised Victory symbolizing the [Stars], and so on.

The mysteries contained in these treasures cannot be underestimated. Even for gods, they are rare and tonic items.

Not to mention, there's also the one on this island. It looks like a tower, but it's actually the Holy Spear of the Star, [Longomyniad], that anchors this world.

"If I could eat the mystery of that thing..."

The young dragon thought about it, then shook his head violently, quickly dismissing the idea that the lootbelt could be created directly.

"Forget it, that holy spear still has its uses, so let's not touch it for now."

The young dragon can still tell the difference between one meal being full and the next.

But at the same time, for another equally well-known treasure, the young dragon can be said to be "determined to obtain it."

"I'm sorry, Sister Daimao."

"But, I'm determined to get the Sword in the Stone!"

"You can't keep it, I said!"

Chapter 17: What bad intentions could the young dragon have?

Some time passed... maybe about a month.

After a brief period of bustle, the forest returned to its original tranquility.

This seemed like good news... The villagers stabbed by Vina didn't seem to have any intention of making a comeback, but instead defined the nearby valley as the "territory of the evil god." They believed that it was the evil god who gave Vina her power and bewitched her mind, causing her to fall into evil.

Therefore, the area where Shirataki was located gradually became known as the "evil forbidden zone" by the villagers. Together with those tribesmen like Vina, whose hair turned white and eyes turned blue, they were regarded as proof of "evil" and were isolated and excluded by other normal villagers.

According to the latest news from Vina, those tribesmen with gray hair seemed to have left the village in a group... They seemed to be running to a secret place where no one else could find them and forming a brand new tribe.

"Let them be."

Shirataki ignored the plans of these "dragon survivors".

You can't just feed a stray dog ​​a sausage once in a while and then assume you're its owner, with a lifetime obligation to care for it. Similarly, he never considered these people his descendants—even though they did possess a power that belonged to him, and that power would be passed down through their bloodline to their descendants.

"Merlin told me that they might have a chance to become a new family of magicians."

"However, the greater possibility is that it will be buried in the dust of history as time passes."

It was a starry night.

Altria brought a rich variety of food - bread with raisins, lamb spread with honey, and even a slightly sour, low-alcohol fruit wine.

The treatment was so good that Shirataki wondered if this would be the "last meal" before execution?

"After this meal today, I'm afraid I won't be here for a long time."

"Sir Hector wants to take me to a ranch in the countryside. He says he wants to give me special training in swordsmanship..."

Ok.

It really is the last meal before execution.

……

Altria was a little annoyed.

It's another period of separation.

This was actually a very common thing, and it shouldn't have been so publicized - before this, Artoria had already achieved the achievement of "not seeing a baby dragon for two consecutive months."

But for some reason, Artoria felt quite melancholy about this separation.

Perhaps it was because she also vaguely sensed something - after all, she was already fifteen years old. In ancient Celtic customs, this was an age that could be considered "adulthood".

Now, she is in a state of "being prepared to face the fate of being a king at any time."

If you think about it this way, then Sir Hector's seemingly impulsive closed-door special training was probably due to this reason?

"I don't know how I will appear in front of you when we meet next time."

"If I become the king when we meet again, will you still recognize me?"

Artoria reached out and gently stroked the young dragon's head with a rather complicated mood - some reluctance, but also some anticipation.

But facing her look full of "application", the young dragon just glanced at her. Then he ignored the little Daimao who suddenly became sad and buried his head in eating.

"Can't recognize it? Impossible."

"As long as this ahoge is still there, I'll recognize you even if you turn into ashes."

"and……"

The young dragon seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly stopped chewing, looking back at the little Daimao with a melancholy face.

At this moment, his blue eyes were as crystal clear as gems.

"what happened?"