CH 16

Shortly after Ning Chu returned to the group, Wuuth followed with the Dwarf Dragon, and the group packed up and resumed their journey. After confirming that Wuuth knew who he was, Ning Chu began to think back to when he had been exposed. He had been very cautious in the arena, making sure no one was around before entering from backstage, changing clothes and putting on a mask before coming out.

And the sensitivity value in the contract service had been turned on relatively high, so if someone was close, he would be the first to notice. Unless Wuuth’s innate skill and strength was above Ning Chu’s even with the sensitivity turned on.

Wuuth was also a first year, but he was told that when he entered the school he was a little older than his classmates, and his innate skill was terrifying, and no one knew what his limit was. Moreover, he had a dragon as a contracted beast.

None of the adjustable values in the contract service stated how much these ratios account for the object of the contract, so Ning Chu pulled them up to 100, which was still probably only half the ability of a rare dragon.

Wuuth was mysterious and unpredictable, topping the leaderboard… Then why did he concede defeat last time? It was possible that he knew before he surrendered. But why?

The more Ning Chu thought about it, the more confused he became. He glanced at Wuuth, who was lagging behind, and decided to ask him directly. He slowed his pace and walked alongside Wuuth, whispering, “Why did you admit defeat last time?”

Wuuth moved his lips, his dark eyes slightly drooping, “I didn’t want to fight with you.”

Saying this was the same as not telling, so Ning Chu pushed, “But why?”

Wuuth didn’t say anything.

The expression under Ning Chu’s mask became tangled, “Then tell me, how exactly did you find out?”

He was so focused on asking Wuuth that he didn’t pay attention to his feet, so Wuuth grabbed his arm and pulled him towards himself. Wuuth withdrew his hand, straightening his open jacket, “Watch the road.” 

Then he stopped talking again, as if he hadn’t heard the question. Ning Chu felt that there was no way to communicate with this man properly, and turned his head away.

Wuuth touched Little Five in his pocket through his jacket and looked at Ning Chu’s back. He was angry, and Wuuth had a slight wrinkle on his brow.

Humans were really troublesome. When he was in his original form, Ning Chu was never like this. His face grew colder and colder as he turned his sight down towards the Dwarf Dragon. The Dwarf Dragon got his instructions and moved closer to where Ning Chu was.

Ning Chu didn’t reject the Dwarf Dragon when he noticed it suddenly coming to his side and reached out to touch its horn. The Dwarf Dragon was smart and very docile, and Ning Chu kinda liked it, wondering if it still remembered him.

Ning Chu’s pouch also contained a few walnuts, which he had prepared in advance for his last battle with Wuuth, but didn’t use. He took out the walnuts and quietly fed one to the Dwarf Dragon.

Wuuth seemed like he wasn’t looking, but he was actually watching Ning Chu and the Dwarf Dragon, when a tiny claw showed on the edge of his jacket. Fifth Cub was happy when she heard Ning Chu’s voice, but it didn’t take long for him to move away and his scent to fade away.

She couldn’t help herself and peeked out of Wuuth’s jacket to see what Ning Chu was doing, but she saw Ning Chu feeding walnuts to the Dwarf Dragon.

Fifth Cub was lost and envious, and looked on with bated breath. She suddenly blacked out and Wuuth reached out to block her vision and gently pressed her back into his pocket.

Wuuth not too skillfully stroked Fifth Cub’s round chin and said soothingly, [Be good, you’ll be back soon].

Fifth Cub was also a little sleepy, yawning silently and well-behaved, retreating to his pocket to ball herself up.

After feeding walnuts to the Dwarf Dragon, Ning Chu went to Bly to talk to him, asking about the situation of the nearby magical beasts.

“We’re short on manpower and need support everywhere,” Bly said, “There are more residential areas to the north, so most people are going there first, and we heard yesterday that a swarm of dragons attacked the general public and injured quite a few people.”

A student shook his head and sighed, “If the magic dragon hadn’t burned down Enigma Forest, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Ning Chu’s jacket tightened in his hand, and he pressed it down in time, patting it gently.

Bly went on while whispering, “The fire dragon did appear in Enigma Forest some time ago, but this incident is not necessarily its doing.”

When this was said, even Wuuth looked up and seriously surveyed the man.

The student wondered, “If not it, what else could it be?”

“I have met the Scarlet Flame Dragon twice, in the Enigma Forest,” As he recalled the Scarlet Flame Dragon in the midst of anger, Bly’s face showed scorn, “If it wanted to burn the forest, it would have done it already. “

Bly had his own ideas and judgments, although he almost died under the claws of this dragon, he felt that Scarlet Flame Dragon would never set fire to the mountain, there was something fishy about this. Bly obviously had the highest status among the mercenary group, the two students didn’t agree with his words, but also didn’t say anything to refute.

Ning Chu was impressed that there were still people who believed that it wasn’t Third Cub, who was lying motionless on his arm, occasionally wagging his tail slightly.

Ning Chu continued to ask Bly, “I also saw some church people. Are they also helping?”

At this Bly’s expression tightened, as if he didn’t want to mention this. But he and Ning Chu chatted well, so he wasn’t holding back in front of him, and really couldn’t hold back a sneer. Bly whispered, “The church? They’re just a bunch of moralistic idiots.”

Ning Chu and Bly had spent a short time together, and this was the first time he had heard such a comment from him.

He probably had a guess in his mind, but didn’t ask further because there were too many people around.

In the middle of the day, Ning Chu put his jacket on while he was behind the crowd, and hid Third Cub in the inside of his jacket, otherwise it would look weird to keep holding the clothes in his hands. He finished fixing his jacket and suddenly realized that Wuuth’s attire was very similar to his.

He had the same style of jacket, with loose cuffs and body. Ning Chu only gave it a second glance and didn’t think anything else of it.

Soon the day was over and it was getting dark, so the group was ready to go back. Bly was still the same person he was when he met Ning Chu, and had to take some students to the school gate. One of his subordinates had a large Ironhoof Elephant as his contract animal, which could seat three more people on its back.

Wuuth had his dragon, so Ning Chu and two other students rode on the elephant, so that all four students could return to the Academy as soon as possible.

Wuuth watched Ning Chu get on the elephant and then looked at the Dwarf Dragon next to him, but didn’t stop him in the end and got on the back of the Dwarf Dragon alone.

Wuuth’s Dwarf Dragon flew behind them slowly at a distance.

Ning Chu’s situation was unique in that there were many people coming and going at night, and he didn’t want to wear a mask into the school and be mobbed, so before he arrived at the Academy, Ning Chu said he had something to do and left by himself. He got off the back of the elephant, and Wuuth stopped as well.

There was no one else around, so after the Ironhoof Elephant left with the other two students, Ning Chu took off his mask and looked at the approaching Wuuth, making Ning Chu wonder if this man wanted to go with him. However, Wuuth just opened his storage bag and took out a silver-gray school uniform jacket from it.

Without saying a word, he threw the uniform to Ning Chu, then stepped on the Dwarf Dragon and left. It was only a few minutes before and after, Wuuth and the Dwarf Dragon’s backs were getting farther and farther away, and Ning Chu was a little confused with the jacket in his hand.

I think… It means that he doesn’t want me to be exposed, right? After all, even without the mask, he would probably be recognized by the two students today if they bumped into him in this outfit.

Third Cub climbed out and squatted on Ning Chu’s shoulder, sniffing the clothes in Ning Chu’s hand across the air. The school uniforms were made according to the students’ personal sizes, so Wuuth’s was a little too big for Ning Chu, but it didn’t matter. He straightened his clothes before walking towards the Academy.

Inside the dormitory, Bowen had just returned and took his pajamas to the shower. The moment the bathroom door closed, the little black dragon appeared at the windowsill. It grabbed a small green dragon by the back of its neck and flew all the way into Ning Chu’s bunk.

Ning Chu returned to his dormitory and the first thing he did was to check on Fifth Cub. He pulled open the curtain of the bed, and the little black dragon and Fifth Cub were crouched beside each other on the bed. Fifth Cub knew that there was someone else in the dormitory, so she gave a very soft “aowu” and came running towards Ning Chu.

The thin and small dragon wings on her back faltered a little bit, and then returned to her original form, picking at Ning Chu’s sleeves and climbing up. Ning Chu closed the curtain of the bed and hugged Fifth Cub while leaning against the head of the bed. He touched Fifth Cub’s tiny horns and asked quietly, “Did you behave at home? Have you eaten well?”

Fifth Cub nodded heavily, and Ning Chu curled his lips and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

After waiting for a day to see Ning Chu, Fifth Cub was happy but then remembered that she had seen Ning Chu feeding other dragons during the day.

She was a little upset and angry with Wuuth for not letting him see Ning Chu.

Fifth Cub broke away from Ning Chu’s arms, lay on top of him and turned around, showing his tail towards him. Ning Chu was perceptive enough and gently poked the tip of her tail, “Huh?”

The little black dragon flew over at that moment, and while Ning Chu was half leaning against the bed, he squatted below Ning Chu’s collarbone, a pair of dark red eyes looking at him from above.

Ning Chu, “?”

Why did it feel that after a day out, these two little dragon cubs were acting a bit strange?

Ning Chu touched the little black dragon’s horn, while the little black dragon quietly lay on his body. He couldn’t roll around and show his belly like Third Cub, so he tilted his head haughtily, sniffed Ning Chu’s fingertips and moved forward a bit.

Ning Chu squeezed his horn and gave him a kiss on the forehead. The little black dragon finally got up satisfied and went back to his usual corner.

Ning Chu’s hands were empty, but at the same time, he seemed to have a vague understanding of what the little black dragon was conveying. Fifth Cub still had her back to Ning Chu, so he stuck his hands under Fifth Cub’s front paws and turned her around, holding her up in front of him and shaking her gently, “What’s wrong, little cub?”

Bowen came out of the bathroom, his footsteps getting close to the bed across the room, so Ning Chu’s voice lowered, “Are you angry? Sorry, I’ll come back earlier next time.”

Fifth Cub would prefer Ning Chu to take her out with him, but she also knew Ning Chu had his own intentions. She wasn’t grown up yet, and her strength was far less than before, so all the more reason for her to be obedient. Fifth Cub’s chubby paws pressed against Ning Chu’s face and she rubbed her head against him.

The wings on her back opened up again, and a faint wood magic element lingered in them.

At night, before Ning Chu went to sleep, he opened《Dragon Island》. As usual, he checked the situation on the island, where the little dragon cubs were, if there was any place that needed to be cleaned or repaired, if there was still enough food… 

Ning Chu looked around and then went to feed the animals at the back of the hill. Halfway through feeding, he suddenly realized that he didn’t see Fourth Cub today. Usually, when he came every night, Fourth Cub would be the first to show up, or sometimes wait for him.

Ning Chu opened his profile card and Fourth Cub’s location showed【Unknown】.

Fourth Cub wasn’t on Dragon Island.

Ning Chu knew that he would leave Dragon Island every day during the day and come back at night, but he was quite late today, so Fourth Cub should’ve been back by now.

Ning Chu was worried and went around to the location where Fourth Cub usually liked to crouch to wait for him, and wanted to wait a little longer in the game. He arrived at the residential area and found something strange in the open space in front of him.

There were some branches and rocks in the clearing, forming a crooked “Ning”.

Next to it was another design, which Ning Chu identified for a long time before he could vaguely see that it looked like a dragon. At the end of the tail was a pebble of the whitest color, which was… The ornament he gave to Fourth Cub? This was Fourth Cub?

Ning Chu was bewildered, not understanding what the two patterns on the ground meant.

He waited in the game until midnight, but Fourth Cub didn’t come back, so he went to bed, intending to return tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Fourth Cub was flying in the night sky. All this time Ning Chu appeared almost every day, but he just didn’t show up and couldn’t be touched. Fourth Cub felt that this wasn’t right. He thought about it all night last night and guessed that Ning Chu must be trapped for some reason!

Fourth Cub was very anxious and didn’t know how to help Ning Chu. So he was ready to go find Wuuth first and tell him the news, but left a message on Dragon Island, hoping Ning Chu would see it.