CH 11

After settling down Slair, Grieve put his weapon on his back and left. Watching him leave, Slair slipped off the bed. He still prefers to watch squirrels; these little creatures were much cuter than wild humans.

Today is beard Darry’s birthday. He intended to take a day off to celebrate, so he put up a hammock between two trees at the inn entrance, then laid on it and swayed comfortably. Seeing Slair walking out of the room, Darry greeted him with a whistle.

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「Hey, skinny kid! Look at your tiny body, and don’t even have a single callus on your hands! Why on earth do you want to challenge Grieve the Golden Lion? 」

Slair rolled his eyes and walked around him, then picked up a giant squirrel:「I don’t want to mess with him.」

「Wow,」the big beard yelled,「You don’t want to mess with him! You crushed his offering for this teacher, the twin lotuses, and you said you don’t want to mess with him! I don’t understand you at all. To say you are brave, but act in that way when the proprietress killed that giant squirrel. To say you are timid, but you dare to challenge Grieve. Aren’t you afraid that he will kill you with his sword?」

Slair pinched the squirrel’s tail, tilted his head, and asked him, 「Is that really that big of a deal… breaking his twin lotus?」

「You are not an atheist, are you ?」 the big beard said in surprise,「I don’t have much against atheists. However, Grieve is more pious than his teacher! Twin lotus is the symbol of the Dragon God. If you ruined a twin lotus, you are offending God. You should be glad that you are at Wall, every life is precious here, and Grieve is a kind-hearted fellow. If you are in any other place, those bustling cities where priests are everywhere, you would be hanged, and your corpse would be chopped into several pieces!」

That is just a flower! Slair was so shocked that he couldn’t even close his mouth. You know, in the world of dragons, the dragons could make plushes or chewing toys with the image of His Majesty the Dragon Emperor for the young dragons to chewy and play with! After a while, he asked cautiously,「Then… what if someone accidentally stepped on “the Book of Dragons”?」

「Well, the lightest penalty is probably going to be chopping that foot off.」

「Darry, stop frightening this little guy.」 Enya walked past them with a giant lion head in her arm,「No one is going to chop off your foot, Slair. This is Wall. You could find one out of ten people who had offended the Dragon God one way or another. As long as you have the power and the skills, no one could trouble you.」

「But he doesn’t have the skill or power.」 Darry laughed and said,「If you count beauty as one of the qualities, then he might get something. Such a pity that he is a man.」

Humph, just wait until my magic power recovers. I will burn your beard! Slair thought bitterly. Then he saw Enya hung the lion’s head on the door of the inn.

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「It that… a flame lion?」 Slair got closer and touch the mane on the lion’s head. It was real.

「Do you recognize the beast?」 Darry said,「This guy is strong, knows how to breathe fire. Last winter, it ate ten of our brothers, and then Grieve cut off its head. Hehe, hanging its head in front of the inn is probably going to scare some people away. 」

In fact, the flame lions living on the mainland, especially those who lived near Wall, were nothing compared to the ones living on the dragon’s floating island. However, Slair did not have the information. He recalled the behemoths capable of swallowing magma like nothing. He was shocked and frightened. He touched his neck slightly, then walked back silently.

In the evening, when Grieve came back with a wild boar on his back, along with a bunch of squirrels. He was surprised to find that his little captive was in awe of him. Slair even made a straw bed on the floor, sat on it, and signaled that he would give the only bed back to the actual owner of the room.

「You don’t have to do this,」Grieve said as he setting up a hammock in the room,「I will sleep in the hammock. You are young and weak. If you sleep on the floor, you will catch a cold.」

Slair looked at him pitifully and then glanced at the 《Book of Dragons》 that was upright on the table.

Grieve smiled. He rubbed Slair’s head and said gently,「Did someone tell you something? Don’t worry. The Dragon God will forgive the sins of the ignorant. You have never heard the truth, and it is your nurturer’s fault.」

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He picked up the 《Book of Dragons》 and solemnly put it in Slair’s hand; holding his hand and turning over the first page:「I will teach you how to read it. Do you know the characters?」

「I can read.」 Slair said. He really wanted to reject this book. However, thinking about hanging, dismembering, and cutting his feet off, he decided that he had to read it for his safety and physical integrity. After all, he still had to find a way to find Alex and Rhett. It was impossible to stay at Wall forever.

Grieve nodded happily. The expression on his face was more satisfying than drinking honey, and he seemed to have seen that he had successfully taught an unbeliever.

「You can ask me anything you don’t understand,」 he said kindly,「I learned the truth of the “Book of Dragons” from my teacher. He was a noble warrior and a wise man who obeyed the truth. He is greater than the local priest Kurt. By the way, is there enough light? I can ask for a brighter lamp from Enya. Once you start reading the book, you just can’t wait to finish it.」

Slair’s mouth twitched. He tried to make his expression more serious — This book was so strange to him. Almost everything in the book about dragons was nonsense. However, under Grieve’s eager gaze, he could only use his proud self-control to restrain the desire to complain and responded dryly:「Eh, Yes. It is an excellent read.」

Wild humans were truly terrifying.