Chapter 1622: Chapter 1622

After leaving the Oil Ink Mister Club, Jenkins was in no mood to search for other strange incidents. He simply summoned his unicorn, which carried him through the air toward the Evergreen Forest. Perhaps the cold wind at that altitude cleared his head a little, because he realized this was hardly the time to be agonizing over such matters. His romantic entanglements were a tangled mess he had never been good at handling, but they weren't fatal yet. He shouldn't be dwelling on them when there was real work to be done.

The unicorn landed him just outside the valley where the Evergreen Forest lay. Under the cover of night and with the help of the woods, Jenkins easily bypassed the checkpoint set up by the Orthodox Church at the valley's entrance and slipped into the forest.

After a strenuous climb up the rope ladder to the platform before the dragon's lair, he found a stranger already waiting for him, leaning against the stone wall with his arms crossed.

"So, you haven't been waiting here all night, have you?"

Jenkins asked, panting as he bent over to catch his breath. The Benefactor from the Tree House nodded, pushing himself off the rock wall to stand straight.

"I never even entered the city," the man stated. "If I just eliminate the other participants, won't I be in first place, even with zero points?"

"That logic is incredibly sound."

Jenkins offered his genuine praise. He had considered the same strategy, which was why he had taken his time during the night. He wasn't worried the man from the Tree House would be faster; he knew his opponent would surely take an unconventional path.

He was feeling irritable, so he didn't mind a bit of pointless chatter. The man wouldn't live to see the sunrise anyway.

Jenkins taunted, but the man remained unprovoked by his words. Instead, he answered calmly.

"They have more important matters to attend to."

"So you're confident you can beat me?"

Jenkins pressed. The man gave a silent nod and displayed his right hand, adorned with five rings. Each had a different design, but all were numbered items. It was a spectacular sight; if there was such a thing as flexing one's wealth among Benefactors, this would be it.

"We have been preparing for the end of the epoch for an entire epoch," the man declared, walking toward the dragon's lair, readying himself for a fight. "You can't begin to imagine the sheer scale of our organization. This plan has been nearly a thousand years in the making. We are fully prepared."

Jenkins nodded. He understood now. The Tree House was truly running low on demigods, forced to rely on stacking numbered items to bolster their strength.

As he mulled this over, he silently took a single step to his left. A moment later, a torrent of dragon's breath erupted from the mouth of the cave, completely engulfing the man.

Back in Black Town, within the story of "The Dragon Slayer's Legend," Jenkins had been fortunate enough to witness hundreds of dragons dancing across the sky. He had seen countless types of dragonfire, had even stood on the back of a beautiful, elegant silver dragon, fighting alongside her.

It was painfully obvious that the breath from this red dragon, a creature that had stumbled into the material world at the end of the 18th Epoch, was far weaker than any he had ever witnessed.

But because the Benefactor from the Tree House had been standing directly in its path, taking the full, concentrated force of the energy blast, when the crimson flames finally dissipated, nothing remained but five rings, which bounced on the ground for a moment before clattering to a stop.

Jenkins bent down to pick up the five still-warm rings, swatting away the paw his cat extended from his shoulder. He then stepped into the dragon's lair.

"I don't get it," he mused, his voice echoing in the cavern. "How did he dare to make a move here?"

"I tricked him," the dragon answered, its voice lazy as if it had just woken up. "I told him the Orthodox Church wouldn't care about a fight right outside my home. I also mentioned that of the two participants in this little game, one was the descendant of a Dragon Knight family, while the other was just an ordinary Benefactor with a faint draconic lineage from some ritual. It seems he really didn't recognize you. I thought he'd be startled when he saw your face."

The dragon's gaze then fell upon the five rings in Jenkins's hand.

"This might be a bit inappropriate to say," it began carefully, "but those are my spoils of war."

It spoke with caution. Despite knowing it was unwise to ask for anything from the man before it, the thirst for treasure was etched into a dragon's very bloodline. And besides... they truly were its spoils.

"Then you can have them."

Jenkins agreed that the dragon had a point. He took two steps forward and placed the five rings on the ground before the red dragon's head. The creature hesitated, stealing a glance at the cat, whose expression was decidedly unfriendly.

With an exaggerated gulp, the dragon extended a massive claw and gingerly pushed two of the rings toward Jenkins. From his perspective, it looked like a steamroller nudging jewelry.

"A share for all who were there. I'm not a stingy dragon, you know."

The great beast offered by way of explanation. Seeing that it wasn't joking, Jenkins picked up the two similar-looking rings—one red, one blue—and tucked them into his pocket.

There had been three participants in the night's game: Jenkins, the man who had just been incinerated, and Jenkins's friend, Miss Knight.

Jenkins laid out the "tokens" he had collected from solving the incidents the previous night before the red dragon. He was about to wait for Miss Knight to arrive before explaining the collection of bark, paper scraps, and burnt yarn, but to his surprise, the dragon declared the game over then and there.

"Congratulations, Saint of the Sage. You are victorious."

It celebrated by spitting a small spark of fire toward the roof of its lair. The source of thɪs content is novel•fire.net

"Don't we need to wait for Miss Knight?"

"Actually, she has already been here."

The dragon settled down onto its belly, as if finding the position more comfortable.

"She stopped by once, probably after you left yesterday evening. I gave her the ancient dragon clan medal that the other fellow gave me. She took the medal, declared she was quitting the game, and left in a state of sheer delight."

Its description was so vivid that Jenkins could almost see the scene playing out.

The dragon's actions were neither reasonable nor particularly fair, but considering the outcome was in his favor, Jenkins was certainly not about to protest or insist they track down Miss Knight for a rematch.

He still couldn't help but ask.

"That ancient medal possesses considerable power; it's a fine item, especially for a girl like Miss Knight. The Dragon Soul, on the other hand, at best makes its owner a little stronger and increases the success rate of the dragon blood ritual. It has almost no other effects... Of course, there's no need to tell her about some of the Dragon Soul's other uses. That isn't something one can speak of freely."