Chapter 36 : Chapter 36
Chapter 36. Taking Only What Is Justly Earned
“All right, my business here is finished.”
Logaris West tucked the Dragonblood Stone into his coat with a swift and decisive motion.
He turned around, his gaze sweeping across the entire alchemical hall before drifting outside toward the magnificent dragon city sealed in ice.
Lilith’s eyes lit up instantly.
She rubbed her hands together and asked in an excited whisper, “My lord, is it time for the… free loot phase?”
She was already imagining herself dragging away a sack full of dragon gold coins while carrying an enchanted longsword on her back, becoming fabulously rich overnight.
Alice also felt a bit tempted.
Although she was more interested in knowledge, who would ever refuse treasures from an ancient ruin?
Alectos Huiyin stood to the side with a complicated expression.
The mark of the Corruption Cult he had glimpsed through his bloodline inheritance moments ago weighed heavily on his mind.
This city was the relic of his ancestors.
But according to their agreement, everything here belonged to Logaris.
Logaris did not answer Lilith.
Instead, he walked straight out of the hall toward a treasury.
When the massive vault door opened, the golden glow almost blinded Lilith.
Mountains of gold coins were piled high.
Enormous gemstones glittered among them.
There were also numerous priceless works of art that were clearly worth a fortune at first glance.
Lilith felt as if she might faint from happiness.
Logaris walked inside and casually picked up a gold coin from the pile.
He examined it for a moment.
“The gold purity is acceptable, but it contains too many impurities to serve as a Magitech material.”
He immediately lost interest.
Just like that, Logaris strolled through the most valuable areas of the dragon city as though he were inspecting the backyard of his own home.
Every time he arrived somewhere, he would pick up one or two items for analysis.
He would then give a cold, clinical evaluation before ultimately taking nothing.
Only in the material repository did he collect several fingernail-sized samples of rare metals and crystals, as if he were gathering specimens.
Lilith’s emotions followed him like a roller coaster.
She went from ecstatic delight to confusion, and finally to complete bewilderment.
This man showed absolutely no reaction when faced with wealth that could buy ten entire kingdoms.
What exactly did he want?
At last, Logaris stopped walking.
He took out a blank Storage Ring and began to act.
With a simple wave of his hand, the weapons and armor inside the armory, as well as the knowledge gems stored in the side halls, all turned into streams of light and were sucked into the ring.
With another wave, the mountains of gold and silver inside the treasury vanished.
Everything remaining in the material repository—aside from the samples he had already taken—was swept clean as well.
In just a few minutes, every valuable item in the entire dragon city, except for the buildings themselves, had been packed away and taken.
Lilith stared in shock.
So it was not that he did not want anything.
He intended to take everything.
Now that was the normal way to do things!
Alectos and Alice silently watched from the side.
Alectos fulfilled his promise without showing the slightest reaction on his face.
Alice, however, curled her lips and thought to herself that this man was indeed a greedy mage after all.
When everything was finished, Logaris walked up to Alectos.
Under the stunned gazes of everyone present, he handed the Storage Ring—now filled with priceless treasures—to Alectos.
“What?” Alice cried out first.
Lilith’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
She stretched her neck forward, convinced she must have seen it wrong.
Alectos was also stunned.
He did not reach out to accept it.
“Lord Logaris, what is the meaning of this…”
“This is your ancestors’ inheritance.”
“It already belongs to you.”
“I have only taken what I needed.”
Logaris spoke calmly, as though he were simply stating a fact.
Alectos' mind went completely blank.
He had imagined countless possibilities.
But never this one.
The man standing before him was powerful, mysterious, and domineering in his actions.
He appeared to be someone who pursued profit above all else.
Yet in the end, he returned wealth capable of driving the entire continent into madness as casually as if he were throwing away trash.
What kind of vision and magnanimity was this?
Alectos felt something inside his chest shatter.
It was the last fragment of pride he held as a prince.
It was also the final trace of suspicion he had toward this foreign human.
He looked at Logaris.
The other man’s gaze was clear and composed.
There was no charity in it.
No pity.
Only pure rationality.
As if everything that had happened were merely an equal exchange.
Alectos took a deep breath.
He did not refuse again.
Instead, he solemnly accepted the ring.
Then he knelt on one knee.
His right fist pressed against his chest.
His forehead touched the back of his fist.
This was the most ancient oath ritual of the Dragon-blooded.
“I, Alectos Huiyin, swear here in the name of my ancestors.”
“Lord Logaris West, you are my eternal friend and benefactor.”
His voice echoed through the vast, frozen city, carrying the solemn weight of his bloodline.
Meanwhile, Lilith felt as though her heart were bleeding.
That was a mountain of gold.
A mountain of gold that could buy countless towns.
And it had just been given away like that!
She squatted on the ground and clutched her head, feeling as if her entire worldview had suffered a catastrophic collapse.
“Stand up.”
“I do not need your loyalty.”
“I only need a reliable ally.”
Logaris helped Alectos to his feet.
“And besides, your current situation is far from safe.”
His tone suddenly shifted as he spoke directly to the point.
“The hawkish faction will not stop hunting you.”
“And the next ones they send will not be this kind of trash.”
“They will send stronger forces, perhaps even a prince personally.”
“What do you plan to do then?”
“Continue hiding in these mountains forever?”
Alectos fell silent.
He knew Logaris was speaking the truth.
Moreover, there was now the mysterious Corruption Cult to consider.
He clenched his fists.
“I will find a way…”
“You will not.”
Logaris cut him off directly.
“The only solution you have is to go somewhere they dare not easily step into.”
He looked at Alectos and voiced his proposal.
“I come from the Northern Territory of the human kingdom.”
“I am the chief advisor to Princess Sylvia, the Acting Governor of the Northern Territory.”
“I can invite you to seek refuge in the Northern Territory.”
The air instantly froze.
“Go to human territory?” Alectos' voice carried disbelief.
The conflict between demi-humans and humans had existed for generations.
Although a full-scale war had never erupted, border clashes were constant.
He was a prince of the Demi-Human Empire.
If he ran to the domain of a human princess, what would that mean?
Would that not be considered treason?
“Have you lost your mind?” Alice protested immediately, reacting even more fiercely than Alectos.
She grabbed Alectos and pulled him behind her, glaring at Logaris with vigilance.
“Go to a human city?”
“I cannot believe you even suggested it.”
“Do you plan to send him straight into a laboratory to be dissected for research?”
“Humans love doing things like that!”
Her face was filled with rejection and disgust, as if she carried a deep prejudice against humans.
“Be rational, Alice,” Alectos said while trying to calm her.
Yet he himself had fallen into deep hesitation.
He knew very well that his visible dragon-blood traits were an extremely sensitive political issue in the human world.
The dragon horns on his head.
The dragon tail behind him.
If these were exposed, the diplomatic chaos and public panic that might follow would be impossible to predict.
Going to the Northern Territory would be no different from walking into a trap.
And yet…
He glanced at Logaris.
This man had just given up wealth capable of overturning an entire nation.
Would someone like that truly set a trap for something as trivial as a “dragon-blood specimen”?
His reason told him that following this man might change his life forever.
Logaris clearly saw their concerns.
In particular, the striking dragon traits on Alectos' body.
“Appearance is merely a technical problem.”
He extended his hand.
Complex rings of light began to swirl around his fingertips.
As he spoke, he gently pointed toward Alectos.
The rings of light expanded outward and enveloped Alectos' entire body.
A miraculous scene unfolded.
The majestic dragon horns on Alectos' head slowly “vanished.”
The dragon tail formed from energy behind him also disappeared.
Even the unique pressure belonging to a Dragonblood Knight faded, making him feel like nothing more than an ordinary human strongman.
At that moment, aside from being somewhat taller than average, he was no different from a normal human.
“Well?” Logaris asked.
“Do you still think it is a problem now?”
Alectos looked at his empty hands and felt the perfect disguise surrounding him.
The final trace of hesitation in his heart completely shattered.
He knew he had no other choice.
“Very well.”
“I will go to the Northern Territory with you.”
Once the decision was made, Logaris did not waste another second.
He raised his hand and sliced through the air.
A stable spatial portal appeared instantly.
Beyond the portal lay the familiar snowstorm of Winter City.
“Lilith, we are leaving.”
Lilith looked utterly miserable.
She turned her head again and again to look back at the frozen dragon city, as if she were bidding farewell to a lost love.
Alice wore an unwilling expression.
She muttered complaints under her breath, yet still followed behind Alectos.
The four of them walked out of the ruins one after another.
The portal closed.
The magnificent dragon city returned once again to its eternal, deathly silence.