Chapter 31
Chapter 31: A Dragon Beaten Dumb by 2 Punches?
Using the copy of Dragonspeak: From Beginner to Mastery in his hands, Li Kainan attempted to greet the dragon Aurora, who had just regained consciousness.
Whether it was because Li Kainan's Dragonspeak pronunciation wasn't quite up to standard, or for some other reason entirely—no one could say.
What was certain was that the dragon named Aurora, though still bound, made no attempt to struggle. She simply swayed her head from side to side, blinking her beautiful violet eyes as she curiously took in her surroundings.
Li Kainan couldn't help but stroke his chin as he studied the expression on Aurora's face.
Hmm, how to put it……
Those beautiful violet eyes of hers gave him the feeling of a newborn infant.
Pure. Unblemished. As if they held an entire undisturbed sky full of stars within them.
A newborn dragon whelp?
Li Kainan tossed the copy of Dragonspeak: From Beginner to Mastery casually to one side, then activated The Book of All Things once more, manifesting a book called Dragon Clan Growth Compendium.
After consulting it, he finally confirmed that a dragon of Aurora's size—over 20 meters in length—could absolutely not be a newly hatched whelp.
If she wasn't a newborn whelp……
That was bad. Could it be that his 2 punches to her head had knocked her clean stupid?
For a moment, Li Kainan actually couldn't help but let out a sigh.
Oh well. Stupid was fine. If anything, she'd probably be easier to handle this way.
Besides, there was a very real chance he was the one who'd punched her into this state, so he did bear some responsibility.
However one looked at it, Aurora was a powerful dragon.
Even without being controlled and exploited by an evil witch like Carabosse, a dragon simply wandering about aimlessly could easily bring disaster upon ordinary people……
Li Kainan tossed aside the book in his hands again and signaled Branny to undo the binding magic restraining Aurora's body.
Released from her bindings, Aurora made no attempt to flee. She simply continued gazing curiously around the castle.
She was just like a newborn infant—boundlessly curious about everything around her—and even tried to stuff her enormous head through the entrance into the castle's great hall!
At Li Kainan's instruction, his Retainer Knights brought out prepared cuts of meat and placed them before Aurora.
With Aurora being impossible to communicate with at the moment, "feeding" was the only approach Li Kainan could think of to close the distance between them.
What he hadn't anticipated, however, was that Aurora would display a rather marked disdain for the raw, bloody cuts of meat placed before her.
It wasn't that Aurora wasn't hungry—she simply breathed out a stream of Dragon Flame to give the meat a simple roasting before she began eating, taking delicate little bites.
Oh? A dragon with refined tastes.
Not only did she refuse to eat raw meat, but her eating manner somehow managed to give off the air of a distinguished noblewoman!
Without a second word, Li Kainan had the castle servants prepare some properly cooked food.
The castle servants who had been watching the spectacle for some time now responded immediately upon hearing this, their voices carrying a tinge of unusual excitement.
Preparing food for a dragon—this truly was a peculiar experience……
Never mind that the castle servants had spent a decade as pots and pans; even after returning to human form, their hands and feet remained nimble, and they swiftly roasted a great quantity of cooked meat.
Compared to the simply treated meat Aurora had scorched with Dragon Flame, the carefully prepared meat from the castle servants was clearly far superior in flavor.
Aurora was immediately drawn in—joy and delight shone through those beautiful violet eyes of hers.
And before she began eating, she even remembered to give Li Kainan and the assembled castle servants a courteous dip of her head in acknowledgment.
【Aurora (20%)】
Well. She was quite easy to handle—a straightforward feeding was all it took.
But even so……
A dragon whose body was fully grown, yet whose gaze was pure and clean as a newborn's—and who still instinctively displayed what appeared to be an understanding of manners.
No matter how one looked at it, something about this was deeply off.
……
Then again, why was he overthinking it?
All Li Kainan needed to do was successfully complete the Recruitment and claim the system reward!
Still, Aurora's temperament might be perfectly agreeable, but the language barrier was undeniably making it harder for Li Kainan to complete the Recruitment.
Turning this over in his mind, Li Kainan picked up Dragonspeak: From Beginner to Mastery again, wondering if his accent when speaking Dragonspeak had simply been too far off the mark……
And it was right as Li Kainan stood there lost in thought that a gentle, warm fragrance carrying the scent of books drifted up beside him.
With his sharp senses, Li Kainan didn't need to turn around to know that Belle had come over.
Belle leaned in close to Li Kainan at that moment, her gaze fixed curiously on the 2 books he was holding.
"Kainan, these 2 books……"
Seeing that she was interested, Li Kainan simply handed both of the dragon-related books over to Belle.
As Belle reached out to take them, she gestured with her hand and asked:
"Why did they just whoosh right into your hand?"
Li Kainan blinked at that, then explained:
"Ah, these……are books from my family's collection!"
"I have a treasured item that lets me carry many books on my person at once!"
The Book of All Things—containing the knowledge of all the world, representing near-omniscience—would invite the covetous eyes of countless people if its true nature were known.
But something that functioned merely as a "portable personal library"? In a world filled with all manner of wondrous treasures, that would seem perfectly unremarkable……
Nearby, Prince Adam heard this and didn't find it the least bit strange.
For Li Kainan—who was of mysterious origin and noble bloodline—to possess a magical treasure or two and have the backing of a vast literary collection was entirely plausible!
Belle, on the other hand, couldn't suppress the surprise and envy that surfaced in her expression.
"A library you can carry with you?"
She loved reading, and her dream was to have an endless collection of books at her disposal, free to peruse as she pleased!
Perhaps that was precisely why, after a successful Recruitment of her, the system had rewarded Li Kainan with something like The Book of All Things……
Seeing her reaction, Li Kainan pressed the advantage:
"Whatever books you want to read in the future, feel free to come to me directly!"
In Li Kainan's view, The Book of All Things' greatest purpose was to help him nurture talent and improve productivity.
As someone he intended to develop into a key subordinate, Belle would naturally have full and open access to knowledge resources!
And on that note, Li Kainan gestured toward Aurora, who was still eating nearby, and added:
"You might also try following along with the book to pick up Dragonspeak. If you can help me establish communication with her, you'll have done me an enormous favor!"
After all, completing the Recruitment and claiming the reward still required the problem of the language barrier to be solved……
The moment Belle learned that she could be of help to Li Kainan, she immediately flipped open Dragonspeak: From Beginner to Mastery.
After a brief scan of the contents, those brown eyes of hers suddenly sharpened to a clear, bright gleam—the keen brilliance that was unique to the truly gifted.
It seems I'll need to draw up a 2-month Dragonspeak study plan……
No, I can't make Kainan wait that long!
It's really not that much content at all. I'll cut the study plan down to a month and a half!