Westminster Bank

"Don’t worry about not having a Dragon Guide to lure the dragons for you. Many Trial Takers died during the previous Dragon Tide and the subsequent hunts. After their Dragon Guides carried the bodies down the mountain, some of them started trickling back. They just happen to need new Trial Taker partners."

"When will they arrive?" Windsor asked timidly.

Right now, she was using a Magic Card to heal her brother. He was suffering from a Spiritual Power backlash after his Thunder Ball had been suddenly pierced.

"Three days at the earliest, five at the latest... How about this, Miss Windsor? Why don’t you come Dragon Hunting with me, and your brother can team up with my brother, Jose. What do you say?"

Tune chose that moment to interject, his gaze lingering on Windsor’s delicate, slender waist. Though he tried to be subtle, both Pound and Windsor noticed.

A flash of anger crossed Pound’s face, but then he remembered the Constantine Family’s current predicament. The frustration in his heart mounted.

"That’s not fair." It wasn’t Windsor who spoke, but Dewey.

"What did you say?"

He glanced nonchalantly at Pound, whose face was still flushed with anger. "I said, that’s not fair."

"How is it not fair?" Jose asked.

"It’s unfair to all the other Trial Takers," Dewey said calmly.

’Unfair?’

Pound frowned. Before he could demand an explanation, Dewey turned to face the Trial Takers and Dragon Guides gathered at the mountain pass. In front of everyone, he pointed to the swarm of Comet Dragon Snakes at the Dragon Gate.

"Every Comet Dragon Snake here was lured away, one by one, by the Trial Takers’ own Dragon Guides. The Trial Takers and their guides paid for this with their money, and sometimes their lives... It’s safe to say that everyone who managed to reach the Dragon Gate has contributed effort, blood, or coin.

If every Trial Taker’s Dragon Guide just quit, like the ones for Mr. Pound and Miss Windsor, wouldn’t that mean the Dragon Gate never opens? We’d all be stuck here wasting our time!"

The moment the words were out, Pound realized what was happening, but it was too late. Amid a chorus of boos from the other Trial Takers, Dewey pointed to the Dragon Gate and yelled:

"I say, only the Trial Takers who helped lure away the Comet Dragon Snakes and contributed to opening the Dragon Gate have the right to enter that door!"

A wave of agreement rose from the Trial Takers.

’That’s right! It’s their problem if their Dragon Guides quit. Our guides took risks and we paid them money to lure the dragons.’

’Why should they get to do nothing and just reap the rewards?’

Seeing the crowd’s agitation, Windsor stood up. "We can pay!"

A smirk played on Dewey’s lips. "There are at least thirty, if not fifty, Dragon Guides here. Split among them, that’ll run you at least one hundred thousand British Pounds... Talk is cheap, Miss Windsor. Why not write a check right now?"

In 1987, one hundred thousand pounds could buy a house on King Street in Outer London.

Even for Jose and Tune, two members of the Beowulf Family’s Direct Lineage, their net worths were probably only two or three hundred thousand pounds at most. And that was far beyond the Constantine Family, who were in decline and beset by troubles both internal and external.

Of course, this also showed just how huge a bet the two had made with those bribe checks to Master Jack for the position of Patriarch. It was just that the way things were unfolding now seemed to be veering off their expected course.

Just then, as Windsor stood helpless in the face of Dewey’s trap, the two Dragon Guides who had abandoned them returned. They looked much more wretched than when they had left.

"Why are you back?" Dewey frowned, his tone unconsciously laced with intimidation and menace.

"We were robbed... All our money was taken."

The Pound siblings’ former Dragon Guides looked miserable—you could tell from the look in their eyes beneath their masks. With trembling voices, they said, "She’s here."

"Who’s here?"

Jose and a few other Trial Takers frowned and asked. Only Dewey and a handful of others noticed the two Dragon Guides had used the pronoun "she." As if recalling some terrible memory, their faces instantly grew pale.

And when their own Dragon Guides heard the words "we were robbed," their eyes flickered, as if they too were recalling something unpleasant.

Milton Merlin immediately clenched his Magic Staff. His normally placid and refined expression was instantly replaced by a teeth-grinding fury. This caught the attention of some of the uninitiated Trial Takers, who wondered silently to themselves what could possibly cause a Wizard from the Merlin Clan—a family famed for their tranquil disposition—to have such a violent emotional swing.

"It’s..." The two Dragon Guides looked in a certain direction, their eyes filled with terror. "Miss Isabella... and Master Jack..."

Hearing the unexpected names, Jose recalled an unpleasant rumor concerning the Beowulf Clan. He frowned and followed the Dragon Guides’ gaze to see a group of people emerging one after another from the side.

At the head of the group was none other than his elder sister, Isabella Beowulf.

Beside her were Master Jack, who was counting banknotes, and her younger brother, Denero Beowulf, who was counting Dragon Scales.

Not far behind Isabella, Roy Frank stood shoulder to shoulder with Freyja Lancelot, who clutched a Magic Staff and watched Isabella’s back with a wary expression.

The rest were a scattered mix of Trial Takers and Dragon Guides, all of them wearing sullen, aggrieved expressions.

It was the kind of frustration you feel when you’re having the time of your life, only to be mugged out of nowhere.

And the mugger was a woman—the eldest daughter, Isabella.

The moment Dewey saw Isabella, his expression turned unnatural. He was clearly remembering the day she had gravely injured him with a single punch.

Jose and Tune forced smiles as they approached. "Elder Sister..."

"Cut the crap."

Isabella cut off the pleasantries, saying flatly, "Mr. Roy has already given me the gist of it. The priority now is to open the Dragon Gate..."

Her gaze fell upon the tearful Windsor and the indignant Pound, then shifted to the two terrified Dragon Guides, and finally to Dewey and the crowd of Trial Takers he had stirred up.

Her sharp eyes narrowed. "What’s all this?"

’This is bad,’ Dewey thought. Steeling himself, he stepped forward to explain the situation.

Isabella let out a cold laugh. She looked at the two Dragon Guides who had been shaken down by Baron—the one who’d told them, "I don’t think I robbed you last time, so now you’ll pay me back with interest. Holy hell, are these two checks for ten thousand, signed by the Frank Family?"

"The Constantine Family and the Beowulf Family have been allies for generations. When the Beowulfs signed your employment contracts, it was stipulated that you were not to accept bribes..."

Baron stared at the sky. The other two Silver Masks stared at the ground.

"And betraying your employer for personal gain is an even greater taboo explicitly forbidden by your contract..."

Baron wiped non-existent cold sweat from his brow. ’I’m not betraying my employer for personal gain, am I?’ he thought. ’At this rate of "robbery," Isabella’s Dragon Scale collection is probably leading the entire field.’

Dewey stepped in to defuse the situation. "The Dragon Guides do have the right to withdraw... You can’t call it betraying their employer for personal gain..."

"Then what about those two ten-thousand-pound checks?" Isabella asked coolly.

But Dewey was prepared. "A private gift."

He added, "We only did this because luring away the Comet Dragon Snakes requires a group effort..."

"Effort?" Isabella said. "What kind of effort?"

Dewey paused, stunned. "The swarm of Comet Dragon Snakes is entrenched at the Dragon Gate..."

Jose seized the opportunity to step forward. "Tune and I can have our master Dragon Guide lure away two Comet Dragon Snakes simultaneously. That would cover Mr. Pound and Miss Windsor..."

"There’s no need for you to lure any."

"But... the Comet Dragon Snakes..."

"What Comet Dragon Snakes?"

"The ones entrenched at the Dragon Gate..."

"The Dragon Gate is empty."

Empty?

Everyone instinctively looked toward the Dragon Gate. Their expressions froze as they stared at the spot where the swarm of dragon snakes had been entrenched.

It was now completely empty. The swarm of dragon snakes had fled at some point.

Someone looked up at the sky and gasped, "The Cyan Flying Dragons are gone, too!"

"Go open the Dragon Gate," Isabella said, while everyone was still reeling in confusion.

A Black Iron Dragon Guide immediately volunteered and went to the Dragon Gate. He made a cut to draw his Trial Taker’s blood, produced a Dragon Summoner Badge prepared by the Beowulf Family, and performed some sort of ritual. But the moment his hand touched a Poison Dragon Scale on the gate, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed.

He fainted as soon as someone helped him to his feet.

Yet on the Dragon Gate, not a single scale of the Poison Dragon Glanville had been filled.

The crowd gasped, a collective chill running down their spines as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over them.

Just who in the world could open this gate?