Chapter 105 - 100: Blame You
With Attilicia becoming a variable, and David having accidentally revealed some secrets after being profoundly shocked, it didn’t hinder his ability to harvest leeks. However, if he continued to delay, the Drow matrons—skilled in gathering intelligence—might confirm that the Silver Dragon in the Duke of Silver’s territory some time ago was indeed "transformed" by him. After all, his fame as Saphistouin, the "Silver Dragon Alchemy Genius," seemed to have caused quite a stir in the vicinity of the Duke of Silver’s territory at the time. By then, with Attilicia, his unwanted father, as a burden, it wouldn’t be so easy to manage the Drow leek field he had painstakingly cultivated and brought under control. At least the Drow wouldn’t be as obliging as they were now. They had directly offered Attilicia as an add-on to the compensation, merely begging that David’s leek-reaping scythe would swing a bit more gently—to at least lessen their pain as they were being bled.
Eventually, as night fell, both parties settled on a compensation plan.
Yes, you read that right. Under David’s unleashing of the Wrath of Tiamat, the once perilous, sprawling, and mysterious Spider Nest City had not only been one-third leveled, but the earth crust above it was also smashed open, creating a skylight. This spectacle was far more impressive than the Kola Superdeep Borehole drilled by the Russians on Blue Star, allowing the Drow, who had never seen daylight, to glimpse the changes from day to night on the surface through this deep shaft.
And David received the corresponding compensation: packed in three Portable Caves, it totaled nearly 5,000 pounds of gold—equivalent to the value of gold about three and a half times David’s own body weight. This consisted of various gold, silver, and copper coins, gems, Magical Items, Alchemical Tools, and even Drow-style luxury goods. He didn’t even spare the special implements adorned with precious metals that the Drow used when toying with their slaves.
Greed.
In short, anything that could be taken, was taken.
To gather this sum, the squabbling Drow matrons, in a surprising show of tacit agreement, scraped clean the remaining vast expanse of Spider Nest City once more. The fall of the Spider Temple was such a grievous mistake that these matrons, now matrons in name only, and the former Drow priestesses, would likely never dare to utter the name of the Spider Queen Rose again in their lifetimes. And without Rose’s divine endorsement and support, they were doomed, never to rise again as Drow matrons. Being replaced by the rising powers of other city-states under the pretext of "purifying the divine side" was only a matter of time.
Since things had come to this, the twelve matrons, along with a retinue of former priestesses and confidants who could hardly shirk responsibility, simply became collaborators. Using the name of the Red Dragon, David Uthos, as a threat, they directly looted most of what remained of Spider Nest City to split the spoils. The lion’s share of the visible spoils naturally went into the three Portable Caves held by the Red Dragon, whose claws wielded the despoiling blade.
As they watched the extortionate Red Dragon leave with the Silver Dragon—his bonus prize—departing from the half-ruined Spider Nest City, the surviving Drow nearly burst into a cacophony of gongs and drums, practically holding a grand, fireworks-lit procession to see him off.
「Then, it was time to move!」