It's Still a Child!

The process of removing the curse was very similar to Lola's, as I didn't know any other way.

The liver was also the easiest place to perform a resection without affecting vital functions.

I cast healing art again, guiding the priests' light elements to envelop the curse.

The process went off without a hitch. The power of the curse had lingered in his body for twenty years and had weakened significantly. It couldn't even put up a fight before being wrapped in light elements and moved to the liver.

The energy within the curse seemed to be dark elements, which were terrified of light elements. However, the outer layer was wrapped in an unknown power, which was why previous treatments had failed.

It was the same procedure as before, but with Lina here, she took over the physical task.

She asked bluntly,

"Where do I cut?"

"The liver, lower left corner."

"Got it!"

Lina nodded, picked up the prepared knife, and without a second thought, made an incision on Blick's body before reaching in to grab it.

Blick was in so much pain he couldn't even speak, his breath catching in his throat.

Still, the process went smoothly.

After cutting off the cursed portion, Nara immediately prepared a small box to store the cursed liver.

These things couldn't be thrown away carelessly. Although the curse was weak, it would still be a major headache for an ordinary person to encounter.

Nara closed the lid, turned to hand it to a nearby nun, and instructed, "Take this to the vault and keep it under strict guard."

On my end, the job was done. Using the sacred power of the other priests, I completely repaired the damage to Blick's body.

Within ten minutes, Broderick was full of vigor, and the curse on his body was entirely gone.

When he stood up, he couldn't hide the joy on his face.

"I am truly grateful to you, Your Highness Luo Li. I simply cannot find the words to express my gratitude."

Broderick stood before me, his thick beard framing a face full of sincerity.

"There is no need for such courtesy. Since I gave my word to Her Highness Elizabeth, I naturally put forth my best effort."

This time, he stared intently into my eyes.

"From this day forward, Your Highness Luo Li is an eternal ally of the Snow Country. On behalf of the Snow Country, I promise that you have our friendship."

"I am truly honored then."

Though I didn't feel particularly honored, I had to play along.

"Mr. Blick, although your body has recovered, I hope you can rest here for two days before returning home."

I was thinking about getting him to go back quietly.

However, Broderick didn't see it that way.

"There is no rush. We can discuss that later. The current situation isn't optimistic, is it? Would Your Highness Luo Li mind telling me about it? I might not be able to help much, but I can at least be of some use."

Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, I hesitated for a moment before nodding.

Soon, the side hall was cleared, and the three of us sat around a round table.

Lola, who was beside us, gave a general account of what had happened during this period.

Lola was very good at summarizing. She laid it all out so clearly that Broderick understood exactly what was going on without needing any further explanation.

After hearing it all, Broderick lowered his head in deep thought for a long time before letting out a soft sigh.

"Things are troublesome."

I thought you were going to say something profound, but that's all you've got?

Did you really need to say that?

"Mr. Blick, since your body has returned to normal, why don't you send word to Her Highness Elizabeth first? The communication room is right over there."

"Mhm... I'll let Elizabeth know first. We can talk more about this later."

As I watched Broderick turn to leave, I didn't harbor much hope for him in my heart.

After all, as a king, it was impossible for him to personally head to the battlefield like I did.

Unlike me, the Saintess and the King of the Snow Country were separate entities, so they could naturally handle matters on both sides simultaneously.

On my end, I had to deal with everything myself.

Our positions were completely different; we weren't even on the same level.

There was nothing to be done about it; that was just how things were right now.

Returning to the rear hall, I glanced at Lina. She still had a dazed expression on her face, clearly not having processed everything yet.

"Are you surprised?"

I sat down and looked at her. She turned her head stiffly, her eyes staring straight at me.

"You... you can actually replenish the life force of others?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Do you know that life force is a taboo of the Holy Church?"

Of course I knew that. The doctrine of the Holy Church was that 'God' created life.

The Eight Nations had various perspectives to explain this fundamental principle of the Holy Church, but it was essentially the same across all of them.

No member of the Holy Church was allowed to touch research, spells, or magic related to life force. Any means of interacting with life force was forbidden.

And at this moment, what I had done was exactly that. Others might not have noticed, but Broderick, who was treated, and Lina, who was right in front of me, had certainly seen it.

In truth, I didn't intend to hide anything. After all, even to the outside world, members of the Holy Church wouldn't easily leak information about my abilities.

Even if I told Lina and Broderick, these two wouldn't speak a word of it.

"Of course I know, but so what?"

"So what?!"

Lina stared at me blankly before suddenly slapping the table.

"Aren't you afraid the Pope will start a Holy War?"

I smiled and glanced at Lina.

"Do you think the Pope would dare? Would the other nations, including your Kingdom of the Highlands, agree to it?"

Lina's brow furrowed. She lowered her head and pondered for a moment before slowly shaking her head.

"No... the nations of the Holy Church wouldn't agree. This current Pope is very ambitious. Even Grandpa Scott warned me not to get too close to him."

"Exactly. Since no one will start a Holy War and the Holy See doesn't dare to directly threaten the Kingdom of the Moon, and Her Highness Elizabeth and Her Highness Momoka both have a good impression of me, what do I have to fear?"

Lina sat there in a daze for a long time before finally uttering,

"You're quite the schemer, aren't you?"

"You flatter me. By the way, how is the army inspection going?"

"It's been arranged. Speaking of which, where are your knights? Why haven't I seen many Temple knights since entering the city?"

"They've all been sent to Dragon City to learn how to get along with dragons."

Hearing this, Lina paused for a moment and asked me in surprise.

"Dragons? What dragons? Wyverns?"

"Skysoar dragons."

"Oh... wait, what? Skysoar dragons?!"

Lina suddenly jumped up from her chair, making me flinch.

"What's wrong with you?! Why the sudden outburst?"

I glared at Lina, but she couldn't care less about that. She looked at me with a blank face.

"What did you just say? Skysoar dragons?"

Lina dug into her ear and then looked at her finger.

"It's not blocked. I remember the last time I had a maid clean my ears was a week ago."

Then she turned back to me again.

"Say that again?"

Right, she didn't know yet because it had only been a few days since I led the dragon race back, and she was still on the road then.

"They are sub-dragons, skysoar dragons. Two thousand of them. I traded the original document tablet to the Dragon King for them."

Before I could finish, Lina suddenly lunged forward, grabbed my shoulders, and 'plucked' me right out of my chair.

At that moment, I felt like a carrot in her hands.

"Where are they!! Tell me, I want to see them!!"

"Don't go. They're still in the middle of the bonding process with the skysoar dragons. It will probably take a few more days. It's the perfect time to wait for the armies of the Kingdom of Flame and the Kingdom of the Sea. If you really want to see one... there."

I raised my hand and pointed toward the rear hall, toward my bedchamber.

"There's a holy silver dragon in my bedchamber. If you want to see one, go look at it."

"A ho... holy silver dragon?! A purebred?"

"Yeah, a purebred. But it's just... Hey! Hey!!"

Before I could finish, Lina's feet seemed to have wheels attached. She dashed toward the bedchamber in a flash.

I quickly grabbed Nara.

"What are you standing there for? Stop her! Don't let her hurt the holy silver dragon, or we'll be in trouble!!"

Nara looked at me speechlessly.

"Your Highness, is that something I can just stop?"

"Uh... let's go, let's go. We have to see!"

Astrid, that little dragon, didn't recognize anyone but me. Anyone who dared to approach it would be met with a bared-teeth threat.

The reason it didn't follow me every day was that it was still in its infancy and needed to stay in the water for long periods to ensure its growth.

Except for meal times, it would spend the rest of its time sleeping in my bedchamber.

I hurried toward the bedchamber, but by the time I reached the door, it was already too late!

A youthful roar erupted from the window of my bedchamber.

"Gya!!"

The next second, a beam of silver-white light exploded from the window!

Boom!

I stood blankly downstairs, watching my second-floor bedchamber get blown apart. My familiar bedding and blankets all came flying out at once, and even Lina was in free-fall through the air.

A large dragon head poked out from the window. That silver light had come from its mouth.

Dragon Breath.

And it was the Dragon Breath of a holy silver dragon!

Lina had clearly suffered a major blow. Her armor was scorched black by the heat, and a brilliant silver light soared into the sky.

At this moment, the world lost its color. The brilliance of the Dragon Breath completely eclipsed the sun, causing Brilliant City to turn dim.

Only that pillar of silver light rising into the sky remained clearly visible.

"Astrid!!"

I hurriedly shouted. Hearing my voice, the massive dragon head turned toward me. Suddenly, an aggrieved expression appeared on its dragon face.

The Dragon Breath was retracted in an instant, and then it flew out directly. A pair of massive wings unfolded behind it, reaching a width of about five meters. It dove from the window and landed right in front of me.

I didn't know if it was because the holy energy in my body was concentrated enough, but after just a few days with me, its body had already grown a bit. Originally only 1.5 meters tall with a wingspan of three or four meters...

It was now about two meters tall with a wingspan of five meters.

"Gya~"

Boom! Its nearly two-ton body crashed onto the ground, and then, like a little child who had taken a tumble, it lunged into my arms with tears in its eyes.

And then... I was tackled to the ground.

"Gya! Gya! Gya!!"

It seemed to be saying something, but I couldn't understand a word.

"Alright, alright, I know, I know. I'll definitely teach her a lesson. Don't cry. Let me up first."

I patted its head, which was nearly half the size of my body. I had to admit, a purebred was a purebred; the toughness of its scales made me feel like I was touching solid iron rather than a living creature.

After finally soothing the 'little' fellow and standing up, I saw Lina still sitting on the ground in a daze.

She was covered in dust and scorch marks, but fortunately, she didn't seem injured.

After comforting Astrid, I hurried over to check on her. This was the top combat power I would be relying on next; nothing could happen to her.

"Um... Lina, are you okay?"

I approached Lina. Seeing her dazed expression, I began to suspect she had hit her head.

Just as I was about to cast healing art, Lina snapped her head around, her eyes staring straight at me.

The corners of her mouth... began to curl upward slightly, and that curve grew wider and wider.

Until finally, she broke into a silly grin.

"Hehe... hehehehe..."

It's over, it's over! She definitely hit her head!

I didn't know how effective my healing art was on brains.

"Lina, it's okay. Astrid didn't mean it. I'll scold it later. Don't scare me like this."

As soon as I finished, Lina's eyes brightened even more. She didn't look like an idiot at all; instead, she seemed exceptionally happy.

Then, she let out a loud shout!

"It really is a dragon! And a purebred one!"

Lina snapped her head back toward where I had come from. I instinctively followed her gaze.

She was looking at Astrid again.

"I've decided! I want it!!"

"Huh?"

Lina suddenly turned back to look at me.

"How much? I'll buy it!"

"Not for sale!"

"Eh?! Don't be like that! I'll pay extra."

"It's not for sale, no matter the price."

You idiot, I worried for nothing. So she was just happy because it was her first time seeing a purebred dragon?

But... she wants to buy it?

Are you kidding me?

This is the testament to my friendship with the Dragon King. If I dared to sell it, it would be the same as selling my friendship with the Dragon King.

The consequences would be unimaginable.

Lina lowered her head slightly, looking at me shyly while constantly winking.

However... this girl clearly wasn't used to acting cute. Instead, it just gave me goosebumps.

"Please? Pretty please?"

"No. Not happening. Go home."

"Are you really not selling?!"

Lina's expression changed, her eyes narrowing as she glared at me.

I didn't back down an inch.

"I said it's not for sale, and I mean it. Not for any price."

"Fine, fine. If you won't sell it, you won't sell it. Don't get angry~"

Then, Lina extended a finger and leaned in sneakily.

"Ten thousand gold coins. Rent it to me for a day."

"It's still just a child! What do you want to do to it?!"