Chapter 104: Investigating the Dragon

The appearance of the dragon brought terror to everyone.

That night, even Jia Zhengjin himself could not sleep well.

At dawn the next day, Matru’s merchant caravan hurriedly departed, taking with them the members of the Four-Star Grass Mercenary Corps and the hired kobold soldiers. They led packhorses loaded with goods, escorted by the kobold troops under their chieftain, and set off once more on the road to the Byte Empire.

The bard Kiki, who had originally planned to stay longer, caught a ride with the caravan and left as well.

Had it not been for Jia Zhengjin’s orders, it was likely that all the villagers in the city would have been preparing to flee.

After all, it was a dragon from the myths! A notoriously savage race, with countless stories passed down through the ages of dragons razing cities, destroying kingdoms, and abducting princesses. They were nearly responsible for the extinction of humanity! If not for the intervention of the gods, this world would probably already be ruled by dragons.

All the people of this world have heard tales of dragons, and their fear of them is impossible to hide.

“Keen, are you really going?” Tina clung tightly to Jia Zhengjin’s hand, unwilling to let go.

Jia Zhengjin looked around at the anxious and fearful villagers, his face troubled. He reached out and gently caressed Tina’s cheek. “Tina, I’m only going to take a look from afar, just to confirm whether there is truly a dragon’s lair in the forest. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely return safely!”

“Don’t go! Why don’t we all just leave together?” Tina clung to him, terrified that he would never return. “Keen, let’s start anew in another country! Dragons are too frightening—they are ultimate creatures that only gods can subdue!”

“That’s right! Lord Keen, we can’t live next to a dragon!” Tina’s father, Borlint, also spoke up. “Everyone should hurry and leave this place!”

“Lord Keen! I have an uncle in the Byte Empire, he owns a small grove. It’s not much compared to here, but it can definitely accommodate us!” said one villager.

“I have a distant cousin at the port of Hel in the Byte Empire. I could seek refuge with her!”

“Lord Keen, please lead us away!”

“Lord Keen, we can’t be neighbors with a dragon!”

“Yes! The dragon will devour us all!”

“It might even wipe out the entire Xiongfeng Empire!”

“Please, Lord Keen! You must lead us away from here as soon as possible…”

It was not only Tina; nearly all the villagers crowded around Jia Zhengjin, pleading with him to abandon the settlement.

Jia Zhengjin was deeply troubled. He had worked so hard to develop this base, was he really going to start over somewhere else? But where else could he find such rich mineral resources as the Magic Beast Forest? It was because this place was dangerous that none of the surrounding nations dared to send people to mine here—or if they did, they failed to defend their resources.

For him, this was the perfect location to develop. Elsewhere, there might not be so many resources!

But if there truly was a dragon in the Magic Beast Forest, it was indeed extremely perilous!

Caught between conflicting choices, he finally gritted his teeth and spoke, “Everyone, listen to me!”

As soon as Jia Zhengjin began to speak, everyone fell silent.

“I will soon enter the forest with Wolf, the kobold army, and the giant bee troops to investigate. Badi, you shall remain with the town guards to protect the villagers! If anything unusual happens, I permit you to lead them to retreat to the forest’s edge,” Jia Zhengjin declared loudly. “I will personally confirm the existence of the dragon. If I don’t return, Badi, you must lead these villagers!”

“Lord Keen!” Badi was shocked. “Why must you do this?”

“I’ve never actually seen a dragon before,” Jia Zhengjin replied. “Don’t try to persuade me; stay in the city and wait for my word!”

“No! Please don’t go, Keen! Please!” Tina clung to his hand, tears streaming uncontrollably. “We’d be better off leaving directly—why take such risks?”

“Tina, be good!” Jia Zhengjin gently stroked her soft golden hair. “If one always flees from trouble, what kind of man is that? Besides, who’s to say there’s another place as promising as this one? I’m not planning to slay the dragon, just to observe from afar and confirm things. Perhaps dragons are actually friendly, not as terrifying as your stories suggest!”

“Don’t go!” To his surprise, Perin also grasped his hand, looking at him with a blank expression.

Villagers surged forward, all trying to persuade Jia Zhengjin to abandon the idea and simply lead everyone away.

He hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to set out. He ordered Badi and the town guards to keep the villagers back, then gently reassured Tina and Perin, telling them not to worry about him.

“No! Either you don’t go, or you take me with you!” Tina, though gentle and delicate, was stubborn.

“Tina, be good! Wait for me at home, will you?” Jia Zhengjin could not possibly take Tina along—the Magic Beast Forest was dangerous even without dragons; terrifying monsters lurked everywhere.

Yet no matter how he tried to persuade her, she refused to relent.

At last, Borlint spoke up: “Lord Keen, once Tina has made up her mind, she won’t compromise. You’ll have to either take us all away now, or take Tina with you.”

Jia Zhengjin pondered carefully and finally gritted his teeth, “All right! But Tina, you must stay close to me and not get separated.”

“Mm!” Tina happily grasped his hand when she heard his answer.

“I’m coming too!” Perin stepped forward with an impassive expression, drawing her sword. “I’ll protect her!”

Since Tina was going, Jia Zhengjin could not refuse Perin either. “Very well! The two of you will join the expedition. We’ll investigate the dragon’s whereabouts together!”

“Lord Keen, return safely!”

“Lord Keen, please don’t let anything happen!”

“…”

The villagers followed behind the group, their voices full of worry and even despair as they bid farewell.

With the villagers seeing them off, Jia Zhengjin led the way, with Tina and Perin on either side, followed by Wolf, the kobold chieftain, five hundred kobold warriors, five hundred fully armed kobold soldiers, and a thousand recruited giant bees. The procession marched grandly toward the highest mountain nearby.

He only wanted to confirm whether a dragon truly existed—whether the one he saw last night had settled in the Magic Beast Forest, how far its lair was from the base, and whether it might come to slaughter them.

He had no intention of fighting a dragon. That would be sheer folly—throwing lives away for nothing!

He only hoped the dragon would not pay much attention to their group. From its perspective, they were probably nothing more than ants.