The dragon's harem

Chapter 787 Arad the Mediator

Arad smiled and teleported away, leaving his seat empty. Baltos and the ministers stared at each other, wondering what he was up to.

”He said Roberta, where did I hear that name before?” Baltos combed his beard with his hand, playing with it.

”The head maid Roberta?” One of the ministers mumbled… ”Itʼs not her, is she?”

”Definitely not. Sheʼs probably someone else. But I swear Iʼve heard that name before.” Baltos looked toward the windows.

”If sheʼs skilled we can recruit her as financial secretary. Iʼll need some help eventually.” The prime minister smiled.

”Forget it. Arad said that she belongs to him.” Baltos glared at him. ”Heʼll kill you; remember that we arenʼt dealing with a human. Heʼs a dragon and a world-class one at that.”

”Even he wonʼt try to kill a prime minister. And itʼs not like Iʼm trying to harm her, if I offer up enough money and power Iʼm certain sheʼll come to our side.” The minister giggled.

”Donʼt, heʼll kill you on the spot.” Baltos tone shifted, growing harsher and deeper, ”Arad said she belongs to him. We donʼt know what he meant by that, she could be a friend or a worker, and might even be a wife or a mate. He could even be seeing her as a property, a part of his hoard.”

Another minister, the one responsible for agriculture nodded. ”That last part could be true, especially if sheʼs an important part of his money-making methods.”

”Thatʼs true. Whoever he brings, remember that sheʼs sitting in the lap of a kingdom-destroying dragon. Donʼt overstep his borders if you donʼt want to die, the human laws donʼt chain dragons, they are too big to arrest or lock behind bars.” Baltos glared at them, praying to Amaterasu that those ministers wouldnʼt cause him a conflict with Arad.

ZON! Arad appeared again with Roberta beside him. Baltos immediately recognized her, ”Geraldʼs daughter!?” Baltos gasped.

”The assassinʼs daughter…” A minister jumped off his seat, pulling his sword. But, nothing came out, he looked down, seeing blood dripping from his elbow, his forearm was missing.

”Another wrong word and Iʼll take your head off.” Arad threw the ministerʼs arm to his feet, ”Scram.”

The minister screamed his lungs off and the guards rushed in, ”What happened?!” They asked.

”He pulled his sword at Aradʼs guest. Take him to get healed and attach the arm back if possible.” Baltos replied as fast as he could lest the situation escalate.

”Itʼs a clean cut. Itʼll attack back.” Arad sat and made the confused Roberta sit beside him. ”Arad, whatʼs going on?” She asked.

”Donʼt worry about him. He tried to be a bit rude,” Arad replied and quickly shifted his attention to Baltos, ”The papers.”

”Ah! Yes, here they are.” Baltos gave everything to Arad.

”Can you take a look at this?” Arad showed her the papers and she started reading them. After several minutes, she sighed, ”This is bad, and I mean a lot.”

”Can you help?” He asked.

Roberta scratched her head, ”I can, but I donʼt have the systematic authority, funds, or time to achieve such a thing. I need access to a lot of classified information, like about every copper the kingdom makes, their cash routs, and how much everyone in the castle is paid and how much they are spending and with whom.” She then pointed at Aradʼs face.

”And most importantly, you, Arad. You own this land I canʼt just start working here without your permission. Even they canʼt.”

Arad nodded, ”Got it, Iʼll get everyone involved.” He disappeared again and everyone looked at Roberta… ”Donʼt look at me like that, even I donʼt know what heʼs thinking about.”

”Do you think itʼs possible to get at least one thing working out?” Baltos asked.

”Weʼll need a lot of work, and workers. Even with that, and even if we got permission from Arad, the royal treasury doesnʼt have enough funds to kick-start a new economy in this region. And even if we did, we canʼt expect a stable income until next year.” She ran through the papers again.

”Weʼll need to take a huge loan from somewhere. Iʼm certain Arad might have the money for that, but heʼs spending everything on building the castle and his alchemy experiments. This situation is bad, ugly, and worse than you think.” She sighed.

ZON! Arad returned several minutes later, and this time he had a strange group around him. He put the small flower pot on the desk and Ignis crawled from his back and looked around, confused. Arad was carrying Grandma Shir in his arms and two elves were standing behind him.

”To introduce you.” Arad smiled, pointing at the flower pot, ”First, this is the most important figure here, Loci. She is the land you stand on. Make sure you give her the respect she deserves, or sheʼll crush you between the two mountains.” The flow grew a mouth. ”So this is King Baltos, Iʼve heard several traveling merchants speak of you. Welcome on my back.”

Arad rushed to the side and brought a chair for Grandma Shir. ”This is Grandma Shir, sheʼs standing in for the barbarians that live in my land. Their chieftain is out hunting, make sure to respect her. Her clan would be providing protection in the forest and to the roads.”

”Barbarians…” A noble mumbled, ”They canʼt even think, can they? How do we trust safety and protection to a bunch of near animals?”

Grandma Shir looked at Arad, ”My feet tingle…”

”Go for it.” Arad nodded and she jumped at a blinding speed, kicking the noble in the face hard enough that his nose almost collapsed into his skull.

”Grandson taught a lot…Insult kicked.” She mumbled, going back to her seat.

”Just to let you know…sheʼs Ninaʼs grandmother, the blood berserker.” Arad smiled, ”There are countless reasons you want to stay on her good side.”

He then quickly turned toward Ignis, ”This red wyrmling is Ignis, Iʼve adopted her as a daughter and sheʼs currently living on my territory, Iʼll need you to avoid her hunting ground.”

”This is your land.” Ignis stared at Arad, speaking in draconic.

”Youʼll be staying here until youʼre an adult. No, even if you became an old dragon, you can still come back here any time you want.” He patted her head. ”Sheʼll be living here for the next two hundred years at least, so be sure to mind her presence.”

Baltos nodded, ”And…who are those two hiding behind you?” Aradʼs back was too large it totally obscured the two figures behind him.

From behind Aradʼs shoulder, Cerilla poked her head with a smile, and everyone inside the room paled.

”The elvish queen?!” Baltos gasped, and she waved her hand at him. ”King Baltos, itʼs been a while.”

”What are you doing here?” He stared at her, ”Iʼve never heard of you coming into the kingdom.”

”I just came four hours ago and Iʼm staying with Arad. He said that I could help.” She smiled, and Dalla looked from behind her, ”Why did you bring me as well?”

”And Dalla the slapper?!” The ministers gasped and the nobles backed away. They knew how strong Arad was, but his power was that of massive destruction, their death would be painless and sweet. But Dalla was different, albeit the weakest of the S-

ranks, her slapping art made her one of the most feared due to how painful her attacks were. Her enemies never die of damage, their hearts stop due to the extreme and agonizing pain.

Cerilla walked forward and sat on Aradʼs lap, putting one leg on another, and smiled, ”Iʼll be the one lending you money to start off.”

Baltos immediately shook his face, ”We canʼt accept that money. In the condition weʼre in now, doing that is akin to accepting becoming a vassal state.”

”Having your capital violated by Vlad is the end of your kingdom. Everything ended the moment that monster landed on your shores. You shouldʼve known that the situation was akin to a man losing his head.” She giggled, ”But, Iʼm not lending you help as the queen of the elvish kingdom. And Iʼm not thinking of you as Rurisʼs kingdom king.” She lifted her hand, stroking Aradʼs cheek, ”Youʼre the friend of my friend, the dragon who landed on the elvish land.” She shifted her legs and her eyes flashed green.

”Iʼm lending the money as Cerilla Zylphyra, one of the richest elves in the world. And youʼre taking it as the friend of Arad Orion. This isnʼt between kingdoms but between people.”

”What are the conditions?” Baltos asked with a droplet of sweat dripping across his face.

”Give the money back in ten years. There is no interest, Iʼm doing Arad a favor, and heʼs doing me one. This is it.”

”That canʼt be possible. Whatʼs in it for you besides Aradʼs favor?”

”Iʼll get nothing from you, but Iʼm getting a lot from Arad. In fact, Iʼm probably getting the better deal on this.” She turned toward Arad, ”Isnʼt that right?”

”Arad…” Roberta stared at him. ”I donʼt like how happy she is about this. What is your deal?”

”Nothing big.” Arad shook his head. ”Iʼll just have to carry her to the peak of the world tree. To where Sylphʼs shrine is.”