Chapter 74: Chapter 72: Triumph

On the deck.

Ahmed felt like he was about to cry.

He had imagined being ignored by the higher-ups of Dewensen for failing the mission. After all, no one in the territory could bear such a heavy responsibility. But he never imagined that he might actually have a chance to return home again.

Only to discover he had somehow become the general he’d always aspired to be!

And damn it, he was posthumously honored!

All the Elves, including the Lord and the Elf King, treated him, Ahmed, as if he were already dead!

What crushed him beyond acceptance was the sudden boldness and Greed of the Elves led by Otis. Lucky for him, he had a good memory, remembering Otis, the vile creature who’d yearly offered him female Elves, yet was unworthy to even carry his shoes.

But now, this fool planned to pass him off as a Drow to take credit for patrol achievements!

His head was only slightly singed by Dragon Breath, dammit! His body was still of a High Elf’s whiteness! Yet this band of avaricious fools turned a collective blind eye!

Who could understand this kind of suffocating frustration?!!!

Having harbored thoughts of defecting at the right moment, he immediately lifted his chin, deciding to cast his lot with the Red Dragon, come what may.

He puffed up his chest, glared at the gathering Elves, and declared,

“Get out of my way!

“A bunch of greedy idiots!

“I am the nephew and heir of the Silver Wheel lordship.

“A Viscount personally ennobled by His Majesty the Elf King Ailiando.

“The supreme commander of Dewensen’s Seventh Fleet.

“Rohel Ahmed Solitas!

“If you dare to impersonate me as a Drow for military achievements, wait for death, each one of you!”

The crew of High Elves, called out on their underlying intentions, were immediately stunned by the string of titles, delivered with such fluency and natural continuity, like the half-human court chefs reeling off dish names. The delivery was so practiced, the continuity so natural, the pride and arrogance so palpable—this wasn’t something one could master without decades of daily repetition.

Even a Drow disguised as a High Elf might fool some, but to deceive the eyes of all High Elves? No ordinary Drow could accomplish that.

In an eerie silence, it was the cautious captain of the patrol who finally said, “Umm… fellow kinsman, do you have something to prove your identity? After all, the obituary of General Ahmed has been distributed nationally for quite some time, and we find it hard to simply take your word for it.”

“No.”

Ahmed furrowed his brow and explained, “Our fleet was about to reach the Old Continent port when the Crimson Calamity awakened, causing a volcanic eruption that led to the annihilation of our entire army. Only I escaped…”

He had only recited half of what David had coached him when he realized something was amiss!

Suddenly, he saw a sinister smile flash across Otis’s lips.

Damn it! This guy is trying to trap me, planning to pull off the same trick, proclaiming me dead without proof and taking credit again!

“Do it, kill this Drow trying to impersonate General Ahmed.”

“Yes!”

With the sound of swords being drawn, a group of High Elves, for the sake of profit and their own safety, raised their blades against a Noble they once could only look up to! Their intention was probably to hack him to mince, destroying all evidence, to prevent retaliation should he somehow make it home.

Ahmed, whose injuries had not fully healed over the lengthy captivity, watched the glint of numerous swords descending upon him and deeply regretted his oversight.

He had been too careless!

It’s over!

Just as Ahmed resigned himself to his fate, thinking he would perish on this spot mere miles from the New Continent, home, a whooshing sound approached.

A crisp snap, and over ten raised Elven swords were simultaneously broken and flung into the air along with the bird’s nest wig atop Ahmed’s head, only to leisurely fall back down.

Instantly, two unfortunate elves were impaled by the falling blades. One of them was particularly unlucky, struck right on the crown of his head. He slumped to the ground, clutching the broken blade embedded there, which threatened to shift and dislodge itself at any moment. Bleeding profusely, he frantically called out, “Druid! A Druid, save me!”

“A… a dragon! How is there a dragon on the ship?!”

David, having just poked his head out of the cabin and flicked his tail to break the line of swords, almost scared the urine out of all the Elves on board. Their combat effectiveness was one thing, but the terrifying destructive power of a dragon could make them all take an icy sea bath in minutes. Not one of them had the strength or endurance to swim back to land from here.

“Wait! It’s a Silver Dragon, a Silver Dragon hatchling! Stop! Everybody stop!”

Even the proudest of High Elves dared not mistake a Silver Dragon for one of the Chromatic Dragons, especially one clearly still a hatchling. Although High Elves didn’t openly ally with Silver Dragons, these creatures, who enjoyed taking human or High Elf forms, maintained ambiguous relations. These relations extended to the Church of the Magic Goddess, the Hall of Justice, and even some Elven deities.

To offend an Elven Noble might, at worst, mean resignation, exile, or seeking refuge with kin. Failing that, one could become an adventurer or mercenary among the human nations of Central Earth to make a living.

But to accidentally kill a Silver Dragon hatchling…

They didn’t even dare contemplate the horrific outcome.

The High Elf sailors had barely recovered from the shock of “Silver Dragon David’s” appearance when the sight of two Drow emerging behind him made them reflexively raise their broken blades again.

“Drow! Why are there Drow?! And Barbarians too?”

“And what on earth is this Winter Wolf that keeps baring its teeth at them?”

They were completely flummoxed by the motley crew aboard the ship!

“Relax, these fellows have been converted by my righteous and benevolent influence,” David reassured. As he surveyed the sea of bewildered and hesitant High Elves, he swished his tail past the foreheads of Hiatt and the Drow mage, revealing two faintly glowing silver magical marks.

The sight of this made Otis and the other leading High Elves almost spit blood on the spot.

Indeed, they had been converted!

The method of conversion… was truly magical indeed!

It was two Magic Slavery Contracts, no less.

And they’d actually been used on Drow!

These extravagant and foolish acts could probably only be pulled off by the financially powerful Silver Dragons.

At the same time, the High Elves felt a growing unease.

As expected, the Silver Dragon strutted over to Ahmed, the High Elf who was on the verge of collapse. The Dragon placed a claw gently on Ahmed’s shoulder, then, with a forceful pat that made him kneel on the spot, declared loudly,

“As for this officer, Ahmed, I saved him by the sea, and he brought me back from the Old Continent.

“He and I are benefactors to each other and dear friends who trust each other with our lives.

“To save a Silver Dragonling stranded abroad and bring him back to the Continent, especially given your High Elves’ love for grand achievements…

“Shouldn’t he be hailed a hero?

“And then celebrate with a grand triumphal ceremony, greeted by Elves along the way with celebrations and flowers?”

“Well…” The High Elves were dumbfounded, exchanging glances. While the reasoning might indeed be sound, they had never seen such a shamelessly thick-skinned Silver Dragon.

Besides, Ahmed had told them their entire Seventh Fleet had been wiped out—hold a triumphal ceremony? The families of the fallen Elves who had just been pacified with some condolence money would go ballistic and flip the military headquarters’ roof and tear down its treetop canopies!

“However, dear Silver Dragon friend, we still lack direct evidence to confirm that this Mr… Ahmed, is indeed our fallen General Ahmed,” a voice interjected.

“Just call me Prince Saphistouin. As for evidence, isn’t that simple? Who was it that we should find?”

The Drow glanced meaningfully at a High Elf, prompting Ahmed to quickly say, “Let’s go directly to Attilicia, the residing Priest of Saeolus City’s Hall of Justice.”

David took over the conversation contentedly, saying, “Right, we’ll just have that Priest cast a seventh-level ’Regeneration’ spell on him. Surely, his citizens and the Lord of the Silver Wheel won’t recognize the wrong Elf, right?”

The patrol captain was completely stupefied by this. Before he could even rack his brain for a compromise, the Elf crew members nearby immediately knelt on one knee with their broken blades, declaring:

“We warmly welcome Prince Saphistouin’s return to Dewensen territory.

“Dewensen welcomes you.
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“Congratulations to General Ahmed!

“You will surely become Dewensen’s hero and pride.”

Ahmed, fawned over by the group of Elves, suddenly felt as if he was waking from a dream and teared up on the spot. Before setting off from the New Continent, he had imagined returning with a Silver Dragon and becoming a hero. But he never expected to realize that moment through such a convoluted, dramatic fashion.

He, Ahmed, could only be an imposter hero, one who couldn’t step into the light!

Watching his subordinates, who quickly capitulated, vying to suck up to the powerful, Otis, the patrol captain, collapsed to the ground.

It’s over…

He then threw himself at the teary-eyed Ahmed like he was clutching at a lifeline. “General Ahmed! Remember me? I’m Otis! The one who always brought you Elves… Ah!”

“Get lost!” Ahmed kicked the despicable High Elf straight into the sea.

“Hey, it looks like an Elf fell into the water, save him! Quick, quick, quick.” A group of Elf crew members reacted ’belatedly.’

David, gazing toward the New Continent’s coastline now in view, muttered to himself, “Tsk, it’s almost June. Aside from Century Aroma, there wouldn’t be many flowers left. Might as well add a touch of snow to set the mood.”

Since his ruse was blown anyway, he no longer cared to hide it.

Who said smuggling had to be done secretly?

This time, David decided to do it openly.

And to leave openly, too.

As he spoke to himself, he took off to the skies in full view of the astounded Elves, flew into the clouds, and let out a breath of icy chill.

The sky above Dewensen, already gloomy from drifting volcanic ash, immediately thundered.

After a pause, the Elves along the coast were astonished to discover that in this month of June,

snow was actually beginning to fall!

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