Chapter 2185: A Temporary Farewell

Chapter 2185: Chapter 2185: A Temporary Farewell

The summer rain in Tobesk was not particularly fierce, but it did not seem to stop by this evening. People coming and going through the Tobesk Train Station hurried their steps, as if the raindrops were urging them not to delay their journeys.

When Emilia and the other two arrived in Tobesk, they were welcomed by Shard, the doctor, and Dorothy. After a brief ten-day stay, as they departed, it was Shard, Luviya, and Dorothy seeing them off.

Worried about missing the train, Mr. Rio Enhill and Miss Matilda Dras took a carriage from the Three Cats Inn an hour early. Luviya and Dorothy handled their checkout at the inn, and when the four appeared at the entrance of the train station, there was still time before the train’s departure.

"Mr. Hamilton hasn’t come over yet?"

Mr. Enhill looked around while carrying his suitcase, and Dorothy shook her head slightly:

"Shard just mentioned taking Emilia around a bit, and meeting us here by evening. We don’t know exactly where they went, but Shard probably won’t forget the time."

The rain made it inconvenient to chat on the street, so the group quickly squeezed into the train station and found platform 3 to wait. Shard and Emilia did not take long, only arriving at the platform ten minutes later than them.

Shard had a cat perched on his shoulder, helping Emilia with her suitcase. The blonde elf girl’s face was flushed as she tugged on Shard’s sleeve, eagerly greeting everyone on the platform:

"Good afternoon, I didn’t expect to leave so soon."

Besides Shard, the four present thought she’d be exceptionally reluctant, but it was clear from Emilia’s face that she couldn’t contain her excitement.

The three suitcases were piled together while Mr. Enhill went to check the train timetable. Miss Matilda Dras curiously asked:

"Emilia, where did you go today? You seem so happy."

"We went to..."

The elf girl glanced at Shard with pursed lips, as recent memories flashed through her mind.

On the vast plains of the wilderness, Shard dropped his umbrella, turned his back to the elf, and extended his arms towards the distant mountains. The dazzling light and fierce wind forced Emilia to step back and squint her eyes, and when she opened them again, there lay the towering Silver Great Dragon like a mountain.

Emilia still recalled the dragon with every scale glowing, remembered the comical sight of little Mia standing on its head, and still remembered lying on the dragon’s back, holding the cat while flying on the dragon, feeling the warmth emanating from its body... She felt no matter how long she lived, she would never forget this afternoon.

After her recollection, she smoothly replied:

"We were at the Shard Family home all day."

Despite today’s thrilling experience, she remembered Shard’s reminder not to talk about his transformation into the dragon.

Miss Dras looked at Shard suspiciously:

"So, how was your playtime at Mr. Hamilton’s?"

The still distracted Emilia responded:

"Flying... like reaching a peak, he was gentle, I mean, it was an experience I’ve never had before. Hmm... but Shard playfully scared me when I was happy, I almost fainted with white eyes... but it felt not bad."

She referred to when Shard abruptly descended almost vertically after flying high, which wasn’t him mischievously scaring Emilia and little Mia, but merely trying to make the flight more thrilling, and he himself had to adapt to various flying postures.

The ladies who weren’t aware of the truth, yes, including Luviya and Dorothy, were all surprised by Emilia’s description and turned their gaze towards Shard.

The station platform was exceptionally noisy, yet for the moment, none of them spoke; Shard looked at them with confusion, unsure what their glances meant, until Miss Dras sniffed a few times and asked the young elf:

"Emilia, did you recently shower?"

"While... playing at the Shard Family home, I accidentally got my clothes wet."

She explained before seeing Luviya and Dorothy drag Shard aside, looking stern as if questioning him. Before the curious elf could eavesdrop, Miss Dras pulled Emilia to the side of the luggage and quietly asked her a few worried questions:

"Emilia, tell me the truth, did you and Mr. Hamilton...?"

Then Emilia’s delicate face changed from excitement to confusion, from confusion to surprise, until her face turned completely red; if not for Miss Dras’s timely support, she might have fainted from embarrassment:

"How could it be, what are you thinking? We were just, just, oh, Father Tree above, if you keep guessing, I might lose my qualification as Little Liana."

In any case, Emilia and the other two’s journey to Tobesk concluded on this Thursday afternoon with an ending not entirely perfect, but at least without much regret. As the train approached departure, Emilia eventually bade emotional farewells to Shard, Dorothy, and Luviya with teary hugs. She even tried to hug little Mia, but sadly was "heartlessly" rejected by the cat.

Mr. Ensil and Miss Dras also shook hands and parted with Shard, thanking the Schneider Group for taking care of them over the past two weeks and promising to protect Emilia in the future, ensuring that no strange people would approach her on the train again.

Therefore, although Emilia was very reluctant, as the train whistle blew, she could only lean out from her compartment window and wave her hat in the swirling Steam Mist, bidding farewell to Shard and the other two. The train slowly began to move, and Shard quickly followed the moving carriage until he could no longer keep up with its speed. He stood there, watching Emilia’s figure waving her hat from the window, growing smaller and smaller, until it completely disappeared.

The Outlander sighed softly, feeling unexpectedly melancholic for a moment.

"So, you turned into a dragon again today and took her out for the entire afternoon?"

Luviya placed her hand on Shard’s shoulder, and as Shard turned, he saw that Luviya and Dorothy had already come up behind him.

"You guessed it?"

"Otherwise, were you going to take Emilia into the Soul Graveyard and summon her deceased ancestors to keep her company?"

Dorothy teased as well:

"What a lucky girl, neither Luviya, Lecia, nor Galina ever got to ride you while flying."

The tone suggested a joke, but also a hint of small dissatisfaction.

Shard was already prepared with an explanation:

"I need less than a month to adapt to this brand-new power. Once the Transformation Spell is completely stabilized, you can do whatever you want. Isn’t it just dragon riding? I don’t mind that. We can arrange for that another time."

Only then did the two ladies smile contentedly, walking alongside Shard towards the exit. Shard needed to attend a banquet in Moon Bay City later, and they wanted to help him tidy up his attire, ensuring that the witches there didn’t get the impression he had no women to care for him.

However, a question suddenly occurred to Shard:

"In other stories, whenever dragon elements appear, protagonists usually become Dragon Knights. How come in my case, I end up being the one that’s ridden...isn’t that a bit odd?"

"She" smiled gently:

[Because, you’re not the protagonist of this story.]

"Iluna is the protagonist... Wait, are you hinting that Iluna will also ride the dragon I’ve become soon?"

[That depends on your own willingness.]

"Her" laughter grew even lighter.

That afternoon, Shard wasn’t just trying to please Emilia. As he mentioned, he also wanted to know how much Spirit it took to transform into a dragon under normal circumstances and how much power he could exert.

On the carriage ride home from the train station, Shard discussed this issue with Luviya and Dorothy:

"Maintaining the dragon form consumes a lot of Spirit, even just standing still. It consumes even more if I fly or use spells. I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t fully mastered this power yet; when I turn into a dragon, my size is frightening, but I can’t control it at all. This afternoon, I maintained the dragon form for less than three hours. See, this vial is already empty, and that’s without casting any spells."

He took out the Perfume Vial, and unexpectedly, Mia leaped over, sniffing the bottle opening vigorously, then contentedly settled back on Shard’s lap.

Shard smiled while stroking the cat’s fur, and the purple-eyed Miss Diviner curiously asked:

"After turning into a dragon, how does it affect your strength?"

The bumpy carriage had already crossed the North District, with just over ten minutes until they arrived home. Shard recalled carefully:

"In the dragon form, I can still summon the Ring of Fate, but all Arcane Techniques that require hand gestures, like the [Heaton Seal], can’t be used. The physical strength and defense in that form are much stronger than what I have now, but being so large also makes it easier to get hit. The main attack method as a dragon is still Energy Ejection. I’ve apparently learned how to execute Energy Ejection with full force after repeatedly using the ’Higgs Dragonhead Stone’. In the dragon form, I can use this move skillfully without practice."

"It’s a pity that Dragon Language Spell has long been lost, and we don’t have a Dragonborn Circle Warlock with inheritance around us; otherwise, Shard could learn some spells of the great dragons."

Dorothy mentioned with some regret, to which Shard nodded, about to say they’d have to wait until they met Fiona again at the other end of time. But then he immediately remembered that this time’s Time Key reward, the ’Magic - Dragon Roar’, might be very suitable for dragon form.

"Could it be that Tree Father knew I could find the Divinity of an Evil God in Moon Bay, thus obtaining a brand-new Transformation Spell?"

This question was temporarily unanswerable.