Chapter 1251: 8. Entering the City

"Who else could I mean? Haven't you noticed that the legendary calamity seems a little strange?"

"What is strange about her?"

Marcie did not even dare examine her carefully. She only wondered whether this cheap superior of hers had gone insane.

That was a dragon. How could she dare gossip about her so casually?

"I am not talking nonsense." Pero's little face was grave. "There is no mistake. I have seen far too many seductive bitches like her. They are all like starving wolves. On the surface, each one acts high and mighty, incomparably holy, but under certain circumstances, they reveal their crazed and lascivious true nature, and then they......"

"What nonsense are you spouting now?"

A faint, eerie voice interrupted Pero's analysis. Her expression stiffened as she raised her head and saw Muen standing before them, staring at the two of them with a dark look on his face.

"I already told you. The relationship between Miss Dragon and me is extremely pure. There is absolutely nothing filthy about it!"

Was this little girl doing it deliberately, or intentionally?

Or did she truly believe that at such a short distance, her whispering could escape the ears of a calamity?

If Miss Dragon were not gentle by nature, she would have slapped this loose-mouthed brat until pieces started falling off!

"Go back and reflect behind closed doors. Until you have properly repented, I am withholding your reward."

"Eh?"

"No 'eh.'"

Without giving Pero any chance to resist, Muen directly severed the magical projection. Then he gave Marcie a hard knock on the forehead as well.

"And you. Be careful. Do not let that girl corrupt you, understand?"

"Okay."

Marcie clutched her little head and pouted somewhat aggrievedly......

What was that supposed to mean? She would never be corrupted.

......

......

After teaching the troublesome Pope and Archbishop a lesson, Muen gave the people of Annabawei several more instructions and gained a rough understanding of their next stage of development before quickly returning to Miss Dragon.

He did not waste much time. Many things had already been settled when he left last time. The main reason he had returned this time was Pero's missionary work. As "Lord Black Sun," worshiped by so many people, he had to come back and take a look.

"Let's go."

Muen said, "Let's return to the Empire."

"Mm."

Hamreign was just about to depart......

"Wait."

Someone suddenly called out to them.

The two turned around and discovered Marcie......along with a vast crowd of Annabawei's people.

There were Pioneers, as well as ordinary civilians.

"Thank you."

Marcie bent deeply at the waist, but the person she was addressing was not Muen.

It was......Hamreign.

"Lady Hamreign, thank you for everything you have done for us. We will......never forget your kindness."

"We will......never forget!"

Following Marcie, everyone bent at the waist.

Their voices of gratitude rang out in perfect unison, surging toward Hamreign like an overwhelming tide. For a moment, even Hamreign revealed a trace of helpless confusion.

"Did you arrange this?"

She looked toward Muen, asking whether this had been his idea.

Muen shook his head, equally bewildered.

But he quickly reacted and grabbed Hamreign's hand.

"See, Miss Dragon? I was right, wasn't I? Vague and distant legends cannot compare to real accomplishments." Muen chuckled. "The people can see the truth clearly. They are all thanking you."

The words he had spoken not long ago seemed to have immediately become reality.

Hamreign stared blankly at the scene. Within her golden eyes, tides seemed to rise and fall.

That tide bathed in sunlight was so beautiful that she even forgot someone had taken advantage of the moment to hold her hand.

She watched silently, admiring a sight she had not witnessed again in eight hundred years.

"How beautiful."

......

......

After leaving Annabawei and crossing the endless void, the return journey was countless times more comfortable for Muen than the thrilling trip there, when his heart had nearly been shaken out of his chest.

Seated on Miss Dragon's back, all the astral winds and impacts were blocked outside by an invisible barrier. They could not even stir a single strand of Muen's hair. He even had the leisure to observe the abyssal voids that seemed capable of drawing a person's soul inside.

The hazy radiance resembled a shattered sea of stars. The terrifying auras within certain areas remained just as dreadful as ever, but they no longer frightened him as much as they had on the way there.

Perhaps it was because he was no longer the same as before.

Or perhaps......it was because Muen knew that Miss Dragon would unquestionably protect him now.

In any case, Muen soon returned to the Empire's territory.

"Shall we go to Belrand?"

"No, no, no, no......"

Muen hurriedly refused.

What kind of joke was that? Belrand was currently the Demon King's lair to him, the final stage of an adventure. Returning now would only lead to the ending where the yellow-haired hero, who had not finished leveling up, was dismembered by the evil Imperial Empress with a hatchet.

In simple terms......Muen still had not figured out how to appease Celicia after being abducted from their wedding.

Naturally, Miss Dragon would protect him, but that certainly would not calm the situation. It would only make everything worse.

They might even end up with a story about five righteous heroes battling an evil dragon to rescue a pitiful yellow-haired princess. If things became desperate enough, it was not impossible for the Empire to declare war on Miss Dragon directly.

Caution......

He absolutely had to be cautious.

"We'll go here."

Muen spread out a map of the Empire and studied it for a long time before finally deciding.

"We'll go to this city in the western Empire—Daigby."

"Is there something special about it?"

"It is a relatively prosperous city in the western Empire. It once served as a transfer hub for provisions sent from the Empire toward the Abyss. Although the Empire no longer needs to deal with threats from the west, the city's historical foundations remain. It is worth visiting."

The city was neither too large nor too small.

Its population was neither too great nor too sparse.

Most importantly, because it had once been a transfer hub, information traveled there extremely efficiently.

There, Miss Dragon could experience the local customs of a human city while Muen also gathered information about Belrand.

It was perfect.

"All right."

Hamreign naturally had no objection. She had already transformed into human form and brought Muen down outside the city.

It was evening. The setting sun hung low in the west, stretching the city's shadow far across the ground.

Hamreign stood beyond the city gate. Her advancing steps suddenly became hesitant.

She looked at the figures coming and going. Despite being the strongest dragon in the world, she seemed almost afraid to approach.

"It will be fine."

Muen comforted her. "A small city like this does not even have a particularly outstanding powerhouse. You could swagger straight inside looking exactly like this, and no one would recognize you."

"Mm."

Hamreign nodded gently.

"Let's go."

Without another word, Muen took Hamreign by the hand and directly entered the city.

Just as he had expected, although the city was no longer as prosperous as it had once been, its foundation as a transfer hub remained. Carriages and pedestrians filled the streets, making them extremely lively.

Muen did not alter his appearance. Aside from hiding her dragon horns, Miss Dragon had also made no other disguise at his strong insistence.

Disguising herself would have defeated much of the purpose.

The two entered the city and walked onto its streets just like that.

Muen was completely relaxed. He strolled around while carefully savoring the softness of Miss Dragon's palm.

Perhaps because she was paying too much attention to their surroundings, even after so long, she still had not noticed that her companion's behavior was not particularly companion-like.

"This city is rather nice, isn't it?"

Along the way, Muen introduced Hamreign to various novel things without the slightest concern.

Putting aside whether anyone would recognize Miss Dragon, no one here should even recognize him.

After all, this was merely a small border city. His reputation as a duke's son should not have reached the point where......

"Muen Campbell!"

"Look! It's Muen Campbell!"

"Wow......it really is Muen Campbell!"

A wave of noisy whispers suddenly entered Muen's ears.

"Hm?"

Muen was startled and warily looked toward the source of the voices.

Several people were gathered at a street corner, secretly pointing at him.

They seemed to be nothing more than a few local thugs. There was nothing special about them, nor could he sense any powerful aura.

Muen's assumption that he had encountered an acquaintance immediately collapsed.

And it was not only them.

Their whispers spread among the pedestrians like some kind of virus. Before long, Muen discovered that countless gazes had locked onto him, both openly and secretly.

Muen stopped walking and froze in place.

"Muen Campbell has returned!"

"In that case......the one beside him must be......"

"A dragon! She's a dragon! The legendary calamity, the Dragon of Death and Doom!"

"......"

Cold sweat began appearing across Muen's forehead.

What was going on?

Why was this completely different from what he had predicted?

Why had his identity been exposed immediately? Had his status as a duke's son really become that famous?

No......

That was not the issue right now.

The important point was that Miss Dragon's identity had somehow been exposed as well.

Muen's claim that Miss Dragon could swagger around without anyone recognizing her had been completely disproven. They had barely entered the city before everyone recognized her.

This made no logical sense, so Muen could think of only one possibility.

Miss Dragon's current human appearance had already spread throughout the entire continent, perhaps even across every country and city.

She was no longer merely a vague legend.

Could it be......because she had abducted him from the wedding and was now wanted?

"It is all right, Miss Dragon."

Through the hand tightly clasped with his own, Muen could clearly feel how tense Miss Dragon had become.

Although her golden eyes released little pressure, they remained fixed on the people around them.

On the crowd.

It seemed that the moment anyone showed fear toward her, she would immediately leave.

"It really is the dragon!"

"My god! That rumor was true!"

"This is unbelievable! Something like that is actually appearing right in front of us!"

As the noisy whispers became increasingly distinct, Muen grew more and more nervous.

He was not afraid of what these people might do to him.

He was only worried that what they displayed and the words they spoke would once again wound Miss Dragon's heart, which had only just begun to heal.

Muen remained on guard.

At the slightest sign of extreme behavior, he would immediately take Miss Dragon away. For that reason, his hand tightened around hers, and he moved even closer to her side.

"I don't believe it!"

Finally, someone stopped whispering and shouted openly in front of everyone.

A cold light flashed through Muen's eyes, and his entire body instantly tensed......

"I refuse to believe that the legendary calamity, the Dragon of Death and Doom, the strongest creature beneath the heavens......is carrying Muen Campbell's child!"

"......?"

Muen froze for a moment.

Then his entire face became blank with confusion.

"???"