Chapter 102: Favor
Ezra paused when she heard the question. Her gaze dropped to the plate before her. She pushed the fork around a few times and then looked up. "I doubt it."
"Hmm?" William looked at her while chewing.
"When Ken returned, he was filled with rage, the type you got after you lost to someone badly.
He was muttering and mumbling about vengeance and killing the dragon with his own two hands. His scar is deep, and that could only come fro..."
"Utter domination," he finished her sentence.
She nodded.
"I see, then it’s safe to say this dragon is no easy target. Dragons should never be considered easy in the first place," he explained and then took a sip of his wine.
"So what exactly do you want from me? If the royal family have given you the go-ahead to take it down, then you should.
Besides, you have to get the armament back. It’s extremely important to the Vermilion Kingdom now that the demons have started their move again."
She watched him speak, and her experience said it all. She was exhausted with his overly knowing attitude. She tapped her finger on the table while she waited for him to finish speaking.
"So do you have a plan of action?" he asked.
"If I had a plan, I would not have come here. I do not want to go in with weapons swinging in the forest. I already sent a six-star warrior, and that failed.
If I went in with anything stronger, it would for sure pull the attention of the forest lords and some other monsters we’d rather not disturb," she explained.
"And for some reason, this dragon does not fall under monsters you can’t leave alone, considering he killed humans and also took an armament, right?" he asked.
"Exactly, leaving him alone is not a possibility. He is a dragon that has taken human life from the kingdom and has taken what belongs to us.
It is clear that it’s a hostile monster and needs to be put down or controlled," she spoke in an adamant tone that made it clear there was no other option than this in the books.
"Calling a dragon a monster, that’s quite ballsy. If a dragon were here, it would be enough to start a war," he responded calmly as he took another bite and then proceeded to point the fork at her. "But you knew that already."
She clicked her tongue. "I do not care what the dragons believe about themselves," she replied.
"Aha, there it is. This is beyond simply seeing a threat. It’s an opportunity, an open gate for the great Lady Ezra, the number one female enforcer.
You want to take this case and win it. The title of dragon slayer does bring a lot of respect and accolades," he said and then proceeded to sip his wine. He rolled it in his cup once, and then his eyes landed on her, changing from the former playful gaze into something serious.
"But times are different now. You are not killing a normal monster, you are killing a powerful dragon. There is no way that you’ll do that and not get the attention of the dragon race.
If killing that dragon manages to piss them off, then we can kiss peace goodbye. The dragons are prideful and love to do things on their own, but they will not have peace with humans if they kill one of theirs who was important to them.
Then again, you knew this, and that’s why you came. When it was a young, weak dragon, you figured you could take it down and no one would know for sure, or no one would care. But now, that situation has changed.
You want to know if doing this would piss off the dragons, if they care about this one dragon in the forest." He analyzed everything down to the smallest detail.
She took a deep breath. "I guess nothing ever gets past those eyes and ears of yours."
"Haha, you flatter me," he replied.
"So now that you know what I want, will you help me find out from the dragons who you have connections with?
You are the Sword Saint after all, one of the only humans that has had proper connections with other races and the dragons as well." She finally got to the point of what she wanted.
"So you want me to use my connections to speak with a dragon and find out their take on the dragon in the forest," he summarized everything that she wanted.
"Exactly, before I take more forward methods to confront the dragon."
"Haha, I’d say you have already taken a forward method after you attacked it. That being said, I am not sure I can help you in that regard."
She frowned when she heard his reply. "What is the reason? Money, a reward? I’ll find anything that you want after you do it."
He shook his head slowly. He got on his feet and walked down the side of the table, heading toward her in slow, counted steps.
"Listen, the pride of the dragons is always underestimated by humans. To only have an audience with one of the dragons that claims to be my friend, I’d need to carry some sort of gift and hand it to them.
Then there is the fact that I can’t visit them always. I probably get one visit a year. Right now, you are asking me to use my one and only ticket a year that could be used in times of emergency in order to ask one question about one random dragon.
That’s not possible," he said as he stood beside her.
She frowned. She could understand what he said, but she was not willing to budge.
"Fine, how about I owe you a favour?" she said and looked at him.
His eyes lit up immediately. "Haha, you should have started with that. A favour from you and your particular skill set is something I’ve been looking for," he said with a smile.