The bearded brute nearby froze instantly. Straightforward by nature, his emotions were written plainly on his face, and Banrot's words had struck exactly at his deepest hesitation and unease.
Another adventurer subconsciously gripped the dagger at his waist, casting a fleeting glance at the girl on the ground before quickly looking away, not daring to stare any longer.
The oppressive atmosphere that had just begun to dissipate silently blanketed the area once more, making everyone tense with discomfort.
“What exactly are you trying to say?” Chas spoke up first, his brow furrowing deeply.
Though young, he was by no means foolish, and Banrot's half-spoken, half-hidden tone made him thoroughly uncomfortable. “Just spit it out. Stop beating around the bush.”
Banrot glanced sideways at Chas but didn't reply immediately. Instead, he turned to face the crowd and raised his voice slightly.
“Fine, then I'll lay it all out.” He spread his hands, as if displaying an obvious truth. “Have any of you considered that this might be the greatest opportunity of our lives?”
He paused intentionally, giving everyone a moment to digest his words, before raising a single finger, his tone carrying a calculated, persuasive edge.
“We are all adventurers who make a living on the edge of a blade. Surely we've all heard the legends of giant dragons.”
“In the epics sung by bards, dragons have only ever had one identity: evil dragons.” His pace was slow, yet it carried an undeniable weight.
“They are the most perilous obstacles on a Hero's quest, the source of disasters that burn cities to ash, and terrifying monsters that squat in treasure-filled Secret Realms, waiting for countless adventurers to challenge them.”
Banrot ticked off points on his fingers, his tone growing more assertive. “Have any of you ever heard a legend about a benevolent dragon? Have you ever seen a single dragon that helped humans? No, not a single one.”
The murmurs among the crowd grew louder. Several adventurers exchanged glances, the hesitation in their eyes deepening.
“You all saw how powerful she is with your own eyes just now,” Banrot pivoted. “With the innate pride of a giant dragon, do you really think she will tolerate having such a humiliating experience witnessed?”
He lowered his voice, as if sharing a top-secret truth meant only for those present.
“The dragon race is brutal by nature. I'm not just making this up; it's a conclusion passed down for thousands of years. It's impossible for legends spanning so many generations to be entirely fabricated.”
These words were far more lethal than anything he had said before, piercing straight through to everyone's deepest fears and stirring up their dread of the unknown.
If this dragon truly harbored goodwill, then all would be well.
But what if she didn't? What if those ancient legends were true?
What if, upon waking, she vented her anger on the entire village to cover up her shame? When the time came, the entire village wouldn't survive a single breath of her dragon fire.
Chas opened his mouth to argue, but found himself momentarily tongue-tied, unable to find the right words.
His intuition told him clearly that Banrot was deliberately inciting the crowd and sowing discord, yet he couldn't find a single loophole to refute him.
He didn't know much about the bards' lore, but thinking back carefully, among all the dragon legends circulating in the world, there indeed had never been a friendly dragon.
This thought made his heart sink, but he still gritted his teeth and countered, “But she was protecting the entire village just now! She clearly could have just escaped, but she chose to stay and fight!”
“Protecting?” Banrot tilted his head, his tone sounding as if he were correcting a childish misconception. “Chas, think about it. She was never protecting us. She was only fulfilling her own promise of a return favor.”
“She said from the very beginning that this was a return favor for providing information. The transaction is over. No one can say for sure what her attitude will be next.”
He paused, his voice dropping lower, as a burning desire welled up in the depths of his eyes.
“To take a step back, even if she doesn't actively take her anger out on us, the most we can do is drive her away and avoid making an enemy of her. But the premise for all of this is that we have enough strength.”
He looked around, his gaze slowly sweeping over every apprehensive yet tempted face.
“Why must we only defend ourselves passively? We can completely take the initiative!”
“You've all heard the legends of dragon-slaying Heroes, right? What did the heroes in those stories do?”
His voice trembled with excitement, no longer able to conceal the greed and thrill surging in his heart.
“They slew evil dragons, using dragon blood to temper weapons, dragon bones to forge armor, and dragon teeth to decorate shields. They hauled mountain-like piles of gold and silver treasures from the dragons' lairs!”
“Upon their triumphant return, even the lords of the territories would personally ride out of the cities to welcome them! Their heroic deeds would be sung by bards for eternity, their names etched in history!”
He took a deep breath, throwing out his most seductive hook.
“Right now, this very opportunity is laid out before us! A giant dragon, severely wounded, unconscious, and completely defenseless, lies right at our feet! If we miss today, we will never encounter such an opportunity again in this lifetime, or the next!”
This blatant declaration of ambition thoroughly ignited the crowd's restlessness. The whispers around them grew denser and denser as everyone's resolve began to waver.
The veins on the back of the bearded brute's hands bulged one by one as he tightly gripped his axe, his entire body tense.
The young archer stood behind Carson, his face full of panic, completely at a loss as to what choice to make.
Banrot's words allowed fear and greed to quietly spread through the hearts of the crowd, throwing everyone's state of mind into complete disarray.
“Enough!”
Carson's voice rang out abruptly, instantly suppressing all the whispers on the scene.
He looked down at the unconscious girl on the ground. Her breathing was much steadier than before, but her brow remained tightly furrowed, indicating she was not sleeping peacefully.
Her dragon tail lay limply along the edge of the rubble pile, a scale at the tip of her tail slightly pried up by a small pebble, entirely unbeknownst to her.
Immediately after, Carson raised his eyes to look directly at Banrot, his tone calm yet carrying an unyielding determination.
“Are you finished speaking?”
Banrot narrowed his eyes slightly. He had long anticipated that someone would object, but Carson's attitude irritated him. He said coldly, “I am merely helping everyone anticipate the worst-case scenario.”
“You aren't doing this for everyone at all,” Carson said through gritted teeth. “You want to stab our savior in the back while she lies unconscious after saving us.”
Chas and the archer turned to look at Carson at the same time, finally letting out a sigh of relief in their hearts, as if they had found a reliable pillar of support.
“She is a giant dragon,” Banrot's tone turned completely cold, stripped of his previous fake warmth.
“Can you guarantee she absolutely won't turn on us? If the first thing she does upon waking is breathe fire and burn down the entire village, causing a catastrophe, who will bear the consequences? Will it be you?”
Carson turned his head to look at the small figure curled up in the pile of rubble.
The dragon horns on her head were slightly too large, looking highly disproportionate to her delicate, small face, like a child forced to wear heavy, ill-fitting ornaments.
Sunlight fell upon her dragon tail, its crimson-gold scales reflecting a soft luster. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she were trapped in a turbulent and uneasy nightmare.
Yet, Carson could find no way to refute the hidden danger Banrot spoke of.
Rate on N.U.
