Chapter 1200: The Dragon and the Fine
Byron suddenly recalled a memory from his youth—long before he became a knight, before he was a mercenary, even before he was an apprentice swordsman.
Back then, as a boy tending the family’s cattle, he once did something that now seemed quite extraordinary. He had climbed onto the back of a bull and, armed with a long spike, jabbed it into the beast’s rear. For the next three minutes, he imagined himself a brave knight attempting to tame a fierce dragon.
Ah, what could be more thrilling and daring than that? Well, except for the ten days he spent bedridden afterward.
Actually, there was one thing more exciting—when the bull beneath him was replaced by a real, furious female dragon.
Byron couldn’t quite remember how he ended up on the ground. All he recalled was a wild series of violent shakes, sudden lifts into the air, continuous flips and spins, deafening roars, and a landing far more memorable than any fall from a bull. His whole body ached, yet miraculously, not a single bone was broken. As he struggled to his feet, grateful for his sturdy constitution, he met the gaze of the red dragon lowering her head toward him.
Her glowing orange-red vertical pupils, shimmering with magic, fixed on him so closely he could see his own reflection in them. Her nostrils flared, revealing a terrifying grimace half a meter wide, teeth bared in a snarl. Byron was certain he saw smoke and flames flickering at the corners of her mouth. Remembering what he had just done on her back, he quickly took a cautious step back. “Asalina, calm down! I wasn’t trying to—”
“Left side or right side?” The dragon’s deep, irritated voice came from above, though it sounded slightly calmer.
Byron blinked. “Left or right side of what?”
Her orange eyes narrowed slightly, and a stream of flickering flames dripped from the corner of her mouth. “Where did you vomit? On the left or the right?”
“Uh… left,” Byron wiped the cold sweat from his brow, then hurriedly corrected himself, “No, your right side—near your right shoulder blade…”
No sooner had he spoken than the red dragon suddenly lifted her head, her long, scaled neck arching back to its limit. Flames and smoke billowed from her mouth, aimed at the spot on her back Byron couldn’t see. She took a deep breath, and with a roaring “whoosh,” a torrent of scorching dragonfire burst forth, flowing through the edges and gaps of her steel-winged mechanical frame, burning away everything that didn’t belong.
Byron stared up in awe, suddenly recalling something he’d read years ago in a book by a scholar named Sha Timal Shell. The tome, titled Dragon Slaying Essentials, detailed the deadly weak points of dragons—specifically their backs. If a “dragon slayer” could manage to stand firmly on a dragon’s back, even a weaker warrior might have a chance to challenge the beast and claim great honor and treasure…
Now Byron was certain that the scholar’s later execution by the local church for “inciting heresy” was hardly unjustified.
Lost in these thoughts, Byron noticed the dragon’s fiery breath had ceased. As Asalina shook her neck from side to side, she lowered her head to look at him again. “Is everything burned clean?”
“Uh… I can’t really see, but I’m sure it’s all gone. You aimed pretty well,” Byron said awkwardly, forcing a smile. “Anyway, I’m really sorry about earlier. Are you still mad?”
“Don’t say ‘vomit’!” Asalina growled, clearly annoyed, then shook her head and muttered, “Fine, I’m not mad anymore. I’m a mature lady now—I won’t hold a grudge.”
“That’s good, that’s good,” Byron scratched his head and glanced at her massive form. “You should shift back to human form first. Moving around the city like this isn’t exactly convenient…”
Before Asalina could respond, a sharp whistle pierced the air from a nearby street corner. Both turned toward the sound to see a security officer in a black uniform speeding toward them on a two-wheeled cart, waving his arms and shouting, “You two! Don’t try to run! Stay right there!”
Byron was caught off guard as the officer skidded to a halt in front of him, leapt off the cart with practiced ease, and looked up fearlessly at the stunned red dragon. “You just flew over from the sky, right? Do you know you violated the city’s no-fly zone? And you landed pretty fast too—our air traffic control didn’t even have time to scramble!”
Asalina, who had never encountered anything like this before, looked confused. Byron, equally puzzled, asked the young officer, “Since when is flying banned here? I thought the southern district allowed low-altitude, slow flight for dragonkin. This square is even a temporary landing zone…”
“Last month!” The officer pulled out a small notebook for issuing fines, clearly annoyed. “They used to allow dragonkin to fly in the city, but there were too many reckless flights, noise complaints piled up, and with all the high-rise construction going on, the entire inner city is now off-limits for flying and landing. You can fly through above 800 meters, but takeoffs and landings have to be at the designated pads on the outskirts.”
He scribbled furiously in his notebook, then held up the fine toward Asalina. “Here—unauthorized flight and landing, failure to activate your comm device so air traffic control couldn’t warn or direct you, releasing dragonfire in the city violating fire safety laws, and loud shouting disturbing the peace. Ma’am, your voice is like thunder—I could hear you two blocks away. None of this is made up. If you want to dispute it, take it up with the Southern District Security Office. Otherwise, sign here, pay the fine, and you’ll need to report to air traffic control for further processing.”
Asalina lowered her head, squinting at the tiny slip of paper inches from her nose. Her huge eyes nearly touched as she read. When the officer finished, she looked up at Byron with a strange expression and whispered, “You better figure something out. You’re a high-ranking imperial officer, right? Surely you can handle this?”
Byron’s face twisted into an awkward grimace. After a moment’s thought, he shook his head. “I don’t want to break protocol by using my rank here. I’ll pay the fine for you, and I’ll accompany you to air traffic control…”
He began rummaging through his pockets for his wallet, hoping to settle the fine quickly so the young officer would leave. Then he could accompany Asalina to report properly. Luckily, the officer hadn’t recognized him yet. Even the most carefree “Knight Byron” cared about his reputation—he certainly didn’t want the whole city gossiping tomorrow about the navy commander getting hauled off on his first day home for multiple security violations.
But no plan is foolproof, especially on a day when Byron’s luck seemed to run dry. Just as he pulled out his wallet, a familiar, mechanically synthesized voice called from a nearby alley, “Dad?! You’re… So you and this dragonkin just flew in from the sky?”
Byron stiffened instantly. Then he saw Pea bounding toward him, her face alight with excitement. Before she even reached him, she started chattering nonstop: “Hey! Dad, why are you home so early? I thought you’d be gone a couple more days. And why didn’t you send a message before coming back? Who’s this dragonkin? Did you come from the north together? I thought you hated flying and said you’d rather ride a horse than be a dragonrider… Oh, and you probably haven’t seen the message I sent you recently, right? Since you’re back early, I’ll tell you later—”
Pea’s voice came through her magical device, flowing endlessly without pause or breath, like five tipsy ambers all talking at once. Byron tried several times to interrupt but failed. The young officer nearby suddenly exclaimed in surprise, causing Pea to pause.
“Miss Pea?” The officer’s eyes widened. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Wait—is this your father?”
The young man finally connected the dots, stiffening visibly. Then, with a complicated and nervous look, he turned to Byron, who had long since given up trying to think clearly, and stammered, “Y-Your… Your Excellency Byron, I didn’t recognize you earlier…”
Byron slapped his forehead and sighed deeply. Meanwhile, Asalina shook her long neck and flashed a grin full of half-meter-long fangs. “Oh ho—”
Pea, oblivious to the tension, focused on the officer. “Mr. George, you may not have met my dad before, but surely you’ve seen him in books, shows, or portraits, right?”
“Well… I didn’t dare to imagine it at first,” the officer said awkwardly. “I never thought I’d meet someone so important…”
“All right, all right, let’s not dwell on this anymore,” Byron said, feeling his headache growing worse. He quickly cut off the exchange between the sheriff and Pea, pulling out his wallet as he spoke rapidly, “Let me just pay the fine first, okay? Then I’ll go home, get settled, and report to air traffic control… Don’t worry, I’m definitely going. And this lady here with me—she’s coming too.”
The sheriff suddenly looked flustered. “If only I’d known it was you earlier…”
“Good thing you didn’t!” Byron said with a wry smile. “And good thing you know now! Just get your job done, kid—I don’t want to stand here any longer. At this rate, the whole neighborhood’s going to know what’s going on. I can already see a crowd gathering at the street corner.”
The sheriff snapped back to attention, hastily taking the fine and nodding. “Ah… yes, Lord Byron! I’ll sign the paperwork right away…”
Pea looked up curiously at Asalina, who was still watching the scene unfold, then back at Byron. “Dad, what’s going on? It feels like this isn’t just about illegal flying and landing… And wait, is this dragonborn lady? I’ve never seen her before! Is she your friend? Can you introduce me—”
Byron broke out in a cold sweat, waving his hands frantically. “At home, we’ll talk at home!”
He then turned to Asalina. “You planning to keep watching the show? Hurry up and change back—you’re already causing enough of a scene here!”
Asalina let out a soft hum, but her mood was clearly lifted. She stretched casually, and suddenly a massive shimmering light screen appeared out of nowhere, enveloping her huge form completely. As the light flickered, the dragon’s massive body quickly faded away.
Pea’s eyes widened in surprise as she watched the figure emerge from the light screen. “Oh—”
The red-haired dragonmark witch stepped out, smiling warmly as she approached Pea and waved at the little girl, who was still a bit dazed. “Hello, Pea—this should be our second meeting. Remember? It was at the welcoming banquet for the envoy. Let me reintroduce myself—you can call me Asalina…”
In the second-floor study of Cecil Palace, where a blue velvet carpet stretched beneath, Amber’s figure emerged from the shadows and lightly jumped onto Gawain’s desk. “Byron’s back, and it seems there’s been a bit of a stir over there.”
“A bit of a stir?” Gawain looked up from his pile of documents, surprised. He had known Byron would arrive early in Cecil City today, thanks to a report from the North Harbor, but he was more curious about the “stir” Amber mentioned. “What kind of trouble did he get into this time? He’s been pretty steady these past couple of years…”
“He came back with Asalina—oh, that was in the earlier report too,” Amber said casually. “Nothing major, just that the foreign dragonborn aren’t familiar with local regulations, so Byron and his dragon got detained…”
Gawain sighed. He hadn’t expected Byron, who hadn’t been back for over a year, to make such a scene right upon his return. Well… no surprise there. He really was one of Cecil’s oldest court jesters.
Shaking his head with a smile, he figured it wasn’t a big deal. Just then, a knock at the door interrupted their conversation.
The study door opened, and Betty appeared, slightly out of breath as if she’d been running.
“Master… Your Majesty!” The head maid nearly stumbled over her words before quickly correcting herself. “Miss Melita of the Dragon Clan has arrived. She says she brings important intelligence from Talrond… something concerning the Wilde family.”
(End of chapter)