Chapter 50: Come on, brother-in-law 27

"You guys talk, I'm going to rest," Yeyu said, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished.

Slipping away just like that—what an unloyal fellow. Xining quickly searched for an excuse, stalling for time: "Let's talk about it tomorrow, I'm so tired!"

"Humans are foolish and deceitful. No, dissolve the contract immediately." The fire dragon sat there, its head—excluding its horns—reaching the height of a three-story building. Its arms were crossed over its chest, radiating the aura of a supreme boss, determined not to stop until the contract was broken.

"Daddy, I'm so tired too." Actually, the baby dragon had just seen Yeyu bring its makeshift mattress and blanket over.

"Be good, darling. If you're tired, daddy will carry you back." The fire dragon showed a completely different expression toward the baby dragon compared to Xining. Puffing a stream of smoke from its nose, it looked down from on high with utter disdain: "Vile human, did you hear that? Dissolve the contract."

"I say no!" Xining simply placed her hands on her hips. "Your daughter eats well and sleeps well with me. It's countless times better than back in your cave, and she wants to stay with me."

"You tricked her!" The fire dragon wore an exasperated look, as if fire might burst out at any second. "You don't even feed her meat."

"More than twenty whole roasted sheep—were they fed to the dogs just now? The baby dragon likes being a vegetarian." Xining's temper flared as well, and she shouted at the baby dragon, "Is it true that you want to be a vegetarian?"

"Yeah, yeah. Get me some lettuce and green onions next time," the baby dragon said, words that nearly caused the fire dragon to pass out on the spot.

"How could I have a daughter like you? A noble dragon race, and you don't eat meat." The fire dragon slumped to the ground, its fists pounding rhythmically against the earth in a display of utter agony and profound disappointment. "Where did I go wrong? Even when you were just an egg, I held you in my arms every day, kept you in my mouth, never letting you out of my sight for a single second. It took two hundred years of incubation for you to hatch. So why don't you love meat?"

"Daddy~" The baby dragon sat there, twisting its claws together, looking quite distressed. "But I like eating vegetables. Monster meat is so hard; how can it compare to juicy and crisp greens? Every time I eat meat, my stomach hurts."

"It sounds like indigestion." Xining patted the baby dragon's spine. "Noble fire dragon, it seems your daughter simply has a vegetarian digestive system. For her health, eating vegetarian isn't a big deal. Who knows, maybe she'll like meat again later on?"

The baby dragon pouted its snout, its voice growing so soft it was almost inaudible: "In the forest down the mountain, apart from monsters, there are no radishes, no cabbages... I don't want to go back..."

"You dare~" A low growl from the fire dragon startled the baby dragon into dropping flat onto the ground immediately, its two claws covering its eyes.

Seeing the baby dragon act like this, the fire dragon turned its fury back toward Xining, roaring: "It's all your fault! What kind of vegetables did you feed it? Now look at this—for the sake of some food, it refuses to go back!"

A massive gust of hot breath billowed from the dragon's mouth, blowing Xining's hair completely back.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, her brow furrowing deeply. "Such a strong smell of mutton. Do you want another whole roasted sheep?"

***

The fire dragon instantly relaxed its expression and nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes!"

Realizing how that looked, it quickly put back on its cool and domineering face, cleared its throat, and said, "Ahem! Since my precious daughter doesn't want to go back, she can stay for one more night. But tomorrow, the contract must be dissolved!"

Who was the one just complaining that it wouldn't go back over some food?

Phaethon's house wasn't as large as the Gamelio estate, making it impossible to clear out the main hall to use as a bedroom.

Using magic, Yeyu moved all the firewood out of the woodshed, had two servants clean it up, and then carried in the pink floor mat and bedding.

The fire dragon was displeased. "My daughter is sleeping in a woodshed?"

Xining expressionlessly lay down on the nearby bed, which had been moved out from her bedroom into this space. "Don't I sleep here too? There aren't any rooms large enough. In a couple of days, I'll have people come build a special room."

"No need, we're leaving tomorrow." The fire dragon remained deeply dissatisfied with the woodshed. "Are there really no other rooms?"

Xining replied, "There aren't many rooms big enough for us. There's also the stable."

The stable was even worse than the woodshed. Horses were mere beasts of burden—how could a noble dragon sleep in a place meant for livestock?

Watching the baby dragon comfortably sprawl out on the thick, plush pink floor mat, the fire dragon said in a grumpy tone, "What's so good about this? A dragon should sleep on countless gems, gold coins, and silver coins."

"That's too hard and uncomfortable. Daddy, I have gems too!" The baby dragon spat out a gem it had been hiding in its mouth. It was from Elsa's scepter, about the size of a child's fist, milky white, and emitting a faint fluorescent glow.

The fire dragon glanced at it with contempt. "This thing? It's neither red nor blue, not even transparent, and the brightness isn't nearly enough."

"Ptui, ptui~" Spitting out four or five more gems consecutively—each the size of a bowl and dazzling enough to blind a person—the baby dragon lifted its head proudly. "These are real gems!"

Xining's eyes nearly watered with covetous greed; any single one of those could buy tens of thousands of sheep! Meanwhile, her pockets were entirely empty, having spent everything on food. If the baby dragon hadn't loved eating vegetables, a dragon would truly be impossible to afford!

"Daddy is still the best!" Delighted, the baby dragon gathered all the gems, including the white one, into a single pile and pressed its belly over them.

The baby dragon lay down and closed its eyes. The fire dragon stared at it for a long time, then gently laid down beside the baby dragon. When its massive body came to rest, it didn't make a single sound.

***

The fire dragon closed its eyes, only to open them again with a worried expression. Extending a sturdy claw, its foot-long, jet-black nails delicately pinched the corner of the pink blanket, carefully and gently tucking it in around the baby dragon before finally closing its eyes to sleep.

The stark contrast was so dramatic that Xining nearly wanted to scratch at the wall in despair.

Truly a model dragon father of the century: capable of capturing monsters, chasing away rogue dragons coveting his daughter, and proving that a single father could be incomparably powerful.

Early the next morning, the top priority was breakfast. The dragon race only needed to eat once every two or three days; if they were in a dormant period, a single hearty meal allowed them to go months without eating or drinking. Humans, however, required three meals a day, or at least two.

There were still some leftover pieces of bread from yesterday, so Xining forced some down haphazardly before turning to the account books.

Phaethon's estate was vast, but because Maria had neglected management, many tenants occupied land without paying rent, and some hadn't paid in as long as three years.

Looking at the blank spaces for expected income in the ledger, Xining finally understood why Maria had been so generous—there simply was no money coming in.

She first found Yeyu and had him resize the clan leader's magic robe to fit her properly.

Then, she told him they were heading out immediately to collect rent.

Upon hearing this, the fire dragon strongly objected: "What? Not only are you using my baby as a mount, but you're also forcing it to help you collect protection money?"

Xining explained, "It's not protection money, it's rent! Without money, how are we supposed to buy whole roasted sheep?"

At the mere mention of whole roasted sheep—with their crispy skin and tender meat—the fire dragon immediately agreed to tag along.

It wasn't for the sake of the roasted sheep, of course. It was just that humans were too deceitful and the outside dragon clans were too vicious; no matter what, it couldn't allow its precious daughter to face any danger.

Selecting several large-scale tenants who owed the longest-standing debts, Xining set off to collect rent, accompanied by two dragons and a grand mage.