According to the comparison of the two maps, the Northwest of the North had undergone a huge change . After the mountains were blown up, the snow melted, which flooded many places in the Northwest . Fundamentally speaking, it was transformed into an area of lakes and rivers . Some had been completely drowned .

I let out a breath of relief upon seeing the ruins of the village . After all, the village was at the foot of the mountain back then . It wasn’t submerged; we could still find the ruins if we went there . With that said, the valley nearby had completely changed . I wasn’t certain if the valley had become a lake, because the newest map had yet to be updated . We hadn’t defined the land quality there yet . The mountains in the Northwest were still constantly changing owing to the temperature . Hence, while the valley wasn’t confirmed to be flooded, its state was a question mark .

My only choice was to head there . Dragons could fly, though, so even if the place was flooded, they could just fly away . Plus, I was certain the dragons wouldn’t approach our East or South, as those places were populated by elves, humans and anthropoids . The dragons were definitely averse to approaching us unless they wanted to wage war on us . The group of dragons there were certainly not a big group . There might only be a few of them for all we knew . In saying that, judging from Dragon Mom’s excited reaction, I think just a few dragons would make her happy . Of course, the fewer of them there were, the happier I’d be . That would allow Dragon Mom to be happy without me having to be concerned about them becoming a threat to us .

Dragon Mom sat in a chair and watched me examine the map . Bored, she asked, “Son, why can’t we just fly there…?”

I’d a.s.sume Dragon Mom would be smacking the floor with her tail if she had it out . While looking at the map, I shook my head and explained, “We can do that in the future, but not now . The dragon race is a secret I can’t publicise yet . Of course, if they’re willing to get along with us, I’d be very happy to be friends with them just as humans and elves . ”

Dragon Mom leaned into the backrest and, with a soft laugh, asked, “Why does Mommy feel that elves and humans don’t get along?”

I smiled helplessly and nodded . I expounded, “Mommy Vyvyan and Mommy Elizabeth’s relations.h.i.+p isn’t bad, but elves and humans once fought a war against each other . Because both parties have some grudges against each other, their relations.h.i.+p, consequently, isn’t good . ”

“Is that how it is…? I heard that the two of them started the war for you… How frightening it is to be a mom . ”

“It’s just those two who are so frightening . ”

I shook my head . Dragon Mom laughed . She seemed to have s.p.a.ced out a little when she said, “If I were to wage a war against everyone for you, would I be able to have you? I could recruit other dragons and so forth… and then wage a war similar to the one ten years ago…”

I quickly responded, “I was ignorant back then, but I understand things now . I don’t want the people I love and those who love me getting hurt for my sake . I don’t want to ever see that . Therefore, Mom, don’t ever do that . Aren’t I always by your side even though you’ve never done that?”

I don’t think everything Dragon Mom said was a joke . I genuinely believe she’d do it, so I had to quickly nip such frightening ideas in the bud as soon as possible . Dragon Mom looked at me with a squint . Somewhat rea.s.sured, she nodded . Voice soft, she replied, “As long as you don’t leave me as early as your father did . Son, Mommy just wants you to always be with Mommy . Mommy will protect you on this journey . ”

“I don’t feel I’m in any danger this time . ”

Dragon Mom softly giggled .

I was serious . I didn’t feel I was in any danger this time . Dragons were impervious to blades, and that didn’t apply for just Dragon Mom . I had newfound might from the dragon blood in me; hence, I wasn’t worried about anything . The only person who could hurt me was training under Tanya’s guidance, so Dragon Mom and I would be safe together .

I placed the map down, and then stood up to stretch my back out . I then held Mom’s hand . With a smile, I said, “You’ve already waited until now, so be patient for just a while longer, Mom . If we fly here, we’ll be spotted . One we reach the centre, there won’t be so many people . That’s when we can fly over together… But to be frank, I’m not very fond of flying… It’s too cold…”

Dragon Mom softly laughed . Then, she touched my head: “That can’t be helped . You’re not a dragon, after all . It’ll be all right, though . Can’t you just wear some more clothes? Maybe Mommy can fly slightly lower . ”

I smiled . It seemed that Mom wasn’t willing to pa.s.s up the chance to fly . Although it wasn’t too fair on the White Deer King, I suppose it would be happy to be able to run to its heart’s content .

“Son, if you’re worried about the White Deer King, Mommy can transform her into a human form . The only reason that she can’t take on human form is due to insufficient mana, but it’s possible if you provide her with a bit of mana . ” Dragon Mom looked at me with a smile . She looked as though she wanted to give it a try…

I stopped to consider it, “If the White Deer King was to transform into a human… I’ll bet it’s identical to how Nier was initially . By that, I mean the proud nature and cla.s.sic line, ‘please kill yourself,’ and those sorts of verbal attacks . Moreover, the White Deer King is aggressive . She wants to kick me or trip me for no rhyme or reason . If she was to take on a human form, how violent would she be…?”

“I-I think we can pa.s.s on that… I think this is quite good… This is quite good . ”

Dragon Mom pursed her lips into a smile then wrapped her arm around mine . The two of us descended the stairs . We were at an inn . We didn’t head straight to the village; instead, we went to the outside of the Imperial City first . Frankly, we weren’t too fast . I had started to feel a little concerned, however . It was a long way from our location to the Northwest, but my North wasn’t a nation as powerful as the Rosvenor Empire . Consequently, only the Imperial Capital was flouris.h.i.+ng . The further out we headed, the more desolate the land was, the fewer people there were, and the colder places were . Subsequently, there soon wouldn’t be inns available, meaning we’d have to sleep outdoors .

Having to sleep in the wild would be nasty . There was no tasty food, warm beds and we’d have to worry about wild beasts and so forth, not to mention the weather . Seriously, the less time we had to spend living that way, the better . That was why I planned to ask if Mom fly me there even if she didn’t bring it up…

We went down to the bottom floor of the hotel . On the top floor were the guest rooms . On the bottom floor was the bar . The hotel could be counted as a hotel in a small town . There was nothing to do at night, so the townsfolk come to the bar . They didn’t need any expensive wines or to hook up with women . They came just for a measly beer, and then bragged to the woman next to them . Then they’d go home to sleep with satisfaction before waking up to repeat another repet.i.tive day .

When the two of us went downstairs, the customers scanned me with curiosity and Mom with surprise, since we were foreigners . I glanced at Mom out of concern . Dragon Mom wasn’t fond of wearing clothes . Though I was aware she had covered her body with her scales, she was always nude from my perspective… That caused me to feel awkward . I didn’t think the townsfolk had seen such a pretty woman before . They’d be wondering why such a beautiful flower was at the bar reeking of alcohol and foggy with smoke . Nevertheless, Dragon Mom didn’t concern herself with them . She, instead, sat down at a table with me .

Frankly, the stench of the stuff they smoked was repulsive . The people of the town hadn’t seen the King of the North before, so n.o.body recognised me . Mom picked up the menu by the side and curiously scanned it . I a.s.sumed she was wondering what the foods were . The variety of foods she had tried was very minimal .

Smiling, I said, “We’re not in the Imperial Palace today, so you don’t need to be concerned with so many rules or worry about anything . Eat however is convenient for you . Oh, right, there won’t be a basin for you to wash your hands or desserts afterwards, either . ”

Dragon Mom had been restricted in the palace for so long, so it was fair to let her have some decent fun for the day . Dragon Mom lit up forthwith: “I can order anything?! I can eat however I like?!”

Apparently, desserts weren’t too alluring to Dragon Mom .

I chuckled and then made an, “as you please,” hand gesture . A pleasantly joyous smile immediately bloomed on Mom’s face . She stood up and waved the menu excitedly . I called a waiter over – which was the boss and man at the bar counter . The plump man showed surprise as he listened to Dragon Mom name the names of the dishes . All of the dishes she ordered were basically grilled mead, diced meat, meat stew, fried meat et cetera . In short, they were all meat dishes . Dragon Mom must’ve been fond of meat dishes .

When the people saw Mom wolf down big mouthfuls of meat and generously smash back beer, they were wowed . They raised their cups up to her to gesture a toast . After getting the nod of approval from me, Dragon Mom cheerfully a.s.similated into the crowd of townsfolk’s cheers and cups gaily went round .  I guess beer suited Dragon Mom’s palate .

They clinked their chipped wooden cups, swis.h.i.+ng the yellow, foamy beer up . I guess Dragon Mom enjoys this sort of carnival type of environment with beer, meat and a bustling crowd . It must’ve alleviated her loneliness .

It wasn’t the sort of ball reeking with the stench of money and power, but a totally cheerful and carnival type of environment . It was no wonder Dragon Mom enjoyed it so much . I didn’t walk away with nothing .

Thanks to Dragon Mom’s big gut, she defeated all challengers and established her legend as the woman who doesn’t get drunk even after a thousand drinks . In the process, she managed to win the special ent.i.tlement to have the meal on the house . Of course, I got myself a completely drunk and limp dragon I had to lug onto the bed .