Alavenya hurried back to meet her father. It was weird that she was called after almost two weeks. She thought the matter had passed without any problems after Mando’s assurance.
However, the moment she reached the mountain where her father usually trained, she found what he meant by a madman.
There were multiple craters, a small part of the mountain was destroyed, and the Dragon King was sitting on a crate. He was gnashing his teeth. His eyes were bloodshot, and his body was shaking in frustration.
Mando followed right behind her with a worried expression.
“Father…” Alavenya approached her father with caution, not knowing what happened. This was the first time her father showed such anger.
The Dragon King raised his head, staring at Alavenya. He then turned to Mando and said, “Why did you call her?”
“I…” Mando wanted to explain, but the Dragon King applied more pressure, shutting Mando’s mouth as if he didn’t want to hear his explanation.
“Father. What is going on? What makes you so angry?” Alavenya looked worried, wondering if her mistake was actually that big. She thought no matter what, the mistake could be solved easily.
The Dragon King gritted her teeth as if he were hesitant to say it. He said, “I heard the Chaotic Cat organization was trying to kidnap you.”
“That was true, but they seemed to be more interested in other people.”
The Dragon King shook his head. “It’s not about that, daughter. Have I spoiled you too much because of your talent?”
“What do you mean, Father?” Alavenya’s heart beat rapidly. This was the first time her father blamed her.
“Those two were my guests, and you ask me what I mean?”
“But you said they were to follow my instructions.”
The Dragon King gritted his teeth and glared at Mando. “Did you not say anything?”
“I—” Mando wanted to say something, but he hesitated. On the one hand, he could reveal what happened, but that would end up blaming Alavenya. On the other hand, he was the Dragon King’s close aide, so he faced a dilemma.
Alavenya noticed her father focusing on Mando instead of her. She stepped forth and said, “Please don’t blame him, Father. It was my fault. I did something wrong.”
“You did something wrong? What was it? What did you do?” The Dragon King asked.
“I should have let them follow me closely. That way, they would have been safer, and there wouldn’t be any friction with the Frexia Academy.”
“I wasn’t afraid of the Frexia Academy or the Sage, Daughter. It was your lack of foresight that disappointed me.” The Dragon King shook his head helplessly.
“Foresight?” Alavenya was taken aback. The people around her had been telling how smart she was, so she thought she didn’t lack such a thing. As the Dragon King said, she might have been so full of herself that she couldn’t differentiate between sincere praise and boot-licking.
The Dragon King said, “You should have realized who you were dealing with. That guy was the unique summoner who was rumored to summon only beasts. Even if the Sage didn’t move, it wouldn’t be weird if people came at me so that they could gain his favor.
“My point is that you should have known more about the people you’re dealing with before pushing them away. Now tell me, when they came, did you ask anything about them? Did you know why I sent them there? What kind of mission did I give them? What was the reward?”
“I…” Alavenya looked down. “I don’t know.”
“If you had known about their mission and their reward, you would probably change your decision. If you had known he was that unique summoner, you would probably bring him closer.” The Dragon King gritted his teeth. “If you had known I sent them there in exchange for the blood and the scale of my draconian familiar, would you change your decision? Answer me.”
Alavenya dropped her jaw, not expecting her father would give such a thing as a reward. That also meant her father planned to make a connection to that summoner. For what reason?
It might be as simple as asking him to summon a dragon, since that was what he gave. What would happen if they used the real dragon as a material to summon their familiar?
“Father. I can make this right.” Alavenya gritted her teeth.
“If you had known all that, I probably wouldn’t need to give him my Dragon Fist as a compensation!” The Dragon King clenched his hands into fists, as if he had a hard time containing his anger.
“Dragon Fist?” Alavenya obviously knew the meaning of the Dragon Fist. She was trembling, finally coming to a realization of how much she had messed up. “Father…” ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
“No. I don’t care. You know me, Daughter. I would do everything for you. But it was because of that reason I’m angry right now. He used you!”
“Used me?” Alavenya was confused.
“I read the report, stating that he was covered in injuries, but once he came, he wasn’t in that state. After teaching the Dragon Fist, I realized he used you to leverage his own position, despite being fully aware that those injuries were nothing but something easy to heal. His beast could heal him in a short amount of time! He scammed me!”
“What?” Alavenya gasped.
“Can you imagine the dignity, the reputation, and the integrity I have built crumble? He knows that I can’t harm him because he is at the Frexia Academy. Even if I don’t fear the Sage, I’ll be in a lot of trouble if I fight him. That’s why I can only swallow my pride and live with this kind of shame.”
“I…” Alavenya clenched her fists. She was ashamed, frustrated, and angry. “I’ll make this right, Father. I will fix this problem.”
“How?”
Alavenya couldn’t answer.
“Sir…” Mando wanted to speak, but the Dragon King glared at him, applying some pressure on him. “Shut up! You are also responsible for this.”
Mando endured the pressure even though blood started leaking out of the corner of his lips. “But Sir… The Frexia Academy has that Summoners War system. Can’t the young miss just join there and fight that guy? This is a formal system that even the sage can’t do anything about. She can leave the academy after that by something like there’s no other worthy opponent or something.”
“!!!” Alavenya raised her eyebrows while the Dragon King raised his voice. “Shut up! Did you not hear me?”
“Gah!” Mando fell to his knees, looking even more injured.
“Father!” Alavenya tried to stop him. “I will go to the Frexia Academy to fix this problem and even smear that guy’s reputation while I’m there. After that, I will simply leave the academy. I won’t disappoint you!”