Violet casually pointed to a bulletin board at the city gate, which had several sheets of paper posted on it.

 

Due to her exceptional vision resulting from her physical attributes, the priestess saw the content of the notices from a distance. One of them caught her interest.

 

“Which one are you referring to?”

 

“The physician recruitment notice, the one seeking skilled doctors. That’s me.”

 

The squad leader looked skeptical as he examined the confident young girl standing before him, almost crossing his arms with one hand on his hip. He then glanced discreetly at the girl who followed her, who had a calm expression and a peculiar attire but emitted a dangerous aura, the young dragon lady.

 

“The Lord of the city is indeed recruiting physicians, but young lady, you look like you’re only sixteen or seventeen. How skilled can you be in medicine? Don’t blame me if I don’t warn you. This disease is difficult to treat. If you can’t demonstrate the corresponding ability, you might be seen as a troublemaker and spend a few days in the dungeons.”

 

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’m actually quite confident in the field of treatment!”

 

Seeing Violet pat her flat chest and assure him with a sincere expression, the squad leader finally began to believe her to some extent.

 

He had heard of prodigies in the capital and large cities or from other countries who, due to their talent and family’s strong support, had advanced their magical abilities to levels that regular people might not achieve even after several decades. Perhaps this extraordinary young lady was one of those individuals.

 

The golden-haired girl behind her was clearly her bodyguard. Even though the squad leader himself was only at the level of copper-bronze, he could tell that the girl’s skills were extraordinary, likely at least a high-ranked warrior.

 

So, was she a noble lady from some prominent family who had ventured out for experience?

 

With this thought in mind, the team leader’s demeanor became more respectful, he holstered his long spear and nodded.

 

“Very well, since that’s the case, I will take you to meet the Lord of the city. Just a quick question, who is this young lady with golden hair?”

 

“Oh, she is my… um, maid, my maid! A very capable one, specialized in ensuring my safety.”

 

Originally, Violet wanted to say it was her sister. However, it would be quite a stretch to believe that two sisters could look so different in terms of hair color, facial features, and body shape, even in a magical world. After all, others weren’t fools. So, she used the maid setting instead. It’s not much different from a pet, right? So, rounding it up, she wasn’t lying.

 

“A maid, I see… Please follow me.”

 

Upon hearing this title, the team leader became even more convinced of his suspicion. Without further hesitation, he gestured for the guards to make way and led Violet and Xiao Guang into the city.

 

The three of them walked along the main street of Flame Dragon City.

 

“Wow, it’s quite lively here, with so many shops and stalls. I haven’t seen most of these items before.”

 

The black-haired girl had no sense of nervousness about the upcoming mission and enthusiastically walked along the street, occasionally stopping to examine interesting items at the street vendors’ stalls. She seemed to be in a good mood.

 

While Flame Dragon City was a top-tier fortress city much larger than Courage City, it didn’t have abundant resources due to its proximity to the harsh western regions. It hadn’t developed much in terms of distinctive culture, relying primarily on heavy industries like military production and weapon manufacturing. It was a heavily militarized fortress city.

 

The local equipment in this world was subpar in Violet’s eyes, and she couldn’t find anything of interest.

 

In her eyes, those things were less interesting than the various snacks, toys, and souvenirs with no specific grades. It’s worth noting that this city had a particular fascination with dragons due to the development of its tourism culture.

 

On their way, Violet saw a wide variety of red dragon plush dolls, wooden carvings, dragon claw toys, as well as books and picture albums related to dragons. Clearly, they were commemorative items or imitations of the red dragon that brought prosperity and abundance to this place.

 

Furthermore, as Violet passed through the city center, she spotted a colossal sculpture of a red dragon, over ten meters high, cast from the local special metal known as “Crimson Forge Copper.” While it was certainly smaller than the actual red dragon, it was incredibly lifelike. However, she assumed that the real dragon probably didn’t look like that…

 

Humans, or rather the Human United Kingdom, had extremely limited knowledge about true dragons. Apart from speculating based on common characteristics of creatures with dragon blood, most of the information consisted of ancient legends and myths.

 

It was all just imaginative speculation, making the dragon into something even more magnificent and wondrous.

 

Rather than saying the people of Flame Dragon City worshipped the red dragon, it was more accurate to say that they liked to attribute the transformation of their land and lives to “dragon’s blood.”

 

People like things that are extraordinary.

 

For some reason, a phrase from her homeworld, “叶公好龙” (Yè gōng hào lóng), suddenly popped into Violet’s mind. [1]

 

“Miss Violet, judging from your excitement, is this your first time in Flame Dragon City?”

 

The team leader leading the way in front asked with a gentle smile.

 

It’s worth noting that being a beautiful girl had its advantages. If it were two burly men instead, who dawdled and wandered around while on the road, this gentleman would probably have lost his patience by now. But at the moment, all he had in his eyes was the enjoyment of seeing beautiful things, and he seemed completely unhurried.

 

Along the way, Violet naturally learned the name of her guide. She casually picked up a red dragon pendant from a stall in front of her and squeezed it a few times before nodding in agreement.

 

“Yes, Mr. Daniel. I’ve never traveled far before. This is my first time exploring with my… um, maid, and many things are quite interesting to me.”

 

If it were an ordinary young girl traveling alone, she might be cautious about revealing such details to a stranger. But Violet was different. She had enough confidence in her and Xiao Guang’s abilities, and she wasn’t the typical naive and clueless type, so she was quite casual.

 

“Hehe, pretty young lady, it seems you really like Lord Shenlong’s plush toys. Since Daniel here is bringing you, I suppose you’re not bad folks. How about this, I’ll give you an 80% discount. Would you like to buy this little trinket for 16 copper coins?”

 

The stall owner was an elderly woman who appeared to be in her sixties or seventies. She wore a coarse linen robe, had silver hair at her temples, and a kind and gentle expression. She seemed to have taken a liking to Violet, and her eyes were smiling to the point where they almost disappeared into narrow slits on her wrinkled face.

 

“Sure, thank you, Granny!”

 

Violet didn’t make a fuss and happily pulled out two standard Human United Kingdom silver coins, handing them to the elderly woman. She graciously accepted the four copper coins in change that the woman provided, without giving or taking a single extra coin.

 

For her, money might not hold much meaning. She had received a substantial travel allowance from the Wanhe Fortress alone, amounting to tens of thousands of gold coins. However, those four copper coins represented the goodwill of the elderly woman in front of her, and Violet naturally had no intention of acting like a wealthy snob and insulting someone’s kindness.

 

The priestess handed the small pendant to Xiao Guang, who was by her side. Unexpectedly, when the little dragon received her owner’s gift, she acted out of character, pouted, and began muttering softly.

 

“Master, what’s so good about this ugly red dragon? It looks like a roasted sweet potato. Do its scales compare to my smoothness?!”

 

As she spoke, the dragon lady even partially removed her disguise, slyly extending her white tail from an angle unnoticed by others, gently brushing it against Violet’s leg beneath her priestess robe, as if seeking to please her. This made Violet’s face turn slightly red.

 

Clearly, the little dragon was using actions to prove to her master just how smooth and silky her scales were.

 

“You, you little troublemaker!”

 

This foolish pet of hers had been getting bolder lately, and she didn’t seem to care about being seen by others.

 

Daniel watched this heartwarming and delightful scene silently from the side. While he hadn’t seen Xiao Guang’s large tail, he could guess that “Miss Maid” had just been trying to please Violet.

 

Although they were just small details, from Violet’s previous actions, where she didn’t mind the roughness of the old woman’s hand when they touched, and from their playful interactions with the maid, he could glimpse some of the delicate and kind nature of this beautiful black-haired girl.

 

It seemed she wasn’t a suspicious individual after all.

 

As if he suddenly remembered something, he spoke up.

 

“By the way, Miss Violet, when you meet the Lord of the city later, remember not to speak too freely like you did with me. Just be modest. Even if you fail, the Lord shouldn’t be too harsh on you.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

Violet, who had just given her pet a lesson, tilted her head with some curiosity. “Speaking of which, I haven’t had a chance to ask why the Lord of Flame Dragon City is recruiting skilled physicians. Is there someone important suffering from a complicated illness? A relative of hers?”

 

“It’s not a relative of the Lord… Well, this is a long story. You’re outsiders, so you probably haven’t heard of something called 【Dragon’s Blood Disease】 before.”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“…Forget it, let’s continue on our way. Some things can’t be explained in a short time. You’ll understand when you meet the Lord and the actual patient.”

 

Seemingly avoiding the topic, Daniel suddenly ended the conversation and continued walking.

 

“…?”

 

Violet and her dragon exchanged a strange look and bid farewell to the elderly man with a smile. They quickly caught up and headed towards the Lord’s residence.

 

It seems that this ancient red dragon hasn’t brought entirely benevolent gifts to the local residents…

 

……………………………………

 

Some time after the three of them left.

 

…

 

“Ah!!”

 

The elderly woman who had been tending to her stall suddenly had a drastic change in her complexion. She spat out a mouthful of blood, mixed with dark red spots, and let out a scream as she collapsed, knocking over a large portion of her merchandise.

 

“Hey! What’s happening?”

 

“Amanda, pull yourself together!”

 

“Quick, take her to the clinic!”

 

“No, it’s not…”.

 

In the midst of the anxious crowd that had gathered due to the sudden commotion, a middle-aged man who appeared to be a nobleman gradually turned pale. He fixed his gaze on the elderly woman’s skin, which was starting to show red spots, and took frightened steps back.

 

It was as if he had witnessed something terrifying.

 

“This… this is… 【Dragon’s Blood Disease】!”

 

TL Note:

[1]

“叶公好龙”
Literal translation: Ye Gong likes dragons.
Figurative meaning: Someone who claims to love something but is actually terrified of it.