Chapter 576 Helpers
?The crystal continued to reveal more of the same, showing him the woman's skills in managing cities and people.
Archer tossed it back to Jethro, who caught it with a smile before he explained, "That is my granddaughter, Aisha Ashcroft. She ruled over the only Dragon-kin city in existence, well, apart from your domain."
He caught something when he heard the old man's words and asked. ''She ruled? What happened?''
A sad smile appeared on Jethro's wrinkled face before he spoke. ''Can we go somewhere more private, your Majesty?''
Archer nodded as he walked toward the old man and grabbed his arm before teleporting to the top of a mountain inside the domain.
Once there, Jethro explained. ''Raiders attacked the city from three directions. Aisha managed to escape, but most of the city was lost to the flames as the humans ransacked everything.''
''Where is she now?'' Archer asked with a curious voice.''
Jethro sighed before revealing the redhead's location. ''She managed to board a ship before the city fell and is heading toward the Avalon Empire in search of you.''
When the old man finished speaking, Archer looked at him with narrowed eyes. ''How do you know all this? Are you in contact with her?''
Jethro shook his head as he explained. ''One of my old friends is still with her. She is her advisor and informs me all about the girl.''
''Why not talk to her yourself?'' Archer asked.
The old Dragon-kin man sighed, unraveling the cause of their rift. "She urged me to accompany her to the southern continent, but I declined, unwilling to abandon our tribe. She labeled us as stubborn and clung to a legend she believed would never materialize. Yet, here we are. With your protection, our people are thriving, and reports have come in of other races treating the traders with newfound respect."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtArcher smiled when Jethro stopped talking and asked about his granddaughter, ''When will Aisha arrive?''
Jethro nervously laughed and spoke. ''She should be here in the next couple of days. The last message I got was they were already on the river that leads to Starfall City.''
When he heard that, he smiled, thinking it was perfect timing due to wanting to attend college tomorrow. Archer looked at the old man before speaking. ''I'll get her and bring her to the island. I got classes tomorrow, so it's perfect timing.''
After talking, he teleported them back to the island where the Dragon-kin soldiers were helping the citizens. Jethro smiled when seeing this and asked for tokens so they could bring food here.
Archer took a full pouch and handed it to the old man before commenting. ''I'll come back once the Arcane Tournament begins. But I'll create the walls to protect the island in the next few days.''
Jethro nodded as he bowed toward him and rushed off to help out the humans, who seemed to have surrendered when the beasts killed the soldiers.
He was just about to leave when a voice called out. ''White Dragon!''
Archer turned to see a middle-aged man running up to him, followed by a large group of people. When they got close, the man stopped to catch his breath.
When he saw this, he looked at the man with dark blue hair and green eyes. He was a portly man but looked like a noble. Once the man caught his breath, he held out his hand as he introduced himself. ''I'm Theodore Kensington. Mayor of the Valor City.''
''You were the mayor, you mean. Your empire is gone, and I control it now. But if you prove yourself to my servant Jethro, we can find a place for you.'' Archer commented with a fake smile.
This angered the man, who started ranting. ''I was the mayor of the capital city! I was a highborn noble, so I deserve to be treated with respect.''
He smiled when Theodore finished his nonsensical rant that would do nothing for him. But it reaffirmed to him that nobles must be shown who is in charge.
With an evil grin, Archer used Blink to appear before the chubby man, who stumbled backward, but his guards tried to catch him. He wouldn't let that happen and used his tail like a whip.
Archer slapped the two men, causing them to fly back and crash into a nearby tent. Once they were gone, he picked the noble up by the neck and gave the citizens watching something to fear in case they acted up.
He stepped toward them and started talking to the crowd. Archer boosted his voice thanks to mana. ''This stupid noble spoke to me rudely and would demand something from me. Now watch what happens to people who think they can go against me.''
With a wave of his hand, he cast Mana Manipulation to create a large pole, and thanks to the shadow creatures, the noble was chained to it and left to rot.
He was too high for people to help and low enough for them to hear his screaming. Archer wanted to copy a certain ruler from Earth's history who impaled his victims but decided against it and wanted to save it for the Pope and Church Knights.
Once Archer was done with the noble's punishment, he returned to the domain and saw a few girls awake. But he had to admit they looked tired.
Ella was lying on the sofa, napping as Teuila was like a zombie shuffling to the kitchen.
With a smile, he spoke in a loving voice. ''We will start college tomorrow, but firstly, I must pick up Jethro's granddaughter, who is sailing into Starfall.''
They all nodded, but one came bounding toward him with surprising energy. Sera crashed into him and started hugging him while nibbling his ear, causing him to shiver.
Ella and Nala laughed while Teuila ignored the silly dragons. She went back to bed as she was worn out. Archer saw this and started laughing before asking. ''Everyone is acting like a zombie. Was I that rough last night?''
The lion girl giggled as she nodded. ''Yes, you ravaged us, you evil dragon. Nefertiti, Hemera, Teuila, Talila, Sia, and the cat girl are all out cold and sleeping like babies.''
Archr laughed when he heard her answer and decided to get Aisha. He looked at the redhead and asked. ''Want to come with me, Sera?''
With a broad smile, she nodded before hurrying off to fetch her cloak. While the dragon girl was gone, he approached Nala and Ella, showering them with an affectionate kiss that brought smiles to their faces.
The two girls kept resting to recover. Sera came back quickly, wearing a thick cloak for the wind. Then, they left the domain and appeared in Starfall City.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmArcher grabbed the redhead's hand, who smiled when she felt it and led her toward the river. When they arrived there, he was stumped because he didn't know what ship she was on.
That's when he summoned a few Tressyms, who he sent looking for the woman after showing them a picture of her, thanks to Mana Manipulation.
The flying cats rushed off while Sera watched them in fascination. She turned to him. ''Do they mind being your helpers?''
Archer shook his head with a smile before explaining. ''They get a safe place to live and raise their young in return for scouting for me, which they love doing.''
Sera understood before she stopped thinking about it as they found a bench to sit on while waiting. The dragon girl started showering him affectionately by climbing onto his lap and kissing his face.
He started laughing while ignoring all the looks the people passing by were giving them.
They waited an hour at most before the Tressyms returned and reported that they found the woman a day's journey to the west. With that, Archer summoned his wings and took off, followed by Sera.
The two dragons flew over the rough waters as the wind stung their faces. They flew for an hour until Archer spotted the ship that Aisha was on.
He turned to Sera, who was beside him and spoke. ''I'll land first. You follow suit.''
She nodded before Archer dived toward it, but as he got closer, he saw a small battle on the ship's main deck. He quickly noticed the enemies looked like the sailors, so he took them out by casting Element Bolts made from the wind so they wouldn't damage the ship.
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[Aisha Ashcroft's POV]
Hours before Archer's attack, Aisha and her surviving people pulled into the river that led to Starfall's capital. Her second in command, Sirus, approached her as she watched the banks.
She saw a small fishing village, and the children on the docks waved at them while fishing. Aisha saw many happy faces she never witnessed while running her city on the southern continent.
They were constantly under attack and had to concentrate their efforts on defenses. But when her people heard rumors of the white dragon on Pluoria, they decided to leave.
[If there are any mistakes, point them out, and I'll edit it. Thanks]