Volume 4 Chapter 65

Volume 4 + Chapter 65: Exiled To The Far North Mining Colony

“Hurry, hurry! Serra, go change your clothes too! We’ll leave together soon!”

Xia Yi urged Serra on, her main goal being to change the subject.

After all, being praised as cute at a time like this was just too embarrassing, making her feel as if she really had fallen into depravity.

However, Serra’s response was something Xia Yi hadn’t expected.

She indicated she wouldn’t be going with Xia Yi and instead produced a map.

Puzzled, Xia Yi took the map and looked at it. It was the Dragon Kingdom.

Her first glance fell upon the Northern Royal Capital of the Dragon Kingdom—her current location.

But the circle drawn on the map immediately drew her attention. Her gaze followed it, and her expression couldn’t help but change drastically.

“This is a joke, right?” Xia Yi couldn’t help but say.

Because it pointed to a dangerous region that made all Dragon Clan members pale at the mention—

The Far North Lands.

The Dragon Kingdom’s geographical location is at the northernmost part of this continent.

What lies in the deepest north remains unknown, even the maps drawn by the Dragon Clan abruptly end at a certain extreme point.

It could be said that starting from the Northern Royal Capital of the Dragon Kingdom, the further north one goes, the lower the temperature drops. The weather gradually becomes unbearable, unsuitable for normal life to survive.

In that perilous land, even the sun is rarely seen, making it hard to distinguish day from night. Blizzards seem to blow ceaselessly.

Even spitting, before the saliva hits the ground, it might already have frozen solid.

Moreover, the Dragon Clan itself has a huge appetite. In such a region, there aren’t many animals, and food is scarce. Unless one’s brain is addled, no one would willingly go to suffer in that area.

For millions of miles, it’s desolate and uninhabited.

However, in a certain era, it was accidentally discovered that the Far North Lands contained many precious ice-element mineral magic stones, which could be used to craft high-quality weapons and magical artifacts.

The Dragon Clan once attempted to mine these deposits. Unfortunately, due to the extremely harsh cold, there were many casualties. There were even claims of seeing terrifying monsters within those ceaseless blizzards, putting immense pressure on the miners, driving them to the brink of mental collapse, one by one descending into madness…

For various reasons, the Dragon Clan was unwilling to work in the Far North Lands.

This troubled the Dragon Clan greatly. If even the Dragon Clan couldn’t handle it, bringing in foreign laborers from vassal states was out of the question.

Ultimately, the Dragon Clan had no choice but to give up. After all, the Dragon Kingdom was vast and resource-rich, it wasn’t critically lacking those particular mineral deposits.

However, a certain Dragon King suffering from schizophrenia suddenly had a stroke of genius one day, slapping his forehead and devising a brilliant plan—

Take the most heinous criminals from the Dragon Kingdom’s prisons and exile them to the Far North Lands to build and work the mines!

This act sparked controversy at the time, it seemed rather inhumane.

But that particular Dragon King didn’t care about such things. His schizophrenia flared up on the spot, and he struck dead a minister who opposed him, intimidating everyone. He declared this wasn’t punishment, but a blessing for the criminals!

Faced with a mad, yet martially formidable tyrant, the civil and military officials dared only to agree.

A steady stream of criminals was sent to the Far North mining colony. After generations of Dragon Clan members perished, they finally managed to establish the Far North mining colony, barely maintaining its operation. Eventually, supporting towns even slowly sprang up around it.

This tradition continued. Any Dragon Clan member who committed a serious crime would be exiled to the Far North Lands to mine!

Of course, not every Dragon Clan member was willing to work in the mines for a lifetime. Escape attempts were frequent. However, those criminals didn’t dare return south, fearing recapture, so they lingered in the nearby towns.

Over time, clusters of heavily convicted criminals frequented the area, making it extremely chaotic. To some extent, it had become a lawless zone. Even the Dragon Clan couldn’t spare many hands to govern it.

It could be considered a place within the Dragon Kingdom that was feared and spoken of with dread—a den of the most vicious criminals. The phrase Dragon Clan members’ most dreaded hearing was, “Exiled to the Far North mining colony.”

What Xia Yi hadn’t expected was that Xia Lulu wanted her to go to this very place—the Far North Lands.

No wonder Xia Lulu kept speaking in riddles to her that day! If she had known back then she’d have to go to such a godforsaken place, she definitely wouldn’t have accepted!

“Your Highness, what’s wrong?”

Serra hadn’t looked at the map beforehand and didn’t know its contents. She only saw Xia Yi’s expression become very strange.

“I need to go find Xia Lulu!”

Xia Yi grabbed the map and left the room, rushing off urgently to find Xia Lulu.

She found the Silver Dragon Queen in the royal dining room, elegantly having morning tea.

“Mhm, daughter, you’re up quite early today,” Xia Lulu said with a smile. “Truly a surprise.”

“Good morning~”

Xia Yi’s body reacted instinctively. She first followed the etiquette befitting a Dragon Princess, greeting out of habit.

But the moment she realized what she was doing, she immediately changed her tune, producing the map.

“Xia Lulu, are you trying to mess with my head? Why are you sending me to the Far North Lands? Do you want me to go mine?!”

“Daughter, don’t want to mine?”

Xia Yi felt quite wronged. “I haven’t done anything wrong lately. I’ve been so good, so obedient—wait, no, no!! That’s completely beside the point! You said there was a mysterious person very knowledgeable about the Vampire Clan who could help me. Why are you sending me to the Far North Lands today?”

“It’s very simple,” Xia Lulu took a sip of her morning tea. “Because that mysterious person who can help you is in the Far North Lands.”

“But why won’t you let me bring anyone else along?”

“The reason is simple. If we make a grand, conspicuous journey to the Far North Lands, those criminals who have already escaped from the northern mining colony will surely hold a grudge. They’d do everything possible to seek revenge against the Dragon Royal Family. Wouldn’t that be like painting a target on our backs, announcing to the world, ‘Come kill me’?” Xia Lulu explained. “On the contrary, going discreetly is a better choice. After all, you’re just going to find someone.”

“What you’re saying… does make some sense.”

“Another point is that this mysterious person is indeed somewhat… unique. It’s not something I can arrange with just a few words, asking for their help. After all, this is inviting someone to confront the King of the Upper Species from the Mythical Age.”

Xia Lulu added:

“Daughter, although we Dragon Clan should indeed maintain our pride, when asking for others’ help, we must show sufficient sincerity, go and invite them, to truly win them over. Especially someone like you, whose status and position are far above ordinary Dragon Clan members, your personal invitation can make others feel that sincerity more keenly and be moved by it.”

“I…” Xia Yi seemed hesitant.

The main issue this time was that there would be no Royal Maid Corps accompanying her, she’d have to rely on herself.

The thought of the Far North Lands was just too distressing. Going there meant suffering, she wouldn’t even get to have desserts there.

“Daughter, are you afraid of those terrifying criminals?”

A glint of amusement flashed in Xia Lulu’s eyes before she sighed.

“I can actually understand. After all, at your age, I wasn’t very brave about going to such places either. I stayed in the Dragon Royal Palace all the time, playing with my pets…”

Hearing this, Xia Yi immediately perked up.

If she dared to go, returned safely, and even brought back the helper, wouldn’t that prove she was a million times stronger than Xia Lulu?

She instantly understood.

“Hmph, hmph, Xia Lulu, it seems you were completely no match for me when you were young. Let me tell you, don’t forget my identity—I am the Sword Saint with a noble and unyielding soul! I will go to the Far North Lands! I must bring back the helper! No matter how vicious the criminals are, they won’t stop my determination to defeat Elizabeth!!”