Chapter 114: The Short Dragon — Archie Barriff

Chapter 114: The Short Dragon — Archie Barriff

The Dragonborn were descendants from the ancient union of the Dragon Clan and humans.

But as the Dragonborn and humans continued to intermarry and reproduce, most Dragonborn looked almost the same as humans now—like Ocris from the Isolda Family.

Many Dragonborn didn’t even know dragons existed in this world.

However, those who experienced atavism or had preserved ancient bloodlines looked somewhat special. They were all incredibly strong and moved as swiftly as cats. Their resistance to magic was also strangely high.

Ordinary Wizards couldn’t handle them; they had to be treated as elite monsters—if one got grabbed up close, a single axe swing could split a person in two!

These powerful warriors couldn’t be easily beaten by Wizards. Against any Wizard, they had a chance to turn the tables. So even at Holy Oak Academy, these blockheaded guys were usually left alone—practical joke Magic Spells wouldn’t even be cast before they punched you right up to the ceiling.

But right now, these fierce-looking Dragon Clan members were all acting like little lambs, heads bowed, being scolded by the Goblin in the passenger seat.

That little Goblin stood on the car hood with his back to this side. He had his hair slicked back like a movie star and was puffing on a cigar.

When he turned his head with the cigar dangling from his mouth, Kate and many gentlemen and ladies saw the vicious scar running across his eye, and their minds buzzed.

[That’s ‘Archie Barriff’!]

[Why did he come in person?]

[Isn’t the Stogg Group headquarters in Italy?]

Many nobles and commoners who had no dealings with this group felt nothing special—hearing this name only made them think of that colosseum.

But nobles who had special dealings with the dark world covered their faces and wanted to run—these notorious villains wouldn’t come for a gang fight, would they?

They were capable of anything. They didn’t care if you were a noble, commoner, or official!

Rumors said that during the most chaotic times, a certain famous councilor was shot into a sieve inside a county’s town hall by some passing thugs in a car with Chicago typewriters—the killers were later found, and rumors said they were just a group of foreign extremists retaliating against the councilor’s bill that oppressed foreigners.

But those who knew the inside story all understood those people were connected to the Stogg Group—that councilor’s men had seized Stogg’s smuggled goods.

And those who knew even more understood this was actually a blatant warning from the new Queen, delivered through Stogg, to certain people—that councilor had always opposed her.

Kate’s face also turned pale—she saw that little slick-haired guy staring in her direction with a mocking smile.

Her father’s Seventh Fleet had been struggling with funding. The Kingdom of Sorrento owed the Warhammer of the God of War a huge sum for weapons. The treasury had money but wouldn’t approve it, so her father had to take out a big loan, but there were no funds to fill that debt hole—otherwise the fleet couldn’t be assembled.

Could he be specifically here for me? Could he want to kidnap me? To make the family pay for the fleet’s expenses?

Kate suddenly felt both fear and anger.

Ever since father stepped down as governor, his power had greatly diminished, and after years of neglecting politics, people had started bullying him!

But this show of force was too much, wasn’t it?

Kate suddenly felt reassured—probably just trying to scare me.

“Alon, that’s him!” The little slick-haired guy suddenly pointed towards Louis and Kate. The huge, terrifying Dragonborn man clenched his fists, grinned cruelly, and jumped down. As he walked over, his massive hammer-like tail slapped against a nearby Vintage Car, smashing a big dent in it and flipping it over.

The surrounding gentlemen were startled and all hurriedly moved away from Kate.

Kate’s mind buzzed violently. She pulled Helen and the little Yordles behind her. Trembling, she pointed her finger at Archie and shouted angrily, “You’re too audacious! Right under the royal capital, you dare… Huh?”

Before she could finish, Kate saw Louis toss his jacket to her, roll up his shirt sleeves, and walk over—Louis recognized this guy; he was the champion from the newspaper who insulted him.

Kate felt dizzy and wanted to tell Louis to be careful, but halfway through, her expression turned strange.

Helen cheered excitedly, “Beat him up, Louis! Tell him you’re the real champion!”

“Go, boss!” The little Yordles also got excited—if their boss could take down this Mr. Alon, who once killed a Fire Dragon in the wizard’s arena, wouldn’t that prove boss was the most suitable pilot for the Son of Lant?

And this big broker—the big broker who had a chance to persuade the Witch Queen—wasn’t he right here?

So this was who the boss meant by inviting to dinner!

The little Yordles knew why Archie came today. He made a bet with the King, and now the rope was around his neck. If he lost, it wasn’t just tens or hundreds of thousands of Gold Galleons at stake.

It was three years of sea trade!

This would almost cut off Archie’s biggest income—sea trade and smuggling.

It would practically kill him!

“Louis VI! You beardless conch!” Alon looked down at the little figure walking over, his voice so loud it made the exhibition hall’s windows rattle. “You aren’t worthy of being called…”

“I said, I am a Mage!”

Before Alon could finish, the gentlemen and ladies watching from a distance saw the guy who was half a head shorter than Alon jump up with fire in his eyes and throw an uppercut. Then there was a sound of bones cracking. Immediately after, the huge Dragonborn shot up like a rocket, straight through the twenty-meter-high dome.

With a loud BANG-DONG, Alon’s head smashed through the dome and got stuck up there, swinging back and forth.

The hall fell dead silent. Many gentlemen and ladies stared with mouths agape at the colleague of Your Highness Ocris—Magic Knight Mr. Louis. Several gentlemen with rouge on their cheeks seemed unable to handle the shock and fainted with a thud.

But the ladies and young misses flushed bright red, fanning themselves feverishly, staring intently at that man’s triangular waist and buttocks.

The little Yordles also stood there with mouths wide open, feeling dizzy. They seemed not to have expected their boss to knock him out with one punch.

This was the champion of the Stogg Dragon Colosseum! The champion who defeated over a dozen adventurer parties with Wizards!

With a CRACK from the dome, Alon fell down. He shook his head, glared at Louis, and said, “Warrior…”

Before he could finish, he thudded and fainted—seemed pretty tough indeed.

‘Archie’ saw Alon get knocked out with one punch up in the dome and then fall down. First, his mouth hung open, and he looked up for a long time. Then he excitedly jumped onto the roof of the Vintage Car used as the exhibition centerpiece, dancing and shouting wildly.

“Louis VI! You are indeed the best! My God of War! In this world, besides that fly-counting ‘Augustus’ in the depths of the Magic Prison, you are the most…”

Before he could finish, Louis slapped the back of his head, knocking the cigar right out of his mouth.

Then Louis grabbed him by the collar.