Although everyone heard the True Dragon’s voice, it couldn’t be said to have spoken since it did not open its mouth at all.
It did not have the vocal cord to speak in the human tongue.
Instead, it had used magic to convert its inner thoughts into sound to communicate with them in their native language.
Even so, it still required an understanding of their language.
“The language of you humans isn’t difficult to learn. On the contrary, it’s unencumbered, simple, and primitive, not that it’s a bad thing. After all, smooth communication makes sharing ideas and knowledge easier and is the key to a flourishing civilization,” the True Dragon spoke.
Vaan’s eyes quickly flickered after listening to it.
‘Unencumbered, simple, and primitive, huh? In other words, the dragons’ language is cumbersome, complex, and advanced?’ Vaan silently mused.
Before the appearance of mana, speaking was the most direct method of expressing one’s will and intention, even if others may or may not obey them.
‘If one could infuse mana into one’s words, could it reinforce the will in one’s words?’ Vaan wondered.
He recalled the dragon roar that shook the mountain and stunned everyone, regardless of who they were. Even he, who has high mental faculty, couldn’t resist the effect.
He couldn’t imagine how powerful the effect could have been if the dragon’s roar only had a single target in mind.
“Follow us back obediently. It would be unwise to resist,” another True Dragon spoke with the voice of a middle-aged woman.
Vaan glanced at the others and reached a tacit understanding before he replied, “We will follow you.”
“Good,” the female True Dragon uttered.
Shortly after, the group witnessed the True Dragons casually clearing the fog and creating a straight path towards the ninth mountain’s peak.
“We’re in deep trouble, aren’t we?” Hester quietly whispered in a shaky voice.
“The situation might not be as grim as it seems. At the very least, the True Dragons are intelligent are willing to converse with us; they appear reasonable. So if we play our cards right, we may agree to let us off,” Vaan softly replied.
Furthermore, the True Dragons seemed to be taking them straight to the ninth mountain’s peak, their destination.
If the True Dragons had seen Eniwse, it would even make finding her much easier.
Nevertheless, while the True Dragons slowly escorted the group up the mountain, one of them casually glanced at Vaan before it looked back at him again.
“You’re a Spirit Contractor? And of a High-rank Earth Spirit, no less?” one of the other two True Dragons in the back spoke in a more elderly male voice. “There aren’t many capable of contracting a High-rank Spirits.”
The elderly True Dragon appeared to be able to see the Earth Spirit hidden in Vaan’s body directly.
At the same time, the elderly True Dragon seemed a bit more accommodating after learning he was a Spirit Contractor of a High-rank Earth Spirit.
Nevertheless, Vaan didn’t express any surprise or panic.
Instead, he took it as an opportunity to converse with the elderly True Dragon, increase their favorability, gather information, and avoid the death sentence.
“Yes, I raised her myself,” Vaan calmly summoned Topaz, attracting the attention of the other three True Dragons. “She was only a Low-rank Earth Spirit when we made the contract.”
“Kyuu?” Topaz glanced around curiously.
Upon seeing the four towering True Dragons around her exerting tremendous, she was immediately startled.
She quickly flew onto Vaan’s head and hid in his hair without her head poking back out.
“You did, huh? That’s not an easy feat. I find it hard to believe that a mere human is that capable,” the elderly True Dragon stated but sounded condescending to the human race.
Nevertheless, Vaan wasn’t just a mere human. After all, he possessed the bloodline and a divine ability of a Rank 6 being or higher.
Even so, it was primarily attributed to luck that Topaz quickly became a High-rank Earth Spirit.
“What can I say? Tia is blessed with heaven-defying luck,” Vaan commented with a slight smile, but he was thinking about his rewritten destiny.
“May I be so bold as to ask exactly what we’ve done wrong? Something must have triggered Your Excellency to show up now, right?” Vaan asked shortly after.
The elderly True Dragon glanced at him before it explained, “A young offspring from our Ninth Peak had been slain. A noble, you could say.”
“And if I may add, Your Excellency, I dare say that young offspring wasn’t a Magma Wyrm, right?” Vaan sought further confirmation.
“A Magma Wyrm, you say? What utter nonsense. That should be obvious!” the elderly True Dragon snorted with discontent and said, “The death of a lesser dragon wouldn’t attract the Lord’s attention unless the leader of the Magma Wyrms appealed for justice!”
“In that case, we seem to be unrelated to this matter, Your Excellency. Beside intruding on your sacred ground, we’ve committed no other crimes,” Vaan calmly stated.
“Heh,” the other male True Dragon snickered after overhearing their conversation and said, “Save your words for the Lord’s ears, Human. Only the Lord can decide whether your group is guilty or not. We’ve only been ordered to bring in all the intruders.”
“It is as Rirvedes said. Flattering us won’t help you. Besides, we have nothing to gain from helping you either,” the elderly True Dragon added.
“I beg to differ, Your Excellency. I’m sure we can learn a lot from each other,” Vaan confidently argued with a smile before mentioning, “For instance, I can see that your body has suffered countless wounds over your long years.”
“Although they have all been healed, they have left behind ailments that trouble your mind at night. You haven’t slept well for quite a long time now, right?”
“Is that true, Senior Jergag?” the other three True Dragons glanced over with surprise, evidently hearing about it for the first time.
“Why haven’t we heard about this? My aunt is the best healer on Ninth Peak. I could have asked her to take a look for you, Senior Jergag,” Rirvedes spoke.
“Enough,” Jergag silenced them before retorting, “If my ailment was something that could be treated with magic or medicine, would I still have this issue?”