Dragon Dragon Dragon

Chapter t.i.tle placed at end

Sure enough, after hearing Yi Longlong’s questioning, Eric gave a bitter smile. His wood logging motions did not stop. “The family of Easley Heine, is a family with the largest power and position in the empire, however in this family, there’s this one such requirement for the children inside, and that is when they reach sixteen, seventeen years old, they have to go out on an adventure and travel for three years. Refusal of the expedition, or should the expedition be unsuccessful, they will be removed from the family. They return after three years, only then do they go through the rite of pa.s.sage and become a real family member.”

Yi Longlong’s eyes widened: It’s this abnormal?

Eric continued, “Now this Easley Heine, if I didn’t guess wrong, he’s probably undertaking the test right now. There’ll be people secretly observing him and carrying out an evaluation along his adventure. I’m also probably qualified as a person who can give an evaluation…Uh, although I’ve shirked my duties a bit, since we b.u.mped into each other, I’m planning to use this opportunity to observe him for a while. If he knew that an adjudicator was watching him, perhaps he won’t act like the usual… En, although he doesn’t recognize me, he should be able to recognize my name, because I am…”

He didn’t finish his words, because at this time Roland had walked over here. He probably couldn’t wait to come. Looking at the cleanly cut firewood already piled on the ground, a sliver of doubt flashed across his eyes, but he didn’t say anything much and only gave his thanks to Eric and said Easley invited him over to have dinner with them. Only then did he leave while carrying the pile of firewood.

Eric heaved a sigh and sheathed his long sword back into the scabbard. He did not continue his previous topic, instead following Roland back to that clearing.

Through the preparations of the palette squad led by the young n.o.ble, when Eric came back, this clearing had already become something entirely different. The weeds and rocks on the ground were all swept away, and standing neatly were three tents shaped like a house. In front of the tents, the young blond n.o.bleman and his three other palette companions sat around a square table. Each of them was tidying up their somewhat non-messy appearance with graceful movements, as if they were preparing to have a big feast.

Of the six attendants, some of them were retrieving cutlery from the luggage, some of them took out a simple stove and placed it on the floor, and there was also one who produced a bottle of red wine and four gla.s.ses, came to the sides of the four palette squad members sitting at the table, uncorked the bottle and poured it for them to taste.

Although those six attendants held the position of servants, their figures and appearances were also top notch, with handsome faces and well-proportioned bodies. However, in contrast to the palette squad, they paled in comparison, especially in front of the blond youth’s beautiful face.

Yi Longlong stared slack jawed. She watched this group of people instantly set up a comfortable dining atmosphere. Three youths and a young priest were enjoying grape wine, and on the other side the attendants were beginning to cook with carefulness. Someone was making cheese soup, someone used a flat pan to sizzle steaks, someone started to smoke meat on a fire, and someone began to toss the salad…

Yi Longlong leaned on Eric’s back. As she watched those people retrieve one item after another from their backpacks just like the robot cat Doraemon1, her eyes opened wider and wider: she needs to take back her recent comments, this group of people are not here on an outing, they’re bringing a portable kitchen and restaurant everywhere to show off.

Eric found a s.p.a.ce in the corner, placed down the box and sat down. He retrieved a water bladder from the box, then casually plucked a leaf and curled it into a very small cup, poured a little water into the leafy cup and delivered it to the side of Yi Longlong’s mouth.

Yi Longlong still didn’t dare to reveal herself. She hid under the leaves, sticking out her tongue to lick the clear water in the leafy cup while secretly observing with her eyes the palette on the other side.

The blond youth Easley gracefully sipped a mouthful of red wine, then took a napkin and dabbed his lips. Every movement of his exuded an air of rich sophistication; his manners were impeccable. Having only meaningfully taken a sip, Easley then placed down his wine cup, faced the attendant next to him and said, “Mind chilling it for me?”

The attendant gave a reply then turned around and informed another person. Yi Longlong watched on with curiosity, only to see that person procure a bowl, their lips slightly moving as if it was reciting something, then soon after, a few fist sized ice blocks appeared out of thin air and fell right into the bowl, dispersing a white colored chill.

The bowl was pa.s.sed around straightaway, the ice stirred to pieces, and the bottle of wine placed inside the pieces of ice to chill.

“To actually have a mage as an attendant, what a luxurious lineup.” Eric muttered.

Mages in this world were not something uncommon, but also not so as to be seen everywhere. There was a person who took the effort to calculate, that on average within about ten thousand people, there will be one mage. Usually the mages will serve an aristocrat or even in national services, but Easley actually had one as a servant.

If this was earth from Yi Longlong’s previous life, it was like letting a doctoral candidate go to a restaurant to be a waiter. Not only was it extremely wasteful, it was also thoughtlessly lavish.

Eric didn’t really try to lower his volume. When Yi Longlong heard this, it had also spread to all the ears of the palette squad. The opposite party didn’t have much of a reaction, obviously already used to these words of amazement. Only the blond youth Easley politely nodded with a smile towards Eric, then modestly retracted his sight.

Of the five people in the palette squad, only Roland didn’t sit with them, firstly because there were only four sides on a table, and secondly Roland was an employed person; his ident.i.ty was not quite the same as the other four. He checked on the surroundings, then after making sure there was no danger, he walked towards Eric and also casually found a spot nearby to sit down. He had his head bowed, the purple colored fringe covering both his eyes. He took out a silk cloth and carefully wiped his dagger, as well as examined the spring mechanism on his crossbow.

When she listened to Eric giving an introduction a few days ago, she already knew that the rogues from this world were not referring to the wallet stealing thieves back on earth. This was a type of special profession. During the wars they can act as a.s.sa.s.sins or spies, during periods of peace they also act as spies and collect intelligence, or are employed by an employer to do some grey things. These people were masters of machinery and various types of practical skills. The rogues who spend long times adventuring out in the wild have the ability to cautiously avoid many natural disasters. It is a form of blessing for everyone in the same line of job to bring along a hardened rogue.

Although she already knew that the rogues here were proper professions, and she knew she shouldn’t engage in job discrimination, Yi Longlong still couldn’t psychologically get around it. Seeing Roland makes her feel a bit odd.

Yi Longlong took a glance at Roland, who was not even three or four meters away from Eric, then quickly retracted her sight. At this time, the four men palette squad’s chatter had attracted her attention again.

“Easley, you left your family to explore, has it already been a year now?” That redhead youth drank a mouthful of chilled red wine, thought of something and brought up the young n.o.bleman’s family test.

This redhead youth was called Dixon2. Similar to Easley, he also had a sword on his body and was also around the age of eighteen years old. His expression was hearty and bright; his att.i.tude towards Easley was also the most affectionate and close out of everyone.

Easley lightly nodded, and smilingly said, “Yes, although the road has been extremely difficult, I can feel I’ve gained a lot. The journey this year has let me mature quite a bit.”

Yi Longlong secretly slandered inside: You call this journey difficult, then what do you call the time where Eric got lost for a year and could only shabbily gnaw on dry jerkies? Doing flips in h.e.l.l?

Naturally, it was impossible for Dixon and Easley to hear Yi Longlong’s words inside. They continued their peaceful conversation; the one speaking was still the redhead Dixon. “I say, Easley, I’ve heard that along your adventure, there’ll be people secretly observing and giving marks, it’s very strict, and also it’s unknown what standards they use. I’ve heard, however, that a few years back, it seems like there was someone from the Heine family who scored full marks, and also had a great reputation…”

“Eric Heine.” Easley clipped in just right to finish off the sentence, his tone carrying a hint of respect, “My uncle.”

Yi Longlong subconsciously took a glance at Eric, who was currently concentrating on feeding her water from a leafy cup.

Chapter 10: My uncle

1.机器猫小叮当 – Robot cat Xiǎo dīngdāng.Doraemon is affectionately called Xiǎo dīngdāng in Chinese localizations of the popular children’s manga, due to the bell on his collar. The official name in Chinese is哆啦A夢Duō la A mèng . Doraemon is known for having a magical pouch that acts like a a bottomless bag and contains countess magical items that solves a particular problem. Each chapter is episodic in nature and revolves around the new magic tool of the day. I wish I had a robot cat like doraemon, though mostly for the magic food blanket that magics all the food you want. 

2. 狄修安Dí xiū ān- Dixon (I’m taking a leap here but can’t think of anything better)