The dragon keenly sensed Richard's ill intentions and quickly swung its tail to block Richard's sight.
Richard had no other choice but to look around as they flew. This was when he realized that the dragon did not produce any contrails.
This was weird.
Usually, if an airplane with jet engines traveled through the air, these engines would emit a high-temperature gas with a lot of water vapor in its wake. If the ambient temperature was relatively low, these high-temperature and high-humidity gases would mix with the surrounding air. Their temperature would drop rapidly, and the humidity around would increase sharply. These emissions would quickly condense to produce airplane contrails, which were like white streaks made of clouds.
However, this phenomenon did not occur when the dragon was flying. It might be that the temperature in the air was not low enough, or it might be because the dragon was using an unknown third method to fly, such as… a spell.
According to The Writings of Monroe, among the high One-ring Spells, there were anti-gravity spells that could enable creatures to fly.
In that case, the dragon was really…
Richard looked at the dragon and asked aloud, "Gregory, can I ask you a question? Did you use your dragon breath or some kind of spell to spit fire just now? If you used a spell, does it mean that you are a spellcaster as well?
"If that's the case, then your internal body structures must be similar to wizards, with probably something like a magic source. So, did you use spells for your flight?"
The dragon made a loud roar, but did not answer his question. Instead the dragon asked him, "Kid named Richard, since you ask so many questions, can I ask you a question first?"
"Huh?" Richard's eyes flashed as he listened to the dragon and nodded. "Of course."
The dragon was about to speak.
However, the next moment Richard said, "Gregory, you just asked your first question."
"…" There was a long silence. The dragon named Gregory seemed to be processing Richard's words, but it could also be that it was holding back from roaring at Richard. After a long while, it spoke again. "Then can I ask you two questions?"
Richard said, "Sure, but… that was the second question."
"… Then can I ask you four questions?!"
"Yes. But you have finished asking."
"Nonsense, when did I? I obviously asked you three questions in total."
"Right now."
After a long silence, Richard clearly felt Gregory's large body shake. In fact, Richard already knew what the other party wanted to ask, so he had done this deliberately because he did not want the dragon to succeed.
However, in the face of setbacks, Gregory did not want to give up easily, and it simply shouted, "Then can I ask you 10 questions?!"
In Gregory's opinion, Richard had no other way to stop him.
However Richard had a simple solution. He said softly, "No."
"I…" Gregory roared, about to explode in anger. The creature had wanted to solve the problem politely at first, but right now, it could not be bothered anymore and simply shouted, "Damn, kid named Richard, I don't care if you will do it or not, let me repeat, you are now my prisoner. I have kidnapped you! I want to take you to my daughter. If you dare disobey and talk nonsense, I will grill you before throwing you down from the sky. Understand?"
Richard arched his eyebrows. Just when Gregory thought that Richard would behave himself, Richard slowly said, "Actually, a person who is kidnapped should be called a hostage, or a victim. Prisoners are people who have been defeated, or who surrendered in a battle, and are captured by the enemy. They are two different concepts.
"Also, when you threaten someone, it usually involves a life threat. We only have one life. Even if you grill me and throw me from the sky, I won't die twice. So why do you make yourself do repetitive tasks? It would be easier for you if you chose one of these methods to threaten me.
"And also—"
"Enough!" The creature roared again. At that moment, if he could, Gregory would not hesitate to cover its ears, but it could not. It could only roar to drown Richard's voice out.
Gregory was now deeply regretting its actions. It should not have kidnapped Richard. Perhaps it would be a good choice to throw Richard down right away, so…
Gregory's eyes had pupils that looked like vertical slits. Its eyes turned slowly.
In the afternoon.
The red sun sunk below the western horizon.
Gregory, the dragon, flew above a forest. "Shut up! Shut up!" it roared.
It had finally come up with a method to prevent Richard from speaking and asking questions, all it needed to do was to make sure that its voice was louder than Richard's.
Richard, who sat on its back, looked a little helpless. His eyes flickered as he looked at the lush forest below, and he said to himself, "Right now we must be thousands of miles away from Blue Lion Kingdom. I guess we are in some other kingdom or empire, which means—"
Roar. "Shut up! Shut up!" it roared.
"…"
Puff, puff, puff.
Suddenly, Gregory flapped its wings and dived down. Richard turned his head and saw a hill standing in the forest. It was not at a high altitude, and there was a large black castle on the hill.
"Huh? Don't tell me the dragon doesn't live in a cave, but in a castle? Although it's different from what is said in the legends, it still… seems reasonable—"
Roar. "Shut up! Shut up!" it roared.
"…"
Boom! Puff!
Gregory's enormous body landed on top of the hill, its four limbs leaving large depression marks on the ground. The first thing it did after landing was to shake its body vigorously to throw Richard off its back.
It would be good if Richard fell on the ground in a miserable state, as Gregory had revenge in mind.
However, the creature was disappointed.
With the help of Wind Agility, Richard took his suitcase and landed gently.
Gregory glanced at him, turned its head with disdain, and shrunk its body. Richard was surprised to see the dragon transformed right in front of him into a male adult in his forties. His face looked a little sallow, however his muscles bulged beneath his clothes. He had strong muscles and exuded a powerful aura, with an awe-inspiring look in his eyes.
"Is that… a transformation spell?"
"Cough, shut up!" Gregory said, rubbing his dry throat.
In his human form, his voice was obviously not as loud as the dragon, so he could no longer drown Richard's voice out.
So Richard started asking questions again. "I suppose that when transforming from one living body to another, the body size and structures are completely different. And the most important thing is that the mass is also different, which means that it does not conform to the law of conservation of mass. I'm afraid
"Shut up, kid," Gregory yelled again, realizing that he could not stop Richard from speaking. He gave up and turned to the side, muttering, "Just you wait, someone will make you behave."
Just when Richard thought that the other party was going to the black castle not far away, the male unexpectedly turned around and walked into a cave nearby.
"So… it seems that dragons still live in caves?" Richard's eyes flickered.
The prince frowned as he sensed something coming. He turned around abruptly and saw a slightly petite figure approaching from the foot of the mountain.