Mia roared as well. She seemed to like enjoy roaring very much, and she would clap her front paws from time to time.
Naturally, Max roared as well, although the thought of scaring the human soldiers did not give him much sense of accomplishment.
However, Max noticed that the horses that the soldiers were riding on did not seem to be frightened.
Most of the horses were still standing in place. Every once in a while, they would even lock gazes with the dragons. Regardless, they had never lowered their heads, and they did not run away.
'Why aren't these horses afraid of us...'
With such a question in mind, Max turned his head and took a quick glance at his surroundings.
Some distance away, Max found a training ground for horses.
In there, Max noticed there were several "dragons" carved out of wood. They were placed in the spots where the horses ate.
There were gongs and drums scattered on the ground, and their battered surface indicated that they were used regularly.
'Desensitization training!'
Max knew of this method.
In ancient times, in order to prevent the horses from being timid in war, every warhorse was trained from a young age.
One such training that the warhorses had undergone was desensitization training.
The horses would be sent to attack scarecrow that were carrying knives, spears, or sticks.
Only by doing so would the warhorses remain calm in the battlefield.
'Hmm, but it seems that the desensitization training for horses of this world is a little different...'
Under normal circumstances, the desensitization training for horses was targeted at the enemy humans.
As for the horses in this city, however...
They were trained to be desensitized towards dragons.
In other words, the soldiers before them were specialists meant to deal with dragons.
At this point, Max noticed a person walking out among the soldiers.
That person was wearing a full set of Milan plate armor. His footsteps were steady, and as he walked forward, he lifted his helmet and looked up at them.
The man was probably in his seventies. His beard was white, but his physique remained strong. He looked like he had exercised a lot when he was young.
That person knelt on one knee and with a sincere expression, he asked, "Dear Lady Agatha, may I ask why you have brought two young masters... or ladies here?"
Max frowned. 'This person seems to be educated.'
'He must be the so-called lord.'
'Moreover, this lord is rather smart. Now that we dragons have invaded his inner castle, he's trying to bargain his way out. He knows that violence would lead him nowhere.'
"Ardarian? You are still alive, huh. You're really tenacious, Hehe."
Agatha recognized the lord, and thus, she called out the lord's name immediately.
This was the first time that Max had heard his mother speaking the human tongue. He did not expect his mother to know the tongue. It was rather surprising for Max.
Ardarian looked calm on the surface.
However, underneath his calm exterior, his hands behind his back were trembling uncontrollably.
The relationship of humans and dragons were like mice and cats, both physically and mentally.
However, Ardarian knew that if he were to flee the scene, he would be sprayed to death by Agatha's dragon dreath.
He and Agatha were old acquaintances.
They had met a few times before.
Unlike some dragons, Agatha had a gentle temperament.
Like all dragons, however, Agatha also liked treasures.
As a result of these two characteristics, whenever Ardarian had been woken up from his slumber by her dragon roar, he would hand Agatha his treasures to make her leave.
To Ardarian, Agatha's behavior was more akin to a bandits'.
However, unlike normal bandits, Agatha could not be eliminated nor defeated easily.
Ardarian recalled the last time he handed Agatha his treasure, 'It should've been last year.'
'Agatha most likely isn't here for treasure this time.'
Regarding this matter, Ardarian had always kept a secret stash of treasure ready in his room, all so he could satisfy the dragon during any of her sudden visits.
However, the difference this time was that Agatha had two Dragon Hatchlings with her.
'This is probably a demonstration.'
'She's probably telling me that these are her children, and she's warning me not to think of funny ideas in the future.'
"Lady Agatha, I have prepared some gifts for you."
Ardarian shot a glance to his attendant.
A moment later, a chest of treasure was hurriedly brought to the scene.
"I approve of your straightforwardness, Ardarian."
With that, Agatha flicked her claws and opened the chest.
It was filled with shiny gold coins and colorful jewelry. A ceremonial sword made of pure gold was inserted in the chest, and there was a jewelry necklace hanging on it.
Max watched from the side.
He understood all the messages that his mother had taught him to this point.
There was no need to kill all the humans. It was best to keep them alive.
The village would serve as a source of camel meat.
On the other hand, the city would serve as a source of treasure.
However, being the proud dragon she was, Agatha did not say those words aloud.
Nevertheless, Max still understood.
"Before I leave, I have another question," Agatha stated. "Longsong Alley doesn't usually have troops stationed here. For what purpose are you gathering troops now?"
Gulp —
Aldarian gulped audibly.
Sure enough, Agatha had caught on to this matter.
Naturally, the troops were meant to serve as a means to deal with Agatha.
However, in this moment, he could not tell Agatha upfront that he had gathered these troops to deal with her, right?
Therefore, Ardarian took a deep breath and replied.
"Lady Agatha, this army is used to deal with mountain bandits. For your information, if the mountain bandits are too rampant, I will not be able to gather enough treasures for you."
"To deal with bandits? Hahaha!" Agatha's laughter echoed throughout the city.
Then, Agatha faced Max. "Max, my child, what do you think?"
Facing his mother's vertical pupils, Max exhaled. He knew that his mother was testing him.
"He's lying." Max spoke fluent human language and answered, "These warhorses won't run when they see us. They are specially trained to be used against dragons."
The air froze for a few seconds.
Cold sweat broke out on Aldarian's head, and his heart thumped faster and faster.
He did not even have the time to realize that the Dragon Hatchling speaking the human tongue.
His most pressing concern at that moment was that his lie had been completely exposed!
'These warhorses are exactly as what the Dragon Hatchling has mentioned. They've undergone desensitization training since young, and they've been trained to face a dragon without any fright!'
'They were meant to be used by a group of specialist infantrymen! They were meant to be used against you dragons!'