The Evil Dragon must have written in a journal regularly, for he wouldn't have said that kind of thing, much less given her a notebook.
The notebook the Evil Dragon gave her was ridiculously large, measuring over a meter in size, and next to it lay an attractive pen.
Keeping a journal, she reevaluated her understanding of the Evil Dragon once more.
She suddenly remembered something the Evil Dragon Lance had said yesterday.
There are two types of Evil Dragons, one is all the other Evil Dragons, and the other is Evil Dragon Lance.
Evil Dragon Lance truly is not like the mythical Evil Dragons described in legends.
"Do you keep a diary to remember the formidable opponents of your youth you couldn't defeat?"
"No, I keep a diary to record everyday occurrences so that later, when I am old, or in a hundred or two hundred, maybe five hundred years, I can take it out, read it, and reminisce about my glorious younger years.
We Giant Dragons live for a very long time, and during the endless years, some adult Giant Dragons choose to sleep out of boredom, while Young Dragons, during their growth period, are also forced into a sleep phase once they reach certain ages.
Some adult Giant Dragons, when they awaken from their slumber and don't feel like sleeping again in a short period, find some interesting things to pass the time, like playing the role of an Evil Dragon, kidnapping a princess, or raiding human caravans to steal some Gold Coins, silver, and jewels.
Giant Dragons raised on Dragon Island are better off, with so many of their own kind around; they are neither bored nor lonely.
But I'm different. From the time I hatched until I grew into an adult Giant Dragon, I've always lived on this continent. As a Young Dragon, I had to fight fierce beasts and magical creatures for food and territory to survive.
As I gradually grew and became stronger, and wanted to communicate with my own species, I realized there were hardly any Giant Dragons active on the continent.
Having no choice, to pass the time, I had to find something interesting to do, like learning, playing the part of an Evil Dragon every now and then, or transforming into a human and visiting the Human World for fun.
Then, in my spare time, I would record these interesting things in a journal. Gradually, you'll discover that keeping a journal is actually very fun, especially when you write in different languages of various species. The sense of satisfaction is indescribable.
After a century or two, when you review the journals of yesteryears, your mind will be filled with memories of things you had done, people you had met, and you'll find it highly amusing.
I'll give you a piece of advice, when playing with humans, it's best not to spend too much time with them. Otherwise, when it's time for them to grow old and die, you'll have to perform the rites for them.
If you happen to be around when their children marry, you'll have to give gifts too, and that's a total loss."
"......."
Lance's earlier remarks had Lucia listening with keen interest, but the last few lines left a different taste.
When friends they'd been with for decades died, the first response should be sadness and sorrow.
But with the Evil Dragon... the first thing that came to his mind was about performing rites...
She didn't know how to comment.
"With your power, you could raise your friends from the Human World who have died as undead, and then make contracts with them to summon them as your battle partners.
When there's nothing else to do, you could even play cards with them. With your abilities, if you were just a bit serious in battle, it's unlikely that anyone could harm your undead friends."
Lucia was being a bit mischievous.
She felt that the Evil Dragon must have been at least a little sad when his friends died; after all, they had been companions for so many years and had grown attached.
His advice to her not to spend too much time with humans was probably because he didn't want her to experience that kind of grief.
As for performing rites, he probably truly didn't want to attend them.
A love for Gold Coins, silver, and jewels was embedded deep within the Giant Dragon's soul and bones.
"Your suggestion is interesting, I'll take you grave-digging in a few days."
"???"
No... he can't be serious...
Did the Evil Dragon actually contemplate resurrecting his friends who might have been dead for who knows how many years as undead?
Her comment was meant to ease the Evil Dragon's "sorrow."
She didn't genuinely intend for the Evil Dragon to turn those friends into undead.
The dead should be respected.
Why are necromancers despised?
Isn't it because they frequently turn the deceased into undead, making them fight on their behalf?
"It's been so many years, let's forget about it… Don't disturb your friends anymore."
"That's true, times have changed. After hundreds of years, their graves are probably buried under sand and dust."
Lucia exhaled with relief; it seemed the Evil Dragon was just teasing her earlier.
"However, what you just said inspired me. If I can't turn friends into undead, is it possible for me to turn former formidable foes into undead and summon them from hell?"
"......"
Could it be that the Evil Dragon holds grudges like this?
Hundreds, even a thousand years have passed, and he still remembers his formidable opponents?
Lucia's gaze fell on the journal.
Indeed, the true use of the journal was to record his past formidable foes; writing a diary was just incidental.
She silently picked up the pen on the journal and turned to the first page to write down the three characters, "Lucia."
Flipping to the next page, and just as she was about to write, a question occurred to her: how should she write the date?
Use the Imperial Calendar?
That would be too revealing.
Better ask the Evil Dragon.
"Lance, how do you write the date when you keep a diary?"
"Black Dragon Calendar, year, month, day."
"???"
Creating a calendar based on one's own identity?
"So what is today's date in the Black Dragon Calendar?"
"Black Dragon Calendar, year 3455, June 19th."
"..."
Year 3455... is that the age of the Evil Dragon?
Is Evil Dragon Lance 3455 years old this year?
Now she understood why he used his age to define the "year."
Living for such a long time, if he used the Human World's calendar for keeping time, it would become chaotic in just a few hundred years.
The Human World has many kingdoms, and each has a somewhat different way of recording years, months, and days.
There is, however, a unified way of recording time called the Creation Calendar...
The great temples of the Human World use the Creation Calendar, the years are different, but the months and days are the same, part of the differences are because of time differences.
The Evil Dragon probably couldn't be bothered using the times of human kingdoms, or since the day he hatched, he's been using the Black Dragon Calendar.
In that case, she might as well use the Black Dragon Calendar as he does.
Black Dragon Calendar, year 3455, June 19th, Black Dragon Island, clear.
Diary entry:
Yesterday, the Evil Dragon Lance gave me a Lucky Coin, and this morning, he gave me a notebook.
While chatting casually with him, I was inspired and thought of something.
To become an outstanding Evil Dragon, one must possess two qualities: being petty and holding grudges.
My first dream is: to become an outstanding Evil Dragon like Lance.
My second dream: to become an emperor in the Human World and catch a princess to raise for Lance.
After writing a brief diary entry, Lucia nodded in satisfaction.
"How does it feel to write a diary?"
"It feels... not quite like a proper Evil Dragon; which proper Evil Dragon writes a diary?"
"....."
Lance suspected the Young Dragon was implying something about him.
Since when did writing a diary become improper for a bona fide Evil Dragon?
Lucia let out a sigh of relief quietly; she had managed to skip past that awkward topic for the moment.
She was worried that the formidable opponents of Evil Dragon Lance... were mighty heroes... or heroes praised by others.
To turn such historically significant figures into undead...
She might get beaten up...