Chapter 23: Apology: Dragon Egg

“Bang bang bang…”

The knocking on the door was heavy, just like Dorothy’s heartbeat.

She bit her lower lip, her face pale, with beads of cold sweat forming on her forehead.

“Creak…”

The door swung open on its own.

“What is it?”

A faint voice echoed from deep inside the hall.

Dorothy looked at the empty, pitch-black hall and forced herself to stay calm. “Grandfather sent me here to deliver something.”

“Come in.”

Dorothy bit her lip, then stepped into the hall.

The hall was vast and empty, with nothing in sight.

Perhaps it was just her imagination, but Dorothy felt as if someone was watching her.

She forced herself to abandon such thoughts, walked to the end of the hall, looked around, then moved to the side of a shadowed wall.

Sure enough, she found an entrance to the basement on the floor behind the wall. The entrance was pitch black, like a bloodthirsty mouth waiting to devour.

“M-Mr. Ajefu, are you in the basement?” Dorothy asked nervously while standing at the entrance.

“Mm.”

Hearing a reply, Dorothy almost cried.

She hesitated for a while before she gritted her teeth and summoned a light spell, holding it up as she descended the spiral staircase.

After going down several loops,

she froze.

The expected scenes of “darkness,” “terrifying experiments,” “water prisons,” or “beast feeding” didn’t appear.

Instead, what she saw was an unexpectedly bright world!

The walls were polished, with rows of glass boxes lined up in order, and above her were lights from small magic lamps.

It was as bright as daylight here.

Standing on the spiral staircase, Dorothy could almost immediately see Ajefu standing in front of a glass box.

She hesitated briefly, then gathered her courage and walked over.

“Mr. Ajefu, I came here to apologize. I’m really sorry for what happened that day, I-I lost control!” Dorothy blurted out the speech she had rehearsed many times.

After finishing, she took out a seed, infused it with magic, and activated it.

The seed fell to the ground, immediately took root, sprouted vines, and bloomed into a giant flower that looked like a towering pitcher plant.

The flower wriggled and spat out a large egg, almost as tall as a person, covered in complex magic seals.

Yu Sheng’an turned his head to take a look and could no longer take his eyes off it.

“This dragon egg is a gift to you as an apology. I hope you won’t hold a grudge against my careless behavior,” Dorothy added, casting a reluctant glance at the dragon egg.

Yu Sheng’an reached out to touch the dragon egg and said, “This is a dead egg, though it still has a faint trace of life.”

Dorothy was startled! Ajefu was indeed not simple; he saw through the egg’s secret at a glance.

“Yes,” Dorothy admitted without an excuse.

If it weren’t a dead egg, her grandfather would have rather sacrificed her than give it away.

You see, the dragon race is the most powerful magical beasts on the Azaea Continent, bar none.

Any adult dragon is born with dragon magic that rivals an Archmage and a body as strong as a War God’s!

Moreover, they have an incredibly long lifespan.

The dragon race is a top-tier species that can challenge gods!

Their only flaw is their low reproductive rate.

On the Azaea Continent, any nation that could secure the protection of a dragon is almost guaranteed prosperity for thousands of years.

For example, the Edirth Empire in the western part of Azaea is rumored to be a nation protected by a dragon.

So, one can imagine what a dragon egg represents.

Unfortunately, the dragon egg before Yu Sheng’an was nearly a dead egg, though it still had a faint trace of life.

But that faint trace of life may only hold symbolic significance.

Like a patient kept alive by a respirator.

However, even so, the value of this dragon egg cannot be denied.

In Dorothy’s grandfather Dorman’s hands, it may have lost its worth. He must have tried every possible way to revive it, but ultimately failed, which is why he would give it to Yu Sheng’an.

But if this dragon egg were in the hands of the God of Life, one of the Five Prime Gods, reviving it by infusing life force would likely be a trivial task.

Moreover, if it fell into the hands of the Death God, also one of the Five Prime Gods, it might even be transformed into an undead dragon.

In this magical world, there is nothing absolute.

“Your grandfather is much more tactful than you. I’ll take the egg. Go back and tell him I don’t hold grudges… However, if I did, that wouldn’t be human.”

Dorothy, who was about to nod meekly, was startled by the last sentence and nearly bit her tongue.

“Yes.” Dorothy nodded awkwardly, finally feeling a huge weight lifted off her heart.

She watched Yu Sheng’an stroke the dragon egg, then glanced around at the glass boxes, lingering curiously.

“Anything else?”

“No… nothing.”

“If not, then you should go back.”

“Oh.”

Dorothy replied somewhat emptily, reluctantly turning to leave.

After Dorothy left, Yu Sheng’an’s previously calm expression became overjoyed.

He circled the dragon egg, mumbling to himself.

“I’m rich! I’m rich!”

“I’ve hit the jackpot now!”

Did I really just get a dragon egg?

Oh my god, if I hatch it and contract with it, I won’t have to fear the Five Prime Gods at all!

…Ahem, still a bit scared, though, since the dragon isn’t mature, right?

Uh, to be fair, even once it’s fully grown, it might not be able to defeat any of them, but at least I’d have some power to protect myself, right?

The dragon race’s reputation for rivaling gods isn’t just talk!

Yu Sheng’an rubbed his hands together, then knocked on the dragon egg and called out, “Hey? Can you hear me?”

The dragon egg remained silent.

“Damn, could it really be a dead egg?” Yu Sheng’an was getting anxious. “No way, that trace of life can’t fool anyone, especially not my Divine Spark.”

“But, facing a god and not struggling to survive? Looks like even if it’s not a dead egg, it’s almost there. I need to act quickly, or it might die any second!”

Yu Sheng’an rubbed his chin, deep in thought.

The biggest problem with this dragon egg is its lack of life force.

Was it abandoned by its mother due to underdevelopment?

Or did it encounter some other disaster, like falling into magma or a freezing pond, depleting its life force?

In any case, to save it, I’d need to replenish its life force.

Dorman probably tried every magic known to restore life force.

So to save this dragon egg, unconventional methods are necessary.

Yu Sheng’an pondered briefly, then spread his right hand over the dragon egg. All at once, countless characters flowed from his palm into the egg.

“If you want to live, it’s up to you! Otherwise, there’s nothing I can do.”

After a while, Yu Sheng’an lowered his right hand and murmured softly.

He wasn’t the God of Life, but the God of Contracts. He could only wield the power of contracts, so he sent the egg a life-sharing contract.

If the egg still had a shred of life, and if it still had the will to survive, it would find it nearly impossible to die once it signed the contract!