As the group of paladins were escorted by the serpents, Richard and Galileo quickly fell into a conversation.

As Copernicus watches the ongoing conversation, he can't help but notice something.

"And then we..."

"M-hmm..."

"It was amazing! The first time was so terrifying, and then I..."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, and then when I got..."

"It sounds like you've had a lot of fun."

"Yup!"

The dragon demonstrated a great level of patience, listening quietly as countless words poured out of his student's mouth.

Galileo was never that talkative with him, more often than not getting exasperated with his actions.

It made Copernicus a little jealous, but he understood why, since he had in fact bothered to read the report on Galileo's life.

Galileo was 3 years younger than Richard, but those three years had made all the difference.

Like all kids abandoned on the front porch of the main temple of Isis, he had been raised by the temple alongside Richard.

According to others, their first meeting had been Galileo pushing an 8-year-old Richard over.

Galileo was just a child, and Richard had been a wise kid for his age, not yelling, but rather calming the agitated and scared child.

After that, they reconciled afterwards with Richard becoming a senior figure to Galileo, emphasized by his fragile figure.

The relationship had been likened less to siblings, but rather a child and his grandfather, a funny comparison considering the mere 3 year gap, but his limited mobility and ticking clock had changed the connection between them in this way, with Galileo never quite able to hug Richard too tightly, treating him like a porcelain vase.

Galileo was a troublesome kid, talented but also reckless at the wrong times. Strong and well-meaning at times, but also rash and easily goaded into doing things.

If there was one person he actually listened to, it was Richard.

It was Richard who chided him when he did something wrong, and forced him to apologize when he did something wrong.

Galileo hadn't seen Richard since he left to become a paladin apprentice those years ago, and it was clear that Galileo had so much to share.

"Calm down Leo. We have plenty of time to talk while the adults talk."

Gingerly Richard used his hand, rubbing Leo's head with his clawed hand, to which Galileo laughed happily.

Copernicus felt a pang of jealousy at seeing the action, recalling how the kid usually reacted so hostile being addressed as Leo and scratching his head was a firm no for Galileo.

Understanding didn't make the annoyance go away.

Copernicus resolved to himself that he would totally find a way to ruffle up the kid's hair when he wasn't looking.

He was his teacher after all.

Richard had already noticed that the group had been taking a path that veered away from the normal route to their cave, so Richard had been curious what they were heading towards.

He'd also been quite curious about the serpents. Dozens of the, all of whom

[Earthgrappling thunder serpent]

[volcanic bile serpent]

[venomous belching serpent]

The serpents stats, the few he could see, all easily outranked his, and so did their stature, with each easily twice his size, looming over all of them.

Richard could not help but wonder whether they had been hiding and he'd been unable to find them, or if they had merely been somewhere beyond where had reached. It wouldn't surprise him if he had not managed to explore the whole of sister Alexandria's territory, for as far as he had explored, sister Alexandria had never commented on it.

And clearly, she was far more of a big shot than he had expected, given how easily the paladins bent the knee and were willing to accept the concessions.

The fall of an emperor...

There was such an incident, mere centuries ago.

Was she really...

Richard's thoughts were interrupted as they arrived at their destination.

Indeed, the environment was far different from what it was where they usually resided.

The land was barren, and nary a life form could be seen within the vicinity.

Tall spires loomed overhead, seemingly reaching into the sky.

A tense, electric aura could be felt, as Richard felt his tank filling up, as the energy reserves within the clouds filled up.

The whole area was charged with electricity, as if Alexandria was declaring this her domain, challenging any who would dare challenged her.

Within this barren field stood a mansion, ominous in it's aura.

The place felt a bit old fashioned as far as Richard could tell, something that seemed to belong to another time.

Sister Alexandria calmly moved forth, as Richard couldn't help but notice the doors were huge, better sized for a wyrm than a man, and even Richard felt undersized before the doors overhead.

The paladins made no comment, merely moving forward, quietly inspecting the mansion.

As Richard observed in awe, something furry flew at Richard, wrapping around Richard's neck as he shouted.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"You *&^*&**( you do something that stupid again and I'll (*^&%**^*&^ and ^%&*%&^^&&*& and-"

Panda went on in a long slurry of what could only kindly be described as curse words, much to the astonishment of the paladins, who had almost impeded the lunging furball were it not for the aura of the squirrel.

Truly, this was turning out to be a strenuous situation.

First the thunder monarch, and now a demigod.

This child was lucky to say the least.

Despite the way the squirrel cursed furiously, Richard could see how anxious Panda had been. It did make him feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, while the constant stream of curse words and vile statements made his ears warm and fuzzy as well.

Noticing the way the paladins were staring, Richard explained.

"This is my familiar, Panda." He said, using the nickname, much to the disgruntlement of the squirrel.

"PANDEMONIUM, MY NAME IS PANDEMONIUM!" He screeched in protest, finally stopping his long line of cursing, to the relief of the white dragon.

"And while I'm at it," Richard noted as he ignored the rat, "I do have two other familiars. One of them is on my chest currently." he said, tapping on the blue scarab resting at the front.

"And an octopulse, whom is currently being educated by another monster."

Richard wasn't sure how much he wanted to tell this group, like whether he should mention the monster gacha the shop provided, or the ability to buy materials and skills.

Many of things were not only simply fantastical, but far too dangerous to let them know about, not until he was able to ascertain their intent.

The expression on Devis' face changed, ever so subtly, but Scave noticed it, making a mental note of it for later.

Alexandria instructed them stiffly.

"My servants will guide you to your rooms and tomorrow you can conduct your interview with Richard, under my supervision of course."

She clarified that last part before turning to Galileo.

"Would you like to sleep with Richard, or with your companions?" she asked, her voice clearly friendlier with the boy then with the paladins.

Without hesitation, he responded.

"Richard!" was his exclaimed response, earning him a small mirthful chuckle from Alexandria.

"Very well then." she said as her tail flicked, and the serpents began escorting the paladins as she in turn guided Richard, Galileo, and Panda to their room.

As they walked, Richard couldn't help but amaze himself as he stared at the hallways, the paintings, and more.

Sister Alexandria turned her head as she addressed Richard.

"I'm sure everything here seems a bit... dated." she said, as she attempted to explain the old-fashioned mansion.

Although Galileo nodded, understanding that this was her acknowledging the old-fashioned mansion.

It was lost on the squirrel and the dragon of course.

"Don't even know what a mansion is!" Panda exclaimed.

"Never seen one." Admitted Richard as he continued to give the whole mansion an admiring gaze, reminding sister Alexandria that this little dragon had never left the temple. This place must've been timeless to him, a magical sight regardless.

They arrived at a large room, which was opened once more by sister Alexandria's psychic abilities.

"So, why don't you two catch up some more while I get some food to tide us over for the day and help Achil tend to his wounds, hmm?" she said, sliding out of the room before a response could be formulated.

Thud

The echo of a giant metal door closing could be heard as she departed the room, leaving 3 and a half individuals.

Panda was the first to speak in the absence of the wyrm, whirling around to face Galileo.

"And who are you anyway!?" he questioned, staring down the unfamiliar person, someone who had come with those dangerous paladins, yet had been clearly treated differently from the rest.

Richard interrupted on Leo's half. "This is Galileo. I was his... steward." Richard said, trying to find the word that best described their relationship. He would never quite identify it as friendship, for their relation was never quite that, with no shared interests or even hobbies, yet a bond did exist.

Galileo popped in with his own view, declaring. "He's like a father to me." Leo said, boldly proclaiming their relation, causing Richard to sputter awkwardly and Panda to examine the two carefully.

"Guess I'm the fucking house pet then." Panda grumbled, yet there was a hint of amusement behind it.

"So, about your friend, was he alright?" asked Leo, seemingly seeking to see if the dragon like creature was alright after the number the paladins did to him.

Panda waived his hand dismissively. "He's fine, the beast has a high level of regeneration.. Say what you will of the paladins, but they knew the limits." Panda noted that last part with a hint of begrudging respect.

Richard was a bit more surprised about that. "Then why was he limping earlier?" he asked, unsure about why Achil acted so meek earlier.

"He's a hawk's chick pretending to be a chick to lure prey." muttered Panda, much to RIchard's confusion.

----------------------------------------

Achil whimpered pitifully as Alexandria wrapped the dragon's wounds.

"Those bastards." she cursed as Achil winced in pain. "They dare to go so far on my territory no less!"

She turned her head towards Achil as she asked softly, with Achil's head turning swiftly the other way, with a soft blush on his cheeks.

'I'm fine.' He said pitifully as possible, with Alexandria sighing. "Give me a second, I'll get you something to soothe the pain."

As she slithered away Achil carefully eyed the departing tail, as it twisted cutely, his eyes filled with hidden desire.

----------------------------------------

Eating quickly and sleeping just as quickly, Copernicus muttered about "injustices" and "unfaithful student" with a look of jealousy as he entered slumber.

Seeing the most problematic paladin going to sleep, Scave turned to face Devis, who had gotten more polite after the earlier interaction, much to Scave's suspicion.

"Spill it." he demanded, as Devis stared him down.

"And what do you mean by that?" he asked, his face giving nothing away.

"Don't bother hiding it. Copernicus may not have noticed, but I certainly did. Why did you soften your approach earlier?"

Remaining silent for a moment, Devis finally decided to explain his more relaxed manner.

"The child is more reserved than I expected."

Scave looked at him blankly.

"That's it?" he asked, clearly unsure why that mattered so much. Sure, he was reserved, but Scave could hardly see why that would make Devis happier about the person in question.

Devis rolled his eyes. "Richard has been reincarnated as a dragon after being bound to a chair for most of his life. I'll admit, my first assumption about what he had been up to had been more... chaotic."

Hearing how quickly Richard had been accruing power, how his first appearance in the world of man had been to attack the cart of the man who had once been his father, and taking what had belonged to the man in what could easily be seen as a wild declaration of war. With the assumption that becoming a dragon had completely reformed Richard's nature, Devis had come into this believing that Richard would require... education. To ensure that he would not get out of control.

Jorvus Mars was a god of governance and control. True, they tested the empire, but they did so to sharpen its blade, not to chip it. A wild and crazy dragon accumulating power in the mountains in the name of revenging himself upon his father was chaos that could not be tolerated.

The Thorsten family was still being eyed, whether it be to be used as a tool to sharpen the imperial family, or to be terminated.

What the temple of Jorvus did not need was a petulant hatchling stirring up a storm and forcing them to intervene, to make a choice without the time for consideration.

And seeing Richard crashing from the sky did nothing but reinforce this worry. Devis had believed almost immediately that he would have to take the boy to ascertain what he wanted and to decide from there.

Seeing the boy saved by the Storm Monarch only reinforced this worry, with the Storm Monarch known for her... impulsive nature.

But as they were escorted to the mansion, Devis had noticed the reserved nature of Richard.

He did not seem wild, nor particularly angry.

He was careful and quiet, listening to that annoying paladin's apprentice.

Pleasant to talk to, a side effect of being raised within the temple of Isis.

It slowly became clear that Richard had not changed, but Devis' appraisal had.

And the squirrel merely confirmed his thoughts.

Devis knew that bloodline well, for there was only one godly squirrel in this empire, and that was Ratatoskr.

Had Richard been impulsive and succumbed to his draconic urges, the kid would've already used these connections he had and waged his war.

Ratatoskr was a god of entropy, more dangerous than Sethor, for no other god could manipulate rumor like he could.

Entire families had been brought down by Ratatoskr's whims.

The storm monarch was a wyrm once whispered to have power equal to a god.

With that kind of power, bringing down a mere noble was nothing.

That attack on the cart was clearly a lucky coincidence and done out of good will more than anything else.

Perhaps Richard did desire revenge still, and this was merely fate working in his favor. But that was all. Richard had not planned the attempt.

Devis could negotiate with Richard. Richard seemed the patient and reserved type, something the temple could always appreciate.

Regardless of the stance of the temple on RIchard, Devis knew that with the proper persuasion, Richard could be convinced to listen.

Now that was a sweet thought to sleep on. A tool to dispose of the corrupt family, and in turn gain a powerful ally.

How wonderful.