The El Niño Rangers had just begun their assigned tasks when Roland suddenly remembered a valuable asset he had yet to use.

With a loud crash, a massive golden-red form hit the ground outside the city. The air filled with the pungent scent of sulfur.

"How could I forget? Smaug, the 141-meter-long dragon!" Roland exclaimed, turning to face the astonished crowd.

Although the people were accustomed to seeing Kaldor, a dragon over 15 meters long, flying overhead, Smaug was an entirely different beast. An adult dragon usually measures around 30 meters, but Smaug’s size was legendary—141 meters of raw power. However, his size came at the cost of his ability to wield dragon language magic, making him a force of pure physical might.

"Ah, Your Highness! Why didn't you bring this out earlier?" Ladir, the mage, ran over, his eyes gleaming with excitement. For mages, dragons were a treasure trove of rare and powerful materials.

"Carlos, Reynold, get some men and start working! Dragon scales and skin are excellent materials for armor," Roland instructed, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"Whoa! That’s a massive dragon!" Ivy, the priest, exclaimed, hiding behind Ladir as if the dead dragon might spring back to life.

"Don’t forget the teeth! They’ll make formidable weapons," Roland added.

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"Dragon wings are premium materials for magical cloaks. Be careful not to waste them," Ladir advised as he began slicing into the wing membrane with a blade formed from earth elements.

"Take the eyes too! A dragon's eye can be turned into a powerful inspection tool with a broad detection range," Ivy chimed in, no longer scared, and joined in on the excitement.

"Careful with those scales! Dragon's blood is valuable," Carlos cautioned the knights as they began removing the massive scales.

"And don’t forget the reverse scales! They have potent magical properties!" Roland reminded everyone, thinking of the highly coveted inverse scales found on true dragons.

"Bring the barrels! We need to collect the blood!" Reynold called out, ensuring that none of the precious dragon blood was wasted.

"This is incredible! Dragon tendons are perfect for bowstrings!" Roland marveled as they carefully extracted the long, sinewy cords from the dragon's body.

Kaldor, Carlos's dragon, watched the scene in horror. The once-mighty Smaug, now reduced to a pile of valuable resources, was being stripped clean by humans who saw his remains as nothing more than treasure. A shiver ran down Kaldor's spine, and he quietly edged away, not wanting to end up in the same fate.

"We need to be precise when extracting the dragon crystal. It’s a crucial ingredient for alchemy and potions," Ladir explained as he supervised the removal of the dragon’s massive heartstone.

The work continued for hours, with every part of Smaug’s body being harvested for its valuable materials. By the end of the day, Roland had amassed an incredible haul:

"Thousands of scales the size of a washbasin, nearly a hundred bundles of dragon skin, sixty-four dragon teeth of varying sizes, a dragon crystal as large as a washbasin, seven dragon tendons, twenty claws, a mountain of dragon meat, and a hundred barrels of dragon blood," Roland listed, storing everything in the system.

"This is a fortune!" Roland couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the sheer wealth they had acquired. He glanced at Carlos's dragon, Kaldor, a dangerous thought crossing his mind. Killing a dragon to get rich might just be worth the risk.

"With the lava forge in the city, we can turn these scales into armor," Roland suggested, already imagining his soldiers clad in dragon leather.

But Ladir, ever the pragmatist, quickly brought him back to reality. "Your Highness, we lack the other rare materials needed to create magical equipment. Besides, our priority should be reinforcing the city walls rather than focusing on luxury items."

Roland sighed, realizing the truth in Ladir's words. It was one thing to possess wealth, but another to have the means to use it. For now, the dragon's hoard would have to wait until Rapid City was secure and its people were safe.