Within the palace, Raphael was holding up a thick pane of glass, carefully examining a thin piece of paper he was grasping with his claw.

"So you intend to demand additional land from the humans?"

After studying it for a long while, he turned and asked those on the ground - Alvis and the other Erl elite.

"That's right, because land is the foundation for development. We have now achieved a miraculous victory, and according to military estimates there are no remaining enemies on the Morey Plains. So who has a claim to control the vast fertile fields previously under the Morey Kingdom? Naturally, it should be us."

The one speaking was none other than Evan. The Vattier family was now half under his control, and Raphael, being familiar with the inner workings, accepted this young man's position of authority by default.

"Is that so?" Raphael turned to look at Alvis, the human he trusted most.

"Indeed, Lord Crimson Dragon." Alvis was still wearing that unseasonable military overcoat, with leather gloves on his hands, standing at ease despite the lingering late summer heat.

"In reality, the failure of the Imperial Allied Forces was not as simple as preserving Erl - it also geographically cut off the core of human civilization from controlling the western part of the continent. We can take extreme initiative for a short period of time, and making good use of this can maximize our interests."

Raphael looked again at the small piece of paper in his claws, which contained the terms and demands this group of humans had drafted after being told they could negotiate, pending his decision to approve them.

"Hmm…" He began to ponder.

"The negotiations aren't for another week, so there's no rush. I'll think it over some more."

To everyone's surprise, the typically obedient Crimson Dragon began to waffle.

The expressions of many immediately froze, some unsure of what to make of it.

Evan forced a laugh: "Esteemed Crimson Dragon, do you mean you disagree? We can clarify any issues for you."

However, Raphael did not respond, giving him a deep glance before flying back to Pillar Mountain.

Leaving the group on the ground to look at each other in confusion.

"What does this mean?"

"I don't know."

"Crimson Dragon seems to disagree, so should we still send the personnel we discussed preparing?"

The human nobles began whispering discussions, their faces displaying varying degrees of puzzlement and vexation.

The key issue was that since the founding of this regime, Raphael had never exercised his own authority in secular matters, never intervening in specific policies. He had only served as the legally legitimate and popularly recognized "sacred lord", a deified, depersonalized existence in daily affairs.

But now he was deviating from the norm, raising objections even to minor matters.

"Come to think of it, crimson dragon has been coming to the palace district every day, neglecting the still ongoing battle at Pillar Mountain. Could it be that he's…"

Some of the established noble families could not help but speculate whether that dragon was starting to take an interest in wielding power. That would not be a good development.

Although intellectually brilliant, Evan could not fathom the thoughts of a dragon either. He only knew the dragon cared about money, so his own role was to manage its assets, naturally pocketing a little side profit on occasion.

So he could only ask Moran: "Baron Moran, my father seems to have taken ill, becoming rather withdrawn. As the helmsman of our noble faction, what do you make of crimson dragon's intentions? Does he distrust us? Want to monopolize the spoils of victory for himself? Or has some villain been sowing discord?"

As he said this, he cast a wary glance towards another group standing off at a distance: Alvis, surrounded by dwarves, dragon kin, and the "traitors" Amelia and Komo.

"Who knows?" Baron Moran's tone was lighthearted and witty, not appearing rushed at all.

Evan grew insistent: "Uncle Thurio! Erl has now secured a favorable environment for growth, plus the dividends of war - we're bound to reap many benefits in the future! If we neglect this now, we may not get a piece of the pie later!"

"But the pie has already been sliced, has it not?" Moran remained unhurried. "The economy, engineering, agriculture - those are our slices. The rest is none of our concern."

"But…" Evan wanted to say more, but the other had already left on his own, leaving the young powerholders at a loss.

...

"Sigh, youth is so unreliable." Baron Moran sighed inwardly as he sat in the carriage.

"Always scheming for power and profit, greedy and ignorant. They've only just gotten their hands on Oakenburg's fine industries and land, and already they're fantasizing about carving out future territorial gains. Do they think crimson dragon lacks his own thoughts? That he's a free bodyguard?"

As an old hand, he had already detected the warning implicit in these minor provocations.

Deliberately causing inconvenience over small matters - if not out of hatred, then as a show of authority to caution the upstarts against overreaching.

"Perhaps Alvis Deluca has informed him of our underhanded dealings?"

Moran then began pondering deeper: "But Alvis is also human - it seems his origins lie with that foreign expedition team, so his original status could not have been high. How he gained the Crimson Dragon's trust is another matter, but the Amelia and Komo families were former turncoats, with their core members managing Erl's mid-level administration."

"They had a share in the spoils from carving up Oakenburg's assets. I have reason to believe those two families have secretly funneled some assets to that Alvis - like the house his family now lives in. The Crimson Dragon thinks it was casually granted by his own word, but it's actually private property from the Amelia family."

Due to Raphael's ignorance of how human society operates, he should only be aware of backward autocracy, thinking many things happen just by him saying so, neglecting the function of societal systems. He likely only judges situations based on superficial changes and underling reports, according to his own imagination.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The human nobles operate behind that black box, allowing Raphael to only see surface level changes, while the internal workings far exceed his comprehension.

For instance, if Raphael instructed giving Alvis a house, and Alvis's family then moved into one, Raphael would think it was simply the result of his words, a straightforward line between two points.

In reality, Moran knew that plot of land was an asset of the Amelia family.

But it wasn't as simple as an outright gift - that would be too easy to latch onto.

Instead, they first had the Erl governing body purchase it at an extremely low price using temporary tax payments from their family.

That made it public property. Then new rules and regulations were issued, allocating residences, food, and travel allowances to officials at various levels, granting this public asset as privileges befitting their governing status.

By jumping through all those hoops, beyond upholding the importance of rules, it also let Alvis know there's an unwritten code here.

Let him understand that while Crimson Dragon's trust carries significant weight, society operates by an unspoken set of rules that even officials appointed directly by Raphael are bound by.

Because Erl's various resources have already been divvied up by the twelve noble houses, enforcing one's own will necessitates deferring to them.

The penniless Alvis would never gain substantial societal wealth just from Crimson Dragon's word. Cooperating is his only way.

As for Raphael himself, he has remained oblivious, happy as long as someone manages everything without bothering him, with the nominal sovereignty satisfying his ego.

If anyone suggested the real power lies with the human nobles rather than Crimson Dragon, Moran himself would find a justification to silence them before Raphael could respond.

"So Alvis Deluca likely could not unveil this facade. Unless it was the dragon kin? But that dim-witted lot who don't even speak the human tongue - would they care about matters their master ignores?"

Moran was unsure if Crimson Dragon's warning stemmed from discovering Erl's actual situation.

"It seems in addition to demanding mining rights in Pillar Mountain, I also have the task of probing Crimson Dragon's thoughts." He could not help but smile wryly as the carriage neared Pillar Mountain.

...

Raphael was lying on his stomach in the treasury, playing a game of stacking gold coins.

He carefully placed a single coin atop a "skyscraper" as tall as himself, holding his breath and trembling with his claw tips, fearing the slightest disturbance would cause his precarious masterpiece to come crashing down.

"Phew, got it!"

After placing the final coin, Raphael smiled with satisfaction at his creation - one of his few solitary amusements.

But before he could bask in that sense of accomplishment, the entire treasury suddenly shook lightly. The abrupt tremor instantly shattered the "coin tower", reducing it back to a scattered pile of individual coins across the sea of gold.

Yet there was not a hint of disappointment in Raphael's eyes.

Muttering a curse about human artillery under his breath, he began swishing his tail to stack the coins again.

"Master, Baron Moran Thurio, the Finance Minister of Erl, requests an audience," the voice of a sentry rat dragon came from above, causing Raphael to pause his claw game.

"Him?"

The innocent joy quickly drained from the dark golden dragon eyes, replaced by cunning and heavy significance.

Raphael scattered the pile before him with a swipe of his claw, twisting his serpentine neck to rise up on all fours.

"So someone's finally grown impatient, have they?"

He narrowed one vertical slit pupil, baring his ivory fangs through parted jaws, forked tongue flicking out to wet his muzzle.

"Summon him here to see me," he commanded loudly.

Raphael then took flight, landing atop a broken pillar and gripping it tightly with his claws, front raised as he chuckled darkly:

"Humans have always been arrogant and untrustworthy. They're the kind of race that would sell the very rope to hang themselves, and I understood this from the beginning."

He leaned forward, muttering to himself, "I've permitted those nobles to run rampant, but that doesn't mean anyone can obstruct me when I want to take the reins myself."

The rat dragon sentry's voice came again, "Master, he's here."

"Bring him down!"

Soon, Moran was lowered before Raphael by a elite blood wyvern sentry gripping his shoulders, the former awestruck as he surveyed the golden sea around them.

"Esteemed Crimson Dragon, regent protector of Erl, I can scarcely describe my excitement at witnessing your magnificent wealth," he gulped, carefully treading across the solid gold.

Raphael extended his long neck to eye Moran with a smile, "Now you understand why I was so adamant about occupying this place, yes? In the face of such a boundless expanse of rare metal, no mature red dragon could restrain their desire - they may even pay a certain price to guard such riches."

He emphasized "a certain price" carefully, observing the white-haired human's reaction, but the latter showed no microexpressions.

Moran averted his gaze, pausing for a moment before finally speaking, "Lord Crimson Dragon, I've come to inform you that Erl's future societal asset growth will outpace our circulating currency supply. We hope you will open Pillar Mountain's mines for us to excavate and mint coins."

"Is that what you came for?" Raphael's pupils suddenly contracted, his tone growing more hostile.

Moran took a deep breath and continued, "Yes, insufficient circulating currency will lead to persistently declining prices."

"Isn't that good? The people should be pleased."

"But the merchants won't be happy. Goods will pile up unsold, and persistent low pricing will cost them capital. Eventually entire industries will collapse, leading to economic recession - the people will lose job opportunities and not even be able to afford cheap goods. With diminished trade, your tax revenues will also decrease."

Raphael gave a slight nod. Moran's heart lifted, thinking he had convinced the dragon.

"Very well, I shall return and draft specific mining policies…" He immediately made to take his leave, forgetting to probe Raphael's attitude.

Fortunately, he was called back soon after.

"Why the rush? I have some private matters to discuss with you." Raphael suddenly pounced like a striking tiger, pinning Moran beneath him.

Gazing into the approaching golden eyes, Moran glanced around the surrounding crimson scales and asked with a trembling adam's apple, "What would that be? If assistance is needed, I'm willing to accommodate."

"Accommodate? Are you truly willing, Baron Thurio Moran, one of Oakenburg's top affluent members who tangled endlessly with foreign mercenaries under Morey's rule?" Raphael's voice grew deeper, taking on a derisive tone as he recounted incident after incident that made Moran's pupils constrict further with each statement.

"You…you jest, my lord. Those are mere rumors - people always love to spread gossip about us elites to vent their laughable envies."

"But I think they spoke true, especially about your wealth!" Raphael suddenly roared, ivory fangs fully bared!

!!

Baron Moran's heart clenched. His first thought was that Crimson Dragon had discovered their underhanded dealings and was intimidating him to confess the truth or willingly surrender something.

"It seems he was prepared all along. Whoever was lulled by his earlier attitude into trying to probe his mindset has fallen into this trap!" He suddenly realized this was a deliberate ploy.

Crimson Dragon seemed to have conceived a notion of being marginalized from the ruling circle. Perhaps the dragon kin garrison had informed on them, but he was still uncertain and did not feel right about directly summoning people to question.

So he specially designed this trap - anyone harboring guilty intentions would be unable to resist seeking an audience, attempting to gauge Raphael's inner thoughts, only to find themselves surrounded by overwhelming one-on-one pressure like now.

Moran swore that under such circumstances, with an atrocity-committing dragon interrogating them with ambiguous statements, any ordinary person would have logically collapsed and blurted out every secret deed and hearsay.

None doubted that the evil dragon would readily unleash slaughter at the slightest provocation, isolated here in the absolute seclusion of his lair.

"Affluence is only natural, as it was all passed down from ancestors. After all, private property is sacrosanct law in Erl - the very basis protecting your sovereignty over Pillar Mountain from a legal standpoint."

Moran quickly regained his composure, playing along with Raphael's line of questioning while enduring the pressure of those magic-imbued dark golden eyes boring into him.

"..."

The dragon's massive lung rumbled, shaking the entire treasury. Moran said nothing more, awaiting his "judgment."

"Well said. Your ancestors commanded vast resources, affording you a superior education. So you were able to manage Erl's financial dominion…go and draft those mining policies. But don't forget this is my final remaining territory!"

Raphael gradually released his forearms, allowing Moran to see the sunlight streaming in through the mountain gap once more.

"My apologies for the disturbance. Farewell!"

He hastily departed on a blood wyvern, while Raphael watched until he was out of sight.

"It seems the real battle begins now that the war is over," Crimson Dragon remarked with a cruel, icy smile once alone.