"This is the Smithy."
"This is the Alchemy Shop."
"This is the Bestiary."
"This is…"
Lux took Valerie and her two maids around to explore the entirety of his Guild Headquarters. Originally, he thought that his first three guests wouldn't enjoy his guided tour. But, to his surprise, Valerie seemed to be genuinely satisfied with everything she saw.
'The Game-Shin Impact Merchant Guild's meticulous designs paid off,' Lux thought with a smile. He was truly lucky he hired them to build his Guild Headquarters.
Although his castle didn't have many furnishings, the walls were filled with carved out designs, making it an artistic marvel.
Several beasts like Gryphons, Dragons, Hippogriffs, Wyverns, and other creatures both known and unknown to the Half-Elf were etched along the walls.
The Main Guild Hall, which also served as the throne room, was located in the center of the castle. Inside it, a life-like Crystal Dragon painting with its wings spread wide could be seen behind the marble throne, overlooking anyone who faced the throne.
Lux had requested Bentley to add this touch to the throne room as a tribute to Keoza. If it weren't for the Dragon Token given to him by the Crystal Dragon, the Half-Elf wouldn't have been able to found a Mythical Guild, much less step foot in the Legendary Kingdom of Karshvar Draconis.
Valerie liked the design very much. Even Ali and Ari sang praises of it because of how magnificent it was.
"My father told me that long ago, there was a Crystal Dragon who was supposed to be the next King of all Dragonkind," Valerie said in a respectful tone. "I can't remember his full name, but I know his shortened name, and it was Keoza.
"Long ago, the nations of the world were embroiled in a war. However, these wars came to an abrupt end when the creatures from the Void attacked. Only the Dragon King, who was the strongest creature in the world could stop their advance, but when the world needed him the most, he vanished.
"A hundred years of fighting ensued, and during that time, the Dragons decided that it was time to elect a new Dragon King to help turn the tide of battle for the Elysians. But, just like the first Dragon King, Keoza vanished when the world needed him the most.
"My father, who was next in line for succession, performed the Dragon King's Ceremony and gained the power of Supreme. He then helped the other races push the creatures of the Void back to where they came from, and thus, an uneasy peace befell the nations of the world."
Valerie then looked in Lux's direction with a faint smile.
"Tell me, is the Crystal Dragon painted on that wall the same Dragon that I spoke of?" Valerie asked. "Or is it just a whim on your part?"
When Lux was about to give her an answer, a firm, and authoritative voice echoed inside his head.
'Don't tell her.'
Three words. It was just three words, but the weight it carried influenced Lux into changing the answer he was originally about to say.
"After I became an Apostle, I came across a very dangerous Dungeon," Lux said as he looked at the giant painting of the Crystal Dragon behind his throne. "The name of that Dungeon was the Grotto of the Forbidden Guardian. It was a very dangerous Dungeon, and inside it, I met a Crystal Dragon. That same dragon is the one you see here today."
Valerie nodded her head in understanding as she gazed at the Crystal Dragon with a smile.
"What kind of Dragon was it? Is it male or female?"
"Male."
"What was he like?"
Valerie was genuinely curious about what kind of Crystal Dragon Lux had met when he was still an Apostle.
"Well, for starters, he was a very sociable Dragon," Lux replied after organizing his thoughts. "It seemed he had been alone for such a very long time, because when he appeared in front of us, the first thing he did was initiate a conversation instead of attacking us."
Lux then narrated the tale on how he fought against the Draconian Kobold, Cadmus along with the monster's brethren when he was inside that Dungeon. He added that as a reward, the Crystal Dragon gave him the Dragon Token, which allowed him to appear in Karshvar Draconis to build his Guild Headquarters.
"Amazing!" Valerie looked at Lux with sparkling eyes. "You met a Fairy God Dragon!"
"A Fairy what?" Lux blinked in confusion.
"A Fairy God Dragon!" Valerie repeated. "You know, the Dragon that turns a pumpkin into a carriage and mice into horses. Although I haven't seen any horses in my life, some Dragons said that they taste good! I want to eat one someday!"
Lux chuckled after hearing Valerie's reply. He didn't know if a Fairy God Dragon really existed, but one thing was for sure—Keoza wasn't the one that Valerie was referring to.
'I'd better not add any horses to my Bestiary,' Lux thought. 'If the Dragons see them, they might think that I'm raising them to become their snack.'
A while later, Valerie looked at the Half-Elf with a serious expression on her face once more.
"Some say that Half-Elves eat dragons," Valerie stated. "Is this true?"
"No," Lux answered in a heartbeat. "If there is a Half-Elf that can eat a Dragon, they must have balls of steel."
Valerie sighed after hearing Lux's reply.
"Good!" Valerie said. "You know, I was really worried when I came here. I thought that when you saw me, you were going to take a bite of my chest or something."
Lux's gaze subconsciously landed on Valerie's chest, which was bigger than Iris' and Cai's. Although he wasn't thinking of doing such a thing, now that the plain-looking girl mentioned it, he couldn't help but look at her "bountiful chest" that any man would love to take a bite of, even if they weren't Half-Elves.
"Don't worry, that's just fake news," Lux replied as he forcefully tore his gaze away from Valerie's assets and looked at her plain-looking face. "I don't randomly bite the chest of strangers."
Valerie's eyes widened in shock after hearing Lux's reply.
"D-Does that mean that you bite the chest of people that you know?!" Valerie immediately took four steps back to distance herself away from the handsome Half-Elf, whose gaze had lingered on her chest for a brief moment. "You plan to bite my chest too now that we are acquainted?!"
Ali and Ari immediately stood in front of Valerie with their arms crossed over their chests.
"I will not allow you to bite our mistress' chest," Ali declared. "You will have to bite ours first!"
"I know that this is just a misunderstanding, but since it sounds fun, I'll play along!" Ari stated, making Lux almost choke on his saliva.
Gerhart, who had been following Lux since they arrived in the Outer Reaches, decided to walk away.
Now that Lux had finished guiding him around, he decided to check the entirety of the floating island, leaving the Half-Elf to deal with his guests, whom he felt planned to stay in their Guild Headquarters for a day or two.
