The little girl was squatting beside Eckmen's corpse—compared to her, the latter seemed as tall as a mountain. She pressed one hand on her knee and fiddled with something with the other hand for a long time, but ultimately didn't seem to find anything. Finally, she hooked her finger around the bowstring of the Shale Longbow, stood up, and waved it in front of Brand: "Do you want it?"

"You don't want it?"

Alorz shook her head naturally, her golden pigtails swaying: "It's of no use to me. I just wanted to see what it was."

Brand felt a bit speechless for a moment, thinking, since you don't need it, then stay away from the corpse! He couldn't help feeling a bit frantic, but after all, the Earth Envoy had been killed by her, and he had no grounds to complain. He could only ask hopefully: "Is that all?"

"What do you mean?"

"Only this bow?"

"Of course not, there are many things. But they don't suit my taste, so I didn't bother with them." The short girl answered.

What kind of reason is that, Brand thought to himself, but he still asked, "You still haven't answered me. What did you put on this Golden Apple that's so interesting? As a thank-you gift, I think I have the right to know, don't I?" He pointed to the Golden Fruit in his hand. He had planned to give it to Frey or Romantic, but now he was glad he didn't. Only a genius could know what was on it.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but put the apple further away, lest it get contaminated with something 'interesting'.

"It's a secret." The girl chuckled.

"A secret?"

Brand was about to ask more when he noticed Alorz's expression change slightly. She suddenly looked to one side, then put her finger to her lips and made a 'shh' gesture to Brand. "Someone's coming." She became serious and whispered, "Mr. Brand, your adventures are fascinating, I really like them. But this time, I came to find you because something happened in our clan, and Fulrofa and I must return quickly. Please take care."

"Wait." Brand was stunned. He suddenly thought of a possibility from what the little girl had said: Had she been following him all the time? He felt a bit odd, but even so, his sharp instincts hadn't left him. He immediately picked up on a flaw in her words: "Clan? You are...?"

Alorz nodded with a smile.

Brand felt as if struck by lightning. He could hardly speak. Not a human, yet referring to clan matters with 'our clan'. If he remembered correctly, there was only one kind of being in Vornede like that—Dragons, that infamous, contemptuous race that considered themselves high and mighty and had a notorious reputation.

He hadn't expected he would really encounter a little dragon. But at least she hadn't eaten him for lunch because of a bad mood, even though it was a bit late for lunch. Still, Brand could tell that Alorz seemed to have a decent impression of him. It wouldn't be too bad to have a dragon protector, and Brand couldn't help but feel a bit lucky.

What had he done to deserve this?

"Alright, Mr. Brand, those people are coming soon. I don't want those lowly creatures, those fools, to see me by your side. Don't worry, I won't let them hurt you." She stood on tiptoe and patted his shoulder maturely, as if she were his Big Sister. Then half of her body disappeared into the air, followed by the rest of her, until she vanished completely without a trace.

"Hurt me? Do they really need to do that?"

Brand thought she must be referring to Namenis and his group. He thought, the Silver Elves, always so proud, being called lowly creatures and fools by you, not sure how they'll react. The Ancestor King of the elves would probably turn in his grave. But she wasn't wrong; the Dragon Clan is one of the few races on the Vornede Continent that still possess a relatively pure Golden Bloodline. Just by their lineage alone, they could surpass those of Black Iron and Silver rank by leaps and bounds. Moreover, the most terrifying thing about the Dragon Clan is that, although their birth rate is low, any offspring they produce are born with Elemental Power. This is a distinctive trait of the Golden Bloodline.

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