Evil Dragon: The young dragon I picked up keeps planning on becoming an empress

Sweat drenched his back…

The Young Dragon curled up into a ball, daring not to move.

It... it... it spoke!!!

The statue spoke!!!

Would the Evil Dragon die?

What to do, what to do, what to do?

If she ran over to the Valkyrie Statue right now and kowtowed a few times, asking it to forgive the Evil Dragon's rudeness, would it still be in time?

Wuuu wuuu...

It should be, right?

The Evil Dragon had raised her for nearly a month, and she really couldn't just watch him die before her very eyes. As a princess, if she kowtowed to the Valkyrie Statue a few times, the Valkyrie Statue should forgive the Evil Dragon, right?

Ah ah ah ah—

If he's going to die, then let him die.

Young Dragon Lucia got up, sprinted, slid on her knees... just as she was about to kowtow to the Valkyrie Statue, the statue's voice rang out again, "Who? Who's riding on my back? Get off right now, or I will have Lance beat you up."

The Evil Dragon grabbed the Young Dragon's tail, pulling her aside, and walked to the spot where the Young Dragon had slid to her knees, bending down to pick up the Sophia painting he had discarded on the ground earlier.

At first, Lance had thought that the phrase "Lance, how are you still not dead?" had been spoken by the Valkyrie Statue. It wasn't until later that he realized the voice came from behind him, and only just then had he confirmed that it was Sophia from within the painting that was speaking.

And not the Valkyrie Statue.

"Lance, it really is you, huh? I didn't expect you to still be alive. To tell the truth, I'm a bit unhappy to see you alive. I'd rather see you dead, because... I died too early... You might not believe it when I say it, but when I died... I hadn't even experienced love... Wuu wuu wuu... It's too tragic... I died so young..."

It... it... it spoke!!!

The painting drawn by the Evil Dragon spoke!!!

Wuu wuu wuu, the Evil Dragon no longer needed to die, the speaker wasn't the Valkyrie's statue, but the painting drawn by the Evil Dragon himself.

Why did the painting of Sister Sophia suddenly start speaking?

Did it sense the yearning of the Evil Dragon for her?

Had a wandering soul attached itself to the painting drawn by the Evil Dragon?

It was too unfathomable.

Too magical.

Best not to guess anymore.

The Young Dragon carefully moved behind the Evil Dragon, blinking her big eyes as she looked toward the painting in Lance's hand.

The beautiful Sister Sophia in the painting really had come to life, sitting on top of the Magic Wand, leisurely swinging her legs as if there was a breeze in the painting, stirring her wavy brown hair.

"Where did this cute little dragon come from? Did you raise her?"

"Found her."

"You're about to die, and you pick up a little dragon to do what? Have her dig a grave for you?"

"Something like that."

Lance stared at Sophia within the painting, trying to determine whether the Sophia in the painting had gained a spirit, or whether an Evil Spirit had taken advantage of him summoning Sophia, slipping out from hell while he wasn't paying attention and attaching itself to Sophia's painting.

If it was the former, that would be fine.

If it was the latter, defiling his painting, contaminating his friend within, he would have to make the Evil Spirit undergo every single torture of the eighteen levels of hell.

There was no scent of hell, but plenty of spirituality.

The possibility of an Evil Spirit could be ruled out.

Now it was getting interesting.

Had the Sophia in the painting developed a spirit over time?

Or had the Valkyrie Statue heard his words and, while he wasn't paying attention, a divine essence had entered the painting, bringing the Sophia within to life?

If it was the latter... it would mean that this Sophia might really have been one identity the Valkyrie used while walking the Human World.

The Valkyrie's true name wasn't Sophia.

"You're really about to die?"

"What, are you going to have an Angel come escort me away?"

Sophia in the painting laughed heartily, "If I had that kind of power, would my death have been so miserable?"

"So... you're not an identity the Valkyrie used while walking the Human World?"

"Hey hey hey, don't go saying things recklessly. You're not scared of getting in trouble, but I am."

"You're not the Valkyrie?"

Sophia in the painting glared, "Didn't I tell you not to talk nonsense?"

Lance laughed, "If you're not, then I'm relieved."

"Relieved about what?"

"Relieved about collecting the debt, pay up! With compound interest, you owe me two hundred Gold Coins!"

"......."

One minute passed... two minutes passed... three minutes passed...

Sophia in the painting seemed to have lost her spirit, motionless. About five or six minutes later, Sophia sitting on the Magic Wand began to swing her legs again, "Relieved about what?"

"???"

"Relieved about collecting the debt, pay up! With compound interest, you owe me two hundred Gold Coins."

The Sophia in the painting once again lost her spirit, and after another five or six minutes, Sophia, swinging her legs and laughing, repeated her earlier words, "Relieved about what?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"???"

Lance laughed, this time out of exasperation.

Alright, alright.

As soon as he mentioned debt collection and repayment, the portrait's Sophia automatically lost its animation.

Playing "disconnected," huh?

"You're driving me crazy, why won't you speak? Just say it, what should I not worry about? I've asked you three times now—why don't you just say it?"

"Sophia..."

"What's wrong, Lance?"

"Do you still remember that you owe me money?"

"I do, you're a good person."

"I want to buy myself a decent-quality coffin, but I don't have enough money, so... you, repay the debt."

Sophia's leg-swinging motion paused intermittently... It took her a while to continue, "So what, Lance? Why do you always like to speak in half sentences? It's so aggravating. You were like this just now, and you're doing it again. I'm impatient by nature, can't you just say everything all at once?"

"......."

The Young Dragon standing behind Lance glanced at him and then at the portrait's Sophia, somehow feeling an urge to laugh.

Wanting to laugh but not daring to.

She was afraid that if she laughed out loud... the Evil Dragon might think she was laughing at him... and then later he might beat her up...

Portrait's pretty Sophia sister... seemed kind of bad...

"What are you looking for, Lance?"

"Looking for fire."

"What do you need fire for?"

"To cremate you, and then attend a funeral, to make up for the regret of not attending your funeral last time."

"........"

Beside oneself with anger.

Lance was beside himself with anger.

Ha ha ha ha.

From the time she knew Lance, until she died, she rarely saw him that angry.

Only when she went to borrow money from him would he jump up and down, would he become so enraged.

Borrowing money from Lance was difficult; even a girl as pretty as her had to pester him for seven or eight days to borrow just a bit from him.

At first, Lance only lent her one Gold Coin, which she returned.

The second time she borrowed, Lance was willing to lend her three Gold Coins, which she also returned.

The third time she borrowed, Lance was willing to lend her ten Gold Coins, which she again returned.

After many instances of borrowing and repaying, she had built up credit with Lance. When she would borrow money again, he would decide how much to lend based on her creditworthiness.

While she was alive and interacting with Lance, she discovered something interesting: whoever borrowed money from Lance, whenever they went out on missions or adventures, Lance would surely follow.

In dangerous situations, he wouldn't care about anyone's life or death, just the well-being of the person who owed him money.

After realizing this, she liked borrowing money from Lance even more.

And just as she thought, Lance cared a great deal about her. If she were in danger, Lance would protect her immediately.

A young girl's heart fluttering with romance.

Back then, she actually thought that Lance was attracted to her beauty and wanted to pursue her, to make her his girlfriend.

His repeated acts of heroism, taking fatal hits on her behalf, touched her heart.

Once Lance said he had something to tell her.

She thought Lance wanted to confess his feelings.

At that time, she was wondering whether she should reject him or accept him?

If she rejected him, would Lance be heartbroken?

Would he think she was a stone too cold to warm?

With a heart full of excitement and hesitation, she went to the place where she and Lance had agreed to meet.

In the end, Lance told her that he had to leave for a few days and advised her to earn money diligently. He hoped that by the time he returned, she would have repaid the money she owed him.

Though he said he would leave for a few days, it turned into several years.

During the Beast Tide's attack on the town, the moment she released a forbidden spell in desperation, she still harbored some hope that Lance would suddenly appear and surprise her.

And then... she died a miserable death.

The money owed to Lance... easy to borrow when alive, impossible to repay when dead...

It's not that she intended to default on her debts; she simply had no life left to repay them...

Now that she's dead... is he still fixated on making her repay the debt?

The so-called search throughout hell, heaven, and the realm of heroic spirits... was it all just to find her and have her repay the debt?

She had many affairs to manage, and if Lance hadn't left such a vivid mark in the brief life of "Sophia"...

She might not have even remembered there was someone like Lance.

"You kept calling out to me, causing my wandering soul in the Human World to appear here, just to have me repay the debt?"

"No."

"I knew you weren't that kind of person."

"I thought you were a Valkyrie. I wanted you to become my strong supporter, and was even thinking of pulling some strings so that after death, you could directly take me to the Divine Realm and let me become a Divine General.

Turns out you're not, not a Valkyrie. So you can't be my strong supporter, I can't get to the Divine Realm, nor become a Divine General. That leaves me with only the option of debt collecting, same as before, repay the debt!"

"......."

Is it really that pragmatic?

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